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We are here on our last day of the desk in groups now some of the matches we're going to get they're going to be the exciting
teams that are going to be joining us in the Superbok arena that's where we're going soon in just a few days to Porto in Portugal
we've been in Portugal many times the environment and the just excitement that comes from an arena like that has always been epic
and if you have got a chance to go get your tickets now final few are available and we are here on our last day of the desk in groups
Now, some of the matches we're going to get are going to be the exciting ones where we get to see an elimination,
but others are deciding if we can get that semi-final spot or not,
and that is also very important to give yourself a leg up when it comes to the arena,
and make sure you're much closer to the trophy.
Finn, how are we doing this morning?
Good, good. Unfortunately, still a bit grey outside, James, but I'm coming to terms with it.
It's okay, it's Denmark, it's going to be like this for the next eight months,
so I guess it's a prime Counter-Strike season upcoming,
and given how we suck at Counter-Strike at the moment in Denmark,
Maybe it's a good thing the weather sucks. We'll play some more.
Roger, what about you, my man?
Also, ready for the day, final day on the desk.
At least there's some bangers to go out with, so I'm really excited for today.
Great, I'm excited too about it all from start to finish.
Let's take a look at some of our groups as well, and just see where we're at.
If you haven't been joining us, what the hell have you been doing?
You should have been watching all of this, because we've had some great counter strike action coming your way.
And looking at group A here, you know what we have to first look at that we saw here?
versus Navi. Navi, you said it was like a red flag, right? I'm also very worried. Maybe
not red flag moment just yet, but I'm concerned from what we heard in the interviews, from
what we saw the comments Blade made about not having fun in there. I don't know, like,
it's all up in the air.
You should be worried. I think if you're not worried on behalf of Navi right now,
you're delusional, to be completely honest. With that being said, I'm not willing
to say that roster is dead. You know, I'm not willing to say they can't find
their way back into the season. But the fact of the matter is, with three tournaments
into the season. It's been very disappointing for Navi. There were one of the few teams
opting not to go for the blast bounty. They had a long boot camp because they were to
come in to the season, hit the ground running and nothing has really transpired from that.
And the issue with that is that the season is still very, very long with three tournaments
into it. But if you think this is going to be the level of Navi, there's a long,
long time until the PGL Major in Singapore.
Perhaps this was the gut punch they needed to kind of rethink like not only is the
five players, the right ones, but also the stylistic things on the server, like is it time, you know,
to move some boundaries a little bit within the blade system, or is it just, you know,
we need to change. So I think there's a couple of storylines up in the air for that team, but
at least for them, they get to go home and think a little bit about it while the rest of
them are playing playoffs in Porto. Yeah, that's going to be a tough one for them to watch.
We're also going to take a look at Group B. And we've been in Group B yesterday,
we saw a legacy going up against Vitality. That was a great matchup but even with Vitality having
Jailor's a stand-in. By the way, he's performing pretty handily. He's doing his job. Legacy do fall,
they find themselves eliminated and not making it through to the playoffs. It's a tough pill to
swallow for a team that's very exciting and can cause some crazy upsets in here. But I mean,
is it bad that they go out to Vitality with a stand-in? How do you guys view it?
I wouldn't say it's bad. It's a little disappointing, especially the fashion it hadn't
And then that first map, Vitality were down 10-2.
That should have been Legacies and all of a sudden you'd argue they beat Vitality 2-0
and they continued their rise up.
I think Legacies is still a team that is establishing themselves.
It's still relatively new for them to play with Try as well.
To lose to Vitality even with JL, it's not a disaster, but naturally it should be
a slightly disappointing for Legacy considering what they've shown us the last couple
of months.
Like how many teams have been at Legacy's shoes playing against this Vitality bullshit
coming back from like these major deficit and then all of a sudden you know
you lose one clutch the rounds wings all of a sudden you're out of the tournament
you're like thinking what the hell happened and but for once it will be
legacy thinking that because a lot of other teams playing legacy will be
thinking after games against them what the actual happened you know yeah yeah I
did see one round I just want to quickly touch on and that was the apex
with the 5-7 into getting that 4k in the end of the M4 and I was like okay
then he was pumped up and ready I knew it was gonna be a bad time for
legacy of apex is doing things like that but let's take a look at the schedule for
today and see what we've got coming your way as always guys plenty of action all
the counter strike for best of three foot vitality to decide a spot over into
the arena into the playoffs pimp give me your just thoughts on that quickly
as a crazy game that's a good game of kind of swag and a very exciting game
of kind of swag we're talking the best team of all time playing with a
standing going up against foot who were in a final just a couple of weeks
to go with EWC, coming dangerously close beating Spurt in that one.
So that is easily matchup of the day.
And just one more from you, Raga, on the other one,
G2 Aurora, rematch time.
I'm hella excited for this one, because they played each other
just the other day, meaning there's so many things
that both teams can take out and guess
about what actually happened.
Like, Aurora will have a little bit of prep advantage
going into the game, because obviously, when you lose,
you find a little bit more things
that you can actually try and turn the tides next time
around.
So for T2, it's about how do we stay one step ahead
and not like making sure that we haven't been found out
in the meantime.
Well, many exciting games to come our way,
but our first one here is gonna be Furia taking on Spirit.
Have a listen to this.
Donk, so far here at Porto,
you've not had a chance of being really tested in this.
Does it feel like the games and the teams were just easier
or that you guys are maybe playing better overall?
I think we weren't playing against the Contenders for a title, I would say, and yeah, it's obvious
that we started to play just better since either we see play-offs, so, yeah.
Where do you see yourself in this matchup?
Are you the underdogs?
Are you the favorites?
I would say we are the underdogs.
Okay.
Clear underdogs here.
They're playing against the best team in the world right now.
So many of the great teams had the shake-start decision.
I mean, ourselves included.
We're going up against an opponent who just won one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
They're playing really good.
They have their third-star player who is performing very well.
So yeah, I'd say they're the underdogs here.
When you do come in as underdogs like you told me,
is this where you make some specific change-ups to try and first-spirit off
try and get an advantage, is it where you maybe game plan a little bit more around them?
Yeah, of course, they are a team that they have a big structure in their game,
so you can rely on the prep, it's not like you're playing a team who's going to be super crazy changing
all of the stuff and bringing up different tempos and places of the game.
They normally rely on a certain style, and we've planned them many times,
we know how it works, so of course we've put extra work into prep,
and yeah, like you said, we're going to be relying on those things,
We're going to rely on the game plan and I'll see who goes.
I love when I'm looking over at my analysts.
You guys can't see their faces right now,
but they're both nodding along to what's it saying.
They're smiling at the same time.
Rugger, give me your thoughts.
I love that because that means they will try actively
to try and disrupt the spirit that we've been seeing the first week here.
They're not going to go in and just play, you know,
Furia against whoever in practice.
They're going to come in with a clear game plan.
and I think they also needed, because the last time they played each other,
that wasn't the case from what I saw in the game, some months ago,
but still they tried to play their own style and they had a fair success with it,
but at the end of the day it wasn't enough to beat these guys,
and I think today they realized that they are the underdog,
meaning that we shouldn't expect textbook CS in every single round,
and maybe not even in the veto.
It's quite simple. If you don't disrupt Spirit, and if you allow Dunk,
and if you allow Spirit to execute their game playing throughout the entire game,
sort of like D2 did against him on Dust2 with a setback, played for a lot of retakes, there's
just too much structure and there's too much skill within Donk, within Tenir, within all
those players for them to capitalise on that, especially for a guy like Shiro as well.
Like he's not an aggressive op player but if a team is playing passive against Shiro,
that's bread and butter for him, that's nice, he's going to be scoped up, he's
going to be punishing you and that's exactly what he wants, so you've got to disrupt
them a bit.
The dream scenario, yes, disruption is key if you want to be able to take on
Spirit, but also both teams have quite a set of deadly trio, not a duo in this,
three players roger from both teams dog shero to near versus caseurado yukinda and
molotov and you were looking at some stuff for this I was looking at it so
basically I took the three players like put them in trouble with each other and
then you know found the average and basically one of the teams had 1.38
and the other one had 1.37 so the three the two trios are matching up
super super well against each other but with that said there is a reason for
that and that's keserato keserato putting up these numbers to be fairly
close to gank without being super close. That also means that Fiora has a winning condition
in the game. Because if they need to put up these numbers against Barrett, these three
individuals, they need to step up and be part of the impact rounds. Because if not,
we have seen what gank can do.
Yeah, this is it right. There's a difference maybe in the gank disparity, but the other
player is being I guess a lot less than a Eukindu and a Molodoi, which helps even
it out.
It obviously helps even it out, but the big story is of course like Kisarato being
so far up in the rankings. Jakinda not so far behind him, but you still need to consider,
like you still have Donk on the other side, right? So you need to put up the numbers or
outplay the Mesa team. In terms of outplaying him as a team, can
Furia just individually also handle Donk in this sense? Is it possible for him? It is
possible because it comes from a lot of different directions. I think Molotov is a very good,
you know, one versus one player. He definitely has the ability to punish Donk if he
goes in for some of these crazy entries without utility backing him up. We've
seen that before. Even more so, I'd say Ykinder versus Dong, they're probably gonna
knock it out, you know, and be in each other's faces. And that's where I am a
little bit afraid on behalf of Fuiro, because I think they rely a lot on
Ykinder's space-creating. I think they rely even more so on Ykinder now that
he's calling on certain maps and calling on certain sites as well. So if Dong
is having one of those games where he's shutting down Ykinder, he strikes
me as that kind of momentum player that when he's thriving, when he's
getting kills, his calls also gets exceptionally better, you know,
sort of like Huxiard, I assume, when he's having a good game of
all of a sudden his calls are also great whereas the same could be set the other way around.
