BLASTPremier
BLAST Rivals Fort Worth 2026, Group Stage, Day 2 - FUT Esports vs. Astralis
04-30-2026 · 10h 58m
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The day dawns of last premier arrivals, Fjord Worth, where we're flying over the city and
into the server it's day two, which means the action heats up.
Elimination is now on the line and these teams are desperate to earn their right to play
in front of the U.S. crowd.
It's gonna get hot in here, Dustin.
So we brought in the hottest man in town.
Oh, it's Matt.
Mr. Dustin Merritt.
I try my best.
Sweaty Merrittie.
Oh, wow.
That is a throwback, bro.
Holy shit.
Could come from Texas though, that whole meme.
So I guess it's fair enough.
Why have you done that to me, though?
Why have you done that?
You know, it's all about history here in Texas.
That's true.
Beating heart of NA CS, the beating heart of Counter
Strike in general in many ways.
And we're going to see if any hearts get ripped out today.
They certainly did yesterday in some of our matches
there, Dustin.
Listen, when three teams out of the four make playoffs
and you don't, that feels extra bad, right?
It's already bad enough going 0 and 2 in any situation,
but that's really not where you want to find yourselves
in this one.
As we did have Vitality, a little bit shaky,
but took care of business.
G2, on the other hand, dominated.
I mean, it was a very strong performance for these two.
Let's talk about the Vitality game, though, right?
Because, I mean, this is a team
that we expect to absolutely dominate,
and you see the result there, right?
Yes, they won.
They were not happy about that at all.
Lot of frustration, lot of anger coming out
in terms of the way that they were playing.
The standard that they hold themselves to is very high,
And they were not beating that yesterday.
No, 100%.
I mean, the fact that they lost Dust 2 for the first time
in 166 days is definitely noteworthy,
considering that they have been oh so dominant on that map
in particular.
And even the third map on Nuke, like, you know,
there were ways that you could see somehow
Foot pulling that one off.
So shout out to Foot, though, on the other hand.
You know, without long, we didn't really know what to expect.
They actually put up a good fight.
Yeah, I mean, it's really impressive from Kulio
what he was able to do.
We're excited to see more of it today.
We'll be getting into that in just a little bit.
But as we headed into that second game as well,
right, Astralis versus G2.
You and I both were thinking that one could get scrappy.
That one could kind of be a bit of a heater.
And instead, G2 certainly showed up.
They brought the action.
They brought the fireworks.
Astralis, honestly, a bit of a wet part of the series.
Even that 9.13 on the second map
was really a cosmetic comeback right at the end,
just to make it look a little less embarrassing.
Yeah, G2 hit him with the steamer, bro.
They just steamrolled right over him.
It wasn't even close.
They were controlled the entire time.
Yeah, the score and overpass
may look like it was close,
but it really wasn't in the grand scheme of things.
you know, kind of going back to how you open that,
you know, expecting a scrap.
Yeah, it's two teams that are ranked similarly
that never played each other before.
They're right. And you feel like when you look at both lineups,
you see the firepower potential in both of them.
And so you were hoping for a nice brawl,
but in reality, it was just a strong performance from G2,
which to be honest, I feel like that's something
that they needed.
They've had kind of an up and down year for honest.
They had a lot of moving parts, you know,
nerds being new, hunter, you know,
being out last tournament due to injury.
So it was nice to see them come out strong.
Well, one of the most consistent pieces,
heavy God right he's been the guy for the roster for a long time now through a
few different iterations of it and he's really just continued to blossom
continued to shine in that reliable rock that you can build the team on.
Absolutely I mean heavy God is indeed that anchor that pillar that God is
always gonna give you a good consistent performance on every single game he
plays and Nerts kind of joins this team to be an X factor to be an
aggressor not traditional entry fragger but a guy who loves taking space
love doing aggressive lurks and can really do create those openings I
I think that it gives them another opening piece next to Mattis to really kind of drive
rounds forward.
It is interesting to see the experiment, right?
A couple of people are getting very bullish on it.
I know you're starting to feel very bullish on G2.
I know Jason over in the casting booth is feeling very excited about this G2 roster.
A lot of promise for the future here, Dust.
Yeah, it's one of those things where we've seen everybody else have their crack at them
as far as vitality goes, and we've seen them all fall.
It's like G2 now made a roster change when they're coming in.
They're kind of like the next team up to have a crack at it.
game. You know, it's a game
that's been going on for a
long time. It's been going on
for a long time. G2
historically has had some close
games against vitality, so.
You know, you got to hope for
something to happen. So
someone's got to show some life
out there. So moving on into
Group B, right? We had that
Navi phase matchup. There were
a lot of eyeballs on that a
lot of curious thoughts about
what this phase might look like.
What I'll tell you is they
don't look like a contender
against not be. I mean,
it's another day that ends
and why face struggling. I
mean, I don't really know
where to go with that one.
I mean, again, this is an
months. I mean no one else has really done that in CS history. It's just been a colossal
downfall. Yeah, we can give them a little bit more leeway because it is a team that's
so much in flux. You're changing IGL, your captain's out. You have no idea who's going
to be on the team in two months, frankly. You've got a new coach in, but the reality
is for everybody on face right now, this is the proving ground. This is where you
earn your right to stay on that team or the team justifies to you that you should
stay there as well. Dude, Frozen's like the dog in that meme where everything's
on fire. He's like, this is fine. Someone save me, please. He might be the dog
that meme where it's like, you know, everything's on fire and he's looking at his travel options.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's what the newspaper only the future will tell face get another
chance to prove themselves today. And then in that final matchup of the night, we were
expecting fury. It's also emerges a strong contender gamer Legion instead pull that one
through. They're going to be playing in front of the crowd here and forward.
That is a pretty stunning result for the gamer Legion. Yeah. I mean, we were talking
yesterday about how furious a little bit more mortal than they did last year, right?
They won those four titles the second season of 2025.
They look like a really strong contender.
This year they haven't been as consistent.
Who didn't think game religion would draw blood?
I mean, that's kind of a step down
even further than what we thought Fury could do.
But for game religion, that's one of the biggest ones
they've had in a long time, if we're honest, right?
So shout out to them.
We saw PR finally getting back to the form
that we knew him for kind of early last year
where he looked like a rookie of the year candidate.
Some of the other guys showed up as well.
So props to them for pulling off the big upset.
Perhaps promising as well, right?
maybe getting them back into that conversation,
certainly playing in front of the crowd
is going to be a great earn for them and well fought indeed.
We might just be moving into a little bit of a break here dust
because we do have a lot more action coming
the way of the folks watching at home.
So we need to get ready for our first match of the day.
We'll be back in a flash.
He's gonna be able to stop them before they even set up grenades that's devastating falling gets want to return but there's no way you could bring into this bomb site cello gets a kill and at the back side and this opportunity fall in that's a shot you have to make.
He's gonna get it eventually the fact that they even here with the bomb plant is kind of sick
Oh, what?
Why?
Takes down Kadeon!
What on earth is going on?
Just jumping the-
Oh!
What if he didn't have the ref line?
Why is this falling?
You must be kidding me!
How are you in that round?
They're shuffling the molly around if-
If that actually unseats one of these tees, this is very possible.
Let's see where it goes.
Okay, this should be a kill for Monosy.
He's gonna hit the shot.
There it is.
Alright, just hobbit now 1v2.
He's got a great angle, but-
What crosshair disruption? Modesty just soaring across his screen. He's almost getting himself killed no matter what. Yeah, this is so hard to deal with on the other side.
And even how the hands are shot. Yeah, Hobbit not happy with that one.
Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has finally come. The grand final of Blast Pro Series Miami.
Right in there. This is the first shot. And midair.
Niko though, a single tap of the USP. A second! Oh my God, it's shot off by Niko again!
It looked like FaZe had a solid read on this, as Niko closes it out, he gets the kill he wanted, and he gets to see so calm that.
The retake, coldsiering next to take down Device, and it's Lagus.
He's going down immediately, coldsiering, cleaning up three kills just like that.
Currently going into FaZe's coffers.
Oh, double smoked. Big mistake.
Yeah, you don't want to do that.
Although they're coming right through and they're going to shut down Rai-
Oh no!
Oh my lord, he's just tucked down four people!
In absolutely no time flat, it's Daps alone on the other side.
What an absolutely absurd performance here.
Now sneaking through on the other side, Daps is waiting for it.
He's waiting for it.
Timing is everything, he's go-
Oh!
It can't be real!
Didn't see anybody landing the triple right to the smoke.
I've never seen anything like it.
And now, at least they're gonna get the bomb plant,
but Faze are being robbed once again.
Neff, he's still in play in this round on the other side of the terrain and he wants more.
Neff, have you no mercy? He's going to pick up an ace in the round.
Their aggressive setups with their rifles are totally fine.
Alesha's always delivering.
And there is a shot that just runs right into him.
Oh my God! No way that just happened.
Cold Zero, eat your heart out.
Oh, he's got a third.
Nitro slamming down the gauntlet.
And he's dead!
15 seconds to plant a bomb and that might be the saving grace for Cloud9, he's pushing all over the map, there's 10s and a Deagle once again, he needs to stay alive, he's got to buy time for his team, Steve's kind of off the rotation, there's another one from 10s, can he get the last one? It's time he's won the round of all these Deagle shots and that's a much needed last time for Cloud9.
Hopefully we get a good start on some of the maps and get into this flow, then I think we can beat almost anyone, so looking forward to that.
Yes, we expected to win.
Now you've got your new Starfrager, Kulio, playing with you guys.
What's it like having him in the server with you instead of standing behind?
It's good because, you know, he gets the chance to see, is it hard or is it easy to play, you know,
because he's always from the back, but now he gets to see, you know,
and when in the second map he says that now he can Thresh talk us,
because, you know, he sees that he can kill Zybu and stuff like this,
And he said that now he has the power to thrust out even more
There's nothing like earning that right to should talk your players just a little bit
Groveni sharing a smile there about Kulia's performance
I mean, let's be real the first map was a little rough but down to stretch into the series
He'd like like he absolutely belong in that server. There will be no one frag long
Movies out there with Lincoln Park introducing doing the memes setting up all this epic moment
they get one Fraggers year like it's not gonna happen for cool. Yeah, he's done a
good job here. It's it's funny as well. Rugga, we were chatting with him a little
bit about it yesterday while waiting for his match to begin. And he was talking
about how he had like one round where he dry peaked somebody with the off
killed him. It's like, guys, this is easy. What's wrong with you? How can you
not do it in his own stand and stand? So it's always a little fun for the
coaches to get to roll back the years and relive their glory days.
Perhaps cool. He was not even that far behind him. Yeah, and even add
you know the brain as well, I guess behind him, right? They were able
to get their assistant coach, the former assistant coach of Falcons sitting behind them as well.
So now you've got like three brains kind of working things out.
The IGL meta may be a little bit coming into play.
So yeah, all in all, not too shabby yesterday,
that they're able to make playoffs today, that would be huge for them considering the situation that they're in.
It'd be a tremendous result.
And I mean, I think there's good reason to think that they can absolutely pull it off based on the sample size we've gotten of what they've done so far at this event.
Foot have looked downright impressive.
They are a fierce team.
We know that.
We know they have a ton of firepower here.
against Astralis this is a team that they've played a ton dust. Yeah and they've played against each
other six times so far this year four of those being on land two of those being on line and it's
equal split three to three two to two on land so pretty crazy stuff and then foot's only leading
the map count nine to seven so it is a very tight race between these two teams they've
really know each other well at this point new variable obviously with Coolio in the server
but uh yeah I'm sure to see how this thing plays out because usually their games are
quite fun to watch. They are indeed and a huge part of that is the young firepower
that we know that they can bring, right?
This is what this team has been.
They were once upon a time an academy squad,
and they ooze with talent and potential.
We're talking about Jugs, we're talking about Deeman,
we're talking about Krabeni.
These guys can't shoot, man.
Absolutely, I mean, we kind of talked about this yesterday.
Like, even though Lamps is statistically the best player,
he plays such an important role,
being kind of their primary space taker,
plays some star CT positions.
The fact that, you know, Jugs, Deeman,
and Krabeni are on the squad, even Cemetery,
that's the guy that came off
an MVP performance at Bucharest, right?
So we talk about widely distributed talent,
a lot of young inexperienced guys that we've seen rapid acceleration from.
I mean just the incremental improvement we've seen just over this year,
you know, to go from missing playoffs a couple of times to making the EPL
playoffs and placing 4th to winning Bucharest over the likes of
a Mongols, a ParaVision, a Strauss, obviously they'll play today.
Like those are some pretty big results for a team that,
like you said, went from an academy squad that never really played any
lands to now doing this.
And they are indeed and as well we got a, I mean,
we got a pretty good test of what they can do in terms of the map pool
with Kulio right now in the Vitality game, right?
There's no better team to measure yourself against
than Vitality.
We had the Dusty, we had the Mirage.
Yes, those you would expect.
But I was stunned by how well they managed the Nuke,
a map that's typically harder to play
when you have any sort of tweak to your roster.
Yeah, I mean, that's just a good point to make.
I mean, especially without Longs,
who's like such a big weapon for them
on that map in particular.
But again, this is where the other guys
can kind of step up and show what they're capable of.
Show what their bidding is able to do
as the Fragging IGL.
show that demon and jukes are those young anchors and trade fraggers that can help you
close things down.
So it puts a little more weight on those guys' shoulders, but they buried it pretty well
yesterday in my opinion.
It did indeed.
And I wanted to hear a little bit more about how things are going with that.
So I talked to Craveni about, let's give it a listen.
And I know you guys were talking, I was listening to a Coolio interview from a while
ago where he was talking about the emotional regulation and how you guys manage that.
I know Lau was always a loud guy.
Is everybody else filling in to get a little more loud now?
I think yes, it's a bit different emotion to play with Kulju, like it's not as, when you play with Long, it feels a bit different I think for everyone, but we are trying at least to make it to playoffs, to play with crowd, and that's it, I mean everyone trying to hype, and Juke's always, it's like same level as Long Fender, the rest are a bit more quiet even me, but Kulju's screaming sometimes, so yeah.
good balance in the emotions.
We see them huddling up right now,
getting themselves fired up to play again
to lock into this one dust.
It is one of those things that you have to learn
as a young team when you get into these studio environments,
when you get into stage environments, right?
Managing the emotions, managing the energy levels,
conserving it for when you really need it.
Yeah, I mean, we've seen some other people
kind of step up though and be the heartbeat of the team.
That's what locks really did for them
besides being a great frag on the server.
It was the heartbeat of the squad, the emotional leader.
And you're seeing, Drew, you're seeing other guys
kind of pop off and get into it.
So it's kind of nice to see
that they're able to keep that high energy.
It is indeed, and it's impressive as well,
considering some of the matches they had.
I mean, even in that Astralis best of five, right?
Sustenie, an over a best of five against a more experienced,
more veteran squad can be challenging.
Speaking of Astralis, I think they've got their challenges
cut out for them here, right?
If we see the team that we saw come into the server
yesterday, this is gonna be over before you know it.
They were so very limp.
Yeah, I mean, this is a team that was exciting
kind of early in the year, having that top eight
at Crackout at kickoff the year.
Everyone looking really solid in their roles.
You see them place third at EPL.
But that second at Bucharest really isn't as revealing
as it may seem when you look at the result.
They look very shaky there.
They look very shaky yesterday.
We see stairs still having a solid performance.
He has been a great star player for them
throughout the course this year in general.
Usually Fuzzi and Yabbi have been good for them as well
this year.
They were a bit off yesterday,
but Pro Rio had five kills in 40 rounds yesterday, 30 ADR.
That's unacceptable.
Like you have to be able to deliver,
especially when you're at the foot with the stand in
and the pressure's on you to make playoffs.
like we got to see more out of him.
Yeah, it is definitely disturbing for Ryu.
You got to imagine.
And there's also this situation right where
if you are a team that's playing with a stand
and maybe you want to simplify some of the things you're
doing on the T side, and if you can look at the other team
and see one glaring red weak point like a Zelda boss,
yeah, you can just run out that guy.
You can figure out where he's playing.
You can apply the pressure and see if maybe today's
going to be better.
So you know the Ryu's going to be tested.
You know he's going to have to stand up here.
Yeah, I mean, I know I'm sounding harsh,
but it's because I know what he was capable of.
When he first came onto the scene at Crack Kyle
and at somebody's earlier lands,
he was an exciting anchor, extremity player,
able to make some plays,
sometimes even get a little bit aggressive
and create openings.
Like he looked like a really solid pickup for the squad,
but we've seen him kind of taper down
these last few events.
And, you know, I know that it's obviously experienced.
He's the game's the least experienced player on the team,
but he's going to have to come alive today.
He can't be that weak point.
Cause you might think,
Oh, a foot have a weak point
because Guglio, Guglio outperform him big time yesterday.
So we got to watch out for them.
We've got our veto coming through here.
It's going to be a mirage that pick for a straw list foot
coming through with the nuke.
So they like what they saw yesterday.
And then we've got the oh, sorry,
I'm flipping those in my brain foot picking mirage.
That makes a lot more sense.
A straw list picking new that makes a lot more sense.
And then ancient is the decided dust.
Yeah, nothing really surprising here.
Both teams go out there perma bands foot picking mirage
as they always have done for the most part.
A straws has changed it up in the past.
They've obviously gone for overpass.
They've even picked ancient a time before.
So they're going to pivot to nuke this time around.
I think that's just more of them adjusting to the fact
that they're not getting the results that they want
on some of those other picks.
But with Mirage coming first foot lead that
had to head four to one, like they are a really, really
strong Mirage team.
They've won 12 of the 14 games they've played this year.
We did mention yesterday that the absence of longs
might make things a little bit more difficult.
That is something maybe that Astralis can
like to do for a silver lining,
but it seems like the silver linings are few
and far between right now for the team in red.
Yeah, I mean, the blueprint that we kind of saw
Vitality use their cripple foot yesterday
was disrupting their mid control.
You know, I think it's a good thing you have to do foot or very
rely on getting the control and doing the plays from there in
the mid ground. Some teams are a little more execute oriented
or like doing the fast four one splits things that nature and
while foot can play aggressive and play those types of
styles, I really like that mid foundation. So we can see if
Astralis we try to get disruptive in middle that that's
a winning condition of some sort like that. But otherwise
you do feel like footer is the heavy favorite team. They're
so dynamic on this map. So versatile, really deep play
book and just show the results. Final thought here
does. Do you believe in the Astralis bounce back? I
Definitely don't definitely don't no hope perhaps coming through from dust marette
But we'll see if Astralis can take it through the stars or if foot might just be the surprise of the tournament
To bring you through this action. We've got our wonderful casters dingo and Moses
I like the way you really held on to castors there
A lot yeah, and what do you know what I like there's something different about this game Jason
It's a straws versus foot. That's not surprising. We get that every single tournament
But at least we have a little change up coolio is gonna play so you know something different
You know I was shocked to hear dust you say that foot were the favorites in this one with coolio
Standing in place of locks and that they were gonna be the team that's the favorites in this patch
That's really interesting. I like I don't know if I give him heavy. I don't know if I give him favorites
Yeah, I think this is a very I mean I think on some level
I think based off of what we saw yesterday with
Astralis' poor performance and Foots' impressive performance against Vitality, that's going to sway things as well.
I think that's where, for me, this is like even, but it's quite an indictment under Astralis' team that's trying to gain ground leading into the major
if they can't beat Foots with their coach.
Exactly the team they've played so many times before as well.
I mean, it's going to be frustrating for Astralis coming out of yesterday.
I think they were highlighting it perfectly on the desk this morning about just how disappointing it was.
You know, even that second map with the scoreline looked a little bit more respectable.
It's not fake comeback in the second half to give them a few extra rounds to play with.
They did just get sort of wrecked by G2 yesterday.
Yeah.
And they leave that game with no positivity.
Where's Foot leave that game versus Vitality?
And they had a shot at beating Vitality with the coach.
So I think your confidence is soaring of your foot and the opposite for Astralis.
And for that, I can't see a world in which Foot win this today.
Absolutely.
We heard Looksy yesterday riding his boys as well in terms of making sure they're focused
and then play in a good game of counter strike.
So we'll see if they come in today
with a little bit of a different attitude.
We are going to have foot attacking on the T side
here of Mirage.
All five players towards the B halls.
It's going to be Yabbi and Hooksy to defend.
Nade primed out towards Catwalk.
So Yabbi going to try and drop some utility damage
as they progress towards Hooksy's position.
I'm heading to the B-Bomb site for Demon.
And he's dead.
He's severed off by his teammates
because of the utility.
So Yabbi gets to slow them down.
Another two players are short here for Astralis
but they're flooding through foot, getting into this hookseed.
Only managing to one,
and he can lead on the other side of things, managing two.
So now that bomb gets planted
and it will be a retake required here from Astralis.
Ooh, let's throw the push for Krupmany taking down.
That's a nice find.
And now you can play it a little bit slow.
Plenty of time still on the bomb
for Astralis to take their time.
And one of the players remaining is Kulio here for foot.
He's gonna play behind the van.
So you're looking to cemetery to do
a lot of the heavy lifting here.
Not wanting to leave his coach.
And a 1v3, but that's what's happened.
Cooley out, out towards Van and gets run down by Fuzzi.
So Astralis will win the pistol.
Good patience waiting on Krubeni to come into the market then.
A good retake really lets them get away with one.
I think Huxi has a blown rotation there.
I think that's the mistake is shifting from the Van,
from the bomb site, dropping that Molotov,
shifting towards the position of Yabi
just means you don't have multiple angles.
You can't slow anyone down.
You're kind of two players in one spot
and there's not enough space to operate.
So a really nice retake to make up for that little mistake.
Plant comes in for foot, you have to imagine.
There's going to be a vibe.
And indeed, there will be three Galils picked up
for the foot attack here in round two of the first half.
Jugs and Coolio going to be back on the pistols.
I mean, we've casted so many of these Astralis foot games.
I think I've said this a million times this season,
but foot are really good at winning these rounds, Jason.
You know, and Astralis will know that better than anyone.
True, especially with the PGL Bookers grand final,
where Foot really gave him the business with the Deagles
points. Yes it was the reason they just kept turning the ties back in the favor.
Ever since Stralis thought they got a break, foot would find a round like this.
So that was a foot's first trophy in CS2 and obviously for these young players
their first trophy as well back in Bucharest a 3-1 grand final victory over
Astralis.
Got stared, turning back trying to feel the other pass boys. Three kills coming in
for Stralis. Demon still alive, still a threat and wild.
From Fuzzi, but stylish. In the end, you'll find success on the team
with that jump up into the window. And Jukes just doesn't look like he's going to
find himself a 1v3 here with the Deagle. They're all split up across the map here.
Stralis, should be no way in which Jukes is able to get near them.
Yeah, first two rounds is a really nice start for Stralis.
I think playing well in these first two.
Very slow retake on the pistol here as well.
The trap's laid. Nobody overextended.
Nobody's springing the trap a little bit early.
Communication seems to be an oh my lord a good place. That's one player down and that's an off that Astralis is going to be desperate to recover when the round ends
Jokes got a deal with Hoaxia top mid
Let's see to get to the alt though
So we got yabbi jumping into the window right now and he will grab it
Yeah, he gets AWP into the next round for Astralis
But really important that
Charles get a good start here,
you know coming in clean up.
I'd imagine hook see had a conversation
today with the guys saying we're
not losing to a coach today.
We can't we're not losing to
a team playing with a stand in.
There's that it.
There's that angle to it.
I think there's also like a
there's a different angle to
where if you're a Stralis,
if you're if you're hook see and
Rugga like you're talking to the
team this morning, you're like guys,
look at this format.
We win one game and we're in the
quarterfinals. Yeah, let Rugga play.
He is asked. He will smash you.
better view behind me.
Always self-defecating, boy.
It's good.
You know what I mean? I think that's got to be the conversation.
If you want to put a more positive angle
to get the mindset and the place to compete,
it's like, yeah, we lost yesterday
and we looked like complete crap.
But if we win today, we're in the playoffs
and that doesn't matter anymore.
It's true. It's true.
We'll see what they can do on the stage.
I mean, absolutely shoot with the team.
Make it through. You're a full roster.
also we've said positive things about you series against them but here's
Krabeni through the slip here with the D goal he's gonna get into the latter room
yeah and with this position he's now calling his teammates off any pressure
towards the B bomb site I think he's gonna want to try and I was hoping Yabbi
is gonna walk towards short maybe try and clear middle find a cheeky kill
here but without anyone available to like throw fake at a throw fake in
middle yeah it all relies on jigs getting a kill here with the D
it's very good out of Palace there's the chance I'll read you put on high
We've got Krebbeni next up and Yabi spotting him hooks your wedding with the MP9
They slipped out into the site and communicate that to his teammate over at short
He's gonna deal with it now under pressure from Kulio
Cemetery also getting taken out by Yabi. So just jukes he's over towards ramp making no secret about the position
He's got a kill and I've got eyes on Ryu today because he had a really tough series yesterday
Yeah, he did I mean a lot of scrutiny is gonna be on him obviously for that series five kills across two maps of play
Two of them we mentioned where we're claw kills coming through smoke
So you had a really like you literally very little impact yesterday perhaps zero impact for you yesterday
But I mean look it's a try and bail not a little bit players have bad games
and
You know what you've got the worst game out of the way now, so
Yeah, that's all I've got for you really. I'm with you though. I think there's a lot more
I've mentioned this in the green room
I think the question for you is gonna be is that what does the straws feel like that is is that nerves is that pressure?
Is that mentality or was that is this like a skill issue because then there's two different two different roads you take right?
Yeah, well it'll be interesting to see if it's consistent. I think we've seen great performances out of Ryu
But yeah some quieter ones as of late. We've got demon coming through the underpass
For any truck to split with him to his top middle for Betty ends up getting taken away here by Herksey
So a demon looking to get into connector could be a real thorn in the side of demons starts to get going
I think that was the thing that was missing yesterday on Mirage against Vitality.
Yeah, we won when he did have his stretches where he popped off.
We saw what he could do.
He changed the nature of the game.
There's an opening kill provided or an equalizing kill.
I should say, Yabbi on the court though, going to bring it right back with two.
Okay, Yabbi.
Great shots.
Stare also coming in for his kill in the round,
and they immediately lose the competitive nature of this.
Want to put jigs in a clutch.
I think the efficiency of these mid-traps that Astralis have set up
have made foot kind of slow things down.
They're being a little bit more calculated, a little bit more cautious.
cautious, like trying to play the spacing and watching every angle.
Normally we're seeing foot be a bit more aggressive.
Look for some fights, take space a little bit quicker.
I think they're a bit tentative right now due to the play of Astralis in the first three rounds.
Yeah, I mean we heard Dust highlighting there before the game, the fact that the wind condition for Astralis,
for Vitality yesterday, was taking the mid control away from foot and really denying a lot of their playmaking ability.
And we've seen Astralis find success here in mid once Yabi comes up through short.
So taking that away from him. 20 seconds left here for Jux.
That's where his next target is.
He's gonna try and get around that corner. 1v1!
Oh my god, he's close to it!
Jux way closer than he would have thought that, but just about missing out on the opportunity.
Yeah, it could have been a really cool clutch.
I saved from Hooksie. That's a big kill to step out and trade.
Jux even ready for it. Spin into the right angle.
But 15 seconds of the clock when he gets that kill, that would have been a very rough run to make up Conn with Hooksie on short either way.
see a huge advantages in the 1v1 but a lovely attempt to the 1v3. I'll tell you what, I don't know
when it's going to happen but the most important round in this half is going to be the first time
foot calls for like an execute at the A bomb site or a set piece of the B bomb site. Now that
Astralis has dominated them in middle a couple of a couple of gun rounds like if you don't have
success on the extremity you have a lot of options on this map taken away from you. You
have no good starting point to base your tactics off. You'd love to see some success at
at least a bomb plant, a kill, get in.
It's only tech nines, it's only pistols,
it's one hero AK and jugs, but...
They can still have an impact,
they can still make this dangerous.
Yeah, who's he?
Oh, it's close, but through the wickets.
They're gonna move out towards the side,
Stam, getting the opening kill,
Cobain making sure the traitors hit.
Okay, Ryu gets away with the least one
towards Connective before being
treaded out by Coolio.
Even Coolio's got a dig.
Yeah, he does.
Everyone on foot's got one, apparently.
And D-Wain's gonna play up on top of Ticket.
Now, Starrick get a clone.
Okay, that's a very quick reaction on a demon.
Starrick gets deleted before he even spots him.
Fuzzi steps up to the same position as well.
Just takes the risk.
Demons now find himself over in jungle.
This round is gonna be so hard for Astralis to win.
Plenty of time still on the timer.
Demon, he made his footsteps.
No, now Hooksy's got the information.
They just need to find cemetery inside the bomb site.
Really poor cemetery.
Doesn't die here.
Look what the bomb is planted.
Look at the wraparound.
It's on T4.
Oh, jumping up on top.
Oh, he gets away with a cemetery on the Tecni.
Hoxie off of Tetris gets the kill on cemetery but the wrap towards CT is a perfect play.
Oh, you're on it!
It's it though!
And back to the diffusel.
It's gonna be down close here for Hoxie and he doesn't have the time.
Oh, it's so close.
But heartbreaking for Hoxie is he comes close to the clutch but one of those pistol rounds,
one of the D-Eagle rounds finally go on foot's way.
Okay, they needed that.
That's gonna alleviate some of the pressure.
Obviously, winning a round like that at the A-Bombside with Tech-Nines is a huge
kill to grab.
never even saw the angle just brutal from demon.
I thought he had this. I thought he had plenty of time.
And once the hand goes ahead, you realize
he's just a little bit out of luck, but that's good.
Now put it's established a little bit of success, right?
Now you feel like you can go back towards mid and reach it.
Now you feel like the strongest might have to spread that
defense back out a little bit more.
It's not an aggressive mid defense right now,
But stairs still finds an opening kill through the smoke.
So, yeah, back foot now for foot.
Really important to see it as well.
The opening kill from Astralis, you can see the damage
being inflicted upon them over the last few rounds.
Even in wins, his book, two players down on pistols
immediately with Yabby and Hooksy having to play
with the Deagle in 5-7.
Those are two B defenders as well.
Probably why we see Fosy kind of playing with the AWP
over towards short.
Don't want to have the two pistols
at the same side of the map.
But the nice thing about having a pistol
you can take a few more risks. So Hooksy takes a push at what? He probably started that about a minute
and 15 seconds on the clock. Now making his way, he's going to wrap through T spawn
and going to start putting this round together. Excuse me, he goes towards middle. He won't see
anyone when he turns the corner, but there's an idea. It's either A ramp, it's either an A or a car.
Well, there's the goal and then the AK for Hooksy. So, Charles Crushford in their follow-up round
And they're losing one player, so I mean, that's a great feeling for Astralis.
You can see the last one in close fashion.
You come back and immediately snap back into shape.
Yeah, you need that to avoid that reset because you've had such a good start.
You look clean, you look solid.
That's a great opening provided by Stare, who continues being rock solid for Astralis.
Pop flash peek as well.
Great team play, great information and Rhea with the follow up peek.
It all works perfectly exactly as designed five to one.
They're definitely going to be missing
Lunks in particular on this map
How many times have we seen him really take over the server on Mirage?
You know, they're conceding opening kills time and time again here as well
It's tough to get into a strong situation if you're foot
And they're just walking out taking individual fights now
And losing every single one of them
So comfortable for Astralis, 6-1
This is the kind of performance you would expect to see
Like if we didn't see the Counter-Strike played yesterday
And we heard Astralis versus Foot today
This is a kind of game you would expect.
Yeah, I mean this is Astralis we wanted to see yesterday and I guess we left that series being like, what exactly is this?
G2 just being awesome or is this Astralis playing really poor?
Usually we kind of say it's a little bit of both.
Yeah. But I think there's a lot of credit over to G2 for how poorly they made Astralis look yesterday for sure.
But it's nice to see this bounce back from a team that we have some hope for.
Like this is Astralis team, we've on this little rise, you know, as this team has been put back together after the previous major.
I've been excited seeing what they brought to the table this year.
So seeing them bounce back after a really rough game yesterday is nice.
A six to one lead, five rounds ahead, plenty to play with as foot take their first time out.
And still no signs that foot has any answer in mid.
I think what I'm liking most about this Astralis defense so far is I'm not
seeing like any overextensions.
I'm not seeing anyone take like crazy solo fights,
trying to make a play to win the round right there.
So it's starting to feel pretty obvious right now for foot.
Like they lose the fight and the next reaction is Juerks trying to make the play out palace.
Yeah.
Trying to get something back and they're always ready for that so.
More effective if you get the kill in the middle, then Juerks has a little bit more work with, but that's not happening at all.
I think the fight selection from Astralis has been great so far here in Mirage.
Stare gonna drop back through the smoke again, no pressure.
So Astralis showing all that aggressive defense to start this half and then changing things up on you.
Gabby's stepped into a double-op setup and he's got Cemetery on the other side.
I'm interested to see how this fight goes down.
I hope Faraday Semi-Shiw will not take the issue.
Does he go all the way forward?
He's fast.
He is quick.
Let's see what Yabi can do.
Can he match it in any way?
That's fine.
That's excellent.
Take a Western shoulder.
That really is.
Nobody blink.
in the meantime, foot getting into mid. No one from Astros has killed them in mid this
turn, so let's go. That's just finally some space for foot to work with. I'm so focused
on Yavi's like Velociraptor pose as he does this. It's great. Someone's going to scratch
their noses for a long time. I feel it. It's that kind of fight. Nervous for both of
them. Okay, information. Stair spots three over in middle two on short. Now Hooksy's
got that intel. Yavi does win the fight and so does Hooksy. Ask another on top.
Make it three!
Alright Hoaxie, it's beautiful stuff on the AK-47 just melting them at short and that's
the round done.
Really it feels like the T side thumb for a foot.
I don't see anything that's going to get them into this game right now.
This is Astralis has completely figured them out.
They're missing some mojo aren't they?
Yeah and there's just nothing going for them at all.
No playmaking, no one really finding too much success at all.
Astralis just dominating on the server right now.
Yeah, and I mean, I think you can chalk a lot of that up to Longs.
If you go back to back on the Mirages, they've played this one
where they're down 7-1, the Vitality game yesterday.
They ended their first half down 3-9 from their T side.
So, yeah, the offensive engine without Longs
just hasn't been able to get going here on Mirage.
Yeah, I mean, Hooksy said it'd be better if Rugga would,
you know, harder, rather, if Rugga's on the server.
Don't see Rugga doing that.
So well done, Hooksy. That was good.
That's a good third play.
and I really tells you all the columns you need to know about foot
yeah it's not going well
while stairs just gonna be charging out towards connector it's cemetery
that's got demon does get betrayed at least a little bit faster this time for
foot trying to get that punch going in mid yeah they've I think they know that
fight's gonna be there right that's where stairs been able to publish them
a couple of times so both of them coming through that smoke knowing that that's the flight he's looking for able to trade it out
Doesn't really get you a whole lot of ground, but it does just give you safety over in middle for the moment
Look how passive Ryu's playing it a he's tucked behind ticket not really even spotting anything
No one is spotting any of the ground at the a bomb site so a foot continue on this kind of contact walk to the bomb site
You're not going to get any like cheeky free kills, but I mean you're just going to get a free plant
Now, what's interesting is, if your foot, you might think there was an A ramp push by seeing no defenders around.
Let's see if they can piece this together. This is the bomb. For Benny, he's lost the bomb.
Oh yeah, he tries to get his head down, but Coolio on the hunt. That was a collective kill.
Now 45 seconds left. Fuzi's all the way back at CT. They can get that bomb because Fuzi's distracted about Coolio's kill.
and that freeze them up.
And in fact, Kulio's got another one.
So they know what Fuzzi is now.
He's chasing after that bomb carrier,
but the smoke comes up and keeps Fuzzi back for the time
being, and he's going to try and get up on top of Ticket.
But I've got it, and Kulio with a big round.
So Fulip been waiting on someone
to show up with some play-making ability.
And it's Kulio that goes forward and gets a triple.
Yeah, triple kill, but they get a huge reprieve
in that with the way that Astralis chooses
to play in the four on four.
So, so passive.
So you don't have the information of them scaling
towards the bomb site and CT spawn.
Didn't have any information that they had stepped in
towards jungle and window room and can attack through the murder hole.
That's Coolio taking advantage of the fact.
So a lot of real estate offered up by Astralis in this round that
foot take complete advantage of.
I'll tell you, this might be a bad situation for Foot.
Letting Coolio go back on the serve.
We might not join this and leave the coaching role at some point.
Yeah, he's playing pretty well for a coach at the moment.
But second round tip coming through for Foot.
And we'll see if they can actually do anything with the half.
I mean, still available at 7-5, it just seems very unlikely.
Problem is without Dominic Astralis has been in this half,
Yeah, like some of the economies have been chipped away here or there, but for the most part, Astralis has just been billed in money.
So after this, after this full buy comes in that they just invest in, they've got plenty of cash for the next round if they're to lose this.
So it's just foot playing this on hard mode where you just have to grind so many full buy rounds away from Astralis.
Five rounds back, still trying to make this a respectable half.
We go live into round 10. Have the op on Fosy? Haven't switched?
Yabi did the double up previously, didn't go back into it.
I think it's very pleased with that miss shot because that gives the indication the office over it looked like they wanted to bring a lot of bodies into this attack, doubled up on short with it off inside the bomb site would have been really, really hard to break through.
So foot I think we'll be happy to just at least give it a give it a beat. Looks like they're just going to reexecute at some point.
I think Kulio going back to T spawn.
Couple players maybe check out the window smoke, short smoke,
make it feel like mid is going to be under pressure,
and then you just back up and exec into the B bomb site.
Here's the information crunch from Astralis as well.
All five players in middle.
Yabi's just cleared it out, so Hooksy's going to slide back.
Oh, the window of opportunity for foot is closing.
If these defense gets entrenched back at the B bomb site, they're ruined.
Well, Hooksy hiding down in the site, only the one kill this time.
Jokes clears him out.
Another rotation is arriving forward this retake attempt.
Now, it could go before the plant even comes in,
but Coolio again, a massive shot here for Foot.
That's stare dead as he steps forward,
and a 4v2 now just seems impossible for a Charlottez to win.
They're gonna start backing away,
but even that save call might be unravelled by Krobeni,
but he's spotted by Ryu, who is very aware of that possibility
that opens up the exit plan to get back into ramp.
Okay, well back to back rounds, well done from foot.
We're able to do that against vitality yesterday.
And unfortunately they are not able to break the economy
out of Strauss quite yet.
That next buy is gonna be coming in,
especially with saved guns, Strauss gonna be fine.
But a lovely hit and a lovely like little audible
in the adversity of sensing that,
having the off shot miss, they're thankful for that one.
But pumping the brakes, throwing the midfake,
and you could see it worked.
As the Strauss is doing most of his half,
collapsing on middle when they feel that pressure
that presence is coming except this time nobody's home so nice access into the
B-bombs like good trade on hook see and foot have three cool here on the carry
top-fragged moment for a squad this shot really important reactions to bring
stout down as he pushes out of the market seven to three lead a four
stroller starting to be carved away out here by foot e-sports and now you
You can really see the issues are not having long since the team of straws leave the opening
Kills in this map 9 to 1. Yabbi gonna be in middle. Krubeni dead first
There's another opening kill in favor of Astralis
So 10-1 for those keeping a keeping track at home. The only player with an opening kill on the foot side is Krubeni
Having a very rough go of it playing all these disadvantage rounds
And Yabby and Ryu now executing a little bit of a push towards the A ramp.
They're going to push in, grab the information, see it's clear, and the question becomes how
far do they want to keep going?
No footsteps made by foot in middle as they begin their progression down the mid-ramp,
which means Yabby can't hear any of that intel to pass it over to his team.
So contact to a certain point, smoke window, give cemetery the chance to peek up and peer into the A bomb site, provide cover, but the longer you wait here on short, this has been an issue throughout this half.
If you get bottlenecked, this flank has a great timing.
Yeah, Fuzi, taking jokes. You'll like it if you block with the smoke in the middle of the site, flashes.
Gotta go forward. He's got the scope up, Fuzi, to take down cemetery.
And that really should take everything away, especially with that kill.
Onto D-minutes, now just Coolio left.
No 1v5.
There's a lineup, there's two for Coolio.
Hooks you up on top of the van.
Too much to handle, and an 8th round picked up for you for a straw.
Really well done from Fuzi.
Nice, nice defensive smoke to obscure the fact that you're switching sides
and just finding a new angle.
Couple kills with the AWP makes this a really easy defense.
Taking the teeth out of the attack.
This is very unfortunate.
Obviously, Foot do not have to play who gets the most openings for them,
but the fact that they are being so dominant
In terms of these open kills for Astralis, it's just obviously leading to more success than not.
It should be a 93 scoreline coming out of the half here.
How many things are going? And I mean Astralis is dictating everything on the map tactically.
I mean, it's gonna be one of the strengths of this team with Hooksy at the helm is is tactically
They're gonna have good game plans and you can see here
They open up the half with all that pressure in middle spent three four rounds not doing it whatsoever
And then you bring it right back when you need it after they've won two rounds in a row
And then you kind of surprise them get that opening kill makes the rest of the round easy
easy. So you can see tech balls.
We got the admins out there working on a
fix and whatever whatever issues have
cropped up have reared their ugly heads.
Probably team speak always team speed,
but it's a short one Jason.
So we're getting into the action again here.
Lovely taking on down and we're into
the final round of the first half here.
823 lead for Astralis in pursuit of
a 923 lead over foot eSports.
We'll see what they can do though.
On the T side,
they still have a good five.
4K 47 is a Khalil here for demon.
Let's see if it's enough to get something going.
It's gonna be another opening kill for Astralis.
Yabi picking one up again.
Coolio dead.
And that's like 50%.
I mean, I know it's only one player,
but it's like 50% of where like the location
the attack is gonna come from.
Now it's a one-front battle if they come up short.
So I think once again,
Flitz gonna have to work in audible
and kind of change the idea that they had
and when it seemed like they were gonna scale up short.
Man, at least you got Krebbeni in the latter room.
So once he gets a little bit closer,
you can play that extra player into the window as well.
Yeah, he can be a pivot point,
cut off rotations cut off lurks and flanks the only problem is at this point
like you get yeah okay there we go that works yeah yeah that helps a lot don't
need even to finish that sentence
well let's stay our backs into Krabeni and that frees up the galeel demon but
he's just spotted a soft fortunate for demon he backs in towards the abbey's
AWP scope as well and you no longer have that extra space to work with it
it's suffocating once again here for foot they're funneled into the
connector going for the final play towards the A site and foosies at the
ready, Ryu's out towards ramp, and it's just going to be so tough for Fu to try and break
through this defense.
They're putting pressure on Fuzi with utility that will get the AWP to move off, and they
can put the bomb down in the middle of the site, but they can't actually fight going
away.
Oh, Krobeni's unexpected, Ryu out of ramp loses his engagement, and all of a sudden
Fu have the extra player here pursuing that fourth round win.
Now, we got Yabi coming through jungle, but they have one player's in con, it's
Krobeni in a really strong spot, so Yabi crossing over to the bomb site, it's
It's going to be really tough for him to make it safely here.
Crump Benny is so quick on the headshot,
and they know exactly where Fuzzi is.
He's been struggling to get out of CT spawn.
Wasn't a great half here for a foot,
really struggled in the opening kills department,
but they somehow scrapped together four rounds.
We'll find out if it's enough after the break.
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and here we are. Rugga taking a sip of water. It's been a, I don't know, not a tough day
in the office, but you always got to hydrate eight to four lead for Astralis at the moment.
They look clean today. Now there is a little bit of a headset issue on the coach during
halftime at the start of it. So I'm going to give Rugga a few more minutes to be
able to have his halftime chat with the boys as he wasn't able to get that
during the break. Yeah, so we'll see what he's able to throw into the team. I think
they're going to be mostly happy with how things went. Perfect time for a listening.
Strong cough. Okay, so yeah, just a lot. I mean, it was very general, very basic. Let's
not sleep on these things. Let's not let this one, let's not let this one slip away.
and playing good counter strike up till now, you know?
Yeah.
We've heard it all.
Yeah, interesting to hear at least a little bit here and there.
But for Astralis, of course, I mean, this is a game where
they're going to be feeling much happier than yesterday.
I mean, in a position to actually win the map here, 8-4 up,
overfoot, pissed around, really goes a long way in terms
of trying to hammer those nails into the coffin.
Having seen the way, like, Hooksy seems to take,
like, poor team performances.
So personally, I have to imagine he was so frustrated
yesterday after that game.
So yeah, today's feeling much better within the Astral squad,
you have to imagine.
Just eye-test-wise, it's looked so much cleaner.
Obviously on the scoreboard, much, much better.
And there's also the added pride of,
you're not, at the moment, struggling against this team,
who's been like a rival for this 2026 so far,
but with a stand-in.
And now they're a blast rival, too.
And now they're a blast rival.
They're every kind of rival.
All the rivals going on here.
But we are ready to get into the second half.
Ready to get going.
Foot now switch to the defense.
We'll see if the opening kills get better now
as they move to the CT side.
Yeah, we'll find out when we get into the gun rounds
a little bit.
This pistol round, let's see what Astralis bring out.
It felt very much in the first half
like they kind of had countered a trend
and idea that they'd seen Foot do with the Nade stack
with the Molotov drop as well.
Here looks like they eventually want to finish
with a split into the A-bomb site.
Three gonna be coming up, Con.
You're gonna have Hooksy over at ramp.
Fosey up in Palace ready to pounce.
Oh, straight through the smoke.
She looked here on the crosshair,
the juke's here annihilating Yappy.
Couldn't get to the second kill though.
As Rui makes sure the train comes in here
for Astralis grenade, the lands are right on Cribbani,
and Astralis up into a 4v3 fight
towards CT spawn about to go down.
Culeo all the way back in spawn itself,
cemetery just in front of him.
And that flash is gonna be set up.
They're trying to get cemetery into these fights
with some favor on his side,
Flash ineffective, and cemetery cousin Terry goes forward, he gets two, and then Ryu important
flanking still.
And what is that from Hoekstee?
Flying backwards with the two operettas in the sky, nailing the headshot.
And talking some smack after the fact as well.
Very well earned.
That's both pistols now going over to the Astralis side, nine to four strong lead.
A grip on this map that they're not relinquishing.
And a very fast aggressive tactic.
I'm assuming this was just a blind call, but the idea is like super to space. Yeah, I know
Let's pay back. Oh
I remember doing that final. That's right. This guy's so lucky. I got like he was jumping
Yeah, even jumped out longer
That's to and kill hooks through the jumping shot and he said this guy's so lucky with a few extra choice
I think I think even got two extra jumping kills in that game. Anyways, yeah, maybe not lucky
That's brilliant
Yeah, I yeah, I feel like a strong as I think just a hardcore
There's like a level of anti-striding it feels to this
We have to talk to a straws to get the full sense of it. Hooks. He's gonna lead the way with the max and
And he's gonna destroy everyone except for cemetery
Yeah, Hooks is fired up today.
Well some revenge against foot,
making sure it's quick work as well.
Yeah, this is solid.
This is this is the Astral.
This is the kind of look from Astral
as that gives you a little bit of hope.
Now, granted, we're going to get the full test
into playoffs as a team with Coolio standing in for Lunks.
So we can stop saying that, I guess, right now at this point.
We've said it plenty.
But you know, like just the way they're playing now
gives you a little bit of confidence that you know they're not just going to drop the ball
when you get to the big games you know like against the g2 like this is the astralis that
we want to see game in game out 10 to 4 double digits for astralis and it's gonna get better
because there's no money for we're gonna get a good buy out here in the next one cramini
always has a couple of things in him yeah he does he does indeed so he's getting
this quota is getting his fill. But for a strollers 11 to four is the most likely outcome
of the next two minutes here. Let's hope see he's having a great time individually.
I wonder if this event is like I wonder what what it's going to be like for foot after
this event, right? Because like they built that momentum, they just won their first
trophy and then you have to come play this event without lungs. Is that going to like
Disjoint the momentum you were building up event to event of causing having some big upsets getting deeper into the playoffs
Getting a you know the third place finish it at ESL Pro League
Getting the trophy at Bucharest and now it's like I'd hope not. I tell you probably just get fired up. All ours is back
Let's get back now. We can just get back to where we left off. Yeah
I'd hope so
But it's the next event coming up as well, but Lanter will see you
Might be the same situation, but hopefully not I
I think two in the two events would be pretty disjointing. Yeah, unfortunately
Minute and 12 seconds on the clock Astralis starting to make their move gain a little bit of ground hooks
He's going to investigate this be bombsite. There's a lot of players to find here
Spots one there's the D. Gallup for group Benny, but fast reactions from stairs
so opening frag falls in favor of Astralis they move in towards the site and
Really all out of position here. So the stack towards be hasn't worked out now. Hook see he's hoping he can cast
and trying to come through the motorhole here.
Cemetery trying to clear him.
He was getting close to the kill.
The hooks he picks it up on the Max-Anne Ryu
with his frag towards short instead assisting.
So 11-4 is the outcome.
And Astralis very close to ending Mirage.
They are very, very close to ending Mirage.
It's a foot's map pick as well.
Nuke is going to be the second map in the series,
picked by Astralis.
Foot will at least get to begin on the CT side there,
so a chance to kind of rack up some rounds
on quote the easier side of things on quote. I don't want to agree with that. Nuke's been
exchanged a little bit over the years. Yeah, I mean, talking about foot on Nuke yesterday,
I was impressed that they were so competitive against Vitality. It's coming through as
the third man. We thought it was a new bus for a long time and then Nuke obviously comes through
and Vitality got into shape but for the fact that they came back into that game on Nuke,
even though Vitality came out so strong on the third map, it was so impressive to see Foot
be able to dig deep and get into that kind of form. Well they're going to have to find that
again because I mean they were getting open in kills against Vitality, they were being
aggressive, they were being very confident and at the moment it doesn't feel like we're
getting that foot today. Astralis has really punished them early on this map but they've
never been able to get any kind of a flow and Astralis now with an A exact just
keeping things simple smoke at the top of the ramp they're gonna ignore it and
step right through and they're going up towards ramp flashes through the sky
Astralis getting in but taking some damage along the way here is Ryu with
Hooksie they make it towards CC spawned it's gonna be Ryu to fall to
Jukes just keeping himself back here with one of that fire spread so he's
getting spammed down as well so even if he has found a safe spot you have to
make sure there's no left for you to hide.
Scamming down through the woods gets the kill,
and then Fuzzi fights towards the CT player,
as well making quick work of Krobeni's initial frag
and putting us into a 3v3,
but the bomb unable to get planted
and they're letting Hooksie go on the big wraparound,
hoping he can be the release valve here.
There's plenty of time for it.
Obviously, I think it's gonna start raising some eyebrows
on the foot side of things
and looking towards Flanking in a few seconds at the moment,
but this, I mean, this is kind of a tough situation
for Fuzzi and then stare to be in,
where it's like, just stay alive.
Stay safe in your positions, don't do anything.
I'm taking the longest route possible.
It's like a third to you.
It's a 30 second rotation, you know?
He's a market.
Now, it's also, I mean, to be fair,
it's also kind of necessary.
There's no utility available for the Astraliside
to redeploy and get any kind of a safe plant
and passage into the site.
Well, you gotta let Hooksy play.
You waited this whole time.
Gotta let Hooksy play.
Oh, or just get the dink.
Make it a lot easier.
Pull a distraction.
Now, Fuzzi has died.
Hooksy needs to be successful here around the back.
The Max Hand, there's the kill, into the right full pick up here.
Now Canada Strawl has somehow won this, 18 seconds left.
Demon and Cemetery still alive, and Demon at stairs.
Cemetery with a scope up on that jungle anchor.
Stalker kill, Demon through the smoke connects on Hooksy.
And yeah, I like the idea of Hooksy trying to go
for the wrap around around the world,
but in the end, there's two stronger
to start there from foot.
Yeah, it's always gonna be a rough round for Strawl,
so try and piece together without the utility,
all the strength on the initial exact,
and they didn't get nearly the kind of impact and kills they wanted.
Well done from Kerbenny, fighting between two Molotovs.
Kulio again having some impact for the team.
And you can see at the end of the day,
just not enough freedom to cross into the bomb site.
So Astralis faltered just a bit, 11-5.
Still a six-round lead to play with.
As this game on, you can see the polymarket chances
of that Astralis victory just rising
As this game is continued.
More people believing in Astralis as they've continued to play good counter strike.
Jokes, takes the shot.
Stairs gonna drop him at a distance.
And now Krebbenny slides into some space.
Yeah, Yab is pushed all the way up towards CT, from all it's off, gonna maintain this
angle for a little bit longer.
Hooksie's on another flank this time through the underpass towards connector.
It's going to be very successful too because he has a lot of players who can pull distraction
and Hooksie is going to make the most of it taking cemetery away.
We've got Krobeni at least stepping into the kill feed and 3v3 retakes still going to be tough
especially with Fuzi taking demon down in that time taking a little bit too far beyond
anything possible and obviously Krobeni so far away so it's going to be a rough scenario.
It's it's 12 to 5. It doesn't seem like there's any hope left and it's going to be Astralis feeling very happy about this Mirage performance today.
Yeah, they really will be and I mean, Funtz going to be the ones who leave this one disappointed at the very least just because they're going to feel like they never got into this game.
And they'd be right. It's felt like Astralis has had kind of a grip on this match. The first two rounds that were played, I was like just watching Astralis.
I was like, oh, Funkus, a lot of team play, communication is clearly there and it's just continued.
shoot all the way up to round 18
probably shooting from foes in
well that's what you've got you got an mp9 the FAMAS 3M4s for foot coming into
this round we'll see what the finishing call is for Astralis
I don't see...
All towards the top mid boxes.
Mid space to play with.
Quiet for now.
Yeah, I think Astralis is waiting to see if, like, at this 12-5, they're like,
okay, you know, they're backed into a corner now.
You know, like, let's look for something crazy.
Look for something aggressive. Look for an opening move.
Obviously that hasn't come, so we're going to check out a little bit more utility.
Here's the clear of Palace.
home in these holes. And Hoeksees got a kill on Kribbetti. That's in the window smoke.
Sure does. Hoeksees 29. He's the star player today.
Beasting. Yeah. Crazy to see Hoeksees getting to this level.
He's also, he's lying to him. He told him at the start of the game,
the better if he plays instead of Rugga. Rugga ain't dropping 29.
No he ain't. Yeah, Hoeksees having a great game here. You don't see this often.
So I'm just enjoying it. Ball to him. I'm sure he's loving it too.
He's even got flying jumper. I had a head shot in there.
I know he's been getting everything out of there. Everything's going his way.
Let's see if this goes as flawless as it goes. They go for the B for they should steam it.
He came out towards the window. Now he does spots now coming through the apartments and gets rid of him.
He's under a lot of pressure now. He's running out of bullets and he gets pushed by Hoxie.
Hoxie bashes down the doors of the B site here.
Finally going to be taken out by Coolio on the other side of things.
And that plant is going to go down in the middle of the B site.
So 3V3 post plant for Astralis to try and close out Mirage.
Yeah, they don't really have any great eyes over towards short quite yet.
So one player coming up, Cemetery, he can have some impacts.
Yeah, there's one kid available. It is on the back of Coolio, who's moving out now,
side of the smoke, spotted, body-backed by Ryu,
and now moving up towards Cemetery.
Yes, he gets caught, and so the drake comes in, Ryu's gonna close in,
and it will be Astralis to find success on the opening map.
Mirage will fall for foot,
and then 13-5 win is gonna feel so good right now for Astralis.
What a showing for Astralis too.
The stars indeed flying high as they absolutely dominate foot.
And foot just looking nothing like the team
that we were seeing yesterday.
It was all Astralis right here.
Yeah, since we're in Texas and we're in the South,
I think it's only fair to describe it this way.
That's a good old fashioned ass weapon.
I mean, that's what we call it down here.
I mean, from start to finish, there was never really
a moment where foot were able to find
any type of, as you'd call, toehold into the game.
It was just a dominant performance.
your boy hook see out there giga chatting it up. Oh my goodness. That means get him
back out. It's a glorious day for a straw roll them back out. It's a glorious
day for a hook see as well. Really started to heat up towards the end. I mean,
he's strong throughout it, but that second half just dominating spanking
foot. I mean, incredible. You just don't see performances like this every
day. And I mean, everything working across the board as well, right?
Ryu to close the guy who's struggling so much yesterday. You just got to
be loving this if you're in an Australian home. Yeah, this is the
classic firing off cylinders, you know, cliche, right?
I mean, everybody was able to do their job in that game.
You know, we saw it kind of starting out with Yabby getting some big early play
stare eventually comes into the fold as well.
And really everyone at some point in time found it.
And, you know, we kind of talked about Yabby a little bit as having resurgence
in the form. And I think that this is one of the massive revoges,
an example of why that's happening.
You know, he's been given more opportunities to play more, quote,
unquote, star CT positions and just allow him to be a little bit more of
a playmaker and be a little bit more involved.
You know, he kind of got relegated to some, you know,
I guess you could say when like Stown and some of the other guys were on the team, but now he gets
They could be featured a bit more and you can see the impact that you get is able to have
You can indeed and I mean if we talk about the way they set the tone early on
We were talking about the potential for the mid-fight. It didn't bite them as much yesterday today
I think foot were really missing loud because they couldn't match up against stare in middle
Yeah, I mean foot, you know
Basically you felt the same problem that they felt to yesterday against five-tallity is that they weren't able to control
middle you know situation where you saw yabby was able to do it early and then
stair had so many opening picks from this connector position peering over the
smoke gets a spam kill there on demon we saw it multiple other rounds as well
even foosie gets involved with the AWP because there's a gap in that smoke so
there was just so many different fumbles I guess you could say from foot in
middle whereas the Strauss were able to maintain it and again stairs been such
a star performer for a shower this year even you know yesterday when they
weren't playing well stair was still delivering they've given him all the
star spots and he's giving you what you want in those roles.
He is, again and again, delivering it and it's exactly what you need, right?
Because for Astralis right now, you've got a bunch of players that are strong or
have the potential to be strong, but you don't necessarily have that one that you
can look to to lead the charge and it has been stare more and more and more.
And this is the responsibility they're now heaping on him does.
Yeah, look at those opening dual conversions.
I mean, this is one of the other big things other than just stares like
rating and ADR and things that nature is.
He's a big opening tool for this team now on both sides of the map.
And you saw it there, he didn't lose a single fight that he took to open up around.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, you know, you have a very skilled foot team that you expect
to be able to, you know, play that pacey style and find those big space taking moments.
But Kerbini was like the only guy who found an opening kill at any point in time.
And that is where they were missing rounds.
You know, that's the guy who's usually there for them to create that space.
And that was missing today.
I think another aspect that we can talk about here for foot is that we know this is a momentum based team.
