DreamHack Open December closed qualifier set to start

The tournament will feature eight teams and will have one spot in the $100,000 competition up for grabs.

Sangal, x6tence, Lyngby Vikings and K23 are through to Sunday's closed qualifier for DreamHack Open December after coming through the gruelling open qualifier. They will be joined by four invited teams in the next stage, a single-elimination bracket in which all matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

Apeks, North, Espada and kaban have all received invitations to compete in the closed bracket. North, the only top-30 team in attendance, face a tricky task in the quarter-finals against fellow Danish side x6tence, who have been fielding Jesper "⁠TENZKI⁠" Plougmann as their fifth player.

North will take on x6tence in the quarter-finals

One team that has done enough to get some attention from the community in this qualifier is Espada. The Russian side have been a stable presence around the top 30 in the last five months and boast one of the most in-form players in the CIS region in Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov, who has averaged a whopping 1.29 rating in the last three months.

Below you can find the opening match-ups for the qualifier:

Apeks vs. Sangal
kaban vs. K23
North vs. x6tence
Espada vs. Lyngby Vikings

The winner of the closed qualifier will become the fourth team confirmed in DreamHack Open December, joining SAW, Movistar Riders and XSET. The last four teams will be invited by the tournament organiser.

Movistar Riders #43 Lucas 'steel' LopesSebastian 'larsen' LarsenAlejandro 'alex' MasanetAlejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo CanoKristjan 'shokz' Jakobson x6tence #65 Magnus 'Nodios' OlsenDaniel 'mertz' MertzJonas 'Queenix' DideriksenMarcus 'maNkz' Kjeldsen Espada #32 Dmitriy 'Dimaoneshot' BandurkaDmitry 'S0tF1k' ForostyankoVladislav 'FinigaN' UsovAbdul 'degster' GasanovRobert 'Patsi' Isyanov Lyngby Vikings #66 Rasmus 'raalz' SteensborgMalthe 'Twinx' JensenThomas 'birdfromsky' Due-FrederiksenCasper 'Cabbi' JensenMathias 'Maccen' Madsen Jesper 'TENZKI' Plougmann Age: 26 Team: Nordavind Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1296 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.65 XSET Zainab 'zAAz' TurkieJulia 'juliano' KiranMichaela 'mimi' LintrupPetra 'Petra' StokerAnastasia 'kr4sy' Khlobystina kaban Roberts 'R0b3n' ČigauskisPavel 'PASHANOJ' LegostaevAleksandr 'zorte' ZagodyrenkoAleksandr 'KENSI' GurkinAleksandr 'KaiR0N-' Anashkin Abdul 'degster' Gasanov Age: 19 Team: Espada Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 378 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.61 SAW #29 Omar 'arki' ChakkorChristopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesRicardo 'roman' OliveiraTiago 'JUST' MouraRenato 'stadodo' Gonçalves North #21 René 'cajunb' BorgMathias 'MSL' LauridsenPhilip 'aizy' AistrupNicklas 'gade' GadeJonas 'Lekr0' Olofsson K23 #38 Rustem 'mou' TelepovSanzhar 'neaLaN' IskhakovNicolas 'Keoz' DgusDavid 'n0rb3r7' DanielyanAidos 'kade0' Khairzhan Apeks #95 Dennis 'dennis' EdmanJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadOle 'Marcelious' Kristian LanganSander 'Grus' IversenMartin 'Nasty' Garvik Sangal #90 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' KorEkrem 'l0gicman' AydinÖmer 'imoRR' Karataş