SK Gaming faced a tricky opening match as they faced a Hellraisers team who are very capable of upsetting a big team, especially over a single map in the group stage of a tournament. With their star Edward at the event HR got their foot in the door in the first half only to get completely shut out in the second. Meanwhile what should have been the easiest game of the group for AGAiN turned into a slugfest as they faced upstarts looking to grab themselves major attention against a team who have accomplished great things.

SK Gaming 23:07 Hellraisers (dust2 6:9 14:1)

The game looked like being a potential upset or down to the wire thriller after a first half which saw HellRaisers pick up six rounds, thanks to play from star Edward and young gun Ange1. The second half was not fun for the Ukranians though as they struggled to do anything against smothering SK defense which ran up a crushing 14:1 half to make the match more than convincingly. face and kHRYSTAL got work done as terrorists and then RobbaN and walle were leading the way as counter-terrorists.

AGAiN 15:15 EYESports (nuke 9:6 6:9)

WCG gold medalists AGAiN are a team capable of winning any major tournament it can seem, yet they are also a team who don't play up to their potential at times. When their nuke game is on they can come back from a big deficit, as fnatic had to find out in the WCG finals, or push out huge leads with their play on both sides. In this game they found themselves pushed to the limit by a Russian side few fans will know well. Whether this will prove to be a momentary moral victory for EYE or a wake up call for AGAiN will be decided soon.