They had been the surprise team of the tournament and had won the backing of many neutrals as a result. Coming from nowhere and beating top rated teams with their aggressive style of play was always going to make for a great story, but it looked as if it might have an unhappy ending after Ravens were brutalised by fnatic in the semi-finals.

What a difference a nights rest can make it seems... Today they faced almost as tough a prospect when they took on SK Gaming for third place, but through tenacity and grit they emerged victorious over a three match classic.

The first map, de_inferno, was a close affair with solid play by both teams. Rounds came down to clutches and individual moments of skill and in that respect SK Gaming just seemed to have that slight advantage. But that margin of superiority was slight and that was reflected in the final score of 16 - 14. Already Ravens had shown more spirit in this match than they had in the semi-finals.


de_train came round next and Ravens started as CT. Winning the pistol-round gave the team the platform to keep themselves in the match and their supposed stand-in, Michael "Friis" Jørgensen, hit the ground running with some quality play. The buy rounds continued to come for them and surprisingly SK seemed to lack ideas and penetration as the terrorist side. The Danish team were 13 - 2 at half time and were a pistol round away from the third map. With clear tension the pistol round got underway, but despite SK Gaming seeming to have read the play well enough to shut them down, the Swedes were outgunned and the map finished 16 - 2.

The decider was de_nuke and SK Gaming started as the defensive team. immediately though you could see the momentum was with Ravens, carrying over their belief from the previous map - after all, how many teams have recorded 16 - 2 wins over SK Gaming lately?. So many rounds hung in the balance, little moments deciding their outcome but Roskilde Ravens chalked up a very respectable six rounds. With the CT half underway it was immediately clear that this was a map that Ravens had a strong defensive set-up for and they locked down the bomb sites with ease. SK again looked to be lacking ideas and when they did execute one seemingly well enough they usually lost too many men in the process to make it count.

With the rounds slipping away from them the Ravens poured it on strong at the finish and closed out the vital rounds to take the map 16 - 11 and claim a huge upset in securing third spot. It was a prediction that they themselves wouldn't have dared to make, let alone anyone else. This new look line-up, with only one roster change from a team that had been humbled at its last outing, must surely now stay together and build on this success.

For SK Gaming though this will represent a disappointing 4th place finish in a tournament where they would have hoped to claim a top three spot without too much effort. Sadly, for them at least, some plucky Danish underdogs put an end to that. A chance for revenge will likely come along soon enough.