Renegades secure DreamHack Open Summer over Avant Gaming

Nicholas Taifalos
August 10, 2020

The Renegades have kicked off the new CS:GO season on a high with a solid performance at DreamHack Open Summer, taking down a new-look AVANT Gaming 3-1 (1-0, 13-16, 16-12, 16-11) to claim the championship.


Joshua ‘INS’ Potter must have forgotten to take time off over the player break as the Renegades rifler ran rampant over his opponents, averaging an incredible 25 kills a map on his way to the event MVP (1.38 HLTV rating, +54 kill differential, 99.7 ADR).


Renegades teammate and captain Chris ‘dexter’ Nong (1.17 rating, +24 K/Diff) continued his stellar consistent form for 2020 across their eight maps, with Jordan ‘Hatz’ Bajic (1.08 rating, +5 K/Diff) & Simon ‘Sico’ Williams (1.06 rating, +15 K/Diff) contributing heavily to the team’s successes.

Jordan "Hatz" Bajic of Renegades at IEM Katowice (Source: HLTV)


Mike ‘ap0c’ Aliferis once again showed his potential in AVANT’s sixth grand final of 2020, topping the scoreboard (1.27 rating, 73-56 K/D, 93 ADR) despite the loss, while new fifth Hugh ‘HUGHMUNGUS’ Anderson (1.12 rating, 57-50 K/D, 71 ADR) recovered from nausea on day one to post an admirable effort in his AVANT debut.


Eyes were on ORDER, who finished last season strongly with wins over both Renegades and AVANT in respective finals, but the ESL ANZ Season 11 champions and ESL Pro League OCE representatives could not convert their early win over AVANT, dropping to Renegades 0-2 (10-16, 17-19) and AVANT 0-2 (13-16, 7-16) in the lower bracket rematch.


Fourth squad Rooster were admirable in defeat, pushing Renegades to the limit in the second opening match and claiming a map against the eventual champions, but ultimately it was an expected 4th place finish for the young outfit after a 1-2 loss to AVANT. Corey ‘nettik’ Browne (1.14 rating, +10 K/Diff) was instrumental in Rooster’s run and while they finished without a series win, they continue to threaten a boilover against the top three.


With Renegades through to the final, it was left to ORDER and AVANT to battle out for the second finalist position in the lower bracket. An early masterclass from Jared ‘HaZR’ O’Bree (1.67 rating, 33-18 K/D, 121 ADR) saw AVANT take Train in a nailbiter 16-13, before an almost perfect CT side on Inferno locked them into the final, eliminating ORDER 16-7.

Liam "malta" Schembri of Renegades at IEM Katowice (Source: HLTV)


With the map advantage from the upper bracket, Renegades were once again tested on their CT side by an aggressive AVANT outfit, now on their second series of the day. Leading 9-6 at the half and ap0c (1.69 rating, 33-16, 109 ADR) firing on all cylinders, an upset was brewing.


Despite INS and dexter’s best efforts RNG couldn’t hold onto a Nuke recovery, going down 13-16, but wasted no time on their Mirage T side. A combined 66 kills from Hatz, Sico and Dexter held off an attempted mid-game recovery from AVANT, once again led by ap0c, to secure series point 16-12 and opening up AVANT’s pick of Dust 2.


Four bomb plants in five rounds had AVANT ahead in rounds and economy but crucial successful retakes saved RNG’s CT half, leading 9-6 at the break, and a converted pistol round had Renegades up by six.


AVANT fought back with four of their own including two successful bomb defuses but the ever-consistent dexter (1.37 rating, 28-18, 95 ADR) ensured a fifth map wouldn’t be needed, taking the map and series 16-11.


With the top teams clearing out the cobwebs, the OCE CS:GO season will now turn to the Perfect World Oceanic League Fall in late August, which will determine Oceania’s representative to the ESL One: Rio Major in November.


DreamHack Open Summer 2020 - Oceania

1. Renegades - $17,500

2. AVANT Gaming - $10,000

3. ORDER - $7,500

4. Rooster - $5,000

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