Torqued to Tours; the boys are back in town
The finals for the DreamHack Open Tours North American Closed Qualifier have concluded, with Torqued just barely edging out compLexity to claim their spot at the main event in May.
Torqued's run from the Open Qualifiers, all the way through the Closed Qualifiers, was a reality that almost didn't come to fruition. Joshua "steel" Nissan Tweeted a post-victory "thank you" to community members for helping him find the sign-up information for their last second addition:
Their path through both single-elimination qualifiers was studded with victories over countless notable teams, including: Bravado, Ghost, Swole Patrol, and compLexity.
Torqued's final series that would ultimately secure their spot at the DreamHack Open Tours went to a nail-biting three maps against compLexity, the details of which can be found below.
The first map of the deciding series began on Inferno, Torqued's pick. After picking up the first pistol round on their CT-side, compLexity's defense quickly fell to shambles as Torqued responded in kind with five rounds of their own. Despite Torqued's more than reasonable 8-7 halftime lead on the Terrorist side, compLexity steamrolled over their defense after switching sides, wrapping up the first map in a swift 16-9 finish.
As the two teams transitioned over to Cobblestone, compLexity took an early three round lead on their T-side. Once their economy had stabilized, Torqued took control of the half with a tight defense, leaving only scattered single rounds for compLexity to rack up. Going into the second half with another 8-7 scoreline in their favor, Torqued started off rocky again, losing yet another pistol and the subsequent two rounds. They went on a tear of six rounds and reached map point before compLexity would piece together a defense to bring the game to it's 30th round. Torqued's perseverence shined as they closed it out 16-14.
Also read: DreamHack show Valve how it should be done, release full Open qualifier schedule for 2018The final map of the series was left up to Nuke, a decider map that is historically anyone's game. compLexity's early game vigor continued, as they claimed the first four rounds on their CT-side. Similarly, Torqued's mid-late game adaptation manifested as it had in the previous maps, allowing them to control the rest of the half until a 9-6 scoreline in their favor. It was a neck-and-neck struggle between the two until the bitter end, but it was Torqued who persevered until their 16-14 victory.
ComplexityTorqued| Complexity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bradley 'ANDROID' Fodor |
66 - 51 | +15 | 82.5 | 71.8% | 1.22 |
 Rory 'dephh' Jackson |
65 - 63 | +2 | 85.3 | 68.2% | 1.15 |
 Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
58 - 57 | +1 | 71.5 | 76.5% | 1.11 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
62 - 56 | +6 | 73.0 | 74.1% | 1.09 |
| Alec 'Slemmy' White |
36 - 57 | -21 | 49.1 | 67.1% | 0.73 |
| Torqued |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth 'koosta' Suen |
64 - 52 | +12 | 70.8 | 80.0% | 1.14 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
60 - 57 | +3 | 78.0 | 68.2% | 1.11 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
56 - 61 | -5 | 82.9 | 70.6% | 1.11 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
52 - 61 | -9 | 72.9 | 71.8% | 0.98 |
| Keven 'AZK' Lariviere |
52 - 58 | -6 | 58.5 | 75.3% | 0.90 |
Joining Torqued are AGO, winners of the European Closed Qualifiers. The remaining six teams attending DreamHack Open Tours have yet to be announced.
