Groups drawn for DreamHack Open Winter
The group draw for DreamHack Open Winter has been announced by the tournament organizer:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 Gambit |
 mousesports |
 Heroic |
 EnVyUs |
 Natus Vincere |
 BIG |
 Rise Nation |
North Academy |
The Canadian/American squad of Rise Nation has been drawn into Group A against defending Major champions Gambit, the once CIS juggernaut of Natus Vincere, and Denmark's third best team in Heroic.
Every team present at the event, including North Academy, has more international experience than the boys of Rise Nation. The name of the game for the youngsters will be to soak up as much knowledge as possible, then return home and put it to use in finishing out their ESEA MDL Season 26 campaign — the last match of which will see them pitted against SoaR Gaming with an ESL Pro League spot on the line.
Rise Nation's last experience against international opponents came at the ESEA MDL Season 25 Global Challenge. At that event in Burbank, they made it out of their group and to the semi-finals, where they were handily outclassed by Space Soldiers.
DreamHack Open Winter will kick off on December 1st and run through that weekend. When all is said and done, the victors will walk away with half of the $100,000 prize pool.