Right. We know that this is a team that feeds off of energy.
once they start rolling, they're very hard to stop, but the problem is if they don't start rolling,
if they're stuttering and sputtering in the first half, they never get that chance,
you see the confidence go against them and you see that same volatile emotional team
come back to bite them. If you don't have that level, it's hard to return to it when things
aren't going well. Yeah, I mean, this is something we were kind of talking about in the pregame
and something that most have even kind of mentioned in the broadcast where, you know,
this is a squad that has seen steady incremental improvement over the course of the last
the game. They've been in the
last six months or so. Results
have gotten better. They just
went from being an academy
team to being a tier one
trophy holder. Not that long
go out and Bucharest and you
were kind of wondering. Well,
with long stop being here, does
that take away from that? You
know, steady climate they've
been on. You know, does that
kind of knock them back a
bit yesterday against five
Tau, the I think we saw
enough signs of life to make
you think that well, foot
aren't necessarily skipping to
be this much. Just maybe we
thought they were this game.
Very different story. I will
say in their defense, right?
on the mirage as well, right?
That was where they struggled against fatality.
That's where we were thinking, well,
maybe this one's just gonna be a quick one.
This one's just gonna be a clean one.
Part of that was due to Culeo shaking off some rust.
Not as much of an issue here.
He actually performed quite admirably in the first half
to try and keep them in some moments,
to try and fight a little bit.
But you do have to think that maybe this is a foot team
that again, can hit the reset button.
Problem is they're going into the nuke earlier.
They did have a nice showing on it yesterday.
Still some cause for concern here, Dust.
Absolutely.
I mean, again, just very flat footed.
I guess it's the way you can kind of put it for some of these guys.
I mean, we saw yesterday that demon,
Jude's, Perbini, kind of that wide distributed firepower.
We always kind of talk about when you talk about foot.
They were, you know, on point.
They're playing the greatest of all time
and still drawing blood, even with the stand-in today.
Again, we just didn't really see them
exercise any of what we know them for.
All right.
Now we've waited long enough, Dust.
We have to give the people what they want.
And what they want is Hootsie highlights.
The gigachat himself, alive in the server,
strong as you like broad-shouldered, firm crosshair,
good flicks, and highlights galore.
Sorry, the what there?
The chisel chin, you know?
The gigachat.
I mean, you gotta throw that out there.
Yeah, I mean, he's been kind of hoaxing, you know?
He's been doing the thing.
He had, yesterday he almost had an ace hit,
like the big 4K round on Dust 2.
Well, even though I've seen other games
where he'll frag above the level
you kind of think him for.
So yeah, it's kind of nice.
Actually, what was funny in this game
is that all the quote-unquote big brains
with the top fraggers in the server was hoaxy,
on his team, and then it was, you know,
Coolio essentially on his team and Krabini.
You know, basically all the brains of the operation,
the ones getting the frags this time around.
We love the little brains paired with Braun.
I mean, like it is, 114.80, R1.79 rating, 21 and 10.
What was their bonkers statistics?
You want firepower?
Hooksy's apparently got that thing in spades.
This is gonna be a great sign for a straw this, right?
If Hooksy's fragging like this,
could be an easy day in the office for them.
Yeah, Hooksy saw that Karrigan
had the highest rating at Bucharest.
like hold on a second hold up here I got this. I can do that. I can do the Danish IGLs? Yeah I can do a little bit of that.
If you want to play like Hoopsy at home, well we might just have just the thing because Refrag is the greatest training software in Counter Strike
and they've got this little mode, Dust you might have heard of it, it's called Crossfire. It helps you isolate angles,
deal with players swinging you in this case bots, help get better at these moments, these high pressure real game scenarios
and train your ability so you can get used to defending locations towards taking space worth isolating fights worth setting up to deal with multiple opponents you could play like chef you could play like
Oxy you could be a giga chat all your own in your matchmaking games. Shout out to chef one time big fan of chef. Shout out to chef. My goat. Best, best observer out there also really good performance on crossfire that you're seeing on screen and yeah
screen and yeah get out there and check out some tools to help you be better at the game.
One of these days we'll get chef a pro contract again but for now we're going to take a little
break as we load up and get ready for nuke. Stuart died for foot as a strawless look to burn them
and descenders.
Strahle stepped to the plate here in Fort Worth and knocked that thing right out of the ballpark.
But now we have to see if they can hit a double and make this thing a 2-0.
We're moving on to their own map pick of Nuke and Flut meanwhile trying to change the game.
Yeah, they're going to need to make a big pivot here if they want to keep their dreams
of joining the playoffs alive.
They've been on such a hot streak lately.
They've been dealt the heavy blow losing one of their teammates coming into this.
We saw life yesterday.
They're going to have to show up again here on this map if they want to keep
going.
And I think the reality as well for Foot might be that they just have to play a little looser,
one would imagine, right?
Again, coming into this event, we know they're playing with a stand-in, we know they're playing
with their coach, we know there's all these situations going against them, there's all
these things that limit them.
But you have that tight game against Vitality and suddenly you're starting to believe
maybe we can do some damage, get a little bit of a snapback to reality here on Mirage.
How do you reset Dust?
Yeah, that's a tough one.
As you said, I've reshaped against them.
You know, Shrousas beat them both times.
They played on Nuke so far this year.
Generally speaking, Shrousas looked a little bit more impressive.
you know, as far as the resume,
the teams that they're kind of beating,
you know, foot doesn't have any real big wins
other than when they were able to beat Mongols.
So it's one of those things where a lot weighs
in the Shouse's favor.
Again, you got Stair who's just such a great star player
in the art position on both sides of the map
and just gives you so much value.
You know, Fuzi's been the hotter hand with the AWP
if we're honest in this matchup.
They were showing, you know, on the last game
that head to head, he's been able to outdual,
you know, symmetry a lot throughout the course
of this year.
So a lot of things are in a Shouse's favor.
His second highest rated map in CS2, by the way,
for Hootzy, kind of astonishing.
Now, Dust, you're something of a sportsman yourself,
a known golfer of the discs.
How do you reset if you're mid-tournament
to lock back in if you had maybe a rough start?
Yeah, it's just about having that goal-fish memory,
as they kind of say.
You know, just let Matt want to go and move it on
to the next thing, and the thing is,
there are ways for Flut to make things happy.
You know, for one, I do think Corbini, in his own right,
can be a fantastic yard player on both sides,
the man that challenged there.
He's very sneaky.
He's able to find like really good timings.
He's like a rat in the best kind of way, right?
Like, what people say that
where they think of it being a negative thing,
But just the way he creeps around and finds
his cool timings, his own orthodox pushes and forward angles,
he can sometimes catch people off guard.
Symmetry is actually kind of the same way.
A lot of reason why he was the MVP of Bookrest
was because he was taking these crazy aggressive maneuvers
and unorthodox positions.
And so as you were talking about playing a little bit looser,
you got to play a little bit trickier as well.
Try to throw a couple of things in there
that our Shouse isn't going to expect.
And so that's really some of the big things for me.
And then the other thing is what we talked about pregame.
Even in Juves, R's supposed to be the pillars
of this team in those anchor positions.
We saw them play very well yesterday.
A lot more weight is on their shoulders
because Lofs is not here.
And so we're gonna have to see them come alive in this one.
And it's gonna be an interesting circumstance, right?
Because if we remember,
if we think back to that Vitality Nuke game,
versus Vitality Rathak, it was an 11-1 half, right?
This is over, done and dusted.
They managed to drag it back
to the precipice of overtime.
So you imagine now with that belief
inspired in them for foot,
maybe if they get a little bit of a better start here,
if they don't have to be playing
against a deficit like that,
we could see a better face.
Yeah, I mean, we definitely got to see a better T side
then we'll be showing against five tellers.
No offense or buts about it.
That's why I say more pressure is on committee
because he's kind of the guy that has to open for you now
that you don't have longs here.
It also puts more weight on demon
because he's kind of the other guy
that you put in that trading slot
to try to get out there and help you create openings
or create trade frag potential.
So I mean, really those are kind of the two guys
and also get that big defense out of the anchors
that we were talking about that, you know,
that gives you a lot of room as well.
Looking at the other side,
we've got a little bit of time here.
Astralis is new.
What are we expecting to see from them, right?
We've touched on stair outside a little bit,
But what else are you expecting?
What do you think Hootsie's going to do here?
How do you think he's going to call?
You know, for me, it's just like what version of a strata
shows up.
Do I get the strata?
It's been impressive building up big results
with the course this year.
Do I get the one that looks shaky yesterday,
looks shaky at Bucharest, even though they
had the second place finish at that event?
There were definitely a lot of moments there
that were left you wondering.
Their nuke in general has been kind of 50-50 so far
this year.
Four and three records and good wins,
but also some losses that make
it kind of scratch your head.
Again, I think the good thing going for them
is something we've already kind of mentioned,
is that Stair has been so stable.
Even yesterday when they didn't look themselves,
they are still dead, right?
He's been delivering time and time again.
He's one of the best players in the world this year,
for honest, and plays that key position in yards.
So I think just having him continue to deliver
in that position, I think it's gonna be big for them.
I think the other big thing is, yeah,
they haven't mentioned him yet.
Resurgence in form so far this year,
gets a little bit more freedom on this team.
Even though he's a lobby player on T-Sod,
he can be a playmaker there.
He's not just a guy holding space.
You can actually take it.
So those are some of the things
I'm kinda watching out for.
They like to play an aggressive play style.
They like to be punchy.
They like to throw you a lot of different looks.
They like to be in your face.
And so I expect that they're going
to keep that same tempo going into this one.
It's going to be one that JK Simmons will like.
His tempo, indeed.
We are waiting to resolve just a little bit of a tech issue.
So we'll begin into the server as soon as we can.
Thank you for bearing with us, for everybody
watching from home.
Reminder, if you are just joining us,
Astralis came out swinging Hootsy's second best-rated map
of CS2 ever.
And now for foot, it's about finding solutions.
If you were foot, if you're playing with Coolio in here,
how would you change your tempo to try and best Astralis?
Yeah, I think it's about trying to figure out
what do you want to do with Coolio.
They try to talk about some of the interviews,
but they don't really want to change too much.
So they're kind of putting him in one for one
for Lamps in many cases, and not really
have to budge any of the other pieces.
And I think to some degree, that makes sense,
which kind of keeps everyone comfortable.
But at the same time, it's like,
Lamps played such big positions for you.
He was your primary AR player on the T side.
Corbini was more of like a secondary yard guy,
an aggressive lurker or something.
So now Corbini has to be always the point man, so to speak,
right?
Or you have Clio just kind of sacking for you
for information to set up trades.
I'm not sure which way you want to go with that.
He also yesterday did well enough on the CT side, right?
They had that big comeback against five times.
That was a good sign.
But I do think it just, again, puts that added weight
onto him like Corbini.
I don't think he can be as much of a late to mid-round
factor.
I think he has more responsibility being that early front man
since Lops is not here yesterday he struggled to do that we'll see if you can change it today.
It's interesting that you say that because it feels like it hasn't necessarily been how we've seen him deployed right?
He mentioned when I was talking to him yesterday in the pre-game interview that while his crosshair was actually feeling better
he'd been playing a lot of DM trying to grind for this it was the movement that was maybe a little slower to come back
and of course if you are playing those entry rolls if you're playing those more dynamic rolls
movement is so much a piece of that of maximizing your efficiency getting into angles getting into fights creating that space for your team
So we have seen him a little bit more in the late rounds even on Mirage
We saw him in some of those later on situations where maybe he's last live or second-last alive trying to track back a spot
He curious to see how they play that we are going to be getting into this rug is cracking a red bull
That means without further ado. It's time to hop into the server time to hop on over to our casters taken away
Moses and didn't go
Thank you, Mike. Yeah, I'm ready for the second map. I'm hoping we see a better foot
You know, they they were so good yesterday. They were looking great. Now, it's not a great look
It's a pretty ugly foot.
Yeah, got some more.
It's not great.
Not great.
Maybe a lot of them.
Yeah, need to go check that out.
But getting into this one, I imagine
it's going to get a little bit better at least.
Yeah, I mean, well, let's find out.
Let's find out.
Because I think the biggest issue you were highlighting
throughout the game was the lack of opening kills.
You know, it's not like if you can't even get the opening
kills and can't even get to stage two or the round,
and you're playing everything around four and five.
Tactics don't really matter.
You're not going to win a game playing so many rounds
at a disadvantage.
So we've got to see what they're
going to open up with.
They at least start on the CT side
So if they can win the pistol and get rolling, you have a better chance of just kind of burying Astralis
and not having to win as many rounds on this T-side that's been kind of tough for you to manage without longs in the roster.
Well, the Dallas Fort Worth area is one of the top areas for podiatry.
So let's see if they have anything to sort it out for.
All right, so let's get into the second map underway.
Astralis, well, that's a great start for Krobeni.
Okay, melting them with the tool Barrett is going towards hook see but the pushes come through from the ramp room and cool
He was taking a hook see away. So Fuzi's left one before
Barrett is coming out swinging court Benny has won the round in the first couple of seconds
Yeah, it's exactly what you need to get started on a positive note a pistol round like that triple kill from your captain is
Going to help push Mirage out of your memory entirely and now it's full focus here on nuke lovely sequence
Door breaks open. He's ready
It's a little bit fortunate with both kills in that exchange, but damn, we'll give them
the triple and a pistol for foot.
Now that foot that we saw against Vitality yesterday is still in there somewhere.
Yeah, it definitely is.
It's still in there somewhere.
It can wake up at any point, you'd imagine.
We hope, we dream.
Well, let's see if it's gonna pan out that way.
Stralis, you know, the other side of it is too.
The Stralis we've seen yesterday versus G2 is still in there somewhere, Jason.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's still in there.
They don't want to see it. No, they don't want to bring that one out to the play
I don't let him hang out. I was a 93 damage HG grenade on foesie to start the round. So that's no fun
Thankfully just a Glock as he saves up some money and Astralis gonna back away from the outside pressure. Yeah, this is a
We didn't touch on it too much just because I think everyone who's watching Counter-Strike these days knows is
This is what like the sixth time these two teams have played these matches
just get so weird when you've played that many times in this short of a period like that was starting at crack out
Yeah, it's been all
Every event these teams have been at and I hope it and twice at ESL pro league. Yes
Grand final as well
That was that felt like the Super Bowl of the straws versus for it was like a grand final and now we get one here in America
Don't say Super Bowl Super Bowl's
Super Bowl of this particular engagement. It's maybe the world series, you know, go that way
You tell me a straw for as far as America's past
Baseball is not even America's past time get it out. We don't want it
The ballpark hot dogs they do slap they do that's the only good thing about it
2-0 as we head into the first gun round AK is coming in for the Astralis attack
Allp is out in the hands of Cemetery early on, so we'll see what kind of an impact he can have early.
If he starts getting on a bit of a heater, grabbing a couple kills outside,
I mean, you want to talk about a team that struggled to find some opening kills on Mirage?
Get that allp outside. If he's just going to be picking off one player as they cross,
it's going to alleviate so much pressure.
We got Cemetery all about early.
I like the foot. Want to get going straight away. Get the allp in play.
You're getting aggressive in fights.
some deep peeks trying to be disruptive to whatever Astralis is setting up.
With the smoke wall outside,
Cemetery's option is to drop down and guard secret, but they're gonna turn right in towards Mini.
Oh, it talks against the wall, Stare can't win the fight, Ryu backs off blinded and taken down by Kruppenny.
and yeah be okay kill after kill coming through all of a sudden but a 2v2 thanks to demon who
delivers again from rafters one more player left is hoaxie down and hot and an important
fight one here still a chance of the in-game leader of a straws to win this out up against
cemetery who's on the awp yeah but he switched to the pistol heard the bink and look at
the damage here for hoaxie down to 16 health it's gonna back away try and slip into the
but look how proactive Cemetery's been about this.
It's nice, it's good.
And he's found some safety inside the hut,
but you have to make a decision, really.
Like, Hooksy's actually gotten away to the point
where he controls this 1v1 for the moment, right?
You can't obviously know if Cemetery's read this
and just kind of gambled and come down here,
but you're gonna have time if you're Hooksy.
Once this bomb is planted,
to bail out and find the exact post plant position
you want.
And now Cemetery's a mile away
and he's gotta make the decision.
We can see one on the ground outside as you want to make noise to increase the speed
Does even want a challenge for this with the AWP?
Right open and hooks he's gonna win it so there's your answer to always give me the bags him as well
He's giving a little teabag as well just to there's a gentle sweetie. Sweetie. Is that what it is sweet here in the south?
Yeah
Well, it's a it's a first round for a straws is one by hooks
I have to say he was the star of the show in that first map. So I'm loving that
Yeah, Mike delivered it to us the second best map of CS2 in terms of his rating
That he delivered the clutch ability that he had winning a big-time clutch early on to stop any momentum from foot as well
And he's done it again here early on there it is
love that
Great form love the posture
Round four
Still a buy for the foot defense but out of money after this and running low in utility as well
They're gonna choose to get aggressive. A lobby crunch coming in
There's a yabby headshot. There's a trade from juice
So they're gonna back away. It's a 4v4 now, but look at the space that got outside here straws stairs pushed up to the back of the
Garage in fact, he's not slowing down. He's sprinting. He's taking as much control as he possibly can here
I think I think yabby spotted at least three in lobby, right? So they're like you're like we have a we got a lot of room
There's a lot of resources in other parts of the map. So let's test this. Let's see what we got
Oh looking for that push all needed to be a hit that would have been a beauty for Fuzi
would have put Astralis in such a strong position in a four on three.
But still with these advanced locations, it's all advantage is still the way of Astralis, even with the miss shot.
Stare on the wrap around from Heaven, but here comes the fight to a secret rear, not ready at all.
at all so jerryx takes that kill with no issue so more pressure on stare to find something inside
of the site and you got demon down to a CT van scary thing is if he takes too long clearing out
upper bomb site or working up the courage to take a peek her Benny at any moment can slip
behind him can come up the ladder if all depending on timing for Benny might just be able to ruin
this round for astralis demon could still do so out from CT van if he's fast enough
Oh, what? How has he gone away with that?
Kruppenny, a curveball, as he runs up the top of the ladder.
Kruppenny gets away with something ridiculous out from heaven.
Oh, Starr is going to be so mad about that.
I'm fed up, because that is something just stupid.
Yeah, I'm a little mad about that.
Crazy. This spears him coming up the ladder.
There's the first kill.
Great wrap. That kill prevents Starr from being spotted,
but it just doesn't matter.
That sums up foot right there.
You take your time as their opponent, getting into position, working up the courage to finally peak at heaven at the right time.
Then Kramati just flies up the ladder and kills you while flying off the top of it.
Yeah, it's a bit wild. It's gonna be frustrating. So, Stralis and a bit of a pit right now.
Hero AK picked up.
Only one rifle for this round gonna lead the way over towards the ramp room. It's Kulio to defend.
Yeah, Kulio, let's see what he can do.
Uh, misses a lot of shots, but gets a lot of information.
And he's gonna stay alive. That's important.
can still be a threat on that lower bomb site and the utility has slowed the
strollers down. Can you see Vitality run a couple of ramp hits trying to overwarm
Culeo in that spot? Yeah but I mean it's a nice place if you have a stand-in to
just kind of park him because you can always have the option of just leaving.
You know if you're not comfortable with the protocol of the situation you
can just drop. Now Cemetery is gonna come back in grab a couple and that's
the round pretty much over. Culeo gets his one and Riyu stabs it out into the
the fights and kiss himself.
A couple of nice head shots there,
but too much to really handle.
And it's a four to one lead coming in from foot shown.
They're very capable right now on nuke.
Yeah, let's just see if they continue rising up into this.
And this defense kind of holds strong.
If they drop the ball at any point,
let us draw us back into it a little bit scary.
They have to keep in mind.
Well, actually, you don't want them to keep it in mind,
but they're going to have to, we'll keep in mind.
Their T sides have at times just straight up stalled out.
And we saw it a little bit earlier today on Mirage.
We saw it on Mirage yesterday against Vitality.
So for them, this CT side is all important. It's not about hitting a specific number. It's about getting just as many as you can.
I'm taking the time now, Astralis is not great by, and he's got pistols on two players,
two AK47s at Galil.
to build on how important the CT side is just a little bit before this exit exact begins is the vitality foot game on newke yesterday
Foot only got one round on their t-side
Now it is against it is against vitality
But still you know with that kind of a knowledge and the struggles of the t-side of mirage earlier the CT side better be banging
Well coming out towards the A site. It's bastard from hoaxes tech 9 yabby also grabbing a fright kill the AK
847, only cemetery picking one off keeps us round to a little bit stare
Oh, he's got a free kill to Benny had his knife out not gonna work out from whatsoever
Not often cemetery. That's kind of ridiculous. He gets away with that one through his gaming right now
He's actually kept this round in contention that kill allows coolio to slide in towards mini if you can find hook see
Yeah, it would be a tough spot because you've got foosie down in the site as well
Goes forward the flash and even though foosie was blinded just started spraying away and cemetery gets taken down
So clearly you're not gonna be able to win this one. It will be a second round found for Astralis and a great round to grab it because
Again, I highlighted the start of this. You only had two. They have two pistols in play and three rifles
And the pistol gets the opening frags with Yabi, right? That's Hoopsie coming out of hot gets his one and opens up the bomb site
It's phenomenal utility usage from Astralis in that round
I mean what activates the pistol because the pistol actually struggles that Techon took a minute to get that opening kill
But he's just so blind. It doesn't matter that you're struggling with it
So, great utility. Molotovs to force the defenders out in the open.
Flashbangs well timed to blind just about everybody.
And two clean kills to get into the upper bomb site on a bust.
Second round for Astralis. Clawed into their favor. Four to two.
Oh, that's how you happy got the kill, then.
And they break even further solid utility usage from Astralis.
And Cemetery was hitting some great shots there that forced him to actually be able to make anything of it.
Lovely crosshair placement from Fosy as well to hit that wall blind too.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Look at the damage done to Foot, so you no longer have the Cemetery off.
And MP9 have it come out here on Coolioke.
I'm sure they'll have a chance to break the money here off Foot, which would
really allow them to get into this first half of play.
And you just highlighted how important the CT side is for foot that they go on a massive
streak around victory.
Yeah, that's what's worrying is, you know, if you actually end up breaking them, that
can't just like kind of destroy the momentum that they sort of built up with some nice plays.
Dangerous round here for foot.
Triple smoke outside.
Even the break isn't going to be able to give you vision all the way through.
Hooksie chucking up utility in the upper bomb site.
It's a fake based off the previous round success and foot don't bite.
Going down into the open, it's Krebbeni and Semi-Tree.
Yabbi got both though, a little bit of barbecue here in Fort Worth.
Yabbi making the most of that.
And now it's a 3v3.
Sterak gets such an important kill here on 2x.
That keeps the straws ahead.
We know Daemon can be good from the rafters,
but he's got to worry about multiple positions.
So they're pulling Kulio through the ramp aggression.
He's sitting here at the vending machines.
Fuzi's about to walk into him so a chance here for Coolio. He's not being spotted Michael Coolio is just standing in the open in the lobby
Hooksie finally spots him and it will be cool here to die an awkward scenario
Now they know where demon is as well. He's dropped out into the front shot and hook see this little shrugger the shoulder
So focused over on ramp room as well
I you could just I mean it not on ramp or excuse me on hot
You're looking for that push coming through the dangerous one to the offer
So yeah, almost drops the ball, but I think you always would have been able to recover, but that is the economic break
Big yabby yabby I would imagine when he gets these kills. I
Imagine his hands have to go up like what are these guys doing like wire to
Yeah, yeah, that's kind of the look is like what the hell like why are two players?
I'm rushing into my Molotov to fight happy with the kills and a double for hook see at the end to seal the victory
I
Cool, yo, it's just one in the lobby. That's one of those rounds. Yeah, it really is stare. He's across towards red
He's got some good space here early on for Benny. Do you got them?
too far off
So it's gonna move on up
Shot from hook seek lovely. He's on point today. He is he's been warming up
He's had enough of losing the foot. Yeah, it's no more
Well, they can take it slow here.
They know the economic situation.
They know that foot's been broken.
No need to press the issue too quickly.
Good utility going to turn in for as many clears as corner.
So let's see another head shot.
Yeah, no, it does get taken down from behind,
but he does his job very admirably.
Yeah, Rex those pitchers and yeah,
yeah, to what's happened.
Well, close things out and tie things up.
Most importantly, four rounds on T side for Charles.
So new looking great.
Obviously opportunities to get even more
I mean, every round that they went here on the T side is is making me more and more worried about foot chances here
Just for what you highlighted, you know in fact, they really struggled on the offense yesterday
And we see more struggles on the Raj as well. Yeah, even today. There's there's no real opening ability
You can really see that they're really lacking any of that ability because long says in their own
Just feel like this is over if you don't get enough on the CT side
We'll see if Stralis get over towards the ramp, room a little bit more direct again.
Stera quickly out towards secret, he's made it past those smokes, but there's a flank coming
in.
Yeah, it heard the whole way.
So one's going to drop down the vents to guard secret, and obviously he's going to
be flanked up very, very fast.
So likely to go down over in secret, so everything falls to this ramp hit.
Look at Benny, he's got that kill, no issue Stera, not going to be turning around, not
expecting to play to walk down those secret stairs.
Now what do Astralis do?
You've lost that.
Does that make you reconsider?
Yeah, yeah, who was the A bomb site?
You don't have the second problem
to connect to that lower B bomb site.
No one to backstab the defenders
over towards control side or decon.
So the little ninja vanished
as they go back to the upper bomb site.
So at the moment, Ft knows they can be here,
but the last in piece of information they could rely on
was that Astralis was over in ramp room.
Pervenian jugs trying to reassess the situation,
reposition themselves.
Astralis spreading out quite far as well
with Hooksy coming all the way outside.
So this round is going to go the full timer.
There's Hooksie dead.
And then Demon goes ahead, and Fuzzi is finished off.
So now a Yabbi reuse situation, a 2v5,
just isn't going to be happening here for a straw.
So foot, maybe keep everybody alive.
Really important that they do keep everybody up here.
You can start stabilizing that economy again.
The money back, dropping down, dies at the hand
of Probeni, and leaving Yabbi 1v5 now,
11 HP, so shouldn't be dropping anybody to Yabbi here.
Yeah, a little bit of an ugly round for Astralis, the audible not panning out,
not able to find any kind of idea after the player outside went down,
or down in secret, excuse me, it's there.
Yeah, it's gonna happen on a map like Nuke, and you can see,
I mean, the idea of being disruptive was something that we noticed
that Ft. was doing in the early, the first two, three rounds.
Here again, it's like, you get the skill outside,
Demon's like, okay, you're gonna react to that kill,
so I'm gonna push up and make sure you can't get anything comfortable.
will catch his foosie peeking into the angle.
It's 5-4, nursing, a lead is foot.
Astralis just one round back, heading into round 10.
That cross set up.
Krobeny doesn't care about the smokes. He's just gonna fire right through instead. He's having a real rough time
Trying to make anything happen outside. That is maybe a bit too much from Krobeny
Stepping through the smoke where you get some easy trade without really happened to go and fight for it
Might be a little bit too much
But I think you're gonna be okay with it if your foot because Krobeny's been doing really good work for you
He's got a plenty of opening kills and that's something we tracked on the first map
That was a nightmare for foot on their teeth right here on the CT side nuke
They've had six opening actually make it seven when this round comes to a close
And that is what Duster was saying before this as well saying you know without long story is more pressure all the pressure is basically
Uncle Benny to go ahead and get those openings and that is exactly what we're watching right now
But really good stuff here from Rio. That's a triple
You know we were talking about in the lack of impact he had yesterday
Stepping up in this round to getting himself the trade kill on Krobeni then the full-up to towards secret
Put against the wall now with a AWP of cemetery
Okay, cemetery's dragged his team back into this round
Okay, Yabby's got the kill. That means Cemetery's on his own. He knows he has a 1v1 at the lower bomb site because he want to press the issue.
Bomb is still on the ground.
It goes for the shot, but boozy. To finish Cemetery off, I'll be a 5-5 scoreline now.
Riyu really, the difference in this one.
Yeah, I mean, those two kills are great. I'll tell you this though, I just think this is an inexperience.
Opening those control doors and sprinting out immediately. You have that smoke. Open it and just drop it.
Just drop it, avoid the complication all together.
But these are lovely kills to find them.
It's super good transfer over,
just based off C on the shoulder.
And it opens up Yabi with space for the lurk.
Oh, nice!
And yeah, more than anything, feel good for Ryu.
When you know you have that level of impact,
you've basically won your team that round.
We'll move it outside, look at the brawl.
Ryu taking some damage, here he's down to 61,
but Starr again, 4 HP, he's got such a dangerous role on this map.
Ooh, Ryu is the danger right now, knocking on Kribani's door.
And it's going to be one big open and kill here for Astralis,
but Ryu's not slowing down, he's going forward.
Oh, look how fast and decisive this is.
What a shot.
Oh yeah, he's a little bit frustrated about losing that one.
Cemetery just blinds him.
And a 4v4, it's still a lot of time left.
The rounds basically just started as those fights are coming in.
Yeah, Astralis changing the pace a little bit,
Just wanted to get stuck in immediately.
Cemetery's got another one.
I'm going to be able to back up the ladder.
Four on three man advantage.
Now you can play things passively.
You can make a Stralis.
You force them to make the next move.
Well, the next move is coming from Hooksy.
He's got maybe a little bit closer than Cemetery.
My anticipate, but that's a big kill from Bluezy.
Wall bang through Heaven.
Reaction is for Jugs to push through a squeaky door
and get the trade on Yabi.
Not the biggest deal in the world,
because Ryu is coming from Heaven.
And I don't think they realize that checking it, big win.
Yeah, big win for Jugs.
Yeah, hooks he going down now.
It's just Fuzzi 1v3 with your 30 seconds to do it as well.
At least he has to go up on his back.
Coolie is making a coach play,
but Fuzzi is not going to head in his direction.
So never mind about that.
To the upper bomb site we go.
Jokes is just below.
It's such a tough shot for an Alper here.
Yeah, not going to happen.
Jokes is right underneath the scope.
So that will end up being another round here.
Six on the board.
CT side.
It's not going to be as strong as it was yesterday,
but still staying in the game.
Yeah, staying in the game, absolutely.
And I mean showing better than on Mirage just doesn't feel like it's enough with the concerns about the T side.
However, all you can do is play with what you got in front of you.
So they're going to try and scrape together this last round as well.
Take a two round lead into the second half.
Fosy's going to have the AWP.
Money is the biggest issue for Astralis at this point as they take their first time out of the game.
They're going to have this AWP, but 2800 on Yabbi, 2800 on Ryu.
It's going to be pistols around the AWP.
I'm not entirely sure what you call maybe put fozy up on on the silo to see if you can pick up
Craveni who's been a little bit aggressive outside has been peaky and trying to find openings there see if you can punish that
That's gross
That's why he was frustrated. Yeah, he's expected maybe like a jiggle or someone walking into the angle
It's just this hard swing and it's snap adjustment. They commit the full commit
Well last row of the half AWP out from foosie
Not much else worth talking about here for Astralis.
Definitely the better buy for Foote to try and close with a lead in her in the first half of Nuke.
But if there is to be a round victory for Astralis, obviously you'd hope that Fuzzi can get some impact as he moves outside.
Well, this is the round that Fuzzi loves to play to a certain degree, because Hooksy certainly just said, you've got to do whatever you want.
You know, you've got the op. Go find us a kill. Whatever you need.
Yeah, you can't have a chance there. You just couldn't connect it up towards Heaven.
They run like this, you can't pull it to miss too many of those, especially with stairs.
You know, he's just got a magnet for bullets in this half.
It's crazy going through those smokes.
It's not going to be a half minute.
Stairs going to remember fondly.
Let's see.
Let's call it with a bomb as well.
So that goes down the top secret.
Yeah, this round's done.
Now that it's done, the stairs are smoked off, where you have to be aggressive
into this flight.
And it's his only option and it's such a disadvantage.
Kribeni, he's kind of check-mated, Astralis here.
He's had a good half here on the CT side, very disruptive outside.
And towards Quitor.
Him and Sematree have been punishing Astralis since this began.
12 kills on Sematree, 13 on Kribeni.
As the smoke clears, he's going to add another.
And it's all on Yabi.
So, 7-5 in the favor of Quit, as this half comes to a close.
a rebound from Mirage, but their hardest test is up next.
Welcome back to the ROG Laboratory.
Today, we have on hand the ROG Hark 2 and the ROG Falcon.
Now back in Hong Kong, we used these launders
when we were testing the OLED monitors.
And well, today I was thinking,
we've got to find some kind of way
to put them head to head.
Yeah, there was only some kind of scientific way
to try this out.
You think what I'm thinking?
Gives on keyboard.
MUSIC
All right, Launders.
Pre-game talk.
What are your thoughts on the falchion?
I have lowered the actuation point
so that I feel like Xantaris right now.
I've got two sets of WASD.
It feels like I've got like an N64 controller.
OK.
Spacebar helps me shoot.
It's a new wave of minimalism that we've
got for Counter-Strike players.
Keeping it very simple here.
I'm like a Formula One driver right now.
OK, so that's one thumb, six fingers.
Oh!
Oh!
What?
What?
That's a lot of Nuz Pad you got there.
That's because, Mohan, I plan on hitting you with the flick whenever I need to.
You know, that this harp is so light that I think that's going to play to my advantage
today.
Oh, what are you doing for your keyboard buttons?
Well, I have gone A and D on mouse four and five, OK, because it's all about
the strafe, left click, still shoot.
Right click is forward.
Just in case I've got to close the gap,
and then M-Wheel up and down both jump
so that I can hit some B hops while I style on you.
Do I, Mohan, you ready?
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
And the inaugural ROG Cup is underway.
Oh my gosh, a headshot.
Woo!
That was a good shot.
Thank you.
Here it's on.
I'm gonna, you know what, mercy.
It's hard to aim with just the mouse.
Oh no.
Are you going to be jumping right now?
No.
Wait, I can't even jump though.
I'm closing the distance dude, like a shark in the water.
The one thing I have to remember is I can't actually pull down my recoil.
I can see you doing this, I just can't stop.
Winner takes all.
Alright, winner takes all.
Alright, congratulations off that round you win.
Thank you. I am the big winner.
And to be honest, I had a hunch.
I had a hunch that the mouse would be the victor here.
This might seem like myser are more important,
but I've honestly been impressed by the utility of just using a keyboard.
They didn't even know I could do all that.
And so, at the end of the day,
we've learned two things.
Firstly, that I am always humble in victory.
And secondly, that when it comes to Counter-Strike,
AIM remains king.
Can you play with just a keyboard?
I guess.
Should you?
Nah.
Probably not.
Thank you guys for stopping by the ROG Labs one more time.
And, well, crazy idea.
How about next time we just combine the two?
Welcome back to Blast Rivals.
We're here in Texas and we've got foot finally showing up in the series.
They definitely look very weak on Mirage with a little bit more strength here,
but we have questions about whether it's enough, Jason, right there.
The fact that they now switched to a T-side that they really struggled on yesterday
doesn't give me much faith in them.
No, not at all, but let's see. Let's see if they can change that opinion, right?
We came into the map saying something very similar to Kerbini on the pisteron
changed our tune pretty quickly.
So maybe you're on this T-side pisteron that can do something similar.
Hooks these feeling the pressure and here in the pressure over towards ramp room. Oh, they're caught
They have no idea where that attack was coming from in the second half of it
Just wrecks them. That's how flurry of Jill's coming in real fast as cemetery with the p250
Getting rid of foosie as well. And this this person was even competitive this foot coming in winning it the first couple of seconds
You know, this row is competitive. That's not both for foot
So we talked about some of the issues and struggles on your t-side
Well, you kind of alleviate a lot of that pressure by winning both pistols and
Decreasing the number of full-buy rounds you actually are going to have to win in this half.
It's a really good start and now you just have to look forward to the idea of you just have to convert round 2.
Easier said than done, but advantage is in their favor and now a three-round lead.
Some of the win calling is being set up here easily by foot, winning both pistols,
having a few rounds on that CT side that look fantastic.
Krebbeni is having a good game and that's going to have to continue into the T side.
obviously we'll see if Krupp any can continuously fire 70
openings.
Strong start here, we'll see Astralis have no investment
coming up into this round, so it's going to be a 9-5 lead.
Nice easy conversion of the second round for a foot.
That's quite nice.
Chance for a cemetery to make a bunch of money with that
Mac 10.
He'll do some cash for a T side ADVP if that's what
he's looking for.
It's a wrap rush here in round 14, and Astralis stacks
the upper bomb site, so we're already in, and the
slaughter is going to begin
okay maybe talk that a little bit too early
it's coming, the slaughter has been postponed
come back again
we will have that slaughter for you
in fact here we go a little bit
it's not quite all the full slaughter but it will be some sliver
what are you getting there?
himself three in some of the bet. Yeah, I've built him up into things. Two more to five.
Here he goes. Is that a tree? Mack-10? Oh, I made an ambitious effort.
Well, he doesn't care about losing to Mack-10 because with all USPs, he knows they're buying
Mack-10 anyways. Would have liked some of the bonus money. It's actually going to be a
Stralis coming in trying to do a little bit of damage to make the bomb kill a few players
of foot, but that's not effective. Nine to five. Four round lead. Guns cannot now for a Stralis.
No AWP available in this round for Fosy, so it's going to be all in fours across the board.
Utilities fine. Kit's missing, uh, missing, which is painful, so watch out for those retakes,
and let's see what Foot bring to the table.
You have, you have like a moment in this second half, if you're a Kerbeni of where you can get
pretty creative with the calls. Without the AWP in the field, without all the nades and all
the Molotovs, you have a little bit more freedom to be aggressive at this stage. Let's
Let's see if he takes advantage of it.
Flash at the ready for Kerbetti.
Gonna go now. Plenty of flashes coming through.
Ria under a lot of pressure here, but they're not looking this way.
Good trade from Demon. At least getting that one going.
And Fuzi not stepping out trying to get the trade kill.
Not trying to be a hero as utility holds him back.
He was too far away miss the timing to be able to get over there and offer any kind of support
This leaves yabby on an island alone in the upper bomb site very very strong anchor player been playing well for a strahlus recently
But this is a lot to ask
One player back towards CT spawn hooks. He's just come up secret
One player downstairs already so for yabby, this is a 1v4
We're back to the site. Culeo shreds him. Culeo's hit some good shots here today.
Teaming and he caught through the smoke. What? Huxi getting away with two. Finally dealt with
by Culeo, but Fuzi comes out of heaven. The distraction set up by Huxi is enough to give Fuzi
those kills, and that round just comes crashing down for a foot. Yeah, great, great job from
Huxi. Great awareness and good job lining up the shots. Obviously a lot of luck going
in his direction as well, but two kills through the smoke, you're exactly right. That creates so
much chaos. So much chaos for the put side of things as they struggle to respond to this.
There's the first changes position. Track the bullets. Lovely. And firstly taking advantage
by stepping into the fight when they least expect it. Nine to six.
And now we're going to have to see this T side do with the hard way.
They're going to have to grind out four rounds now that Astralis has brought the guns into play.
Lucy over the top of the smokes is demon trying to cross a miss smoke coming in. That doesn't help when you've not got many of them left.
And they're about to fade.
Yeah, this is a tough situation.
Dude, just risky.
It doesn't look like it.
So they're going to start backing off
and playing a little bit safer.
Going to go through the final few pieces of utility
they do have and change up their avenue of approach.
Now, going for the fights outside, taking the jewels,
and it hasn't worked out.
Astralis just converged together on that one position,
instead of getting away with two
and putting jokes in a 1v4.
Yeah, miss smoke, and yeah, that's painful.
And obviously, it looked like they
were going to try and turn over towards many
or just fight outside after the fact.
that's exactly what Strauss was hoping for. Three players in midi ready to swing through the smoke.
Yeah, they were so decisive about it as well, quick on the pounce.
Very similar to their defense on Mirage as well, which was setting up a lot of traps,
a lot of multi-layer peaks over in middle as soon as foot took that space. Similar kind of an idea
here outside in the yard. And it couldn't have happened at a worse time here for a foot
economically as well, right? The fact that this round now results in them completely losing
all the money that they had. Best case scenarios, some upgrade of pistols in the next
the next round too.
And the straws have a great opportunity to start shrinking this gap immediately taking off the second half.
And four play staying alive is great for straws too. They don't have a lot of residual cash left over, but you're getting these AK upgrades.
That's three AK 47s now in the hands of the straws.
That's quite nice. Yeah, really the only tool you're missing at the moment is an AWP.
So try and save up some money and get up to that point.
You should have a chance for it now as next round four foot is going to be a complete save.
They got the same day k-47 that they're gonna bring forward but everyone else is right around 2k
And I don't even think you're gonna invest a whole lot into into pistols either
So Astralis perhaps gonna get an easy one to build up that cash keep plenty of players alive and set themselves up to close out this series
Posey getting dropped at M4 so we can keep some extra cash for himself and continue to grow that obviously looking here
It's just limiting casualties to a minimum here for Astralis
They can really make out CT money sort for foot. He said not investing around this AK at all
They don't have that luxury so it's juke's or nothing
Let's see what he can do with it
Bait the hell out of the glocks. Yeah
Somebody go first. It's not gonna be me
Smoke towards squeak
Little legs spotted in the hut so Hooksy just drops them all it's all in repositions. Yabi as well
Slides over.
Smoke fading shortly.
Well, the only plan that foot has clearly
is walk into this upper bomb site.
And the fact that Squeeches keeps getting re-smoked
is a nightmare for them.
Double kill from Yappy over the top.
Hooksy as well.
doubled up on top hut.
Krabendi's making his move outside,
but he's got no access to anything.
And Astralis shut him down,
and it's the exact round they needed.
All five players alive.
And build up plenty of money.
And now you've got an extra AK-47 on the ground.
So the CT side is feeling real good all of a sudden.
Coolio's AK-47 is named Happy 21 to me.
This is his 21st birthday gift to himself, I'm assuming.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
That is pretty cool.
AK is it let that be a lesson to all of you at home treat yourself once in a while
you know celebrate the good things yeah but I know that a few of our
colleagues have done cool things with the AK skins as gifts like the Hugo I
think scrawny did it too like scrawny bought himself the gold AK gold AK
he got it the same thing to souvenirs from the games of cast of the
majors this is this cool way of doing that in counter strike which I really
like. Well, foot's taken their first time out. It just comes to a close by the bell.
9 to 8. And that's a timeout that Krebbeni is trying to come up with an idea to
break through this defense at the moment. And it looks like a tech right out of
the tack. It's a little chat with the admins. We'll get back into the
action. Actually, we're already good to go. We're already good to go.
Yeah, thank you. So I'm gonna talk about what they're doing this round actually know what's happening over there
I'm just gonna keep talking. Okay. Well, that's good. We're nice and quick here ready to get into the action again
You know put half themselves in leave on what is happening right now is exactly what we were talking about right was the fact that yes
You can get yourself a lead on the CT side. You can come out you get the pistol
But this T side can come to a hold very quickly in a straw
So close to just one round demon with the opening tray comes in though from Ryu and we see a hoax
and Yabbi just collapsed upon the hut and the bomb is gone.
I like that. I like this play a lot. I love that selection from Astralis to go for the lobby crunch
and this kind of run out of the time out as well. Change the entire round that you think you're going to be playing against.
It's not going to be a standard defense. It's up in your face when you're trying to think about the next step.
And especially when you inflict a round like this onto a team playing without their starting five
with a coach standing in for a player, a team who struggled without that player in the roster,
getting T-Sides going and getting that T-Side engine running.
Now all of a sudden you've just completely taken away anything they can use in this round
and just destroyed any idea.
This is a great little piece of mental warfare on top of everything
and Astralis is going to tie things up at nine.
There's a flash drop down and preventing inside lobby the tech nine.
Respect.
We're taking out by stair.
Yeah, I like the-
Get everything you couldn't.
Yeah.
Couldn't ask for much more.
If you did anything there, that would have been Superman play right there, but it's
not going to happen.
Cool.
We'll give you a move by Hoaxie.
And I think it's Charleston.
He's very happy that call worked as well as it did.
Yeah, Stair just giggling right at the end.
He spams him down before the rest of the peek.
So he's just having a good time distracting his opposition.
his teammates have an easy one nine to nine different different vibes over on the
foot side and we switch to those cameras
here's the one for one but the push through squeak door the push through
wrap room and the push through hot all at the same time let's see Yabi Ryu and
Stan they do great work
and I mean you've also kind of if you're a strollist right there's only so
many gun rounds if it's gonna get in the second half you've just taken one
away from them
back to pistols we go
He doesn't care, it's actually good to use it to try and fight with the tech 9 and he's made this way down towards secret
But Yappy is ready
Stats are the first skill through to smoke. Yappy not the cleanest spray
But luckily his teammates get a couple of kills and
Teamman is in a clutch that it's not impossible
But looks very improbable
He's winning at the back of the site. There's still three targets to collect. He's 39 HP. Get away with the ball player
It's the best case scenario I see happening for him here
Yeah, I think you just got to stick it and just say, you know, 25 health.
The chance of me winning this round, get the bonus money.
Cash is cash is a huge resource for foot.
So he's going to step forward a little bit and get through nice kill.
Let's maybe not doubt Demons because now, okay, yeah,
I can really was in a good enough spot.
Keep doing that.
That's happy yesterday and today.
I keep cursing the players.
Demons gets caught to his main and that's the round wrapped up.
But it's also a straw is taking the lead of the game at 10 to 9 lead.
Yeah, their first lead of the game as well.
They got so much cash.
Got real as $12,000.
You know, Hooks, he's sitting at $10K as well.
So even this kill at the end for Demon on the first,
it doesn't really matter.
They can buy the energy to keep the AK-47s,
and it's all good.
However, we've got it all up on the T side as well now.
Cemetery gets to bring that into play for the first time
in this second half.
Let's see if it changes the nature of anything.
They spot the job.
Well, first, you've got them.
Nope, not at all.
Never mind.
That's it.
That was a great round of all day for 7th tree.
He really got to deal a lot with that.
And we're right back into a scenario of his loss
in the lead of the round.
He's going to actually be followed up upon by Fuzzi,
Culeo's dad next,
and he really aren't feeling good right now if you're feeling.
I mean, it looks kind of silly just because there's no utility,
like no flashes going around.
They just don't have it though.
They're just at that kind of point of the game
where you just need to be buying.
Forbendi didn't have a flash to activate him around the corner,
so it's gonna get a little bit more brutal.
There's the peek from secret lot of information.
Fancy still hitting shots with the AWP
for many graphs one back,
but no progress and no standing anywhere.
Even if Juggs makes an incredible play,
the bomb is outside.
35 seconds. Yeah, the big issue is the bomb is so far away, but
Krebbeni can be fast. He can sprint, but problem is Fuzi just absolutely destroyed
the minstrel. That's four so far. Krebbeni at this point, the small victory is not
giving Fuzi the ace. And we take small victories. Yeah, sometimes most
meaningful, not in this case though. Herksey has taken himself that one
kill and no ace for Fuzi, but the all-out is looking fantastic here
for straws. They got so much money. Not the same story for
foot, unfortunately.
Not at all. It's a tough opponent. They're growing up again
for today, especially with Julio playing. I mean, we talked
about a straws like the eye test on the Raj felt like they
weren't very cohesive unit. Everyone on the same page. Here
on nuke, you're statistically getting some evidence of that
as well. 15 kills on hook see 14 on yabby 13 on fuzzy 12
on re would be cool. Sir had 11, but he's only got nine,
but you got four players pretty much right next to each other in terms of the fragging department
So Astralis playing really good and these small man groups making sure they're trading kills
Second time out used by foot just comes to a close round 21 coming in and
Foot is running out of room
running out of road
Here in this series
So they've invested but it's not everything
So they're making the decision right now to play more for overtime than play for the win
A force by here without all the bells and whistles that you were lacking in the previous round might just lead to another
complete wipeout
with no chance at a victory, so
Keep the pistols here. Give yourselves a one really really good buy at round 22
Sure, X-Pro team tech died
Spotted two players in the back of the site, Yabbi.
At least getting two here from the top of the hut.
He was a bit of an awkward spot.
That flash slightly connected towards him,
but the bomb is loose on the ground.
So, Foot have to try and come out and get it.
Yabbi's trying to close that door,
but the door is swung wide open.
He has to get off the hut, realize his,
instead of reloading, why don't he just pick this one
and up off the ground,
but ends up getting domed by the Krebbenny D-Gall,
and that's a big round to win for Foot.
They always have one of those, at least somewhere,
and it comes at a crucial point in the game.
Yeah, but none of this matters
if you don't win this round right now
with the AK-47s. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. That's a great win to grab it. A cool
tactical and economic call to go for this low buy and hit the upper boss and be really effective
with it. But if you don't win the round with the AK-47s and you can't build into this game,
it's all going to go to waste now. Because of that win, they get up great plenty of money
for free or up weapons for free. Plenty of cash in the bank for the next round if they were
to lose, but they haven't shown us they can win gun round on gun rounds.
Well, let's see if that's going to change anything really close.
Huh? This is a real possible for boozy to get away from and it hasn't worked out.
The shake of the head and disappointment because that has not gone the way Astralis would have hoped.
Well, they were going to boost him up quickly when they heard the rush.
So just a blind call for the rush is the perfect round as Astralis have a very, very weak defense for it.
So Foot might break free here.
43. A lot of time. So much time to work with here for Foot.
here for foot. They're going to climb up the ladder and try and get in towards the A site
here. Yeah, but they need the information that this is going to come because Stair is
going to need to help out Hooksy. There's a piece of utility. Now they know it's coming.
That good double cemetery demon, both dead. Stair stays alive. Hooksy down on the bomb
site and even though foot opened up strong, it could still close in favor of the strongest
but that is such an important fight to win for Jokes. Bomb over the top. Bomb gone.
Hooks now alive. Jokes! He's had three so far on the round, but he would need every single one of them.
45 seconds left, otherwise his Astralis heading up to serious points.
Let's get out the pause button for now.
Where is that boy? It did fall to the floor.
He needs a mistake. That's the only way you win this round is if you get a mistake out of one of the Astralis players, but they're not making them right now.
Yeah, there's the information on the one player, but he hasn't seen the Heaven.
So right now he does have the information, and Yabi does peek out to secure it.
It's a little close towards the end.
Jokes with a nice try, but it's not enough.
12 to 10.
Series point for Astralis.
If they win this round, they're through to the quarterfinals.
And Foot, because of the buy in the previous round
with the 10-times and the Euro-AK,
they've actually got a really solid investment again.
And you can see, yeah, the setup, just,
it was just the worst situation.
That off way too close for that kind of a fight.
And Stair who saves the day,
the double kill up towards Heaven,
it also keeps Hooksy hidden inside.
The bomb site is a master class.
Two chances for Astralis to close the series.
This foosie.
Open the jail of seconds in!
Ooh, we saw his third target.
And there we go!
Fuzzi hammering the nails into the coffin of FUT.
A disappointing run here in forward for FUT.
Obviously not able to come with WoWs
having to play with Coolio, their coach.
A close game versus Vitality in their opening,
but they meet their rival here in Astralis
and it will be their demise this time around.
Coolio enjoying his last few seconds
in the server here at the event,
but it will be Astralis to close on the series
and the two to zero fashion
And they will two steps away into the quarterfinals here in Texas.
Looking forward to seeing the straws and what they can do in the quarters.
But for foot, it's a disappointed exit.
Taking care of business in the second half of Nuke,
locking in their map pick and looking like it was always going to be that way.
This is an Astralis we expected.
This is an Astralis that has earned the right to play in front of the crowd
here forward. Yeah, definitely looking a lot sharper today in this match against
foot. We saw them, you know, even though they lost the pistol, they still want it
with five rounds of the tee shots. A pretty good outing on nuke. If you ask me
and then defensively, usually pretty, you know, shutting things down, right?
Fuzzi obviously having a couple of highlight real moments throughout that
second half of my opinion and really just stepped up to the plate when they
needed to because the pressure was on them. They're up against a team with
the stand in. They've been having some shaky results in a couple of
tournaments. Like they needed something, I think, and they got it here.
They do indeed and they have earned it and joining us here to chat about it. We got the man himself Hooxy
This was a vintage giga-chat type performance for you. What happened today? What's going on? Crosshairs looking crispy
Yeah, I don't know. I guess my PC crest three times doing one open. I didn't get any one more times
I guess I'm just keep doing that stuff. I don't know
I had a question for you because you know coming into this tournament
You obviously came second at Bucharest, which looks good on paper,
but we kind of know that you had some issues at that tournament, for honest.
What was kind of the focus for Astralis coming into this event to kind of course-correct,
I guess, is the right way to put it?
I mean, first game against G2, it's a completely different scenario,
because we are not the favorites at all in any game.
And then I think this one is the one I'm more proud of,
because I feel like we were favorites because of the situation with the coach and all that.
And I think we dared to take chances and play to win instead of playing not to lose,
which was our issue from the final, at least, against them.
So I'm happy about that.
That actually goes very nicely to a roundup, we wanted to show you.
This is round 18. This is where you call the lobby crunch, the very aggressive play in.
What's the thinking when you're in this situation going into a call like this?
I mean, we talked about it before the game that we wanted to do this,
and we made a little adjustment to it with me rushing down instead of going with Jaby.
And I think it was mainly just Yabi making the call because he saw that we didn't have any op
and I think it made a lot of sense, so we all just bought into it and sent it.
So that's Yabi calling for this?
Yeah, this is Yabi calling.
That's interesting as well, right?
How much freedom do different players have to call that kind of a setup or say,
hey, I think we should hit this right now?
I think on CT side, everyone has a lot of freedom to do what they feel like.
And I'm also trying to push people to do even more than that.
I think on T-Side, it's kind of like, there's also freedom, but it still has to fit into my grand plan or whatever.
So yeah, I think it's a pretty free style that I'm bringing.
But at the same time, obviously on T-Side, this has to be a bit more structured.
Yeah, so I remember when you first joined the team at Astana, you were kind of coming in with short notice
and you're able to make like some quick adjustments.
I think Stan was one where you kind of got him a little bit more involved.
We're seeing this year kind of a resurgence in Yabbi's form, in my opinion.
I feel like when I'm watching you guys play,
it seems like he does get a couple of more star CT positions
or he gets a little bit more freedom.
Was that kind of something that you wanted to bring to the table
coming into this year with Yabbi?
Yeah, I mean, I know him from previous teams
and I know what he's capable of and what he's good at.
So I just tried to bring that out in him.
And I think that he feels comfortable having me answer that yell
knows like his limits and how to use that kind of freedom as well and I think
he's that's like how what he thrives in so I mean it makes sense to me that he's
doing good now and that he's not like scared to to play basically well thank
you so much for joining us we'll let you go now you've earned that spot in
front of the crowd congratulations on the win today and thank you for chatting
thank you so we're gonna send Hoekse on out it's time for us to get ready
for our next games. Vitality take on G2 in just a moment, so let's get locked in with
some interviews.
I mean they are the number one team no matter what and I think they have had some of these
matches in the past also like close games but they have the ability to close out the close ones as well
so that's gonna be the tough thing as well. I think it's a good matchup like maybe they are not
at their strongest in a way they just won the crunch slam and everything so maybe there can be
like a drop off after that who knows how that will work but we just need to focus on ourselves
and we need to focus on the fact that right now we have our full roster at the event and we
we can kind of take the next steps for our roster.
But it's going to be a good matchup,
and I think we can put up a good fight
and then hopefully win the match and make it to the semis.
We get better with every game.
Obviously, we don't want to reach a point that we might lose.
We're like two rounds from losing in Rio.
We're playing G2, and we could have lost to all very likely.
So we don't want to reach that case.
But we also want to improve with every game we play.
We want to, you know, the first game we play after,
well, it's always a bit rusty.
A bit, the communication is a bit off.
You're not used to do that.
you're noticed to that.
And now I think the focus is with every game,
more communication.
Let's try to initiate, let's try to bring the vitality
that everybody knows.
And that's it.
And I think today is an opportunity to do that.
And finally, I think we played G2 the last three
times, and they had the standing coach.
Like, there's crazy shit over there.
And so now it's an opportunity to finally play
against them.
And we've been struggling against them.
So we don't want to struggle against it.
We want to beat anyone dominantly.
And so we want to take revenge on that struggle from last time.
I love when a team is saying we need to take revenge,
even though they won the last bout.
That just speaks to the way Vitality feel.
They want to grind every team into the dust.
I mean, it's one of those things
when you've already accomplished so much
that you've got to find new targets.
You've got to find new things to kind of keep you motivated.
Obviously, every win they collect,
every trophy they put in the cabinet,
just adds to the legacy and the resume
the greatest of all time. But G2 is a team that, you know, with Nerts coming into the
roster, this is, you know, the next team up to bat, so to speak, to have a shot at trying
to crack a team like Vitality. And honestly, in a BL3, in a seeding game situation, that's
probably one of your better opportunities to try to make it happen.
It certainly is. I mean, you're stepping into the cage with the heavyweights, but
we know that this G2 team's got a hell of a right hook at this point, right?
I mean, they took them so close in real with the stand, and now we've got Hunter
Locked in behind them, the left hook perhaps. And it should be a G2 team that's
It's just all that much stronger.
Yeah, definitely they're going to come in packing a punch
but they're up against a behemoth in Vitality.
Yesterday they cemented themselves making the playoffs
of all 22 events they've attended together as a team.
A win today would submit 21 events
in a row of top four or better.
I mean, it's just, you know,
continuing to list the accolades
this team has acquired over time.
It's kind of, it's almost been dulled unfortunately
because it's been talking about it for so long.
But I mean, it is what it is.
Let's talk about G2.
There's a lot more to talk about.
New fresh things, Vitality, old sad news,
Winning everything constantly.
G2 fresh, hot, sexy.
Talk about them, Dust.
Yeah, I mean, they looked sharp yesterday.
I was really impressed by how they looked against the Strauss.
I mean, I know they haven't had a whole lot of time with Nerts,
and that even got handicapped a bit more
because they didn't have Hunter with them
in game leading in Rio and having some pious call
and having a stand-in from the academy team.
So definitely, I think they're trying to sort things
out as best they can.
But so far, so good.
Nerts, we know what this guy is capable.
You're 2023 rookie of the year.
a guy who was dominant with Heroic in 2024 on Liquid,
your time there doesn't count, Nurtz.
All right, I'm going to go ahead and give you that one.
Thank you, Launders, for that theory.
As he played really well yesterday.
I think on this team, he fits.
He's with his old coach, Saul.
He's with some players who he played with for a time.
So he's in a position where I feel like he can thrive.
And we've seen the results early, right?
Which is that, A, the vibes seem impeccable.
They're all smiles when they go into the server,
when they're walking in, which is always
a good test of temperature on the team.
But also that Nurtz individually
is really thriving is showing some of those moments.
We were seeing a guest stay and again,
considering what Astralis did this morning,
that makes that win the dominant fashion of it
that much more impressive.
