The showdown of the first round was clearly the winners of DreamHack Winter, Meet Your Makers swe, against the WCG gold medalists, AGAiN . In what on paper looked to be set for an absolute war as two of the best teams locked horns they are actually emerged a fairly mundane game. AGAiN did what they needed to every step of the way and embarassed a MYM who looked completely out of it. The Swedes couldn't win two rounds in a row and seemed unable to execute any of their attacks with even a modicum of consistency.

Meet Your Makers swe 04:16 AGAiN (dust 3:12 1:4)

First half

The pistol round set the tone as MODDII got 1v1 and planted the bomb against TaZ but the Pole seemed to take the matchup fairly easily. On the 3rd round MYM bought AKs and pushed catwalk to A but a well timed peek by neo to spot then bunched up on the stairs allowed flashes so neo and kuben took down two each when it was said and done. The 5th and 6th saw attacks on A which ended with LUq killing two with each AWP in each, 6:0 AGAiN.

MYM took their first in the 7th but it was right back to being about AGAiN as they took the next two to run it up to 8:1. Getting the bomb planted 3v2 in A allowed MYM another round as when it became a 3v1 TaZ didn't go for it. Again though the next two would go right back to the Poles, MYM couldn't string together two rounds. With the score at 10:2 to AGAiN MYM got themselves a solid penetration into B and planted 4v2 so the two AGAiN players tried to save, though they died in the process of gambling for exit kills.

Once again completing the pattern of any round win meaning two for AGAiN the Poles took the 14th as a 3v3 with the bomb down for MYM in B soon fell apart thanks to two kills from neo. On the last round the Poles pushed into the B tunnels and aggressively attacked the MYM players at the entrance to the tunnels. Then their team-mates pushed catwalk. The end result was a tough end to the half for MYM who found themselves facing a 12:3 lead for AGAiN.


Second half

MYM desperately needed the pistol but three glock kills from kuben in B saw the end of that. After winning the eco AGAiN were on 14:3 but MYM managed to pull something out with a buy which involved famases and two kills from Jumpy. Still they couldn't hold back the Poles and on the 4th with two deagles amongst their AKs AGAiN got into B and two kills from neo and loord put them at map point. The very next round they attacked catwalk and it was two kills from neo and TaZ this time which sealed the game.

MYM had failed to even look in contention. None of their players had gotten it going at any point in time, in fact they barely even managed rounds approaching any kind of individual highlight nevermind team success. AGAiN on the other hand had everything going and looked a class above the DreamHack champions. Did the real MYM not get out of bed or is this the real AGAiN capable of winning a WCG and beating fnatic who we saw? After yesterday's interesting results in the Poles looked to have finally arrived for good at Arbalet.

Still, if MYM get it together they are very dangerous for anyone in the lower bracket.