The second edition of the Alienware Area51 Cup has come to an end with Team Solomid reigning on the top.
Following the success with the North American cup, Curse decided to host yet another edition of their Alienware Area51 Cup but this time with the focus on European teams. The number of teams were reduced from eight to four and all was set for a great show being scheduled for May 29th. However, mousesports had to cancel their participation in the last minute which brought Team Dignitas in as their replacement.
In the opening match of the tournament we saw two Danish sides taking on each other. It is always very interesting to watch the old Dignitas' line-up taking on their new line-up. Those matches are always full of upsets and comebacks and it was the case with this one as well. TSM started off really well by showing a very strong T side on de_overpass which in the end helped them incredibly as Dignitas was so close to repeat the same success in the second half. The final score of this map was 16-13. The second map which was de_mirage, saw a totally one sided game where Dignitas had a full control of every aspect of the game. They finished off the first half with 12-3 lead which was followed by another 4 consecutive rounds on the T side for 16-3 finish and ended up tying this Bo3 series. After a very dominant performance on the second map, Dignitas were looking for an easy win on the third one as well. However, TSM showed why they are considered as one of the top 3 teams at this very moment. They literally crushed their fellow countrymen with 16-1 and sealed their fate in this tournament.
The second semi final duel brought us a match between always fun to watch Virtus.pro and a newly formed international team Kinguin. It was a real test for ScreaM and co. as they were matched against one of the most experienced and skilled teams in the current scene. The first map was de_mirage, which is also known as one of the favourite maps of VP. However, Kinguin had a jocker up their sleeve ready to cause a major upset. Finishing a solid CT side with 10-5, Kinguin couldn't really imagine how well they will do on a less favoured T side. The newly created team has managed to pick six rounds in a row for 16-5 and a 1-0 lead in this Bo3. On the following map, de_overpass, VP had to start really strong in order to overcome the deficit. They built a nice lead of 11-4, but Kinguin had enough power to bring it back to a tie and prolongue this map. In the overtime they managed to pick 2 rounds in each half for the final 19-17 and a place in the finals.
In the finals Kinguin had a real chance to test how far they can go as they were matched against Team Solomid, a team who's currently playing the top if not the best counter-strike in the scene. The maps were repeated from their duel against VP where the first one was de_mirage. TSM climbed up to 7 rounds on the T side which was enough to work with as they were moving over to CT. As CT, the Danes showed a very strong defense giving only 1 round to their opponents for the final 16-9. The second map was much closer than anyone would've expected. Kinguin had a perfect start, winning CT side with 14-1 score. However, TSM was close to one of the biggest comebacks as they managed to get back to 14 rounds when they finally fell to Kinguin for 16-14 and 1-1 in this series. The deciding map was de_cache which is also known as one of the favourite maps of TSM. They picked a nice amount of rounds on their CT side, 11-4, which, later on, turned out to be easy to capitalize for the final 16-8 and a win in this match.
Prize distribution:
1. 
Team Solomid - $7,000
2. 
Team Kinguin - $3,000
More content on GosuGamers:
