LDLC are through to the MLG X Games Aspen grand final following a 2-1 victory over dignitas (16-10 on de_dust2, 14-16 on de_inferno and 16-5 on de_cache).

Starting off on the Terrorist side on de_dust2, dignitas went for a mid-B split in the pistol round, and it almost worked out really well for them, but LDLC executed a great retake to deny the Danish team.

After losing the first eco round, dignitas went on a full buy, a move that did not pay off as they were left frustrated in the middle and then in short by Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer, who got four kills with the Famas.

In the following gun round, a teamkill from Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon in long early on almost proved costly, but Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey saved the day with two wallbang kills in the B doors when dignitas were entering the site.

With the scoreline 8-0 in favour of LDLC, dignitas managed to win back-to-back rounds after going for the B site twice, but the French side quickly regained control of the match and conceded just one more round before the break as they were leading 12-3 when switching to the Terrorist side.

The second half began with LDLC being completely slaughtered in B following a fast entry into the site, with Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen  playing a crucial role in stopping the rush with two important kills. Despite being on the brink of winning both anti-eco rounds, LDLC then showed some sloppy play in gun rounds, which allowed dignitas to reduce the deficit to 10-12.

In the 23rd round, LDLC got a free pass into short as dignitas placed three men in long, and that turned out to be the turning point in the game as the French team ended the Danes' winning streak and then picked up the following three rounds to run out 16-10 winners.

LDLC played really well on de_dust2

Next up was de_inferno, where LDLC, who started out on the Terrorist side, got off to a flying start, winning the pistol round without losing a single player as they pushed A.

After winning the first two anti-eco rounds, LDLC surprised everyone with a no-nonsense middle push that caught dignitas off-guard as the Danish team did not have enough time to use their grenades.

Double kills from Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg then gave dignitas their first round of the map, but the Danish team’s recovery was short lived as LDLC got another round on the board following an A split. It was only then that dignitas finally managed to get their game going and to use their grenades to halt LDLC’s rushes, which allowed Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen’s men to pick up five rounds in a row and take a 6-5 lead.

A triple kill from Happy during an A push then levelled the score on six rounds. The two teams then exchanged some rounds, but in the end dignitas secured a narrow 8-7 lead, a scoreline that certainly made LDLC’s players very happy as they were about to play on the highly-favoured CT side.

LDLC picked up where they had left off and won the pistol round to restore parity on eight rounds. A third-round buy from dignitas stunned their opponents and set the score at 9-9, but then a quad kill from Happy in B put the French side back in the lead.

After taking an 11-9 lead, LDLC then conceded two rounds in a row following two B pushes from dignitas, but the French side immediately regained some momentum thanks to kioShiMa’s triple kill in the middle. dignitas then tied it up 12-12 following yet another B push. Back-to-back rounds then went to LDLC, but dignitas won the last four rounds of the map to take the game to de_cache.

dignitas equalised the series

The final map of the series was de_cache, where dignitas, who began on the CT side, were punished for their aggressive play in the pistol round as LDLC entered the A site easily, with Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt getting four kills to his name.

LDLC piled some more pressure on their opponents after the first gun round, which they won thanks to a quad kill from kioShiMa. It was only after dignitas found themselves trailing 0-5 that they finally managed to get their first round of the map, but LDLC immediately regained control of proceedings, this way breaking the Danish team's economy.

Despite some good individual actions - which included a quad kill from Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth in the 14th round -, dignitas only managed to get four rounds on the board in the first half as LDLC seemed to have one foot in the grand final.

In the second half, LDLC further enlarged their lead by taking the opening four rounds of the half. dignitas still managed to get one round, but all they did was delay the inevitable as the Frenchmen picked up a 16-5 victory to progress to the grand final, in which they will face NiP.

MLG X-Games Aspen 2015Best of 3 LDLCMatchpage 2 1 25th January 2015 Dignitas 16Dust2 10 14Inferno 16 16Cache 5

Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt Age: 20 Team: LDLC Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 483 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 René 'cajunb' Borg Age: 25 Team: Dignitas Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 216 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Vincent 'Happy' Schopenhauer Age: 23 Team: LDLC Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 340 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.64 Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen Age: 21 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 303 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.65 Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 19 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 226 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.63 Richard 'shox' Papillon Age: 22 Team: LDLC Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 422 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.63 Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 19 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 369 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.62 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen Age: 24 Team: Dignitas Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 272 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.70 Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey Age: 20 Team: LDLC Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 300 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.63