Copenhagen Flames and HAVU win FLASHPOINT Group B openers

Copenhagen Flames and HAVU excelled past their opponents in the Group B opening matches of the FLASHPOINT Global Qualifier, securing a winners' match face-off against one another.

The opening matches of Group B initially saw Copenhagen Flames take down their Brazilian adversaries, Redemption POA, on Train. A convincing T side performance with outstanding showings from Magnus "⁠Nodios⁠" Olsen and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen made for a lop-sided half, and without follow-up from the Brazilians, the Danes managed a convincing victory on the defense.

The second match featured a face-off between HAVU and Chaos, where things went fairly even in the initial half, as HAVU managed to come back from an early T-side deficit. The CT side saw a strong late-map comeback from the Finns, leading to several overtimes, where they ultimately outlasted Chaos at 28-26.

The map veto of Group B's first match came down to Train, where Redemption POA got off to a solid start on the CT side with a fruitful pistol round. The early success was followed by an anti-eco quad from Alexandre "⁠ALLE⁠" Santos, placing the Brazilians in an early lead. It was on the duo of TeSeS and Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali to put their squad ahead, as individual performances from the two allowed the Danes to excel towards a four-round lead. From here on out the T side dominated, slipping but two rounds the way of their adversaries at 11-4.

ALLE once more came through in the early rounds for his team, this time on the offense, where a triple kill ensured crucial momentum. The gap in their opponents' defense was capitalized on, as four consecutive rounds were converted to bridge the deficit to a manageable state. The comeback was not to be, however, as Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen and Nodios dismantled Redemption POA with conviction in the concluding rounds, advancing their team to a 16-7 victory on Train.

Joshua "⁠steel⁠" Nissan kicked off the second engagement with a USP-S triple kill on the CT side of Overpass, creating an opportunity for his team to amass an early lead. Having sustained consecutive losses, Joonas "⁠doto⁠" Forss single-handedly ensured HAVU's first conversion during a pistol buy, landing four frags and a single digit on the scoreboard. The multi-frag round served as great inspiration for the Finns, who consistently shut down the defense all the way to their first lead of the map. Back and forth in the concluding rounds yielded an even 8-7 half, slightly favored towards HAVU.

Lasse "⁠ZOREE⁠" Uronen did his utmost to give HAVU an extra push in the second pistol having posted a USP-S quad kill, but he fell to Cameron "⁠cam⁠" Kern's knife while defusing the bomb in a post-plant situation on A. Significantly more convincing of the T side, Chaos persistently converted rounds, closing out six of the first seven in the latter half, featuring triple kills from steel, Anthony "⁠vanity⁠" Malaspina and cam.

Aaro "⁠hoody⁠" Peltokangas and ZOREE's individual form towards the final rounds of Overpass were crucial in snapping the momentum Chaos had developed, as consecutive round victories gave the Finns the wind required to secure the lead. Round 28, an absolutely pivotal exchange, was won by Chaos, but despite the advantage, the North American team squandered their chance at closing the map by conceding the 30th to a force buy, thus forcing overtime.

Several tumultuous overtimes ensued, as the teams struggled to capitalize on openings and even map points. It was later decided that HAVU would go through to the winners' match-up, having outlasted their opponents at 28-26.