SK Gaming Edge Past Dignitas to Take First ELEAGUE Semifinal Spot

After four groups of regular play, ELEAGUE's second season comes down to this final week.

Eight teams are looking to make their mark and claim the prestigious title, and the action opens with some of the most heated quarterfinal battle of them all: the defending world champions SK Gaming taking on underdog-turned-elite team Dignitas.

Done and Dusted?

With the predictable Train and Nuke maps out of the way, either teams road to the semifinals would have to go through SK's Dust 2, Dignitas' Mirage and a deciding Overpass.

Unable to take what's become a sort of signature force-buy round after losing the pistol, SK Gaming came back in the first three gun rounds to level Dust 2, forcing Dignitas into an early timeout.

What followed was a series of wins for SK—relentlessly pushing on to the B-Site, picking off whoever Dignitas put on Plateau and getting a bomb plant. SK changing the pace up whenever Dignitas had a buy round and constantly trading one-for-one meant the Danes never got a man advantage. In the end, that struggling CT economy eventually led the Brazilians to comfortably amass a 10-round streak.

It was coldzera that spelled Dignitas' doom on Dust 2. A 1v3 clutch to defend the bomb plant was pretty par for the course in the first half of Dust 2. And a comfortable pistol win on SK's CT-side meant (despite the Danes finding a round) the map was all but over.

At IEM Oakland, FalleN talked about how SK had been working to improve their Dust 2. While they've been winning on it recently, it never looked as dominant as it did against Dignitas.

SK's Illusion of Control on Mirage

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Mirage was the same story but with a different result.

On Dignitas' map choice, SK looked out of their sorts; early lax defenses on their CT-side allowed Dignitas to even up the Brazilians' early rounds, even when the Danes were a man down.

And that situation would play out the same way for the rest of the half. SK looked answerless and completely out of control. Moments where they looked like they were composed were often followed by Dignitas outplaying them in crucial clutches.

In a 2v2 retake, TACO leaped out and decided to go in after getting the man advantage for SK. Miscommunication was never more apparent, though, as FalleN wasn't quite ready in position to efficiently and comfortably close out the round. Magisterial Magisk peaked, leveled the advantage and quickly disposed of the Brazilians.

Magisk—and his magical performance with the SG 553—showed up after a generally quiet Dust 2 and was the key to Dignitas evening up the score going into Overpass.

Overpass to Rule Them All

Now after back-to-back sweeps, everyone wondered if Overpass would be the map where we get the bloody battle we all expected from these two teams.

A composed first pistol and multiple shutdowns at Restroom (including two massive quad-kills from FalleN) saw SK Gaming jump out to a quick 3-0 lead over Dignitas. A decision to hold onto their 3 UMPs gave the Danes some ground to work with as they put themselves on the board.

But SK wouldn't be stopped. Mistakes turned into advantages, and suddenly FalleN and co. found themselves ending the first half 11-4 with the semifinals in their sights and another sweep on the horizon.

As the analysts said on the desk before, this is what SK needed; their T-Side on Overpass was shaky, so a strong lead going into the second half meant that Dignitas would be forced into a do-or-die pistol round.

If anything in the previous two map sweeps taught us anything, it was that the caliber of these two teams did not just exist on their home maps. With their backs against the wall, Dignitas took the pistol round. Ten rounds later, the Danes clawed themselves back into Overpass off of systematically controlling and puzzling the Brazilians—looking at times like their Mirage-selves only minutes ago.

With Dignitas leading 14-13 in the 28th round, SK played an incredibly passive T-side after fer read Magisk's aggressive push into Playground. With time dwindling down, SK made the right decision to push the B-site, overwhelming sole defender k0nfig. As they stormed the site, SK quickly turned the round into a 2v4, getting the bomb plant with 13 seconds remaining and forcing Dignitas into a one final full buy.

Again, SK favored a more passive approach in the penultimate round. After flashing cajunb off of his angle on Long A, the Brazilians let the clock tick down in favor of getting as much information as possible on Dignitas' CT setup. With 20 seconds remaining, SK frantically made their push into the B-site again where fer and TACO almost immediately went down. What seemed like a favorable position for Dignitas—a 3v2 on the bomb site with their last two teammates making the rotation—quickly turned into a disaster as FalleN picked up two kills with fnx taking down Magisk in his rotation.

A wrecked economy meant the Danish squad had a less-than-stellar buy going into the final round; losing that all-or-nothing 29th round sealed the series as it put Dignitas into a situation where SK clearly had the firepower advantage on match point. After FalleN out-aimed cajunb from Short A, the way was clear for SK to rush a pistol-equipped Dignitas and a spot in the semifinals, though not without their battle scars.