Chaos nip Liquid in DreamHack Spring - NA opener

Chaos Esports Club came from behind to beat Team Liquid 2-1 on Tuesday in the opening match of the DreamHack Masters Spring - North America event. The DreamHack Masters Jonkoping, a $250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, originally was scheduled to be contested with 16 teams June 9-14 in Jonkoping, Sweden. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the event to move to an online format featuring regional competitions for Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania.

The DreamHack Masters Spring - North America includes eight teams vying for a $100,000 prize pool. The group stage will run through May 30, with the teams divided into two four-team groups for round-robin play consisting of best-of-three matches. Both group winners will advance to the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs, and the second- and third-place teams from each group will enter the lower bracket of the playoffs. All playoff matches will be best-of-three except for the best-of-five final on June 14.

The DreamHack Masters Spring - Europe bracket, with 16 teams competing for $160,000, started Tuesday and runs through June 14. The four-team tournaments for both Asia and Oceania, each with a $20,000 prize pool, are scheduled for June 2-7. In North American Group A action on Tuesday, Liquid jumped in front with a 16-4 win on Inferno, but Chaos bounced back to claim Mirage 16-11. On the decisive third map, Overpass, Chaos prevailed 16-13.

Rifler Erick "Xeppaa" Bach, a 19-year-old Floridian, was Chaos' leader, producing 62 kills and a team-best plus-12 kill-death differential. The star of the match, however, was Liquid's Keith "NAF" Markovic, a 22-year-old Canadian. NAF recorded 72 kills and a plus-25 kill-death differential.

The lone match on the Wednesday schedule features the other two Group A teams, MIBR and FURIA Esports. Group A will conclude its round robin on Sunday before Group B runs Monday through May 30.

DreamHack Masters Spring - North America standings, with win-loss record and point differential Group A

1. Chaos Esports Club, 1-0, minus-4 T2. FURIA Esports, 0-0, event

T2. MIBR, 0-0, even 4. Team Liquid, 0-1, plus-4

Group B T1. 100 Thieves, 0-0, even

T1. Cloud0, 0-0, even T1. Evil Geniuses, 0-0, even

T1. Gen.G Esports, 0-0, even --Field Level Media