SK grind past North, 16

SK and North, two first round winners, played on Cobblestone to try and get one step closer to the playoffs. Finally, it was the Brazilian side coming out on top after 30 rounds, 16-14.

The second match of the second round started out with North winning the pistol round on CT side, but SK thanks to a big quad kill by Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo. The Brazilian side was then able to take the 3-1 lead, but were unable to further extend their lead in the fifth round.

With North having taken the lead, 4-3, René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg held long A with four kills with the AWP to further extend the Danish team’s lead. In keeping the match close and chaotic, SK won a pistol buy to get the match back within one round, 5-4.

With the match tied back up at 5-5, SK started to grab momentum in the half, and took the lead once again, 6-5, but were then once again stopped by North on a force buy, further destabilizing the half.

SK on the brink of making it to the playoffs with a 2-0 record

With 6-6 on the board, SK were able to get a plant, but Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup was able to get the best of FalleN in a 1vs1 to get North back in the driving seat, 7-6. Once again, aizy and FalleN found themselves in another 1vs1 after plant, and once again the Danish player clutched it out to take control of the half.

Down 9-6, SK won the crucial second pistol round to tie it back up before the first gun round. SK got the 10-9 lead, but once again aizy won a 1vs1 to get the match tied back up. SK then were able to chain a few rounds in a row to establish a solid lead, 13-10.

North started to mount a comeback, though, and got the match all the way to 14-14 with smart calculated attacks. The Brazilians were finally able to stick it out, though, winning the fifteenth round to get on match point. Three AWP kills in the last round by Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo gave SK the last round, for a 16-14 final score.

IEM Sydney 2017Best of 1 SKMatchpage 16 14 3rd May 2017 North 16Cobblestone 14

SK	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	26 - 19	+7	98.1	1.32
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN	25 - 16	+9	81.0	1.25
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO	19 - 19	0	74.6	1.10
João 'felps' Vasconcellosfelps	21 - 20	+1	67.5	1.03
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	18 - 20	-2	65.4	1.00

North	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Philip 'aizy' Aistrupaizy	20 - 19	+1	79.4	1.16
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	25 - 25	0	101.4	1.16
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wieneckek0nfig	21 - 19	+2	71.1	1.02
René 'cajunb' Borgcajunb	18 - 19	-1	63.9	0.95
Mathias 'MSL' LauridsenMSL	10 - 27	-17	51.1	0.52

With SK taking the first 2-0 spot, this is how the IEM Sydney Swiss stage stands:

2-0	1-1	1-0	0-1	0-2
SK	OpTic	Astralis	Chiefs	ViCi
	North	FaZe	Renegades

Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo Age: 22 Team: SK Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 399 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.64 René 'cajunb' Borg Age: 27 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 959 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 ViCi #118 Zhuo 'advent' LiangWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongZhiHong 'aumaN' LiuWingHei 'Freeman' CheungLinXiao 'JeXeN' Wang Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzMarkus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 25 Team: SK Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 536 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.60 North #5 René 'cajunb' BorgMathias 'MSL' LauridsenPhilip 'aizy' AistrupEmil 'Magisk' ReifKristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Renegades #23 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardKarlo 'USTILO' PivacNoah 'Nifty' FrancisNemanja 'nexa' Isaković SK #4 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloJoão 'felps' Vasconcellos FaZe #2 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenAleksi 'allu' JalliNikola 'NiKo' KovačFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyHåvard 'rain' Nygaard OpTic #13 William 'RUSH' WierzbaOscar 'mixwell' CañellasKeith 'NAF' MarkovicTarik 'tarik' CelikJason 'jasonR' Ruchelski Chiefs #78 Tyler 'tucks' ReillyPeter 'pecks' NguyenAlistair 'aliStair' JohnstonJoshua 'INS' PotterLiam 'malta' Schembri Philip 'aizy' Aistrup Age: 20 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 767 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68