AVANGAR defeated Renegades 2-0 today and will now move forward to the StarLadder Berlin Major grand finals.
All of the AVANGAR players except for Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev will play their first Major grand finals. The Khazaks haven’t lost a series since they beat Renegades in the New Legends Stage’s second round. They defeated stronger teams so far, including Team Liquid and G2 Esports and, most recently, Vitality in the quarterfinals.
The first map Mirage went the full distance, but AVANGAR won after the second overtime despite Justin “jks” Savage’s efforts. The Australian rifler finished the game with 39 kills, more than any of his teammates. On AVANGAR’s side, Dzhami “Jame” Ali and Alexey “qikert” Golubev made the difference with their opening kills.
If Mirage was a close duel, Dust II was exactly the opposite. AVANGAR scored 10 consecutive rounds in their T-side and lost only one round in their CT-side, winning the game 16-6. Qikert shined with 24 kills and jks, once again, was the best player for Renegades with 18 kills.
Not only has AdreN competed in a Major grand final, but he won it with Gambit at the PGL Kraków Major in July 2017 where he received the MVP trophy. If AVANGAR win tomorrow, AdreN will be the only CIS player to have earned two Major titles.
Renegades failed to show their best form in the second map against AVANGAR, but their campaign throughout this Major was remarkable after they recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the New Legends Stage. Futhermore, Renegades became the first Australian team to reach the semifinals of a Major.
AVANGAR will play against the winner of NRG vs. Astralis. The grand finals will take place tomorrow at 11am CT and you can keep up with the StarLadder Berlin Major playoff results here.
