DreamHack Winter EU closed qualifier set to start

The European closed qualifier for DreamHack Open Winter is about to start, with eight teams set to duke it out for a spot at the $100,000 tournament.

The open qualifier came to a close on Saturday, with Heretics, Nordavind, Ambush and Copenhagen Flames all advancing to the closed stage to join four invitees, including two teams currently in the top 20 in Tricked and North.

Nicklas "gade" Gade's troops, who come off a 9th-12h place finish at StarSeries i-League Season 8, face a stern test in the first bracket round against Heretics, who recently completed their roster with the signing of ex-LDLC member David "devoduvek" Dobrosavljevic.

North will face Heretics in the first round of the qualifier

Another quarter-final contest that could turn out to be quite entertaining will be the one pitting Sprout (No.23) against Nordavind (No.76). The German side have been licking their wounds after finishing 0-3 in the ESL Pro League group stage despite taking a map off all opponents, but will need to be wary of the threat posed by the Norwegians, who reached this stage following close wins over Gambit Youngsters and maquinas.

Below you can find the first round match-ups:

Tricked vs. Ambush
Sprout vs. Nordavind
Virtus.pro vs. Copenhagen Flames
North vs. Heretics

The winner of the closed qualifier will secure direct entry into DreamHack Open Winter, which will take place from November 29 through December 1, joining five invitees and the two other qualified teams, SJ and Marskalk, at the $100,000 competition.