If you're getting shot down by a dunk, if you're not finding the space on the server
then all of a sudden your calls and your creativity is going out of the way as well.
So I'm looking at a lot towards Shikinda.
I know what I'm getting from Keisarato, Shikinda is a bit of a question mark.
Is Keisarato going to be able to do what he's been doing now against the Team Mike
Spear?
I think he can.
I think again we go back to setting each other up for success and going into this
city to talk a little bit about it in the game plan.
If the game plan is to take out Donk, meaning that you get these like 4v4s less-to-tune Donk traits, which he always does,
that you know that you have these 4v4s, then all of a sudden, Keisarato, he's the king of the mid to late rounds,
and you don't have to worry about Donk, then it's for the other players on the Spirit supporting cast to also step up,
and we also know, as you talked about, like Spirit likes to sit back and wait, so the rifles, they need to do the dirty job of actually see if they can find this guy without dying too many before killing him.
I think that's the key point if you want to take away stylistically from these two teams
I think it's very clear to say that in the opening department and the opening and beginning of the rounds
I would favor spirit any given day with don't go on lineup if it gets into a lot of 2v2s a lot of 3v3s
What case of Rado is alive where Yuri is alive?
I know people are saying you are not playing as well as he did but in the clutching department
He's been fantastic throughout the year. I'd say that's in favor of furia
Right so the deeper you go into the round and the more even you are deeper into the round the higher of a likelihood
that is for Fiora to win this game.
Now, looking at Spirit, they really have not been tested in their games.
They haven't dropped a map, but I mean, it hasn't even looked like it's close,
which we expected maybe against C2.
It would have been going to three maps.
So right now, they're in the driving seat.
I know you might look at them and think, oh, yes, well, they're favourites.
They want to EWC and all this stuff.
But I mean, it's the way they're doing this that is impressing me still.
They're playing better now than they were at EWC, you know,
at least in the two games I've seen.
And that's based on the eye test, you know.
At EWC, they should have been knocked out in the group stage.
They should have lost to Big before they even made the playoff.
Somehow, some way they got the job done thanks to Dong and then in the playoffs
they started to ramp up and get better and better and better and that's the
progress I'm seeing. I feel like every time I'm watching Spirit right now they
get better. They look more solid, they look more gel together.
Tenea has been activated in the last couple of games as well so I'm seeing a
team that is moving in the right direction. For sure like they are
like at current stage before entering this game the best team in the world
but with that said I also think like if there are teams that can push
these guys and not just give them everything they want we've just done
it on day one. Fiora is one of these teams. They know the method. They know how to isolate,
you know, Don get a couple of times. Yes, he will get his kills, but if you take him out
before he gets the double or the triple kill, that matters a lot for a team like Fiora.
So I think Spirit is the by far, the favorite going into this event, into this match and
event. But I think Fiora has the tools, but obviously they also need to hit the
right day in terms of the performance. Well, the most important tool maybe in
the whole world is done so let's have a listen to what he had to say to me earlier today.
Looking at how you guys are playing better, what do you think has been the biggest reason?
Many of your team have told me like just more officials helps but can you maybe explain
to me what exactly it is that makes that feel better?
What is the ingredient, what's the thing that was missing that now actually happens
and connects this to make you guys in your good shape?
I think we got into the shape of officials, we feel ourselves in shape and we feel ourselves
sharp as a team and also psychologically effect that we've got after we beat Vitality
in the WC playoffs and won the whole tournament, it gave us a lot of confidence and I think
we started to put ourselves in a great spot. We don't have some towels, you know, we're
just playing.
So it's all just happening naturally now as you think about it as needed to you speak a bit about psychology
Is this something that you personally work on in some ways?
Is there some techniques or things you do because I know you've spoken some other interviews the fact that you were
Trying to be less on like showing the angry emotions and tilting at time
I think I can move for like between
I can be aggressive but angry, but once the round starts I'm not angry at all, I just play drowned.
I think we become more calm now and more confident.
I think the confidence is the key to calmness and as we become more confident we become
more calm.
Also I saw you know when we did the winners interview last time and we showed you your
little highlight you pointed at yourself like yeah this is me you're getting more aces
you have a chance at this event to break the record for all aces is this something
you care about would you want to do that or it's still just focus on the trophy
like you always tell me.
Not really, it would be nice, but I think getting ACS is more about some luck than some
performance to be honest, because there is a whole chance for your teammates to not get
a kill at all, and I think if it happens it's good, if it's not, okay?
You're still going to have a good amount of kills at the end of the game, yeah?
But I want to ask you this, I see sometimes when there's an ace that your teammates move
out the way for you to finish it, right?
So like, is that communication, do they say we leave it for you?
You know, it works for everyone in our team, and if someone has a four kills and we
know about thieves, we are not trying to steal it because, you know, we just,
We are just trying to be nice to each other, and everyone likes to do aces, and we are just trying to give it.
Raga, that sounds like an anomaly. I don't know if there's any other teams that are doing...
It's the amount I see it with them, right, that they will literally avoid, run, flash, do anything but get the kill, and to allow it for anyone.
We've seen Maddox do it as well. That's crazy.
It's crazy.
I think the amount of times where the teammates won't just take it for a little bit of the
glory, that's very low, but I think that's a very good sign of your spirit that you believe
so much in each other, that you set each other up for success in this department.
So I'd love to hear it, but I think it is an anomaly across the ecosystem.
It's also a luxury of being as good as they are, being as good as Dengue is, you know.
Could you argue sometimes, you know, that if you were to risk that, maybe you'd
lose a couple of extra weapons, that would hurt your economy, maybe it would have
effect on the game but the way they're dominating their position right now you can do whatever the hell you want.
I'd like to see who's going to break this ace record but it will find out as we get towards the end of the event.
Maybe they'll get another one in this series but before that we need to understand what maps he might be able to do it on.
So let's get into the video.
Now, Raga, over and over again we have seen
Cache be supposedly the weak spot for spirit, but they keep dominating their opponents. Are you expecting that again?
Or do you expect it to be more normal?
Listening to say that I expected but I'm more curious about like what spirit actually speaking because they've had there like they've had
Fierce number on just to the last couple of times. Yep, but the ancient I also think I'm leaning towards ancient given how dominant they are
And it is also you know it is dongs playground and it's one of the few maps where Molotov
SDO will have a very hard time getting into the game and dictate the pace so for a spirit side
I think this is a good good pick for important context naturally is as we see cash coming in from furia
That's interesting trying to to go for a bit of a punnister's two things people need to be aware of this
Seating game, you know, so you're allowed to maybe take a little extra risk in the video
Sure second of all as well for furia
They've just recently integrated ancient into the map pool a map where supposedly your kinder is the in-game leader
So if your spirit you're definitely gonna try to push that you're gonna punish that and you're gonna test whether or not
Furia is competitive to a state where they can play ancient against us. They have a decent
amount of results on it from EWC that is Furia, but against a team like Spirit, that's the first
time we're testing them against a world-class team. Also it's a great point you just made about
Yukinda. Both the opening maps are going to be cool by Yukinda. Ancient now and cash as well,
so it's a lot on him in this early part of the games. 100% it's going to be a lot on him
and that's where we're just going back to the point I spoke about. If Donk is having Yukinda's
number then there's in-game leaders and there's types of in-game leaders who thrive
very well when the game is going their way, when they're feeling the game, when they're alive for
a long time into the rounds, but if Dong is just shutting down your kinder from the get-go,
that's going to be an incredible tough task for a rather inexperienced in-game leader to go
above and beyond that. I'm really looking forward to this ancient one because I think
people are sleeping a little bit about how good Furia actually is and how long time
they've been playing it, because I remember back when they weren't playing it, we had some
scrims against them and they were actually pretty good, so I think if they can find a way,
you know to handle dunk in the middle in the beginning maybe even trade-out go 4-4
then then I think they actually have a really good shot because this is a clutch
xvx map if there ever was one so yeah it's a it's a good pick for spirit but I
wouldn't count fury too much out all right well we'll see how it goes when you
into the game thank you very much all your thoughts guys we're going into our
opening match it's spirit taking on fury the winner of this series gets
pushed into that semi-finals the loser into the quarters it's all up in
the air let's see what happens with Henry and Anders. Thank you very much boys
setting the table very nice there Anders, a bracket final, not too much alive
seeding game of course so we're not going to go nuts on the commentary but
definitely have some fun I think some great players could be happening here
what is Polly Markie telling us? It's it's fairly even though Spirit we knew
they were gonna be the favorites they just come off a victory at EWC and
obviously they just look very strong in this moment. Donk close to breaking
the record for aces as well. That's your favorite storyline, huh? That's great. I love that. Who doesn't love an ace? Absolutely.
He is playing out of his minus tournament, but K Sarato as well is keeping up with Dong. Let me tell you,
he'll be able to go toe to toe today, or at least he has to in this particular series if they're going to have
standard chance of making it towards the semifinals here, and it will be their map pick. That's true. That is kick things off.
So they'll be starting on the T side here. I think, yes, we get very good point. They can shut Dong down towards middle.
Maybe there's a chance, but let's get into the action, ladies and gentlemen.
Buck your seatbelts, not too much on the line, but that does mean they'll go for the big, big place.
Yeah, no question. And look at the risk that's been taken by Fury at the beginning of this one.
They have stacked the A bomb site. They've gone for the boost up there.
They're really sure someone is going to be happening.
It looks like Spirit are going to be straight up executing onto B instead.
Yes. There is the smoke-kit combination.
You know what I love, Henry?
Dude, there's no one here.
Dead point, full retake.
There's retake and then there's retake.
Yeah, but you know what?
I've never seen this before.
I'm gonna say this is still pretty winnable.
That smoke kit, I've got so much faith in it.
It appears to be around to specially Henry.
Let's see, let's see.
I feel you.
But the time's gonna be ticking at some pace.
Take it away, Anders. Get into it.
Okay, let's set this one up.
Sonic's back here with a glock
and there is a flash around the corner.
Yeah, Kandaren fallen.
The start of the retake is magnificent.
Now, let's see if they can land that smoke
on top of the pond.
They've actually already thrown them.
They don't have another one,
but they're just powering their way through.
They didn't use smokes, they didn't use kits,
they didn't use anything other than headshots in this round.
It's in here, and Magix, they're trying to hold on to it,
but it won't work.
They did that so easy.
Why was you worried at all?
I don't know.
I guess I'm washed.
Well, listen, you predicted every single player yesterday.
Yeah, you stole your power.
I've just never seen that before.
Like, you don't even play anyone in towards B.
Like, everyone's in middle and red.
The bomb gets planted,
and it's the most comprehensive retake
you ever gonna see in all of CS2. The thing is though, I mean you're right though, if they don't get the
shots at the corner at the beginning it's a very very difficult affair so fair enough like it could
have gone wrong. Little lost of words there but huge ram of fury and it will be the force by a
response from Spiritier, one Galil, a Donk, of course wielding that. We will have a Tek 9 and
a Diggle for Shiro otherwise. Yeah, Kanda, actually the in-game leader of Ancient and
and cash and it's what you think about that I mean it makes sense when you know
that this is sort of the retirement year for fallen it makes sense to try and
push some of these duties on to other people so I do like it and he has got
experience right he was doing it for a bit in seems like which yeah for us gave
it a go yeah I for a minute it almost looked like that adventure I don't want
to say killed his career but it's like it's a lot out of him like he just
wasn't himself but I do respect it I think I think it's smart and hopefully
he can learn as much as possible from falling along the way, right? Like one of the most,
oh yeah, what a tenured Indian leaders we have.
Absolutely true. CT's now trying to hunt for a bit of intel, pushing down towards that B
Rambex, Yakunda. Should be able to win this fight, but it takes a little bit of damage
for his troubles. We'll be falling back right now. Flash is being thrown for the double
doors. It's over towards A, we're more interested though. Is that your really interesting
position for Fallen? I'm interesting in all the wrong ways. He gets taken down
by the Desert Eagle, no problem. Shiro, great shot.
I thought that was going to be great too, the only molotov they had as well was on the other side of the map so they couldn't even have burned him out
but he was being held, great coverage with the D.G.E.G.L, and also the bomb plant, and now he's said a gank with that Galile, he's only going to get a one headshot there
but Shiro just keeps on going, it doesn't even molotov, 1 vs 3, trying to back on out but Magix is already holding it so very very nicely played around and not even necessarily that complicated
No, showing a little bit of presence there towards B. CT's heading for information, pushing them back, putting them in the dark and then towards A. We went in.
Well, looked to be a promising position for Fallen, maybe a little bit too committed. I feel like just staying tucked away that might have been a better option.
Go to the swing, tank him down by one bullet courtesy of Shiro, and we got a 1-1 game. Four spine response.
All my Sturgeon here, we've got MP7's, Molotov's pistols across the board otherwise, and this is gonna be a difficult one now, you've got 5 rifles for Team Spirit, lots of money available, AK's, M4's and Galils.
Magic's hitting quickly into what's game, Molotov pushed back into the aggressing CTs, and it's a B-stack, Anders. All 5 players this time, over towards B.
I can't imagine a world in which Spirit just kind of walk on to this B1 site without checking
more of the map or throwing more of the utility here.
Expecting Furia eventually will have to kind of do something more than just sit back here,
but I guess we'll find out.
Shiro is ready for a bit of an aid and they put some pressure on top of me, not
that anyone's really nearby, like Keisarato's covering the backline in case anyone tries
sneak through and shoot them in the back.
Beating out some reaction, like throwing a flashbang in now.
A little bit of a half-execute coming through.
Yuck and dup, he's in the cave.
And they are moving into Red Room.
So I think Sonic's just kind of realizing,
and there's nobody in the middle.
I haven't seen or heard anyone.
There's quite a lot of tension right now.
It's unclear as to whether they'll actually
make their way into this full stack.
We have got Zontiks ready to backstab
or initiate a flanker towards A. Get some information.
the execute towards B comes through. Two smokes down, one towards short and long of course
and here comes the aforementioned backsab, Zontics clearing out CT sport. I don't think
they'll commit until he actually feels like he's got some information around us.
That's a flash to the character, such a shame right here. Serato won the flash in for the
rest of the peek coming through but now the flashbang isn't coming and instead Donk
is just getting himself warmed up a little bit. Okay, you're entering a world of pain
Now, Donk, three kills, four and two currently,
full eco for Furia.
Shouldn't be much of a review about this one.
Zontics, he was one of the players with the flashness
and suggested they were stacking up.
More than happy to commit through.
When he got Donk as the battering ram,
I suppose it's no surprise.
So there shouldn't be anything invested here at all, Furia.
Bit of a free day.
Do what you like.
Have a little bit of fun.
If I land some headshots if you can, there are no wrong answers.
This time, spirits, like you pointed out, this is their map pick, the fact that cash
is the second one is just very interesting.
That means...
Oh that's where Donk has done his most ridiculous work at this time of the day.
That's true.
That's where he got two laces and one half.
So, if he's going to break the record, surely not going to be doing that again.
I don't know.
I always say that.
I think this has got to be a normal, there's no way you can play that good every
single time.
but he always seems to defy expectations so you never know but he does seem a bit of a master of casual donkey
we'll see where the she-rook is step up
good for one only got that mc-10 better thing it's probably okay he goes down
he's he can get the orb going through that first gun run not the mc-10 and that should be
oh she won't as falling in molodoy looking to find an exit or two wrong a little bit
bit suspicious there. We've got a good read on the situation. Reloading. Molodoy not going
to swing. That is round of course four on two. Get interesting now as to whether Molodoy
picks up the open ancient. It's one of the few maps as Rugger mentioned he actually struggles
on with the AWP.
Yeah, that's important, right? He's such a weapon in the Furia arsenal that you
want to see him really pop off here. But yeah, ancient can be very tricky indeed.
Let's see if I can persuade you of my logic here Henry. Let's see if I can tell this
story to you.
reasonable man you tell me. I'm not. That's the exciting part. For fury and spirit I feel like
making the semi-final straight away is just a great benefit like you get the extra day you get to
study the other teams you get a little bit more prep time I think for some of the newer squads like
if you're in Aurora or a mouse like you actually like I'm not saying you want to be in the
quarter-final but if you are you just get more play time. More rest of the stage. Yeah it's
more risky but there is like a hidden benefit to it. Yeah of course I don't think anyone would
choose to be there but also it's a way of looking at it if you do go in the
quarterfinals and say hey we get warmed up on the stage we go reps we get to see
what it feels like I don't think it's a serious advantage but I don't think it's
the end of the world the end of the quarterfinals okay yeah I wouldn't
call it an advance it's just early but yeah maybe a little bit of covium if you don't
think it's a bit of coke but sometimes that's what we've got ambas it can be
the best drug in the world. It's the esports. So first gun rounds here we knew
this would be a problem they have misdead red smoke or whether it's blocked
I don't know, but Donk has got a bit of space here towards middle.
This will be a problem as the game progresses.
96 damage, though.
That pretty much nullifies him.
He can't be as aggressive as he would like right now.
They've got two players in towards red, but the CT's very aware of that.
Molotoy with the M4 in hand, not the Orp just to note.
Holding towards CT spawn.
Rotation's coming in.
Donk should be going down here.
Well, apparently not.
Just a ridiculous shot, as usual.
Yeah, 4 health is three more than he needs, at least.
And, um, that's pretty good.
Trader's in.
He's a rascal, though.
He dies.
That is the rest of the A.D. defense.
He's on Molotov.
I can't believe that he's brought that one back in now.
The health of Stefan Tarkas and Lee of Factor again.
It's Molotov on one side, Yuri.
Coming in from the other.
My God, he's just found another one.
He just doesn't care.
I have no words.
I shouldn't be possible.
I shouldn't be a thing.
Right, you take your 4HP, and he's going,
Right, this is the one tap everyone, I suppose, I'll just jiggle them, wide swing, one tap, no problem at all.
What are you supposed to do?
Dunno.
I guess not.
No.
Oh, it's Sontics.
Okay, it took a lot longer than it was Donk, but he did get the kill.
You notice, well, the other logic, obviously, to sending Donk in instead of Sontics in the middle is the fact that if Donk dies, at least he has the information for Sontics.
Yeah, it's trade potential.
Yeah, if you're Sontics, it's going to be a weird feeling.
You're like, okay, bro, when you die, just let me know where they are.
where they are, but he's just getting all the kills. You're just in the backline waiting
kind of bored. I guess he's getting the headshots in front.
There's no analysis required. He's just a freaking nature. Alright, what are you, you
can't beat him. Like every duelist just out of this world.
It's a problem. He's definitely a problem.
4 HP and they can't get him below him. Here he is again. Alright, GG.
You don't turn it up like that's what you're supposed to do.
I appreciate that.
You would have given up at this stage Henry, you know what?
I think I would have done it.
This is just unbelievably good.
I don't need to embarrass myself any further.
I got it.
You can have the strat him as much as you want.
You can base your whole game around shutting him down.
But at the end of the day, you have to beat him in a duel eventually.
Thanks, Arato, for making a good case to do so.
