Natus Vincere are the Champions of DreamHack Winter 2017
Natus Vincere are the Champions of DreamHack Winter 2017
Natus Vincere defeated mousesports 2-0 in the Grand Finals of DreamHack Winter 2017, claiming their first victory at a major tournament since ESL One: New York 2016.
DreamHack Winter 2017 was held on December 1-3 at Elmia Exhibition and Convention Centre in Jönköping, Sweden. In the group stage eight participating teams were divided into two groups with GSL format. Top two teams advanced to the playoffs, while the other teams were eliminated from the tournament.
Group Stage
| Group A | Group B | |||||||||
| 1. | Gambit Esports | 2-0 | 47-38 | +9 | 1. | Team EnVyUs | 2-0 | 35-29 | +6 | |
| 2. | Natus Vincere | 2-1 | 85-75 | +10 | 2. | mousesports | 2-1 | 60-34 | +26 | |
| 3. | Heroic | 1-2 | 76-76 | 0 | 3. | BIG | 1-2 | 69-80 | -11 | |
| 4. | Rise Nation | 0-2 | 29-48 | -17 | 4. | North Academy | 0-2 | 35-56 | -21 | |
Probably the most entertaining match in the group stage was played between two CIS-teams Natus Vincere vs Gambit Gaming in Group A: not only Zeus and Kane played against their previous major-winning team, but also the first game ever played between these teams lasted for almost 60 rounds. The match ended 31-28 in the favor of Gambit, but in the end both teams made it to the playoffs, where they faced Team EnVyUs and mousesports from Group B. The playoffs series were played in a best-of-three format.
Playoff
In the playoffs Natus Vincere outplayed in a convincing fashion both EnVyUs and mouz, claiming their first victory at a major tournament since ESL New York 2016, which was held on October 2016.
Prize pool distribution:
| Place | $ USD | Team |
| 1 | $50,000 | Natus Vincere |
| 2 | $20,000 | mousesports |
| 3-4 | $10,000 |
Team EnVyUs, Gambit Esports |
| 5-6 | $3,000 |
Heroic, BIG |
| 7-8 | $2,000 |
Rise Nation, North Academy |