Cloud9 and Ninjas in Pyjamas are off to great starts at DreamHack Masters Marseille after G2 and SK Gaming, respectively.

The second match of the day on the main stream, featuring the new Cloud9 and G2 rosters, began with the French side drawing first blood off of a stunning quad-kill from Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire inside A. That was the start of a phenomenal run from the home team, who cruised to a 6-0 lead, forcing Cloud9 to call an early tactical pause.

The North Americans would be able to find a breach in G2's defence only in the eighth round, thanks to a triple-kill from William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba with a CZ, and they followed that up with three more rounds to finally get some economic stability. However, the rest of the half was all about G2's great defence as the Frenchmen took three of the final four rounds to secure a 10-5 lead.

Cloud9 survived six match points from G2

Cloud9 came from the break with renewed confidence and bagged five rounds straight to restore parity. After a lengthy break due to technical issues, G2 took control of proceedings and secured three match points, but a 1v2 clutch from Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta rescued Cloud9, who would go on to force overtime.

The first overtime failed to determine a winner as both teams took three rounds on the offensive side. But in the second one, Cloud9 picked up two rounds in both halves to take a close win and seal passage to the group's upper bracket final.

DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018Best of 1 Cloud9Matchpage 22 20 18th April 2018 G2 22Mirage 20

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	37 - 25	+12	83.6	1.33
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	31 - 27	+4	74.6	1.14
Pujan 'FNS' MehtaFNS	27 - 30	-3	70.7	0.98
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	24 - 31	-7	65.6	0.86
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	21 - 29	-8	55.6	0.80

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubkennyS	28 - 26	+2	72.7	1.17
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	32 - 32	0	89.0	1.10
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianarobodyy	29 - 29	0	75.5	1.06
Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittNBK-	28 - 28	0	77.6	1.01
Oscar 'mixwell' Cañellasmixwell	24 - 25	-1	60.7	0.98

Meanwhile, Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip made his offline debut for SK as the Brazilian team took on Ninjas in Pyjamas on Train. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's side looked en-route to bag the pistol round after getting three kills early on, but Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg turned a tricky situation around to put Ninjas in Pyjamas in the lead.

SK responded in the first gun round, but then some uncharacteristic missed shots with the AWP allowed the Swedes to rally back immediately and to take control of the economy. Down 1-6, the Brazilian team finally strengthened up their defence, losing just one more round for the rest of the half to take a narrow 8-7 lead into the second half.

draken was NiP's star against SK

Now playing on the CT side, Ninjas in Pyjamas equalised the scored after a successful inner bombsite retake in the pistol round. SK managed to respond on a shoddy buy in the third round of the half, but then William "⁠draken⁠" Sundin came up huge as he picked up three crucial kills with the AWP to keep the ninjas in control.

Ninjas in Pyjamas remained in the driving seat and took their lead to 13-9. It was only then that SK finally managed to string some rounds together, but the Swedes would not let the game slip away and locked down the map with a 1v2 clutch from draken in the final round.

DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018Best of 1 SKMatchpage 13 16 18th April 2018 Ninjas in Pyjamas 13Train 16

SK	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	18 - 21	-3	76.6	1.01
Ricardo 'boltz' Prassboltz	23 - 22	+1	87.3	1.00
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN	21 - 19	+2	70.3	0.92
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	14 - 22	-8	60.1	0.84
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	11 - 24	-13	51.0	0.62

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'draken' Sundindraken	27 - 11	+16	78.1	1.52
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	21 - 19	+2	86.6	1.25
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	22 - 17	+5	78.7	1.15
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis	21 - 20	+1	75.2	1.10
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	17 - 20	-3	68.4	1.08

Pujan 'FNS' Mehta Age: 26 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.90 Maps played: 708 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.69 William 'draken' Sundin Age: 22 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 609 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 26 Team: SK Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 806 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.60 Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanWilliam 'draken' SundinFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 25 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1174 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.71 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 29 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1298 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.64 SK #8 Jake 'Stewie2K' YipGabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaRicardo 'boltz' PrassMarcelo 'coldzera' David Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 20 Team: SK Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 725 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69 William 'RUSH' Wierzba Age: 23 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 782 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Cloud9 #4 Pujan 'FNS' MehtaTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTarik 'tarik' CelikTimothy 'autimatic' Ta Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner Age: 20 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 563 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.65 G2 #9 Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittDan 'apEX' MadesclaireOscar 'mixwell' CañellasAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro