Gambit have secured the final spot in the DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter playoffs after defeating Cloud9 on three maps (6-16 on Mirage, 16-2 on Cobblestone and 16-11 on Dust2)

The series began on Mirage, Cloud9's map pick, but it was Gambit who came out the brighter as they got out to a 3-0 lead on the CT side. Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham gave Cloud9 their first round of the game with a trio of Desert Eagle kills, and it was the start of a great run from the North Americans, who limited Gambit to just four rounds in the first half.

Cloud9 added to their lead by winning the pistol round with a flawless A hold, with Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta picking up three kills. A triple kill from Rustem "⁠mou⁠" Telepov in a force buy still gave Gambit some hope, but Cloud9 kept their composure and took the map, 16-6.

Cobblestone was the map that followed, and it turned out to be the polar opposite of the first. Gambit stormed to a 9-0 lead as Cloud9 failed to break through their opponents' defense. Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip then gave North American fans a reason to cheer with a 1v2 clutch, but the European team rallied back right after and closed out the half with a commanding 13-2 lead.

Gambit through to the playoffs 

Gambit piled more misery on Cloud9 with a fast B execute, overturning a 2on4 situation thanks to a quad kill from Mihail "⁠Dosia⁠" Stolyarov. The Kazakhstani team would go on to win the next two rounds to lock down the map, 16-2, and take the series to Dust2.

Much to everyone's surprise, Gambit carried their momentum into the final map and cruised to a massive 9-1 lead on the Terrorist side. Cloud9 then went on a run of their own, stringing three rounds together, but Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov powered his team to an 11-4 scoreline with some crucial AWP kills.

Cloud9 say goodbye to DreamHack Winter

Gambit picked up where they left off and reached match point while giving up just three rounds. Cloud9 refused to throw in the towel, however, and won four rounds in a row to put some pressure on their opponents, but Gambit eventually took the map, 16-11, and the series.

DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter 2016Best of 3 GambitMatchpage 2 1 25th November 2016 Cloud9 6Mirage 16 16Cobblestone 2 16Dust2 11

Gambit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Rustem 'mou' Telepovmou	57 - 34	+23	86.9	1.34
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	46 - 40	+6	74.4	1.11
Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevAdreN	52 - 42	+10	71.6	1.11
Mihail 'Dosia' StolyarovDosia	43 - 42	+1	74.0	1.10
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	36 - 45	-9	73.3	0.94

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	52 - 46	+6	81.3	1.13
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	46 - 47	-1	79.5	1.08
Mike 'shroud' Grzesiekshroud	43 - 49	-6	62.2	0.90
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	34 - 45	-11	58.2	0.86
Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbertn0thing	28 - 48	-20	61.6	0.76

Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov Age: 22 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 131 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.67 Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham Age: 23 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 575 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.58 Rustem 'mou' Telepov Age: 25 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 524 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.67 Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 18 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 351 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.70 Mihail 'Dosia' Stolyarov Age: 28 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 907 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Timothy 'autimatic' Ta Age: 20 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 390 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68