North are through to the upper bracket final at the ICE Challenge after beating AVANGAR 2-1 in their opening match.

The best-of-three series kicked off on Mirage where the CT-sided North picked up the pistol round. AVANGAR responded in the third round as Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali clutched a 1vs2 and the Kazakhstani side secured five of the following six rounds to lead 6-3.

North finished the first half 9-6 ahead by winning six in a row and extended their lead to 10-6 after a successful post-plant in the second pistol round. Just like in the first half, AVANGAR won the first weapon round, trailing 11-7.

valde was unstoppable on Inferno

Jame & company got within a round of North but couldn't tie the game at 12-12 as Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup and Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså picked up double kills to secure the 24th round (13-11). Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller finished off the map with two AWP kills as North won it 16-12.

North started Cache on the T-side where they won the pistol round for the third time in the series as valde got a triple kill. AVANGAR's success in the first gun round also continued, with Alexey "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev’s triple kill in the third round giving AVANGAR their first round of the map (2-1).

North found themselves in a tough situation in the seventh round as they trailed 4-2 and had no money. However, valde and Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade's Deagle kills opened up the round, which the Danes won to make it 4-3. valde tied the game at 4-4 with his two opening kills in the following round and North went on to lead 8-7 at halftime.

AVANGAR will face Natus Vincere in the lower bracket

valde got three kills to defend the B-site in the second pistol round, which was enough for his team to win it. After losing another round, AVANGAR won eight of the following ten rounds to earn three map points (15-12). Jame clutched a 1vs3 in the 29th round to give AVANGAR the 16-13 map victory.

On Inferno, Jame picked up from where he left off, clutching a 1vs3 in the pistol round. The CT-sided North made it 1-1 by winning a 3vs3 post-plant in the second round. Then, valde got eight kills in the following three rounds, all of which went to North (4-1). AVANGAR were unable to string together two or more rounds on the T-side and trailed 11-4 at halftime.

North extended their lead to 12-4 by winning the second pistol and added another one to their tally after none of the ten players on the server died in a 5vs5 post-plant in the 17th round. North won the map 16-9, wrapping up the series 2-1 and moving on to the upper bracket final in London.

GG.BET ICE Challenge 2019Best of 3 AVANGARMatchpage 1 2 5th February 2019 North 12Mirage 16 16Cache 13 9Inferno 16

AVANGAR	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	75 - 39	+36	80.8	1.39
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	62 - 57	+5	81.1	1.17
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	50 - 60	-10	78.7	1.02
Aidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovKrizzeN	40 - 56	-16	60.0	0.83
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytovfitch	42 - 56	-14	58.3	0.82

North	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangsåvalde	70 - 53	+17	83.9	1.23
Nicklas 'gade' Gadegade	62 - 62	0	80.3	1.07
Philip 'aizy' Aistrupaizy	51 - 51	0	72.5	1.01
Markus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeKjaerbye	42 - 50	-8	62.5	0.90
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	43 - 53	-10	55.0	0.82

Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 20 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 419 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.57 AVANGAR #22 Bektiyar 'fitch' BahytovTimur 'buster' TulepovAidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev Age: 20 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 500 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Age: 23 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 725 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Nicklas 'gade' Gade Age: 24 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 501 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.67 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller Age: 23 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 862 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 North #11 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerPhilip 'aizy' AistrupMarkus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeNicklas 'gade' GadeValdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Philip 'aizy' Aistrup Age: 22 Team: North Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1170 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67