Virtus.Pro have been plagued with issues over the course of the last year. They went from being in the final of a major and winning Dreamhack Masters Las Vegas to making six group stage exits, only making it out twice. Meeting EPICENTER was a whole different story. It’s almost like we saw the old VP who showed dominance over the best in the world. Let’s take a look at their tournament run.
Group Stage
vs SK Gaming
VP left the starting line at a slow jog. They showed almost nothing of what they did later in the tournament, being short work for SK. Honestly though, this was more a win for SK than a loss for VP. They performed at the same level in this match as they have the last months, nothing new here.
vs Gambit Gaming
Although this match could have gone either way from the get-go, Gambit were still favoured to win. From what we saw in the first map, VP looked like the clear favourites, but throughout the rest of the series they had troubles closing out. The second map went to Gambit but had trouble themselves closing out as the economy for both teams were in the dump. Cache, the deciding map, also had the same story going along for it. Neither team really impressed but eventually VP came out on top. While this wasn’t necessarily the best win for VP, it is still a win against a top eight team. Not the most common things that they have seen.
vs FaZe Clan
The number one team in the world was about to make short work of the Polish team and make their way to the semifinals… right? Well, the first map definitely said so. 16-2 in favour of FaZe, but VP shook it off and came back. Stronger than we’ve seen since they were in Las Vegas. While the second map wasn’t exactly a comfortable win, it wasn’t hard either. VP won Cobblestone 16-11 with Inferno being the deciding map. Surely FaZe wouldn’t lose on their best map. I’m not too sure about what I should be sure about anymore, after VP took the map eliminating FaZe and sending themselves into the semifinals.
Playoffs
vs G2 Esports
G2 had an impressive tournament all things considered, dismantling both Astralis and especially North in the group stage. Compared to FaZe or Gambit at the event, G2 looked fantastic and were clear favourites to win the series against Virtus.Pro. But is anything allowed to make sense anymore? Throughout the entire series G2 struggled to stay alive. Almost losing the second map in the process which would have given VP a quick 2-0 victory. G2 showed some individual brilliance in the series, but other than that there were no more pros to pick out of the team. Losing rounds they had advantages in or a round they should win in the first place. The same can also be said about VP. Both teams made plenty of mistakes, but VP were fortunate to make the least.
vs SK Gaming
A classic match between the Polish and Brazilians, and what a match it was too. Dubbed as one of the best grand finals to date, both teams fought their hearts out. VP started out with the map lead but were immediately traded by SK taking Inferno. Train was probably a kick in the face for VP. Starting out with a 12-3 lead on the CT side, SK Gaming brought it back into Overtime and took the map 19-16. VP then took Cache, not letting the previous map affect them, and after that came the magic. A grand map to end a grand series. Cobblestone. One of the greatest maps for either team happened to be a decider, and what better than taking it to double overtime? Unfortunately for VP they weren’t able to manage a round on the second overtime, but they showed brilliance that a fluke-run would never be able to show. This is Virtus.Pro coming back telling everybody to watch out, they’re here to win. Even if they weren’t able to lift the trophy.
Featured image via hltv.org.
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