DreamHack Montreal's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament played just about the way it should have, in all but one way. The semifinals featured the best teams at the tournament. Cloud9 played against North, and Immortals against Counter Logic Gaming, with North and Immortals making the grand finals.
Unfortunately, the tournament ended in controversy as three players from Immortals showed up late to both their matches against CLG and North on the final day. Immortals had to forfeit the first map of the grand final because of the tardiness. And after losing the second map 16-9, Immortals were eliminated, making North the champions of DreamHack Montreal.
"Apologies to #IMTCSGO fans," Immortals CEO Noah Whinston posted on Twitter. "We will address this internally. Actions should have consequences. Thanks for enforcing the rules @DreamHackCSGO."
"To be clear, I'm not prescribing punishment," Whinston added in another tweet. "Everyone deserves to tell their side of the story. But this will not get swept under the rug."
North won convincingly in its semifinal, proving that it is currently a cut above its North American opponent. North won 16-6 on C9's map pick, Train, and won a tighter 16-11 on Cobblestone. The victories helped North establish its updated roster as one of the best on both maps. This is the second LAN for C9 with this roster, and a second disappointing result. Because of these shortcomings, there will be a lot of pressure on this North American dream team to perform at ELEAGUE Premier and IEM Oakland, as the roster is expected to contend for titles in the near future.
On the other side of the bracket, Immortals defeated CLG in two close games, 16-14 and 16-10 respectively. Despite the loss, this was a decent performance from the CLG squad, which showed it can trade punches with top-10 teams. However, fans have been waiting for this roster to take the next step after its impressive finishes at Star Series and DreamHack Open Summer, and this result was more of a sideways move.
Coming into this tournament, North was expected to make it to the grand finals, but the Danish team was after a trophy. Although North's win is a little less sweet due to the circumstances surrounding the final, it made the most of the opportunities given to it and finished the event undefeated.