This player so far the fury up should be more of the same here. Here's John
Okay, finally get around on a zero
Like the most Mokyo and so this posting out five one
Here on the T side of ancient since then man pick and they are off to a flying start after losing the pistol
The pistol is exciting the retake look fantastic and it's already on to something that if they had a great plan
And they executed it very well. Yeah, and then unfortunately kind of you know, they fell apart after that
But still early on, but you would like to see Fury approve to us that they can win one
of these rifle rounds.
I think now they've got it.
They've got AWP.
They've got a lot of utility as well.
They need a way to stop Donk in the middle.
And I guess if you can't do that, like as a secondary plan, don't fight him in the
middle right at the beginning.
Because it's rough to lose like two CTs every time.
Maybe you should be coach-handers.
I thought about it a lot.
Those sort of ideas.
Especially given the success of other classes that are turned coach.
Oh gee, um...
Oh gee.
Oh, it's true.
Someone has to be able to do a bomb point.
Yeah.
Now we've got coaches turning analysts and that seems to be working a lot better.
Which is honestly better than pros.
I think... I mean, shout out to Rugby by the way.
It's been great.
Doing a great job out there.
I fully agree.
My favorite debuts of an analyst of all time.
I would have... I'd call Cyanats, Seedonk.
They are throwing it right.
The County Inciliated got the smoke, they got the Molotov down with the incendiaries from the CT side.
he's really trying to make his life difficult, but he's always playing right in the borderland
between those two grenades. This time he's down to 37, but as we know, that's plenty
out for him to get some headshots.
The execution mod of grenades going through Molodoid though. Beautiful headshot on towards
the near. First advantage they've had in some time and this can they convert upon
it. Maybe not. Yuri goes down towards lock. I shot from Molodoid once again. He's
got backup towards the cave in the form of the Echendar. Magics, no strike back.
God, I can burn this now. That should do it.
K-Serato will find Shiro towards the B-Lay.
Molodoy, a miss, but he should be fine.
I don't think Magic's going to pull this one off.
Taking damage on Roots. Fallen, just making sure he stays alive here.
Gives himself the advantage, and it's the second round.
According to Spawn, it's a B-Execute, but Molodoy there.
Perfectly positioned.
We said he might struggle with AWP,
but he looks absolutely fine there.
Some nice headshots.
Finding one for the slow towards the B-Ramp,
and then the second kill from the cave.
Nice precision.
High pressure scenario as well.
Standing in the flames, and here it's not loving it.
But we certainly are.
Yeah, they did need this round.
And they need to go a bit of a run here.
I guess the money is not infinite on the spirit side.
So, you know, a couple here, maybe deny a bomb for another two, and you might be in a decent position.
Donk again, running to the middle.
He'll throw that Molotov into the cubby, and try and make his way out.
There he comes.
He's got a headshot onto Kassarant.
So, even though Kassarant actually smoked off the Molotov,
so he wanted to play there, another headshot, bringing down Fallen.
It's kinda hard to deal with.
It looks impossible. You might be right, because maybe you don't even go middle.
He doesn't miss those shots. Whatever you throw at him, they seem to find the timing.
He doesn't take any damage from grenades, and will absolutely eviscerate two players once again at 5 on 3 now.
Molotov, holding towards red, quaking in their boots right now.
A bomb, so wide open, smoke down towards CT spawn. That pretty much calls the round over.
Gonna have to save. No real frags available. We've got Zontec parked up
in towards red. Bob will be planted in towards A momentarily. Donut, I guess a
potential threat, but he's got Zontecs in towards red, so you don't really need to worry about it.
And here he comes. Looking to seal the deal. They are going to be saving, so that is round.
It's going to be 6-2. Not really much to say apart from that's the donk effect.
Round middle killed 2. That is round.
It's not the first time that we've said it, it probably won't be the last.
And like you said, it can be tricky on the sort of analysis part of it, right?
Because you, at the end of the day, you think, well, I don't think you need to be the best
analyst in the world to break that one down.
And on the other side of it, right, like, because we can, if we analyze the grenade
pantsons for fury, it's not like they're making big mistakes here.
They are throwing down that utility early on.
They are trying to make sure, like, it's the case or after, I think he wanted
to throw in some doubt and play in that corner, like, that he smoked out the molotov.
It's a good idea, but he couldn't get in there before Donk had already shut him down.
He's just joining us today.
This is the upper bracket final of Group A.
Winner will go to the semi-finals, loser to the quarters.
This is why we're not necessarily bringing as intense commentary as you might expect.
Save that for the playoffs, Anders.
Yeah, up for a possible Donk ace.
Yeah, we'll give you an ace.
like that one. Anders will give you the beans but I'm not going to bring you any romantic
sort of poetry or narratives here. No, it's just an interesting thing. I mean the fact
that Cassius in there, I do think it's fun because again we're trying to learn as much
as we can. If you want to see Donko on that map again but also you know Fallen is a
man of many cool ideas over the years. I'm sure that he's been in the lab kind
of looking over and finding things. So maybe you could bring us some fun stuff
there. Yes, down by one ounce. Not looking great but we'll see if they can recover.
You can see the match is yielding towards better, right?
You know what? Never mind. Just have it, Donk.
We're not going for it.
I think they have to, like, four flashes go over.
So two flags and spawn.
Yeah, four flashes go over,
smoke down towards Red and Donk,
and then Donk makes his way out.
So, sure, no frags this time.
Maybe that's for the best. Let them have middle.
At least we still have all five members alive,
and we have got Yekenda pushing towards A main.
So there is information being guarded at the very least.
Careful now.
Sontik's there on the other side.
Fallen, he's thinking about it.
Now he realises being pushed, he's going to throw it in the centre of your one side, try to see if he can
maybe smoke his way out of this one, he's done some damage
and I think if he could just escape to A, that's actually a, that's not a bad result, you don't want to die there.
Definitely not.
He's the linchpin of the operation right now, falls back towards the A site.
There might be still a Yakindar in towards A main as well.
But don't up control established spirit, one minute on the clock here, will be an A finish.
I'm also off to flush out anyone close range, speaking of which,
a few frag here, and it will be yet another pick it up.
It's a really huge fallen, oh he's actually caught in the air by Don.
That's a pretty good headshot, and he's gonna swing it to Molotowite.
So even if they're trying to avoid him, eventually,
he will come and find them at a bomb site.
That's how the game works.
Okay, so Rato and Yuri, they can't even really rotate by the time that a defense is dead,
and that means Spirit will pick up a seventh round,
And doc will find a 15 to 4 score line
Through the half yet. It's not bad at all
15 to 4
It's just outrageous
16 and 4 I'm round to play
Even go give him 17 I suppose
Yuri's wondering, am I going to be safe here?
Are they going to come find me in the fading seconds of the round?
They are right around that corner.
Okay, got a little bit of revenge.
Thing is as well, is cash coming up next, which we know if you really can play to a decent level.
But you might be able to play the map well, but if Dom plays it on another level.
As you can see right now, the form is not slowing down.
If anything is getting better, which I didn't think was possible.
I mean we discussed this as well, right?
There might have been a hope in the pro community, like how you know what, in cash or something, Donk wasn't even alive, so you know, maybe he doesn't even know how to play it, but that dream popped really quickly, and that wasn't an issue.
It's because that's similar fights to Ancient. It plays the same way. You're fighting that mid-control at the side of the round, you know, open shooting gallery, and that's where he thrives.
So that's why he loves Ancient so much, and why he loves cash, unfortunately, for everyone that plays against him.
There he is. The menace of Counter-Strike. 147 ADR by the way.
Yeah, I feel like we're not even... we're not even glazing him at this one. He's just that good.
He is that guy.
Yes, indeed. It's dark in the middle again and one more time, Furia have decided it's not really worth it.
They also don't have all the utility at the start of the round and you are going to have to use a lot of utility to hold mid on the CT side.
So I think again stay a little bit for the back makes sense. They try to blow that one open
That's case so rato up there, and I agree like a zero is someone on this side that could take the fight to donk
So I don't hate the fact that he's trying to look for an opening. It looks like we might be headed back to a one more time
Fallen is now doing some secondary orping as well towards donut
Moledoy all the way in the back of the B bomb site
Yeah, kind of tough for fallen to fall back into a if they're coming out like that problem is they're gonna be executing towards a
So that means donor will be smoked as we just saw and CT spawn so he's quite deep as well
He'll see the smoke coming down
Here's a choice as you want to try and push in front of it or blow it up with the AG
It's gonna be done in case rather to try and get through the smoke. He has then he's good towards people
It does find donk. Okay. Now. We've got a man advantage this round is actually looking quite good
4 vs 3 in favour of Furia, 45 seconds with bomb planted just yet but Son's gonna try and
change our fates if and how flashbang comes through.
We've got a damage there towards Kcerato, this will be the plant, well another fate coming
in.
That smoke's gonna be fading pretty soon behind him, oh there we go, there we go, yeah
fallen, now it's got free reign on the bomb site, they've got no more smokes to set
this one up so magic's just gonna be peaking straight into it.
I don't mind the fake plants but that smoke was evaporating and then what are
they gonna do?
They didn't have another one, 20 seconds.
They should win this round every single time.
Fury, I think they know as well.
As long as they're planted, they don't really have to hurry.
Nice shot from Fallen.
They'll pick up a double in this one.
And with the early takedown of Donk,
this round is going to be secured here.
Nothing that Shiro could really do about that.
A third one for Fury.
I mean, it's still pickings at the start,
but I guess you take what you can at this stage.
Definitely do.
7-5 wouldn't be the end of the world, I suppose.
I suppose. Decent round there, good contribution from Fallen, nice they did it, mixed things up, get the double AWP.
It seems like they're sacrificing middle now, it's not worth it, they're not winning those jewels at all.
Getting demoralised every time they get double killed by Donk.
Fallen 7 and 7, Molotov 8, 6 and 8.