We were seeing the sneak outs, the little lurky plays,
the aggressive moves, the things that we know
are hallmarks of a nerd's play style.
Yeah, I mean, I think when I think of nerds,
when I think of him at his best,
it's because he's an aggressive playmaker
but not a traditional entry.
Now, he's a guy who's gonna get put in space,
take a role, he's gonna be put in positions
in the middle of the map or in really, you know,
prime real estate,
but he's able to kind of call his own number,
pick his own timings and really find what's comfortable for him as far as
making those aggressive maneuvers and then you have a guy like Mattis on the
squad who is also a very aggressive striker so they can do nice split pressure
or you know it's not all honors to create the opening right even Hunter is
pretty versatile and some of the things that he's been doing he's been
trying him pretty well he has indeed and we can see they're huddling up
right next to us here so it's gonna get loud in just a moment prepare
yourselves for that headphone warning in advance we've also seen the
existing chemistry right that is one of the luxuries when you're
integrating a new player saw was saying in the pregame and if you thought maybe
nurses at 80 90% of what he should be but he does have that existing chemistry
with saw with some pies familiarity with heavy got a guy he's known for a long
time right when you have that it does make the transition into a team
environment a whole lot easier you know what's expected of you you know the
ways that you can thrive yeah absolutely I mean as you said I mean saw was the
coach behind him when he played his best counter strike you know at the
last 2023 2024 things that nature some pies was with him in the past when
he was playing some of the best counter strikes a familiar area there but
But also the other pieces around him suit what he wants to do better.
Heavy God is that guy who will just be that anchor, that tank on the site that you can
just kind of rely upon to hold his zone, hold his zone on T-side as well.
And then, again, he's got another guy in mass he can kind of split duties with when it comes
to aggression.
And he has some just experienced guys around him who really help him thrive and know what
he needs to perform.
So we've been seeing this team really good.
Yeah, I could just let that speak for itself.
Don't really need to talk over that.
But G2, look, this would be a huge gap to take, right?
And for a vitality team that we've seen has had a little bit of the stumble, just not
quite as prepared, as locked in, as disciplined as we're used to seeing, is that vulnerability.
For using the price fighter analogy, their guard's slipping a little bit.
There might be some opportunities for some jabs, some body blows to soften them up.
It's going to be tough though, man.
I mean, they've played six series against each other, and Vitality's won five of
those six, man.
And they're also leading them really heavily in maps.
G2 is the one squad of two ever to beat this team in the best of five grand finals.
So some of these guys know what it's like to take success against Vitality,
and they'll have to hone that really in today because, you know,
this is another big opportunity for them to take a swing.
The pressure, I think, is more on G2, right?
Because they know what it would mean to get a win over Vitality.
Vitality, they're already locked into the playoffs, you know?
You know, it's hard to stay motivated sometimes, I guess you could say.
Well, G2, through many different iterations of this team,
have always fancied themselves to be a little bit of the Titan killers, right?
Whoever the top dog is in CS seems to be the one that the G2 get the most excited to play against and
We'll have to see if that's going to be the case here again
They're stepping into the ring the bell is about to sound and so your ringside announcers take over here
We got dingo. We got Moses take it away boys. Thank you, Matt. It's a super exciting game
I mean this is basically a playoff game
It feels like you know you go into the semi-fals if you win this G2 versus vitality
It's one of the best games we're gonna get at this event this this this game excites me in ways
I didn't think counter strike I'm really pumped for this G2 team
I want to see this is the test I was looking for here in Fort Worth was because G2 is a team that I that I've
Pointed at and I'm looking at them like by the time the major rolls around if everything keeps going according to plan
This team can be very very good
And I think they do have the ability to challenge for vitality. So let's get the witness test right now
Let's just see what they've got right. Yeah, let's see where they're at. Let's see how much development still needed
What level they're at? I mean yesterday we didn't see vitality played very well
I mean, they were complaining about it. Obviously, we heard Apex saying, you know, the way we're playing right now is disgraceful.
Went out and made some treats after as well. Rob's not so happy about the game's feeling.
It was funny. It was like whiplash, seeing like Apex say those things, but then Flamesee gives the interviewer.
He's like, look, we're not taking these events off, but, you know, we're not necessarily like required to win these trophies.
Is everybody on the same page? That's the question, right? Is like everyone coming in on the same page?
But regardless, whether whether you're kind of in a situation where rest is the priority and kind of chilling a little bit as they lead up to the
Major. I think for Apex he's just like no excuse for the sloppy fundamentals that we had yesterday.
Yeah absolutely not with the way they were playing against a team who were playing with their coach
but you'd imagine they're going to be sitting up and really that could be a wake-up call for
vitality of the game. Yesterday okay that's a lot that we can get to still getting through a
relief to get the win versus foot not having to go into overtime there on Nuke is that third
and final map. We're just working through a headset issue before we get into this game but
For G2, I mean they've got so much hunger coming back, right?
Hunter, unfortunately having to miss out on their last top tier events in Rio.
They've been on a run in the tier 2 circuit, just grinding and trying to get nurse implemented into the squad.
You know, he came in Hunter and even said, you know, he actually kind of enjoys the fact,
looking back, that he almost got to take Rio off because of the injuries.
And the reasoning he said is, I got to watch my guys play without me and see, like, what they're capable of,
what they can do, what they can improvise with, how they're doing things on the fly.
And now you come back into the team, you're like, boys, let's start adding some of that shit in, Leo.
like bring it to me just bring another level to the team but looking forward to
seeing how this one goes down G2 versus team vitality winners to the
semi-finals here at Blast Rivals four worth and let's get into it kicking
things off on Mirage now this is going to be a fun game I there's one way to
look at it say okay vitality are favorites coming into the game but you
know if there's a world in which G2 can play them close then that's when
the whole counter strike world can get pretty excited Jason well that's
that's that's been what like the whole conversation the counter strike
has been like since 2026 started.
It's like, who's going to beat Vitality?
Who's going to be the team that can challenge?
I'm not like one best of three now and again,
but consistently, we've been looking for that next team
to step up.
Spalkins was an obvious candidate, failed.
Spiro was an obvious candidate, failed.
So we're having to see these teams that
have been grinding and rising up through the ranks
and what they're going to be able to do.
So we're still having a little bit of audio issues,
obviously, so we stopped and started a couple of times.
But eventually, we will.
eventually we will get into this game you're gonna redo the hype I'm just
looking at the team columns right now about it's a coach might get you okay
talking about whether or not they want to listen to x-taster not so we'll get
that one resolved and get into the action ready to go there we are don't
Don't trust that, Jason.
Don't trust it?
I'm not.
I'm trusting this one.
I thought this pistol round starts.
I'm trusting it, Dingo.
OK, have funds are going in chat.
OK, it seems to be fixed.
Here we are, G2, taking on Vitality.
Yes, here we go.
Semifinals on the line.
Quarterfinals for the losers.
G2 versus Vitality.
And we're finally ready to go here on Mirage.
CT side start for Team Vitality.
T side start here for G2.
We'll see what Hunter decides to do with all that utility.
He's got a smoke and a molotov.
And we're going to see Zaiwu drop down into the underpass.
Now, Vitality can have a crush game.
Athenimus today, but Zairu is still Zairu.
So, let's play him to get the start.
Zairu looking for the follow-up.
And of course, he's got a kill.
Apex has come through that and nipped one away as well.
And this pistol round has started very strong
for the team Vitality.
I guess the question we haven't really asked yet
is maybe after the performance yesterday,
is this the one where Vitality come in
and just take out all their anger and frustration on G2.
Lovely shot from Flames at a start.
And then obviously the Apex Zairu aggression.
I was excited to see what Hunter was going to do with the utility, but it doesn't really
matter anymore.
When you've lost everybody that early into the round, it's your plan A's out the window,
plan B's out the window, and you really don't have a plan anymore.
No, there is no plan.
You're just like, I'm going to just keep moving forward and see what happens, and
we'll take it every step of the way.
Off it goes, through the underpass here, Hunter, and dead.
Okay, that wasn't really competitive whatsoever, so if I tell them to keep finding everything
they could possibly want. Pisteron goes smoothly and no bomb plant of course coming in here for G2 even,
so no force behind the next round. You'd imagine it's gonna be a full eco, a long vitality, a 2-0 lead.
What a brutal way to start the round as well. Start the series, I should say. Apex and Zairu combining also.
Lovely aggressive setup and
part of the reason why it's so strong is because Flames hits that incredible shot, right?
If he doesn't hit that, if that's an extended fighter, if he goes down,
Apex has to give up that angle it's a woo and then all of a sudden things get weaker
See there the people on parli-poly markets saying there's 20% chance, maybe so
Okay, the G2 take this win
Not a lot of faith not a lot of faith not a lot of faith at all pretty reasonable to be honest you'd imagine
With just how things have been going lately in the Counter-Strike world
Vitality hanging out definitely gonna win this round
G2 are just
Chilling making a little formation the stack of players in the corner
The good thing about this event is like this. I feel like this is the game. I would be excited to see if it's close and G2
Lost this game
But also so that we could get a better improved version in the playoffs if I can a fine
Okay, that could be a cool story line, you know like a grand final G2 versus vitality
I think that'd be fun. Na'Vi another team that honestly got through phase yesterday
They're in a similar boat to like G2 where it's like you you want to believe that they can compete with vitality
You just need to see it. Yeah
Well, we're on the topic just because we got Glockson play that quote from Alexi
I felt was pretty wild last night. You see that he came out and he said like any any trophy you lift without beating vitality
Like feels like it's like not deserved. I'm paraphrasing. So maybe you want to check that one. I
Was like, yeah, I don't think any trophy without beating vitality would be deserved
That's a crazy thing for a player to say to me, especially since you won the trophy without
Vitality there.
I know, what are you going to do if you win the trophy here?
You're going to get on stage and be like, well, we didn't really deserve it.
I mean, I understand the sentiment underneath it all.
It just seemed a bit crazy when I read it.
Anyways, round three.
Vitality is up to nothing.
AK is out for the G2 attack.
A few pieces of utility missing, so they're going to go Spartan.
It's going to be an A exact.
They probably only have one round of utility, so they need to get in and get in
fast.
running out in towards the site there's flames taking the first couple of kills
then they're all dead instantly trying to run up towards the A site flames is
just unleashed trying to just kill everybody and he runs up towards the
top of the ward now hunter whatever the top of the stairs smoke he doesn't come
away with a tray kill at all so it's still that 4v2 the flame set up
yeah he pretty much ended this round just as it began your anchor gets a
Triple kill at the bomb site Hunter brought down to two hells so the bomb does get planted, but you've got no chance whatsoever of winning this
And poor heavy God got to be aggressive. Zai who's not even gonna let him breathe
No, not at all not allowed to get comfortable whatsoever. So first call for for G2 gets absolutely melted
We heard hook see sort of in that short listening yesterday when they were playing against G2
He said they're not that type of team in terms of you know, if they're throwing smoke some flashes
who was more silent about that to other film.
He feels like he's pretty well telegraphed.
And obviously, Charles didn't handle G2 at all yesterday.
It was so, even if you knew what they were coming.
Yeah, so take that one with a grain of salt.
Even if you knew what they were coming,
couldn't really stop them from shooting you in the face.
But Vitality will be able to shoot you in the face.
So if there is something through that,
and Hooksy's idea about G2 is correct,
and Vitality feel that same way,
then I would be intrigued to see how Vitality
set up and handle G2 today.
They're handling them quite easily at the moment. There's one kill so far for G2. It's on heavy god. Everyone else is on the goose egg.
A lot of that has been Flames when he's been so successful in his opening engagements. Triple kill on the defense of the A bomb site is the anchor.
The one tap, one kill on the pistol round up towards top mid. You just taking players out of action before they can ever react.
We'll hit centric defense this time with the lean flanks is gonna back up to the A bomb site Zywoo and apex working together with rops
Zywoo, we're being complicated as apex
You may have you got to trade out with the Zywoo, but flanks is coming in locked in today
handling all the A pressure easily.
He's got two minutes coming over as well to alleviate.
There's a force being sent towards him.
Apex has just stepped out towards Sandwich.
It alerts the fall away.
A four to zero lead for Vitality.
It's the way they've gotten to four feels so easy.
Well, you know, it's probably more most impressive thing.
The thing I enjoy the most about watching Flames
in these first four rounds is that round he just played
and it's not even the kills,
it's not even the shooting
and the great shots he've had.
It's when he knows there's a deagle over in Cubby
and he's just like parked behind the box
because he knows Apex has the cross.
There's no reason for him to take this fight.
Yeah, 9 out of 10 times he probably wins.
But why lose the money?
Why risk anything happening?
I like seeing that play because,
I mean, it seems so small and insignificant to a degree,
but the mentality it suggests for vitality
is we're just not giving you anything.
You're going to have to take everything that you want.
You actually have to come earn it
because we're not gonna make the mistakes
that let you back into these scenarios.
Right here, watch this.
Heeking off contact from Apex, hiding.
He can swing to the Deagle. He can swing and try and win that fight if you want it.
Just waiting for contact. Oh, he hit.
I'm going to go back into the box. It's just, it's perfect work from Flames.
reaction that's notes gone opening
frag falls in favor of vitality and
zaiwuz get a follow-up
it's getting worse now that's gonna
start pushing up short they've got some
room to work with in middle no one's
aggressive on catwalk so no kind of
crossfire they have to work with
vitality happy to play containment
happy to trust in zaiwuz all back
at bench to cover catwalk
information now for Flames as well pretty deep on a ramp calling it clear seeing no presence
hearing no noise whatsoever vitality might be a little bit nervous playing blind at the
moment but obviously the five on four gives them the advantage we reconvened to the B
bombsite still Flames hasn't pushed any further so not enough information to secure any kind
of a mass rotation, but Mezzi is going to spin real quick as soon as utility comes out
from the G2 side.
Well, Zywoo just destroyed, and no, that's the question.
Heavy guard dead first.
We've seen Zywoo yesterday in this spot not really put himself in harm's way at any point.
Very comfortable in this position, especially with Apex removing the short threat.
Zywoo, no, doesn't take the shot, and then Hunter makes the most of that mistake
by taking Zywoo and Mezzi both down.
So 3v2, you know Apex is still around somewhere.
And where are you going to find him?
And Hunter does collect him, apexes down,
and all of a sudden it's just Flames coming out
of the apartments, Hunter has dragged his team
into this round.
And Flames could still unravel it in favor of vitality.
There's the first.
Submitted down and Flames is just on another level right
now.
He made that look so easy.
Man, that's going to be heartbreaking for G2.
Such an incredible turnaround just
to have your heart ripped out of your chest by Flames.
Dude, it's just so easy for him.
Yeah, what a game he's having so far.
First five rounds have been all Flames.
Yeah, first kill towards Badge is so quick in his reaction.
The decision just to snap back to Hunter.
But boy, can really even have a chance to take them down.
But great round from Hunter.
So unfortunate to not get anything from it.
Yeah, great work from Flames, that.
Yeah, G2 have got to feel like they just can't catch a break.
Well, this is when you start getting the feeling
that everything is going against you.
And you know what, we talked a lot yesterday in the G2 Astralis series, how it felt like
everything was going right for G2.
Now you're not getting any of that benefit.
Great opening provided by Sumpias, robs a little slow on the jump across.
Ah, good to get out there for Sumpias.
Can they work with his 5B4 now for G2?
It's been tough to get these openings.
It's been tough to get the opening, so you need to got to capitalize on it, especially
a 0-5 scoreline, especially after losing the previous round the way you did in a 2-on-1.
Now a 5-on-3. G2 in the pole position here in round 6, and they're going to get even further ahead.
Apex behind the f- oh my goodness, he wins that engagement. He's out fighting again in middle,
and Apex has taken 2, and he's still in the same spot. He knows he's got another player
pinned behind that wall, so he's going to jump out, check the other pass. Apex is so locked
it in the fight and eventually some pious will win it. So Zywoo put into a really tough
spot now with Hunter coming out of the apartments. He's been hurt as well. There should be no way.
Oh my god there is a way. In fact all those bullets miss. Very luckily HappyGull is around
so the trade comes through on Zywoo immediately. Happens to the best of us. It does. It's all
been there. And at least you know Hunter had a great round in the previous game. I did. Don't
worry about it. Yeah. That's just a bad one. Here's the opening from some pious. He's also
the one who puts down apex preventing apex from calling this round back for
vitality wouldn't have even been able to survive that one if it ended up that
way
I love that apex is realizing that situation they're like we're still
down and out in this room yes I need to fight fight and he was wanting them
Oh, already been a frustrating game and APACs is going to make it even worse.
Yeah, ropes.
That first in the last round and it's in with the underpass this time.
Hunter trying to jewel, actually took a dink on board, so he's left on 15 HP.
So I'll have to play a little bit passive.
It's going to be up to the other three.
He got nerds and some pies to create something nerds the newest addition to this roster a lot of excitement about him joining the team after a rough stretch in team liquid
They spoke all positive about him and
Not to see that yesterday didn't wait
Yeah, and it's all like it's the conversation that that hunters haven't is like this feels like when when Niko joined G2 and joined me
And like how much fun and how happy and excited we were how motivated we were it's the same kind of vibe going on in
G2 right now with nerds reuniting with saw as a coach and obviously heavy God a close friend of his as well
Well, surprising seeing him on the ON6 though.
Yeah, really slow start, Nurtz stepping up for the fight now though, and they get ON7.
Off-flame stepping into the next fight, supplies, at least winning that one, Heavy God's got
his way under the wood, but they know he's there, so sorry we're going for the wall
back.
Look at the HP on the other two players, the Hunter at 15, some Pius on 25, how do
you get in?
Hunter starting his lurk in middle now.
And Mezzi on the flank too, round the back, Apex taking pressure away, attention drawn towards him,
frees up Mezzi to make his way through the ramp and then rops his way for the kill on Hunter.
Comfortable round victory here for Vitality again after their first round loss.
And no bomb plant means no extra cash, which results in G2 and a really tough spot economically.
Again, you can't afford to go by. Can we now hear the best you can hope for, tech nines, and some kevlar.
I think when the guns come back out, I think you have to just do a bomb site execute.
I think it's time to just hit the A bomb site, throw the utility, just get in, try and trade Flames out, try and trade whoever's there out.
This kind of spread out default, trying to take mid control. They're having the same issues that Foothead and Mirage in the previous series where G2 only have the one opening kill on some pious just a couple rounds back.
Yeah, direct hits towards the site so it's tough because Flames is on an absolute heater and the time you try to go towards A, he's got a multi-kill and the rotations come in.
And then go to the B bomb site.
Xayu is here with Nezion Robs now.
So this is going to be a very tough round.
G2 stay committed to this B idea.
Yeah, but you need to avoid when you're spreading out in these defaults at the moment.
The way Vitality is winning this game is by just playing nothing special,
having strong openings, finding an advantage in the first 30 seconds,
and then saying we have such an advantage that we will just back off and play a mistake-free counter-strike,
and you guys can't do anything anymore.
anything anymore. And especially for Hunter as an IGL probably at some point feels like
I'd like to call a mid round in a 5 on 5 please. Or a 5 on 4.
No not really the weapons for the job in this round. Saving money for the buy in the
next. At least having some upgraded pistols to try and be potent enough. As a head source
this B-bomb site, Mezzi is lying to wait with the AK.
Mentioned Nertz is 0 and 7.
He's got 4.8 ADR so far in these 7 rounds of play.
He has not found any fight to be comfortable in.
Heavy guard, a good start.
5v4, short lived out, rocks!
Really getting a triple kill.
We'll be taking down by the second line of Hunter.
That's a weapon picked up, a spoil of war to play with from Mattis.
This flank is so fast.
Yeah, but Apex is already in the apartments and no eyes are looking towards him whatsoever.
Even less now with the distraction of Flames drawing attention, Apex has got to kill it.
Heavy guard and then the second quick snap over towards Mattis.
Cleaning up Apex very quick to come through the apartments.
They're so confident, there's no stress and they know that they're just controlling the map in every aspect of this game.
So yeah, you're starting to see them, you know, that ego kind of like healthily making them push, making them make some plays, making moves, and G2 still struggling to contain it.
And now the moves are just getting harder because vitality is willing to take way more risks way harder to read the situation
Seven to one well
This game is not going at all the way that I thought it was gonna go
Not at all or want it to go. Yeah matter. Well, I think G2 are feeling the same way
They're down to the final timeout now. It's
It's a really tough start to this game, obviously a few of the individuals just haven't got going.
It seems like everyone in Vitality has turned up today on a completely different level to
what they were showing yesterday.
I mean, that's that's incredible to see.
It's one of the things that makes this team, you know, the greatest of all time is just
that that reaction, that reaction to losing the first match in a group stage in the
fashion that you did and now bounce back and just kind of assuage any potential
current concerns that might have been out there some bias at least getting the
opening kill here up to his top middle of smoke break but trying to get a second
here he's under a lot of pressure rock realizing he just wants to spam them down
trying to buy us but he takes a shot to the face through the smoke a little
bit of love going the way of some bias that's a beautiful second kill in the
the only round they've been able to pick up
is Sumpias is opening in middle onto Robs.
He's got another good start to around here
and Nurtz finally has some space to make a play.
I think he's been spotted.
I think he's been spotted.
The flames is, yeah, that's the kill.
Is he gonna take it?
He's gonna light a first teammate.
Yeah, leave it for Apex.
Don't want them to know where Flames' position is
so they can't just exploit the A bomb site on reaction.
Hunter and Khan have you got it
with the bomb following up in middle.
Sumpias, oh, lovely shot.
That's Flames going down.
And now things really open up.
Hunter can start to investigate.
So when you know into the site and that's going to be hunter collected by apex,
but he's just hiding away now behind these boxes.
It's going to be place to get down with him.
But in the end, a second round victory coming out of G2.
Once again, some pious in the openings.
Yeah, that's the only place they've had success is some pious over in middle.
Great read on the Zai Wu situation.
The Rob skill a little bit lucky.
This slow peak from the other side, some pious was ready.
That one, you see the tracers.
I'll take the lock out of the equation.
That's a nice read.
The only round we've seen vitality really get picked apart
to that degree.
Now, as bad as this half has been, G2 can still recover it.
There's still a chance for 7-5 on the board.
There's Flames out, aimed at a mid-peak,
and the roll lining up.
It's Matt, this is Hunter, both dead.
Flames is worried about being pushed down through underpass.
Just look how proactive, how many different looks
of vitality given him on the defense.
Right, and it's different players
in different spots of wholeways.
You know, Flames down in the underpass now getting some fun.
He's got himself a couple of kills,
and in fact, he could track heavy go back into connector
if he got away with that.
If Flames got away with that kill,
I think that might just be it.
But have you got at least getting the kill inside?
Conn, Nurt's stepping out of palace.
He does get responded to by Robs.
Hey, buddy, he's got his first kill.
All that matters.
Heavy God's kind of held it there at TopCon.
Some pious at the bottom of a ramp.
That smoke is gonna fade shortly and he'll step in,
but Heavy God's got a bigger role to play
to create the distraction,
because some pious is all,
it's not exactly gonna create the space you need,
and it's gonna go down.
Yeah, so,
smacked against the wall by Zai,
who's AWP now, rops winning,
just to run the side of Tetris here.
Heavy God trying to bait him into the fight
to get himself to 1v1,
but rops is ready for any fight
that's coming his way,
and will challenge Heavy God and find success.
So, just the lack of ability to find consecutive round wins here for G2 is really stalling out any hope in this first half.
Now 8-2, they miss out on the opportunity to somewhat reset somebody down to a lower point for Vitality.
Now I'm just gonna have to deal with the strong situation right now in the finish line in this first half, it feels like...
It feels like this is turning into one of those games where we say like, okay, play yourself, play yourself into the next map, you know?
Like, and it's weird to say when you're only 10 rounds in, but Nert's with one kill, Madis with two kills.
You can see the offense is starting to struggle with all these aggressive plays.
Flames is just relentless.
Little mistake from Mezzi as Nertz finds the kill and opens up the B bomb site.
We'll see if that mistake costs vitality this round.
Nertz trying to make the most of it.
Problem is, Zaiwu is cut off market.
Yeah, Nertz has to slow down his pacing,
because all attention is going to be in this direction with that kill on the Mezzi,
and they might even feel like the follow-up is going to be at the B bomb site.
They'd be correct.
Some pious with the bomb sliding over AK-47 in his hands instead of the AWP.
Mattis as well, gonna hang back a little bit further for a few extra seconds, make
sure there's no flank coming from the underpass.
Bomb will get planted. Flames and rops setting up for a bait flank. Flames go
first with low HP die, hopefully they'll take their attention away and
rops can have a clean avenue. Apex gonna be heading towards cat as
as market windows smoked off, and Zawoo's AWP is going to provide support.
Matt says, just looks away, and here they come.
Flames up first, but the spacing is good enough for Rops to get that trade,
and now the pressure's on because Rops has got another one.
Nurtz has gone, he's got to be some bias.
It's got to be him again to win a round here for G2, and he just can't do it.
Zawoo spots him out, turns with AWP.
Sympi has put in the crowd, and Vitality put up to 9 rounds.
Yeah, it's brutal. Rops is scaling into the bomb site, just sees nobody home.
There's no peek whatsoever from Sympi, no one trying to take advantage of it,
and that sends off the alarms in Zaiwu's head.
Turns and watches the smoke, perfect.
Everything Vitality goes for in this retake is absolutely perfect.
It works away just as it was designed.
Yeah, I mean, we said coming into this game,
that this game would be a great test to see what level Jitsu are at.
See where they match up against Vitality.
There's a lot of work to do, right now.
Quite the distance between the two teams at the moment.
G2 going out trying to get a third round wound in this first half.
It's the best case scenario for them at this point.
They're just gonna slide into mid, and they're just gonna turn the corner it looks like into con.
Maybe just contact play, smoke comes in, they wanna peep with it.
Trying to mess with the timings of utility.
Break of the smoke, perfect timing, nuts.
Nightmare half continues. Flames to assist and follow up as heavy guard is now dead as well.
And you've got G2 scrambling a 3v5 under a minute on the clock.
No real space to work with. Hunter is the only player that can potentially find something, but even that is watched by Apex.
And this will come to a very dominant conclusion in the first half. It will be a 10-2 lead for Team Vitality.
The question was asked, who is going to be Vitality's rival here in Fort Worth? Who will be able to match up to the level of Vitality?
The G2 were one of the teams thrown into that conversation and right now there is absolutely
no competition on display.
Two sporadic round victories picked up off the back of supplyous opening kills but that
is all G2 find.
Dominant from Vitality and they are looking for the semi-finals.
The boss SApex gets the better of his teammate now he's got the utility to keep Donk
out of this.
I don't know what that's coming through.
Um, then, you know, you lose this timing that you get with the Eleanor Surprise.
It's like worth it to lose a plan.
He ought to, baby!
He ought to!
You're way too lucky!
Give me!
Even in the fucking train, the fuck, you suck me!
And we're back, 10-2 this game has not started any way that we thought it would
G2 came in flat in that first half in vitality well they just look like bad
asses they came in and they've handled business here 10-2 lead not even a
struggle not even an issue couple isolated nice rounds but this has been
so one-sided. Okay guys I will repeat it but we're fucking great on this side
there is no doubt guys we're the best CCCI team in the world we are the best at
a lot of things. But T-Side Mirage is not our best, okay? So we will need to stand up.
Oh, it's humble. I love it. Yeah, we're the best at a lot of things. T-Side Mirage, one of them.
Yeah, I like that. I love it. I just love it. Every time I listen to him, but
he's right. Didn't look great yesterday. Let's see how it goes down to today. A pistol round
might just make sure that they don't need to play that much of a T-Round, but look at this.
Heavy got pushing through the ramp, maybe so ready and heavy got so sad. Yeah, he's like what the hell was he was he watching that?
Was he's holding? Yeah, why is he so ready? He's holding T spawn
well flames is gonna get some action nerds pushing up into him and
Nerds is gonna continue having issues dropped by apex
And now the defense has to scramble back and right into the arms of rocks. Oh my god. There's just all
I know this is everything everything we try to do. There's just a vitality player right there
We knew you were going to fall back into its calm. Yeah
We knew you were going to try and push palace after this kill. It's always on the perfect timing
Yeah, it's a I don't think they have to worry about the T side. I
Doesn't look like they're gonna need to play many two rounds as long as you can win a gun round on T side
I think it's all wrapped up here
Just so comprehensive
What a turnaround from yesterday watching vitality struggle up against foot
With skulio standing in the shock that that was provided dropping a map to them
Oh, my shit my shots for lettuce. Okay. Yeah, I get some nice shots get some confidence going
None of it matters at the end of the day
I'm still gonna go off 11 to 2
Another disappointing thing or worrying things Jason is uh, this is G2's map pick. Yeah, that part's not great either
I think Blast put up a stat right at the start of the game that teams that have picked Mirage
against Vitality have gone like 2 and 5 since Robbredam.
Not being a great record, not a great decision coming against them on this map at the moment,
but yesterday I can absolutely see why G2 would want to come here with their good Mirage
team, seeing the weaknesses yesterday and points for Vitality even though they got
through that Mirage they didn't look necessarily that pretty.
this is being disastrous. I mean the other side of that too is that you know if you're vitality in
the last three months you've got an 89% win rate on nuke and 90% win rate on inferno and 92% win rate
on dust 2, 100% win rate on overpass and 64% of mirage. So yeah we can dive into the details
as much as you want but I think that's a pretty obvious lean there especially if you're not a
team that enjoys playing in newbis whatsoever. And then you come up against my mirage and this
Okay, where do we go? Yeah, I go great. Can we invent the new can we do cash?
Now yeah, can we do cash, please?
All right, so real vitality is gonna be amazing on cash
It's gonna be safe for those of you that weren't around when cash was in the pool back in like CS go
I feel like cash is like one of the most like
It's like a dust to like it just gives you highlights. This is like the action there is so intense
It's gonna be fun
Well, an opening kill here for G2, and it's some Pius that got it, so that's the winning
recipe for the two rounds they've got so far.
So if it happens again, it could be round three.
You can see Vitality trying to convert a 4v5 deficit by heading towards this B bomb site,
so they're going to be going into Mattis who's just waiting for them.
Pius has 75% of G2's opening kills in this game.
Have you got as one?
Sun Pius has three.
That's it.
No one else is able to find any production
in the early stages.
You can see how quick Mattis was communicating,
how many players he just spotted up into the apartments.
They're trying to rotate Sun Pius over here quickly enough
so he can help out.
Look at the rotation.
G2 are arriving big time.
Messi taking out at van.
Rops hasn't even left the apartments yet,
though, with the bomb.
So they don't mind that G2 are rushing in and panicking
because they can start picking them off,
or at least trying to.
but G2 still hold the advantage.
Bob's is taking damage, so is Apex.
So, you know, Flames are 35 HP,
and Hunter's gonna connect all to Apex.
Flames still getting a frag, and okay!
Rubs and Flames have brought this back.
It's down to 1v1. Flames against Supias!
And Supias has won another round here for G2,
the only player with round-winning impact.
It's triple kill in the round for Supias as well.
That's great work with the MP9,
and that's a tough round to win if you're G2.
The weaker weapons, you have some of the advantages
early on in that fight in the execute but Vitality plays this so slow they don't
panic whatsoever this team stays far back with these rifles even things out
you got Robs work in the bomb site and all of a sudden it's a one-on-one
some bias is just a beast right now quick swing pre-fire with the mp9 and
they're still alive there's still a chance for a comeback in regulation
three to eleven eight rounds back let's survive this one and you get that
That reprieve of going up against most of the unalward glocks.
And then one round at a time.
So vitality in the first half.
On their own CT side doing a lot of these extremity pushes out of confidence, G2 probably
more of desperation, but the timing is just about perfect.
On the back, Mattis. Here he is. That's the bomb. How many can he get here? If a mass out in play,
he's got four targets in his sight, he's got some help from his teammates and Mattis is going to make the
most of it. That's three from him. And there's a to go down inside of the connector. So all
round here for G2, finally getting two in a row as well. Yeah, lovely and I'm not
losing a whole lot so money builds up and things are going to start being okay
for the CT side. Only real issue is the scoreboard which is a big issue to be
fair. Seven rounds back. Five rifles, two Galils of FAMAS, two M4s, you're going to be going up against the unarmed pistols.
You're just going to clean things up in this round so a chance for the last
thrust of G2 to see if they can get themselves back into this map. And again
I brought it up in the first half like pretty early on just the way it felt was like the whole play yourself into this series play
Yourself into the second map warm up a little bit whatever it might be
You're gonna need like a little streak here of a comeback to make it feel like you're getting into this game
And then when that confidence starts to show up, we know we can have a map to
Well, that's not cool for his building getting taken down by the block
These hunters come through with the grenade kill and then the M4 but he's also taken out by Rob's is Glock
Should be no issue though and cleaning them up. No, it's comes on over
We lose a couple of players here for G2, but the round is collected and they're up to five
So the buy now returns here for team vitality. They're not gonna have enough to get the AWP out
So be a k-47s across the squad advantage some pious because he's got the op out on the CT side as well
So a chance for the sniper of G2 to reign supreme and have continue influencing the game in a positive way for his team
11 kills he's tied with Hunter and Madison and heavy God is not too far back
But it's the quality of the kills at some pious have gotten that have been so critical
No one on this team is able to match him in that regard
Apex. Count through underpass. Smoke. Don't be arrived at the bottom of the corner. It shows
for Hunter dead immediately upon the opportunity there for Apex. 5v4 for team vitality.
It puts a lot of pressure on Nerds who highlighted a couple of times having that rough game.
kills started out 0 and 7 but puts him into the pressure with Hunter going down to be worried
about calm to be worried about window room. Madis has slid over to provide assistance. 58
seconds of the clock and really Apex is the only one challenging anything. The only one
showing presence whatsoever. Vitality now going to follow up in middle and that's where
the defense is going to meet them head on.
He's a go on Zairut going out again.
Heavy guard responds as Messi's out of there and it's now 3v2 still favoring vitality time
at the 42nd mark as Rob starts to make his way out of ramp crossing over towards Sandwich.
He's in a strong spot at the moment.
That bomb is drifting back through T spawn on the back of Apex.
The other taking it slow.
He doesn't want to show himself just yet.
He wants G2 to think the possibility of the B bomb site is still there.
Now the information going to be gathered with that smoke being chucked out.
can start making his move line of sight of heavy got taken away but the
opposite bias is gonna deliver bomb down in 14 seconds yep you got a sprint
as your flamethrower has to go get it but it has to be flamethrowers is gone
flames has got the kill but it's a 1v1 seven seconds on the clock in the
open denied by heavy god oh time really forcing flames into the commitment of
the plant heavy guy give him a chance to win it by peeking top stairs but
flames hands were so busy and another round for g2 he had a split second
decision make. Do I plant defaults or do I plant in the front of the boxes? Can I make
it in time? That's a tough scenario to be in. What if I'm having to rotate it back around?
But here's that good mid push that does some solid work.
Again, Sunpias with the impact.
Yep. He's just been an absolute beast, which is great. Remember, the start of CS2 for
Sunpias was really, really rough. Lost a lot of faith in him as an operator. Slowly,
has been grinding some of that confidence and faith back in his favor.
The gap is closing and Apex's words ring out in my head at the very least, we're great
at CT.
Our T side has a lot to be desired.
So every round on the CT side was critically important for vitality.
And as G2 continues to put rounds on the board, Vitality is going to have more and more pressure
mounting with that knowledge.
Or at least Apex on his shoulders to call them back into the map.
Well that is a robs.
Surprise.
See you later.
So we're with Mezzi now in a 2v5 damage they can do and not so far.
So just Mezzi in middle with the D.E.G.A.L.
It'll be a 7th round for G2. Good to see them playing themselves back into the game now.
Would have been so disappointing to see Vitality just come into the second half here
win the pistol and close it out in the first gun round but
the opportunity is there now for G2 to work their way back into Mirage
in a timeout being taken here from Team Vitality.
Good sign. You forced the timeout out of them. You forced them into a situation
where they needed the extra time to talk things over.
Ex-Taz on the mic. Very, very vocal.
Seems very focused over towards Mezzi and Flamesy at the moment.
Not time for panic just yet if you're vitality still a four round lead still just two rounds
away from a map victory, but it's starting to get to the point I think where it's they've
lingered around long enough vitalities feeling like they've let G2 stick in this game way
too much and the problem is you may no longer have a say in whether you can force them up
because Sun Paias is starting to heat up.
He's got a hot hand right now and if he continues having this kind of an influence
with the AWP, he's going to tear apart a lot of your rounds.
Zairu's picked up an AWP on the other side as well, the challenge up against it.
Zairu wants to point his teammates head, not going to be finding the chance he was looking forward to kick things off.
Apex now moving out through underpass again, putting himself towards connector.
Will Sompias peek him though? Let's cook the opening kill available to Sompias.
Apex has crossed away from danger zone now and is looking up towards the ladder room instead, where Hunter currently is waiting.
Quiet on the map though, feels like Robson's a little bit of first gear just seemed like
he wanted to turn that corner and maybe try and find a timing for a fight.
The knowledge of some pyres is all probably dissuading him and the rest of the team is
now going to rotate back to the A bomb site.
Here's that push from Mattis again.
Did this a few rounds back to great effect with the FAMAS one and like round the second
our third round of this half. Getting a lot of information for his team right now. So we
should start seeing Nurt slide over to be more committed to the APOLM site. Sumpias's
office here have you got over and cubby
some bias opening kill going back again trying to challenge I was this time he
actually did he's done a 2hp so I was only left on to help there's a tax gone
messy inside the middle finally getting something going here for a team
vitality but a lot more needed to be done with 15 seconds locked up a whole
lot of time to do it and you've got rock tiger on a palace you need this
Kill now it's I was got it nerds still on stairs fighting forward seven seconds
Everybody's dead Matt is on the ramp like make sure it's all over and they wrap things up
And even after a timeout by touting not looking much better at all man
They are falling apart on this T side right now. Some pyres is really making it hurt
Man you might just go back and listen to the apex clip and it might just become
Legendary with the if they do joke this to the end
Well, maybe you could see the future, Zaru's the one who's got to be aggressive in that scenario, but at that point, so much time has passed, the rest of G2 arrived, and they're within striking distance man, they're 8-11, they're within 3 rounds.
Feels like some Pisces kept a minute long enough for the rest of the team to start to wake up.
Exactly, that's what I meant when I said they've lingered too long, is now you no longer get a dictate that you can just destroy them at will, the way you were for the first, what, 15 rounds of this game.
Not much going for them in this round as Tech9's a little bit of utility.
Vitality hasn't even smelled the bomb site since the pistol.
They haven't gotten a plant in these gun rounds at all.
Yeah, Sympiase have to go, what a combo towards this A site,
shutting down Team Vitality, not letting them anywhere near the site.
Another round of it ends in misery for Team Vitality.
A ninth round added to the tally here for G2 on their merry way back into this game.
And we've now got Apex trying to get up to Korn and Sumpias is taking him down with the 5-7.
9 rounds for G2, Sumpias again, another huge round from him, a triple kill with heavy, heavy impact being put onto the server.
Alright, well it's panic time now for Vitality.
It's time to be worried about how G2 is playing at the moment.
And you've burned timeouts, you've tried, you've even won the pistol.
It is. It's seven rounds in a row for this G2 defense. They have just snapped into place.
Nurt's struggling, but the lack of impact there is being more than made up for by Sumpias.
Now, unfortunately for G2, Sumpias, this round away from the action, they want to shut down mid,
but Vitality has lined up for a hit at the A bomb site right out of the gate.
Have you gone waiting on default?
Really reliable.
No, it's getting a kill to his top middle, but have you gone?
Go on, Zywoo has taken him away.
Hunts, sir. Look at the stats. There's a big gap in the smoke trying to work with it here.
And he goes down to the open. He makes the most of it. Vitaliy was trying to replenish the smoke.
He put a new one down in place, and it's worked out.
Here for G2, Mezgy's still fighting though.
And that kill brings it back to even numbers.
numbers yeah you know he's sliding over right now his son poppy and he's been
delivering for g2 smoke is up in his face 21 kills on the g2 sniper out of the
action for the initial thrust but now in the clutch this up also not to the legs
no yeah yeah you see them you see them when he goes back to it rops will fall
off the top of the wood and it puts it all on messy let's see if he can clutch
up here he's got 40 seconds to do it he's got the ball on his back and he's
got 100 HP still to his name. Sumpias intelligently backing off getting beyond that murder hole
and holding the angle, holding the line. And it really should be a kill here for Sumpias.
Time is an ally. Mezzy goes into the open, slow peeks into the scope, and Mezzy goes
down. We are one round separated between G2 and Team Vitality.
This is getting dicey. One more time. Production, can you queue up that listen
One more time we listen to this coming in from the halftime break. This is apex talking to a steam about the CT side and the T side of Mirage
Okay guys, I will repeat it, but we fucking great on C. This idea is not up guys with the best
This is a team in the world. We are the best at a lot of things, but this is a mirage is not our best
Okay, so we will need to step up
At the moment, it's looking like enough our best is a little bit of an understatement
statement eight in a row now for G2 coming storming back into this opening map of the series semi-finals on the line and
They're standing tall up against the best team in the world
Have you gone going out for the pizza on its stairs?
Not able to make the most of it, but some pie certainly while he's sitting back at CT spot
He's not being missing much at all in this second half
It's gonna be nerds dropping rocks for this time supplies does miss heavy car makes up for it though and kill comes through
Sampaius falls back, happy god with another vitality, have lost the lead, it is going to be tied here on Mirage, Sampaius chugging in, Flamestad and now it is G2 who is dominating all over the server.
Yeah, lost the lead and lost the grip on this map, unreal the turnaround in this second half, pistol round one by vitality, they go up 11-2 and G2 finally wakes up.
and Pius has carried his team to this point.
Now Heavy God's delivering.
Now Hunter's making plays for you.
Matt is being aggressive.
Nurtz is starting to climb the scoreboard as well.
Vitality have disappeared off Barrage.
And it's their final time out they have to burn
as their CT side dominance for both sides today.
Apex just can't find the answers.
He's gonna be probably can't find an idea at this point. Yeah, this is where you're hoping and brain drops flames
Someone's gonna say I can exploit this give you an idea give you just a crumb that you can build an idea around
11 to 11 we're gonna go the distance, but who's gonna have a chance at winning in regulation
24 kills for some pious we got hunter movie now short with matters confident now
RG2 he's just oozing out of him willing to take fights break open the smoke
just trying to search for these openings vitality come to fight them in
middle they haven't selected their finishing play yet nobody's nobody's
close up to the B bomb site or the A bomb site. So it's no indication of where they potentially
might want to split. It seems like they actually just called the idea off. Apex and Mezzie were
scaling a little quick through the underpass and halfway through decided to switch things
up. Nurtz playing over a bench at the B bomb site. Mattis is on short. Hunter in lateral
room. Some Pius at ticket at the A bomb site and have you got up on the balcony underneath
the balcony? Excuse me.
It was all well and good coming back into the game.
But how many times have we seen the underdog team come back against Vitality,
seeming like they're going to get their way and Vitality figure it out in the final couple of rounds?
Just yesterday on Nuke against Foot, it could be another scenario like that.
G2 are going to be very aware of that possibility.
Hunter climbing down the ladder now steadies himself to try and join with Mattis to deal with the threat.
with three players, 30 seconds left.
Hunter and Matz's first two kills in.
Robs gets one back, but he's held back.
He's held in position.
Nerds from back bench, successful with that kill.
And heavy gods got the other.
It's just Mezzy, 15 seconds left.
Blammin' is back, but no hope in hell.
It is 12-11.
G2 have map point first,
and no one seen this coming.
Look how jacked up Hunter just got with that win.
He almost had to settle himself down.
They probably cannot even believe they're looking
line like this right now 12 to 11 one chance again they have a perfect set up
two players at the point of attack B bomb site a bit a while since vitality gave
it a little bit of love and G2 was a step ahead
we need to talk more you need to do more guys and that's exactly what I said on
TV was too easy and we fucking don't step up right now so let's fucking step up
and don't look at your fucking score I play like a for the team boys
All right, there's the frustration coming out saying they got complacent after a dominant CT side very possible
My not able to figure it out in time to up to a weapon here for G2
Coming in this one with pots and pans. You've got two tech 9s two Jalils a single AK 47 for team vitality
Look at the lack of utility left now as well
But they've got some sneaky positions nerds as if eyes on this
This is a disaster. Robs with this kind of a space will ruin you.
Yeah, well that's the first kill, Nurtz. Is that the first domino to fall?
Could this collapse the defense of G2 and bring this one into overtime?
Apex with the tech nine. It's Hunter's dead.
How goes matters? Can't get it done.
And now heavy god trying to step up in the bottom of the stairs.
Apex is dead.
A rare miss shot here from Sumpias.
Robs around the back.
He's reddit though, Sumpias turns.
But it's all gonna be Sumpias.
12 HP and he's left back to a CT spawn. There's no way surely he can pull this off. He's being
fantastic but this is just asking way too much. This would be a miracle if he gets it. Look at
the positions he's got a peek as well and it's just not gonna happen. Vitality figure it out in
the final round. Get this one into overtime. The money resets and of course it's a Robs
Surrounder he gets him behind them they lose track of him and he starts to unravel the defense after that whole run to come
Back into this game and get up to 12 rounds for g2 the thing that is there undoing is missing the timing and not keeping an eye
On the window boost
Rob skits that kill that's the one thing but with like a minute and 20 seconds on the clock and drops is in cg spawn
He controls the map and that's one of the smartest players of the game a counter strike. He is going to recue
12 to 12 we hit OT and now the reset the fast you get everything you want again
if you're vitality you got the all back on the AKZ utility this game is back on
again but how do you want freefall but I feel like getting into overtime is a
moment to breathe a sigh of relief and hopefully the fatality is safe they're
hoping that this can be a mental reset as well you know supplies and no it's
moving up into the underpass tell you why you could bet nobody on vitality
He's feeling complacent right now after that second half good shot from mezi prepared for the peak for the aggression in some pious
It's a little bit of a clock on how long you can stick around
Have you guys gonna be under scrutiny bomb on apex joining up with rops on ramp, but they're gonna start turning the corner
I'm just gonna kill him, how'd he got going to die at the hand of Robson?
Hunter Amethyst, 2v4, Hunter coming back over towards CT, they know where he is, repeating
with me his death because I was holding it from Palace.
I need this demolitov that would have taken that angle away.
Vitality even get that kill and then back off just a little bit so Hunter's not
fighting the fights he expected whatsoever awkward situation for him and he's just gonna
slide back vitality regain the lead 13 to 12 yeah I'm saving these guns to no reason
to go for this retake vitality now two in a row after losing so many in that first half
10 rounds straight G2 one they had the single chance to take it in regulation that was
ripped out of their hands and that might have been the best opportunity they'll have.
Vitality can get ruthless now.
13 to 12.
Well, Apex demanding and more out of his team and
some father answering to his desperate pleads towards the end of regulation.
Just finding enough to get this in to overtime and a strong start to take off the bonus rounds.
That's a guy you run through a wall for.
Metaphorically in the game counter-trick.
13-12.
Zairu found a nice pick on Sampias in the previous round, a little off-on-off action.
Sampias is gonna have that up on short for the moment.
Flames and Apex on the other side of this smoke, they'll scale to behind the mid boxes.
Spamming at the angles, trying to figure out information, seeing bodies out in middle.
But G2's giving up the aggression. Happy for the stalemate, they're just back off.
Heavy God. Underwood. Here comes Robb, hoping this is a good timing for him.
And he does not get spotted, then the flash comes up. Hunter sends heavy guard into the
peak, robs completely blinded by it. And so opening kill does fall in favor of G2. Let's
see if they can convert this 5v4 advantage. Apex is moving out towards Tetris. Heavy
guard under the wood. And heavy guard, and he's spammed. Apex is spotted and utility
is coming in next. Trying to heat things up. Now Nerkz inside of Con. His fight
saw only one being picked up. Apex inflames able to take a couple and Hunter still
keeping G2 in this fight. It's Saibot and Apex, the French connection, trying to win this one out in style.
They've got Flash just going over towards CT, and Saibot climbs up on top of the wood, in through the smoke.
He just got underneath them, and Apex spots him in the end.
Mattis is out of there, and some players look at his flank. It's arriving very, very late, and he hasn't got a kit on his back here,
but there are multiple kits available down.
Issue is no smoke. Issue is how do you get the kills? How do you find the players?
How do you actually diffuse the bomb? The answer is you can't.
Yeah, as I walk on the wood as well, maybe you can catch him on the retreat, but even that's a missed shot.
So Tobias gets taken down by 8-packs.
And the energy's back in vitality. The belief is back that they have what it takes to close this out.
They're finding success in the T-Rounds of overtime.
And they could even just close this out on the CT side.
even if they don't go on to win the next round here at OT.
This is a very, very solid reset here from Vitality.
Yeah, it's in great coming at OT.
Heavy favorites, they snap into play,
snap the focus back in.
That could have almost been something a little bit crazy,
but Apex able to find it right at the last second.
He's gonna be exhausted after this game.
Apex has given enough energy
for all five players on this team.
Window smoke is blocked.
There's the peek in from Sumpaius, Rops is going to be taken down so an opening kill
again for G2, didn't matter last round because of Zywu and it won't again here, Hunter goes
down through the window, Sumpaius missing the chance and dropping back into Con, in fact
getting spammed as well.
Get out of there Sumpaius, get back to safety, get around that wall.
They're so focused on this engagement at the smoke and Con that they don't even
realize they're scaling up towards the B bomb site, they've hit a very nice timing.
Now this position is going to be tough for Vitality to deal with.
It's got to be a trade.
Surely he's got at least the first.
Well, there's the first absolutely, but the trade is immediate from Mezzi.
We've now got some players just waiting for that cross, but utility coming forward.
Not going to block the scope of the offer until that flash comes in.
Not only does it block his vision, but it gives the information away as to where
some players is playing from, and that bomb gets planted.
A 2v2 again here.
Vitality trying to round this out to map point on Mirage.
Oh, they actually have terrible positions for this this family to some better places. Can they do it?
Can they get the better spots? They do have the space to do so, but they don't know that
Zai was got the scope up checking towards short feels like he can get behind bench and now having this spot
It's gonna be death to heavy gods door and some bias again 1v2
He will not be able to stop me vitality are back. It's 15 to 12 map point once again
Yeah, Vapex really will go vitality into this overtime that is a very dominant stretch of three rounds back to what the first half looked like switch sides
And if the T side is supposed to be the weaker one for vitality you just rattle off three dominant rounds in a row
You get over that defensive side, which you already know is awesome
Vitality with three chances to close
one moment of opportunity
and now it all slips away a hard fought comeback 10 rounds in a row in the
second half and just cannot find the finishing one last chance for saw to
talk to the boys before they head into this T side overtime campaign
Here's an X factor though we didn't really see G2 come alive until the second half now
but they're here.
Does the T side look any different now that you've got heavy God having some rounds now
that you got some bias in his all.
Well it's got to be perfect.
They're just here another over time so a real tough task in front of G2 here
But they have proven that they are able to come back into things with their backs against the ropes
Or vitality to switch to the more favored side for that
Descending flames in aggressively hasn't worked out notes gets the opening fright in favor here G2
That was a winning recipe though in the in regulation in the CT side flames was super aggressive everywhere on the map pushing multiple
different locations round after round.
They have no idea about Zaiwu.
Yeah, he's staying committed inside of middle.
Some pyres just around the side of the smoke.
It's a miss shot from Zaiwu.
He's able to get away into the connector.
Apex getting information on the jump.
He's confident. Look at this.
He's chasing after the kills too.
He's looking for the, oh Apex confidence,
but only success on the first fight.
So our information is there
and you have time to kind of adjust
the defense a little bit and clearly
and obviously we're gonna have a lot of faith
in Zaiwu to grab you two in this round
if they come to this direction.
Actually, Vitality very committed to the B bomb site being the final play.
Drops and Mezzi both there.
Far, far away from where it looks like the action is going to come.
Window smoked off.
It's all Zywoo.
Yeah, look how much he is responsible for defending.
You can see he's checking towards the window,
making sure no one's climbing up there.
And that smoke is going to sever off his information flow into the site.
So it looks like G2 have positioned themselves very well to win this round.
The only player that can do something about it is Zywu, and he's charging over towards CT spawn.
Not able to deny the plant, and now wait until his teammates to come over for this retake attempt.
Not able to deny the plant, but he gains control of the staging ground for the retake.
Matt is on top of triple boxes.
A player in Palace, one towards ramp, one up to the bench. It's a strong post plant set up here for G2.
One in which looks impossible to get back into.
Matt takes two kills towards CT spawn and rops is left alone with this m4 all the way back
So now it'll end up being another round for G2
They won't suffer a flawless defeat here in overtime. I think you got a scale back of your vitality that aggressive those aggressive plays from from flames
I think here in overtime
It doesn't work
Think you play something a little bit more standard if you want aggression team aggression to player aggression
But obviously G2 and overtime is like thank you. Well, we'll take this for be fine
We love having that kind of an advantage.
15-13.
Things I respawned his head on the jump but couldn't get the AWP out in time.
Great double kill from Mattis.
Stopping the retake before it begins.
He's going to be a good guy.
Rob's up short good quick
movement to get into the
position. He died from doing
this earlier in the first half,
but this time a lot more
efficient. Getting into his
spot, some ties. He was really
success story in the first
half for G two, the few
rounds that they were able to
win came off the back of his
all been mid. He's cooled
off a little bit. We've seen
a few more misses a few more
situations where it's a you
know kill we would have seen
Yeah, these past few engagements he's been in off the market just a bit.
No one going to be flush into the open by the politics office and pie stands
around with not a whole lot to do at the moment.
Defensive smoke deployed offensive smoke put down and con as well.
Vitality trying to exploit an underpass play with the boost up in
window room peering down and nobody's home up to the one minute mark.
So they break up the stack and just clear mid.
Good information gained. Now where do you want to relocate to?
Heavy commitment towards this A site coming right up here for G2.
Convitality defended and closed out Mirage.
Opening for Mattis. Trading from Zywoo.
There's Flames again. Big hold!
And G2, they were kept alive long enough by the heat of their offer, but the determination of the best team in the world was enough to eclipse G2's sun.
They've done it. They've done it. They did it the hard way. They clawed it back after getting clawed back. There were a lot of clawbacks there, Dust, but in overtime, Vitality do manage to seize Mirage, do manage to get this over the line.
You know a wise man once said many years ago that if you come for the king you best not miss and unfortunately for G2
They had a bit of a miss there. They missed all first half long
They built themselves back up in the second half to not do a cosmetic comeback to do a real one where they looked really good
Like we were seeing some great form out of them, but right when they were about to cross that finishing tape
They just couldn't quite get there
Vitality digs deep what a win. I mean quintessential vitality as well, right?
Not the dominant fatality we've maybe gotten more used to this year where it's all clean all the way
This was the scrappy one the one where they're never quite out
Even when they're looking diminished even when you're looking at the momentum when we're hearing the listen-ins when we're hearing the time-outs
We're seeing
Desperation almost from apex begging his teammates to give him the energy to give him the communication to give him what they need to win
They start to get in there
They start to win and then in overtime we see the explosion of energy the explosion of emotion to cope some over the
line. I mean, as much as the scoreboard might be split between a lot of players, I think this one
does tell the story of Apex as a leader of when things are looking dire,
managing to drag them back into contention and managing to make this happen.
Yeah. I mean, Vitality is many things for us in the Counter-Strike scene, right? They've accomplished
so much. We can praise them all the time for different things. But one of the things that
they rarely have to do, what they have when they need it is resilience and composure, right?
When they get put in pressure situations, they're able to find the way to come back,
And while they were way out in front for the majority of that game and all of a sudden it
went from scary to reality that they were going to have to be able to G2 for extra rounds,
they were able to get themselves there first off, snap out of a losing streak in the second
half and then they dominated the overtime.
They were able to fix the flaws that plagued them in that second half comeback to be able
to get this one across the line.
Absolutely.
And we do need to tell a complete story.
Yes.
One of the big things that was different from yesterday to today was the non-French
members of the team.
This quote came through from Flamesey yesterday after that close game against Flut, he said
he didn't feel like they were the sharpest.
The French players, Zywoo and Apex, were playing well, but the other three weren't at the level
that we expect them from.
And then today Flamesey and Robs came out and corrected that, particularly in that first
half.
They were sharp to say the least.
A huge part of what was stymieing G2 in so many of these rounds, just making things
miserable, peeling away kills on the site in towards mid, moving around the map and
taking that space dust.
Yeah, I mean kind of what you're talking about is kind of something we've seen really all year long from Flames
I mean the meteoric rise of flames when you compare him second season of last year and how he kind of cooled off a bit compared to that
Seven you know title street that they had in the first season this year
He has really stepped back into the limelight and really showed you why he's such a key piece of this team
Yes, he's gonna sometimes get overshadowed by zeal often times actually robs to he's gonna get his MVP in there
I think flames in my opinion was the MVP inclusion of Oka and just in general this year
his performance has been outstanding,
not only as an entry man,
but just generally speaking as an anchor defender
and just whatever this team needs him to do.
Like he's been doing a really good job.
And then with Robs, he is just the pillar of this team, right?
Oh, so consistent, the actual MVP,
I guess you could say of Cluj,
a guy who puts up the big numbers,
he roll balances his team very well.
And you know, Robs is an interesting one
because he was kind of talking about
how he wasn't feeling anongraft too.
This is the first tournament that's featuring that update.
And he was talking about how some things
kind of felt a little awkward then.
I was taking him a little bit of time
to kind of get used to some of it.
But maybe that was a part of the reason
while he was a little bit colder as you were referring to.
But today, certainly right back where we expect him to be.
If you're just joining us now and you're watching those
highlights and you're wondering, well, with him playing like
that, how on earth did this get into overtime?
The answer came from the other team.
The answer was Sun Pius.
The second half from Sun Pius was unbelievable here, Dusk.
Yeah, he shined bright in the second half.
There's no if, and or buts about it.
He was just, it didn't seem like he missed.
Like, I mean, basically the first, I don't know,
what, eight or 10 rounds where he had the AWP.
the guy just wasn't missing shots.
Anything that came in front of him,
he was finding it really, really accurate with the op.
And this is some place we were hoping for, right?
Because this is the guy that, when he was with, you know,
Nerts and Saul in the past, a couple of years ago,
you know, he was a guy who showed that he could play
at a very high level with the AWP.
I feel like, you know, he kind of,
and CS2 didn't quite hit the same mark,
but now he's starting to do it here
and a brilliant performance from him.
And yeah, you got to give it to him.
It's unfortunately not enough to get them the W.
It's particularly that CT said stat, right?
He was unreal after the half switch.
I think at one point he was like 12 and 2.
It was just disgusting in regulation.
Felt like, as you said, he just wasn't missing.
