The second day of DreamHack Summer 2013 is in the books with six teams remaining in the competition. Only iTS and the Chinese team of KungFu Gaming will not get the pleasure to play on Day 3 - the rest of the bunch is. Flawless Group Stage - now Lower Bracket After the most recent clinic that Stay Green put on in online and offline competition, flawless performances in any stages of the events might seem pretty common, but still credit were credit is due. Stay Green Europe has played one heck of a Group Stage and edged out every single opponent during that phase. Their list of victims from Day 1 included compLexity Gaming, KungFu Gaming, iMpunity and the Thai team of MiTH. Sorry Sorry. Today they finished the flawless performance in the early phase of the tournament with a crushing performance against their inner rivals of the original Stay Green and a hard-fought victory against the young squad of Vietnamese Dream Team. It was done for the team around Mynuts and Fittske, they did it - they finished the Group Stage without dropping a map. They did not only not drop a map, but in no match they really seemed challenged or on the verge of losing. Unfortunately the streak of the Group Stage did not translate over to the Championship Bracket. In a rematch against their brother team of Stay Green they suffered a pretty terrible defeat. The first map was one of the greatest matches played at DreamHack so far. sG.eu was in complete control of the game in the early stages, but then gave away their advantage and let Swindle and his crew mount a huge comeback into the game. The confidence returned to the original sG and the second map was a bit more decisive. Now the 7-2 team faces the SEA challenge of iMpunity in the Lower Bracket. What a difference a day makes Vietnamese Dream Team were the story of the first day of the HoN competition, but their star faded away a bit on Day 2. After an impressive 4-1 start into the tournament the young and inexperienced roster had to deal with some LAN jitters and choking. They did not only lose the two remaining Group Stage matches against sG.eu and KFG, but also their Upper Bracket match against compLexity Gaming. Despite making a ballsy statement with a Berzerker pick in Game 1 and a Gemini pick in Game 2, the team could not beat the team of bkid. On Map 1 the team looked pretty good, even with their unconventional picking style, but great initiation and coordination by compLexity prevented them from losing. Basically every single team fight was beautifully coordinated and gave coL the edge. After that they could build up enough of slow and disable for Berzerker to constantly kite him back-and-forth to neutralize his crushing blows. The second game was similar to sG vs. sG.eu with vdT's spirit fairly low. coL had an easier time and brought down the dreams of the Swedish team as a result. After the match VnSensation stated that he will not lose the focus over this, as his goal is still securing a spot in the Top 4. The last obstacle on the path of achieving that is MiTH in the Lower Bracket Round 2. SEA's hopes With KungFu Gaming already out of the mix, SEA only has two teams left in the race for a first DreamHack Championship for the proud HoN region. MiTH.s2y and iMpunity had their ups and downs during the Group Stage - granted for iMpunity it were mostly downs - but they are still hanging in the competition with a puncher's chance. Today MiTH.s2y went from a good and solid performance against KFG, to a horrible stomp against compLexity Gaming only to come back in the Lower Bracket match and defeat the winless Russians of iTS. The consistency is still a bit of an issue for the Thai team, that is proudly representing their region in the tournament, but skill wise they could even mess with Vietnamese Dream Team tomorrow. All five members are eager to prove themselves and they all get a lot of rest before stepping into the ring again - this time with their tournament lifes on the line. The same goes for iMpunity, who have rebounded a bit after a horrific start into the tournament yesterday. After going 0-5 initially, the even went as far down as 0-6 with a loss against compLexity Gaming - one that MoonMeander really wanted to achieve. After that they could beat iTS and sweep KungFu Gaming out of the tournament. In those matches against KFG, they finally showed what they are made off with a brutal beat down of the Chinese on Map 1, followed by a close but well-played decider on Map 2. Still both teams need to step up to the plate and deliver a lot better outings tomorrow, with sG.eu (for iMp) and Vietnamese Dream Team (for MiTH.s2y) coming up. Already out Yesterday no elimination took place, today the DreamHack competition is waving farewell to two teams already. iTS and KungFu Gaming were the clear underdogs heading into this competitions and both are out first in the tournament. Still both eliminations have a different story with iTS not winning a single game and KungFu Gaming raising some heads with their 3-4 record in the Group Stage. For iTS the "Cinderella Story" did not occur and so the team suffered defeats and blowouts left, right and center. After all was set and done not a single map success is on their record. The presence of DreamHack veteran NoVa or the power of the two remaining real iTS members Bless`N`Fire and Love`N`Stuff was not enough to lead the CIS team to a better finish. The performance did not increase the respect of the western scene for either iTS or the CIS region in general, but in fairness the extreme circumstances of the team need to be mentioned. From the original five members only two actually attended, from the two designated ringers with competitive HoN experience, no one could make it. That is not a cure or excuse for all, but the team that is known as iTS at least has more coordination and chemistry together - due to playing together for quite a long time. KungFu Gaming on the other side has a lot of positives to look back at. The squad was called dead from the western community right from the start, but once they started playing they looked in decent shape. Some communication issues were there, the coordination and cohesiveness was obviously not there due to circumstances, but overall they don't have to feel ashamed for their outing at DreamHack Summer 2013. Three wins, one of those against a well-respected team in iMpunity are certainly a good turnout for a squad just formed for this event. DreamHack Summer Coverage Hub