I feel like it's a recurring problem for a lot of T-sides when they hit this A bomb site that
they get all the smokes down and they are on the bomb site, but they never have the safety to plant the bomb.
I guess you're always getting spammed, the smoke's being blown open, like it's kind of a stressful scenario.
Well, we're tactical timeouts and we're getting to Round 11 here.
Money absolutely fine for one more full purchase from Spirit here.
That was the money shop in Fallon, Nailset.
And there we have it.
Got a game in our hands now, they can pick up these last two rounds, that'd be fantastic.
Let's keep on with the double-lop setup.
Don't mind that at all.
Maybe I could have picked up another safe if they wanted it, but um...
Oh, they're back for the mid-fight. Look at Kcerato, he's immediately in that cubby.
And again, I wonder if they throw that from spawn.
Oh, it's a nice flashbang.
Oh, that deep Kcerato!
He's picked up Duncan, some six in the middle, and now Teneir is the next casualty.
Get him down, able to catch him outside of the B bomb site.
I'd love a replay of the smoke that saves Kcerato from the Molotov cubby.
I wonder if that's from CZ spawn.
Shiro's the next and our magic's the lone. Okay, that's the most convincing round they've had yet
Maybe apart from the pistol and the money wouldn't be amazing
Certainly serviceable going forward, but the three round is very very good. Yeah, three orbs seems I want to many
But they'll probably leave that in sport and I guess they can just have a reserve
Final round here
Good start for Cacerato, that's his best sequence, yeah.
Flashbang from Fallen, sets him up for a nice little double kill here.
Donk, painted into a corner this time of utility, very effective.
So, heavy damage on Rube, courtesy of the incendiary and the H.E.S.
Nice little spray down for Cacerato, and Donk, he wants some revenge.
Some retribution as he heads out towards mid of a once again.
In front of the usual this time, and the flashbangs are spot on, back to his winning ways.
He does find Cacerato in response.
Second out pushing towards A main, but will he be detected? He's actually got a very good timing, Anders.
Could actually win the round.
He can quickly get towards elbow and stop the bar.
The entrance towards cave.
Made a name for himself being an aggressive player, and that's coming back in this round, you're right.
Donk and Magikz, they did not feel that timing whatsoever.
Really cool?
Yuri, that probably needs to be a win. I feel like you could have that spray down every single time, but...
Is a pathway to a bomb front on the B bomb sites?
We do have Fallen back here in Molador himself, I've got the other read-out here.
I see you're in Flick.
He remembers what it's all about.
There's another one for Molador, it means Cardergy.
And Shiro now, alone versus three, he's taking the first one.
So he's got some high left and it's a long spray, but Molador falls.
And Yekindar's already tagged up so Shiro, kind of a fair fight happening at the moment to be honest.
You can die, I think, smartly falling back. He knows that there's enough time that Shiro could go looking for him, or maybe even, in theory, escape to the A-bomb site, so...
A bit of a test of patience here on either side. Shiro might be backing straight up into it. There's that 5-7 scoreline that you were asking for, Henry. So, I'll let you around and come back here for Furia.
I feel no man, but that thing gets good.
I'm not talking about that freak, alright?
Is he here?
Is he listening in?
How did he spike off?
and Shudder's Dream Rager, what in human thoughts, great inside that line.
Dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty.
And anybody that beats it hits the ground!
Oh!
Damn!
Get in the crypt!
Still doesn't need to give a thing.
No!
He can sense the fear.
I'm picking Don'tzara!
Oh!
Clashes and kills them all!
Don'tzara, that's the question.
He's not the player we want to understand.
That's what he wants.
That's what he's best.
He gets near him.
Always watch out there.
He doesn't just represent you.
He represents the whole nation.
He never comes to more.
We lost it.
He's actually swung the round.
He does it like no one else does.
He always finds a way to be at the top.
At the top.
In 2026, so far, one team that is really close to becoming a really strong team is, I would
say, FUT.
Thus far, I think it might be FUT.
I think FUT.
What's his name?
FISH PUNCHER.
Boy, if we knew this!
Mr. FISH PUNCHER, 12 games.
I don't want to bully too much, but FISH PUNCHER is not an issue.
Oh, my God! I can't do that!
Move back!
Ahead of us, we have Inhuman Reactions by Hiko.
Inhuman Reactions!
Last day of group stages here in Copenhagen,
Porto is around the corner at the blast open.
It's Furia trying to make a comeback here on Ancient,
trying to fight their way into the semi-finals.
And to be fair towards the end, they said it looked pretty good.
7-5, 2-round game.
It's not too late to turn it around.
I think that's the main takeaway here.
But they do probably need to win a pistol.
Donkeys still gonna be a really fierce opponent on the CT side.
And let's see, okay.
Got a little bit of a challenge coming up from Yackandar.
He's not afraid to peek the corner.
Smoke will be forced out there.
And that's actually pretty early, right?
A minute and 30 seconds.
You basically force magics to throw that in there.
That's nice.
They're gonna wrap around towards Donut now, rush out of the fall, back Shiros with the
dualies to get the first one of the second half, and Yakindar catching Shiros right afterwards
so they can slow this down.
I feel like Furia, they're gonna keep going into the dunk.
That's a dangerous idea, but they did convert the kill, Yakindar showing no fear at all.
He said they needed the pistol, this is looking very promising indeed, it's Teneir and
Magix on a retake, no kits, no utility.
Magix with Alcatelar as well, down to 77 points of health, should be a conversion
for Furia.
can do anything about it. He's trying to sneak on out. Can he be silent? Yes he can. Slowly
sneaks down by Keisaranto. He knew the timing and he'll drop him magics. Fortunately not
much of a chance here. Don't have that kit smote combination or anything else to really
upset the round with. So I think it's honest. Furious they far back. They're going to
be alright in this one. Absolutely true. Nice little mid take through the donor. Excellent
flashbangs as well. Trying to farm a few extra kills but nothing he can do to
win the round I'm afraid to play survive and it will be a one-round game here 7 6 or 6 7 depending
on where you look at it Anders nice Henry thanks one last go around before it's all the way out
yeah I think I just killed the game that's how you do it though yeah I wonder I don't know I probably
overthink in this but when you know that that's not that you're running into you have enough
time to escape there almost could be like a micro conversation about like if we run away we're
We're giving him so much respect like we're playing his game like we're actually but if we actually into him
He could just shoot all of us
You can't base your game around don't that's where you fall into that trap
I'm sorry to write him that's when you actually lose the game before it even starts. We have to be willing to take the jewels
He's gonna have a great mind for that kind of thing like I think he will have the confidence in himself to say and he did right
He ran straight into long and took him down so
Too much respect and you're not even gonna be on the server. Yeah
exactly right. Forced by, of course, the Spirits with the 5-7s at Donk MP-9.
He's got over Yikindal with the MP-7, knows he's got a nice little dick through the wall,
but it's not quite nice enough. Yikindal will go down, good trade for Molo-Doy. Shiro
good position, will actually find himself an SMG to work with as well. And it's
he side Moli, which he will deploy by some time to actually put on a pantheon.
He's looking at all sorts of awkward as Donk will swing through from spawn. Makes
So the job is done, really nice work from Sontek Swivenke, one there towards the donor position,
Shiro, excellent work, boosted up, drops the Molotov, Pandemonium ensues, and no bomb is
planted, it's a full reset for Furia, they're down the ones who have to force by with a
lot less.
Kind of a freaky shot on the jumping SMG coming through the smoke at Donuts, but that boost
position inside of the bomb side, I say it all the time.
I don't know why teams refer you to learn how to Molotov.
I think they know it's just a case of why don't they do it in the world?
I think you can do it every single round. I understand what you said every round. No, I agree
But maybe in rounds where you know that they're gonna be maybe forced up or they can have an immediate economy or whatever like that could be worth it
Well, we've missed the elbow smoke from the CT side so
See if that gives a few early space, but for now though bomb outside a main
I think I have an opportunity to take down Donk, but as you hit that first bullet, you're
not going to get a chance at the second.
Okay, Serato, challenging to near.
Same outcome of a freight.
Looks like this round might be over five on three.
Make it to four in a molotoy.
Aquiesc, in toward DA bombsite.
Not really much you can do about this one.
Maybe get a couple of one-deags.
Maybe being the opposite word.
Okay, so I'll take the cleanest spray, but it doesn't seem to matter. No one goes down. No casualties, no plants. Full eco for fury up.
They can't even justify a PT-50 here. So yeah, nothing but glocks.
9 to 6.
I've got a confession Henry. Oh no, what is it?
The reason I won't be able to monitor this is because I came up with a way to do it. That's even more official.
There it is. Okay, that's what you want to bring that out to you.
Have you got a video on it? Can people find this video online? I do have a video on it. Yes, nobody watches my videos,
But, I'd say it's a big one, I agree it's not a huge problem that people are running through all the time, but you know, sometimes I like to spend 10 hours on the server, find new things, you know.
I know you do, it's kind of your whole thing.
It's good way to spend time, be a mobiles to try it.
You can look over the eagle in the middle, but even at medium range or even long range there, magic's having yourself a terrible day with the SMG.
That was always going to be quick ground and shut up the furia for not delaying it any further. That's 10 to 6
Maybe not the last chance exactly for furia, but if they don't win this one
It's it's even more of an uphill battle and it's a really difficult one to win as well
You have no luxury of the AWP don't even have the AK 47 said they've got three galils
So Anders if you ask me this has to be a set piece. I don't think you can just operate
Trying to get mid control trying to run a detour. I feel like you have to make a call out a spawn
Just because you don't have the firepower really to find the valuable pits.
Going for a run boost as well, really, technical approach from Xomtix and Donk trying to get
that first take.
It's going to be magic to find it though.