And then in that final round at the 12, 11,
where he could have closed, there was one miss.
Barely a miss.
And it felt like the spell just broke.
And he couldn't quite find that flow state in overtime.
Yeah, unfortunately.
Now, I do also think, and this is not
to take away from Sun Plyas at all.
He performed very, very well.
I don't want to get away from that.
But what I will do say is that for a team like Mike
Tau, he's usually so well-prided on how they
layer utility and how they use it to push and pull people out of position.
They really didn't like move some pious into awkward space.
Some pious was pretty much able to have free reign.
He never really got blinded or smoked off and he was hopping from ticket booth
when he was trying to go through aggressive peaks in middle.
Nothing was really kind of stopping him.
It wasn't really until overtime where we actually saw kind of a little bit of an adjustment
where they were able to find ways to get gaps in some pious's rotations
and set up, you know, for the angles as he approached them.
This has to be troubling if you're a Vitality fan, right?
Like this scoreboard, this run of 10 rounds to secure a map point,
it's reminiscent of what was happening against Foot yesterday.
With that new game, 11-1-1-1-1, it should have been done.
It ends 13-11.
How on earth does this keep happening to Vitality right now, Dust?
What is happening with these T-sides?
That's an interesting one.
I feel like when you look at their map pool,
Mirage has actually been of the maps that they actually play,
because Ancient obviously is usually a permaband.
This is the one map where I've seen them just not have the same streak.
like they have so many streaks to their name, right?
And Mirage is the one map where you kind of see them run
to trouble a little bit more often than some of the others.
So I'm not sure if that's part of it
or if it was just G2 with the hot hand, right?
They played like a team that was fearless
and it was playing to win.
They knew that they were super far behind.
They knew they needed to play with a lot of vigor
to have a chance to get this one back into contests.
And then they did.
So I don't want to necessarily, you know,
hamper too much on my tie.
As much as I want to celebrate the fact
that G2 found a way to dig deep and show us
why this match had the potential to be a barn burner.
I think it is still important to highlight the flaws with Vitality right now, and the best way to do that is to compare overtime Vitality to regulation Vitality, because once they entered overtime, once they hit that moment, this was a different team.
We saw the T side control, we saw more of the utility hitting, we saw them keeping G2 uncomfortable and stymying some of those aggressive plays we had seen.
Yeah, this time around, they catch Nerts on underpass, they're also able to get Zewoo in a position with the AWP to catch Sunpies in a rotation, not to, you know, sin Zewoo into a duel against Sunpies,
free has already settled and comfortable.
They found a way to move some biases
off a different direction,
put Zeewoo into a different angle
and allow him to collect some bias in the rotation.
So kind of that split pressure that you saw there
in that round where they catch nerds and underpass
and that pulls attention towards middle.
It allows Zeewoo to get set up in Palace
and catch some bias rotating.
So that was the big difference maker
and overtime was that they didn't let some biases
as AWP have as much impact as we saw
on regulation in that second half.
And you just saw the difference, right?
We started to see the frustration
creeping for some bias.
He had been in such a strong state in that second half.
We started to see the flaws for the team as a whole
when he didn't have one player
injecting that kind of fragging prowess.
And that's where the wheels come off.
So look, the end result is that we do see the vitality
we expect in that overtime.
But the question is going to be,
do we get that consistently going forward?
And if you're feeling like you might be good
at predicting whether that had happened,
well, you might enjoy heading on over
to our live prediction partner, Pauli Market,
to do some predicting of your own.
This particular market we're taking a look at
is which maps will Valve remove by June 30th?
You can wage a multiple.
Now there's two aspects to this,
which is which maps coming out for cash
and is it gonna happen by June 30th?
If you think Valve's gonna be timely
on getting a map out to put cash in, you're wrong.
It's gonna be in July, so that's my opinion.
But I think the more interesting discussion
I guess if we're to have one very quickly
is like what map actually comes out for cash.
And the reality is that no one's gonna be happy
with the answer, right?
There's gonna be a portion of people
who are gonna love it,
a portion of people who are gonna hate it.
What do you want?
What do you want, personally?
Stake it.
You know the map, pool.
What are you tired of seeing?
Put it out there.
Inferno, I guess.
Yes!
It's the correct answer!
It's just been there.
Correct answer!
Absolutely coming on through.
And with that answer, I'm going to cut you off, DOS,
because it's time for us to take a quick little break
when we come back.
It's time for map number two!
He's now played a little bit with you guys, still very fresh. How do you think he's doing?
I think he's fitting the team pretty good, with the roles he has and everything.
So he's a vocal guy and also socially and everything. He's fitting the team good.
I do think it will take some time for him to be 100%.
Maybe right now I would estimate it to be somewhere around 1890 where he feels comfortable
But there's still a lot more things to go and I feel like having a stand-in in Rio kind of slowed down the process a bit
but overall like he's feeling good and like we kind of expect that it's it's mostly been good
Been feeling good with nerds in but maybe not so good that they let that opportunity slip away on Mirage
They're dust. Yeah, that is a tough one right whenever you're so far down
You feel like you're kind of out of it
maybe even to a degree you start to mentally check out and just get ready for the next game
But then you get yourself back into it all of a sudden you feel that high of like man
We can make the comeback happen and you get right to the finishing take and you can't quite cost the line
That is definitely a whole different type of mental game that you have to try to get past in the situation
It certainly is but for G2 what would we be looking for because we're headed into the overpass now here dust
What should we be keeping it on? Yeah, I mean that they were talking about it there with nerds
Saw the coach talking about his level of comfort. I think for the rest of the team
It's also nice that Merch just kind of gets to go one for one for a mouse on the
A side of the map. They didn't really have to do a whole lot of you know
tinkering with the system. They're able to pretty much keep the same roles which
should keep people happy. The issue is we haven't seen consistency from them
on overpass but kind of a 50-50 team if I'm honest on the map and not many
reps with Merch obviously. Meanwhile you go to Vitality who's the best
overpass team in the world. I mean it's pretty easy. They're kind of the
best team in virtually every map that they play right but they've won
their last 12 games in a row. I just thought they have a level to
their overpass game that other teams just don't have.
You know, everyone kind of has some fundamental understanding
how to play overpass if they actually play it.
But Vitality, the way that they use utility
on this map is obscene.
Like just the way that they layer it and use it
and how they time it for executes,
also just they can do so much damage
with their utility on this map.
You know, the way that they,
when they do their B executes, for example,
they will flush people out of position with the Molotov.
They know what they're sending that guy
and then they nade stack it.
It's just really crazy what they can do.
Eyes on the nades, eyes on the sky.
your eyes in the sky, Dinko and Moses.
Thank you very much, Mike.
Yeah, getting into this game now,
I think for Vitality, a relief again to get through Mirage,
and now again, favorites to close us out in two.
Yeah, and I think really the confidence
that would have been gained from Mirage,
I mean, they're already gonna have confidence in spades,
but I think the fact that they actually come back
and win that, yeah, you come into this,
and it's gonna be a really, really tough Vitality
to open up.
Step number one for G2 is to calm down that energy,
right, is to just kinda say,
all right, everyone, everyone chill.
You guys are coming in shooting hard.
We need to make your respect, you slow you back down like we did on Mirage, and that's going to be the only chance.
Now, G2 coming into this, it's a huge win rate for Vitality, it's their map pitch, but G2 have won four Overpasses in a row.
So not exactly like Slouches on this map, but let's see what they bring to the table on the CT side.
We're getting into it now. Let's see if some Pies can get a similar performance going as well on the CT side of Overpasses he had on Mirage.
I like it very well by our wonderful analyst.
Let's see if they can continue that rops.
Let's go back in a way just making sure that if any aggression
does come his way. He's ready to detect it.
G2 up overtaking the water,
but unfortunately for them vitality are fully running up long.
Yeah, well, Hunter's starting to make the move now.
They're starting to kind of peak a couple of things
and put it together. That information.
Sampias has just got to survive.
Another C3 total.
So now you're going to start getting a shift in the defense.
They're gonna back off. They don't want to scale up long. So smoke to take away. Well smoke will take away information and
Vitality gonna move elsewhere on the map
And they're moving out towards the connector about to walk down the stairs
You've now got some pious looking to try and tap them away
And they make their way down through the door swing open the condor and now move their way towards hunter drop
He's already trying to shut them down and melting away to his hunter finally take it away by mezzi
The ball is now racing through the monster tunnel on the back of apex still three targets to collect here for cheat
See what apex just gets annihilated
So unfortunately for mezzi he's got a piece this one together with bullets and brawn and he goes back and spots out
Mattis is run out of ammo and he goes for the reload again the longest fight in the world
But finally mezzi is actually gonna win it and now he's on for the ace. Wait, did you realize the repause?
I don't think he realizes. Oh yeah, this is yeah, he's completely slippy to the side. He has no idea
Nurtz has just won this by default it feels yeah, he has great removal that all of the
Information that messy ones had great decision for notes to move off and that finally goes in favor of G2
But messy really making that one difficult. Yes and precise shots with that glock
We didn't have to talk about him too much in the first map
This is a very nice attempt at a clutch bringing this back
Vitality, as they're working like that to the B bomb site, send, rops out maybe five seconds a little early just to try and soften things up, get you that opening kill that's going to snowball and do a bomb site take, just doesn't pan out that way.
Piss around for G2, and they get a chance at the hot start.
We just can't start in such a massive hole.
It cannot be a 2-10 half that we're trying to recover.
There goes Nurtz, backing off and blinded.
Hit by the Deagle, Hunter's going to try and save the day.
Sprays down one, Apex brought low.
Yeah, well, that plant is coming in here.
Locking in some extra cash for the next round here for vitality.
But Zywoo still has an AK in play.
That could get a little bit messy here in the bathroom.
So bias is going to fall away.
Zywoo looking for the next fight,
changing up his position, being unpredictable in this post-plant.
She dropped an all command from Bank and Starr is in Zai Wu.
It's ripping him apart, Flames is there to close it,
and the hero AK given to the name,
main protagonist here of Vitality,
and of course he comes out on top of the round win.
This has been, I think, one of the biggest improvements
on Vitality since like for the past year and a half,
since they started becoming and building up
to that greatest team of all time.
It's been the attitude shift of Zai Wu.
There was a time when you wouldn't seem to step into the bomb site to make these plays and take these fights,
but he realizes he's the difference maker with the AK-47.
So the attitude to just be the guy who's going to go win you the round,
that switch has been such a problem for every team in Counter Strike.
And it's just killed the good start here from G2.
They're going to try and scramble back and trying it into it again.
They're taking out a scout. They've got five-sevens of three players, a P250 for Mattis.
They're hoping that they can somehow respond to Vitality's round victory.
I'm trying to pick it up again, but if you let Vitality get away with this,
they're going to have a good start on T-Sword Overpass and they're going to
have a nice foundation built up already, which just makes this game a lot
more difficult for G2.
I got Matt that's getting into the monster smoke with that P250 scout on top of the head
of Nurtz going for the peek over the smoke as it resulted in the kill.
It would have been a nice smoke to break open, Apex probably would have had a pair of kills.
Now he's going to come back and get surprised and be like, oh god, they were actually there.
Two mates gone down, Apex has gone down, eee.
They've lost the bomb as well because of that, Apex is the bomb carrier so he's
He's dead and now she can get better weapons.
Yeah, they don't have anyone spread across the map either.
Flamesee and Zaur are running.
Nurtz is tracking all of this.
Nezzy is just straight up going to die because he doesn't have the time.
Oh no, he's not.
What a...
Alright.
He's got that six cents.
Have you gone?
Okay.
Hard play by Flamesee flying through the sky on the map.
So numbers are actually evened out somehow.
23 seconds.
That's the problem here for vitality.
They may be getting his killed now, but the limit of time is going to cost them.
There can't be that methodical clearing out these positions.
And now Messi, he's got three players all around him, so very difficult round to win after the
initial push goes away with G2.
So fantastic work to get back into it.
Yeah, answering the rebuttal with one of your own.
Good stealback of the momentum of the advantages.
Back and forth to start this second map.
Good push.
great push actually although you know that's one of those rounds are we are
all the listeners of APACs trying to get everyone hyped up and focused that's
his misnade that might have been those two kills and negate that entire
situation we get a little bit of a tech pause in the action I think it's the
flames hair clips so yeah on there excuse me admin this one's a technical
issue here sliding it's a bit too far yeah it's got it so it's nice and firm
now.
Stackpaws have been quick throughout the day when we've had a couple scatter in here and
again.
Okay, thumbs up.
We just saw you, thumbs up, I'm good.
Let's rock and roll.
Freeze time begins its countdown.
Round four coming in.
Out of the loss, Vitality is going to reinvest in fight back for this two AK-47s, a Galil
and a couple upgraded pistols on Flames and Robs for the round.
I got to feel like if you're G2 right now, priority number one.
I mean after one of this it's got to be getting the off in some prizes hands with the way he performed for you
I'm a Russian
I know he started to kind of cool it off towards the tail end of it
But man a map like overpass get that all about as soon as you possibly can
Well giving a K2's I will again apex this time around
See what they can do with them
We're rops, hand of the task of giving the only player on this side of the map representing
vitality.
Everybody else making their way through middle at the moment.
Not always the bathrooms, yet to be detected by anybody from G2's defense.
How close can they get to this A-side without being spotted?
Well, that's that far. Yeah, there we go, got the answer. Right there, at the divider.
Another spot here for Senpai, he's confident to fight against Apex and he's won that engagement.
Taking a decent amount of damage though, now he's just gotta be, he's gotta be the guy taking attention.
So Vitality get a little bit of information to set up their working against, Nurt's pushed up long.
Sanpais as well is playing underneath the side, but you essentially have two players out towards long
third player unknown
And by title you're gonna reconvene this attack AK and tech nine at long AK challenging in the main choke point as well
But it's nerds to come out on top
Sure is and with messy dad. It's now
opportunity to follow up here for G2 and just keep crushing vitality as they
try and get towards the bathrooms. Time's about to expire. Yeah, 10 seconds. Don't
want to die after the time here. Only weapon worth saving is Uncle Leo at
this point as well. It's not pretty from vitality at all here at the moment.
Luckily it drops and flames both holding onto the weapons but doesn't
make you feel good if you're vitality. This is a situation you find yourself in.
Yeah, Flamie's gonna enter this round with zero dollars, Rops with a hundred, but you know the rest of the team's gonna be saving too
So they just wanted what little weapons they could have to kind of work with and try and create something
You see Apex they're actually having a pretty big conversation hands out fleeting almost with Flamie said just listen to my call
I'm not really sure entirely what that's about yet, but
Bubbling to the surface very very early on in this map too
We'll group it up, getting ready to go into the B site.
We've got flames just on the side of the smoke.
I have a guard close up towards Maul, so we'll obviously start the back away as he
senses the fade timing of that smoke.
He'll replenish it.
I'm going to take off the Zaiwu first inside the connector so he's dead.
It's been great that you two have been able to withstand that hero 8k round from Zaiwu
and just answering back immediately and keeping this good start on the CT side going.
Four-one in the next minute here as well.
Yeah, just a matter of how many weapons can they keep alive.
What kind of impact can Flames have?
smoke's gonna fade. And as that fade starts coming in, G2's defense backs away from the
choke points. Don't want to be close up against the pistols. They'll play behind the bomb
site with Hunter as supportive element. 33 seconds as Vitality start marching in.
That's it. Going out into the peak. Heavy cuts right there with him and that's a shut-down.
It doesn't result in a kill for Vitality until this point, Robs just getting the one, preventing
the clean sheet for G2, but I think they'll be very happy regardless. They've got plenty
of money swelling within the camp of G2 at the moment. And you can still see those
awkward situations over there for Vitality economically because you had Robs and
both having to save earlier and resulting in no money saved over in the next so
they've still got to play with tech 9s coming into this this is a missed
opportunity to get a full buy for vitality. Yeah miss managing things a
little bit that's yeah that decision it's gonna have some of these long-term
consequences going forward in the spam just maybe a half second early.
A little scattered on the defense as well Matt has had to drop back and
pick up a smoke or pick up the utility looks like they almost wanted to have
some attention over towards short towards sandbags but give it up due to
the timing and he got playing close behind monster vitality's already lined up
for a pretty aggressive timing hit and it's a risk hoping that flames can
survive walking through the smoke and get flash activated around the corner
but heavy got close up negates that play
Yeah, you're exactly right this economic situation is very weird and uncomfortable, but Zawoo still giving headshots out
Yeah, he can rectify it
You've seen it already, so far earlier in this map and it's on with the AK
No slouch at all, so we'll see what the reaction from G2 is
It's gonna be a double push through monster on the fate of that smoke again
previously with Vitality players here to watch this kind of play it didn't go
well for Vitality this time there's no one there on that side of the map so
information being gathered with every second that ticks on here for G2 is to
prime themselves and be ready for what is going to be an A finish now Hunter
stepping up, Zylo walking through the smoke, Balmina's back, Zylo's dead,
Rops gets the trade, some players backing off trying to get to bank and just
around the corner in time he goes back out for the peek, this time Death to
Rops and Hedgidog's flight activated, G2 playing a very good CT side of the
Yeah, once again, great CT side back on Mirage as well.
Bomb trying to be planted, it will go down.
Heavy God has a PTF, Apex can't get away.
A fifth round now for G2, they're looking clean.
Yeah, T side struggles today for Team Vitality.
Yeah, it's weird seeing that be pretty, kind of a consistent factor now, right?
They'll seem to be, I mean, just by comms, not entirely on the same page, which is unusual
for vitality.
And G2, at least to start this map, is happy to take advantage of it.
Four-round lead.
And they're continuing that good play from Mirage G2, even in a loss, but coming all
the way back with 10 rounds straight in the second half.
They woke them up, now overpass their challenging form.
It's so hard for Vitality to progress in any way with these pistols as utility just comes in as proactive play just keeps coming in.
Aggression keeps coming in from the defense.
Yeah, here goes Mattis. Oh, there goes Mattis!
Rops!
And nine! Okay, shredding through two!
Kind of an incredible over performance that from Rops.
A little result. The main thing we'll have to find out because he's dead in the hand of Heavy God.
It goes again!
And once the third kill and Heavy God has recovered the round for Sheet too.
Thank God for Heavy God because that play for Mattis and her it's almost just ruined this round.
not executed very clean whatsoever.
One player trying to come through the the squeak door or the door smoke.
One player coming down the ramp and just trying to double up in the fight in short
sewers, but it was didn't seem as coordinated as it probably should have been.
Yeah, heavy God cleaning up the mess. He nails you out.
Well, it's not over yet. I mean, we have an AK here for Zair wood M4 for
flames in 30 seconds to play with coming at a 2v1. So heavy God again,
7 HP got Hunter who's actually now smoked out
Yeah, and he has to tuck his head down because he doesn't want to be put in a situation where he's fighting one on two
He's hoping they're just gonna bypass this position not realize it. He could pop his head up. It's I was ready
Humbling the God himself so I will with the kill and now we've got Hunter over the top of the site looking for them
But they're gone. They get down to he's just gonna get on that deep you're denied by flames
Some pious now required and this round it looked like hey if they have you got it safe didn't play
It's still going against G2. Spam is coming through. Kills him from some bias.
He's got a kit now, and he's on that deep fuse, but Syru never a doubt comes out to deny.
And that is a horrible round to let go if you're G2.
Yeah, they brought it right back. That does end up getting punished.
That play towards short, not effective whatsoever. Double kill, and that is a reprieve that Vitality desperately needed.
See the smokes fading, I think he got trapped against the wall, but they wanted that time
a little bit differently so they could be involved in the fight at the same time.
I thought maybe Heavy God pulled his back up or controlled, but that's a sick reaction
from Zairu quickly shoving down Heavy God, walking through the smokes so Sun Pius can't
get off the defuse and a devastating loss.
Timeout is called though by Vitality out of the victory, still not pleased with
how things are going.
you think the jump from the stop?
Yeah, the triple deboot.
Three round lead still.
Apex in vitality talking out just the details of how they want to play this.
The jump on the booze talent drops to make sure he keeps his eye on monster during the 4-1.
I'm trying to exploit it.
Timing's not there, so happy to give up the angle.
That's the opening gamut that gets Vitality nothing.
Nerds, here's the sound cue of the Molotov ticking.
Nerds, swinging and taking away Mezzi.
You'll walk out, can I do with the smoke grenade and run away with the advantage untreated by Vitality.
No opportunity to do so for now.
a sick piece of a flashbang from Hunter as well.
Just blinds I route deep as well.
So there's no chance for him to protect his teammate.
So it was the sport of element
but taken out of the fight just for the moment.
Apex starting to step forward into bathrooms.
There's lone player challenging towards the same bombsite
at the moment.
Just happy to clear out that kind of front half
and make sure nobody's aggressive from the G2 side.
And they will try and finish over at the B bombsite.
They're running the clock down very, very low.
32 seconds, they're just about to cross great kill from Robs.
And now we start moving in.
Heavy gods here on the defense.
Nurtz has arrived and Hunter's on his way.
Oh, well, Hunter blinded for the time being had to drop back
in just that second.
A lot of Robs to get the advantage on
and to swoop on him and then they swoop in
on Heavy God as well.
And they've now taken the site.
So bomb gets planted by Talot in a 4v2.
And this round once upon a time was looking good for G2.
Yeah, well, what are you supposed to do when Ropsit's shot is like that?
Those two kills are insane that he hits in this round.
Nurtz is stuck, he's going to go down, he's going to lose this AK-47, Apex finds him.
So the AWP will be saved, but Vitality is starting to claw themselves back.
A 1-5 deficit at one point, now two in a row.
We know how strong the CT sides can be.
We've seen it.
So, few T-Rounds here and there, definitely help.
We're up to three now.
This is the initial fight being picked up,
and then our watch rops his kills,
he picks up to his side.
First on Matt's is great, then, yeah,
just the adjustment on to Honza.
You know, unlike Miragellar, this is one of those maps
where, you know, there's no excuse.
This is 100% win rate for vitality.
So it's not the same kind of like thing of mirage of like we're awesome on the CT side
We really struggle on T side you actually kick ass on both sides of the map. So there's no excuse g2
Obviously gonna be a tough map for them to win and take but they're challenging the best on one of their best maps
At the moment nursing this lead this two-round lead that they've got and nursing a weakened and diminished economy as
Vitality has strung two together up in the hands of some pie. So that was saved previously nurses picked up an m4
Then the money starts getting really sketchy across the board. Hunter with 4k, heavy god 1700,
madis 2100, not a lot of funds to fight here going into round 9.
So they'll be content with the few weapons and resources they've brought forward,
and look to next round to flesh out the buy with everyone else having rifles.
some pie so up is going to get
boosted over towards the B bomb site
looking for rocks some pies
at least making it safe for the opening realizing he's the player that has to do
everything here and
unfortunately that opening kill is very short-lived because you get that
follow-up push from Hunter that just walks right into the wedding after vitality and the kill comes through
4v4 well now it gets hard to because like you that opening kill that you give with some prizes a nice boost
But that's you kind of dictating it. You know, they're going to take short sewers
You know Rops is gonna come from that short point boosting up to punish that
But now that you don't really have anything set up and have any information have any resources to set you up
It's all just gonna be some pies going and try and finding flights
and then we get some pies in
Zaiwu blow for blow tip for tat.
Now a 2 to 2, so bias could shot
from inside of the site now.
He's got eyes on short and as I
will step it up to try and
clutch miss shot from the
offer of G2 and will that cost him?
No, because the pistol comes out
and some pies wins it again.
So I will. Yeah, I can't believe
I doubt it. I'm even for a moment there.
Some pious is having himself a day.
Quad killing this round,
but that'll be what I think
and says we can we can do this one better
Lovely work though from G2
4 on 4 you brought two guns into this round and often an M4
And as son Thais he knew he had everything to do against the opening kill that he's holding on his own
And then he misses the shot you think oh is that is he gonna get punished and he
He's close that time
I want to see it. I'm hungry for it now
Now, Zairu once again going for this shot on the jump for information.
Two rounds now, we've seen him set up with this angle and
in both of those rounds, no one's given him the look he's wanted.
Some pice to take away Flapes.
I don't want to be a 4 with low HP on Apex, doesn't feel good right now if you're vitality.
Maybe Mezzi can make us feel a little better.
Supias is close by.
It's timing for Supias, how often are you checking things, where do you want to shift
off to?
It's Hunter spotting out towards Long Forum.
starts moving for a wider angle.
Mezzi waiting right on the other side of divider.
Hasn't made his move just yet.
Vitality all across the map.
Standing passive looking for a push that's not coming.
Walking towards Zaiwu now, yeah.
And they come through short.
Unable to get the kill as Zaiwu.
Robbed it down.
Here's the steps going back.
35 seconds left.
Now they peek towards Zampias
through running him down, closing the space.
Zaiwu has made the rotation up
and Zampias hung around.
He stayed with that angle so it punishes
And now we've got Mezzi moving up towards truck Hunter is gone and the smoke will drop towards stairs the bomb plant is in
Vitality have found a way. Yeah, that's unfortunately
I gotta gotta say that some pie is kind of trying to do a little bit too much taking the shot and missing and not just
Backing away but stepping back into the fight trying to shave off one more player the overextension when you're the solo defender at that
Bomb site it just makes it impossible to shift over and pick up the pieces
So vitality punching back fourth round now
And we head into the final two rounds of this opening half.
This one has been a fight right out of the gate.
Mirage kind of took a little bit of time to warm up, to heat up, and for G2 to snap in, but here it's just been close to fair the whole way through.
Have you got leading the way? Time with Sunkaius for G2. They've both got nine kills.
It's Zahou and Mezi at the top of the scoreboard for vitality with 9 and 8 respectively.
and three of the last four rounds played now in the favor of vitality's attack
well what was that voice that was good
last two rounds this half and to see which direction it's really gonna go in so
Oh, running on the line.
Old play for here in the first half of Overpass.
I'm just cheering in and wondering the context of today's game.
The winner goes to the semifinals, the loser to the quarterfinals.
Vitality one-knock up.
Spread out on the default this time.
A lot of room for notes to be an aggressor as well.
Flames has control of front bathrooms, Apex is going to join up with him, and Sumpias
has done a good job of grabbing one or two of these kills in these situations.
There is the first and the second.
Okay, yep, Sumpias confident, re-peaking in, grabbing the second kill and still holding
that very same line even now.
So it could be a third kill for some place about to come on up
And you haven't even got the information on the M4 that would you know in theory be protecting him someone paired up with him a
Second player at this a bomb site have no idea where he's waiting for you this shot from some bias
Oh, the rifles found to and once again vitality of found a way back into the round 35 seconds left
So I'm coming through and even when vitality look down and out in a round
They keep finding the response to stay in it.
And we've got Heavy God and Maxis trying to come up
and change this fact.
Here goes Maxis, marching forward,
and he's taken away by Messi, who turns and gets both.
How have I doubt he'd done it again?
That's, like, the most dominant three versus five.
I've seen it a long time.
Like, three versus five once, contact hits,
and the first kill comes up, and this shot from Sampias
is brutal considering the way this began.
But Jesus vitality in a 3v5 was just like yep wait we just went
We just absolutely cleared the clear from Robson's great. The mezzy shots are great
This one hunter is just trying to recover the situation
But these shots from mezzy are just beastly
If you're so bad you seem there you count from hero to zero you get the first two you miss a crucial shot
It all unravels from that point and final round of the half you're fighting with Teagles
They've run out of gas here at the end of the half mp9 and some pious heartbreaking here
4g to
6 t-rons is gonna be great for vitality thread will to convert this
Once again spread on the default essentially in a straight line across the map just looking for any pushes
Apex interrupts outside the B bomb site.
Flames in Zywoo.
Currently at fountain in playground, excuse me, in Nezzy, just watching for the pushes
over towards Blue Door and down the stairs.
Now they start stepping forward and take some map control.
They can start reconvening bomb is going to be brought by Apex over towards Rops's
position.
Monster just gets smoked out.
by the time vitality arrived that'll fade heavy guys got another one in his
back pocket but most of the forces look like they'll be coming through sandbags
look at this look how much space they've got getting close now they go
please first kills good second even better and now we have north swinging in
with a 5-7 at least getting one but mezians I will double that so we now
have some pious left. Nothing he could do. There will be six T-Rounds here for Team Vitality.
Slow storm on Overpass. Little shaky and they have that hero AK Ralph and Zayu. We thought
that might be the point where they dominate from the beginning, but a strong enough half
from some pious and six rounds in the CT. So I think G2 will leave this field a little
disappointed, Jason. Oh, absolutely. I mean, but I mean, this is also
one of the strengths of Vitality. I have four players who can take over a game at
any one point. We saw a lot of that here on Overpass. 6-6 were all tied up. Vitality looking
to make it to the semi-finals in just two maps. We'll be right back.
Someone's going back to check Ivy. Okay, Hunter's still in a strong position as it's crossed the
site. Just lose his teammate in the meantime, but they line up and Hunter retains three.
worried that they're kind of tunnel visioned on breaking through this a-hold
Okay, that's gonna help dude. That's a huge kill. Well ultimate
He's not exactly topping the charts. He's not there alongside
Both fell by this eagle to be five back for twist and now
I'm closing the smoke
Ego continues, but he's going to fail the deal.
Huge wrap for Mattis, what a 4K.
Heavy God awaiting some kind of an action down ramp.
He gets what he was looking for, and he takes minimal damage in return.
He doubles back to site.
As they're trying to chase down Shiro, he strikes.
But Shiro, that is crazy.
Looking to emerge around the side of the smoke,
as Donk is still a couple steps back.
And Donk doesn't get the Heavy God kill right away.
In fact, Heavy God takes his head off.
Man advantage in a quatch.
They're gonna double swing the other way.
He makes loud steps, they know, they slide right out
and this streak of rounds keeps going.
Look at this cat presence coming out of bays.
They are tiptoeing closer to an unexpected gunfight for G2.
G2, fully focused here on doors.
If Frozen draws their attention,
the cat swing comes over top and the bomb carrier's dead.
Heavy goes off the traits going,
three kills on the round.
Oh, that's excellent.
Now he's low.
Oh, it's dead!
Oh, it's dead!
And it is!
They lock horns and Heavy God rips Reigns head off.
Hunters calling the correct move at 25 seconds.
We've got to set the eyes down on short side.
That's going to make this problematic for Furious.
And then we get this activation out of some pious.
Bomb's down.
Oh man, again, it's the multi frag.
Again, it is G2 throwing a wrench into Furious' works.
It's been amazing to be back, London.
Thank you for having us.
Let's enjoy this five map final.
as best I was gonna feel like everything.
Okay, never mind, no chance at catching your breath whatsoever.
It is immediately out onto the seven yard yard.
Mattis continues to tap players out of this round.
Oh, what a kill!
Hunter and Mobs within this bomb site versus three.
Three of 20-25s the very best.
The old bones of this new lineup.
Hunter waits for the presence.
Oh, it's an instant headshot.
The Kovac blood runs deep, the talent knows no bounds.
But with Flamesy from the bottom of the board and the smoke on the bomb,
he's gonna just try to stick this.
You are denied and G2 do what no one else could.
Not Mouse, not Falcons.
G2.
Well, G2 would need to channel their inner London G2 to get back into this game right now, but looking like Vitality have put themselves in a very strong position to take the win today and move through to the semifinals here in Fort Worth.
Six rounds T side they now switch over decent
It does feel like with a paste around they could be off to the races here
Yeah, let's let's find out in pretty even game so far obviously the scoreline tied 6-6
But both teams going out of five to one rung you know to start the half for G2 to end the half for vitality
And both teams have some players popping off right now some pies delivering another good performance with 12 kills
Nezzy and Zywu leading the way for vitality
And they already have an inkling of what's coming. Zawoo's pushing down the stairs right
now to start flanking towards his keep off site.
Well, Rob's dead. Nurtz has taken his own teammate out in the chaos as well. So 4v4 off the
back of that. At least there's some space to play with here for G2 to try and get
those bomb plants. And have you got really taking a pressure off his sister by Hunter?
My name's Amaze now. Amaze, can you get another one from Heaven if you can?
and it's back on, he's been smashed down low with 9 HP.
Yeah, now it's on flames to create the opportunity,
so I'm gonna go quiet.
He wants to turn this corner without anyone
being able to peek underneath the kill,
but the reposition from Heavy God is way too strong,
and that's a pistol for G2.
Yet again, both pistols here on Overpass in their favor.
Vitality can't contain it, so once again,
they'll start on the back foot in this half.
Drops flashed in, but just a nice blind kill from Heavy God.
Even the team kills are going to slow him down.
Oh, hello.
Well, a forced buy for Vitality.
We're going to get this win in the first half.
They converted this round in the first half and then lost the next one.
Yeah, difference was that an AK preside over the second round
where they obviously do not have anything of that equivalent here.
Would be cool though.
Would be, but they've lost rops now as well.
So 5v4 for G2.
Yeah.
Even more advantages on this side.
I can start working across the map though.
It's a big map and you don't want an around like this
to come down to timing and fall prey to like a gamble stack out at the end.
So, gotta start taking some space now and moving across the map
and figuring out where players are,
see if you can shave a defender away.
Molotov in towards stairs to help clear that out
Apex steps up to divider. He's got flames
Actually, everyone's there the whole team's there
Okay
Sean and then Matt is the hunter committed eradicate any possibility of success from vitality
Yeah, that's clean to box up bias tracks the footsteps
8 to 6 to round lead and the force by is gonna put vitality back on to unarmed pistols a weak by here
So another chance to for G2 to just blow up the scoreboard a little bit
All right, this I mean this is again this is like coming to this event and have G2 in that category with like a
Nobby that's like we know you can be a really good team against the other top 10 squads
You look to the 15 squads show us show us something that's gonna make us believe you can contend with vitality
Not in a group stage game, but when you get into the playoffs show us that you can compete
G2 is showing us that they have the ability.
The map pool might still be a huge question obviously.
But going toe to toe with the best right now, I'm sure it's not their best day, but next
time around G2 is going to have a different level of confidence.
I'm hoping they can still pull it off in this series.
I mean, they're going to overpass it.
That's what you might be able to do is map this, cleaning up inside of Kaun.
Yeah, I apologize, I didn't mean to make that sound like they were definitely going to lose this game.
It did. That might have been worded in a subpar fashion.
It's fair enough.
But you know what I mean? Let's just say, even hypothetically, if they do go on to lose, even in the loss, the close overtime, the comeback on Mirage, a very close grindy overpass game where they've kept it close this whole time,
like the next time you step into a server with them, like you're going to remember this game and be like, well, we know we can compete and beat these guys.
win in London, but that was what a year ago ish now.
Team now to get nerds in there. Yikes.
Still twitching. Yeah, so move.
9 to 6. Heavy God gets the final kill on his I will.
Round 16 is up next and we'll get vitality buying some
weapons and investing here.
AWP out in Zaewoo for the CT side as soon as he can get it.
M4 is otherwise good amount of utility, kit's missing.
A big test for vitality in a round where if they drop it,
G2 might just be able to run away with the second map
and take us to a decider.
I mean you're imagining that the world we live in is the same for Zai Wu
We're gonna see him pop off as well. And there's so many angles so many different positions
You can figure so many off angles so many places you can retreat to and still be a nuisance and still have impact
Let's say Zai Wu can immediately start picking up kills with this AWP. He's got support. He's got Rob start beside him
No, the nurse is
Well, we know nurse is just around that divider drops was patiently waiting for that information
Hunter
Walking on by
Yeah, I mean, I'm not not entirely sure what caused the sprint there to be honest with you. So that's an easy one
Nurtz is gonna wait patiently, but now he feels like he's maybe held in place by the AWP
Which he was and you have no information that rops is aggressive in bathroom
So even though the office fallen back, you're still gonna get beat by rops on the lurk
Well, let's see what Messi can do. Holding down the site. He's got Flames with him. Elevated up in the
bomb site itself. Flames gets one and peels off. More cover. Messi caught by a flashbang.
Ross has taken nuts down on the other side. And while heavy thoughts still going,
Zairu shot rings out. But no bias! Damn quick shot out towards Zairu. That's cleaner
McAleel. Just too many targets to still take down. Yeah, well, I mean, that's kind of a
big deal though that getting that kill on his i will up top there's no way to be
pmp and play this next turn like this next round excuse me yeah there's
not as you can't do anything with that so he drops the op up top in heaven and
can't be recovered so kind of a positive out of the loss there
so it began seemed like i was in quite a hurry
it looked like he was running towards bench so i maybe line up some utility
chuck out to activate there's a little bit of a lork which could have
been a fake for this b hit either way none of that comes to pass
And we move on Nurtz AK-47 stepping into fountain some pious in support with his AWP
Off Nurtz goes into the bathrooms through the smoke
They just love watching that happen. We're just like, oh you just you're just flipping a coin
Is he on the left side of the right side? Yeah, you just have to back your reactions
your aim in that scenario like oh if he just appears on my screen we gotta be able to win that fight
some bias now having a look over here he knows so I would have that angle in the last round
I made sure he can't stand there any longer different setup this time though
breaking the smoke raps is flirting with the idea of peeking it
I didn't see anything. It's... some scientist is in a position where he's trying to punish some of this aggression when the opportunity presents itself.
Now, I wonder what the mindset is. Because you know you killed Zai Wu up in Heaven, you know the AWP wasn't able to get recovered, but would you expect them to just not have one?
Or would you maybe just take the assumption that an AWP is still in play?
I assume he's pretty confident his counterpart is on an F4 for taking this deep angle, dry peeking into it. There he goes.
Zai Wu taken down, and Robs playing up close.
Drops gets blasted away and then nerfs to follow through so that's the site taking for G2 and
There's no way mezzan flamethrower getting back into this round
So we're at double figures or G2 here at overpass this cuz we're so sharp. Yeah, they really were the sticking in this the stain
Competitive consistently through this game not letting vitality catch any wind
No, letting them grow at all on the CT side and they're now up to double figures first on overpass
Which is vitalities map pink
Yeah, this is and now you're in a weird situation monies in the hole your g2s creeping up to a map victory
And there's not a whole lot positive to discuss quite yet on the CT side
So pretty early on before the first five rounds going to g2 in pole position to take this and bring us to dust 2 for a decider
That's not where you want the bomb
that's a rough day yeah a real rough day not recovering from that one I don't think
why did they show us that angle? you know curiosity face what would happen if well yeah these
kills were really sharp yeah not happy about that that's a unhappy word in French
Some places a beast today, man.
He's playing really, really, really well for G.
Yes, it's really nice to see that.
I was reading the community consensus on that first map,
and everyone was like, oh, some players having a life game.
Why does it only happen versus vitality?
And he really does rise to the occasion against them, I suppose.
But it's great to see some players.
When he's having a good game, he's a fun player to watch.
Well, it's been fun seeing like this.
As I mentioned, really, grinding back into shape,
because at the end of CSGO, he's
one of the best operas in the world.
He's one of the most fun to watch,
Even that ENCE roster, he was just a monster flying around everywhere at the A to the UQ, so I feel like we're starting to get a few flashes of that back from time to time, but more importantly is about finding the consistency to be able to deliver impact.
Gonna start scaling towards the A bomb site through bathrooms. Madness clearing things out close, G2 taking their time, just passing the one minute mark left in the round.
It's like you're going to rotate back from the AWP site, you're only option with 20 seconds is to go down the stairs
We've even cut you off there as some pious falls. So yeah, you can try and make your way in if you're maddest
Okay, well, you're just gonna cut through flames first
You're just gonna destroy somebody with a beautiful shot
Yeah, and then you're gonna smoke heaven and then you have the site and you can actually go in and plant the bomb
safely because you miss all the names
gets it going apax and you know exactly as they plan to for g2
because they are gonna win this round.
Messi's left alone with an MP9 versus 2.
And yes, it looked like Flames had the checkmate position,
but he did not account for Mattis' head shot.
So that's a massive 3K for Mattis.
And now Messi's trying to piece this one together,
dropping down into the water.
But they're doubled up at monster.
He's got no utility and really no chance.
So taps the defuse.
He stuck it, maybe he won it, but he hasn't stuck it.
So there's a quick reaction.
He's not gonna expect the second play
to come from the same position and heavy guy is not even gonna peek.
So, Medzi gets on the defuse, he's gonna hold it, and he comes back.
Heavy guy's caught the kill, and G2 pulled through to 11.
An incredible turnaround, especially for Mattis.
And X does, he's not happy as he goes through the time now.
Well, now it's dead really in, it's like last chance to loon.
That felt like kind of the last chance because the money situation now
is staring at 7 to 11.
This is not here.
I don't think Flames needed to take the fight at that point.
I think you just crouch in that corner and wait for him to jump over the railing.
That feels, you know, I'm sure Flames, he knows best.
Not being critical.
It just felt like he'd wait for that kill and that's secured.
Either way, an incredible turnaround even beyond that.
Heavy God still chiming in.
Mattis grabbing one more after the bomb plant inside the site.
Well, G2, see the opportunity to take away overpass from team Vitality.
Now we've seen Dust2, the streak that I got ended yesterday, and we're about to see that
overpass through again to 2JC, and it feels like it's really opening up now.
Yeah, it feels like it's on the cards, but I mean, remember, we just witnessed this
on Mirage, is what it seems lost after G2-110 run-run.
They still snapped into shape, and won it over time, right?
Is this the buy to do it?
We've got three MP9s, two MP4s, barely any utility.
Anaraju is an AWP and AK, two tech nines and a deagle.
Wait, that was supposed to be a good one.
I think the AWP was in play, but now the enemy nines are in play,
and they just run over the top of Happy Guys, and now I've got an extra AK.
So, that's good immediately.
I don't hear from Vycow.
Yes, yes it does.
Nice setup as well.
Get an AK in play, now that rifle is on the board, you got a man advantage,
you can be a little bit more mobile around the map,
and they're in advanced positions to grab information as well.
They're not gonna let G2 scale across the map,
I'm not knowing what's happening.
Timely peek with the flashbang,
and Zalu is going to get caught trying to retreat slowly, backing off.
So Rops has to back away from stairs as well.
That's not a position you want to poke your head up in.
Once your teammate has gone down.
Apex needs patience here.
He's flashed though.
Can't really do much at all.
Hunter just rounds the corner.
G2 have done well.
They pulled this back.
3v3 now, 40 seconds on the clock.
Still enough time, but look at the Robs flank.
Is he going to undo them again?
He was the player that did it in regulation on Mirage.
Can he get behind them again here?
This is just the factor of this mapping, so huge.
It takes so long to clear these positions
and scale up as the T side.
It buys time for Robs to push all the way
through the underpass up the ladder
and have a great timing.
Flames just needs one and then to survive.
Lost a crucial fight in the last round.
We're going to make up for it.
It does survive.
Now here comes Robs.
Yep, that's the bomb.
10 seconds.
There's the bomb.
It's down.
And that might just be it.
Robs reveals himself at the perfect time.
And once again, Robs is there reckoning.
There will be matches to hop onto the site,
but not enough time to confirm the plant.
He'll back away.
He'll run off, get the AWP for some pies,
but an important round win for vitality.
I think I'm calling a timeout if I'm saw right now,
just to get like just a mental preparation
for these last few rounds, right? I'm just saying.
Look, we knew this team was going to have a response.
They're not easy to put away.
They're always going to fight back.
And not anything tactically, I think tactically,
G2 have got a solid approach benefited by Vitality
playing passive in a lot of rounds.
So they've been able to scale pretty quickly
and get up and get map control
without a whole lot of contention.
But now it's about just reminding the team
that this is the best squad in the world.
And you're going to have to go through this adversity.
So calm down.
Don't panic.
They took a round away from us.
And we've given them a lifeline to get back into this.
Three round lead still to play with for G2.
And the AWP is out for some pious.
Two AK-47s, a Galil, and Hunter yet to invest.
He'll get a Galil as well with utility.
Can Vitality start a comeback by stringing two rounds together?
So this time that aggressive position and even more aggressive than previously designed to be disruptive and get information just gets negated immediately great shot from
nerds
I was burnt away at the wrong time and nerds follows up the reverse flash clear
He flashes if they're gonna be clear in the front of bathrooms. I wouldn't turns his gaze
He's not blind, but he's not looking in the right way super cool move. That's completely bamboozled
Zai Wu. Okay, you've got two big openers. Make it three. That's map point.
Out of the solid timeout, into map point here on Overpass.
G2 really challenging Vitality. They've got Dust2 in their sights.
Plant is in for Hunter to secure it.
Why don't we be looking at money-wise here for Team Vitality as well?
can even put together in the next round. That's why you're seeing Massey and Flames just taking the
really early opportunity to bail out and not even consider rotating over, not even considering to
try and save the situation. The priority is the AK-47s because you're right, the money is terrifyingly
bad for Vitality. They got a $2,400 losing bonus. I'm gonna put Apex up, I'm gonna do math, $3,700, excuse me.
Not good, not enough. Not enough to get a really solid buy here at all for Vitality.
You drop an AK over to Zaru, right, so we can have armor, get some utility yourself, you can come in, or not an AK, M4.
Boy, maybe Mazi will give him the AK, he's like kind of guy.
He's a good teammate.
Alright, so let's see what they can scrape together.
They have one time out left, you imagine it's going to get popped.
Our next guys ain't moving.
So maybe letting the guys play, maybe letting Apex work with it.
We kill from Nurtz, great round from Nurtz over all, finding Raps and Zywoo, both aggressive A defenders and then Supias just
takes advantage of Apex having to push for information, a feeling like they had to know what was coming.
Yeah, and taking advantage as well of Apex is quite performance here individually, he was actually very solid so far.
There's a couple of good maps from Apex but there we go, almost perfect timing for that.
A little third to come on up, it means really really struggling individually on this map.
Robs has got the opening kill here on Hunter.
He's looking for another one as well here. Robs realizing something needs to be done.
Someone needs to step up and deliver it around like this.
There's four Vitality players here. They've set up a perfect trap.
Like keep running this default. Keep running this fountain default.
We'll bring more bodies this time. You took out Robs first last time, but
when we have four people here, what are you going to do about it?
Yep, Flam's sharp shooting as well. I know it's going to be caught.
It's Heavy God trying to be the pressure release here over towards B. Can he connect on to Apex?
Now yes, Apex is 2 and 17, but a killin' around like this is gonna...
He's gonna get hard cleared after this flash. It's worth his waiting goal, but let's see if he can get it.
Flash goes up, Apex wins it on the MP9. Now the pressure's on. Apex is gonna handle it.
Two kills collected. Mischoff from some pious. And by Talia, play.
Play players up. Startin' to build that money back.
I promise you, we're doing this game on the short.
Let's do the big play.
Did he just say, I promise you, we win this game on short?
Yes, that's what he just said.
That was Flamesett in that.
Yeah, Flamesett in up the plays.
Like seeing him take that initiative,
especially as you mentioned it,
you have to imagine Apex having this quiet game.
He just gets his kill total up to, what, four?
With those two kills that he gets at the B-ballside here?
So you have to imagine a game like that
with some of the frustrations we've seen out of Apex
with the way they play in a barrage,
with the struggles that they had throughout this series.
Maybe he himself has dropped the ball
Drop the ball a little bit on the energy department
James trying to pick it up and provide some information and some ideas of how they can actually win this map
Trying to infuse the team with confidence and saw once again an opportunity to let them know three chances
You answered the bell last time when vitality won a round. Let's do it again
Four rounds straight have been back and forth g2 up next and that would be the winning round
But all eyes shift over to Flames and whatever set up he wants to pull off at short
G2 trying to resist trying to keep vitality back. Don't allow them into overtime
They've shown so much success once they get to OT but look at this much quicker a different approach here from G2
They're sending bodies to exactly where Flames wanted to he said we're gonna win this game on short
Yeah, well, Fletcher's going short. Can he back up his claim? He's got the first kill
and the second comes in from Mezzi. It's worked out well here for Vitality. I mean, initial
fights and then Apex is started to get some kills now back to back ground, delivering
from behind the barrels. North's classic MP7 play switches out to the M4 at the
the first opportunity for an upgrade.
Once that fight, once that fight,
let's see the target out in the open.
Scots two, San Pius goes back for more.
Yeah, this time as he connecting the head shot
and Flames was right.
They have won that round towards short.
I'll be a tenth round here for Team Vitality
and not only that, but it gets rid of the money here
for G2 as well.
Okay, for Vitality, I've put them in a position
that they were exactly the one in and Mirage,
which is you're setting yourself up to tie this up
and win the game in overtime.
Now, on Mirage, they only had to win one round
force it. It was 12-11 for G2. Now with these three chances to win, I tell you a bit more
of a task, but it starts out well. It's going to ease up in the next round with pistols.
Then the final challenge comes. Messner says something special here at a 1v3, but he's
very low on health. Without that first kill quickly, everyone's ready for the fight.
And Vitality storming back with a bit of control here at the tail end of Overpass.
Down by two, but have the advantage of economy, they're about to shrink two in a row.
You'd imagine with mostly with only USP's or Oaksimic locks on the board, G2 all hovering
around 2000.
They can't invest anything.
But this is down to the final round of regulation again.
Yes.
It feels that way.
And I think G2 is like, let's just get it over with.
One flash, come through the smoke,
see if someone's close up blind.
This time it's Mezzi at barrels instead of Apex.
Mezzi the top performer for vitality right now.
19 kills, 14 deaths.
He's going to have a flock of Glocks coming at him now with flashes over the top or flash as it comes in.
Mezi with the monster killer.
He's now got flames getting the first two.
He doesn't get conventionally overwhelmed by the Glocks, but the rest of it's out of you here to shut it all down.
Mezi with the double and he picks, chiming in.
So last round of regulation coming right up.
Final chance for G2 to take this.
I remember the one map point on Mirage three here on overpass
They haven't been able to capitalize on any of them yet
Yeah, and and we just see the amount of success vitality get when they go to overtime as well
We even on Mirage how closely contested that was up until the bonus round started then vitality ran away with it
It's just a reset. It just brings the confidence back in full force almost like just restarted the game to an extent
1211
Robson Zairou sticking with this more aggressive setup that they've ran towards
the tail end of this half. The passive one was getting punished. And now so is the
aggressive one. Nurtz has really come online. 12 kills, not the most, but he's
done a great job finding one or two kills in this bathroom's play. Whoa, look at
this. Matz is through the smoke. A big risk. Oh, he gets the first and the
second. Matz is stepping up when it matters most. And he's now moved into
the side apex he better go huge here and he can he can't connect the first Mattis
that's his moment that is a overpass will come to a close in favor of G2 unless
Zywood can 1v5 this he switches out to the M4 and he descends down into the
depths of the B bomb site all the Utah landing towards him they'll throw all
their resources at making sure Zywood cannot get even close to a clutch in
in this scenario. G2 withstands a team vitality on Overpass. They break the streak of vitality
in Overpass and they now move to Dust2 to decide who is heading to the semi-finals.
Magic from G2 looked like we might just get another overtime classic. Vitality starting
to claw back, but when they needed it most, Madduce finds the gap, finds the space
and finds the multi-kill to put them over the top, over the line, and into map number three.
Yeah, Vitality's streak on Dust 2 ended yesterday. Their streak on Overpass ends today and won their
last 12 in a row, but G2 dig deep, let that last map fade into the background and came out
swinging here on Overpass. Kind of a tough first half of Foranus. They probably didn't get as much
as they wanted out of their CT side, tying 6-6. You kind of want more than that on Overpass,
But hey, when the going got tough in the second half, they were able to, you know,
clamp down and get the job done.
And when we're talking about streak snapping, map streaks snapping, right?
That's been kind of the story of this event so far for Vitality.
It was Dust2 yesterday.
Now it's the overpass as well.
Usually strong picks, bastions, fortresses that they can rely on.
Now in doubt.
That's got to be a little concerning for Vitality.
Yeah, I mean, they're looking a lot more moral this event overall than just,
you know, what you've kind of seen the rest of this year.
I mean, when you've won four titles in a row, you won your second Grand Slam,
you're kind of on that high, right?
But it's a team that is just trying to build the resume as much as they can to leave the biggest legacy possible behind and you can
Definitely tell just from how apex is reacting in some of these situations that he doesn't care. This is a seeding game
He doesn't care that it doesn't necessarily matter. They're stolen the plus matter
What do you want to win everything that he can right and you can definitely tell it this this kind of haunts him a little bit
How this is going and it's the fashion which they're losing some of these rounds, right?
There's a nice round that we can highlight
Which is really what allowed g2 to put this one over the top a situation where it absolutely should have been vitality in
control. This is round 18. Robs does God's work here, puts them into a massive situation,
brings it into a 3v4 that would eventually become a 2v4 and yet still they managed to find a way.
Madis opens up the opportunity and it's heavy God who slams it shut. The combo of these two,
such a dynamic pairing here for G2. If the first map was about some pious,
this one was about this duo right here. Yeah, I mean, heavy God's been the pillar of this
team for such a long time.
I mean, just continuing to show the Swiss Army
Mike nature of this play, being able to be that anchor,
but also make plays when it needs to happen.
And there's also there's shows a little bit of composure
out of G2, like you're having the game all of a sudden
go against you.
You're having the combat kind of starting from vitality.
You're kind of wondering in the back of your head,
maybe does what happened to us on Mirage happen again?
Do we somehow let this game in to go over time
minutes, slip through our fingers?
But have you got in company?
Well, honestly, we haven't talked about that.
It's a whole lot, I feel like,
in some of these segments that we've done,
just because of how well Nurtz and Heavy God played yesterday,
how well Sumpi's played on Mirage.
We haven't many opportunities,
but Madness has been a great addition to this squad.
You know, this guy is a guy who can get aggressive,
get in your face, and he's kind of the secondary space taker
of the team, so to speak, and he'll have this moment
where he's able to, you know, make impact,
plays like that one.
He is sharp indeed, but he's not the only one, right?
Because as much as Sumpi's was the story on Mirage,
he continued his strong form here on Overpass as well.
This is a guy that we've looked at at various versions of this G2 and other rosters as well,
and thought, maybe he's never had it in CS2, well, he's got it today.
He's got it today. This is some bias at his absolute best.
He is not missing. He's such a presence with the AWP.
He is holding court on the map, and against a team like Vitality, we know how difficult that is.
We know how difficult they make it to play against them as an AWPer with the utility
that you highlighted before we came into this map of Overpass.
Yeah, we saw a lot of great defensive AWPing from him, a Mirage, and that comeback effort.
We saw some of that as well in the first half of this game,
but you also saw him flip the script and on the T side.
I believe we even showed the comparison last time
we had him up on the screen.
The difference between his T side and his CT side of Mirage.
In this game, you kind of had it on both ends, right?
You know, even with different weapons.
I mean, there were moments where this guy was hitting
some nasty stuff with the rifle.
And again, it's just like, that's the Sun Plyas
that we hope to see.
That's why people can start to get excited about G2,
because when you bring in nerds,
if you get that guy comfortable,
he can be a star player for you.
Madis has already proven over a pretty extended period of time
that he can perform.
Same with Have You Got.
If he gets online, this team gets way more dangerous.
There's one more aspect of Sumpias
I want to talk about as well, which
is something that happened when they went to Rio
without Hunter.
Sumpias took up a more vocal role.
He took up the IGL-ing primarily, right?
And there's a lot that Hunter liked about what he received.
He talked about listening back to their matches
with the voice comms.
And it was more players giving ideas, calling rounds,
giving situations.
Sumpias in particular, but everybody is well.
And that's something that he wants to highlight and focus
and bring forward.
So I think that's another aspect where
when Sunpies is having a strong individual performances,
it feeds into his ability to read the game and to call things,
which then probably feeds back into his performances
and helps highlight the entire team.
I mean, what you want is a proactive offer
who takes agency, you know,
who decides what type of plays he wants to go for.
We know, especially on a map like Overpass,
how much impact an AWP can have
at either denying space
or holding a pivotal line for your team.
And so yeah, for Sunpies to go from in-game leading
in Rio in a stand situation that they were dealing with
Yeah, that probably does put him in a situation where he's going to be able to feel a bit more confident and maybe going for certain maneuvers
We've already talked about him. We'll talk about him some more. It's yeah one odd man
He's got God in the name and there's a reason for that because he's holding it down for G2 injures
So many of these moments the idea of gravity himself just you know once again three yes
You got me there. Hey, I'll shine a little something there
But no have you got again just so good for this squad
you know, being that be defender in a lot of those critical moments, obviously kind of being that mid to late round specialist and while his numbers aren't quite as impressive on this one as some of the other games we've seen, he's still just doing his job.
It's just, he's so reliable that it opens up everyone else.
Yeah, and maybe these numbers aren't eye popping, but the eye test was, right?
Oh, actually.
Impact he has, the gravity, as you were saying, that he has on the map is huge.
And even if the numbers don't wind up telling the full story, we know what the tail is.
We're headed into a third map here.
Let's touch on Vitality a little bit more, because this is another troubling map, even though it's so close.
And one of the things that wasn't working for Vitality here, that was such a huge piece of the comeback on Mirage,
and locking down on Mirage, was Apex.
As an individual, we saw the effort that it took him on Mirage to get his team locked in,
to get them online, to get them into that overtime, to make it possible.
It took a lot of emotional energy, it took a lot of individual energy.
He was popping off in the OT to try and get them over the line, trying to
wheel his team to the win.
I think here you see the effect of that.
Yes, it's counter strike, but it can be wildly draining, wildly physical.
And you see it on his face right here.
This was a map where it didn't feel like Apex had anything in the tank.
You might be able to hold it off for some time and every now and then
it's still going to get you that IGL tax that she got to pay.
Right.
And it's one of those things where we pride Apex so much on being able
to have impact as a frag, particularly in a lot of their grand
finals appearances, this guy just pops off in big moments.
and it wasn't just the last map.
I mean, certainly he was a big factor there,
but even yesterday against foot,
he had a couple of big performances
where they were struggling in those games as well
to get those across the line.
So I think, yeah, like if you're a vitality fan,
you're a little bit troubled that they look
a little bit shaker than normal,
but at the same time, you know,
we know the bounce back potential is there as well.
Yeah, and that being said, right?
It is so very rare that you see two such maps
for Vitality in a row,
two such maps for Apex in a row where he's drained.
You know he's gonna go out,
he's gonna be frustrated,
he's gonna refuel, gonna come back in without fire
and we're headed into the Dust 2.
And even if they dropped the Dust 2 yesterday,
we know what this team can do on Dust.
So Dust, we'll get you to talk some more about that.
But before we do, we're going to take a quick break here
and be right back with Dust 2.
You know, Moses was a prophet and it's so only fitting that to see if Moses' prophecy of G2 as the vitality killers is going to come true that we need to wander through the desert of dust to find out.
To guide us through that desert, we've got dust here, dust.
I've said dust too many times in this sentence. What do we think is going to happen on this third and final map between these two Titans?
I think Vatai is going to part the Red Sea that is those G2 jerseys, man.
I think that this is going to be a really, really tough one for them.
But what I will say is that of all the teams that Vitality have faced on Dust2, G2 is the one team
that has actually given them some trouble. They've beat them with a standing in Rio not that long ago, right?
