Rogue are the second team to qualify for DreamHack Open Austin after defeating The Pioneers in the grand final of the North American Closed qualifier.

Rogue made their way to the grand final after beating Etherian and F1-racecar-PEEK without dropping a single map in each best-of-three series, while surpisingly The Pioneers swept Complexity 2-0, followed by their three-map series over eUnited.

The grand final kicked off on The Pioneers' map pick, Train, where Rogue were in control on the CT-side, and thanks to Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller’s quad kill in the final round, ended it with an 11-4 lead. After the sides switched, The Pioneers were keen on their retakes, both in the pistol and the following anti-eco, securing defuses. 

Hiko and co. qualify for DreamHack Open Austin

Rogue were then able to buy as the squad aggressively secured four straight on the T-side to reach map point. In the following round, Hunter "⁠SicK⁠" Mims went on to plant the bomb on the A-site in a 2v4 and then secured the post-plant with Daniel "⁠vice⁠" Kim as each player got a double, taking the lead in the series.

The series continued on Overpass where Rogue’s relentless aggression on the T-side gave The Pioneers little room to breathe, which resulted in a 12-3 lead for Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin and his men. The Pioneers secured the second pistol while Rogue returned to win their eco round, but Edgar "⁠MarKE⁠" Maldonado's T-side then went on to pick up four straight before Rogue could respond. From there, the two sides traded rounds where Rogue eventually reached match point and then secured their spot at DreamHack Open Austin.

DreamHack Open Austin 2018 North America Closed QualifierBest of 3 RogueMatchpage 2 0 16th April 2018 The Pioneers 16Train 6 16Overpass 10

Rogue	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Daniel 'vice' Kimvice	47 - 24	+23	107.6	1.63
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	49 - 22	+27	87.1	1.63
Hunter 'SicK' MimsSicK	35 - 29	+6	88.5	1.31
Anthony 'gMd' GuimondgMd	33 - 29	+4	69.3	1.21
Spencer 'Hiko' MartinHiko	27 - 22	+5	66.4	1.13

The Pioneers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Bryan 'MAKKA' DrouillardMAKKA	0 - 1	-1	-	0.97
Tyler 'tweiss' Weisstweiss	33 - 38	-5	71.0	0.88
Connor 'CONNOR93' GloverCONNOR93	31 - 42	-11	67.4	0.81
Edgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoMarKE	22 - 33	-11	58.7	0.77
Chad 'Oderus' MillerOderus	22 - 40	-18	47.3	0.66
Ryan 'GRAMPZ' BaberGRAMPZ	18 - 40	-22	52.4	0.61

Rogue join Fragsters are the first two teams to qualify for DreamHack Open Austin, the two squads will later be joined by six invited teams. The $100,000 tournament will run from June 1-3 at the Austin Convention Center.