He's got the galore as well.
K-Sorato will answer that quickly.
So we've got a 4-on-4.
What a good scenario for K-Sorato is low.
Donk knows it.
I feel like they're going in towards there.
Here we go.
Just survive K-Sorato then.
He's actually doing a really good job.
Just stay alive out there and try to dodge Shira if you can.
They know that he's in here somewhere, so they're not going to be looking away anytime soon.
But they shouldn't be. Donk is right around the corner as well.
Oh, the timing for both players here.
Kind of a bit of a dance going on.
Bomb planted.
There's Donk with the headshot.
Eurian 4.
2 vs 4.
And now we get a 1 on 4 for Eurie back here.
It's a really unfair fight that's happening.
Flash, I think, might have actually hit Sontek's in this one.
But Tineir is the one to trade out the kill.
And they're going to be just fine.
The run boost that you mentioned there into the middle, Henry, what's the purpose? Why are we doing that on the TT side?
Getting in front of all the utility, you get a much stronger angle. So as we talked about before, previous tournaments, most T sides are molotov-ing that corner.
So to stop people getting up close to the front of the angle. So doing the run boost, would you get past all that mute?
So in front of the flashes and an angle, you're not supposed to be in.
So the T spawn flashes will hit you there or will the wall?
No, you won't get affected as heavily.
go okay so just learn that with your map
I mean it's very difficult to pull that one off that's a very technical maneuver
they look cool though, they're doing again
double HG straight into it and he's very close but yeah
he's taking the fight to them and he has knocked out Donk as well so you
couldn't ask for a better start here right as they are essentially about
to lose the map but if they can pick up this round you know it's back on
again it's not like they have infinite money it's good but um Furia
Pick up a couple rounds here and it gets very interesting.
Teneir trying to see if he can salvage this one.
He shouldn't be allowed to. I'm shocked that he's able.
Look at how much real estate he's got.
Why is no one combining the shot and down finally?
They get rid of him.
Shiro and Magix now, who's real far away.
They don't realize how low they are.
Otherwise, I think they would at least take a look here.
They're backing.
Oh, they're going to something there.
I think Shiro wants to get an AK perhaps.
Okay, that makes sense.
So I'm gonna find an M4 for now.
I guess while he's destroying the orb away in case he goes down he can still buy one.
Um, okay. Doesn't want to give it to Mordoroy.
I feel like Tineo was allowed to fight like three different people without anybody really sort of looking his way.
That's why he's got the M4 only. He takes the M3 down so you win the round but you're not gonna have much to show for you.
Beyond Galil's once again going forward.
As that's actually 200 IQ from here. You know, you've got enough to buy the orb and if you get the m4
You'll be able to get those exits and shut them down. That's such a hollow victory in the end
But you don't save anything whatsoever after you had the fight tooth and nail for that one
You enter once more with galils a couple of AKs and to news brought out the org the bullpup
As we get ready
very important
For a minute that had the the reputation of being like the the IGL kind of done
Like if your eyes yeah exactly you know your eyes aren't quite there. Just they'll shoot some people maybe
What is quite blind this time don't takes got core as you're trying to go for the boost
Doesn't land this time but sad they win this round and is it's unfortunately pretty much GG
There won't be much loss bonus money's already kind of cooked up the winning the previous round
So Spirit's touching distance of closing his first map out, see if Fallen can operate towards middle.
So they're going for a boost.
We're going to see if anyone jumps it towards Heaven.
They'll run boost from the CT this time, more of a traditional setup.
Three players heading towards belay.
Yeah, they are a little bit more back on the map.
Curious if we have the numbers on the direct fight between Yakindar and Donk.
I feel like Yakindar's been having his number a couple of times.
It's really impressive.
Did spot him out, but couldn't land the headshots, which I can't really blame him for, to be honest.
The bomb is on the B side of things, three of the people though on Furia.
At least leaning towards A makes you wonder if they're gonna actually rotate the bomb over
or if they will just go for a bit of a fade. But yeah, they're starting to sneak back.
I'm in it on the clock, so they'll leave Yakindar here.
He's all he's got us on Molotov.
Can you sell much pressure on the B bomb side with that?
Well time will tell. They're gonna deal with Shiro in towards the temple position as well.
That's a problem. And they don't really have a ton of utility. They've got two smokes,
one molly.
Is that a position where you're like you're running out with the molly in hand trying
to molotov this and then you just get shot down from the T side?
We'll find out.
Didn't even have a molotov left so maybe not.
Here comes the molotov on B from Yekindar and then that's the fake.
Yeah, that's the fake.
It is keeping three people there, so I guess something is working.
But you're right, it will be back here.
Oh my god, the timing, he's back in, and okay, it worked.
Oh, army's there!
That's what worked!
So well!
Sonic's is the next to go down.
He looks away for half a second,
and all of a sudden, there's four players out.
Crazy work.
Yeah, Kanda actually nailed it.
The one molotov,
he could spread enough doubts and fear
that he looked away and he thought he had to rotate over
and with 30 seconds remaining, he just assumed that was the commitment.
That's so unlucky. That's what we call a piss boiler.
And, you see, it's just, it's staring at the angle.
Everything's perfectly set up and then that happens, so you slam in your desk.
Yeah.
It's like a magic trick to him.
Yeah, it's back again, like, what?
That's so unlucky, but well played.
I doubted that anyone would rotate off one molotov, but yeah, they needed all along, they needed that round.
Crazy work.
It's also...
What's the advantage to him rotating back to bombsite that's already got three people in it, you know?
If they weren't going to be holding it, probably if they're not holding it with him also, showing up at the back line somewhere.
Anyway, not a big deal necessarily, not yet anyway.
But it is, 11-8.
This looked like it could have been over and done, but it could have been on the analyst desk already, the way that the spirit were kind of taking off, but I'm curious to see how this will play out.
Bro, remember what I said, this game is going to be a mental test for us. Stay in the cookie game.
Stay in the game, boys. And to be fair, holding that nerve right now, head above walls up.
Big round. And I seem to pick it up with the glills.
The fake of a lifetime from Yakindar gives him a bit of a freebie into all that A site. Can they keep the momentum going, though?
I mean, if Yakindar could keep finding Donk the way that he has been in some of these openings, I'll say definitely yes.
Super Impressed, he's tied for top frags, so in case there are some models, he's not far away, but I feel like the impact that Yakindar has had so far is really big.
Late around smoke going in, or mid-round smoke going in here from the CT side, so Donk is kind of retaking mid slowly.
Could give you some big advantages that if the CT or the T-side isn't ready for you to be sort of sneaking in there
but they're not going to fully commit to it. They don't want to go all the way in there.
50 seconds on the clock.
Slowly but surely making their way back towards the A-set of the map. Molotoy with the T-set AWP this time.
Much better equipped in terms of the firepower. Resmoking towards Red Room and towards the cubby.
Gonna be taking control of this area once again but time is of the essence.
Once the final commitment here bombs still towards a man is showing presence towards be again
It's a similar sort of idea
I'm gonna be throwing a little bit of uterine Yuri's gonna try and show presence towards a B bomb site as they get ready to enter
Toward a this time surely shiro will not take the crosshair off that entry. Otherwise, that's gonna be problems on tix is there
Oh
They're right on top of him though
Nice shot from shiro, but he couldn't land the second one molotov haul in the corner
It's not done yet. You must get that bomb planted. There is a chance of a stop, but not the right angle here or coming in from the backliner.
Crazy flick coming up to the honest from Teneir, and Yuri's wreaking havoc on the flank just Teneir.
Already tagged up and already identified and name-plated at the back here, so they're in relative safety for this one.
Now shut down, yet can double the little double. More down with the double, and they return to that A-bomb site to find success.
Spirit, they're in a little bit of trouble. They have money at least, but it's time to run out Henry.
Absolutely, you can now calling a bit of a blinder here.
They say bombsite crumbling each and every time.
These late round play, you can see 20 seconds or they even commit towards the bombsite there.
This keeping team spirit in the dark.
And then AWP's as they always look away at the worst possible time,
just as they commit to the choke point of day main.
That's when Shiro is looking away.
Can't catch a break, he still has the AWP but the funds are running low on Caster Art so he's giving Donk a taste of his own medicine and boy is it ever better.
Five on four, they're doing it Anders, Furia are actually coming back into this game admirably.
This is really cool to see, I want to see Furia in great form for this tournament and the fact that they haven't capitulated on this map yet is already pretty impressive.
Sontics I don't know if he saw the heel of someone there
But I think he's got a reed and they've got Tenea with a bit of a crossfire here on the other side
He takes all the attention away in Tenea. It's an easy spray down
That is a fantastic hold of that red room and it also drops the bomb in the middle
Otherwise for furia tactically
I do love it when teams play deep red room like that because it just makes the map completely different once you get the CT spawn control
Fallen is killed in the middle as well or and it'll just be Yuri left
Don't think you do anything about it.
Yeah, I mean, that's a crazy setup between Shiro and Tania.
Can't really blame Furia for falling victim to that one.
Certainly not.
Nobody weighs our team spirits.
Love to see that.
The start was great.
Okay, Serato.
The fact that he was able to defeat Donk in the middle one more time is great news.
They need 3-0 to get this one into OT.
It's certainly possible. They are calling a good game. They're pulling them around the map, but three in a row does feel unlikely, but not impossible.
That for sure. It's Donk on 25 kills, 11 deaths. Another blow-up performance from him.
Tactical timeout.
Asked when he got left. Last chance to loon here. It's the Galils once more, more of the way, just the AWP, but it's going to be K-Toronto and Fallen operating with the lesson of the two rifles.
This is where it comes crashing down.
To be fair, this is looking much better than we first fought in the early stages.
It felt like they weren't even going to show up here today.