And they've only played each other twice on this map and it's been tight.
So I think that this could be a great contest here.
And if we're now looking at the sum total of how these two maps have gone, considering the
Titanic effort it took to bring Mirage back into play for Vitality, considering the manner in which they let
Overpass slip away after what should have been enough in the first half to be quite frank
I'm thinking momentum's on the side of this g2 squad and they're all smiles heading back into the server
Yeah, I mean it's gonna be interesting to see how this thing plays out
I mean obviously you'd be crazy not the pig about how to be the favorite in this situation
I mean 45 games of dust who played 40 matches one
I mean that's just a ridiculous stretch of dominance on the map unlike really that we've ever really seen before but g2
That's always kind of been in their nature like the core of this team has played deep to to a very high level for a really long time
And again, they haven't been able to go towards over the vitality in the past. So I think this could be a good one
It could be indeed will it be though? That's the big question. What are we looking for here on dust to what are our keys for
I do these teams. I think for vitality
It's less about the tactical approach that you bring to dust to or more about just the mentality shit that you have to
Have in this situation, you know, you went down deep on the first map and you were able to claw your way back into it
You found yourself in a similar situation on Overpass after having a brilliant first half,
but you're having to try to claw back in the second. You couldn't quite get it done.
It's about letting that go and just finding a way to focus up.
I mean, I think that there are definitely times, even in their comms,
that we got to hear where Apex was having to get people focused up,
having to get people round up. You know, this might be a seeding match.
Playoffs might already be guaranteed, but you still want to win every damn series that you can.
It's about building that legacy. For G2, this means everything to them, right?
They're kind of the next team, now that they have nerds in their roster,
to have a crack at this squad and see if they can get a series win.
Something that not many people have been able to do this year.
It's also about keeping an ascending rival down, right?
Because this G2's team, it's still very new after the addition of Nerds.
It's still very new to what they want to do with this form of the squad.
But we are seeing their power, we're seeing their prowess,
and we're seeing that they are on the rise.
And so for Vitality, you're looking at a rival
that might not just be a problem for you here in Fort Worth,
but might be a problem for you down the road,
as we're talking about that major, as we're talking about future trophies.
You do not want to give them the leg up over you and put them into the semifinals here
Yeah, I'll be curious about is when we saw Vitality play foot on dust too
And that's what that snapped their 16 game winning streak by the way yesterday
Well, we really saw was what was able to kind of expose what's usually very strong for them
Which is that mid B defense like usually I pride Vitality on how good they are with messy and rocks on the B side with apex being that
Rotator with Zeewoo being an X factor to really handle those situations very well
Mattis is a guy there on G2 in the B tunnels that is such a good playmaker there that they could really test that same defense that
Foot was able to find success against yesterday
Well, he's a man who is a prophet of counter strike and it's time to see if he has indeed seen the future
I don't know if his bush is burning, but I know that Dinko's voice probably is Dinko Moses take it away
Well, Jason won't let's know it's all good. Yeah, it's all good. All right. Everything's great
Good good to know we have a burning desire to get into the third map though
Don't we dust you is going to be very excited the fact that G2 was stood you know, I thought honestly
We're gonna overtime matters making the big x-factor play pushing through that connector smoke
That's the kind of play that gives me the belief that G2 do have what it takes to beat team vitality today
We know players like that that are willing to make plays like that in rounds that matter most
Then that's the kind of attitude that will get you a victory
I'm gonna think importantly as well if the victory comes on the map of overpass
Today they lose the 100% overpass win rate
in the past three months.
Yesterday they lost Dust 2.
This event for vitality has been like the air of invincibility
getting popped, right?
That whole bubble, that whole like mirage
that you have of being like, how are we supposed
to beat this team?
Now we're seeing teams put it together.
Very, very interesting.
I think there's a point to build on with the desk
with Mike as he throws it to us.
Not the burning push part, but more of the like talking
about this arrival that can kind of emerge down
the stretches.
You just don't want these guys
to have any belief that they could do it.
You know, like you don't want any of that hope to be there.
At the very least, G2 is carving some of that into their favor.
Yeah, this is crazy to see, and it's great to see from G2.
We'll see if they can go all the way
and get the win versus Vitality.
I mean, Dust2 are for Vitality.
Yes, they lost yesterday, but it's the fact
that it has so consistently been reliable for them
that, obviously, this should be a great game
to kind of start between these two teams.
Hopefully, we get it into overtime,
I'm fully sending you really have to fight for that semi-final spot here in four
Semi-final spot in four worth one goes to the quarterfinals. Yes, I was just reading some of the chat idea
They did the knife round and I think they picked for the wrong side
One teams. Oh, there we go. No, okay. Yep. They oh, well
Yeah, they got they got dominated in the night front I watched now
I did was only a single kill from flames everybody else died immediately from vitality
Night frowns are an art. They're still there. Luckily they don't matter a huge amount on dust too, so sure
Yeah, pretty pretty even side of things. This this is this is gonna be interesting
I'm actually like when you because normally I've come into this and I'd be like watch out for Zywu, you know
Obviously with his AWP roaming around the map and all the different positions he can play
But some bias has been the best offer in the server today. He sure has you know like some bias has been killing it today
He's coming into this coming to this map. Let me see what he's got in this series so far
Just been an absolute beast on two maps some prices 45 and 32 leaving the entire server in terms of frags
Highest round swing percentage on HLTV as well like just been a beast in the level of impact. He's provided is crazy
Hunter makes sure he adjusts his beautiful black like chair
Get comfortable for this third map outside of the first half of Mirage every half of countershock has been competitive
Yes, it has there's been no like crazy blowouts. Nobody just disappeared and honestly some great moments from both teams all players
So let's get into it. Let's decide who is going to the semi-finals whether it's going to be G2 or team vitality
Decided on dust to there will be vitality starting on this T side moving into the tunnels heavy four players here as well
They're all gonna just play buddy system rops will stick around and lurk to make sure there's no aggression of the upper tunnels smoke
Is taking away information towards catwalk?
G2 not fussed about it right now. They've got
Matt is playing long and they've got some pies playing at the rail
So nobody's close up on catwalk to need this information at this moment
Nerds long range engagement is gonna take a lot of damage on board
So no longer feels confident enough to continue that fight
You'll back away and things will settle in the 5v5 for now
but it does give Vitality some control towards Short.
Yeah, Smoke flash flash and a Molotov on Mezzi.
I imagine that would be for Goose or Rail
when they eventually turn the corner
to attack into the bomb site.
How exactly do they want to play this one?
Spotted jumping up on the X-Boxes.
Spotted Apex scaling towards Short.
So Vitality have to have an idea that
they know kind of what's coming
or they have an idea for it.
And Hunter's gonna hit a nasty timing.
So Baradis from the back, they're blind.
Oh, they really gotta land the shots though.
And he hasn't been able to make anything off
But at least he stays alive nerks eventually getting his kill on flames
Opening frags falling a favor of g2, but a short lived is some pious a victim of mezee
There's confusion in the vitality camp though
Some fell back zaihu continued pushing forward and finally realized it was safe
Yeah, but the time as well
And make sure vitality feel a lot more comfortable on this side. It's two from zaihu
We finally did but apex and robs have the rest. Oh, that's nasty from zaihu
He was running out of bullets as well two precise shots staring down
He really was the only one who had the courage to step forward everyone kind of back in a way a little bit scared of the resistance
And Zairu just cracks it open for the team
They lost both his surrounds on overpass vitality, but not gonna happen on dust through they started out with the wind
alleviate some of the pressure and a chance for a really nice start on this t-side
And Hunter's got it. Yeah, I don't think you can believe he missed those shots when he came up. Yeah the Xbox
Well, trying to pull it back, trying to answer back immediately, RG2. They've got the scout here for some pious.
I guess they've seen a lot of miss smokes. They've put the work in. They've got the smoke landing now.
Routine vitality.
Oh yeah, they were.
So I just couldn't get it to land at all. I couldn't get it to leave spawn.
Yeah, he was bouncing off the awning.
As mad as he goes down. Yeah, I was curious about what she was gonna be like, okay, this is a lack of focus or just a bug from an update.
So I'll couple some evidence of that on Twitter.
Regardless, so far so good today for the one time they've thrown it.
So into the B bomb site, save the weapons, let Vitality have the A site, let them have a second round. All good.
G2 will just move forward with 5-7, Deagle and Scout if they're allowed to keep it.
Hey, that's already on a little bit of a hunt. Spots the jump, spots a second player inside the B bomb site.
So how ruthless are Vitality feeling here in round two?
really you send the Mac 10 at the very least
unfortunately for G2 absolutely no resistance being put up in this force by
and now Vitality actually just sending weapons at it hoping Flames can make
some money carve them up with a Mac 10 flying through the sky Flames gets one
And these notes holding on with a 5-7 through an ATC amount of damage, gets a third kill out of the Galil.
So Nurtz really thought it was the best he could in that scenario.
Yeah, they made it as costly as possible, but Vitaly doesn't give a damn about the money in a round like that.
Happy to take all the rifles away and make sure none of those make it to round number three.
Force all the reinvestments possible, force them to dig into the economy if they want.
And Nurtz does want.
Nurtz is going to have an M4.
for hero m4 and see what he can do with the other nap pistols pt-50 deagle
picked up
okay nice clean deagle chopper have you got him when you get the first so clean
like that you have to go for the second one it's kind of a rule yeah you get a
chance it goes out there but second peak does result in immediate death but
Notice he's coming forward, 5-7 behind the car.
He's worked out very well.
Can he get another?
No, as Mezzi just continues to shoot through the side
of the boxes, banging himself and having to walk
into the waiting arms at that 5-7.
And Zaiwu is stopping methods for making anything
happen in this round, putting Hunter in a 1v3
in the lower tunnels.
That 5-7 felt really dangerous, though.
I was surprised that no one from Vitality
was taking an angle to prevent that scale towards car.
I was surprised he was given the freedom from the space
to actually make it.
Another kill.
This is, I mean, now, you know,
They don't care about the three kills in the previous round,
but you add three into this one on top of it
and a Galilla rifle given over.
Now it's really painful.
Now Vitality, even in a 3-0 start,
gonna be on the verge of real economic issues
if they lose the first gun round.
So G2 is doing about as good a job as possible
in rounds two and three
to set themselves up nicely for the buy rounds.
I'm sure pushing down to 4CT and he will be stopped by Mezzi.
So 3 in a row for team vitality.
A comfortable start to this game but things will start changing now.
You've got the Sympias AWP is going to come out.
Yeah, Nerth drops the AWP over.
He drops an M4 back and returns.
We do have that AWP in the field and actually there's money on Mezzi as I will call for
it out on the T side as well.
going to they'll stick with the five rifles he's been really sharp on the
rifle today yeah he has been AK looked real clean on overpass let's see what
vitality can do with five AK-47s and five players towards the B bombsite
yeah stylistically opening up just playing the grouped up deathball style
gonna really make my G2 be concerned about the point of attack
little rocks taking the initial damage he's down to 57 HP detected towards
tunnels early.
The roaches look pretty sharp to kick off dust too, but it's just a single kill as he
stands in the open, and now a heavy guard under a lot of pressure, utility being dropped
upon his head and he can't get away.
That smoke ineffective.
The flame's still burning, he steps up into the open and Mezzie drops him.
Hunter trying to stop them from getting into it, but such a tough kill to swallow,
but you have to.
Jitsu gone for the save call, giving this one up, and it's four in a row for
vitality.
Yeah, we'll have to keep track of Jitsu on the mini map as this half progresses,
But if you're going to keep bullying with five players into the B bomb site,
if you're going to be playing this like kind of grouped up style to open up,
G2 might be a little bit quicker on the rotation.
They might have a few more details missed of watching for a lurk.
Could be a couple things that, you know, take their attention away
and something vitality can exploit later on.
Because there will be a switch eventually with these rounds kind of slow down,
spread out and you play the map a little bit more.
But really, none of these rounds have been under too much contention.
And another round where three players of G2 just have to concede and try and keep their guns in their hands for the next round.
I don't think there's any motivation to hunt after the way the last couple went.
The vitality is like, you guys are cool. Keep your weapons, it's all good.
It feels like the Vitality for the first time in a while are kind of comfortable.
It's a smooth, smooth start into Dust2, and the pressure is certainly on G2 to figure
out a way to break this momentum they're building before it gets out of control.
Yeah, I mean the reset between maps is a really powerful thing, and Vitality are going
to be kings of that considering the amount of experience these five guys have together.
So yeah, whatever frustrations were there on Mirage disappear after that map, whatever
frustrations on Overpass, get rid of those between maps as well, come into Dust2, calm
and collected you got out to a 4-0 start.
Doing a lot of good work to make sure all those frustrations are in the past and
now Apex can have everyone driving forward towards the victory.
Got him in a good position, some money grows as they refuse to hunt in the previous
round.
and zero to lead the way for vitality so far here on the third map.
Rinse and repeat baby. New timing. Sumpias this time is here with the AWP though. He's
outside the B bomb site. Depending on the timing of when they actually enter
an attack, if they try and pop before the smoke, he might be able to snag one.
But Sampias still firmly committed towards middle.
Here they come.
Council was decides.
It's going to be heavy guard.
Okay.
Three as he holds them back.
And that is more like it.
From G2.
Heavy guard and Sampias.
Stop vitality in their tracks.
Yeah, a bit too cheeky with that one.
Heavy guard just saying,
all right, I'll play in this sneaky corner.
I'm not going to take the fights you want to.
Sampias was going to be there quickly with the AWP.
And Nurtz was even playing in CT spawn.
So he was rotating over real quickly with Sampias
as soon as that happened. I don't mind it a little cheeky to try and go for that again, but
it's worth a couple of times working on the pistol and another victory here and you just
conditioned G2 to just fear that B bomb site for the rest of the half, but they don't get that
benefit. Four to one they spend all their cash vitality off in the hands of Zywu
or they've got no funds after this.
Some pious hasn't really had a whole lot of action had his way yet so I haven't been able
to see on Dust2 if that AWP is going to be having the same impact it did on Overpass
and mirage. It's flashed off the angle this time, but vitality is setting up to split this
A-box site and Madis goes down. So now G2 controls neither long nor short, which puts
so much pressure on some bias to deliver.
that smoke. Well, time to do that. Time to do that. Apex just gone away before being fully
detected. And so just keeps going up. Catch a surprise. Throw down a bullet here, Apex.
No, trying to use the cover. Well, the rest of his teammates move up through short. Now,
Apex is active as a distraction, but can Heavy-Toy get anything?
And the answer to that is no. It's Iowa coming forward a second from Si-Woo, but Nurtz keeping his team in 8th.
It's a 1v1 against Robs.
And the bomb's down. Robs is gonna have to go back to get it.
A little bit nervous with that flashbang coming out, so a stutter step and a gap in the smoke.
And it will be picked up. Nurtz gonna be coming through CT.
Yeah, it's given a lot of time because of that bomb for Nurtz to get towards CT.
Not only get into the position, but look how DP's got towards this reposition.
Yeah, but Robs is one of the best clutches we got in the game.
Yeah, he'll have that taken over in his mind as a possibility. I'm sure playing back from Goose
I'm sure he's even considering the long play from Nurtz
Rops has put himself in a position where he can fight anything coming at him
This is gonna be tough for Nurtz to put this one together, but timing will Rops be looking the right way
Oh, it doesn't matter what a headshot like that comes in
He sits him on his ass and gives a second round here to G2
Jesus Rops had no chance and now once Nurtz comes around the corner. That is a filthy fast shot
I thought for sure apex is just like one the round at that point control the pit
G2 the way they're able to come out on top of this despite this defense literally crumbling
They were in like three different decisions three different ideas three different minds falling back pressuring long
Where do we want to play and they still somehow managed to come out on top?
What a big save from Nurtz and that takes all the money away
It's down to D goals a scalp here for apex. It's a two-for-one special
I think that must have been miscommunication between Hunter and Nurtz.
Oh no, not like this boys.
That is going to kick them so hard in their own teeth.
I mean it looks so silly which is why it has to be a Miskop.
You're you're not playing that position with just made in hand so confidently to made lower unless you think you have a teammate giving you intel and
Tracking things right like tracking the people are as close like a brain for almost
If that is the case, which would be strange to see Hunter make that kind of mistake. So yeah
absolutely
Well, either way it's gonna be very frustrating no matter what caused it
because g2 now find themselves in a 3v5 up against weak guns of vitality you've
done the hard part you put them down to the reset they could they could recover
this round they still can I think the problem is vitality is playing it so
well like you'll notice they get those kills and they haven't moved to muscle
they're still just like you know again you guys have to have a reaction you
have to try and find a way find out where we're going so you can stack
he can get a cheeky kill and now they just disappear on the map with
this silence. Matt is desperately hunting to find something. He might just walk into
his death spot. It affects up on short. It comes back to take the shot. It's going to
be on some bias. He'll peek out towards short. He'll go again. This dumb miss shot keeps his
head down. He's worried about long and for good reason. There is a threat there, but
Robs is used to rifle devastating effect on some bias. Mezzie arriving at long body
shot finished off by Robs and they're into the site. That is a nightmarish round
to a mistake at the beginning of it just completely unravels the entire round
effort. It's so painful to missed opportunity. Yeah it's so painful losing
the players in the middle of the map as well. It forces so much movement and it
takes away so many options of how you can play the map. Okay that's just
overkill. Once again Apex and Vitality hitting that mood of who we're
gonna we're gonna be on top of every single detail and we're not gonna
take anything off. No mercy for G2 as the final weapon is ripped out of their hands.
Three round lead. And surely a round win that must just crush the morale of G2. They've gotten
money and even after this buy they've got 2100 on some pious 2200 on nerds they got cash in the bank.
and a three-round losing bonus would give them 2900 after this round ends if they go
on to lose that sounds great but you're 6-2 down at that point as a jump up from flames
hunter at least with a quick response look at the emphasis on the middle of the map
Two short, two close double doors, including the AWPer who peeks into Zywoo.
Yeah, so Zywoo, quick to the kill, numbers even still, a minute, five seconds left, and you know Hunter is still around short.
Definitely go now, but Zywoo has found a piece of sanctuary inside of middle, one can move past the flame, so we can join up with his teammates inside of the peek tunnels.
Rops has taken his time making this play. It looked like he was going to peek out and go find his 1v1
But at the moment what's a little bit scary about this is obviously the long push is about as far away as you can get from heavy
God
So have you got it's going to be all on his own the longer vitality take the closer hunter will get but he's still miles apart
And you just contact at this point
Here they come towards the heaviest of all guys holding this B site
Let's see if he can win it. Rops about to go into the rifle. He's up first and heavy
guards no problem on the first the second. Although Zaiwu is too much to handle. He'll
move in. But now Zaiwu required to clutch. He's got a full set of utility as well. Smoke
Molotov and two flashes. Quick hunters moving to the tunnel. Yes indeed. He's already out.
Zaiwu's not ready for that. And so hunters quick decision to make the play through the
tunnels has paid off. Yeah also to give some credit to heavy guard right that play
has no business having any impact if heavy god's not giving you a double kill
there slows things down things out the herd takes away anyone who'd be able to
watch the flank really really nicely done from heavy god
five to three there we go this is the heavy god
two and you think he's gonna you know we haven't seen a big Zai Wu clutch
like that yet and Hunter making sure there was no chance to even get going
Yeah, it's it's lovely. We saw him actually in the what was it mirage he kind of missed a few shots in a situation like that
I was able to turn and shut him down. So this time he's like no not again not happening. I've got it here
Round nine. We've got the op out in some fire same with Zai Wu
Three player opening towards the B bomb site for vitality
Flames rops in Zai Wu
They open up rounds like this quite frequently, and if the smoke doesn't get put in place,
they try and challenge, they try and find a fight.
This was always when that smoke popped, so I would just back away.
Pius, miss shot, takes damage too, but able to get away.
Forced off the angle, Apex is going to be pleased about that one.
Notes on Heavy God, they got so much punishment early on,
they haven't really executed a whole lot of aggression.
They're going to try it here, but it's Robson who's been spotted.
The jiggle went a little bit too far.
They're prepared for the fight,
and now Vitality lose a critical piece of the map.
Robs making a mistake, doesn't happen that often.
Now we've got some Pius, other towards the ramp.
45 seconds left on the clock here.
Vitality trying to get past the Spanish sniper.
going to do so with the flash bank, but he's still standing.
Flash after flash though, blinding by the lights right now.
And oh, some players goes on up.
He's running to pull himself.
So I'm going to hook forward.
He's going to be flanking against that kill.
Apex on the follow up flames.
Just wrapped from the back of Hunter.
Deals with Madison long.
Spectacular coming out of flames.
At least Nurtz in middle with a 1v3 ahead of him
that he's just backing away from.
So Vitality have found success.
They break through into the A site.
Six to three lead on the T side of Dust 2 now.
I thought they were in for a nightmare
without like Nades, without Molotovs to flush
some pious out of the position.
The constant repeats, he dropped the bomb
on the Zaihu kill as well.
Looks like he was gonna mount a pretty damn good defense.
But man, when it turns into Vitality's favor,
does it ever?
Two players trying to retake this bomb site,
trying to get involved in the action
are just stuck on the ramp.
And you're just sitting ducks
for flames inside the bomb site.
They're still in contention, G2, but just having trouble building any momentum.
Three of the last five in G2's favor, but now you start getting into the financial issues.
And a timeout is called by Saw to talk things over.
They're going to have to manage their economy and their buy here.
Not going to have the AWP that they've been so used to controlling and so used
to having on the map.
money for it on any one of the G2 side of things. And if you want to risk a buy here,
what is it? Nerds 3700, he's got an AK, he can drop a weapon over, Sympias 31, Hunter
3500, it's Mattis 3100. Like if you want to buy here you're going to go, you're going
to empty the coffers, right? And then all of a sudden you're sitting at, you know,
if you lose that, the half is just firmly in control of vitality. This is a very
big swing round if G2 invests, if they shove all in.
And they won't settle back to just pistols upgraded with utility
Much more reasonable investment to be able to get the op-out along with the full buy in the next round
But it does give vitality a great opportunity to secure a lead going into halftime
So my nurse was calling his own play there
Smoke play but not going to be pushing through the doors into the lower tunnels. He'll turf back over towards B
We'll sit there with heavy God
and
well look one this book is still the improvement over like the seven
and you know and in a round like this
probably the least punishing round to happen
so you can ask for really is just get a little bit better
each and every time
plan is going to be up
Again, back to the deathball style that we saw to open the half out of Vitality with those repeated hits towards the B bomb site this time
It's just gonna be streaming off short. Yeah, no weapons really to shut this down. So
Should be overwhelming
Any kind of utility inside the bomb site is devastating
There goes a Molotov
Two of them one of them to the bomb site and into the open they go five seven actually get away with one
The smoke is covering them for the time beam
but eventually Flames gets that kill and the rifles of vitality come trampling over the defenses
it's got some pies trying to back off but stay alive is unfortunately the rotation the reinforcements are all being picked off
and vitality yes they lose two players they lose quite a bit of health here on Flames but regardless the round will fall in favor of vitality
up to seven three up to seven three and looking good next buy round for G2 to keep things close we mentioned coming into this
the only half that was really a blowout was the opening half of the series on
Mirage and that game ended it over time everything since then has been very
competitive between these two squads
I guess both halves of Mirage were kind of a blowout. Didn't feel that way at the time though.
It was back and forth but it was very back and very forth you know there's
just huge streaks gone on for both teams then over time. I tell you to control
of it all right well this is around is everything for g2 op is out in the hands
of some pious m4s across the board full sets of utility
all right apex gonna fake a default seven someone lower got some instruction
for flames out towards long
So I moved picking up information on the cross.
Hunters moved up to this aggressive catwalk presence that he's shown a couple of times
in this half.
The snake goes into lower, catches a bit of robs.
He's going to affect him too badly here at all.
In the meantime, Mattis needs to ready himself for the quieter map here.
Mattis was to play with a big moment, but in transition of multiple different ideas there,
couldn't find himself a good position at all.
Messi's going to punish that incursion and then move on.
Because this mistake is costing G2 everything at the moment, there they are, falling
apart.
Messi tapping into the site.
Heavy guard so far removed from the rest of his teammates.
They know where he is as well, thanks to that kill on Robs.
No element of surprise.
It's going to be eight rounds now for Team Vitality. Apex is happy with what he's seeing.
And they are moving into the last round of this half with a real shot at taking a 9-3 lead.
Yeah, Vitality at this point is just working them tactically.
They've shown so many different philosophies and looks.
You have the group jump style towards the B-bomb side, one hit towards Cowork.
You've had the executes off Cowork.
Now you're just having a lot of contact plays, walking into B-Lade,
walking out wrong with no indication it's coming.
It's coming. You could see Matt is trying to select a position. Yes, it is not even prepared for that timing whatsoever
It was the worst feeling realizing that hope they're here now
And I'm not gonna get caught to really do anything about it
There's no consistent trend from vitality that as a defender you can latch on to a dog understand
What the map is looking like you see very very emotional that matters like frustrated immediately in the comms after getting caught in mid
To back to back extremely frustrating rounds for Matt is individually throw that in with
These three in fact, and they're going to have to really make the most of that reset in the halftime break here just to try and cool down a little bit.
There's Mezzi taking Hunter, notes around the corner, going into the open, and of course Mezzi gets away with that one as well.
Yeah, he does. Now you can just exploit these pushes. Zaru missed the timing on that from Sampaya.
So now it opens on Sampaya's hands. He can actually do something with this.
Gotta be aggressive at long. Gotta basically think, I need to win this round.
Yeah, worried about a second player coming out long thinking Zaru might not be alone
But he would be wrong trying to deal with this but a flash comes in and even the AWP can't do anything in some
Pies his hands just have you got what and we've had a competitive series all day long
But vitality in full control right now on map number three
93 and the semi-finals in Fort Worth await
That was brutal for FaZe. I can't believe they get out so cleanly. Yeah, someone call an ambulance.
Oh my god, he's playing the guitar.
Why does this man not do math?
You think to yourself, what the...
Is it a bat? Is it a plate?
No, it's an eagle!
It's actually a falcon.
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
She's a falcon!
We've never had a trumpet.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Stounding.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It feels like we're still going around a little bit.
It's taken.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well done.
Well done.
Well done.
Well done.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've been looking for evidence that there's any team here at Blast Rivals in Fort Worth.
You can contend and compete and challenge Vitality.
We're getting some of that proof right now.
We might have found the contender.
G2 has played a tough, close series in the first two maps.
Now they stare down yet again another hole.
Three to nine, they're buried under going into the second half,
but they had to come back on Mirage,
and it's time to dig deep and bring that back.
Yeah, you think back to the Mirage comeback,
and it does give you a little hope, a little belief,
an optimism around this G2 team,
but the thing that worries me
is the fact that it's now gonna do it on the T side,
right, they've gotta come back on the T side,
all those come back on the CT side.
So, let's see how it goes.
I feel like we got to give them a shot just with how they've always exceeded expectations today
But it does feel like vitality have done enough at the moment to get this one over the line
Yeah, and it's gonna be a really quick flank of contact is made at the B halls towards mezi at the back of the platform
This flank is gonna come with some fierceness to it hunters here with the bomb
So I'm pious up on top of the boxes not committed to anything just yet
Cuz I ruin ropes to be playing in lower. There's the swing. There's the double
Yes, I was so fast on those triggers and it comes to the Joe Baratez
Melt to opponents right in front of him. There's a third for good measure
Matt is he knows where you are. He's coming for you as well. Zai Wu the boogeyman living in the nightmare
Over the politics right now. It's not tonight the ace of opportunity, but vitality have to pistol round
It's 10 to 3 and that is one giant step towards semi-finals here in Fort Worth
Yes, who wants to get back to the hotel? He's got enough of this. It's been way too close for his liking. This is sick.
Good double kill with the dualies.
Precise shooting here. Another one. And again the confidence and just the aggressiveness to stop for him.
Heard the angle and shot him down before there's any chance he can get involved. 10 to 3.
It gets even worse. Both pistol rounds the way of vitality here on the third and deciding map.
Oh my god, has he got it?
Off it goes.
Boom.
Have you got nailed it?
Oh, he's new.
I could rely on him.
You know, just seems, just seems like a reliable fella.
Yes, a reliable guy.
But G2, coming into this run, Tec-9's eagle.
It's going to be spread out at the moment, that's what they can do with them.
That B bombsite defense is going to be pretty tough to get through.
It's going to finish at the B bombsite.
The question is what do Hunter and Nerds do?
Is this going to be like them coming out mid and being a distraction, trying to mid to
be split?
The answer is no, as Nerds joins up into the upper tunnel.
So it's going to be Hunter checking out mid to B utility and probably turning into
a lurk.
One player just running out and making footsteps.
steps isn't going to sell any kind of a fake dust was highlighting yesterday how vitality
is that the B defences just so solid almost unbreakable at times here comes the B hit
and got utility about to be set up here for G2 to try and get into this side against
Robs and mezi apex is going to play over towards CT spawn Robs will he go and check
yes he will and so because of that it's two kills for Robs mezi uses the distraction
Well, Apex has died in middle, but that's it.
That's all you've got is a 9 HP Hunter in mid.
Four players up for team vitality, 11-3 on the scoreboard,
and no money going into the next round for G2.
So it's going to be serious play for team vitality
off the back of that.
Apex getting just so, so loud
as he's looking to close this game.
He can feel the team building up to critical mass.
Rops, this is nice and easy.
Nobody clears it.
Everyone's looking towards guard.
Everyone's looking to the right.
Not enough resources to burn him out of position.
Ah!
Let's go!
And Vitality marching towards that victory.
It's been a very, very tough, grueling series for them.
A lot of frustration in it as well.
They've had to overcome.
A very tough, grueling group stage, Jason.
Yeah, true.
They play for a team who's playing with their coaches
and standing, and they lose a map.
They get pushed to the brink on map 3-13-11.
It was crazy to see Vitality struggle so much
across his entire group stage.
more understandable against G2, but lots to learn.
I think it's a positive sign seeing how competitive G2 made this
on the first two maps, but you know,
you were mentioning the map pool issue,
will it be able to deal with vitality down the stretch
when they go deep into the series
and so far failing to meet the level of vitality
in map three, stepping into the open,
dying at the hand of Zywoo range.
Third map Zywoo 16 and nine.
Yeah.
Leading for the team.
Mezzie at 14 kills.
Every nade just landed one.
Needs to go.
Apex finishing off Nurtz with a FAMAS as well.
Yeah, not really a plan here, right?
It's kind of like move around with the D-Girls,
see if you can get a clean look,
see if you can give us a 1D.
They'll open up something, but...
Nothing to really set up any of their shots with those fights,
so it's all just kind of falling apart slowly, one by one.
Good shot from Sympias,
and that's one of the B defenders.
Mezzie's down, so they might try and pick up the pace
and exploit Robs being alone.
Five seconds I was picked up hunter Robs. No issue. That was a
very clean headshot on some pipes walking out into the
open. And then the second cleanup as well on heavy guard 1223
series point for team vitality. One round away from the
semifinals here at Blast Rivals Fort Worth. Yeah, nine
chances to get it as well. Don't think they're going to
need nearly nearly anywhere close to all of those. What
G2 have in this potentially final round of theirs 80 pp in the hands of some pious for ak-47s
It's got to be perfect counter strike not only mistake-free, but it just has to be awesome the whole way through
That's to be perfect all five players towards the B bomb site rops is gonna be there on his own
Zairu close by
The last charge of G2 into the B bomb site, it'll be a quarter final showing for G2, but
the Dickies arena here in Fort Worth Texas will open the doors for vitality into a top
four finish at least.
No surprises here, they've come into the event as the heavy favorites, the question
was would anybody be able to even get to a level to make a competitive series happen?
I think the first two maps have definitely shown G2 have it in them, but right now a lot more growth needed to see them out down the stretch.
Well, remember as well, Nerds is still very, very new in this team.
That's why I wanted to see this as kind of like a litmus test, a barometer of where they're at, because they got some time before they head to the major to improve his position and his feel within the team and improve his understanding of the playbook within the team, get him more comfortable and more involved.
and I think there's another level for G2 that I'm hoping we get to see at the major itself.
Well, Apex is moving through the tunnels at the moment. He's just gonna miss the timing as they go past lower.
Zyra is gonna check in, click shot, Apex close in, and team Vitality go into the semi-finals.
Apex stands up for a lead because this was a group stage.
It wasn't easy for team vitality. They struggled for both of the series, but eventually they get the result
They were looking for. Texas has been good to team vitality. We'll see if it's the same story in the playoffs this weekend
Well, they may stretch they may stumble
But when push comes to shove the Kings of Counter-Strike reach up and straighten the crown
They are making their way into the semi-finals here in Fort Worth
They've secured their spots or waiting for a challenger to emerge G2 may just be that challenger
But they will not overcome vitality today
25 series played this year by vitality
23 wins unbelievable. This is now also their 21st event in a row where they are guaranteed a top four finish or better
I mean, I just don't know how many more pages we could add to the resume of this vitality squad
But they're trying their damnedest to just keep it going and they're doing a great job of it. I mean at this point
It's a it's a scroll of achievements going through and this man just keeps adding one after another
Dan Madis-Claire joining us here to chat. I just want to ask you
What was the conversation between map 2 and map 3 right because obviously we saw a different beast as we hit
does too
Well, the first thing is obviously I needed to do a couple of frags because I had five on the whole game on
31 so that's the first thing I said
But then our problem right now is that obviously we didn't practice last week coming up to the event because we came back to Rio on Tuesday, really exhausted because Rio was our main event.
So between Rotterdam and Rio, no break before Rotterdam, a lot of work.
So you need goals, you know, but the thing is when you play too much then it can not serve you.
So what I said is just, it was pretty easy.
We did actually a good T side after losing that anti-econ of a pass.
overpass but what happened is on city we didn't make plans we didn't play
together it was like more present vitality like he felt like it was a
more bit of a bug so I didn't get angry I was angry after Mirage but not after
overpass I just said guys anything we need to do right now is to play together
because we the individuals are maybe clicking a bit less and we feel maybe
a bit less the game because we have less hours but let's play as a team and
it's gonna work and that's where I'm going to go. So going back to Mirage
really quick what did it take for your team to be able to come back I
mean we heard a couple of different calm listen-ins on you just trying to
get the boys riled back up and back focused but what do you think was kind of
the key to get you that game into overtime and ultimately come out on top?
Well overall we played pool at G-side we had what 11-1, 11-2 at some point we
lost the MC Echo but then the main problem was not like the calls it was
more like the mood we had and the plans we were making together you know.
We had team that's really good at making plans and like doing ping-pong
within the communication etc and that was not the case so we just found
We found a last round, like putting ropes going through the window smoke and while we put some pressure.
And then I think everyone believed that we can start winning rounds and we won 3-0.
We know we can be good on our map. Our T side have been a bit of a mess at this tournament.
I think we are of course the best team in the world, but so far so the best T side team in the world.
But yeah, here we didn't show it yet. I mean, mostly before Mirage and also yesterday on Nuuk.
But today was better like the dust 2 and the other pass was better and I'm happy that we bounce back because that was not easy
One more question about those tea sides right because that has been the storyline for you guys so far at this event
Is it the communication? Is it something that you think teams are now maybe prepared for what you do?
No, what are you saying?
No, no, as you can see another pass we were 6-1 down or 5-1 down we do 6-6 and 9-3 on dust 2
No, it's just more about like we lack a bit of of course when we lack practice and we are a team that are
also
Working a lot on our strategies and how to play with each other and yesterday for example
We miss like so many things we had how many rounds we had advantage against against split and we lost
And that's not something that I did us by taking around 80% of the 5v4
I think I checked yesterday after yesterday was 50%
That's something that I never seen from us and it just a lack of we took things too easy as well yesterday
And that's exactly what happened also today. That's what I actually said after the half-time on mirage
I said it's 10 to but I feel we have low energy
It's weird to say because you intend to so you can't like be mad at your teammates
But I say I still feel low energy from us and
It we could have seen on this side because we just click on see the bantizai where we had to make more plans
It was a bit of a struggle. So now I think our t-side are fine
It just we just need to be a bit more like and I think a bit more energy, etc
But we like an injury now we could see from the prayers
But we still managed to win and that's what matters one last tiny question before we let you go
What are you gonna be spending the day off with since you know how have the spots straight into the semi-finals?
Yeah, another 35-0 for Vitality, 21st.
21st? Not bad, not bad.
I think we've been pretty good at the game.
Now for us, it's probably take some time off.
Gonna try to get as much energy as we can,
because I mean people might know,
but after this tournament we have a week off.
We're just all gonna enjoy the US on our side,
and do all the trips.
I'm going with the guys in New York,
they go maybe in Yosemite Park.
For us what's really key is to have energy and energy is key for us so if we keep practicing practicing practicing
It's gonna be tough for us and our main goal is what's color major so it's not to win Atlanta
It's to win color major so we're gonna take some time off and and come out to have like the most
Energy possible are coming up to the major. Well. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you
I'm talking so much on spot 21st, and yeah, good luck with all those very lofty goals. Thank you
Strong words from Apex as always. He knows what his sights are set on, what the team's sights are set on. He knows how to get there.
Yeah, I mean I think the question that maybe some people have is that what drives his team when they've already succeeded so much?
You know, what kind of keeps them fueled to put these trophies in the cabinet?
Yeah, the majors are always going to be a big thing. Yeah, the Grand Slam was a big motivation.
But how do you keep it going in events like this? And when you listen to Apex in the interview, it's very clear why.
why he is taking attention to everything. He is on top of it and he wants success no matter where
they're at. Obsession with the details. It's the signs of the greats knowing that even in a strong
half if the energy is not there it might mean did least squat. This is the result of our group A
through. We have vitality into the semifinals. G2 and Astralis will be starting in the quarters.
That is a very interesting banquet set up for the counter strike in the playoffs but we
We haven't figured out exactly who's going to be making it through to that next level
because there's more games to play.
We're hopping over to Group B. We're hopping over to the night shift.
That's us done for the group stage at least.
We'll move into different roles now and we'll say adieu.
See you soon Dallas slash Fort Worth.
It's howdy time in the arena in just a few moments.
It's never easy playing against a team that have no material to prepare against.
We know how capable they are as a team even though they're going through a bad
FaZe right now, no pun intended, but they are going through a hard moment, but they have
very good players, a very good system, in the end they just changed one player and Twizz
is easier to IG-add, if you compare to his days in Liquid, he has maybe the same level
of players, so he knows how to manage the team.
We are expecting a very difficult game, like you said, people are looking into this
because it's going to be a brawl inside the server, both of them are in the playoffs, so it's going to be a cool game.
I think we were capable of upsetting, even yesterday we could have upset the Navi on the second map at least.
We definitely have it inside of us, it matters, I guess it just matters if we can show it up.
They're obviously in much better form than we are, they've been a team for a longer time than we are.
And yeah, I mean, it's not, it's not a surprise that we're on like in the best spot at the moment,
but it doesn't mean that we cannot turn this around, you know.
Thank you.
Never count phase out, or at least that used to be the moniker of the team, but will it
be the same?
We'll net you in the ranks and twists at IGL.
They're up against the ropes and up against Furia, who did not have a good start yesterday,
even though they should be expected to breeze into these playoffs.
A lot of people are super excited for this matchup.
Maybe for reasons that I can't fully grasp.
What excites you so much about this one?
I feel like this matchup is a sign of the times,
that both of these teams are down on their luck right now,
that FaZe are scrambling to put the pieces together
at present time, and Furia themselves
are in a bit of a lull.
So both of these teams have to prove it to themselves,
even some of their teammates around them,
that they have what it takes to get into the arena.
Yeah, Twists has said, well, I want to make this count.
I want to be sure that they trust me,
And I want to be sure that David and frozen believes in this project.
I mean, what a quote.
And I feel like it's almost like saving private frozen.
What's going on there?
It's almost a bit of a tryout for the rest of the phase team to prove to
frozen that it's worth it to continue to dawn the black and red jersey.
Twist himself spoke about the fact that he wants him and frozen to be
the pillars moving forward on this phase lineup here because frozen.
He's got a lot of suitors.
like the hottest girl in town right now.
A lot of the teams that look like they can find an upgrade
are probably looking towards him as a potential replacement
for a weak link on their own rosters.
It's true, but it seems to me that it has been the story
for phase.
Of course, Kerrigan is no longer there anymore.
And I have to say, it's still very weird
to see them walk into any playing ground,
right, any station with Kerrigan not trailing behind,
not making the noise for them.
I think that's such a big one,
but it's not like it was going that well
in the last couple of months,
even with Keregan on the roster.
There's, I think there's a marker on any of the player's heads
in terms of having to step up.
Every single player on a phase has a chip
on their own shoulders right now.
Obviously, Frozen looks the best for wear
because he's still improving.
He's still showing a lot of individual form,
but Twizz has to show that he belongs as a captain,
as an in-game leader, that his second crack at the role
is gonna actually prove better than it did on Liquid.
But a lot of the other guys,
I mean, Brokey right now is looking for a little bit of a resurgence in his performance.
Nitu is finally getting an opportunity on a Tier 1 team.
I'd say the eye test right now is, it's decent.
It's not, yesterday wasn't all bad.
The second map was, but the first map, I liked a lot of what I saw.
And Jake, up to me, he's finally freed from the shackles of whatever was going on in that last system,
and he needs to step up too.
I completely agree with you, and I think there were hopeful signs from Nitu as well, right?
Hopefully that part lays into today.
But let's talk about Furia a little bit.
we've come we've become so accustomed to seeing them hitting those playoffs but
we've also unfortunately become accustomed to seeing them fail in matches
where they really should be winning that's what happened versus game religion
yesterday what was your read on that first showing the game religion one to
me kind of felt like a trap game where I feel like if you just play your game
nine times out of ten and your fury you think you're gonna be good enough
versus game religion but game religion had just been kind of slowly climbing
the ranks had a lot of tier two LAN experience so fury just get a wake-up
the ball. And the other
thing is that the ball is
going to be a little bit
different from what they
called yesterday. They
couldn't just go through the
motions. They were tricked in
a couple of rounds, and I
would even say that Mollidoy,
a guy that I'm putting a lot of
the spotlight on was unable
to show up in that kind of
moment. It feels like ever
since fallen announced his
eventual retirement, Mollidoy
has just been too misty eye
to actually play properly.
Yeah, I also gave a quote
there. There was a lot of
back and forth, right? Fall
I think that's a good thing.
I think that's a good thing.
I think that's a good thing.
I think that's a good thing.
I think that's a good thing.
Well, and I think as a player,
there is a lot on his shoulders,
though, right?
We can't remember that he hasn't
been in this position for that
long. His life completely
changed, right?
There's so much to adjust to.
There's also the communication
he talked about, right?
I'm understanding more and
more of the game every step
that we take.
Now this has an emotional hit.
I feel like it's not like
I want to make excuses for
the guy, right?
Because yesterday wasn't really
wasn't the showing that it
should be, but, uh, you
know what with young players.
that's really, really difficult for Moldova, who's just going through a roller coaster right now.
If he was plucked from the tier two or even tier three online circuit,
hand picked by Fallen, and now he has to repay that debt.
He has to show that it was worth it for Fallen.
And I feel like in some cases he already has the three trophies that they won in 2025,
already justified his position on the roster.
But now when the stakes are even graver that we know that there's a time limit on this team
It's a ticking time bomb
Moldova has to just step up to try to secure some more legacy points for fallen like fallen fallen right now is
Looking at his entire career. He's seeing his achievements versus people that are rising in the ranks like apex like
Kerrigan he already is look chasing the ghost of glaive at this point
And so Molo do it. He's got to just help him get a little bit more here
And I don't want to look too far into the future yet shocked, but I just wanted to know okay
You're surveying the scene yourself. Okay. Yeah, you're looking at falling
You know that he's maybe out of here or he's gonna be out of here at the end of the year
What are you thinking for potential for where do they even go?
You know what I have three possible answers, but I heard that we have to go
Okay
for a fury versus phase for one last spot for them in the playoffs.
Shocks, I want to know what those answers are.
But it's really true. I mean, does Molotov need this much pressure?
But can I say it is paying off so much to have this fallen already,
have this fallen one year out retirement announcement,
the narratives that it's driving. It's so good.
Yesterday, you said maybe the rest of the team should retire
because of the work Paul was doing in the server.
He was holding his own.
He was way and above some of his teammates in a, let's be honest, a poor game from Furia.
So poor that the coach tweeted after the match, sorry to anyone who wasted their time watching
this game.
And now they have to take on FaZe in the opposite of a cutthroat bracket.
This is meant to be easy.
Three out of four teams make it to the playoffs, only one of these squads do.
And it's so, it was so poor that we come into this match and I'm not entirely
sold that this is going to be a 2-0 for Furia.
That's not even you believing in phase bullshit out on period down. Yeah, I don't have an opinion of phase right now
I'm sure they don't really either like there's no reason for them to just suddenly be good
Even if they will eventually that's sort of a question. We don't even get the answer yet phase early for like the amount of stuff
They just went through
But the question is like can they can period just like guarantee this series? I don't think so if I'm phase
I'm feeling like in a circle of book arrest because I'm going hey these guys are down
Let's kick him while we're down.
Yes.
You know, if they come into that tournament 0-2, they bomb out.
We see roster changes.
And now we see NetU in this team standing.
And we see a new coach as well.
I think NetU had some good moments yesterday, right?
He brought a lot of energy.
He has a very good yell.
Somebody who plays clearly need.
He has a very good yell, definitely.
He went deep in some of those growls, to be honest.
And I think while what was cool already
was that they clearly were playing so different.
All right.
Well, it's just, it's assed all of a sudden.
They were playing different already, which is fun.
I think it's probably a little bit of fun for Twists.
I feel like he's now amassed so much experience
and got to break in between
and got to play again with the IGL.
That's what I thought of IGLing.
And now we get to see what that all accumulates into.
And yeah, if Netsu's gonna be decent,
then they do have a real team.
They do get a firepower upgrade.
I mean, that much should be true.
So maybe it's not the end of the road for me.
Maybe still a lot has to go right here.
This is Furia we're talking about.
You may be down on them,
but that floor has been considerably high
in the last six months.
Furia starting off on the CT side of Dust2
and starting off with a couple of clinical headshots.
It's long control for FaZe.
Got no more utility, but smoke and Molotov.
That smoke is out of time.
The Molotov will not let them cross,
hiding out in plain sight behind the car,
straight from frozen.
I love that.
up as well. Suddenly there's a conversation in this round as Frozen takes a third kill.
The flank is coming in and it's got to be quick.
What the bomb is in there.
Is it phase pressure off?
They're feeling invincible.
Pressure off.
Yeah. I mean that's what should happen. I think on the first map what was weird was
Twist and Frozen were both playing badly yesterday and like they should be kind of carrying
in a scrappy way in these games. And the way that Frozen deals with this is fantastic.
at the car guy while there's still a smoke ass blocking you from the site and they try
to approach him from the topside but then he hit a great shot to follow so that's the
freedom that I think we'll get them rounds absolutely.
Now Furia are tiltable, you can put it that way.
Oh yes they are.
Explosion now long here for that phase.
Somehow no one capitalizes because Furia's own flash but then the swing comes in and
everybody gets mucked right up.
can take a breather here, smoke down and hurry on the cross and they've got one
more, two more, three more to replenish. So Faze can play with their food here.
It's kind of what Molodo is hoping for. He'd love a couple of shots off on this
scout. Maximize damage. We love immediately for them to... I mean,
grouping up is totally fine. With numbers that long, that's always just a
winning solution. As long as you have time on your side, you don't really
need to change this. Even if they don't know exactly how you're grouped up,
It's still hard to stop
Now two eight cheese is a funny thing to add into this because they can counter smokes
Face can throw multiple smokes. So if they don't go on this first lineup, I feel like fury and might just waste their own utility
Question is with their current positions
Do they want to save the nades for the bomb plant if they leave this too late?
We have a double made on default
That's the way I can see this going really wrong
Okay, I mean they are and actually really good spots to go for it. I'll have a lineup from CT and
cats easy to go for that pizza grenade
And I mean there's still paranoia here for fury there could be a lurk for phase right now, but they're gonna play together
I'm coming in last. Yeah, I'm watching that clock. I think you're on this. I'll take man
Yeah, holding it for a reason. What is that reason? Your lineup's gonna be blocked though, right?
All I do I need to live it might be but you can you can I it gotta wait it out
Okay, well second is that double name? Will it be devastating one goes into
But it's too short to find the killing blow
Close enough the entire spurious back into this round Yuri. Oh, I could have isolated along there
jump shots
Skinner for Molodoy lots of damage done in this round
No open kills here and nothing being given by phase. Oh my god
and smoke shots again, but this is a save or an exit here for Molotoy, all of them tagged, none of them killed.
Yeah, that's successful from FaZe obviously. I mean, they had the, yeah, if it was lined up, everything was lined up.
Do you think it was the pizza maid that actually didn't land?
It was the one from Molotoy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
They just bounced off the wall, but I think a little bit more pooped in there might have some more damage.
Yeah.
Wow, they get away with murder here. Three players alive, three golels saved.
I find it incredible that Vitality's best map is Dust2, of all the maps.
This is the first time Brokie and Molador are faced off against him.
Okay, B-Trapz, you can't just come on here and lie.
doesn't even sound real that can't be true but it is but why say it like that
does that just mean phase have never played them what is that possible I
guess cuz broke he was out during Austin around that time so maybe he didn't
play maybe phase played them during that time that's even almost the whole
year already it was just crazy if I go quarter-quarter isn't head-to-head on
the on these folks that's just I didn't even look at that I didn't
I think there would be any way that would be possible.
So that's interesting.
So what we're saying is, you know,
Furia, they may be good, but they've never beat Fade.
They've never ever beaten him.
They haven't proved it.
That's crazy to think.
Interesting.
Oh, Broke's only heard about Furia.
Ha-ha!
Ha-ha!
Oh, dear.
That's crazy.
He's only read about Furia.
Well, he just learned about Molodoy.
Quick head shot back from CT in this first clash.
Molotov will let them in,
that Molly pushes Furia back
and they're gonna have to set up on short for retake.
He can just go Memphor.
And the net view is low.
Is there a clash that is born?
Yes, Furia, pop him in the face.
He'll take one with him,
but then the rifles come in swimmingly.
And you can do nothing to say.
Oh, this is ugly.
Molotov is recovering it very well,
but he doesn't get that next shot to connect.
would have been everything. He actually did such a good job of isolating those fights.
But FaZe get away with it. Great start.
I still don't believe that FaZe haven't been able to do anything about it.
Yeah, that doesn't even matter how that's possible. That's crazy.
The last FaZe Furia I can find is Shanghai 24, the major.
The major was full Brazilian fury and it was rops on phase
That was like rocks. Oh, yeah, so 325
Impressive that's what happens when you go to crazy Dracula and I guess
Yeah, fury weren't good enough to be at HLC that fell great
Yeah. Alright, gun round coming in here. Fury with everything they need. Molotov's orb and in that couple of rounds we've seen, he's looked solid.
Had a bit of an off day yesterday. For a group stage, I feel like we have higher expectations, so.
Yeah, I mean for group and groups if you don't get like a 1.40 if you get roasted how it goes with us
No prisoners
I set up in middle case or auto with the cover from the
Very good. Whoa, Joe could not have done better the aggression
and countered here by TwistedMiddle and he's just going to join his team on this A split.
There's no way, oh, Maldoy's saving.
That was kind of perfect.
What are we watching right now?
Couldn't have gone better really on timing.
The timing fury put that Molly down is as phase we're going for it anyway.
Yeah.
Flash caught him both.
Bomb will get planted and it looks like a 5 alive around unless they try to hunt down the exits.
But I think just let him stew in it, man.
You know, Maldoy's got an off and B.
that's pretty mental okay I don't have to deal with this next round you're
playing outside this site oh no he's not just jump spotting now they're gonna
get they're gonna get a little hungry they're ready to have needs actually
yeah they could just retake the b-site right now they have a utility
Oh my goodness, they killed them all the impact is coming up right now for phase making this a very uncomfortable CT side
Converting their pistol dealing with the first gun as that's all you can say power of a dead team
I don't even know it's phase of dead team or they
Yeah, they are that that ship problem in philosophy
It's like how many plants can you remove before it's a different ship because like
Kerrigan was a big plank. Oh, that's a nice shot
You want to philosophize more on that?
Yeah, you have something. No, no, no, I mean, yeah, I mean just yeah, it's like Kerrigan
You know, was he the heart and soul of the team? I don't know. You still have broke in with some frozen
So it still feels like a huge part of it, but the calling
That's a question, you know, the candidate call.
He's just going to call that for himself now?
I know, broke you with two opening kills.
Currently the best off in the server.
I mean, we'll hold on to that as long as we can.
Keep in mind, Maldoy's only herd of broken.
Yeah, that's true, it goes both ways.
I'm on one side but that means they are going to have to fight CT right now FaZe, they do
have onto a planation, there it goes.
It's another perfect call really.
Nobody home.
This is getting freaky now.
Because not only are they winning rounds, they're winning rounds with so many alive.
you know the veto interesting considering we have obviously pretty even maps in this series
if you go off the numbers furia picking mirage but then at the side along this at the side is nuke
and if we recall furious nuke yesterday it was not pleasurable it wasn't the best nuke that they've
had they struggled on their good side they didn't come back on their ct which again should be
easy they've got really interesting stats in that perspective on that like probably one of the
the better key side of the teams out there, but not right now.
Yesterday for its game, a legion, you play Navi later on.
That'll just that'll just paint the full picture for us. Yeah,
like whatever. Yeah, exactly. And we'll we'll be able to figure
it out.
Our five zero start for Facebook. I don't think this
five zero could have been better here for phases one player
loss in the last two rounds. That is a converted pistol.
And that is no survivors until now for Furia.
So here comes the buy.
And it better come quick.
It's crazy how much changes in CS.
Like Furia last year,
they win their first three trophies
for the kind of the team.
Tier one, you know, Espo before for Quesarado,
they had to get them on something.
But then like right now it's still FaZe
that are having one since Chengdu.
Yeah, that's two years.
Alright, Furio, what you got? Double orb. Cacerota going to join Molodoy.
Interesting.
It's not the most common double orb team, to be honest.
Yeah.
Layup to be crossed. I'm not going to give anything away to FaZe.
Also Fallen's right there.
True.
You want it on that B site?
It's rather hanging outside of it.
Could just be spawned.
Here for fury I've fallen off and locked in a long.
I love how Fallen's long lost son isn't even Brazilian.
Wild night out in Astana.
It happens to the best of us.
Molotoy, this is a nice line.
That's easy pickings, Jacob.
Shifting in as he speed up on short.
This is heard by Fury, a full info right now.
Face feeling maybe like they have to commit.
Going to bait out.
No Utah comes out.
Molotoy wants that push,
and Fury actually focus on the mid to B.
A real quick plan for this.
I mean, they're already in the mid to B.
It kind of isn't a good spot to support.
If he needs to push through and they don't know about the second op that's over here
Really trying to make him look like a double fake, but this one's still edging in middle
Baseball back through door. You kind of moves in lovely move man 30 seconds. I mean he could still think it's cat right now
It's that's possible
the corner, your kinder punches them up.
Put a move.
Triple kill on that close reposition after twist of parts.
And it's you 1v5, 10 seconds, and you just die.
Your kinder beautiful combo does it all himself.
Insane round.
Yeah.
The bomb hitting the floor didn't help for sure.
But they weren't going to clear them anyways.
It looked like that.
No, they probably were a little frazzled by that.
That's such a great third kill.
And the Kinderkorn Orb too. Hopefully he talks about that.
Well now you have three. Okay, then I'm going to keep them.
That would be audacious.
Where he sees a cross.
Maybe wanting to start in the long doors after the last round.
And a heavy long control for Fury.
Expecting FaZe to go back to what worked for those first few rounds.
It's a miss smoke in middle funnily enough. I mean they still didn't know about that second up
But now they've seen that you can't are picked it up. So they're gonna entertain the idea that there could be two
Makes a B site a little more scary here
Definitely the best part about double offing is that first round where they just don't know where it is
You get two players walking out on the other side of the map and a
a couple of free frags especially if your main or first and then they try and avoid it
they run into the second frozen coming out here
trying to be and they make a move in case we're out of down in doors
a lot of posturing for phase but no commit now all over the map pulling back from long
I mean Fallen might be ready to call out a flank. It's already 40 seconds if they're not in long right now
Unless it's a cat play he can make that happen
So it's fun to sell him all the idea they could still come cat
Which is important for conditioning there actually pulling a third player back to the A site which ways this bomb going now
I feel like they're going to go back, drop into the spawn here.
Yeah, it's safe.
Cut off rotations.
The right down.
Now it's down to this B-hold spotted Yuri in a lot of trouble right now.
That tunnel's fire hasn't locked in and Twist is killing rotations.
It's just K-Syrota who has to peek and Piki shall drop in here with five seconds on the
clock.
He might have won it with a no-scope.
That's close, but I think Brokey's got it.
It's locked in.
And the Kinders now, he's got to commit it to the A site so far away and he's
not even going to try it. Damn. Damn, that was very fine margins. What a no scope out
of Kcerado. What a nice try. His whole team just got eviscerated there. Luckily, he still
gets two shots off. Luckily, the bomb carrier didn't get shot down.
Phase thin margins, but again on the board, it was still pretty good looking exec and
it was the right sight being called, which are like the two things you know, I'm looking
for for twists that he's calling into a map where the other teams shrouding their
presence he's still making the right call and the the spacing is there it looks
full committed versus two players even a volley landing at the mouth of that
tunnels exit was perfect
as well and that's that's look on molly
on cat yeah yeah I worked in his favor got two kills off a case rato
almost saved the day it was not a second in that round but they still pick it up
6-1 and they keep the orb they keep some money but they need this round deadly
they lose it they're back to pistol soon
it's crazy rooting for Broke he did not even flash cat gets confidently up on
that line just looks so alive right now he's moving with ease round the map
not challenging anywhere right now.
The whole goal of the snapper really just comes down to
can you trick the mid B rotator?
Last round they pulled it off.
This round they might not.
Like a cat here for FaZe. You can hold him into a lot of utility.
That will buy some time.
I'm doing a great job of working the map.
I'm going to keep you kinder guessing.
He doesn't have his cache of H.E.S. as well.
I haven't really been trying to punish him.
Not okay.
Wow.
I feel like he was still on the ground.
Yeah, I don't even see why that bullet went up in the air.
but it's just got topped and that's still Faye stuck on Cat.
They're gonna get tempted in, beating the Molly on one player.
But that guy going down, as much as Mollardoy is the only guy on the site.
Fallen will have to fall back.
Follon's having his time wasted on a non-existent long work.
Faye's gonna get that bomb down, and they get if Cat is the question.
They could put it in.
Rookie knows he wants to shave one more off.
That is big info for Broke.
Oh, this is such a wild push.
Like, it could be rotating.
Holy smokes.
That's audacious.
