Jared W. June 27, 2019
Copenhagen Flames has won WINNERS League Season 2’s European league, besting Nemiga Gaming in the grand final.
The theme of the finals series was Nemiga’s inability to carry forward its momentum after getting off to hot starts.
The first map of Inferno saw Nemiga Gaming open up an early 6-1 lead on the map’s T side. Copenhagen Flames’ defense snapped back to attention in the eighth round and remained resilient through the remainder of the first half, giving the Danish side an 8-7 lead.
The second half was more of the same for the Danes, who would win five of the half’s first six rounds to establish a 13-8 lead. Nemiga tried fighting back but couldn’t recover, and the Flames took a 16-13 win.
Copenhagen Flames coach Daniel Vorborg credited the team’s opening map win to rigorous practice leading up to the final.
“Inferno was one of the maps we knew [Nemiga] liked to play, so we had to focus on improving on this specific map, which led to us being able to take the victory,” Vorborg said.
Nemiga again got off to a quick start on second map Overpass, opening up a 4-1 lead. But as before, Copenhagen Flames was quick to settle into its defense, giving up only one more round in taking a 10-5 halftime advantage. The first half’s turning point was a beautiful triple-kill from Fredrik “roeJ” Jorgensen that was converted into an ace.
Nemiga won another pistol round to start the second half, but as soon as Copenhagen Flames had established its economy the game was all but over. The Danish side won five straight rounds to close the second game 16-9 and complete the 2-0 series sweep.
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen was the top fragger for the winning side, compiling 40 frags and a +7 K/D differential across the two maps played. The top overall fragger was Nemiga’s Igor “lollipop21k” Solodkov, whose 44 frags outpaced his next closest teammate by nine.
The victory earned Copenhagen Flames a $7,000 share of the $50,000 overall WINNERS League prize pool. It’s the biggest result yet for the young Danish team whose roster was largely established in October 2018.
Vorborg credited WINNERS League officials with keeping the event running smoothly throughout the duration of the tournament.
“The staff around the league was always helpful and fast to answer, while also being understanding of the participating teams schedules,” Vorborg said.
The victory caps off another exciting season of WINNERS League competition in Europe, which saw many of the best upcoming players and teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive battling it out in front of thousands of live spectators.
WIN CEO Serge Vardanyan also credited the league’s success to those that worked so hard in organizing it, and thanked fans for tuning in.
“We appreciate all of the support we’ve received, and we’re happy to be contributing to CSGO and its community,” Vardanyan said. “We’re excited about how this season went, and we’re even more excited about the future.”