The fact they've made it very competitive and still in with a chance to take in to overtime.
Pretty decent result as we've got a bare map pick coming up next.
Even if you were to lose now, you could take your hat and say,
all right, well, it's a good game.
It's a decent job, you know, if like if they win a little bit,
well, if they don't lose those second rounds off the win of the pistols,
right, then it's all good.
Yeah, and they probably win.
And the Echendals made some fantastic calls as well.
Agreed.
So, dropping the Molotov to try and deny the smoke.
Doesn't actually quite land.
Those HEs appear to go deeper every day.
But he will dodge them.
Don't gonna be hanging around as he go all the way up into the belay, or as he just gains.
Concerned about a potential boost or someone playing in the corner, so he's gonna be checking that and then eventually...
They will get their way up. You can see how careful he is.
Does he have anyone flashing him in from the B bomb site for this? No, he doesn't.
He's actually just gonna peek it straight up.
Gonna be bad intel though. There are three players there. There's the flash.
Actually, four players over towards me. Deep smoke. Nice.
Nice. A nice edge jump from Yuri.
Taking down the danger man. Donk.
Unless his floor should be three now.
Now, you can die. Nice little spray control from Heaven.
Should be theirs.
Let's imagine they do something about it.
Absolutely not.
That's round.
Have to save your weapons here.
The money is not amazing, as you decide.
It might just be forced to save these two weapons
to their end zone.
It takes a team up towards the A bomb sites,
and there we have it.
Excellent work.
Nice and defensive there.
Forcing the end of the CT.
Save one of the bit of intel,
and Donk gets a lot more than he bargained for.
Double Digisandas.
You can see there's such a high lot, don't want to give anything away here.
Can't blame them.
Here he's been a bit quiet, but with that kind of a shot, he did feel pretty good.
I guess for sure it's one of you, it's upsetting, because if he had killed Cacerato, then there
was a chance he could have sort of turned around and taken a fight against somebody,
but he sort of shot him at the side of the wall instead, and then he's just
trapped in the middle.
So 10 to 12 now.
You're just joining us bear in mind both these teams already qualified for the playoffs in porto
It's just a factor who will be making it to the semis and the quarterfinals of course winner of the series
There's straight through to the semi-final itself. It's a nice place to be but
It's not one of the super high intensity games. You can use two of these two particular teams on the server
Opportunity to think pimp said this on the desk right play around with your videos perhaps
Maybe that's why cash is in here, like you feel like you can learn some more stuff.
Yeah, of course they want to win it, they'll be locked in, but it's not going to have the same emotion as an elimination game.
No.
Also means laughing is back on the menu, Henry, because we're not in the law bracket.
I guess you're right, I haven't seen much laughing out there right now, to be honest with you.
I'm just saying they are allowed.
They're allowed to laugh.
Yes, and cry if they want to.
Legally speaking, they can do it.
down to the last two rounds in regulation here and like you said the money is not amazing
they saved a couple of rifles that's good they had to save these two weapons they would
be in a real troublesome spot otherwise but if you've got one full buy here looking to
close things out arty spirits that's a strong emphasis I don't know what that means I'll
I'll be honest.
I'm sure you would know.
We do, yes.
Yeah.
We can.
We can.
Um, okay.
Let's get into it.
It could be the final round of play.
Nice.
Nice.
Trying to handicap Donk at the start at the 64 points of health.
That deep B ramp grenade that is landing in Durian mode kind of makes up for it though.
Softens up a couple of players back here.
Well you're right, son.
Nice.
landing there against Dark.
More of the grenade-meta-technology
that we've been talking about here on Ancient
that's always evolving, always every week
there's something new happening.
True.
So one of the reasons why this map
is so much fun in my opinion,
smoke is there.
Okay, I'm gonna fall back.
We doubted Dong before HP in the first half
and he managed to get like three kills or one tap.
So I'm not gonna discount him here
and say he can't do anything at this point
the AK and the CT side. Sure 18 points of health but don't let that dissuade you. He might be
still getting the most amount of kills and closing things out here. Towards A we go though. It's going
to be a similar sort of approach. This time Molotov to show presence over towards the B bomb site.
I guess he'll be Molotov-ing eventually. There's the Molotov and then flashbang over. 40 seconds
this time. The Shiro get pulled around the map once more. He's actually already over towards
B. It's down to Zontik's and indeed Donk. Defend off his A site. Zontik's up here on the
the boost and jumping past with an alien hand. They've already been slowed down. This is disaster
Shafiria. They wanted to get into OT, but I think that's been denied now. That might be dead,
but Tenir is still on the site. In only 20 seconds, no help at all either for Yuri. He's at 42
and he still has 15 seconds, but yeah, you need to bomb project Shiros. There's absolutely no way
in its spirit to feel their own McWing here on ancient 13 to 10. That's not bad. Still
looking like the absolute favorite sort of tournament. It's Team Spirit 13 to 10, but yes,
Furia actually doing a good job towards the end. I don't think they got blown up the water.
It's their opponent's map pick and they're fatally moving to cash next. Anything can and
still will happen. They're still in the series and hopefully they can put a bit of a show as
we go on to cash next. Some fantastic pistols coming out from Furia unable to convert the
second round into it and that could have been the difference maker when it started to get
this close towards the end. For Furia adding ancient to their map, all of them being able
out to play it a little bit more in here. This certainly wasn't like an easy game for
Spirit. It may have looked like that at the beginning, but they brought their way back
into it.
Yeah, it's one of those games I feel it's a bit hard to quantify, you know, because the
obvious story of the game is Donk, you know, and as much as we say that shouldn't be the
case every single time, it is the case every single time, the amount of raw impact he
had in this game was immense, you know. But I think Frueer showed us, as Roger
also alluded to coming into the game, that the Ancient is not weak, you know, it's
a map they've been playing on, they've been working on it for a long time, and
It kind of wanted to wait for a timing to introduce it.
So my main takeaway for this is two things.
Furia can play Ancient at a high level.
We saw that at EWC, but beating the best of the best
on a map like this, which currently is Spirit,
is going to be a tough task,
especially when Dog is playing like this.
And you could argue, yeah, that's an anomaly
when it comes to DUNC, but it's not.
Like this is how he plays 8 out of 10 games,
which is ridiculous.
So that's the conditions, that's the playing ground.
That's what you had to deal with.
And this time around Furia, when they were to,
especially considering when you win both pistols
fail to convert, that's where they lost grasp of the game so to speak.
I think Fury had a fighting chance, but it can also see the inexperience on the map,
like from being a coach that picked this map the last six years I think.
There are some of the tools in the toolbox that they're not actually using.
They have a lot of the right, like, starters and ideas of what they want to do.
But when they kind of found out that they wouldn't win on middle, I think they lacked
a little bit, you know, small initiatives about how do we actually take Red Room and
the donor control away from Spirit.
And I think if they go back and look at this game, this will be the improvement next time
they play.
And because let's be honest, they're not that far off taking spirit down, which is the
best ancient team in the world.
So I think they have a strong case for becoming even better, but they need to scratch a little
bit the inexperience and get some of the basics right.
Then I think there will be, yeah, if not up there, then at least in their tails.
We should also look at some of these conversion rounds because this is what was really powerful,
right?
We can talk about the prep that Fuhrer can do, having really good pistol rounds
in there.
and you get slapped like this, it becomes a bit of a problem.
It is a problem, it is an issue.
You know, one thing is winning both pistols,
but failing to convert both of them as well.
And no bueno.
Again, take nothing away from Dong and Team Spirit.
There's always so much you can do against a guy who's playing like this.
But this bombsite fell flat, you know,
with one entry, a double entry coming in for Dong.
And it was maybe a little bit too easy.
Personally, I think they played a bit too passive as well.
I'm not sure what they expected from Spirit
in terms of the buy coming out for them.
But it looked like to me that it was a furia
playing not to make a mistake in the round,
knowing that it was very important for them to win it.
Same could be said here as well.
This time around they actually do take a bit of a risk.
You know, early on into the round they push for a smoke.
Two players get caught off guard with mates in their hand
and then you've got to give it to Team Spirit to get the entries.
They wait for the timing, then they swarm the site together
and completely overwhelm Furia.
So as much as I want to be critical of Furia in these two rounds,
I also think Spirit played them incredible well,
but it's that balance of maybe being a little bit too passive
the first time around, then thinking second time around,
okay, let's push the smoke, let's not make the same mistake
and then you get punished for that as well. So it's like you do this, you do, you do this, you don't.
It's two very small mistakes by Fallen in each round, like one opening up too early when the CT
and that's the thing if you play passive, that's the thing on ancient. If one player makes a mistake,
it goes really fast, like for good situation to a really bad situation. And on the other one,
where they're T side, I know he wants to do like a really good molly for behind side,
but the most important thing coming as the solo A player like from AMain is to stay alive a
a little bit to make sure that if a guy panics because he is on boost he will run into you
instead he gets the freebie, talks in, gets a weapon, creates the space for Dong to come
through CT and clean house.
Now we are going to focus on Dong because obviously he put up crazy numbers but I will
give him a bit of not this service on this but dominant throughout the beginning when
we started to get towards the latter parts of the games he wasn't having anywhere
near as much impact I think we saw him at like 25 for 8 and still ended up on just
25 kills.
The supporting cast needed to do the work to get it over the line.
Yeah, that's usually what happens, you know, Don can take over the game single-handedly and he did this time around, like, if you watch this point of view, you watch the way he gets to kill, you watch some of the situations he's winning and how clean he is doing so.
Deathmatch.
Deathmatch, you know, that kill right there, he had 9 HP, Molotov already saw him, you know, he white peeked him once, he goes back in, he swings out and he instantly hits you at Molotov because if he doesn't, then he will die with 9 HP.