Yeah, and they're all in CT spawn.
I mean, you've got to hold something right,
but at the same time,
Fury's going to have that height advantage
coming in on the cap.
If you get the re-clearing mid right now,
they were not ready for an AWP in CT this late.
If that smoked down,
they have a few seconds for Brokie on scope
at the worst time.
Frozen Smoke spam, low ammo, 1v2.
Golan will not let him have it.
Waiting for the right time to strike.
No kit!
No kit!
Oh my goodness.
They lose it.
They lost.
That's a 1v4 that's technically for frozen oh my god
The smoke spam the kid was behind it and that's where you get into going back and catching two kills on players looking the wrong way
Yeah, oh
my
phase with some
Mean a little revenge for out twist side I guess
He knew it.
Dude.
Oh, dear, this is frustrating now, Furia.
That was their round back into the game without it.
Sure, they can rebuy, they saved a couple of orbs,
but they're running out of room here on the CT side.
They're running out of timeouts on the CT side.
It's not their tournament right now,
falling the game of legion on the first day,
and now dead team walking question mark phase,
kicking dust up in their face.
And I'd like to see them skipping some protocols and taking some risks to get tempos and it looks like
Broke is down for it like
Broke is playing audacious. Yeah
The Yui has made out he's not ready for this barely recovers in time for one
No more smoke there's the downside in case Arato gets a pot shot before it blooms
That's gonna attempt fury in but man even in these positions. He's 4v3s. They can be difficult
That's a close call. We'll attempt fury in only to burn them. I feel like
This is that Molly. That's a problem
I mean you can take the soft line. It's he is maldo who has to make the next move
Miss hurt this
He's more scared than he is. Oh, that's a looking the wrong way. Broke. He's gonna come through that smoke
We know who we're talking about here and he's gonna fight for the last breath here on this be hit
You may as well save your kinders come through. Where have they gone off to?
Brokey waits hits his again and case or auto must run away. That's phase another man down round picking it up in this
Beep postplot
And broke you will be able to survive and case or auto is oh, no, yeah, sorry. They're both dead
That's the board cleared they win that was it 3v4 3v4 when they die
Damn, but Molo do I have a Brokey run across but you could just see he was so paranoid about sport
Is that the cool like someone's late watch out for the late player have no idea?
What did he just miss here? I was changing it's offer to offer to bro. He's gonna come back and die
They called him in for the Molly Molly miss felt like that's was the last mistake, but no not to pay man
He broke you can do no wrong at the moment
Six and four, but I feel like his impact is higher than his kill count
frozen and twists performing when they started slow yesterday now Brokey is
whoever sorry that is missing that's not broken it's twists second time we've
seen that miss but there's no punish warp is on long
I've never seen anyone do like that innovation
Broke is reinventing dust too.
I put something in his coffee today.
The same guys. For the win this game we get to see Broke Friday in the arena.
Final on the line here.
are they gonna let go of this half? That's the main question.
No. Okay, fallen. Hasn't had a fight at long. All half really. And Molodoy is supporting.
Their flashes have been good. Uh oh, careful with this.
This go before the flash picks broke. He worked out pretty well as Molotov can follow up
So you asked if they'll let go of the half. This is a deciding round in Furia
I'm offering it up third kill from Molotov a two orb shots and the Molotov at long
So Furia breathe easy knowing they can cover somewhat
Okay, so just one in the end that's a successful round out of Furia
It's a nice hold for long and fallen just like just give me my chance. He's been on this door angle so many rounds now
Lost a lot better than the last time we saw furior along getting caught by that you tell timing
It's a great shot. No way face it bro, man. I thought phase that more money than that
We all did but then they didn't buy simple
That took me way too long
It's trying to get it to be send it in first
Gonna get a long way. Yeah, so the long way around
You think it will freak Yuri out I?
Help so I mean he's Brazilian. It's probably gonna hypnotize them trees back flat though. So oh whoa
The falsest feet
I don't know what to do with that.
Oh, triple days lower. Get out,
frozen. That's good information.
Now you're a way.
Backside simple stuff and he'll put in four kills to secure the round.
If you're here fighting for four on the half.
Make no mistakes. Faze have come to play today.
so far. You have CT side to look forward to on Dust2. Obviously love to end strong, but this is
way better than you could have expected from this team coming into today.
Yeah, prospect of a North American crowd for the phase organization.
You know they'll be getting cheers even with Karrigan's departure.
This rauto had enough flash dodge to stop this round off finally fury and making moves.
It doesn't even be susceptible by free-reviewing so much.
That was the opportunity.
But we've already seen what happens when you don't get that door smoke in case rauto
is hanging around.
The phase may be feeling like it's too much of a throw away just to hit this B site.
I think the problem is they don't have to utill for much else.
I mean, before that last round, Yuri had one kill, so he hasn't really been a strong B anchor so far.
It's been a lot of quesarado.
So we're trying to make it look like a cat here, but this is that delayed B pop right now for phase.
They got the 3A look that they're trying to find and the push can come out from long
It's on a decent timing. It'd be better if they were maybe going mid B sometimes you can catch those stragglers on the split
But the majority tunnels play
Really good gonna come down to these two holding
They know it's coming as well, Fallen already top mid trying to find Frozen in the downtime phase, just charging through the smoke.
Yuri inside of it, careful boys, but he's looking at the floor.
Pacerato still needs value from this position. If he dies for nothing, this is a disaster waiting to happen.
Twenty seconds as Faze put that bomb down clean, they have one more smoke as well.
Oh, he got spotted.
He's waiting to strike, team coming in from the middle side.
No more utility.
They're already in. He's blind, but he recovers in time.
And a 2v3 with Molodoy given nothing.
Nikinda waiting in tunnels or missed shot.
Molodoy tries to punish here.
He's going to miss as well. This is going very wrong.
Oh, Uriah! Nikinda!
Oh! He's all named to be.
And FaZe Clan are here to play with quarterfinals on the horizon.
Zwei is going to be burned out.
Do the library players swing to help him?
Zywu's got a second still.
76 health to play with.
And that AWP is right in front of him.
If he ever wants to switch over, ready for some kind of a peek.
And with Short not being able to be pushed,
they're going to take a second here and throw Zelo over
to this side.
He gets behind the tall box, looking to cut down library.
Zywu three kills into this.
No, kill!
1v5!
He can and he always can!
The best! The absolute best!
In this case, Serrano trying to keep himself slim by the pillar.
Oh!
Kay, dude, he's had some f-
Oh! Ah!
What are you doing?!
Surgical precision on these shots.
That was Zanteris on Royds.
He's another teammate just yet, and this is...
Oh my god!
Zaiwu is an animal with a shot like this.
It's another KW play.
I'm not even on the screen!
Oh my god!
Why is it in the anything?
and the
phase and not messing around
today in this quarterfinal
proceeding game at Fiora
falling flat on their face three
rounds on the CT side of dust
to and it's a bit of a broken
masterclass with twist calling
some perfect rounds to get them
back. They find the open sights
they don't ever want to be when
there's three guys waiting for
them. They did a great job from
that perspective definitely twist.
to give them loads of credit for that. And I'll see if I look at the score line and go
oh man Fury must be playing badly, super badly, but it really wasn't that I would say.
Faze has got to perform them at least in that first half.
Ah!
Well done.
Everyone's in lower. They can't be down here.
On the long cross Fury will make it despite the taps and now Faze is set up for retake
all the way around the world.
Furia after a fallen squad crossing in,
must get whittled down.
Molotov doesn't want the smoke.
Packs out for a second.
They jump the corner.
Beautiful work here for Faze.
Maximizing damage as they get out with four alive.
He's still locked in.
They're not messing around.
You can see how free Frozen's playing,
hunting down that kill from lower as well.
As Kcerot is falling back,
Twist jumping out long,
and then jumping the long corner
after getting tagged as well.
That's the kind of selfless play to guarantee a trade, so I kind of love how they're moving at the moment.
I just kept getting set up.
That was net you.
10 to three.
What happened?
It's carrying the problem.
Slow down, buddy.
I watched them against Navi yesterday. Yeah
This is definitely a renewed phase
On this afternoon game force by for fury up
I'll let him have it
Both barrels
Broke you with all the utility
He's out of position, but he gets back to spawning time in case Rato is blowing on that smoke,
trying to hide out in the corner, phase forcing the fight, Brokeheath lights up a spray on
two.
It's Brokeheath.
There's not much you can do, three kills before all is said and done, and you're
not getting this bomb down for you, you're not even getting the boss back up.
Also one more and then you came to left late
You got this much fire power all playing to trade like this and playing this free and explosive
Whatever happened in the team talk before this game started. I think it feels like it's paying off
It was probably something along the line that we have nothing to lose, you know
Yeah, this is crushing
Yeah, just lining up for brokey
11-3. Mirage on next map. Fury is pick.
And the chance for a bit of redemption.
Definitely don't count the amount of resetting.
It doesn't feel like anything's going right right now.
Fury have failed to game a legion on Nuke and on Mirage last night.
Despite a 9-5 lead on Mirage.
I had a bullet to attack there.
She's off.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right in the legs.
Did he get a war paint?
I feel like it.
I might have just missed it.
81.
I think it was on the left.
Yeah.
Well, the Eagles are scouting.
You have to hope for him
This is where you want to be versus the cat hit
It's playing goose with a palm flash. Yeah, it's this is watching brokeies monitor as well
So it knows when to throw that flash off his contact
Welcome to the middle seat welcome to land everything's so excited. You know middle seat
But they're gonna fall in it's one player making it down to sport. He doesn't concern himself
It's a cat here they've got to worry about just getting team flashed, broken, in the open.
It's a bit of classic phase right now but they should still be fine until you can get
exposed and should.
It's the key word here but Twist is not swinging into that scout and so 4v2 cleanup
crew is in.
Okay, one more mistake and they might have a round but...
Okay, nice save for Twisted and it's not happening.
Well three.
It's just not stopping.
first phase. Middle seat
business. That's conflicting.
You get served from both sides.
Okay. Well, I mean, they lost the pistol. So we're seeing the rifles now here for Fury. Obviously, she's not doing themselves any favors.
Brookie wants, Brookie gets, boost up on cats.
One wrong foot can cost fury of the map at this point, so it's for a careful down-lower.
All these smokes.
Pays the room to keep the pressure on.
Twist pushes right back in.
Jacob with the Falcon's S setup here on the corner.
He's just gonna go for the swing together.
Catching players jumping around the corner.
There's one more that came from.
And so Jacob strikes as well.
This is Pays not just winning,
but forcing the win here
in this final round, and they make it so, frozen 2v2, with that kill on the Quesarato, bomb his back up a green box, Furia can't move quick
Super close to middle, which, you know, they have a huge blind spot over towards A, they're gonna see the smoke cross, they could go for a double push
I feel like I like the move from Furia, they can't wait here
Oh, he missed that! Oh, that bomb missed that! And is that how the map disappears here for Furia?
a second off on the timing.
Yikinda baits it.
He goes back.
Oh, he forgot the bomb.
20 seconds.
Oh, dear, it comes on even out.
Low health on Netsu.
This is the round that Yikinda should be winning
to keep Furio in, but he has to run.
He's got that clock in mind.
10 seconds.
He has to stick the bomb straight away.
You can even get around the plant.
You must have to.
Can't go open.
Yikinda going safe.
Netsu doesn't swing.
Goes up, goes over, and looks to finish the job.
Position revealed.
Yikinda AK.
One bullet is all it will take, both ways.
That's you.
What's he doing?
He's looking for something there's no need to pick back up.
He's just gonna get this one down.
He's gonna won't allow it.
That's you.
Bit of self doubt there maybe,
whether it's a fight or not.
Yeah, could have gone out wider.
I mean, if it was a fake plant and you die,
obviously you feel a little silly
when there's no time to put that bomb down again,
but he still would have been in a pretty good spot
to take that fight.
There's a double here for Cicero.
First skill was critical. The fact that Froze even trades that's a miracle.
Now the buy gets a little sticky. They still have Roky on an off-dump.
Roky on both sides.
Oh, they've made it lower. This hasn't been spotted actually.
Did I get clear by K-Sorato? Look at him going.
Yeah, where he's going.
He's going cat.
This double lower setup is going to get dirty.
P-shooters...
...spotted by a jiggle.
Double face and still face come out with a first.
They know this too, and two will not last much longer.
Somehow, FaZe are in a three on three in this moment.
Yeah, Twist is right side of the tunnel, left side, excuse me.
With an arm on the line.
Oh, dear.
Nice shot.
Brokey follows up.
Bomb loose, and that is it.
He's going to finish it.
Now he started Brokey's standing tall,
and FaZe standing up 13 to 4,
a dominant opening map in this playoff birth series.
We asked the question if the phase magic still existed.
Are you some would call it phase BS?
It's not even Friday.
Maui and Brokey has an unbelievable game.
Actually, every single one of the phase members
stepped up to the plate.
This was a wash.
One map away from Brokey Friday.
That's what we're holding out for, folks.
Great stuff, I would say, from the T side there.
That's something that I definitely have to go through.
We're going to get into the nitty gritty on that one.
But all in all, I'm concerned about Furia.
that I expected from them
whatsoever. When you're backs
against the wall when your
lights on the line here in
Fort Worth, this is what you
come up with. I'm extremely
disappointed. Yeah, it's
incredible to see also. They
maybe they didn't expect that
phase was going to be firing
on all cylinders because that
was well and truly the case,
right? If you bring it all
the way down to nature, when
it did have to hold his own,
maybe not that one clutch,
but who cares about that at
this point about twists. In
that T side now we saw, I
think hopeful signs already
from the T side yesterday
yesterday that ancient game. I remember that for sure. Talk to me about what really took your
attention of how to the way you call that. Just the variety of plays here from twist and also the
switches in tempo to go to round four to have your opening gun round be kind of based off of
this late long control totally caught fury by surprise here. There's a Molly that flies into
the long tunnel but they go for a flash play at 120. Twist is already playing to punish for a
mid-regress there. That starter right there from phase is not what you expect from a brand
team that's just putting the pieces together. You would expect more defaults.
You would expect more set pieces, but this was a play that just kind of
understood some of the timing. And the one thing that I really liked about the
NKJ pickup, people are probably scratching their head. Who the hell is this guy?
Why is he on the team? Anti-stradding. I feel like that's always been something
that when I got to pick his brain back in Finland after he won the ESPO
event with ENCE, that was something that he clearly had down pat when he
was against Roke in that grand final, which gave them their victory there.
that's really good info also of course he's uniting with nature once again right
so he probably knows the ropes of how he does like to to call these strats
talk to me about round seven then well round seven round 12 I mean we saw a
couple examples where phase kind of showed that they they've up their game
okay one thing that was a hallmark and kind of a negative for twist was the
lack of mid-to-bees when he was an IGL back for liquid it was almost kind of
laughable I remember looking at this period whereas for consecutive dusts
where they called one mid to be and they're going for it.
Okay, they're using the whole map.
That's something that so many rookie IGLs fall
into the trap of that,
even though you get this great performance
from Kacer out of the multi-kill out of him,
the mid to be is still pulled off.
They still use the entire map and then round 12 as well.
Even as they were trying to take the rest of the map,
they still had the firepower to burst through
regardless of that fact.
Good counter smoke here from Yuri.
And as you can see the mid to be
it's not really coming together.
Frozen doesn't even get anything in middle,
but the three guys that burst through the tunnels
have enough oomph themselves that they're able to breach the bomb site, take it over,
win the post plant.
So, FaZe have multiple win conditions, that's what I'm liking about what I'm seeing from
them.
It's not just good tactics or just good individuals, you're getting a little bit of a mix of both.
Yeah, and it's like one of those sides of a coin that you don't know where it's
going to land when someone like Kerrigan leaves, when there's a reshuffle, you
know it can end badly, or you could feel a little bit unleashed, but I really like
that you called that out for twists, that it's going to be different than the
the last hint of him as an IGL that he really wants to approach it differently.
I think that's great to see and also seeing Brokey having a game like this.
I mean, it's rare these days, right?
So we love it when we see it.
You got a little bit of flair there.
Yeah.
You got him hitting all the shots that you wanted him to hit.
He had a nice start in this one.
He had a great close there on that round 12 we highlighted where even in a three on one,
he should play the numbers, wait for the crossfire,
let the other guy get first contact first.
No, not Brokey.
Not Brokey.
He's just going to peek up, just take the shot.
it doesn't matter if he's giving up a 1v1.
That's the flair that we want to see from face-clap.
It absolutely is.
Before we go to this break, then, furia, right?
Not a good showing yesterday.
Again, not in this one.
Can you see a denominated factor?
Like, it's one thing that is in focus
that they really have to shore up.
It's difficult to say, because I
feel like sometimes I'm watching them play,
and it just looks a little bit too default for me.
Like, they're just going through the motions.
I'm not really seeing that extra little play
from the individuals.
You see, on the final round of that first half,
they finally say, OK, let's start pushing into lower.
Let's start to flex some of our individual firepower there.
And I'm not really seeing from round one,
do they have a serious plan about how they want to upset
the balance of the game?
And that's what so many favorites are used to doing.
They're used to setting the tempo,
making sure that they throw in a blocking utility
to just perturb their opponents.
But I think Fury are kind of looking like a team to me
that's just sitting on their hands.
They're saying, if we just play default,
we're the better team.
Right, guys?
Right, guys?
But not quite.
Not quite.
It's something that we do see happen more often
And then not when you play against something that's more unquantifiable than those top tier
opponents of those top tier opponents rather, that they've been playing for the last couple
of months because this is a whole different bag of chips.
Talking about Frozen, we talked so much about the quote from Twists and it's almost like
it's the voice and he's the one judge and they're all singing.
They're all trying to impress him, right?
Yeah, he's doing his best Simon Cowell impression on this team right now.
But the problem is that he's actually still practically speaking their best players,
the best player in the match yesterday that they lost.
that's been their best player, I'd say in this map.
Maybe you got a couple more highlight moments
from some other guys.
But Frozen is just this other guy
that he's also always going to get his.
He's so reliable.
The trade-fragging ability is top-notch.
Remember seeing a stat from Luz online Twitter
that his dual swing or just the way
that he's able to win kind of tough fights,
he's always just so consistent at playing
a little bit above average.
And we saw more of that here today,
that when he's given opportunities against Fiori,
even if it's say a 40-60 fight.
The other guy's a little bit favored.
Frozen still stands up.
Yeah, it was their map pick,
but it's not like Furia or Slouch is on dust too.
We're going to Mirage next
and we'll talk all about that when we come back.
I'm sorry for everybody who had to watch that now.
I hope that you watched it back.
What did you identify as the main failings of this first opening game for you guys?
I felt like as a team, we failed to connect just in the most basic rounds of the game.
We were lost in moments we should not be.
And it's not that we didn't take the match seriously, but I think as a team, when we
were sitting there playing, I think we're not feeling the match, you know?
Not having this good mentality as a team to grind, to take the game together.
So we were a bit zoned out, I'd say.
It is, of course, a very different story
from a crowd in Rio that has your backs completely
to a studio environment, but also the fact
that the news of Fallen hit everyone really hard, right?
How do you try to manage expectations
with that kind of cloud hanging over you?
I'll be honest with you.
For me, it actually hit the team very well
in terms of we need to do our best
for Fallen until his retire.
So we know we have 230 days to do our best
and bring him the best last six months of his career.
So we need to just keep grinding, keep doing our maximum.
So we were quite emotional when he announced.
So the moment he was there on the stage,
everyone had tears in their eyes.
So it was very, very sad for us for some minutes.
But after that, we looked at each other and said,
hey, we've got this for the old man
and we need to do our best.
And this is the mentality of the team right now.
even though it's a bit sad and I mean I would say we're not leaving with this thought of Fallen Retire just trying to do our maximum.
Moldova didn't have the best start yesterday, he was also someone that was very vocal about oh my gosh this is kind of crazy that he'll be leaving.
What have you maybe identified as factors that make Moldova thrive and what is not as good for him because we see a big up and down in his performances?
He's a very young player. He's going through the process of, I would say, maturing his mental
side. So, he's right now going through, I would say, quite a vast lump if you compare with how
his last year was. But we were working with him in terms of having his mentality ready for the
games and trying to develop more mental strength in him. This is our main focus right now.
It's not like he forgot how to play, but since last year a lot happened to him and his
his personal life as well.
I mean, so he's going through this,
I would say natural process of maturing as the end of the day.
So yeah, that's the focus for him.
Yeah, a lot for Moldova and for Furia to deal with
and you can't put it all on his shoulders, right?
When a team like Furia is here on the ropes
trying to make it to those playoffs
because nothing was working for them in that first map.
It was all phase, all day,
who do seem a little bit unleashed.
It's like a juxtaposition of stories
where you have a fallen retirement looming above them
and needing to incentivize them
with a phase with Kerrigan leaving,
also incentivizing them in a different way.
Both of these teams have a fire lit underneath them
for drastically different reasons.
And hopefully that is able to spur Furia in some fashion
because the level of counter strike
that they've shown so far forward is well beneath
even this season, which is not really going as well
as 2025 by any means, but this is a new low.
If they crash out in last place here versus a face clan with a brand new in-game leader stand-in player new coach
I don't even know how you're able to justify that to yourselves
I get that the Rio event was supposed to be your major fall and talked about the fact that it would be bigger than a major
For them to win that kind of one so I don't want to see a fury team
That's just still reeling from the fact that they didn't win what might have been their biggest event of the season
Absolutely so
260 days something like that but the thing is we have to be honest
There's not maybe that many events that you actually really want to win and show your best.
This is one of them.
Paint me a picture for FaZe on Mirage.
How did they make the dream happen?
Make it to the playoffs.
Well, I feel like this is a huge trap for Fury here.
I don't know if they scouted FaZe as much in depth as I did, but this is just a seamless
transition for them to bring in Nathieu, who was already a B anchor on his last team.
That's where he gets to just slot in perfectly for Kerrigan.
Now you just have a pure firepower upgrade on the CT side.
And so things will get a little bit dicey probably once they move over to the T side
Which was one of twists worst calling maps when he was in a liquid Jersey as a captain
But that CT side may be too formidable for a fury team
Communicating at the level that they normally find themselves at you highlighted twists as changes in his T side calling on dust to
Using the entire map using that mitzv
What do you want to see him change up to make sure that this T side on mirage is as successful just be able to use
I feel like that's something that when you're starting out as an in-game leader,
you don't recognize what it's like to have guys on the extremity that are willing to make plays.
Well, you should be able to trust some of those guys, because mid control, not always going to go your way
against a Yackindar, Molo-Doy, K-Sorado, Trio, which is devastating to play against at times.
You have to let those guys activate at times too.
Yeah, and then for Fury, I think you said it there, right? Are we going to see Yuri?
Are we going to see K-Sorado? Yuri also having a bit of a stinker of a tournament so far.
it's not it's not working and I I wonder I do wonder how much of it comes down to
what a high last week in front of that crowd the entire week not the result you
want it but then all the emotions from the retirement and now you have to sit
back here in the studio and make it all happen again the exact same way you did
when you were as successful at the end of 2025 I mean is it too big of an
ask has the ceiling been reached I don't know what possess Yuri there in
Rio but it unfortunately doesn't feel like that flew over with him when he
He got to Texas, but he's going to have to find some semblance over here if he wants to even up the series.
So it ain't over till it's over. Can Furia make the run or will FaZe make it to the playoffs here in Fort Worth?
FaZe one step away. What could go wrong here taking on Furia on Mirage when you decide if we need it?
Do we need it, Mirage? Or are you impressed enough?
I mean, we didn't even get to see Furia like stage any kind of comeback like they'd look.
It was so well handled, the calls were great,
the players you want to see playing well,
pro-kient and frozen were excellent.
So the question is, does that transfer over to two maps?
Firiya surely they wake up at some point.
Like they just log on to the server a little late,
monitors off of whatever form wasn't right.
Mirage, I'm expecting it to be better for Firiya.
Akua would be so unthinkable.
So I'm not gonna put that up in the world,
but from what we saw, there's no reason
not to believe FaZe could also close here.
has to be better, but that T side of Mirage yesterday was anything but for Furia, falling
from a 9-5 lead, they managed only three rounds on their T half against Gamelige, and two of
them with a pistol and conversion. So here we go, Furia, what have they got?
Damn, that was first gear. Last place exit. With this roster? Would not be optimal? Let's
Let's see if we can at least make it competitive because phase just blew them out of dust to twist starting off on the pistol
Position maybe they're boosting up for the kill of that smoke gives an options
Can they head that's awkward on the boost and now cancel here for furia
Definitely the plan disrupt that a little bit
Instead anyway, they got Yuri up an apps. They're gonna make this split happen. That's you
to be called upon but Molodoy destroys it with a P-250 and that is a nice combo on the
entry. Furia looking to lock down a pistol now. Lurker dispatched of. This retake will
not be easy.
Three man retake. You normally wouldn't try it but it is a pistol. Great shot from Fallen.
That might just be the end of it. Okay, so we have to insure it and Jacob.
Well he's always got to get his on the pistol. We know that much
But it's still gonna be a safe for him nicely done for fear of playing got disrupted a little bit with their lurk at the window
But with mid control you got your options and they turn that into a really good-looking cat split
All right, I was gonna say he's back but he wasn't really the problem last map, you know
We had some yeah trouble with Mordor yesterday, maybe but I think on dust to he held his own
He was forced to save a lot of those CT rounds.
It's true.
Yeah, there was.
Not the most kills on the team for what it's worth.
It definitely a team effort in that loss.
So.
But Molo do his, you know, stats aren't that handsome at this event so far
that he had one good map in their the series yesterday.
That last map was only OK, but they still got destroyed.
So, you know, it's for what it's worth.
Phase 4.
Twist makes a move on ramp.
Two players on B.
Matthew has been shunted into some unfavorable positions in a few parts we've seen from
phase.
So let's see how he does with this B site, makes do, curious, slow and steady, 2 AKs,
There's no challenger middle here for FaZe.
It might be right about it being B. I like these spots, normally it's never believe in
a B stack.
Still comes down to shots of course.
Prime opportunity, used to be nice, and that's who saves his teammates life.
Two MP9 strike before the first kill from Furia, but they feel like they're committed now.
That bomb is dropped near default, they've got to go get it.
They want these fights and FaZe aren't giving them anything.
20 seconds Jacob in the open, that feels like an overextension here,
as it's given Furia room to move inside of this site,
but they are getting toyed with by the MP9,
So they swing together, a perfect one to punch for FaZe.
Is it that knockout blow?
Where has Twist gone?
He can't find the kill.
He can't find the bomb, and Furia dropped around.
Wow, it is not often you see a B-stack workout.
I mean, it's the place you go on anti-ecos
when you're playing Mirage with the cat split.
That's everything in place.
But again, you take a shot at that site.
You look at the positions they're playing.
They're all in great spots to get the jump
on the first guy and also just stay alive
as long as possible. Obviously some good shots had to be hit but they organized very well in the
top situation. That's just a huge force. I had nothing right? Yeah. That would be nice, no nades,
no kit. Exactly, that's still no problem if you have a full split. Yeah. You just slowly win the
round but no, not right now. Here we are. Already starting things off the back foot,
that's a big opening kill. You know, you didn't have played well in Mirage yesterday but I did
He had noticed how it felt like he spent his entire T side
just on 50-50 fights in middle and he lost all of them.
Yeah.
He was getting smoke breaks, he was spamming smokes.
Maybe not even 50-50 fights.
He was just kind of 4v5ing them in fights that typically I
think he'd win, like this one.
He's picked up an advantage for Furia.
It's totally possible now for Furia.
He can or give the AK over to Moledoy.
That saved Farahans.
A lot of CTs here, ready to cover the swing. Not a ton of utility for a retake, no kit either.
That break may be a bit too early here as Fury across after the fact.
Bomb can go down, Kacerato considering this push through to smoke on stairs.
Why'd you rotate him out? So, it's gonna go very well for him right now.
Careful with the lurks, they're trusting that Molly right now, it doesn't matter.
Oh, push towards jungle, Fury crunch onto phase right now.
Careful, it looks okay, Beagle's connect,
Tech 9 follows up here for Yuri, so three on one,
and it's you out of there.
Fury, nice control towards Jungle,
all the FaZe in that position,
and they get nothing to show for it.
That's how it's nice,
because it's, you know, so much leverage
they found off of your Kinderskill,
then they hand the AK over, gets some extra damage.
Yeah, it's huge, surely.
Oh no!
Okay, kind of had reaction.
of a whiff. Yeah, fortunately.
That's who saves it. So one M4 in this round.
Oh, phase. Yeah, they're buying back in.
They've no loss and some players blow 2k.
So just hoping.
And M4 say we'll make all the difference here for that.
Yeah, he was on 8k as well.
And they won't have one now this round.
Oh dear.
Yeah, that's a weird looking win.
Yeah, who lost?
Well, it keeps a bit of cash.
There's the M4 being put to use.
Even if he's in this B site,
he's not able to force a kill.
I know, in front of that volley too.
Alright, are we going to go for
So back and forth here the start of mirage
I mean five seven this is only twist though
Only twist could just make a clip happen inside the window. It's a nice fight if they're boosting up
This might be the right move as well ready to push off the cat
There's a moment here where they walk up connector, this is everything.
One of the mollies committing for this, they're gonna try fight together.
Chris fails back from Windows, Natu dies.
Interesting, M4 now.
Tempsum back into this B site, Brokie is alone right now, he's wasting his ammo.
They're gonna go through that smoke on the reload,
jumping this corner, Deagle spam really needed a kill.
You can't find that M4, he's gonna send it in right now,
the MP9 running gun on the low-healthy kinder,
frozen will need multiple kills from the back of the site. Good molly! That will stop the plant.
They gotta flush him out. All they can do so. There's no guns here for FaZe. No hope. That 5v4
diminished quickly as Furia put the bomb down with time to spare. Excellent job of landing on
their feet. I'll consider this with enough time. Right? Right, like a 1% chance, surely.
Now the employee knows it.
No gun to grab either, right?
Alright, maybe that back.
That was not an easy situation to win.
Great kill from Fallen to clip off of Cat when they were pushing.
It looked like the right time to push for FaZe.
still like the timings and the rotations and stuff like that so
the funniest part about this team yeah three languages at once the only one they
all speak
I think Fallen is better English than me though, honestly.
He's really well-smoked, and that guy.
He's had some frustrating rounds in his game that frozen drive by.
I'm going to save on some net to you.
Now, down on the Mac test, but it is eco-ing phase.
So if you're already looking like they're going to beat out their T-side record for yesterday, which...
Damn.
Doesn't mean much, but...
The bar's on the floor.
Yeah, it's reassuring. They picked it up.
They call it.
They passed the hog line.
What's the hog line?
No, the Olympics reference.
Okay, man.
That's why the Canadians cheated.
The Swedes called them out because they were passed the hog line.
They touched it.
Passed the hog line.
You touched my hog line.
It sounds terrible.
Yeah.
It just sounds awful.
Okay, what?
Hahaha!
Got damn Canadians!
Oh, how do you like them hearts?
No, Shirley guy! Not like this, not like this!
It's just a raw USP, the bomb gets dropped.
Okay, J. Serato, clean up.
Who's got the bucket for his mop?
Get that bomb, U.R.A.
Put it in.
Oh!
Oh!
Oh! Bind for frozen!
This is on now!
Faze have nothing to lose in trying.
What guns are they coming to this round with?
Absolutely nothing.
Deagles and USPs, that's a sharp shot though from Cacerato.
He is living on the edge and thriving in fact.
Three kills deep.
Make a big and Cacerato has had enough.
No kidding.
Another not easy situation that Furia could have absolutely lost.
I can't believe Netshu even gets, I mean this kill first of all.
Play get right with the USB
At least case are auto-sick
Devastating round to lose instead fury of full control first buy now to face the late
Delo doi on a blind banger onto frozen
Was he up to no no?
There's a full fighting middle here. Everybody home.
And sneaking through that smoke, his kill got taken away from him, but that one won't.
He'll deliver it instead. Nice swing for Jacob, but Orp is primed and Molodoy is not missing today.
Two more kills, Broke says. Remember me? Molodoy says, yes I do. 10-3 on Molodoy.
Oh, jump to do his R.
He was ready for every single peek.
And even though the last rounds were close, this round really wasn't.
A couple of moments in there, but the NKJ at a time of chime in and sometimes on these pauses
he hasn't really been talking that much and I'm sure he's sort of feeling out like you know
Twizz probably has just tons of ideas right now.
Interesting that that's phases first buy because yesterday it was the
Emily John on CT side who didn't give
Didn't give fury any fights in there. Right? Maybe they'd go for the first the 1v1
And then they was completely conceded mid Molozoy never really got a chance to use his open middle
Was waiting around on some really so defaults the phase give him exactly what he wants that first shot was just
elite
Now Molozoy calling his shots he's feeling it
No, it's an anti-ego, which is, you know, mentally an interesting situation for Furia.
So one round they lost, they turned it into a game plan upcat, they spent a lot of rounds
going to be...
But they're going for the same lean, it looks like.
But it's actually another anti-eco setup that I really like.
They're still covering both sides of the map, they're playing fast rotation spots, the smoke
will be kind of annoying to think, well, where are they right now, and how much money do
they have?
Twist also has another smoke, which is interesting.
Man, these are ideas.
Wonder if this is an NKJ anti-eco idea.
You're most talking a lot in your time, I don't know.
You don't normally see this.
cat and jacob gets a first kill into connector as well so that was the luck of
your kinder as fury ago up cat with case rotto up here it just shows you they're
almost certainly gonna go be electric in middle sparks them there with the
five seven and that's the eco wind just locked in oh a bit of foreshadowing
when we saw him in window with that five seven if there's one guy who could
the other highlight with that weapon. It's going to be him. Oh my goodness,
cereal and not ready for that. The swing through the cat smoke. I mean, I love the
setup again though. It's and they knew it was happening after jacu kills your
kinder and connector. That's when face immediately double push ramp. They
realize that's a lurker. It's probably a be hit. They cleaned it out. Broke he's
rotating back to be from ct. Twist just knows they're behind the cat
smoke and we don't have full comms, but we saw in kj was basically
leaving that entire pause.
I mean, anyone else trying to talk with him on this spot?
Obviously, a lot to do with Twist getting all these kills,
but even with one or two of them,
and Jacob got that first frag, it's over.
That's what we like to see.
You sat at yourself, FaZe do look different.
Yeah. No surprise, but nice eco win here
to kick off this half.
Both FaZe's wins have been eco's though,
so what can they do with the guns?
remains to be seen
At least if you reckon stomach it got the money for Jacob another moment of mechanics that we see from this guy
Because when he's on he's on
At a full plan for him right there smoke a ramp native it open flash to go through I
I don't know if Keisarado got hit by it, but he probably should have.
Either way, I gave Jacob the confidence to go for the swing.
Are you sure? No.
Yeah, come on, smoke in.
Window to follow, this is the A-Hiptoe 4 Fury up.
I think the focus is everything here for Jacob. Again, you get distracted.
Needs to take something from this position.
Doesn't have that much health either.
The orb is just left to care about middle. There's not even a level in sight, so Jacob just re-fire.
There by Yuri. That Molotov in the way of the orb. And Molotov was on the angle either way.
It's fury all over the shop. 25 seconds bomb going down.
Almost made him broke. He would end with a...
Got a lot of utility.
Yeah, it's a tough call for FaZe right now with Lover Smoke.
But regardless of that, they're going to need the kills to get back in.
This post-plant is retakeable, but also Molledoy could just light it up.
How many shots will he get off? Where's the first?
Yikindar lets him in. Broke, he's spotted on that jump, and he's not escaping for free.
Molledoy's got a box in the corner, shoots him through it,
and that is a nice clean post-plant out of Furia.
When Molotov maximizes shots, that's when they win rounds.
Such a forward aggressive setup and him being on triple,
they're probably expecting something towards balance and ramp and sandwich.
And it's against a 5v4.
Kind of which looking at Jacob that, I mean obviously the way he dies is tough,
but that he's more playing to delay for time and just to spawn that trait to come out right away.
Especially under balance.
Yeah.
I know where to go, and so FaZe go down to their lost legs.
Sometimes it's a bit of a joke when a team just wins egos, but the FaZe egos that they
won just brought so much ingenuity to them.
I want to give them credit, but on these rifles, Fury have had no problem.
FaZe are away from middle now because they're going to be happy to sit back in this position
Let the kills come to them
All the researchers be initially no jump spotting. He's playing more than once a short side
Will be a nice name right so they don't go frozen half health gone
So formally control where will fury ago with that options are open on both sides of the map
workers in either apartments
I'm down in the valley, he's gonna be very careful here.
It's frozen here, it's up and over.
Oh, great flash.
Yeah, frozen right core, not to just stomach it.
Those fall back, but now they know there's the heavy short side of you.
You can hear the drop, so just be stacked right now.
Might be getting pulled into by your face.
I think I don't want to, I think it's doubled up.
Alright, whoa.
Oh, they came out saved his life from the top of middle
Look out a going nowhere fast Jacob deals with him. This is a chaotic round right now
The Nate doesn't go out case or author just caught fumbling all over bomb
20 seconds you want to call it off, but it is too late
There is no way to go and phase of giving you nothing
Broke you back at the site and that is the round Molotois
Single kill is all fury a take out of it man
It felt like the entire time working towards the couldn't have been the right idea, right?
They knew there was at least double up
On cat with no cat pressure coming in from the other side
It felt like they I mean they really wanted to try to duel from connector get you a kinder to get a kill
and that would open things up, but
kind of forced the issue a little bit and
Yeah, it was a little awkward wasn't that easy. This was kind of a crazy move when the B plane was always gonna happen
Not exactly sure what they were gonna get out of that. Maybe if Yuri doesn't kill makes change plans
That's what they're hoping for
Break it down for me
Yeah, like Yuri jumping out of abs.
Yeah, they were, they were, I thought they were going to pull back under into A,
but then Molodoy leaves B to support top middle.
And yeah, it's just a bit all over the place here for Furia.
Things not going their way.
Faze playing passive enough in the middle that Furia lose track.
And that seems to be the way, right?
Based on some of the rounds here, you know, even the eco when Furia
were behind that smoke where Twisk gets three kills, there were 20 seconds on the clock.
Fury are are leaving the clock very late in these rounds. They did the same against game a legion as well
Yeah, and you can be a great team into you know the final seconds of a clock
But it also means that if you make one mistake you don't have time to fix it
Yeah, the team gets one good read and puts an extra player in their bomb site
Suddenly that's more resources to flush them out
Basically to find very well here
And this is a not a great buy
It's just Molledoy with the save and everyone else on glocks
One P250. Molodoy essentially has to go hero mode.
This is wild.
Look at all the nades.
They're out right now.
Surprise, surprise.
Double sight.
Frozen just going to tap those blocks out, and Molodoy will not get a shot off on the
or.
An overwhelming defense with double nades to boot, and you can go lost to middle.
Got to appreciate the way they just jump on now with everybody.
Okay?
It's broken going down.
And it's a bit of a bounce back here for FaZe as they pick up two rounds.
They quickly get themselves into an anti-eco because they did considerable damage in all
those eco-ing rounds that they have for themselves, so it's been a pretty wild half.
It's been a full task in terms of how well FuryA played, but I'm not surprised to see
that FaZe are starting to come back into it.
Yeah, three out of the last four rounds and only two casualties across those rounds.
So FaZe are building bank for the end of the half, FuryA forcing up, but they're
I'm not going to break phase, this is just about maintaining a winning half.
Why not be able to do it? It's felt like the centerpiece of this T-side. 13 and 5 on Molodoy.
Who else has been reliable for Furia? It's hard to say.
Yeah, the answer is no one really.
Just players in certain moments, but no consistency.
We're trying to improve the shots. We have double-urcs again. This is more standard for Furia with Quesarotto late in B.
This is great for a post-quant, but anything prior to that is going to leave Furia essentially
a disadvantageous hit.
You can do it with a lot to do out under.
You wonder how long Brokey Holton can consider he's solo in his position.
Jacob with a nice jiggle, and then you hear that drop, C2, put that ball atop down,
so it's big info right now for Furia, or for a phase rather.
And late, late in the round again.
You can't leave. It's even now or never. Fallen is looking pretty committed to the side of the map, so they just threw the smoke.
Molodoy, an outstanding entry. Yuri as well, with eyes on him from the jungle, but Molodoy is taking it all.
Deep Smoke is going to give the room to move, and there's nothing Twist can do here.
There are too many players. That look, not even needed. Brokey is boxed in.
That's just ridiculous, the way that Molodoy gets his kill, but that's kind of just what needed to happen, because that smoke block was at the right moment.
You went away without dying, and now Furia get a 7th round.
And this is where we can see that, you know, they're in a tough situation, but it's still 5v5.
It's a little late, but now like, these are the kinds of rounds that Furia should be winning.
Can't tell me the jump.
That's one way to clear the corner.
Yeah.
It's hard carrying right now.
Yeah, definitely.
Found his triple here and he picked up the all-pocket time, so if you are gonna have that for this final round of their T side
A far better look on Mirage than yesterday
Broke he has gone
absent
Such a key round to win. This would have been like fear of saving and
Very likely 6x6
That was enforcing up to get here as well with glills
So Mordor literally puts them on his back and Furia hunts for one more.
Kinda there are a lot of risks taken in middle yesterday but he is being far more quiet in
his position today.
I get an engagement bait of the twist but again it looks like Fallen teeing up mid
mid utility to give you a kind of fighting chance they go back towards the ramp
Jacob and frozen double set flashes good Jacob jumps out and frozen is committed
to this corner but Molotow missed shot the top comes in there's still time to
bail with Kaseratu towards feet and maybe that's the best option here for
Furia but your kinder says I have connector shows him how it's done
And now he popped through the ramps hook again. Jacob twice over is felled in this position. That bomb is going back
Yeah, so Rato is looking for the entry and that's who's gonna miss that second window case Rato will get out ahead of him
But he's making noise and that's net you six health the difference. It's enough
Can he stock the bomb is the big question?
Molochoi jumping in put down low by that dink and net you has time to reposition easy kill with a bomb
Five but make no mistake about it. Furia have woken up in this bottom of the group match
Welcome back to the ROG Laboratory. Today we have on hand the ROG Harp 2 and the ROG
Falcon. Now back in Hong Kong we use these launders when we were testing the OLED
monitors and well today I was thinking we've got to find some kind of way to
put them head-to-head. Yeah there's only some kind of scientific way to try this
out. You think what I'm thinking? Gives on keyboard.
All right, Launders, pregame talk. What are your thoughts on the falchion? I have
lowered the actuation point so that I feel like Xantaras right now. I've got
two sets of WASD. It feels like I've got like an M64 controller. Okay. Spacebar
helps me shoot. It's a new wave of minimalism that we've got for
Counter-Strike players keeping it very simple here like a formula one driver right now. Okay, so that's one thumb six fingers
That's a lot of mousepad you got there that's because mohan I plan on hitting you with the flick
Whenever I need to you know that his harp is so light that I think that's gonna place my advantage today
Oh, what are you doing for your keyboard buttons? Well, I have gone a and D on mouse four and five
OK, because it's all about the strafe.
Left click, still shoot.
Right click is forward, just in case I've got to close the gap.
And then M-Wheel up and down both jumps
so that I can hit some B-Hawks while I style on you.
Now, I'm Mohan, you ready?
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
And the inaugural ROG Cup is underway.
Oh, my gosh, a headshot.
Whoo!
That was a good shot.
Thank you.
Here he's got it.
I'm going to, yo, you know what, mercy.
It's hard to aim with just the mouse.
Oh!
Oh, no.
That hit you.
You're going to be jumping right now?
No.
Wait, I can't jump at all.
I'm closing the distance, dude.
Like a shark in the water.
Whoa!
The one thing I have to remember is I can't actually pull down my recoil.
I can see you doing this.
I just can't stop.
Winner takes all.
Winner takes all.
All right, congratulations off that round you win.
Thank you.
I am the big winner.
And to be honest, I had a hunch.
I had a hunch that the mouse would be Victor here.
This might seem like my serve are more important,
but I've honestly been impressed by the utility
of just using a keyboard.
They didn't even know I could do all that.
And so at the end of the day, we've
learned two things.
Firstly, that I am always humble in victory.
And secondly, that when it comes to Counter-Strike,
aim remains king.
Can you play with just a keyboard?
I guess.
Should you?
No, probably not.
Thank you guys for stopping by the ROG Labs one more time.
And, well, crazy idea.
How about next time we just combined it to that?
[?].
You may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed,
but at least they're off the floor.
Mirage offers much more here for Furia
after their first tee side of play a nice start from Molotoy to this series,
popping off as Brokey goes a little bit quieter,
but FaZe are not out of the chance.
I was very impressed by the five rounds they got.
I mean, it showed us why they won Dust2 in the first place.
I'm just glad to see that.
Let's keep talking, let's keep suggesting things.
That we cannot put it wrong foot forward.
We just had a great Dust2, okay?
And we'd say very proactive.
Like your teacher.
Yeah.
Positively reinforcing.
Definitely, I mean encouraging the comms, but yeah, the twist is actually doing a great job so far
It seems like NKJ is actually doing a good job when we you know from what we could see
But
I bet you look at him 10 and 7. Yeah, and he was Bianca the whole half as well
That was case director, I think he got spotted or at least thought he got spotted he saw them
So we tried to storm out of that position, but
Interesting position. I mean, even though it's 4v5, like look at the map. They're not worried about A,
they believe FaZe are just going to pause and then play again and hit this B site.
They're pretty correct about it. The longer they wait, more insecurity can breed. But at the moment,
they have MoloGuy watching the B flank. They have an underpass player. Now the rotations come in.
It's too hot man. What an ace
Wait a second that's not even something we've really talked about no, I mean that's his best moment yet
It's an emergency, you know loan substitution
And he really is showing out now why he's putting on his highlight reel because this guy has three events in the face jerseys
prove he's worth his salt. Ow! Right now he's making a cake. No kidding. I feel the aura as well.
Garagin really can integrate anyone. He's so good with bandits. Make way.
Oh, hey. Oh, yeah. Oh. It's
mean. Yeah. Meaning. Oh, you
kind of are going quite in this
round. No, no smoke. One pistol
highlight to another. You kind
of back site causing concern
here for phase back their way
back in on the fall and this
player's flooding out the
market right now. They line
up for working Jacob. So no
Serato can get back in this game. Oh dear, this 5-7 can hit like a truck.
Jacob's painfully low. It could easily be a 1v1.
He doesn't want to move, but his teammate has to cross.
Netsu says he can't get to you. Or can he?
Jacob won't swing for the trade.
Kcerofen knows he hasn't boxed in.
Netsu moves into the site. They can peek this one together.
Serato is absolutely squeezing all he can from this position.
One bullet will do it.
And the winner of the game is back in the game.
And just as he says there.
0-5 since round five and then puts on a 1v3 clutch.
And they played that.
They definitely played that wrong.
I feel like B-Trams is in the future with some beef.
They needed to double peek from the inside of people.
It was actually Jacob just going out wide.
And he's the one who's low.
He's really relying on, obviously, the kill to come down.
But why leave it up to chance like that?
Because the whole time Nets you have this cross, I'm just thinking, it's fine, right?
Case-Rotter won't wait forever, and as he moves in, I thought surely they'd peak default together.
He could have also swung to trade as soon as he peaked.
Yeah, right, had a really good chance at that, so...
It was messy, wasn't it?
Definitely called out a mistake for Jacob.
Yeah.
Sour days a little bit, last round.
And suddenly, what was a tied game on the line...
...looks very favorable to Furia on the better half.
For the greatest feat yet, they'll come in with no utility, no pistol upgrades.
Haha!
It's a round that's one, it's like one out of ten thousand times.
Yeah, greatest defeat, I think.
You know what, I'm getting through this one.
Got Furia, full out in middle.
Guns blazing.
And Kaserato woken back up in this game, so...
Something here for Fallen.
For the grenade to back him up.
Oh, it's not letting them go down into that B site.
So you came to triple and there we go.
Furia taking a concise lead here in the second half.
Closing out on C side was already going to be difficult,
but you don't get your anti-ecos.
Almost want to say, forget about it.
I mean, that was the chance, right?
Yeah.
Convert pistol, win first gun.
You're in the playoffs.
Now, we're thinking about Nuke.
But I don't want to get ahead of myself,
Because Furia have been rocky lately.
True.
Yeah, not necessarily delivering on there.
Commonly good sides.
Right in the mid control here for Furia.
He has to use his smoke to stay behind that.
Something in parks.
barely skirts out of there before the top bit fades
Uri and his sight, kicking off Jacob who's had a bit of trouble in these last few rounds
and so Faze have to bail him out, get to it with a nice trade
Molodoy spraying away
three on two now and Faze on their last legs
a little smoke shot, might be enough for Molodoy
Suspicious about the right thing
Yeah, back in spawn as well, you can but this is cheeky
This is not your first clear
Such low health too.
One bullet is all it takes, a single step, maybe, and that's you might just activate your kinder, but
patiently waiting as that gun goes down. People, they will line up for your kinder.
That's excellent. It's a trap late. And a 10th round one here for Furia.
Again, we're going to have to see some kind of answer on a rifle from FaZe to see if they've got anything going for them.
Getting those first three to start the half off and we can say, okay, now they've got rounds to play with,
That's all the kids right now. We know theory of
Other fast can't hear unstoppable on Mirage
Pretty damn good right now
Back and forth at the start of our first half here. You're winning it out
Finding the force by after losing pistol here
They are in the swing of things well and truly it's another eco round for phase
Just a couple of bits and bobs here.
Eagles and Tec-9.
I can really know how you win the game from this point phase.
11-6, likely.
And you gotta be near about flawless.
Super impressive what the kind of setups they pulled out in that, you know, the CT side, and you think that whatever they brought there, you'd get even more on the T side.
A couple of nades missed.
We're just doing it with every gun you've given.
That would be nice, and it is being conceded, but it doesn't take the chance in case Morato cleans up house.
Five alive for Furia, just to wipe the sweat off their brow as we get into, safe to say, the final chance for FaZe on the Rage.
The ideas?
Brokey not the same beast he was back on Dust2.
That would have been unthinkable that, you know, we end the series and Molladoi is not
playing as well as Brokey in current form right now, but every little bit of effort that
like all of Molladoi's kills when he's top frag it's just such a high impact player
that if he's getting two kills, it's usually just the whole round is one instantly.
It's wild because there's so much pressure being put on him as a
not just the upper for Furia, the guy who's taking the up from fall in,
you know, considering how popular he is in Brazil now of all places,
probably couldn't expect that two years ago.
But he's also getting all that new pressure,
trying to serve Fallen's story because it's going to be his last year, which might be nice as well.
But on top of all that, he's had some problems in some of the big games.
Yeah, and then, you know, for a while, it was just, okay, he's got two majors on his record that were blemishes,
but, you know, he's done well in arenas, he's got wins, he's got some finals.
Four trophies towards the end of last year, two in big arenas.
But now we're looking at this here and we're saying, okay, there's more notches where he's disappeared.
In fact, in Rio, I think they could have beat Vitality on both those maps in that playoff game if you just played
15-20% better if you play like his normal self. I honestly think they would have beat Vitality there in Brazil
Saying could be said
No, are you talking to your kinder? No, well now I thought you're gonna go into your kinder as well this year because
he was I mean he was like top tier in in the last year and
His form, I think it's them too, who just, when they get kills, are so high-impact
that you can just, you can feel it so much. Like, what I always say with this team is that,
you know, Quesarado, I didn't put him higher up on my top 20 list last year because I felt
he was pretty much the same guy that we got every single year. Always very good.
He just had a better team, so the one more, if you got deeper runs, his stats look better
overall. But I think he still relies on players like Molledoy and Yikinder to get
opening kills to make sure they can convert rounds. He can be a great
closer, but the real difference in this new Furia, the difference in the Furia
wins trophies and not, it's really those two. For sure. That's been proven in the
trophies they've won. You can do the grand final merchants.
Right now we're just talking about getting out of a group stage. That's
proven easy a second time for Furia here in Texas. You probably couldn't
and asked for a better draw as well.
I mean, game were leading yesterday into phase.
I don't play half of the game,
they've got bitter history against
and a bit of a back and forth as well.
But hey, a more reassuring mirage.
Or let's just say, if they win this round,
all the problems are out the window.
Fury will be swimming into a third map,
with Molotov there, to flush out Natu,
and a double palace push.
Fury, don't sit back and wait.
I
Rip the cord
Saw through phase 5v4
They're just gonna
So we're more annoying
Fuck this bastard!
To put him in position
And just like that
You blink this round
And game might be over
This is a more annoying
Masterclass on Mirage
Yeah, completely. It's almost with every weapon as well.
You kidder comes forward with the Palace flank on top of it.
There was no chance that base are going to win that round.
Right through the consmoke.
And all of base full blind.
Momentarily sorry.
He boxed on a new this yesterday.
Everybody.
The one player who's not actually blind has his back turned.
Not back in time.
12-6 and Final punted it with one AK here for FaZe Clan.
Nuke is our decider, a lot of question marks there.
But me, just a moment, Paula tries to make it so.
Final dish attempt on this B rush for FaZe, getting one entry at least.
But it's messy on short, molotov traded, low health and mollies burn through FaZe.
through phase look at the HP it's absolutely worth considering all that
Molly almost put nets you dead to re-help the difference as the bomb goes down
off here you're really gonna save I guess they don't know how much they've done
they've done so much but yeah it says a net you entries I mean maybe we get a
timing yeah it's they've wasted so much time planting a fury are now
considering it all over again they're going back out under it's gonna be like
a last second hope in hope phase think you save I think they just they know
they can get every kill in the exit yeah phase shouldn't exit CT so that's the
position that fury have given up this bomb is big on cat they're gonna have to
get past these bricks Yuri has apps so feels like all three kills are there for
fury it's rather with the one and now two more given over and so at least
This furia maximizing damage on the way out, except for Brody the bomb will go for it.
Five rounds in a row going to be needed now from FaZe.
Lucky to get through that one, I'd say.
Big time.
It was close, but here, it's Netshu's entries, and she's been so good when it comes to
hitting B at least for this team, so the pistol lays.
That 2K.
Pretty much the only bright spot about this T-side so far.
still hanging on to a timeout at peace. Looks like this one's for twists. Actually, it's
furri taking it so. He's already solidified their idea. I think someone's still cracking
jokes which is good. It's the low pressure phase in a honeymoon phase. Yeah, maybe it's
a honeymoon phase. Almost what I said, it's so fast for that to be possible, but. I'm
I'm even cultivating the marriage here.
Yeah, congrats, I have two here on the team.
It's the same thing here. For a moment, Fallen's alone, but Horigoi's moving quick with that orb.
He's quickly aggained up, Horigoi gets a cross shot, and that might be at the beginning of the end of Furia's map.
He's a far reassured return to Fallen for Furia. They came in cold, here's the four words.
But now under the Texas sun, heating up into the third map of New York.
One more to go for Fira on the road to recovery after it didn't work out from them on that first map in a Molo-Going masterclass,
which Hugo said so masterfully and it's with all of the setup in terms of what the stress that he is under
and the development that he's going through and the fall in retirement and to have a performance like this when elimination is on the line.
Kudos.
this was serious business for
Mola and he got it done in a way
that was really impressive.
I saw a lot of great rifling
from him.
I feel like that's something I
don't usually get to praise it
for.
I mean, even for further context
here, people may not really
recognize, you know, his op is
amazing.
When he has the AWP in his
hands, he is there to rival
the likes of people like
Zywoo, like Monacy and those
kinds of moments.
But this was a game where if
I counted it correctly, it was
maybe seven or eight pop kills
total.
But a lot of the work was
with the rifle and that is an aberration for him because with the AK in the last three months if you
just look at his ratings on those rounds it's a sub 1.0 HLTV rating like that that's a pretty bad
offer for on the rifle like you got even even a couple guys in the space that you wouldn't
really rank as highly as oppers tend to have better numbers so to get it done in this fashion
was instrumental in their victory. Yeah love that that picture you painted there right because
that. I think it's a great
opportunity for him to get
back to the start because it's
not only about the incremental
advantages, maybe in one style,
but in both and he did just
about everything they needed
him to do. It has to be said
that all of fury I had a
better showing them they did
before this. So let's break
it down a little bit in the
start because we were seeing
the praises of twists T sides
before this. This wasn't
where they started, though,
and you did want something
out of nature in terms of
being that be anchor. That
this great round number two before this one where you're able to find the upset
yourself even the scoreline one to one but opening pick goes the way and I just
loved in this round from fury it how little utility they had but how every
single piece mattered so much the initial flash to get the fight for
yekindar in favor of him over over frozen but then they use the last two
smokes that they have as they group up go for the a hit in total and this
was in a moment of transition where phase we're saying okay we got to
recuperate figure out what's going on but because fury reacted so quickly
to their own opening pick.
They caught phase as they had nobody on the bomb side as they were still trying to pick up the pieces.
And then you could see just all health broke loose as they had that space.
The players are just kind of dancing around these corners and phase couldn't get back into this one.
So a little bit of egg on the face of the face players who were unable to pick that one up.
But also I just think that that was the clinical nature of what made Furious such a devastating team to play against in 25.
Yeah, I saw the glimpses of that in that in that first half for sure.
then moving on to the second map, the second half rather, it starts with an ace out of the
new guy, but the problem is they can't parlay it immediately in the next round. And I feel
like that's such a backbreaker.
It is because you're not going to get many highlights out of Netshu. He did have a great
map in total, but to have an ace in the pistol like this felt like it was setting
yourself up to even the score line. And then it immediately kind of comes crashing
down, but it props to the new guy on the block either way because I think he's
he's already proven a lot here on this roster,
fill in some pretty big shoes.
And yeah, there it is,
the crazy Deagle spam here from Yackindor.
Like that second kill,
that's unheard of right there.
And K. Serato just beastly in this moment,
the way he just slinks around the angle so carefully.
I just love players that no matter what the situation is,
they're totally lofty.
K. Serato is one of those specimens.
Yeah, I love that you see it.
They're just like,
okay, we're going to take this one kill at a time.
Bam, bam, win it.
because honestly, they had to stop the momentum
because for the same money,
Faze could have run up this side
and maybe have won this map of Furia,
having now truly and well woken up.
That is the question, can they parlay it into Nuke?
We'll talk about that a little bit later,
but when you look at the positives, right,
what then faltered for Faze?
Because I'm starting to think
that this is a bit of a gambit for them, right?
They didn't have that much time to prepare.
Twist as an IGL, you only have so much time
to prepare this many T-Sides, that much scouting.
So is there not only their luck running out,
but maybe what they have in the chamber?
They were just painted into a corner in this veto in general,
because in the second phase,
even though they banned Overpass
and Furia's win rate on it lately,
that hasn't looked that great,
it's a map that they were the best on in 2025.
So you're scared of that.
And so you leave Nuke in the pool and I get,
you know, we'll get into the nitty gritty
of the map later,
but there's just not that many places
to go for this phase clan.
