Power Gaming knew Hellraisers were not going to be swept aside without a sweat in their first round playoff series. The Finns played a solid dust2 but then found themselves in troubled waters on train as they looked on a trajectory to end up going to a third map. That turned out not to be the case as they forced a tie and then in overtime had their way to take the series 2:0.

Power Gaming 16:11 Hellraisers (dust2 - 10:5, 6:6)


First half

HellRaisers won the first three rounds as terrorists but then the Finns got locked in, catching up and then pulling out to a large lead. On the 5th round naSu was able to surprise the Ukranian team by flanking out of the long A door to behind them at mid where he killed four. Regardless of whether they hit A or B HellRaisers couldn't get anything going as naSu and natu racked up kills to get the scoreline to 9:3 in Finland's favour. At that point the Ukranians managed to get a round win in A. Edward was showing a disasterous 3-11 on the scoreboard as HR looked out of sorts struggling to get consistent offense. The half ended 10:5 to Power Gaming.


Second half

A full glock push into B which HellRaisers had left open gave Power Gaming the pistol round and saw them put the lead to 13:5 overall. Then HellRaisers managed to get their foot in the door and ran off six straight. Behind big play from Markeloff and his AWP the HellRaisers dominated the catwalk area when they needed to to prevent Power penetration. That would the closest the game got though as Power took the next three to seal dust2 and move on to train. HellRaisers' difficulty getting a lock on the CT side was highlighted in the 11th round of the CT half where they were sat in spawn looking at the B site and ruuit pushed the catwalk, jumping over the ledge and killed two from behind with an AK.



Power Gaming 19:16 Hellraisers (train - 6:9, 9:6, OT - 2:1, 2:0)


First half

Any worries about having lost dust2 seemed to be instantly forgotten as the Ukranian team began owning the terrorist side, winning the pistol round with zero deaths. The 4th and 5th rounds saw Power Gaming decimated to the extent tihOp elected to try and save his AWP both times instead of going for the round. Markeloff and Edward were both into double digits quickly and leading the way, as they always seem to be during good spells for the team. The score was at 9:0 for HellRaisers and they looked firmly back in control with train being a map known for CT dominant sides when top teams play.

Power Gaming found the spark to reignite their fire though and from 0:9 down took the game all the way to a salvagable 6:9 end to the half for them. tihOp, who had been 0-6 at one point came alive and a timely three kill display from him in the 13th round was key to keeping momentum going the Finns' way.


Second half

Knowing they had an uphill struggle on their hands to get 10 rounds and win the map Power Gaming began the right way as they won the pistol round. In the third round they had a brief scare when Ukranian players got the round to 2v2 on their eco and picked up weapons, unfortunately for them they were facing ruuit and naSu so two kills later the Finns were up 3:0 in the half and had a tied game overall. Two more rounds wins and Power were up 5:0 but then HellRaisers came back with a round win where they didn't lose a man.

A reversal as Power Gaming took a round was shortlived as HellRaisers got zoned in and ran off three in a row to put the overall score at 13:12 in their favour. Finland pulled level again but that was short-lived as HR took the next two to reach map point. With two rounds left Power needed both of them to tie the game or they'd be playing a third map in the contest. That didn't look good for the Finns as they were forced to buy deagles and armour, where possible, but they worked a little magic and won the round to take the game down to the wire. On the last round things could not have been more close as a 4v4 became a 2v2 which became a 1v1 with plastE last alive and having planted the bomb. Hiding under the bomb train he secured the kill and overtime was set.


Overtime

The first overtime period was hard fought with Power Gaming remaining on the T side and losing the first round after volt won a 1v2 against them. The Finns took the next two rounds and the half though thanks to ruuit and plastE winning a 2v1 and then tihOp and natu winning a tight 2v3.

The second period saw natu open things with a three kill round at alley which stopped any rushing momentum. naSu then won a 2v1 to take the game for Finland and see them move into the quarter finals.

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