The Finns took down AGO on Nuke and Mirage in the grand final to claim the title.
Snow Sweet Snow 2 has come to an end after ten days of play, with HAVU claiming the $44,000 grand prize over AGO in a two-map final on Nuke (16-8) and Mirage (16-11). The Finns ended their tournament campaign with a clean 7-0 record and have an ongoing 15-match winning streak dating all the way back to February 22.
HAVU had made their way to the final match against AGO after topping the Swiss stage with a 3-0 record before taking out Anonymo, Sprout and Winstrike in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Polish squad lost only one match in the Swiss stage, to Winstrike, before beating SINNERS, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Copenhagen Flames in the playoffs.
The former ENCE duo of Jani "Aerial" Jussila and Sami "xseveN" Laasanen were crucial components in HAVU’s Snow Sweet Snow 2 run as the top rated players on the team and had equally impacting performances in the grand final.
xseveN was the top player at the tournament with a 1.32 rating in 18 maps
HAVU got off to a stellar start in the grand final on their map pick, Nuke, as Aerial tore through AGO’s defenses for the Finns to take a 10-5 lead at the half. The 27-year-old kept mowing down players in the second half, felling three rivals in the pistol round and four in the anti-eco as HAVU stayed ahead despite some pushback in the first gun rounds to close the map out 16-8 and take the series lead.
The Finnish squad didn’t let down on Mirage and took a comfortable 7-1 lead on the CT side of their rivals’ map pick, although AGO made a game of it by bringing it to within three before the switch. The poles tied things up after half time, but HAVU didn’t skip a beat with a red-hot xseveN leading the way as they hit match point, 15-11, before Lasse "ZOREE" Uronen put the finishing touch on the following round with a 1vs3 clutch to end it then and there.
Snow Sweet Snow 2Best of 3 AGOMatchpage 0 2 10th March 2021 HAVU 8Nuke 16 11Mirage 16