I feel like they wanna play maps like Dusk,
of the team. They're going to
be the first team to get into
the team. They're going to be
the first team to get into the
garage anubis right now. They
even got two of those in this
veto here. But if you want to
get into what went wrong on
Maraj, Yes, some of the CT
sides. They lost those
opening picks. Maldore was
super clutch in terms of his
rifling, which I was really
unexpected for me. And then
on the T side themselves.
They just couldn't take space
cleanly. They every time they
try to get into middle feel
like the fury of players
were picking one off here
there, thinning the numbers
have to play the game that way. We'll see if they can do it on Nuke. We'll talk about that later.
We do have a poly market prop to talk about as well. And this one is Will a phase make a roster
change before GTA 6, which is alleged to come out November, November 19th, something like that.
Yeah. Yeah. What do you think? I mean, I'd have to read the fine print on this one a little bit
more because technically nature is a standard. So I don't know why they wouldn't make some
kind of move before November. I mean, I don't feel like they and I do think that things
are working out nicely for them, but we know that frozen probably has a handful of suitors,
so they're going to have to try to retain him in that time. That's a lot of time to try to keep
a guy impressed with a roster that is working with a couple rookies here and there. I would say,
if I just had a pick, don't follow my advice. Yes, yes, they will. They will make a change.
Okay, follow his advice. Blame him.
Please, please. Awesome. Amazing. All right. So with that,
we are going to take a break and when we come back, we'll talk all about Nuke.
and
stay playing with Nechu, a twist as IGL, obviously not the result you would have hoped for, but
how did it feel overall?
I mean we lost the game, as you said, we would have obviously liked to win.
You know, first map, lots of takeaways for us, also on the second map, I mean we could
say that we almost had them on the second map over there, but you know, they are
still a better team, we don't have that much experience together, we only had one
week of practice before this tournament, and yeah, I mean, we're just taking
this tournament as a learning experience to see where we stand against the good teams
over here and see how we do it.
For you as a player can you tell me a little bit about what must also have been a shock
for you, you know, with Karrigan leaving and you've been under a stoodalage for such a
long time, switching IGLs, it's just, it's a lot to deal with.
Yeah, it's life.
People come and go.
Yeah, you just have to move on, you know, kind of think about the past, just,
you know, focus on the future.
I think a lot of people are thinking about your future, right?
There's a lot of noise hanging around.
There's Swiss who obviously gave that comment of,
I really want Frozen to feel comfortable
so daddy can build this with me.
So I was wondering how you try and keep all that noise out
and how you make sure that you can be the best player
that you can be, even if the cards are not really
in your guys' favor.
I mean, I mean, throughout my career
there has been lots of ups and downs.
Lots of different line-up switches,
people leaving, coming in, you know, had to rebuild from the stretch multiple times.
And, you know, the only way to keep going forward is to just focus on the task, you know, what's ahead of you.
Take it day by day and not think about what could have been, what can be, and, you know, just be in the moment.
Life lessons from Frozen. Be in the moment. Don't think about what could have been.
Well, now you're only one game away from the arena, so perhaps you should start thinking about it.
back in this one. Just like yesterday,
they have to go all the way all three maps.
They didn't do it versus Gamer Legion yesterday,
but they've got a chance on Nuke to set the record straight.
We got some stoic answers there from frozen,
but I want a little bit of emotion here from Fury.
Okay.
Backs against the wall.
This is a moment that you probably did not foresee
to even be in the Losers bracket game here.
We got some of that there on Mirage.
I expect them to continue full force there on Nuke,
and Nuke, right their wrongs from their yesterday loss
on the same map versus game religion.
Talk to me a little bit about what you saw yesterday.
What absolutely has to be rectified for Furia
on Nuke specifically.
So it felt like Furia yesterday
had a very clear game plan.
They wanted to punish that outside yard,
but it was game religion that just kept
throwing wrinkles at them,
that they had so many different setups.
It wasn't really necessarily mid-round re-aggression,
as much as it was just a lot of great option coverage
in different formations from the side of game religion.
If I'm phase, I'm looking at that as a blueprint.
Which ones worked?
Which ones didn't work?
How do we meld that into our system?
Because there's a lot that phase
have to change themselves here.
While integrating Nate to you into this lineup,
there's overlap.
I mean, he played the same position
that Frozen likes to play here at ramp.
So I think you have to try to bootstrap yourselves
by looking at what caused Furia such a difficult time
yesterday and try to apply that to yourself.
You feel like that Nate you had a comfortable time
in the past on Nuke?
It would have been one of the maps that Ence showed some more strength on.
But Ence were kind of in their own, they had their own problems.
I'm not going to get into it. As an individual, I'd say, yeah,
it's truly, it's a map that he caught my eye on, along with a couple of the guys from Ence,
especially back in their Espo run, although as a while ago.
Yeah, what I'm hearing is maybe copy a bit of Gamer Legion's homework from yesterday on Nuke Outside,
building some contingency plans.
So you talked to me earlier about Andy Stratton from the side of Ence and the coach
and then in combination with Twist, right?
We have some tape, of course, of him being IGL on this map.
I don't know if we can delve too deep into that,
but what does he have to show?
Well, I feel like this is where it's going to be really difficult
to just try to mid-round, because this was not
in his real wheelhouse.
And with the comms patched in that they did, in fact,
Furia won the knife.
They're probably starting on the CT side.
Twist definitely has his work cut out for him.
I don't even know how he's going
to try to right the wrongs, because they had,
I think around a 40% win rate with liquid on this map
when they were playing with him at the helm.
I saw some improvements, okay?
So on Dust2 and on Anubis,
I saw some nice signs of what he's bringing on the T side.
Mirage is a little bit more of what I sort of expected
in his first outing as a leader.
So he's gonna have to pull up a lot of data here,
pull up a lot of strats with NKJ.
And that's the one thing.
I mean, I think NK himself probably has more
than a handful of ideas of just kind of peace,
set peace plays that they can run
to make things easier for Twiz.
The question will be, does this phase have enough in the tank?
Does this new phase have enough in the tank
to immediately parlay it into a playoff?
Birth, it would be absolutely huge,
but Furia and playoffs, they are almost synonymous.
Let's see if they can bring it home.
This is what it all comes down to.
Nuke, the cider between Furia and FaZe
and only one spot left in the Dickies Arena
when all is said and done here in Fort Worth, Texas.
FaZe were never meant to be in the conversation
and neither were Furia in this lower bracket.
It's not like a safe opening game against Gamelige, but they got beat out on this very map yesterday
I'm a big fan of the way that now he's kind of characterized this map so far
I think that it's definitely true. This is where we saw some struggles with twist of course
His time on liquid didn't count
We have a new team that he's playing with and honestly the firepower and the team are just a lot better overall
So I feel like you've shown a lot of improvements.
I'm actually quite liking NKJ of all the recent coaches that days have had.
It's been hard to see their direct impact on the game.
And for some reason, as soon as he's taken the tack pause,
you see the round is super unique and it works out very well.
So liking that synergy a little bit, got some words from him.
I do think this is still, you know, 70-30 situation for Furia,
especially considering how they look so much better in map 2.
and Molladoi is now the best player in the server as he should be.
Well, which ex-liquid in-game leader will win today?
Will it be...
Where, so will it be...
Yikinda!
We'll find out.
Or fallen.
Yeah, he's here as well.
Well, they've had a lot of them.
Based on T-Side Star,
Fury with Knight.
We go right into the lobby.
Julie's...
Pop-Hut.
A bit of a...
standard...
Pissed around these days, the silo nades, and the nets you can drop into main, you can find very late behind red though, so might be an easy fight here.
He's the right guy to put up there right now, you know, with that ace.
Not twists on the main drop?
I know.
Let's see what he's got. Okay, Serato, therefore, Frozen's got the pick as well, and they just storm this site.
They didn't even need the main drop.
He doesn't even get off silo.
You're dead at the door damn that was impressive
And here he comes in slowly now and through that heaven smoke earlier
Yeah, that's the energy crazy mode on it crazy style
Yeah
We had a coming to do it differently, baby, you got a new roster you vibe just dropped and its phases
I don't think Nia would ever laugh like that
I think you're on to something.
Totally cheese-hit the furio.
Every late need landed perfectly last round.
It's bound to happen.
I've seen some 5 second moments today, that is for sure.
If you're gambling in this round, they're double lower, you're a lone top site.
You know what they say, if you're gambling, keep going.
The wind is right around the corner here, for fury, but maybe not as it's found because
He's a little bit weaker sight, only one man in position. Yuri does phase of smoke and so, how hot they go, Yuri, good timing.
And he needed that one clean, he could be onto something here, he could have stormed it, MP7 threads through two heads.
And suddenly, Waris avoided for now, Frozen will let his teammate take this fight.
They don't need the smoke. This is... converted pistol here for phase.
It's still kicking.
Someone's dying outside.
You're with me though, right?
This is still like, it feels like theory, it's like almost an eventuality until faves
prove otherwise that they can pick this win up or are you feeling higher about faves
right now?
I'm feeling higher than I was after yesterday for sure because I feel like we just saw
or like bare bones phase and they didn't look too,
didn't really have anything amazing
and NetU was fine but wasn't exactly popping off.
Despite feeling better about face,
yeah, it's still proven right,
like I'm gonna hold Fury as a favorite.
Let him know.
You had to be there.
Yeah, you know, I'm just,
I'm not holding Fury or something like
Titan that can't be beaten right now
because of yesterday especially.
True.
That's true.
So, favorite, yeah, but until proven otherwise.
If Snacks can do it, why can't Twists?
I love that logic.
It's really true because, to be honest, even the way
that Snacks called the rounds of it, he wasn't calling.
I feel like Twists actually calling a little bit better,
to be honest.
Some of the plays that we've gotten so far,
some of the setups put himself in a strong position here option to play on his own timing
the rest of phase where he's in lobby is a bit of a stack on this hot site foreplay
is in position right now it can be a spot that should be good info as to where phase
we're ending up with twisters in this position you've got to be extra careful on this
A site this is a prime heaven wrap like his position definitely would lead them to imagine that it's going to be an upper-head
smallest bit of information but
Is accurate
Capitals gonna get shredded again. Oh good. So my spacing nice even trading either
No kills here for Furia, but any damage, actually, 500 HP win for FaZe Clan.
Just a reassuring round on this T side, but let's see what Furia have now with guns coming
to play.
I think of all the things I'm really impressed by the spacing when they've exacted, or like
the one huge mistake they made was that one 2v1 vs Kcerato on the B side where Jacob
went the wrong direction.
That was one moment, but they didn't look connected, but almost every other round we've seen from FaZe, like they really know...
When they have that trigger point, it's time to hit, and they all explode at the same time.
Main roof molly here for Fury, but it's late smokes for FaZe, so no disruption on that execute.
We're gonna effort them down here, while the players join them.
Kind of shifts hands.
How do you feel about those nerfed ladder movement?
Nah, not a big fan of that to be honest.
Ladders just getting easier every day.
He's smaller too.
Kind of wait, is he jiggling or is he pixel gap?
Alright, we talked about the dangers of either one.
Actually, I think the speeds up twist a little bit.
little bit he saw that mold away went back into heaven and now I feel like yeah
his guard's gonna be down this is free for twist and he doesn't take the kill
yes he does grabs that one falling on ramp twist goes up heaven instead wait
they gotta be watching this oh almost like down there by Europe but you can't
drop it out then this has gone so wrong for Furia they really thought
that was the a hit with twist position instead B has been lost in the
down time. FaZe get that bomb down. Fantastic spot to be in for FaZe. Furia are probably
considering the save.
I was just a heads up lurk from Twists. I mean, he again, he saw Molotov looking towards
the ladder, just saw his back while he was walking inside and used that to get from
Unbreakable all the way to hell. That's a moment of timing that you've just got
to write off if you're Furia. You can't think, you know, hyperanalyze that because
You don't even really know what happened, but in the end, this is a fourth round on a T side here for FaZe.
Even just the detail of him going up Heaven, yeah, he dies for, well, no more kills, but look what that did for your King's position.
Yeah.
Right, if he goes ramp, it's obviously going to just be the B-Live for your King though, pulls back into the vent, loses that info on Loa, and then gets caught in between positions.
Yeah, he was just going to make his way back to Deacon, maybe go on the stairs for a headshot angle.
You could have put a smoke down, bought more time for them, can rotate, there were so many other options available for Fury, but...
I also love that you just take the kill off of the car.
Yeah.
What else are you milking him for?
Yeah.
Alright, face, just a spectacular start to this map.
Still no molotov either.
I
Zero damage rubbing it in for three of them
Oh worse because Molly like it's a shop behind the box
His rots are crouching
Second of three there's still two players here, and you're not clearing wait. No, he's missed it
Totally right through the eye of the storm the twist into main how's he gotten there sure the backstab comes in the dropping
That he's like in the process. No, they're not back up goes frozen. These are on top
Take the win while you've got it. There is nobody home
I mean however they're doing it twist is actually winning rounds off these larks
So he's just walked past two outside players
He didn't even clear case Arado talked and that's just a matter of fury. Uh, not watching that
Why would they how does K Serato not see him at all?
Is he watching silo?
I don't know, just making sure his gun doesn't stick out, is that what he was doing?
I think the smoke was quite deep.
That's why Twist didn't even see him.
Because K Serato's tucked behind the box, he just doesn't have vision.
But it's insane, you've got, you have two players outside, not even playing passive.
Oh, my. This must be like now you're calling the game with the gaps you've had inside you must be feeling pretty invincible right now. It's your read.
And this is also a great opener. I mean, it's a perfect read on the Molo-Doy's play here. He's insane. Yeah, he's just kind of got his gun.
He's holding Silo, but Fallen is on main roof. He has Silo.
Yeah, that's overlapping 100%.
I mean, I guess it's an angle you can peek the red box there from, but, uh, damn, that's...
Woof! It's a hot start!
Looking at all the wrong places.
Confuriate, look within. Can they find what's been going wrong?
Cause Twists has shot them in the back twice now.
This is gonna be a fiery finish. I mean, the way these rounds have gone, surely, you know, it's a matter of timing, so...
Again, it's not like you're getting totally crushed right now, it's just maybe a little confused.
He's being good on these upstairs hits.
2v2 now both orbs known
So what do you do in this spot because you'd love to be able to cross up in front of the vans and maybe threaten the drop and
They're planning open for a minute. That's no, but yeah, there's no way. It's getting beat
They call the bluff perfectly, but how do they post plan? They're gonna be floating here opposite Vents
Look this cover is it was crosses covered rather it looks pretty good for face
He goes first, he's killed five bullets,
broke he AWP, one B1 and it's fallen.
Well he waits for the mistake, he sees his leg,
he knows what side of the site, broke he is on,
so fallen finally puts a round down range here for Furia
on this CT side.
That was an excellent trade to win through that smoke.
I mean I think he just had to hope
he triangulated him perfectly through it
and he did, so taking out a twist.
That was again, good post-plant,
great entries out of twist to get two
and an even better clutch necessary for Fallen.
He's up for access if it's something else.
Yeah.
Nice double for Caser Arthur, but I mean, feels like a necessity with how clean that entry
comes into cake of...
It's not too late for Furia.
The ballad player's yet to start in this map.
There's still time to recover this half, but I'm going to start right now looking
for the boost over again.
Let's see how the welder can support twists.
It's moving outside again, but there's deep position for your kinder and a shallow smoke.
That is a bad smoke from FaZe to allow them to cross safely.
So they jump through a ramp instead and fall in against nothing.
So all of them here could quick kill Jacob outside and keeping things even onto your kinder.
Down B they go, resetting to Jacob and here's anything but easy.
He's coming in slowly to this, but surely shit's free.
He's going to give it away.
Here he gets his hand.
Okay, you know, phasing these postplots.
Let's see what they got.
Net you.
Time to shine, young man.
Broke you with the orb.
Here's one of them.
Quick shot.
He's still got you.
He left D-Con.
Broke boxing himself into the corner.
I mean, he can't miss from this point out.
Maybe that molotov, a holy molotov!
It hits!
full shot net you have to cover they're gonna go out double-doored again the
pokey hits one more before all is said and done in the running
it's not gonna happen
that Molly it hits him
what is that Molly I was thinking he needs he's gonna hold this because
time's down the thing they could actually drop it on the bomb
he throws it towards ramp it bounces back it's perfect
so bad it works
And my oh my
They isn't a post-plant today even in disadvantages. They have just been despicable. Hello, baby. That's stylish insane
That is
They're dying
That's unreal winning ridiculous rounds
My start off again strong
He's thinking about it. The flash is coming over secret surely. Kinda doesn't need this fine
You'll take a tag. You'll be happy to survive I was he already here shake him off. I don't know how
Question and nobody knows if you drop main or did he just walk red?
Sarato this corner is a coffee
Everybody's missing now twist. Okay, can you get something done on the hot roof stuck up here the entries come in
He's up a hit brutal again. Oh, bro. He picks more die from the sky
It's all that information from twist. He just called out the two spots upper didn't even have to get the kills
Twist running gun out of danger there is no re-smoke and so furia might just consider this performance
He's an orphan. He sees an opportunity to save
What are you saving?
This is ludicrous the amount of attention that fury have outside and twist is just
Teleporting into mini every round
I
How did he get that I did it must have walked right here anyone draw you'd hear the drop
This game man, I have no idea. Oh, he is just cooling rings around fury right now
He's funny every day. Just walk just walked it's one for a walk
7-1 lead. Elimination on the line. We're talking about playoffs but the same time bottom of
rivals here for Furia if they fall on Nuke. This is kind of depressing for Furia because
like I think the way they looked at their game plan like they caught Twist outside last
round there was a bad smoke and they had someone playing in the back of Mini. But
one round it's worth every other round twist is able to get away with all the
space he's wanting to solve all the way walking in hell one round he's walked
in a mini on another he's gotten a kill straight up shooting someone in the back
Kcerados got screwed over honestly but also Kcerados been a guy who hasn't
spotted him as well when he's gone for that rap if they just played in
theory back big garage watching for lurks all of these rounds they would
just counter twists like a million times.
We've got a Mach 10 on a 4-by with 7 grand at the bank.
So is somebody getting quick here for FaZe?
Maybe looking to send a message to Furia at 7-1-up,
fallen to retake on the ramp.
So he's not even committed.
He's going to get his 1 and get out.
So this could be worse for Furia.
But don't think FaZe are going to slow down
in this position you give them the space they're here to take the site it's
rather good damage but it is sent back the other way
FaZe need to get some util in blocks and positions before they take b
they're gonna come down to this post mark. Abended any kind of split so they need to move
pretty quickly at all that's a huge frag. Dude what have we seen all day it's
FaZe's postmars where they've done their best work these retakes have
just been locked out so util gets thrown everywhere here onto furia and
now the clock begins there is no kit. I like them getting out there
I mean, they just established the bomb getting planted.
They have an up and play.
One foot gets spotted.
Only kits in single, so your kinder can't go down for nothing.
Him a molotov in position, and Broke has bested him yet again.
Your kinder moves in with that kit.
He is the pinch on this site.
Nets he caught from ramp, good trade.
Frozen up above in your kinder on his own.
He's going to be down just like the rest of them.
This is FaZe Clan running you down all the way to the playoff.
saw that 9k in the bank for Jacob and he has a mach 10 and one objective that's take ramp control right out of spawn
They gave up on any kind of lurk. They didn't want to do anything outside this time
I think in terms of conditioning they have furious scrambling to figure out a kill twist and
They come through while he's playing retake on turn flight take it lower and again used all their utility right away
But I don't mind that because they've been off like they got an off and lower
They can get dark. They already have a kill when they're coming in
It's just so rare to see those rounds one without control, without the double walk, right?
Sure, like you say, they're buying the time with the nades, but Furious still have both
door controls as they come in together plus a ramp flag that gets a kill.
I agree.
The only thing that is, they blue control their open and double maulied, and maybe
slow down rotations, freaked Furious out, that's the only thing that could have threatened.
I just love the cool, to go from these slow walks to get twists in audacious positions
and then just call a ramp rush on a four by round and blow Furia out of the water.
And then they go back to just shifting around in Lobby because this ever-present threat of the
A execute all game long and it feels like one of those games again where Molodoy just hasn't
been in the position to succeed. Sure, he's had a couple of late 2v2s, a couple of chances,
but for the most part he's been avoided.
avoided totally. I mean, he even got opt once trying to go for that aggressive walk outside.
Starting secret and back big garage. This I feel like to solve the problem.
But here he is.
Oh, that mom out.
That's bad.
Fools back, back side twist.
They've got to be ready for him.
Case Arato turns, but it's he came to spam.
Wash him out.
Oh, what a flake.
I think he did.
Yuri wrong finger on the mouse.
He wishes he only had one button.
4v3 break on the smoke, but frozen tux.
and he takes a headshot angle on 10 health.
Fury are already considering throwing in the towel,
and how can you blame them?
They have just been locked out again.
They caught Twist and didn't get a single kill after that.
Again, another 4v5 for FaZe.
The follow-through on the upper hits is phenomenal.
The amount of players that are delivering entries
when they're trying to hit this top site, it's remarkable.
And not only is Caster off to getting humbled in this game,
but yeah, that was a burst switch for Yuri
in the middle of a fight.
Yeah, on a 90 degree time for Jacob.
Yeah, it seemed like there were two deaths because of it.
Oh, my goodness.
The fence wasn't bad enough.
I mean, this is.
It's the most one sided game so far.
We already saw dust, too.
What?
And they did this without their Molly landing.
Oh
Wait, you got one bullet out of the end actually that doesn't make sense
Either way got nothing done
This is the kind of game I don't think you watch the devil back no go next
Go next tournament go with Donna go with starter
Warped up
Okay, look in there, smoke spam on the cross and Pays again bring Pays, but nothing has failed them yet 4v5 and it's not held them back
What's he oh banging shot you won't frozen in playoffs. Maybe he's coming for you
Double entry down ramp B is gone. Case Arata throws himself into the site
but Brokey gets the combat shot, doors shut in your face.
You can shoot him in, but they've got the cover on the door,
and FaZe are everywhere.
You actually can't make this up.
How'd they even get lower with their secret guys?
Into the site before Ramp even gets taken,
and that's perfectly successful too.
There was a vent drop. Did he just go straight de-con and let them go?
Yeah, I don't know.
It's not enough to...
Everything that could have gone wrong for Fury of this game has.
This is going to be horrible for their confidence game Legion 13 five them but that was off of a two-round T side for furia
This is them on the defensive half now. I know you mentioned there T side is often better than their CT on this very map
Say to say stats are feeling relevant at this point for fury
And he's gone as well so no orb here saved molotov has enough money for glass
I mean, yeah, if they they make this 11-1 who cares if they switch over it doesn't matter how good you are
It's totally up to chance
I'm not on the way that frozen as it's playing the series
Completely freed up
The FaZe are just playing rambunctious, rowdy CS with a little bit of spice from Twist on
these smoke walks, getting himself into excellent positions, getting information for his team,
you fury it out their own rotations that's before you throw in the once every
three rounds just run into a bomb site and safe to say fury are feeling lost
in the source best case to round CT side that sounds fun
I'll have to go.
At least Molotoy will have an op here for round 12.
Nobody with a positive KD on Fury up.
I'm gonna go!
No, okay, that'd be too far.
Hey, but they killed Twizz the last two rounds and still haven't won.
Holy fire, Fave's advantage!
He'll have to go storming into this topside, Fury!
still haven't won.
45, Fave's advantage is still going to be storming into this topside.
Fury recovers in time with the MP9 and delivers a couple before Fave gets shut down.
So Fury are holed onto just two rounds as their tournament life dangles in the balance.
He's not warming up, he's hunting.
It's just a fluke.
You can't drop 30 like that every match.
What possessed God in heaven to make a player like Molladoy?
What did not make Molo die?
I made him.
You trained him, right?
I teach the skill everything.
Discipline, positioning.
We need lineups.
He's ignoring all.
You wanted to see me?
Come sit Daniel.
I've seen your flashbangs.
Did Fulham teach you nothing?
Utilities for people that means...
That's not game sense bro.
That's madness.
Madness?
No.
confidence he's not breaking I don't think he's playing it since he walked it
look Daniel the teams out there they know you're dangerous they're playing
around you they don't want to end up in another hideous group for you if they
don't want to be in highlight real they gonna need one thing and what's
that disconnect he's so intense you think you can keep this up every
single match? They can't stop me. You remind me of me. Just a younger, tick-pot generation.
A little bit less patient, but still very good. You can't coach that. You can only
survive it. Stop trying to coach me. Start following my calls. Ha! Be careful. Last
time I said it, they made me an ideal.
Is this how roster changes happen?
because fashion 10 rounds on the T side of Nuke,
a twist master class here in this last game.
I mean, I don't even know if he even knows about it totally.
Like, so many times he got into many,
didn't even see a target.
I need us to do everything with 100%.
Here comes, talk to each other, call names, respond.
It starts with that.
I love it.
I mean, the only way they could mess this up
is like losing their fundamentals
because it definitely looked like they were communicating perfectly in that first half.
Well, this is it for Fury, I mean, sure, you can always hope for a force by wind, but if they're not winning pistol, pack it up.
Put them on the next plane to Kazakhstan because...
Dude, that's such a bad way to start that event, like...
10-2. You have nothing left, full send, A site, back site, and it's Jacob picking them off with a pistol.
There's something Faze been good at. If it's not forced by wind, it is straight up.
They have done it again. Oh, Jacob, four frags, pushes Faze that one step closer,
and Brokey just slaps him out of the server.
Yeah, that's it. I mean, what can you say? NKJ, I feel like he said exactly what they needed to hear.
Just don't get too excited. They know how to win. They've been great on pistols to be have so many good pistol in players right now
Especially with nature putting together an ace
Who's take up again
Another multi-kill pistol. I mean this
serious
For us
They can actually just take out your right now. That's gonna be a headline
Fire and it's not just taking them down. It's not like, you know
We had his back and forth and face clutch out of the end they have smoked them in this map off the furia won't back up a mirage
Trying to clean house
Whistle down now and shake it up above with pinpoint precision
There's nothing in this eco.
It's a sign of the times that Furia don't even force by.
They want their guns.
And this is their last chance.
This is unreal.
I mean, you just like,
it's, I feel like this actually happens sometimes.
And I'm always perplexed by it.
I mean, of all players to come off the team
and in the fashion that had happened
and with the confirmation from that twist interview
that you know everyone was caught off guard a little bit no goodbye tweets on
all that you could have how could you expect to bounce back like this this is
unreal they got hanged out by Navi yesterday but they still want those playoffs
against Furia no less felt like the easy run was gone with gamer legion getting
an upset you can just open the main Furia try to replicate what they did on
that T side and there's nobody home not now double entry and so delayed
8 gratification here for FaZe.
Here, you do find that integral rifle round
to open up the game with a chance, the slimmest chance.
The slimmest chance, yeah.
So long come back.
It's not the worst way to lose a round,
either, for FaZe right now.
They keep an op.
They have three guns.
So they just have a surplus in their economy, at least.
Frozen's laughing on the stage.
Yeah.
It does feel like the wind is imminent.
Like we're still looking at a fear with no no heroes on this team. No Molledoy carry. No one's positive KD
Not even remotely to be honest. It's
Rogi's back to form
You're just laughing look where's even laughing about who's cracking jokes man
What the hell is going on the scariest space boss everyone's just joking around man while losing
It's like god yeah, it's like the major final except they're winning
Hold them one round here, that's for sure
three game you really can't mess this up I mean I've cursed some games before my
day not this one you're into that last breath coming they're doing sweaty here
look at this fake a lot of exec on this a site to get players down secret Yuri
He hopes for an overextension and Twist doesn't give it.
It's the first time playing against Curia.
He doesn't know about their T side just yet.
They don't know about his orb.
Yeah, that's true.
The door, the knife, Quesarato, one for one.
That opens up the interpretation.
Two left.
Not ready for that, are you?
Brokey and B.
They're going to come back up.
He's going back up, and so are they.
Into this A side, a spin in the air for Fallen.
He's still got tricks.
Four on two.
And that should be enough.
If a Furia that shouldn't attempt
That was a seriously good T-Round.
I mean, we could say that.
Every single adaptation that they had to try to go for some map control back was countered.
They had a player waiting in squeaky, a player waiting in hut.
While they had a lower cross and an outside play,
I mean, it felt like they had six players on the map, Furia.
They made it.
Oh, are they going to dive in?
No, they're going for the full embarrassment finish.
Well, they're not, Furia aren't falling for anything right now, they say, no chance
with Lenny.
No!
No chance, FaZe, you're not meant to, you're not allowed to, but they're going to play
off if they get this bomb defused.
No!
FaZe plan, taking down Furia in a despicable fashion and they go all the way here in
For one, Yuria, their first bottom-facing at an event with this roster.
Phase duty unthinkable and they do it in a classic phase way in that last round.
Everything going against them, the bombshell of Kerrigan leaving.
Nature having to step up to the plate, twist, needing to right his wrongs from his last time when he was in IGL.
It all comes up phase.
I just checked the chalkboard.
Phase bullshit is back on the menu.
That was ridiculous.
The side was absurd.
That last round was crazy.
And to do it to a fury, one of the top five teams
in the world right there, unbelievable, unthinkable.
Absolutely insane.
It was like they all took a hit of laughing gas
in those final rounds.
They felt like something changed up here.
The mood in this phase camp, I haven't seen it look
like this since back at Budapest,
where they didn't even know how they were getting
those rounds over the line.
This was just so crazy to see the fashion in which they looked so prepared and were able to dethrone Furia here.
Yeah, I will talk a bit about Furia's exit later, but the time goes to the victors first.
Twist, after the week you've had, after the work you've had to put in, right, to make it work, how good does this feel, man?
It's a very rewarding feeling. We had very long days, you know, starting at 10.15, ending at like 7.30.
Yeah, super long days, a lot of hard work.
I'm happy with the trust that this team has put into me
and the coach, it's been very, I guess, loving feeling.
So yeah, happy.
You're so calm.
This is crazy, we were jumping up in our seats.
I know, that last round was crazy.
I want to just zoom out for a second here.
Obviously you've had your time as an in-game leader
in the past, coming back into it,
just roughly a couple live matches now under your belt.
How does it feel differently this time?
I mean, I'm happy that I had at least seven days
practice because like the first two days I was like I'm fucking captain again you
know I'm I have to get into the rhythm of always calling learning how to find
spots where I can idle and have the overview and also learning what I can
micromanage and what I cannot it's difficult but I'm happy I have a lot
of versatile players in this team a lot of players that kind of just want to
go and kill so yeah it's it's good we have a round that I feel like when
probably even better than you drew this one up early on in this half
where you get Brokey boosted up here.
We'll run it a second time,
but just so you can remember how this one played out.
And then you were able to actually sneak in outside
where you actually passed Yekindar and Pacerato, both there.
I mean, is this how you drew it up,
or what do you think about this?
I mean, the initial starter is how it gets drawn up, right?
With having him on the box so I can take space outside.
How I bypassed two players is new news to me.
I had no idea what was happening outside,
what they were cooking.
But yeah, a lot of our stuff, you know, the way the game was going out, we didn't have
much prep for a Nuke 3rd map, so this was more of my feeling of having a lot of watch,
a lot of Fury games on the VOD, and knowing how my ex teammates plays a bit, kind of plays
a bit of a factor in it, and yeah, obviously that worked out better than expected.
Okay, so obviously you scouted their footage a little bit, we're able to use that here
to devise a game plan.
One thing that I talked to NKJ a little bit in the past,
especially after they won ESPO,
I got to talk to him for an hour or so at the airport.
He seems like a guy that can anti-Strat.
How did he help you guys put this one together?
I mean, at the moment, because we're a new team, right?
I don't want to focus so much on anti-Strat,
rather than people don't really know
what we're doing yet.
And I want to follow our plan
and make sure people are comfortable
with what we're doing, right?
If I come on the day and I'm like,
yeah, I have this anti for this, that and another thing,
I don't want to overload my players
with too much new information.
that's not, you know, kind of how the past week has gone.
So a lot of this is stuff that's in our wheelhouse
and our playbook that, you know,
is there to be good against any opponent.
It's about adapting really.
Yeah, it's a balancing act
because it seems like you had to take in so much information.
You have your own muscle memory.
You need to read that
because you've not been in that IGL position for so long.
But then you also have guys who can just make it work.
I want to take a look at the last round
because it was just, he said it,
but it was some face bullshit.
right? Who's coming up with
this plan? I mean, you know,
when the guy dies trying to go
main to get the exit frag,
Helvis is like, you have kids,
let's go for it. And that's kind
of how it goes. They count down,
they wait for the 10 second time
or they go. And yeah, you know,
Helvis was doing a lot of yapping
this game, but that was his
most successful yet for sure.
Did you see how much time was
left? No, it's at 0.026, at
least on on the hunt right
now. I think out of this game,
that's the phase bullshit
moment. Absolutely.
and tomorrow it's Friday so it's got to be Broke Friday coming to a party. Yeah, we all know it's happening. And
One other thing I want to ask you about is about nature when we had this pregame interview yesterday
You already said like he's doing great like I think he's gonna do great
But of course it's quite unquantifiable until it actually happens, right?
Is there a lot that had to be changed up within the team like between Jake up in him or what like is there a
Lot that changed or that was he able to play the way he really liked to play or what did you prioritize?
Well, the first thing I thought about was that we have three events that we'd have to play with him
So first thing I thought about is how can I slot him into his roles the best I can so that he is comfortable throughout this duration and
It was more about shifting roles between frozen and Jacob and finding what what pack positions
Can I put David in and what dirt positions now?
Can I put Cuba in that he's comfortable with and
Yeah, I think having Ryan in his roles is a better, you know, it gives us more potential as a as a team
Yeah, I think he has a brilliant mindset. He is really friendly a good teammate
He knows I mean he's excellent with utility so it's nice to get a player like that. I don't have to teach things to yeah
Yeah, Ryan is doing a very good job. Awesome. You're all doing a very good job final question before we let you go
You get to play in an arena, you know in this
Tell me about how much you're looking forward to tomorrow and the weekend
I said in previous interview that it means a lot to me to play in front of these arenas again, especially in North America
So yeah, it is hitting a bit different right now to be able to do that again
Yeah, it's gonna be amazing. Thank you. Congrats. Congratulations. Thank you. Good stuff. Yeah, there we go then Maui
It happened we got to hear from the eye tell himself look at this pretty measured in the interview
But not in the winning moment. No, I mean how how could you even hold back your emotions after this?
I mean you I don't even think face themselves really expected things to go this well this quickly on a team
That's really on the precipice of falling out of the invite range for events
this is just so massive for them to get a win here against Furia. Just breathes
more life into the team, more opportunities for them moving forward.
And I think when you have this kind of project, you have to play yourself into
believing. You can't just keep saying to yourselves, even if there were a slew of
losses to kick off this new look phase, you would fall out pretty fast.
So they needed something like this. They parlayed incredible circumstances
into an incredible result. I think one word maybe about Furia then not
to do with two straight losses like not making it to a playoffs for them. It's kind of insane.
It really is and I didn't foresee this whatsoever. No. I mean to lose the first one versus gamer legion
felt like that one could be brewing. That was a bit of a trap game for them,
but then to also lose to FaZe for Fury. You're going to have to rethink a lot there.
I would say that their T sides have just looked a little bit more one-dimensional for me in
in general. I feel like some of the road performances you got more regularly in 2025.
People like Moldova, Yackindar stepping up, Uri especially. Uri was kind of teetering
on being a top 20 player last year. It's really close. This year, anything but one good event,
the rest of them have just been disastrous. So they got to find a way both as individuals
and as a unit to rethink and revitalize themselves because Fallen needs it, man.
Yeah. Fallen needs it. That may be that exactly is the issue. We'll see in the
next events for Furia, but next up is Gamer Legion versus Navi, our last match here in
the Plains to see who punches their ticket directly to the semi-finals and I got to catch
up with Rez earlier. Let's listen. Rez congratulations making it to the playoffs.
Of course, tell me a little bit about how you let that all sink in, the great performance
you had yesterday.
I mean, overall a great feeling throughout the team and I think this was a real
like confidence booster for us and you're going to take this with us into today's
game and I think it was important to sleep. Tell me a little bit about kind of grinding in tier two
for those VRS points and the adjustment to being here again a tier one LAN and I heard from Hapix
that he said well it's actually harder to play in tier two because everyone expects you to lose
whilst here we are underdogs that can do great things. Yeah of course you definitely have more
like pressure when you play this tier two LANs and all so I feel we're much more comfortable
in events like this that's why we're really happy that we got this invite and also like
We're playing Atlanta later as well, like all these tier 1 events and also the major.
So yeah, I feel like this is where we belong and this is what type of counterstrike we are
comfortable playing.
And like I said, tier 2 and tier 3 is very unpredictable and that's why it can be really
scary because there's a lot of points on the line as well when you play these events.
So yeah, this is less pressure for short press.
I can understand it's a real motivation boost for you guys because you've been
working towards this.
How have you been feeling overall with snacks coming into the IGL role?
and of course you were so long under an Ash system,
which I think obviously had its consequences.
How are you adjusting to all of that?
It's definitely a new type of leadership
and a new type of playstyle we have right now.
And I think it fits us really well.
It fits me really well.
I'm really comfortable with Snatch's leadership
and how he wants to play the game.
And I think it fits my,
like my individual playstyle really well
and how I like to play CS.
So yeah, I mean, definitely is a different way
than before, but I think it benefits us a lot in how we're playing right now with IMD and
Snacks together because they knew each other from the past, so yeah, they are really good
like in sync and all, so that's why I think it's working out really well.
One of us is a dumb question, but can you give me a TLDR, what is it about Snacks
that's calling that you feel so comfortable under?
I think you, I can feel like he's really calm, because of all his experience he
he has in the past years and I think he understands kind of like the way I understand Ken I would
say like we I think we think pretty similar, similar and I think that's why I understand
him a lot of times when he does like mid run calls and all because I feel like I want
to do the same thing that he's calling all the time and I think that's like I feel
like I'm in sync with him most of the time and that's why I feel like I'm comfortable
around him.
I think yesterday, just like the boy band on the server, as they get carried down, we
eventually got eliminated, but that wasn't an easy match to come from playing the tier
two circuit into playing those heavy hitters, so we have to believe that it is possible,
but in their opponents' nafi, that is a very, very tall order.
I mean, maybe there's some favorites to maybe take this whole thing, perhaps.
I know Maui would be very happy, but yeah, another Mikaze masterclass yesterday, it's
probably going to be the same today.
I would say that's the most likely outcome here,
but I'm not counting Gamer Legion out
to at least put up a fight.
I didn't expect them to put up the fight that they did
against Furia or really a winning bout at that,
but seeing how competitive they were,
seeing the way that this team is integrating now,
I'm gonna even pick up on a point that Rez brought up
when he was talking about him with snacks.
Just feel like they're a little bit more
of that old school mindset.
You let the action fly in the first 20 seconds
you feel the round out a little bit more and then you make an educated guess as to what you should be doing as you're finishing blow in the round.
Whereas I feel like some of the guys that Rez has worked with lately were a little bit more quick on the trigger.
They just think that one thing needs to happen, then the next thing needs to happen.
But Snacks is a master of time. He knows exactly how much clock to bleed, what kind of reactions he can expect,
and that's where his experience has really just shown up the most to me as an in-game leader in this stint.
the game. I think that's a
great thing to do. I think
that's a great thing to do in
this stint. Yeah, Yesterday
outbraining fallen as well,
although you know there was a
lot that went well for game
religion, but now up against
this guy, um, Alexi B and, of
course, the blade system. How
different is that going to be?
Well, I feel like the amount
of plans that you're going to
be facing up against when
you're finding yourself in the
server against Navi is just
it's so much more drastic
against the fury of team,
which in some way just felt
team that sees themselves as the second best team in the world that it's not a
trophy if it ain't you know they're looking to actually take every single
victory they possibly can one of their biggest contenders in furious now out
of the way so their sights are on the prize now yes indeed well actually be
said it doesn't count unless you beat vitality they have to start by beating
game religion of course they're both already in the playoffs but who gets
that birth directly into the semifinals in Fort Worth let's find out oh you
know that nothing's guaranteed now after what we just saw happen to Fiora and
because of game religions results they're here to play a match they probably
shouldn't win because they've already done so well that they got this
opportunity. Navi even though they're so strong obviously we know that at this
point in the tournament it's still early teams will power up by day three
it's just that day three is not promised. I think that based on the
Calling and the coaching and the individual level. It's a it's a total mismatch and but that's how I felt about face barrier as well
There were good things to say about gamer Legion, but I want to say probably a little bit too much simplicity
You'll take this one over the line
Maybe they step up just like face it
Pressure off and I think it happened now. We just learned
Save game Legion already having done the hot pot. I know just find another upset
to say they had things in their pocket. They showed us against Furious and nice set moves on the T side.
So let's see what this pistol's got in store and straight up connect it through their own smoke
into a quick A-split. Navi have the shooters to answer back. Wonderform Biff. They're 5v3 and
they're going to keep going. Extend disadvantage until the round is over. Not a killing site
for Gamer Legion as Navi lock in pistol. Yeah, completely. I mean there's so many good
I don't even want to start now.
Yeah, you got time. Yeah, we got time and you know, the rounds will speak for
themselves and because they will have his moments and the calling and everything.
What we're just really shaping up to see is like how firmly our
lobby in their world ranking, like how how consistent are they across their
team because I think from the calling is about as good as I can get.
I would say that I don't no problem with that.
I don't know problem with that.
Their coaching is about as good as they can get.
And yesterday, BIT was about as good as you can get.
But how strong is their core?
It's just a real question for Navi.
But in games like this, this is just
where they do their best work.
They don't have trouble making sure that if they're
the favorite, they win.
I was always the way with the older iteration.
It's very core.
They showed it against FaZe yesterday.
I mean, think about how they started off the tournament
first rounds for FaZe with this roster, but Navi went 11-1 on Anubis T-Sci to kick off this tournament.
So it's an uphill battle for Gamer Legion, no doubt about that.
How do you feel about Navi's consistency, right? Obviously it's hard to pin down,
but at least this year alone, multiple finals, multiple runs, playoffs all the time.
I think like Copenhagen was kind of fugazi, like the way that they pulled that off, it was against all odds.
The team today is so much better than they were back then and I think that's really exciting in terms of their
That is a threat at this event, that is a threat coming into the Major
I feel like we've never seen a better time in the office, besides maybe 2021 or something like that
Even when that team is here in
that's quite a statement.
Yeah, because in 2024, they had a really good summer and they won Copenhagen, but outside
of Copenhagen in the spring, it was bad.
Inside of summer, it was great.
In the winter, it was only okay.
So it was, you know, they were, they were, they were an excellent team for the Wednesday
God and, and like that period of time where Emma just started to come into his own.
But now they're at a point, they did not have the five player consistency that
they do now.
And they've also built him into a gem as well.
Like he's not just raw firepower like he was when he first joined up.
What's why he said he wouldn't last.
You know, that was maybe, there's probably something about that where at that time, who knows what would happen.
But you're just in such good hands when you join a team like Na'Vi.
When we talk about, we talk about foot as Na'Vi Junior, like they have a system where they can make the best out of your players.
and they've consistently proved that.
They also commit really hard to their players.
They also don't try to laterally move superstars
onto their teams that consistently.
They develop simple, right?
Electronic as well.
They got them out of flipside really early a long time ago.
They never really just made for huge purchases,
like a vitality to try to grab a ROFs or anything like that.
Out of Paris, they got the underrated new superstars.
But not the set in place of bats.
They made wonderful into a better player. They made it into the best player. He's been a lexie into the best caller for sure
Emma absolutely like
And they hung on to wonderful like you say given the time right hung on to wonderful
Maybe when he stocks weren't oh dude, we were making fun of wonderful
So we used to call ice I call them wonderful by accident once when I was casting because we joke so much about you know
Him just being too passive or missing sometimes. He's not the same guy. He's
The heavy hitter, gonna keep it from your brain, but that's after this spray bit, double up on this triple box.
It's not a man stuck in the middle, meaning no cover on this bomb block, PR's gonna try and put it down.
In fact, there's no CTs to stop it, that Molotov, it's just enough room to keep Wonderful back for even a moment.
You'll pick PR off the plant, rez, last bullet, free firing this corner, and Wonderful recovers the round,
round, saving Na'Vi on this CT side yet again as they go 3-0 up, bit, great double 2.
They got closers man, yeah it was a great double from bit and as soon as Red started shooting
I think that second time, wonderful, could smell blood in the water, I can just take
this peek whenever I want now.
Do you think they're a reasonable contender for the mention?
Yes, I mean that, you know, like by now you're like...
3 is like a, yeah.
Or top 2, I guess that's a question.
I say number two, I'll be over Falcon.
I say number two, yeah.
Okay, are they over Spirit?
You're going, yeah.
Yeah, I think so.
A lot of that comes down to how brackets play out.
Sure.
But yeah, that's, I feel that way for sure.
I feel the, I guess it comes down to who do I feel the least doubt about in a playoff game right now.
And for Spirit, could be good, maybe not.
Who knows.
How comes the same?
Yeah.
How's, or so?
Yeah.
Like, are Navi just gonna get run over when you get into playoffs? Like, probably not.
Every other team is totally possible to size Vitality, so I think the criteria for me...
Can Navi make quick work of a group stage game here against Gamelige and we're still staying on the Navi focus because Gamelige ain't yet to break into this?
A surprising squad to even see here in Fort Worth.
Yeah.
A few rings down the invite ladder,
Seizing this opportunity for a stage appearance
It's a 70s start for wonderful picks up another off kill
That's what's in my cost rest
Swing off his teammate bits nice punish
Now where'd it go but back to T spawn here for game of Legion and they're gonna try and risk these guns on a
2v1 in the B bomb side. This is a weakened position
position. Alexi coming in now to help out on Katz. Wonderful with eyes on. In, deny,
8 and 0 maybe. Room to sweeten this deal. But no, Hypex will drop his counterpart and
look for the follow up. That's good damage. He's just killed quickly though and out
the market door comes Matazin. 4-0 start for Navi. No signs of slowing down yet.
No way you improve their play so far. It's just good all-around.
I think they should let FaZe play the major now.
Wild card in life? Cut a loudest!
Who says no?
I don't.
Who are you kicking out?
I don't want to make that decision.
I'm gonna use random number generator.
Alright, I used my metallic here to...
He dies, he dies.
Pistols and PR rifle.
still I do have I do want to see something from PR not even if not in this game in the
playoffs for sure because you know obviously came through with a breakout talent on this
team but he's definitely been quieter in the last 12 months for sure I mean I was
like even the last game was like Towson had all the allure
I'm sure.
You can have great moments when you did it in the last match
in the period of time. It's about establishing a little more consistency.
The squad that don't get to play these top events every day of the week.
In the region, in a winnable postman, and that gun pickup.
Snacks with a big smoke that's going in deep, but it's not been challenged here.
Wonderful. He doesn't have a flash on him.
Let's see. Deep grenade. Did you see him?
Snacks, of course, walks through the smoke.
What else would you expect?
Wonderful picking him up through it.
That's a surrounding shot, I think,
and McCarthy traded by Diego.
Hypex, Navi have room to move here.
They've got to run quick, but Hypex peeks in quite early.
And that actually gives time for Navi to win the round.
Yeah, I wonder if he could have.
I mean, if he talked, it would have been still pretty hard.
Yeah.
Just jump that one quite soon.
Kind of wildly killed snacks.
I thought he had that ace in the hole right there, just, yeah.
Is that random, or did they see him through the smoke?
I wonder.
It seemed like a lexie forced his way through, maybe he did and then turned around.
We bumped into him.
It's not the end of the world, it's the first tools for you.
And now the guns are out.
B-Trambs won't drop a 0 and 5 stat about snacks, because he's Polish.
Oh dear.
It's a big entry here for PL.
It's going to sustain heavy damage.
Dropping bits, untraded.
You can't complain about that.
You may take space back and ramp.
I'm ready for this.
waiting back in spawn, setting up utility for middle.
They're all throwing this one.
So Conwindow goes in.
Oh man, Ram. Are they gonna try to conjure up a fake here?
Oh, but it was kind of a great spot for this, if they just want an early Ram play, yeah.
God, that's a hard one there for Torsen.
and get the trade, but bomb spotted on an A.
He should get everyone moving, and yeah, they jump up.
Oh, that jump is not good for snacks.
Chance for the AWP.
Lexi with a lot to do here,
but that bomb is still trapped back around by his molotov,
so Lexi pushing through the smoke,
feels like the only option here.
Using sound cues to get on our edge,
Rez is covering, and then on the other end,
they go astray here from Narvin.
They did a great job of piloting this one home.
I mean, they used that smoke to try to phase it,
With that con smoke, obviously, once you get through it, if you know it's open, then you're also clear from cat, which is the struggle of getting to those bottom steps on connector, having to watch your back.
So very nicely done. It also serves as a fake, which is huge, makes it feel threatening towards the cat split. The CTs don't have information.
So 5v4 into a victory. It's a nice round out of game religion, and it's certainly not too late.
I have always liked the sort of complexion of gamer legion with like the the riflers that they have
I feel like res kowson and dr all deliver a very similar style of play very close and extremely
sharp good for maltese um and then you have high pack sues and aggressive offer and snacks they
kind of the caller gets interchanged very often on gamer legion but they've had a lot of experience with him
I mean it was game legion stacks was on before he got the call up back to the top as well in g2
he backed down the rung
I don't think he, I mean, now let's be real about that G2 that monocle and Nico were to be fighting entire tournaments of Dallas and the World Finals. That was kind of unbelievable.
It's a 9-5 because it's 0-6, it's unbiased, it's nice to know, you can check it, you
can always trust the B-trends there, it's indeed, you can always trust wonderful these days,
11-1, Snack's gonna have his go at AWPing, picks it up but goes back for the bomb instead.
It gets damaged but that nade does res just as well.
I'm not going to be finding a fight fire with fire but it's going to be res who's selling
something to walk back under surely lurking when this A hit.
I think they kind of have every right. It's fine for them to show they have 2 and V, they
still have pretty, pretty thorough map control. They're even clearing out underpass late, so
they turn around, they'll be no lurk here, they have to worry about. And they have
Got two HEs.
Coming right back in.
It's pushed inside of the site. Wonderful did the same.
Oh, Max!
I helped him to get on the point.
Oh! Double up from Palace.
See, he's denying the bomb.
And Snax is just on a heater right now with his big green.
He's just missing his weapon.
Two kills.
It's all over the shop.
Mccasey, 1v2.
That kid is on bench as well.
still don't know where he is actually time is a problem if they want to plan
default even if they plan on the inside of default okay oh almost a problem
his foot showing he's got his first kills and it's all three to win the round the
pick on the wonderful follow-up as well into spawn and the saving grace your
pure impact and he's tripped out off wonderful didn't he I mean he came out of the ramp spot
excellent
I think wonderful had just dodged the flash that like turned into the wall dodged the flash came
out and another one popped so a sign of a good exec here for game religion not just one layer
flashes okay let's let the far cloud and spawn
they're gonna go contact a bit alone key round for that impact how broke they
are the Navi have already lost this one safe to say position is enough here to
get a legion with the molleys in that whole compartment one can go down at Navi
saving squawks.
Definitely a fan of the tempo that gamer Legion of Broad in their game so far.
They don't waste time on their T-sets for the most part, but they also, they can move slowly if they need to.
And again, not too late to bring this half back entirely.
It is funny when you get, like, you know, the blade on the desk and talking about openly
about how we're going to see if my, you know, my players are good enough individually to
take down teams like Vitality and Spirit, um, no doubt on the tactics.
Yeah, just, yeah, exactly.
I mean, we know that's perfect.
I actually think it was really funny in Rhea, we, we, we saw a Seiko interview blade
in one of those, uh, in a mid-series like quick catch-ups and Blade was so short with
him.
Stiko asked what was going wrong and Blade was like, they're playing great to us.
And Stiko was like, what can we do to, what could you do to beat them?
And he goes, we have to hypnotize them.
He was just trying to like shut Stiko out of the interview basically saying like, there's
like nothing you can do.
We have to hypnotize them.
Yeah.
Like there's no, there's no, uh, straddling your way out of a game like that if
you just can't keep up on the frags.
This loss ain't on me. Yeah, yeah. I got mine.
Okay, I believe you've got this. Three rounds on this P-Site, and the timing through that
smoke is supplying from Rez. They're just going dry out in this A-Site round after round.
They did it against Fury again. Think about those double triple palace pops. They're
catching Fury off guard. More of that today.
He's got the comm, looks like a little bit late, but pausing is never a bad idea.
Can they recover this bot?
Yeah, he's got it under balcony now.
Price a little off. That's good for Towson.
Massive round for him.
with a clutch up, saves his AWP as well.
Crosshair placement, just a little bit off there
for Ema on the re-swing.
Crazy balance of the game of League of Legends.
There, you can see it just running out A,
with no flash by no execute.
And they have top teams.
And I think like Navi, you're gonna look at that
and go, okay, that's not gonna happen twice,
but also we can't get that round back.
And that was expensive.
Okay, whoa, it's the most clutch. Fair play to highpacks. Winning them rounds.
Wait, we have double T-side orb. That's insane considering the guns are going up against them. They're going for an A-exec with it.
They bought two orbs, that means, because they saved one. Yeah, they did not have one.
They bought another how has this happened? I'm gonna say that's the wrong play. Let's see how it plays out
It's pistols
Snacks is like well, I like that all the other round. Yeah
You like it that much, huh? You never see this and when it go wrong only time will tell pistols push through smoke snacks goes over
It's a trick shot off with your what the hell is happening two
Seven tears through another and now snacks the main or per still alive in this 2v1 Alexi has
rerouted he's looking for a healthy rotation he knows they're gonna be a
little frazzled they need to establish look for another avenue of interest and
actually dropping out it's just fine they won't hear this
the time is good but snacks has put it down now and push CT that's awesome
and he's just gonna go for it close shot we'll do it on to Alexi and so snacks
will provide three kills out of snacks show me that stairs kill yeah jumping
over stairs with the orp and getting frags I guess if you got two ops one's
got to be aggressive
oh yeah
what are you doing my god
like they bought two orps that's not a save
oh and they do it again yeah they're gonna keep it
this is unbelievable
You never see this on T-Side.
No, on T-Side?
Maybe it last round of the half for a pig, and then you dropped it.
They couldn't even sustain the loss.
If they lost that round, that would have been so cost.
And also not a default where you're like, they could be admitted at the same time.
You're just going for a full A-execute nades.
Double orb running out ramp.
This was the first time for everything.
I'm looking outcome oriented. That was perfect.
No mistakes made.
Oh, man, Navi don't have a kit.
Oh, dear.
They do have wonderful 14 and 4 on this catwalk position.
Well, he's got his work cut out for him now.
Everywhere he goes, there's a sniper.
Crazy move.
Oh, man, yeah, P comes out.
That's perfect, it's hard to cover that.
B-Popper, they doesn't seem too suspect right now.
Yeah, it's because they're gonna make that move up or not, he's leading towards A a little bit.
On the forward position, though.
On the cross, getting in. Easiest end of gun against this AWP, who has a 4KD.
High-pitched looks to flush him out, and suddenly there's interest in this round.
2v4, growing, the point will not connect.
But if that does, suddenly we're talking a chance for Gamelize and instead Rez is just trying to butter up this school board.
First frag on the board, he knows Alexi's position.
That cross is covered and so Navi recovered the half from what was a strong start.
Keep in mind that was five rounds in a row just broken now by Navi.
I mean, it's nice as a strong idea to kick off the last round of this first half.
It's already done an admirable job, not only calling the ideas, but just outright fragging
back to back multi-kills with different guns to get them into this game.
I mean, he saves wonderful basically all but now wow somehow jump that one a little bit
Be spotless
There it is.
So, no, we're winning half unless we can roll back the years.
Go back 13 years now.
Favorite snacks clutch is the, you know, in B apps on this map.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's watching.
Snacks is sneaking.
Bit now playing for audio only.
So snacks will give him nothing.
is sneaking, a bit now playing for audio only. So Snacks will give him nothing. Oh, he's going to
walk clear this. You'd like to think that it could just grab a bit of info at any point in the round.
The timing so Na'Vi will recover. Five rounds straight for Gamer Legion is nothing to turn
your nose up at, but Na'Vi are controlling this game for the semi-finals.
We've still got two and a half more days of action, but speaking of action, off-climb into
Catwalk.
Zaiwood tries to get away with a slick move instead of fast-moving Navi, and in total
contrast to the round prior where Wonderful was a lone top mid, you've already got Navi
players up through connector trying to combine again with this big JL walkout.
Lings has got a lot of pressure on him and he has not been performing.
He has not recovered since that awkward ladder kill and this A site goes down with nothing until the jostle player come out with two.
This is Ema on a tear. A triple kill through middle extended up connector right back into action. Quad kill for Ema.
Not yet able to soften up the bomb site. Niko tries to go through. Will stuff one up close?
And wonderful still yet to strike down his second victim. Tess asked looking for his impact.
You didn't kill him, you just softened him up, and that's not enough to stop him.
Bomb is here on the ramp, SS has got another, kicks in into the kill feed.
It's hit from down!
Right there to stop it, his multi-kill with a quad kill.
Mikaze stays tucked in.
Here's a Janss, they're under balcony, Zella's adding him up.
That's two. Will Mikaze go unnoticed? Cause the Oper could serve up a perfect distraction.
Bomb can't get planted here now.
on the other side, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they've lost this guard.
Mikase delivers.
Wonderful goes down, but he's to open the door for this.
Mikase, marauding inside of this A site.
Jame on the other side of it, 17 and five is Mikase.
This guy is ascending to a whole new level.
His fame waits this long, this might come back to bite him.
He's got the kit, and that kit could be so key.
You got to go, BB.
He needs to move.
Blerk!
Blerk! Welcome to Wonderland!
Yeah, he just wants to take the fight, but he's letting him get closer.
Finally, puts Wonderful to rest.
Bitten the meantime, slips the net.
Inches ever closer.
Gatches him off guard and finishes Jane.
Noda, you gotta deliver with a huge health advantage.
Bits on the pistol, and it's enough for Novi to maintain control,
control despite the cost and go up 3-0. Doc plays behind the pole. He's got
Shearer on the workway. He's slowly blind. The offer missed the shot. Shearer's down.
Wow. Alexi B double entry. They came out ready for that. Just like that he takes
back what Alexi worked so hard for. We're talking about Bitslert now.
Deep inside the A site, the bomb gets cut off. Bomb control again. Alexi's
down to nine. It is all Alexi thus far for this round, but remember
Zontics gets active and also bit can get involved.
There are lurks on both ends and the bomb still yet to be retrieved.
Magic's losing almost all that HP.
Zontics Stomach snaps up.
This is his chance.
Alexi B sees all.
With nine health.
Nine health he's got.
Oh no!
The name misses.
Oh!
An ace!
