Extra Salt qualify for DreamHack Open January
Extra Salt have qualified for DreamHack Open January following victories over Bad News Bears and paiN in the event's Closed Qualifier.
Before that, paiN reached the Closed Qualifier after a decisive 2-0 series victory over the newly-signed Levitate side.
paiNLevitate| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
44 - 31 | +13 | 101.2 | 80.0% | 1.47 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
51 - 28 | +23 | 95.4 | 80.0% | 1.41 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
38 - 25 | +13 | 72.0 | 78.0% | 1.30 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
35 - 29 | +6 | 82.5 | 74.0% | 1.23 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
32 - 31 | +1 | 70.7 | 82.0% | 1.11 |
| Levitate |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 William 'rin' McGraw |
33 - 41 | -8 | 72.1 | 60.0% | 0.89 |
| Reece 'Wilky' Wilkerson |
29 - 40 | -11 | 66.2 | 64.0% | 0.87 |
| John 'yohan' Lee |
29 - 37 | -8 | 63.4 | 56.0% | 0.82 |
| Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin |
30 - 42 | -12 | 66.1 | 58.0% | 0.76 |
| Nicholas 'hate' Young |
21 - 42 | -21 | 55.4 | 52.0% | 0.62 |
While on the other side of the bracket, Peter "ptr" Gurney and Bad News Bears won a much more grueling 2-1 series against Recon 5, which ended in a triple overtime thriller on Nuke.
Bad News BearsRecon 5| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
72 - 60 | +12 | 75.0 | 68.8% | 1.18 |
 Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
65 - 77 | -12 | 84.9 | 66.7% | 1.04 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
61 - 57 | +4 | 65.4 | 78.1% | 1.03 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
65 - 67 | -2 | 68.7 | 72.9% | 1.01 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
61 - 72 | -11 | 73.9 | 66.7% | 0.95 |
| Recon 5 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
81 - 65 | +16 | 88.9 | 80.2% | 1.27 |
| Koby 'kobruh' Higgs |
75 - 64 | +11 | 77.4 | 75.0% | 1.20 |
| Jeff 'RZU' Ngo |
65 - 62 | +3 | 73.8 | 71.9% | 1.07 |
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
58 - 64 | -6 | 67.4 | 77.1% | 1.00 |
| Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
51 - 71 | -20 | 61.0 | 67.7% | 0.83 |
The wins set the two teams up to face invited sided High Coast and Extra Salt in the Closed Qualifier, with the latter having garnered their spot in the event as a result of the domino effect of oNe heading to Katowice.
In the Closed Qualifier, both matches in the first round of play ended 2-0, but the overall series scores belied close maps underneath — the largest round margin across the four maps being a scant four rounds. When all was said and done, however, it was paiN moving past High Coast and Josh "oSee" Ohm taking the win over Bad News Bears to advance to the upper bracket final.
High CoastpaiN| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
50 - 43 | +7 | 72.5 | 77.8% | 1.17 |
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
44 - 49 | -5 | 80.1 | 71.4% | 1.10 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
44 - 44 | +0 | 73.5 | 68.3% | 1.05 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
40 - 47 | -7 | 80.8 | 66.7% | 1.02 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
33 - 42 | -9 | 62.6 | 68.3% | 0.87 |
| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
53 - 48 | +5 | 85.6 | 69.8% | 1.13 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
49 - 40 | +9 | 73.5 | 73.0% | 1.13 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
44 - 39 | +5 | 76.6 | 74.6% | 1.12 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
44 - 40 | +4 | 68.7 | 66.7% | 1.03 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
35 - 45 | -10 | 70.2 | 65.1% | 0.91 |
Extra SaltBad News Bears| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
57 - 32 | +25 | 100.3 | 83.1% | 1.58 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
47 - 39 | +8 | 84.2 | 81.4% | 1.29 |
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
43 - 38 | +5 | 77.5 | 76.3% | 1.17 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
43 - 36 | +7 | 77.5 | 72.9% | 1.17 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
26 - 40 | -14 | 54.1 | 62.7% | 0.72 |
| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
41 - 44 | -3 | 84.4 | 69.5% | 1.01 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
39 - 44 | -5 | 67.8 | 69.5% | 0.94 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
36 - 46 | -10 | 72.6 | 66.1% | 0.93 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
38 - 41 | -3 | 64.7 | 57.6% | 0.91 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
31 - 42 | -11 | 63.7 | 64.4% | 0.80 |
In the lower bracket final, Bad News Bears were just barely able to hold off High Coast on Inferno after being up 11-3 at the half. They were not so lucky on Dust2, though, as a slim 8-7 lead slipped through their fingers and Ben "ben1337" Smith prevailed in overtime.
Bad News Bears' luck ran out on the decider of Train, with the newly-formed squad only managing two isolated rounds in the first half against a strong High Coast defense. A T-side pistol win for High Coast sealed the deal, ending the tournament for ptr and co.
Bad News BearsHigh Coast| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
68 - 54 | +14 | 84.9 | 72.3% | 1.23 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
55 - 56 | -1 | 71.6 | 67.5% | 0.98 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
49 - 63 | -14 | 72.2 | 66.3% | 0.96 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
49 - 59 | -10 | 60.7 | 65.1% | 0.87 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
49 - 65 | -16 | 71.9 | 63.9% | 0.85 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
76 - 58 | +18 | 93.8 | 75.9% | 1.36 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
52 - 52 | +0 | 89.3 | 75.9% | 1.14 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
56 - 57 | -1 | 70.9 | 75.9% | 1.06 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
59 - 55 | +4 | 74.7 | 72.3% | 1.02 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
53 - 49 | +4 | 63.8 | 68.7% | 0.98 |
The upper bracket final between Extra Salt and paiN was practically identical to the lower bracket final, though this time it was Extra Salt who mounted a comeback on Inferno after being down 4-11 at the half. Just like Bad News Bears, the American-South African side were then unable to convert a 8-7 lead on Dust2 into a win.
Nuke was not the outright drubbing that Train was in the previous series, but Extra Salt managed a comfortable 16-9 victory featuring some nifty AWP work from oSee.
Extra SaltpaiN| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
73 - 51 | +22 | 79.4 | 74.7% | 1.26 |
| Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
68 - 61 | +7 | 80.7 | 75.8% | 1.17 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
56 - 56 | +0 | 71.0 | 73.6% | 1.07 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
56 - 56 | +0 | 71.4 | 64.8% | 1.06 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
61 - 59 | +2 | 72.6 | 70.3% | 1.06 |
| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
73 - 57 | +16 | 78.9 | 75.8% | 1.20 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
62 - 66 | -4 | 77.0 | 65.9% | 1.01 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
55 - 59 | -4 | 72.9 | 65.9% | 1.00 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
56 - 66 | -10 | 72.2 | 67.0% | 0.97 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
36 - 67 | -31 | 52.0 | 57.1% | 0.61 |
The team list for DreamHack Open January is now:
| Rebirth |
Triumph |
| Extra Salt |
 TBA |
The final match of the Closed Qualifier will play out today between paiN and High Coast at 5PM EST, with the victors joining the above teams in next week's $30,000 main event.