We are back to it a 7-5 half here for Navi and I wonder would they be disappointed by it?
I mean they had such a good start but game religion had some great answers.
There was there was no way to stop snacks. I think in a couple of those situations, so just had to take that one on the chin
You know, I mean and again until further notice we're looking at Navi to you know probably control this game
But a CT side for game religion here on mirage. It's not a bad situation to be in with five rounds
Let's see if they can hold on to a pistol, and I'll be bringing something in, a Lexi
smoking window lades, they can't be, that's for sure, they can murder the nades out, only
a smoke kit remains on hypex, far away, yeah, that's it, about as good as it gets, there's
a nice opening move to just remove a little bit from the game a legion pocket
few bullets
smoke but connected PR V the p250 and wonderful has been on a I don't know if
you want this fight just random shots through and to be honest they weren't
far off I mean the B-split has taken formation the map for game religion
smoke window, smoke con sorry and with window faded snacks is going to take that point there's the molotov to push them into the mid to B
there's his incoming three players in this site make it two, viscerated by wonderful who doubles up back into connector
they've got no take their shots
holding that shot too long will come back to cost you as if a knife is out in this pit
It will get a message sent to game a legion. Oh, I mean there's situations where you can juice it a bit
But not when your two of your teammates have just died on a was it her high back. Yeah, hi backs Polish players holding shots
The old accent hold it hold it I would
Man, yeah, I gotta you gotta take that what you can you've got a teammate to watch for in your site in the site as well
You go connect or the cats please come out really fast and wonderful just did this
We're all high jump on 9th minus 9th minus 9th minus 9th minus 9th
well he can't really complain he's had his fair share of BS knife kills recently
true
shout out Woxig one time
the force by his in and it's a stack in the wrong site
I'm going to be right.
No, V.
How do they always figure it out?
It just walked into solo, V.
They knew before the game started.
How do they know?
How do they know?
It's meant to be 50-50.
Yeah, sometimes when I watch the game these days, I'm like, there's just...
It would take me...
Like without actually just hearing it, you know, from the horse's mouth,
figuring out how clearly from small tells,
they can pick the open sites.
It's probably the most impressive thing
after all these years of CS.
There's definitely tells, but in a round like that,
I feel like you've had no tell.
Yeah. You've walked in.
No, that's just probabilistic of.
And I think, you know, it's also the map.
It's like, oh, it's Dust 2.
You're gonna go for a long on an antique,
if it's Mirage, you're gonna go for a B split on antique.
And then once in a while you throw it into A,
and that's when you pull off the stack here.
You feel like a genius, but.
You're the best swimmer.
The other thing about it is just like,
we saw Bayes go for that stack in B,
but that was like the one situation
where I've looked at a setup,
I'm like, wait, that actually looks like a great setup.
But most of the time, there's just not enough
good places to stand on B to hold versus a split.
And if they get our balcony, it's rough.
Yeah.
There's one thing, you know,
they were dealing with short players
with two MP9s on site,
but if they swing at our balcony,
You can't stand on something to do, really.
Whoa, 11 and zero.
That's quite a stat.
It's not fair.
Very nine five game.
Yeah, it's kind of a miracle they won five rounds.
There are also 11 and 0 on 11 multi kills between them both.
And that again, it just speaks to the maturation of Wunderbloh, who he was just a closer before, he would barely ever go for openers.
And now he's just so comfortable in all parts of the round.
3.6 on zero, him, 8 multi-kills, and the clutch. Kind of the full package right now.
And even that's bit play-the-8.
Back at Budapest, that was a turning point for WonderFloy, he just like unlocked a new level to his game.
Alright, we have some saved pistol armor players here for Gamer Legion, and Morne.
So, Navi are going into somewhat of a stack.
Who needs to support this players, Navi are just gonna pop out right there.
There's the molotov good timing that might cancel this move for Nardi, but all it's gonna do is delay it
The palace is still open for business. That's why they want funneled into the fights good entries for Fidda Mikaze
We'll leave a lot of tension here in this round, but it's quickly back on as res disappears into power with an AK
We're down to one actually it's Mikaze. He's got two frags, but it has to be the one on two
And they get him on both sides res immediately as leaves of palace
They're hoping that he'd take the plant, but he has no time. He has to go put this down again
He's given me opportunity as they both reset back to spawn late. Maybe not ready for this
He's running towards Torson who will tuck in giving him nothing playing great timing because he's
Uncertain
It's a nice try but Torson plays him like a fiddle and that is he half by win for game of League
And they just copy and pasted what they did last round with their save guns
They go for the A-stack it pays off this time. They wouldn't be split twice
My staff a game of Legion well place pistols. Yeah, this first shot crazy early to see anything
Toys to men. I mean they're definitely the guys that are happy to be here. We heard the comms yesterday. Oh, that was that was pretty good
Actually, we can play this game
See a game a legion to recover from still a sticky storyline with the money in their favor for now
wonderfuls or
still prioritized
But you know the hype X is recovery on CT side
Watch, we have three kills first half against Furia, and he's probably the MVP.
Come the end of the map.
True.
That was a long side of Grey Game out of PR.
We've got a couple of nice extra shots inside as well.
Oof.
Res aggression pays off to Alexi.
Lot of effort in that spray.
Lucky got away with it in the end.
No rings around, it's not a complete departure from middle.
Yeah, it's not an interesting risk, I mean...
Watch out for the window, but that's just gonna cost him his life and now alert them, right?
Surely they're gonna clear this.
Oh!
You need to train! You desperately need that train, and so...
...the car's just gonna spray nice, swing-fly effects on the wallbang.
That was lovely.
They're just spraying the box, Hypex takes his opportunity, and Ema has crept into the window.
Did they hear this?
Torsen looked in unaware, walking in.
That wraps with a read now.
This is a...
On the left.
They're both so low, but...
Yeah, that's nicely done from Reds. Doesn't overplay it.
Are you really going to get this bomb back? This is going to be tough. At least Reds on 22.
Very deep molly for him and might do something here.
Oh true.
Get that bomb though.
Run through it and the bullets now make it impossible.
Put low, 14 seconds and we'll get that package but putting it down is a different feast.
I fix on the cross miss shot miss it has fallen phone to put that bomb down for navel to die
It's not today says the AWP. Yeah, he had backup plans right there. So
Close call
somewhat
Two round gap now here is game religion are looking good
Not playing scared that's for sure we didn't see anything like that from yesterday just out in the middle of it
Yeah, he said I'm staying here someone support me
now here, broke!
Considering the period performance into today. This would be a far more impressive result taking this mirage off of Navi
They do it again in middle man, they don't have a cap player one and be it's a little bit risky even though
There's basically nothing to work with
They're also not watching the second window like they're very slow in rotations here
pick them up from cat there's Torsen
goodbye Navi in comes the rifle round now
necessary one is this game got close quickly
very time out called by blade
here's how we hypnotize him
kind of getting everything you want to see at a game religion
I mean, especially keeping up individually is always a nice sign.
Who's had a better role? Wonderful. Snacks. It's still up for today.
Underplay here for game of Legion, a little too fight in middle.
Breaking the top mid smoke, watch out, wonderful.
I'm standing here, right on top here.
Great, one of the guys behind the boxes.
What cost?
Stuck in a smoke right now, Flash.
He's kind of tormenting them.
Doesn't swing on that.
It's all perfect second Flash, but he doesn't swing early enough.
See them, but Emo will find out.
And now he's stuck in the open.
His snacks is at base.
That was so perfect.
Got Emo.
Just cycling flashes from Alexi as well.
They managed to double, I thought, one wonderful.
Didn't see a guy tucking into the smoke.
It was going to be over, but.
This game of lesion got so stuck up top.
with no kill. Time wasted by flashbangs that couldn't leave.
How long do you think they can go where they want? Rez attempts a one-for-one, but...
RV in a 4v2. They have everything right now.
Full make control, extremity players up.
Just don't want to...
They couldn't walk into this. Oh yeah.
Ooh, okay.
No.
Oh.
Is this a 2v4?
Brewing?
Oh my goodness, they're coming back to 8.
to eight. And the Hypex is leaving the angle wild. Doesn't know where the other two players
are.
Would that have been hurt? Oh, man. Great nade, but how important was that kill?
Yeah, a bit more patience. He's waiting for bit to push, but he wasn't moving till his
team were in position. Twenty seconds and they get a bramp. Smoke is going to go
down.
I should set up a plant here.
You break it open now. Fifty seconds. They got to get across.
Oh, but they wait just an extra second, and now they're going to make it in.
Nice shot, wonderful deny on the open.
Horsen could deny the bomb himself. Five seconds of spam too wide.
He's got a kit to start this one off, and he may as well give it a go.
Crossing out as a lexie bit, committed on balcony.
1000 thinks he's stuck in the palace, he's out wide.
Just gets that spot, but the trade no way!
Horsen, four frags, finds a clutch, hit the game of leech, and that was a 2v4.
And a one on three.
and one HP.
Oh my goodness.
They failed to pull off that double peek fast enough.
I mean, from those spots, that's about as
stressed as you could make a name.
Yeah, Alexi needs that trade.
Yeah.
Let's see that again.
Crazy.
Yeah.
No!
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
I mean, he swings as soon as he hears his teammate shoot.
The Torso's got a drop on him anyway.
Yeah, two extra bullets in there.
That's just life, Hypex.
Left click for good luck.
One AK, nothing to be worried about.
That's all he knows.
I mean, if Gainz another one...
How are they letting him go? No one on cap peeking this?
I know, okay Reds has a couple on the smoke and a multi-kill available.
Wait a second, Alexi making up from that lost clutch.
Uh-oh.
Adrenaline's slowing a little bit.
Oh dear, getting shaky now.
This spawn isn't safe though. You can't put the bomb down.
Sack goes through the smoke.
Not like I say that every day.
I cast this team, 2v2, Alexi on for an ace right now, but he can't get it done, armour lets him down.
Wonderful, 1v2 clutch, and this is the guy you want right now.
Against the open counterpart on that CT side, Info with a jump, bomb goes down, guaranteeing money.
Hypex putting pressure on, takes the steps.
Wonderful, reads it well, I'm gonna check the site to be certain, but Hypex is still in sport.
gives it up. Wonderful. It's just
beasting in this game. Big thanks to
Alexi Stripel. His movement was so slick
in that whole clash. That was really
perfect to be honest. And even on that
last peek it looked like he could have
got off, but crosshair placement was
excellent. Reaction time looked
impeccable and that is a recovery for
Navi. That was a one-rifle round. Yeah.
I can't believe they let Emma get that
far up into the site when they were
on cat. Like they were holding the
right side of connector. They
They definitely could have seen him coming in.
Little gaps now, little mistakes,
mattering a lot, 19 rounds deep into the game.
Even just that, it's him on, who gets to tell the resses up here.
And Snacks, he pushed through the smoke the second time you followed it,
and then he pushed the gap.
This bump?
Let's get it. This bump.
You thought...
I'm a double orb now, but it's torsion on that B bomb site with his.
The last round was off a clutch, though. This is all the money they have left over.
Oh my God.
Not easy.
I think this is rotating B. That puts two orbs on B. I think he's reconsidering that move.
But this is the power play. I mean, Bitt's gonna be slow if he's coming back out of Palace, and he's not even doing that.
Oh, my goodness. They kinda need me to do that kill though. They walk back right into PR.
Wow. That's on top middle as well. Ooh, he's boxed in. That smoke gives him a little bit of a room to move.
I see breaking but it's too late. We are escaped to a 4v2 game of Legion Con.
To take casualties here and that is a big one. It's space on the map.
Does it matter? I mean they get to Lexie at Catwalk if they want to go
together while that consmoke is up.
Oh he wants another duel. Also I just don't miss the shot.
They're good. Whoa
Res trade high-pex cross-covered res to save this round from devastation
And this will be hurt surely high-pex can take his timing, but he's low. He's worried
Cause he could wait they don't know he's here. Yeah
Goes right in with the bomb. They don't know where high-pex has gone off to his window a long time ago
And so knife out as he jumps his corner high-pex will be there in the craziest position to clutch up this time
That is three 1v1s in a row in this game. Everybody is broke
Yeah, at least they saved the op there for Hypex on the one guy that survives other than that. They wouldn't be able to see it again
Such a tough shot
It almost looks like Game Religion are getting a little nervous, but they're also clutching
up in some of these situations.
It's definitely getting frustrating for Navi.
It's a Game Religion pause, but Blade was very emphatic right there.
Now they really don't have a lot to work with two AKs.
And just whatever else is on offer.
Feels like the game rests on this round. You got the investment.
A blade timeout at 10-10, he's last timeout at 10-10.
He even talked through that full game-religion timeout just now.
Oh dude, force blades last timeout in the whole map for both teams.
I think this is like 10-10.
This is the round though. This is the round.
You just get two for free after this.
To be a fly on the wall.
Or a lip reader.
I can only do body language, and even then I'm guessing.
This is what it comes down to, folks.
that point essentially money absent I feel like this round you want to make
game religion sweat as much as possible draw it into a mid-round
they can guarantee one more of those opening kills they've been so good at
getting rush this kind of round right especially after a minute of time outs
The other team was going to get less nervous.
Under time pressure, low numbers.
They let it breathe.
Everyone's staring at this window smoke.
You know, out under.
2M4's on one side, 2AK's on the other.
Hybex has the...
He has had impact in the second half.
Trying to follow up back in spawn is a very scary spot to be.
He has the luck activating for one.
Can he even box himself in?
Why not matter here?
Because Navi have the sight in the meantime.
He could drop in, toss and send a message.
Leaves nobody.
44.
That's a very open par as well.
Navi can take any position they please,
but that's for smoked off.
He has got the kit, Towson.
One more smoke to work with.
It's a clash and spawn.
They swim up the flash and McCauzy trades out.
Hypex has to hit his next shot.
He goes in to trade for his teammate, Torsen, taking one more before all is said and done, but he's down to the pistol.
Famas, it's Bust, bit finds the headshot, and Navi right when they need to stand tall at the end of regulations.
A massive victory. It's crazy that he's back-to-back timeouts, and the play is that simple.
They just get him under the bottom of underpass, he gets his first kill, they have the A attack coming in, the pistol, he catches him off guard.
That was Navi with out great control right there playing out behind triple box
They didn't have teams spawned with a re-smoke
That was Gameligen who locked them off with Hypex's defensive smoke to put out a Molotov
And almost a Gameligen a favor. Oh, they full invested. I mean, okay. Yeah. I don't know about that brutal
I know I 1600 that's the issue. Yeah, it's just a terrible spot
They think both teams came in at that round thinking this is the one that matters
Yeah, there's just, there was just nothing left right, 14 and changed from the kills.
So not believing in the 34, 3600 buy, I'd rather just get two attempts to swing for
this one.
That is just a little fake, pretty much.
It's a miss smoke, they replenished Hobcon and he's just a done deal.
They've done it again, haven't they?
They've walked the walk into this weak site.
Snacks is realizing now it dawns upon him,
but that eight, three is all it takes,
and one of the four has just not been missing in this game.
Was it pressure?
But it won't matter.
This is just a means to an end right now for Gamelief.
Just saving an AK is going to give you
your best option in that follow-up round.
A round should already be lost here,
and so I don't need to bite my tongue.
Navi, follow up.
Oh, that's a shot!
Wonderful!
Four frags, no survivors!
There he gets his capstone round.
Four frags and map points.
He is a better offer than Snats.
Yes, he is.
That one stairs clip had me down to the end.
Wonderful.
Dude, this one.
That's not...
That's robotic.
The least game a lesion could have done
is get away with that AK, but they went for the fight and they get what they deserve, I think.
A damn good swing for game of legion, but is this where it all comes unraveled?
I mean, straight up, even if they win this round, unless they keep a lot alive and keep these guns, they're still not going to have much.
It's this game a legion who clutched their way back into this game with 1v1s after 1v1s
but when it comes down to the end of Mirage, Navi did stand tall, they won the economy
breaking round and now 4 flags seal this map, Messi in middle, Ima follows up and that's
a lot of info so Navi pick up pace, take back Sportpro again, deep smoke and they
more utility to cause problems here for Gameligion. This feels like the end.
Almost nearly impossible to screw this one up.
Maybe they jump up on the box and get a headshot.
Then I'll look it up for her, I think.
Utility, damage, whittling Gameligion away.
And Narfi's search for semi-finals, search towards a second map in this series.
3 on 1, wonderful has performed today, almost drops 30 kills in this regulation map of the
Rage.
Navi, show again they are the better team.
Yeah, a little touch and go there at some point, became a little murky, it was a crazy
game.
Those 1v1s, the economy completely unted for both teams, but eventually Navi in the
most important moments there, they reign supreme.
the game. They were able to
get the ball. They were able
to get the ball in the war of
attrition. They were able to
eke out the margins in their
favor. Class exuded once again
from Navi, but I would also
say a lot of praise has to be
heaped on a gamer Legion
there for putting up such a
great fight. I feel like a
lot of the ways that snacks
wanted to call were well
on display. It's just that
switching on to the second
half. You could see why
Navi themselves used to call
Mirage their home map. Yeah
that makes a lot of sense.
But you said it there. We
in them specifically against a Navi who is looking to do serious damage in the
playoffs but let's run it down a little bit right let's talk a little about the
start of of Navi in this game their defense what do you want to highlight
I'd say right off the bat they did a great job at understanding the option
coverage that they needed to exercise here that they had Ema holding a
crossfire with big great spray right there from big to hold on to that
bomb site and even though it was gamer legion that had so much control in this kind of position you
could just kind of see that the pressure is continuously exerted no one's really swinging for the fences
in these kinds of moments getting too overeager or anything like that just good trades across the
board from knobby that was a hallmark for me in their CT side that they're able so frequently
even in kind of tricky setups able to tether off of each other yes but it didn't all stay
as good I want to say I want to talk also a little bit despite them not not winning to
have but talking about Gamer Legion and their T sides you talked to me a lot about snacks and like
how you think that he maybe if he in the past was a little bit more one note in this history in G2
or whatnot that's not the case and we did see glimpses of that also in this T half. Exactly even
though this is around that Gamer Legion loss I really wanted to bring it up regarding their style
and how this exemplifies it. They get themselves into a five on four situation they got to
trade it ramp but the way that they actually convert onto the bomb site is by throwing a
a window smoke and a bottom con smoke.
They go through their own bottom con smoke.
So you just see these extra little wrinkles,
these other, these kind of little tricks
that they have up their sleeve to make sure
that it's not just the simple conversion.
Sometimes newer IJs just get a little lazy in my opinion.
They just get that opening pick and they say,
okay guys, time to group in at a bomb site.
But even the way that game religion themselves
constructed a finisher here was a little bit
more unorthodox and it's why teams like Navi
can get caught off guard and they can't really find
their bearings in a round like that.
whereas a normal just five man execute if snacks went for that
probably actually still very counterable if you're not be yeah we heard
from resin the interview earlier that he said i feel so comfortable with snacks
calling it is kind of the same for us like more more calm
uh... did you see that do you see that in these games the fact that it's a
little bit more classic right letting the round play out a little bit et cetera
you see both
it's kind of games when snacks recognizes that
he seems having a difficult time
letting the rounds marinate sit
If they're getting caught in transition in these kinds of moments,
then he may call for some speedier, paceier plays
that are a little bit more simplistic.
But I like that his first idea in most rounds
is to let things settle and let his read,
which is still at a very strong level,
despite the fact that he's kind of been in and out
of the in-game leader position.
I think it still shows that he has a lot in store for teams,
that they have to constantly be on their toes.
It's never just going to be the easiest approach.
Yeah, it is. You also want to take a look at round 10. I don't know exactly why.
Well, we'll see it in just a second. I think this was a great moment actually.
Oh, it was a bit?
I think this was a great moment for the Navi side where they were able to continue to hold on to some of that lead there.
So this was a 4 on 4 situation where just a scrappy buy for Navi where things got really chaotic and hectic here.
We see the the multi kill from wonderful and
Honestly, I think that this kind of round with where they did kind of take a short cut
They went a little bit faster in just the AXQ you could see how it gets kind of hairy
Yeah, you could see how Navi themselves didn't really have the best buy
But because it was snacks kind of reverting to the more simplistic approach
That's where you see it get punished a little bit more where you take a lot of casualties
You don't keep get to keep the money building and so I like game religion the most when they don't skip steps
when they actually play a whole round out, start to finish, take all the map control that they need.
I was talking to the performance coach a little bit, Ursula, from Navi, and I hope I'm not speaking
out of turn, but she said, well, sometimes I was watching and they were doing things a little bit
out of character, right? They were taking these jewels that were a little bit more risky that
they really didn't have to do in certain situation, and that's something they'd really
have to shore up. Do you agree with that? I think when you're a team like Navi, because
your goal is so fixated on just defeating vitality.
Sometimes you're just kind of leaping before you look.
And if you're not actually making sure to be as thorough
and diligent through all the moments
against what you would consider
to be a lesser opponent in game religion,
it might get the better of you.
You might just say, I'm better, I'm gonna swing.
And that's why in moments this game
could get a little bit closer,
because they're not really showing all the polish
in every single moment.
It's still, I think they earn the respect
for themselves, like they earn that kind of confidence
because they are world-class players like wonderful and because they wouldn't
have the score lines that they have if they didn't take a couple individual
liberties but I can understand from her perspective and probably blades that
maybe things need to be a little bit more teamwork oriented yeah they of
course wanted to be as clean as possible they needed a bit of a recovery
so let's take a look at round 19 or Navi tried to shut the door this felt
like the nail in the coffin for me I think it was game releasing that one
one more round after it but look at the buy here I mean you got just
the one AK falls early on in
Ema's hand, but this is great
from Alexi who had a couple
really sharp moments for
himself individually getting
the double entry onto the
bomb site. Three on three
takes a while to get the
bomb planted, but in general
here, I think that the way
that they were able to burst
onto this just kind of
showed some of the X factor
that Navi has and admittedly
I think it's kind of why
you have that sort of
confidence and wonderful to
me this round itself kind of
epitomized just how he
was getting away with
I'm going to say that he's
going to be a great player.
He's going to be a great
player. He's getting away with
everything. 43 HP one versus
two. Great head shot on the
toss and then he just started
dancing with hypes. I love the
way that he played this one on
one. It actually dare I say
it. It kind of reminded me of
the way Monacy seems to
sometimes do a little bit too
much to do a lot in these
kinds of moments, but it
actually all has purpose.
Yeah, I mean, we're talking
about Macaulay so much.
It's actually a breath of
fresh air that we get to
see what happened. You
probably feels the same.
you're going to need everybody if you're looking ahead to what they are apparently constantly looking ahead to after that quote from Alexi, it's all about vitality, right?
So these are all kind of reps in showing that they would be able to take that on night to time come this tournament.
Well, you just need individuals from Navi to step up to the task.
If it is just Mikaze and everybody else is following the game plan to a tee,
you're going to lose to a vitality team that has excellent game plans already
and they have arguably better individuals to meet you in those head-to-heads.
So you need little X-Factor moments from people,
and I'm going to keep reminding people, last year at the Budapest Major,
when these, when Navi and Vitality clash,
Wonderful was the best guy on the server.
So they do have the personnel.
It's just that it comes in these very brief doses.
You're not always getting a full series
where you see three of the guys that need to click do.
Indeed. As we see a couple more highlights.
Yeah, I mean, okay, like let's just let's just talk about how great wonderful wasn't this one because I'd say that his rifling was fantastic
The T side-offing is something that it's pretty difficult to get involved with that weapon when you're on the offense
But he did a great job at finding some pigs and we saw the clutch factor there in round type 19
Which we already highlighted so quick on some of these duels and yeah
I think we when you got in Ursula's ear and we're able to hear about it like what is that shot?
you're going to get a shot.
You're going to get a shot.
You're going to get a shot.
You're going to get a shot.
You're going to get a shot.
Are you really blaming this
guy for taking a couple peaks
that he shouldn't?
Maybe you are.
Maybe you are because maybe
those get punished against
better opposition.
But I like when he has a
little bit of flair.
Yeah, you miss 100% of the
shots.
You don't take right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Talk about that.
Wayne Gretzky.
Or is it Michael Scott?
She brought to America.
I don't know, bro.
You got about baseball.
Yeah.
Is that show?
Hey, Ohtani.
Okay.
Let's see what the values are right now on the Nova shot tokens here because you yourselves at home can get involved in the action
You couldn't win yourselves. So let's see. Okay. We've got some head-to-heads already brewing here. I don't oh, okay
Wow, a straw. This is really low. Wow. I'm kind of shocked. Okay, so I think one of the matches we have tomorrow might be say
What G2 versus phase? Yeah, so I kind of want to see the head-to-head there G2 1.19. What was phases again?
We can see that one point one zero. Oh
That's really close. I thought the value would be really good for phase and not that great for G2
I would just take G2. I think it's a safer bet right now
I think that better prediction in general going for a more of a known quantity. So I'm at all in it
Oh, my chips are in the middle. Oh my tokens. That means all your time. No the shot tokens are in the middle
Absolutely, so I will see if they they repay your trust tomorrow G2 as they go versus phase
Please Hunter, please please let's see let's see but for us we're gonna take a quick break the work because
Because what do we come back it is that a final map of gamers? No, it's not
Of gamer leaving versus Navi. Oh my god get us into break
going on to ancient and then possibly a decider yeah gamer legion could very well fight their
way back in this one but yeah ancient then for Navi what are we looking at what are
are we looking to repel when your game are legion?
Well, I feel like the story of Navi on this map
has been told by me many times.
I'm going to tell it again.
Let's go.
Because we might have some new viewers in the house.
I've never heard it.
All right.
So of course, we have to be looking at Numero Uno in Makaze.
Him and his right-hand man of Ima
frequently going to be taking that mid-control.
And it's going to be against Rez and PR.
To me, those are the best guys for the job
to try to combat what Navi is bringing to the table.
And I actually think that it's kind of the perfect fight
because Mikaze has been the rising star.
PR was sort of the fallen star.
Now, a little bit of a rebirth.
You're getting that from Rez as well at the same time.
A lot of firepower is gonna be there
in the first 20 seconds of every single round.
So it's gonna be extremely explosive
and I'm gonna really key into the fact
that I'm taking Mikaze on this one.
Like that's where I'm just ending on this one,
honestly, I just think that he's gonna body them.
I mean, okay, I'm not even going to miss my word.
15 kills, 15 kills first half.
15 kills first half, again, Keras.
I mean, we're right in front of the booths,
but he has been playing out of his mind overall.
But yeah, that would mean for Gamer Legion,
of course they would start in the quarter finals,
not in the semi finals, which is of course great,
but they want to go out here with something
a bigger of a bang, right?
So the snacks have what it takes
to maybe call us out of situations
or into situations that would put them
in a more advantageous situation.
Well, a lot of teams have been trying to avoid the midfights as well,
with a little bit more just playing to give in that space.
That's been something that's actually caught Navi off guard.
If Gamer Legion has watched the tape, as they should have,
they've got a coach, they've got an assistant coach behind them,
they've got snacks, who's going to be pouring through the demos.
One of the ways that FaZe actually got the better of Navi
was by playing to give, by letting Navi get all of that space in middle
and going for re-aggressives.
That's holding doughnut, holding top mid,
waiting for them to actually push into those positions because Navi when they
are given space they want to use that space they don't usually just take mid
and then completely vacate it so you can expect further aggression and if that is
such the case playing some one-and-ones playing some crossfires in the deeper
seated spots can be a recipes for success if the initial mid-fight is
not going your way. Okay let's see if Navi lock it in right here right now
and if Mikaza drops 15 in the first half, what do you guys think?
It's Mikazi on ancient, it's hard to doubt him right now and this is Navi who
are looking for a semi-final, but team Vitality already earlier secured their
side of the bracket, Navi looking to do the same. This would be number one and
number two going together against each other potentially in a grand final if
everything goes right and right now for Navi it is. I think so I mean I
don't see I think we've seen like in the last match okay what happens to
here on Mirage, like Na'Vi here, after getting through that grind that was Mirage, so confident
about what we have on Ancient, as Maui had brought up, like so many times they come into
this map and there's just so many good things to say, especially about their start player
potential on this map in the form of Mikaze and beyond. They've got everything they need
to completely crush this game to the odd.
Even though underdogs always get close, not always often get close, we saw it
with Ferts in the group stages, even G2 today against Team Vitality. It's nice to watch those
pop tier teams the best in the world when it hits that 10-10, 11-11 score line, lock in and close
it out, right? It's a Vitality story, especially recently. A lot of teams have been challenging
them, taking them to overtime. When you get Vitality right on the ropes, you've really got
to push them out of the ring because if you don't, they will close the game and that's
what Navi just showed us on Mirage as well. Yeah, we saw the Vitality get actually tested,
Even though they were in the middle and are in the middle of an era, they have had finals that have been pushed the distance
They've lost two maps. They've been pushed to over times. They've just consistently won those. They haven't been defeated in over time
That's the kind of great
determination and
Choke that really knobby show in these close moments
It took a back-to-back time out from blade to be able to put that one over the line
So that speaks to how far the game religion pushed them
Are they still sealed the deal?
It's respect for Gamelidge, but is it just a first map bang?
Or can they actually go take the pack here on ancient fit and ember,
start off strong in this pistol, putting Nobby in an advantageous position?
This is solo-read from Akazi, but his presence is threatening enough.
Nobby go back up heaven.
Highpex reconsiders.
Oh, that's an interesting move.
Back in a doughnut, this play actually helps out a ton.
They might not be ready for Towson, man.
It looked like everyone was vacating the premises.
Oh, and he's behind them accidentally, right behind the donut.
Gonna get a free couple of calls for that with a drive-by.
Captain Clutch, Lexi putting that bomb down in the site.
Keon not gonna run it. Just walks in.
Last second sprint, and that is high danger,
but risk equals reward in this round for PR.
That was a little bit scary for sure.
He made not that close to guarantee the trade,
but he knew he had that one in the chamber.
So, I mean, for Lexi in that moment, he's like,
I'm giving a plant. I'll take that.
I mean, all that's gonna do is get the Karzionik Lil or an AK in the second round.
So good from Kalsin.
Yeah, really well played. Hidden and hit the timing as well.
Alexi bought that AK. He's handed it over.
Who caught it?
I don't know.
They just changed out for grenades.
He sold it, yeah.
No free lunch on Lexi's themes
Middle but not for long boost up and down that's one way to deal with him public great
That's a great idea. Oh, and that's a whole kid of utility down actually Lexi goes out first
My
Game a lesion know what they're up against that's for sure and so already showing nice ways of dealing with it
to be sure. He's tempted to walk up on this gun. Um, the second kill would be pretty fortuitous
for Navi. He came in with four M fours. Oh, that's almost give him that extra second.
Oh, team A is here for Gamer Legion.
Yeah, very solid.
What's happening? We don't want it.
But Loki, we do.
Sight.
Sight.
Already impressive stuff here for Gamer Legion.
I mean, they didn't even jump on that flash either, so the late gratification for Marvy
This could have been even better, but this is certainly enough and then for for wonderful, but the PR Molly
Have two smokes
Off the Molly everybody swings on they fight together miss shots though because he could reset the round run away
Three kills deep where's he gone back site PR pistol out
Four frags for Maccazzi middle or not. He is still a threat. That's insane that they pulled this off
It was that the flashes were so good even though they didn't jump on it the first time they layered it with the second one
They got the guy in the back first and then there was a men's pressure
On cutouts us again. It's all about the thoughts and feeling feel you need to watch here. That's crazy
That was a beast stack
Oh, he's ripped that away from them
It's meant to be the freebie man
They wouldn't have had armor, would they?
No, they wouldn't.
The investment on the second round.
Surely not.
Crazy.
Luckily for game religion, I mean, they at least
had a successful second round for a life.
The only reason they get it by this time.
There's only two M4s, so nothing comes for free.
This point in the game, Navi can absolutely bat to their economy and then start stringing
these T rounds together.
Just a thought early on, they can hold a B-pop over your opponent's head, it's always
nice to know.
Fighting them in middle will be the screen challenge here, we'll be beside.
Look at that, look at them trying to counter right there, the late triple A came to
the middle but it's Alexia Peppin you gotta worry about in fact because he
doesn't even go out mid well now that he hurried through the smoke yeah okay
he spams him, res in a nice position, there's everybody home and Rez is delivering the round on his own not enough
for his all he gets that was actually super close to a win for Gamer Legion honestly dude
if Naughty play that round like usual yeah they lose that round so what I
I don't know how the reach comes in, but no one even close to Elbow.
Avoiding their base of fire.
It's crazy that McCauze gets the kill, but I like he's still gonna kill Pierre no matter what.
The super risky approach.
Physical situation, but that'll be the attempts gone and that buy that they, you know, afforded themselves after winning the second round.
All that money's lost as well.
course you get worse at a record here because they will be a game a lesion you've awoken the beast
but yeah mid has been getting really messy lately it was falling out of meta a little bit that people
were fighting into elbow and trying to time the last flash to get everybody out whether it was
CT side or T side and at the highest level they still do that sometimes but for a while people
stopped going for early mid control just not risking it at all i think in a matchup like this
this knob you're gonna be more comfortable trying it.
Another bash from a car, see it's on rails.
Now he's in tears right now, it's just, it's goat right now, just performing so hard.
Like, how do you even stop that?
Yeah, I mean he's behind the elbow stop.
Yeah, I say just stop swinging elbow.
Yeah, right. I mean, genuinely.
Like, it just feels not worth it at this point.
They technically couldn't have been controlled.
They just...
That was from the safety of their own living right there.
Don't be here.
This is...
Next level.
And it's forced to save with two entries from the car seat.
15 kills!
Fills!
Yo, what?
I just shoot through the smoke, I guess.
He's bending bullets.
Cracking...
shots here from Narvi.
I'm not even really a positive save now.
That's deflating.
They're really trying to show a lot of confidence
with these mid protocols from CT,
but when Browns gets swept away from you like this,
what do you do next?
I'm doing, you know,
it's like they took Stacking A,
they're like swinging with flash.
Yeah.
But it just feels like,
in this game right now,
is that fight worth the battle?
Yeah.
Is it worth the position?
It's risking it too much.
They never even saw it.
No way to kill him, he's in such a safe position, the second kill is fine.
That's dead and smoky, Noggy's Wally in middle, he didn't, he let them stay back, they said
no we really want to die, got a feel for game of legend figuring this one out.
Or levels to this game.
Really enough, probably Faze actually had some of the better answers to this setup,
They did this for a while to similar results and then they started pushing a main. They started playing mid later. That's right
It's just so interesting how
When you see Navi on this map how much of the game revolves around this one position this one player
And all the resources not be used to get him in the game
And that's why it is don't ask at all. It is totally
Copy and paste
He's a human bulldozer and you're flat
It's crazy too because it used to before Mikaze was in love to take all the midfights
Mikaze came in as perfect fit, but now they kind of just can trade and take turns doing it
two chances at that config spot.
Hmm.
And Ema's sharp, but Mikazi's spray and his transfers are second to none.
Yeah.
So, Navi MTB site execute comes in, assuredly there around.
you would flick back only because it would just be more efficient, right?
If you could do the full 180 and still be solid like that.
Oh, it's low. I mean, if that's accurate, that's really low. 800 dpi 0.75. How did he do a full
and he technically just did a full three times? Really, really low. I don't even know. It could
could be outdated. But like has he doubled it since? How are you doing it for 360? 1.5
or 400? I don't believe it. Yeah. Even 180. 180 on that sense is like their full amount
of back. He did turn the other way. He went all the way around. That's a whole mousepad.
Yeah, he had to do it. He had to do a little mouse left thing.
That's how the best do it.
Evens up heaven before Alexi is.
By storming out mid, Gamelizion say,
fine, fine, you can have it.
We concede.
Gamelizion have nothing. They go to take the ramp right now,
walking down and they find no one on him.
That's the worst part about giving up mid is...
giving up mid.
They take T spawn.
That's a fair trade
Bombs outside A
This is where he could be seen. No way Snatcher is touching this.
At this point in the game,
don't kill your teammate.
You are holding down the line, running and shooting through smokes.
It's wonderful. Remember, he was the MVP last map.
We're talking the cars, but this guy is feeling it today.
Some of the best ancient clutches start from this position.
No smoke.
Slacks, would he dare?
Oh, that's a mistake.
That will cost you, and you've seen one more as well.
Has he realized, as you put two and two together,
wonderful was on for the ace right now,
creeping off of the bomb site, searching that final player,
but they are side by side on a point.
He has the time, actually, to do a throw.
Cracking, chasing, hunting, one more kill,
and you are torsion denies.
Safe as should round here for Gamer Legion,
but it costs them everything.
Man, I'm surprised I also didn't even have an angle
to get a bullet in.
That was a little scary, for sure.
Snacks had to do all of this just to guarantee it for game religion.
He really has the angle for that.
Just checked because he sent on other sides he has in fact doubled it.
Oh yes he has.
Okay that makes sense.
that's I'm gonna double mine now that's
all right game alligion
one out of the woods yet here still in this game
one is gonna be every round you face his full rifle right now and half you have a wealth of cash
I can't believe you're on the edge.
Yeah.
A bit of a peering victory.
It was such a dominant round, but losing all those players.
Aye!
That's an off-down.
Perhaps a back.
Alexians, if these snacks in this cave duel is bound to be a lot of fun.
Two players that will definitely push the boat out and go through smokes.
They want it to go for it.
This is really a really weak A hold right now, especially with the threat of donut on top of it.
PR could get alert kill, fall back meat.
The temple, if they, like two laxatives, call about how they approach.
But it's just so scary for him. I mean, his next support is over here in Rez.
He can get smoked out.
It's meant to be the same as with Rez.
It's a completely nice catch.
Damn, I mean they're pretty much forfeiting around now. Like, there's an A push happening, but
just depends how fast Navi move into this.
And he's dropping with this big flank, PR in position, must a shave one off.
I thought that he comes in and that is a beautiful start, if a game of legion.
And down round to maybe theirs, Navi are gonna have to fight him.
No way to move but the bomb side itself.
Oh, come on.
Because with a 15th kill in this half already,
And he's got more to do in this 2v2.
The big flank is kind of wasted energy right now.
It's wasted time.
They're giving Torsen a few more seconds to move.
But the penny might be dropping for Navi.
Alexi has a nade even as well.
But Kazi realizing they must be in the site.
And with his teammate covering his back,
there is no saving the situation for the less.
Alexi will win this clutch out this time.
And Navi go on for a sick round,
breaking their money while they do.
I mean, look at this guy.
I mean, the play that he gets there
from the back of default, it's pretty much
only him in that spot to just guarantee that second kill in the CT taking the soft
out as well the way they post plant from the position is really perfect
I like these nice and close to make it an easy frag can't be spotted from temple
look at the relief yeah how they can swing off the contact it's like butter
Yeah, Towson fucked up a couple of those.
True.
And we're flying through timeouts.
I love how Blade is just always ready to talk.
It doesn't matter who's calling the pause.
You can be good, you can be great, you can never be perfect.
It's the 10th time Mikaze has reached 15 frags in the first half this year.
Personal best, 21.
And in that 21?
Yeah.
That was a 13-0.
Oh wow, opening game of Rio on this map as well.
Never.
Oh my goodness dude.
It's a bloodbath here on beat.
It's late but it's gonna get picked up here by wonderful and it is so open.
It's an investment here for game religion.
It feels like you just highlight their aim on this map.
They're so comfortable in all these fights.
Two shots.
And uh oh!
Oh!
Careful you really need a back.
And with the back stab in and the bomb going back, there is no escape here.
He's a great molly to lock this position down.
And so knife out for wonderful into this empty A site.
I bet he's going to have to hit some hard shots right now.
You must just going to be trolling this and that's free.
They are walking through this half now.
The fact that Alexi can path to the back of cave every single round.
No problem, either fight mid or fight cave and still win all his duels.
That's something they have to stop.
That's just the effect of Mikazi being this much of a nuisance in middle, okay?
The leech can improve the way from it, and maybe we prescribed,
and that just gives more room for the other pieces of Navi to take control.
So it's nice to know when they get their opponents kind of in their shell, they exploit it.
Max 7's out.
It's Max Classic.
Navi just want to go for it right now.
I
Was it ready for that
Players on the right side for players
But the window work I mean because they're not gonna rotate back to this
We can kind of wait for this to take effect. I see just has to be active right if he's holding for rotations
Player alone on a just committed. He's just here so early. He can wait forever if he wants to
All right, block this thing by time.
Squeezes every second you can out of that smoke.
And Narvi, I mean they shown boost up, they've shown cave control. Right now it feels like a B hit.
And so walking back into A it feels like a good remedy.
The question is, will Rez get his smoke down?
If he does, Narvi have got a tricky problem to solve.
might just come down to breaking it and going through as hearing the stabs
smoke is in the way not me what's the cool yeah Alexi's got a maid
five seven didn't say anything might have to do it other gotta go big break
again oh my goodness four blind jumping the shot and he still connects the kills
red triple five seven malls them a little bit of a mistake they both run
out watching the same direction nobody clears that close right position it's
that smoke as you uh denoted that's the whole round right there they were in a
positional at 30 seconds they actually could have ran it back to be because
they saw the extra rotation over to be as well over the A side as well they just
didn't want to have to work that hard this round
well that is one hell of a round to steal right at the end it's gonna give
Everything to play with
Still
He is so quick to cave out. Have you seen that routine?
He beats snacks to that position
The CP's are that just so little map control to start every round
So that's why holding these smokes proven to be valuable
walking Navi's
Last entrance. There's a real skeleton by here for Nabi. They don't have the op they got bit on a attack 9
I just not having a great day. Yeah two and eight
Missing and they need
I don't know
There's that smoke bounces there
He's going to have to, up heads off to it, Ford does do it himself, double entry.
Oh, it's hot in here.
I'm going to lose right now, when he smokes down, you better get that bonpron in.
Goodbye, snacks.
Wonderful is on for another clip.
He's had four kills already in a round on this A site.
I'm going to match it once more.
Wonderful on for the ace, and why not just send it.
Finish the half with a smile.
One more bullet and WONDERFULS got it and Ace to clutch up this 8 round half here for
Navi pure domination as they search towards the semi-final.
Hey guys, this is Mahon and I'm going to break down how the pros hold short on
Rage so you can do it just like them too. Let's go.
At the start of the round, typically you'll want to throw a flash at the top of mid
to push the T's back. This flash hits anyone standing between top mid and the chair, ultimately
creating space for you to peek middle. The top mid flash creates an avenue to peek middle,
but you also have to worry about someone coming from underpass. To deny the possible
T coming from underpass, you can throw a molotov at the entrance to prevent them from
getting to bench. This gives you more safety when you fight top mid.
The top mid flash and underpass molotov are good tools to help you fight,
But before you reach that point, there's a chance a T could cross the initial angle before you get to Bricks.
This is possible if the T has the best spawn, and your teammates at Window and Connector get smoked out.
If this happens, you can Molotov the Bricks and progress as the Molotov is still up.
But if the T's don't push up, a great angle to hold is between the Bricks and the Corner, where you can't be seen from Chair.
This is strong because T's tend to clear the Bricks angle on the right corner, but not exactly the spot in between.
This also allows you to be close enough to the spot if a tee runs up connector.
Another spot you can use is on the ledge in front of the ladder room.
Holding this specific spot matches up with the right end of the bench, so if tees jump onto it, you'll be able to catch midair.
Being up close also allows you to see the tee even if they crouch, whereas if you stand for the back, the tee now has the option to crouch for cover.
If you want to get a deeper view into mid, you can get a boost onto the bricks.
From here, you can catch tees running down the slope of mid from an elevated position,
and even if the tees throw a smoke at cat like this, you'll still be able to see over
it.
Now, these are some great positions to play on short, but you'll likely want some flexibility
to move to ladder room.
The best way to do this is to throw a smoke at the front of catwalk.
Not only does this block the tees from pushing up, but now you can move to ladder room
without being caught.
Being in ladder room allows you to defend against tees coming up short and through
window at the same time.
You also get access to this position on the cement blocks and window to spot the cross
towards connector.
T's often overlook this position since they're clearing the top of connector when they enter.
But holding short is just one part of being in this area.
What are some other ways to help your teammates?
If you don't use your smoke for front cat, you can also use it to re-smoke the bottom
connector, which slows down the T's map control.
If a B push comes in, putting yourself right up to the bricks gives you an isolated
fight for the window.
The power behind this is that the bricks actually covers up many of the common flashes that
pop towards the B site.
For comparison, exposing yourself to the site with the same flashes would look like this.
Now despite everything you can do as the short player, don't forget you can start the round
by going through window instead of B site.
If you make the cat jump, you can contest mid far earlier.
And instead of jumping on cat, you can also go for the ladder room jump.
Being in ladder allows you to cut off any T's to go fast toward short.
If you peek middle from ladder room, keep in mind a T with the best spawn can already make it to second chair.
And that was the last piece on how to hold Maraud short like the pros.
Alright, let's get back into this man. That was a round to remember for wonderful in ace to close out that half.
I think that's a good one.
Wonderful, Maccazzi putting on an absolute show here.
Navi showing the difference between one of the world's best
and just another team.
Same legion get reduced away still in his second map.
Eight round T half.
Maui called it perfectly. 15 kills at the half for Maccazzi.
And to think he could have done better.
like that the stat was he's done that so many times like right on the nose
That's the consistency is kind of insane
And right now you just see every single time they get into a duel any one of these players on
Navi on this map
It feels like they're a lock for the kill like at best you might get a trade but probably not that either
You're gonna give him another one triple kill for wonderful look into crown it with a four
why not put that bullet down three will have to do for now but wonderful's had
all sort of multi-kills in this map man that's the one cave hold that game
religion we're trying to get that entire half just walks up in a cave again
and gets it right away they never got that deep in the cave
the ceiling and the floor is in the sky for Nabi right now yeah and this
set up forward perfectly here at rivals those playoffs with world number one and
world number two locking horns on opposite sides of the semis if they hold
their ground we're gonna get a great grand final
force by out of desperation here
smoke and email just fly they don't give a damn they don't care what you want
challenging the bomb plan it was a fake after all but that one was not you
You don't even get to plug the numbers in.
Good night, 10 rounds.
As Game of Legion just get thrown to the wayside.
They just have immaculate confidence.
They don't care at all.
They know they can keep attempting the attack,
one player at a time.
No one's going to get mad at them
if they die because the next guy's
going to rock up and get two.
Just flooding through smokes.
Leave off the wave.
And to be honest, if the backup default isn't Molly,
even if he can't smoke, you can't just push through
because you're so close to that.
And the other team you know are on a low buy as well, so really having their way with them.
PR comes in, sole AK for game religion.
Rez is handed that over, trying to get his star started, but studded with bullets instead.
Diamond-encrusted bit drips him down on ramp.
That staying peak for the entire time just making sure they can't get it back.
Oh, of course, Alexi Grenade, it's a sweetened deal, and he saw something in that corner.
We all get 11 to 4.
There is nothing left for Gamelige.
Nah, this is a speed run.
It's an absolute master class.
It's a statement on ancient.
This is the ceiling of ancient that we're seeing.
No shame at this loss.
Get your head on the doorway when you walk out.
Like him just staying peeped.
This is no restraint whatsoever.
Give us a reason to feel scared, game of legion.
Our first map was competitive all the way to 10-10
before Narvi ducked in.
This one is Narvi's Wonderland.
Cossack.
I'm not here, listen.
Get down the ramp.
The Narva is once more another multi.
Every player on this team
putting game leech in that place
what are you supposed to honestly do with your snacks in terms of the call you
have to pretend like you're still gonna be able to win this game I mean
honestly I don't know how you break through the confidence of Navi right
now. Just run down the ramp.
Like I said,
because he smells blood.
The vitality of ancient.
Navi are doing to game a legion. Vitality due to Navi.
every other team traded in middle no good deed going unpunished they're just
gonna swing it and actually fearless finish 12 to 4 5 kills away from those
semis come on guys keep going you can see that blade was really frustrated on
map 1 they almost lost and I think for him it's like they need to prove
They don't really get that feeling, but I'm sure he's going to be proud of his team for this win.
Yeah, it's reassuring after a competitive first map.
I mean, there is still positive to take away for game of League.
Maybe not in this moment, but we'll zoom out in the tournament, a good garage,
beating up one Fiora as well.
It's going to be a free map.
It's not like they kept a good attitude.
Yeah.
There are always good ideas.
A lot of the calling was great today, to be honest.
And so a great opportunity in the arena nonetheless. They will start from the quarterfinals if Navi finds his finisher and doesn't it just feel destined to happen?
This round is a little different though. We kill out Elbow, Hypics punishes and Navi are far away as his bum gets planted.
I have a Lee lurk as well.
Oh, who threw it? What?
Honestly
Looking come through this
And in fact he may as well that box is gonna provide some cover so he just sneaks out under the headshot angle
Under the safety of this site
No save in grace here for gamer legion as PR is too far away on position
Don't tell me this is this kill as well. They're running right by doughnut
Smoke double smoke you're not getting through this
there as Navi show up in the series and show us what they've got semi-final found for Narcos Vincere looking for another final.
Semi-final birth for Navi and when you look at kind of the how the the tournament is playing out
we'll take a look at the schedule and all those things later but I'm seeing the dream scenario if we might get that Navi vitality final
But that's a little early days yet to talk about that, but definitely hopeful signs and Maui
Props where props are due you said 15 kills. He's gonna drop on the first half because he did it exactly that
It's not often that I get to say this. I told yourself. Okay, I mean
Macaulay is just one of those players where I expected every single time
It's been a very long time since Navi have had a guy like that
And also, I simply love the fashion in which the way the team won this one, where we know that their tactics can be great on a good day, that they're going to game plan incredibly well, but it's also really nice to see them win with firepower.
That was clearly a big difference today. Sure, they had some tactics beyond that. They caught Gamer Legion off guard a couple times, but even just in the man to man 50-50 duels, there wouldn't so many.
Yes, Blade. Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
Are you happy with what you saw today?
Yes, it was a little bit rough game. I think we can put played much better on the rush, but eventually, Ancient was very confident.
It was always going to be. We're talking about Mikazl and OnStop. Actually, everybody's kind of sick of talking about it, but I'm still going to ask you.
Does he turn into a different player when Ancient is picked?
Yeah, we mentioned Valve will remove Ancient and Cache. They did like a
move train first so I would hope yeah he's like very good on Ancient. He feels
some like micro details you know like when he was pushing like on a rush he
went out of dragon on killing him on right side. He's like risking little
bit sometimes they were on other maps. He don't have this like expertise
of how we can call it. Yeah, that's great.
Most of my memory, yeah.
I guess one thing that I would say in that game
is that there were definitely times
where your players are feeling themselves a lot.
I know you can be a bit of a perfectionist
that you probably see there swinging
for untradable deaths.
Like we saw even though you look at the score line
at the end or fans will and they'll see 29 kills,
20-something kills for Wonderful and Mikaze,
but they do have some moments where
it does feel like they're taking some individual liberties
and it's kind of a risky play
if you really boiled it down.
How do you react to those as a coach?
Because I know you want excellence all the time,
but do those ever get under your skin
even when they're getting all the kills?
I think I can call it not excellence and perfection,
but more like quality.
We don't think that in our system,
we don't usually explain it as something like,
and something hard to do, like something like really
impossible to do.
Like, you know, you need to sweat a lot, you need to have a lot of effort.
When you play at this level, like, the thing that you're saying about,
it's more like a quality of a player, a quality of his play,
and we always emphasize on this, we analyze a lot of rounds when you play with that vitality and more bigger teams.
And at this moment, we already went through the situations.
So, it's not something that's really hard to do, you know?
It's more about discipline, it's more about your mind, like, not to be over-aggressive at some point.
And we can have another situation, for example, if somebody did a mistake, you can step up
and activate this discipline aspect, not to repeat his mistake, at least.
And on Mirage, I think we had something like this, like you said.
We could, for example, from F4 to Mirage, when we killed top mid op,
we discussed how to play these kind of situations, like literally what they did
execution, how we should react, and we didn't do it properly.
and we lose the round and they'll have economy now,
and we have no economy, no.
Okay, so I guess I would contrast that to a team,
I think the epitome of discipline all the time,
or a team that tries to exude it
would probably be something like ParaVision,
where they always are trying to execute the system
as flawlessly as they can,
because it's making up for sometimes
the individual's not being as experienced,
so they just follow these really strict ideas in rounds.
Do you think that can also be too taxing for players
where they're always trying to be 100% disciplined all the time.
I think their style is too...
First of all, they have less experience.
And I think if you ask them to do something,
they can not do it with the qualities that usually tier one team can do.
And I mean, it's like expectations in reality.
You can ask your teammates to do anything you want,
but I'm not sure they will guarantee to do it
with an execution with a good quality, right?
And their style is more like...
like, I can say, not flexible, okay?
We always emphasize on flexibility, always.
So even sometimes we play,
we even like analyze mistakes
when we follow the script too much
and we always say, guys,
we said that priority number one is flexibility.
Like if you see, it's not logically possible
to do what you wanted to do, just skip it, right?
And that's why I think like it's not the same comparison.
because, like I said, we focus a lot on flexibility and our style is for completely different than per revision.
And what I said to you about playing quality is not... I don't think you need this tightness and full focus,
but you saw how Rob's playing, how Bitplank, how Ekindler is playing, it's full focus.
At the same time, it's full focus.
This level of concentration gives you micro control and dominance.
So, I think it's also a huge part.
Yeah, it's like precision almost, right?
Yeah.
We're almost going to let you go.
I did want to ask you one more question because you mentioned Vitality in this interview.
Just now your players mentioned it a lot.
Alexi B said, it's not a tournament when if we don't go through them.
Tell me a little bit about how much that is on your mind and how much that focuses
of like if this is the best team in the world, this is where we want to be.
important that is in your route here to the championship but also overall that
benchmark that they set? It's very important but I think we are not the only
team who tried to win them and I cannot say like that we are the hope for
community. Yes you are. I think a lot of teams can do this they just need to
build good lineups because there's a lot of players outside that just need to
have like good pieces you know like a coach, a jail and people wanted to
with people who want to play a lot with each other,
like, and doing something strong.
And then we will have much more competitive scene
because they build, like, amazing team, obviously.
And we tried already this year, like, two times we played them.
One time it was close match,
but last time it was very tough for us.
And I think last time we played them,
they were fully confident.
Like, I think they didn't even,
they thought that it's impossible to lose, you know?
And it's a good mindset when you play like this.
And so I think it's more depends on them.
What we can do from our side is play less,
we call it shackled, like less shackled versus vitality,
because you have nothing to lose.
And sometimes you just don't need to be afraid to do
like crucial moves in the crucial moments.
It's the ones that can change the situation.
And this is what we lacked last time,
first of them, but if you take Mirage for example,
They won two rounds and then next round we're playing like a little bit not confident, like not dominant, right?
And then if you go with the same pace, then it is possible, but we saw that they are vulnerable like this tournament.
Yeah, they have a good surface track.
Those two streaks, like our pass and those two, one to coach, so it's possible.
Maybe this is the one we'll see.
Might be the time.
Wait, but they play same as, maybe they lose same as.
Don't jump.
Yeah, we're not jumping. It's just that it would be such a beautiful final, but you're right to jump.
You should have, like, third place, decided that we lose, they lose, and then we win them.
Okay, yeah, but would that really...
Is that really the time you want to win them?
No.
You have to do it in the grand finals.
They don't care at all, this moment.
Third place.
That's true.
Okay.
And sometimes they're entertaining, for VR's points and all that.
Oh yeah, sure, totally. Third place.
Anyway, thank you, Blade.
Well, like, we'll see you in the semifinals.
You can take that, whatever.
There we go.
Ah, I always love talking to Blade.
Talking to him forever.
Yeah.
Interesting insight there, because you see, I think, from the outside, we sometimes think,
the blade system, it's like, I don't want to say restricting because that's a wrong word for it,
but it's like this framework that is like within the parameters you operate, but he says well it
also includes sometimes doing the impossible, right? It's about the precision then when you do those
moments and the know-how that you do know how it plays out in a perfect situation, but you're
willing to take that risk, etc. And also, I mean on top of that he has a couple of players
that can be extremely clutch.
So I don't know.
I would relate Blade's system a lot to how one lives their life.
That the circumstances of their birth
are already predetermining a lot of what their fate and future
are going to be.
However, you do have these windows of volition
in which you can operate.
And Blade allows that window to all of his players,
and they have to figure out what sort of wiggle room
they have in it,
and are they going to exercise the freedoms for good or to harm their own team. So I think in the
beginning because they learned that it can harm your team, but now he's making a lot of good choices.
Absolutely. It's what a streak has been on. I mean so exciting to play, to watch the play I wouldn't
know. I'd probably not even get a kill in. But super nice indeed. We saw that how the group
played out and then overall we'll now also take a look at the bracket so far and the playoffs
to be exact. Phase versus G2 tomorrow.
Astralis versus gamer Legion there in the quarter finals
and the Navian Vitality respectively in the semi finals.
This is a pretty cool like you said name value, right?
Oh, yeah, bracket name brand value is excellent on this tournament.
I feel like people might have came in and thought it's going
to be Vitality and just that that's it.
But really, I think in terms of the orgs that are in attendance
right now, we've been very fortunate that Astralis has
been on an uptick that G2 look renewed with nerds in
in tow that the phase team is pulling off an upset today versus a furia team
who's firmly in my top five still that kind of stuff is where you have hope
you have you have hope that more of the balance can be upset as we play through
this bracket yeah the odd duck out fury is no longer there they'll be I mean
fuming that they don't get a shot at this playoff bracket but on the other
hand you've got an astralisic game or Legion that are looking to make a
deep run oh god well we're already building up for tomorrow so let's take a
to look at the schedule tomorrow.
They're coming, Chuck.
We're right next door.
They're on a ladder.
Oh my gosh.
Right next door in the Dickies Arena.
Phase versus G2 up first.
That will be at 230 CDT.
And then Astralis versus Gamer Legion.
What is CDT?
Central Dallas.
Central time.
Let's just say central time.
Daylight savings time.
Central daylight.
Center.
OK.
Something about that.
Central.
Just Central American.
Central USA time.
Yes.
OK.
What do you think about those?
Predictions?
Phase G2 is super interesting.
It's so nice.
I mean, in some way, they were a brand new roster with nerds in their midst.
Obviously, it's a whole new look for phase, new coat of paint and everything.
They got the new track suits too on top of that.
I think that the second game has more of a definitive favorite for me.
I think Astralis, even though maybe it's not been the same level of success
that you would have expected after what they did at the last PGL event
where they were in the Grand Finals, they still should take care of business
in my eyes against Gay Religion.
very exciting day to kick off our playoffs here. It's been a great tournament so far and also
people are working hard because there's a lot of playoffs starts immediately tomorrow so big up to
production they're going to be burning the midnight all to make sure that we have our setup
tomorrow and the players have the ideal positions or the ideal circumstances right or to play
him and so we will see you tomorrow for the playoffs of Blast Rivals 4-4. Good night and see you then.