That's how dong is playing China's right at the moment. I think we're witnessing
You know it goes without saying some greatness, but it does feel like he's leveling up
You know ever since the summer break it feels like he's one of the few players who's actually taking it another level
And it's getting better and is still playing at his best
Maybe together with Monizy as I was is lacking a little bit and everyone else seems to be struggling to find that consistency
When I watch don't play right now
I have no doubt saying that he's the best player in the world and without a doubt the most influential player in the world
For sure. And I think the thing that the casual we are probably not like doesn't see is that right now
He is dictating everything on all the T sides and I also think even T for that matter
Yeah, but on CT is where you sometimes, you know
You get the situations the T's present you and I think fear it did a really good job of being unpredictable around his positions
We also saw them killing him a couple of times in the beginning
So don't right now. He loved playing T side, but against the better teams
I think the other that the opponents know that they can actually toy a little bit with them and actually choose the duels
They want to take against them like the one where Kessarato kills him rushing out mid
And I think the more teams see this the more they will also feel like okay
We can actually touch down on when he is CT, but he's out
He does his thing in terms of glazing donk a little bit more
You know when we show from behind and we're sharing his actual playing thing
I mean blaster just released like a whole just his map of playing like that and just see from his perspective
because there's one thing looking at it when we have like being game side but
seeing it from his side it does look ridiculous there's no one else like him
no there's not you know he's just so precise and so consistent being precise
because any good player on the States can have a round like don't no one can
do 10 times in a row no one can force the game the way he's forcing the game
as well and as much as I agree with you T side right now is his bread and
butter you always sit with the feeling that it was needed for don't to do
something extraordinary sometimes I feel like he's the only player in the
world who can go above and beyond you can throw all the grenades at him
You can throw all the personal at him as well, but he will find a way to at the very least
treat him way out of a bad situation.
And I think a lot of players can be toyed with.
I think one of the only players in the world right now you can't contain for the entirety
of a game is Donk.
There will be moments where you can do it, but when you get to play 24 rounds against
Donk, you're messed up at least five of those.
We wanted to see, though, Keisavaro put up his numbers and fight up against Donk.
Not so much within this one.
I think the story of this game is that you can actually, I think,
won the head-to-head against Donk, and that's a very good sign going into cash
because these two guys, they will bump their heads into each other a lot of times
on the next one, but looking at Kessarato, I think they got hurt a lot by the economy.
And a guy like Kessarato, he likes to be in control,
likes to be dominating the game, so he gets these three Bs here and there,
and then he starts elevating the game when he gets this extra confidence.
So I'm not too scared on his behalf, but the positive sign,
But if there is any, for Furia, it's definitely a kendo going into cash.
What I spoke about, Kizorado gets activated in a 3v3, in a 4v4,
but the fact of the matter is, whenever Dong was on the T side,
he would run out mid and get a double entry.
All of a sudden, you play 5v3, and at that point, Kizorado can't do anything.
So it requires someone else, you know, to keep the game in check for him,
and that's when he comes into play, and hopefully that's what's going to happen on cash as well.
Well, when it comes to cash, we're going to have Yukinda calling once again,
back-to-back maps for this guy.
Let's see if he can bail his way out of this one.
And also, I caught up with some of the players before to talk about cash,
Just see what they think on how it's going to go.
And I know you've spoken about this many times, right?
But the just-you-kind of calling situation as it is right now,
how long do you want to keep this going?
How exactly can you explain to me that it works?
Like does Fallen still have some input on it and stuff?
Is there ever some confusion on voices?
Or does it seem pretty clean?
Just give me some more details. I'm interested, man.
No, I mean, the choice of having Maddox call some of those maps
was legitimate because of those are maps that he understands
understands a bit better than Fallen at the moment,
and then he can bring some.
He was already second calling on all of the maps.
So we felt it would be appropriate for him
to take over the calling duties, because he was already
doing such a good work as a second voice.
And in those maps, it felt like he
would bring more quality calling in terms
of understanding macro and things like that.
But yeah, there's input from Fallen, the same way
that there's input from your kinder on the maps
that Fallen calls.
So I think, so far, I can't tell you for how long we're going to keep it,
it depends on how things go.
Of course, if we have good results with it, we might keep it for longer.
But if things start getting weird, maybe we'll go back to the old system.
But honestly for us, it's like having the best color that we can in those maps.
And so far it's shown that the Akina is the guy to be calling on those maps.
But yeah, we just need to see where it takes us.
Do you seem to enjoy that people keep picking cash against you guys right now?
I know you will start on the T side as well.
Do you think this is because they don't feel like they have a better map to play against
or do they still think you're maybe weak at it?
What is your opinion?
I think that cash is a big map for us and it's a group stage match.
It's not an elimination match and they can test something.
like for them like a win-win situation to be honest even if they lose they got
practice on this map and they got practice as well so like it's fine but
I think it's like punish peak and that's it well people keep trying to punish
them on it and there was a moment when spirit was struggling what we saw
lose the phase big foot on this map but here they've been done laying G2 now
they're gonna go up against Furia and Furia they can play cash but I mean
they're not really facing up against they'd be MAT and they'd be paying on it's
like it's not huge tests for them. No it's a big test for for both teams because
the reality is that if Spirit all of a sudden have figured out a way to play
cash at a high level we're talking cash we're talking ancient we're talking
dust too having those three maps in your map pool right now in the current
day and age of Counter Strike that makes it almost impossible to go in
against Spirit in a video and coming out on top of it so if they all of
suddenly figured out a way to find a bit of consistency and cash and can establish
themselves as a they don't have to be a world beaters they don't have to be the
best in the world on cash but if it's not a punish pick against team spirit
then you're gonna struggle big time in any video against yeah like cash cash is
the unknown quantity among all the top teams and everyone is testing waters to
see where are we on the map right now and I think in a month you probably
see some of them try to hide cash away as possible where others will
fully embrace it and then the meta will change leading up to the major
So I'm super excited that we get to see all these like trial and error picks
Especially considering that there's still a lot of things to be developed on this map
Like I know both these teams likes to use the highway smoke to kind of enable them mid rounds
Yeah, you also dare about it. Yeah that this is like a cornerstone for both of these teams on this map
So the interesting thing for me being a nerd of meta and stuff is how do they utilize this game because they have a lot of data
Out there of how to use it and how they have been using it, but this is also a favorite matchup
they know what each other doing so it wouldn't surprise me if they throw it in sometimes to just throw people off.
Navarro, you said you're a nerd of meta. I want to get to picking your brains on the nerdy side of what Fury is doing here.
Splitting up IGLs. It's not common. It's not something we're used to. What's your take on it?
I think if what Cid is saying is right that they're doing it while introducing Fallen into it.
So he sees, you know, okay, this is what's possible here. How can we actually like destroy the macro of the opponents?
What type of initiatives do we need to get this map rolling?
I think if that's the case, then it's super smart.
But I also think there will be a time and day where you cannot see everything from his position,
which is going out on middle, where he will need more information on what's happening on the side,
which is where Fallen should take over.
So I think it's a good idea, but I don't think it's sustainable in the long run,
that you have your mid-player calling everything.
I think it needs to be more said when we go one month into the season.
That's the big picture stuff nobody wants to say because it's not a popular opinion to have.
It's a massive issue for Furia knowing that Fallen is going to retire.
Whether you like it or not, playing with a guy that you know is not going to be around for
after the PGL Shanghai or Singapore Major is always going to be an issue.
So the fact that they're introducing your kinder into the in-game leader role now,
that's a play for the future. It makes sense.
But there's always going to be that, you know, how much is it Fallen's team?
How much is it your kinder?
Is your kinder going to resign his contract with Furia?
Are some of the rumors true?
There's a lot of speculation going on within Furia right now.
and as long as they don't confirm or as long as they don't reassure us that he's part of the future,
it's not a good thing. It's never going to be spent into, oh, this is great for Freer.
It makes him unpredictable. It makes him consistent.
It's making the most out of a bad scenario, which is that they know Fallen is going to retire.
And it's such a unique situation because there's not many times we know a player is going at this certain point, right?
It's been like such a build up to it and it's just so much uncertainty,
which for me personally, I'm not a man who likes uncertainty.
No, neither am I, to be honest. And I think it also speaks volume of fallen status within Furia.
He's probably one of the few players who's allowed to do that.
You know, if any other player came to any coaching team that you were ever part of,
and said, I'm going to retire in six months, you'd be like,
sure, we're going to find a new player now, so we don't waste our time, right?
So that's kind of the balance they have to figure out.
And I'm afraid it's not going to be a positive for Furia.
Maybe they can manage it, so it's not a liability,
but it's never going to be something that elevates them.
But at least on cash, Fallen used to call on this map,
used to play it a lot back with SK, so it's not like it's complete new, so maybe it's
just a little bit of a throw the questions to the side, let's wait and see with the actual
ingame in this situation, but Volium definitely knows the map and how to play it, I think
if what's it is saying, then it's a matter of meta here and now.
Well let's see if Furia can actually punish Spirit with this cash, we're going into
it right now with Henry and Anders.
Thank you very much boys, yeah semi-finals on the line here for Team Spirit moving
the furious pick though. I feel like it makes sense bringing cash into the mix, get some more reps on it,
work out whether you can actually evolve and make it one of your par-ma picks going forward in the
tournament, but we know what Donk can do on this map. Unspeakable things Anders, it's going to be a
tough one for them. Yes, I am really really excited that cash is here. I think it's done so much to
the competitive scene. I think it's forced a bunch of teams to learn and I'm glad so many
of the top teams are picking it up. I think it's also put a real challenge to vitality because
because they normally will never play Ancient,
so they kind of have to learn Cache.
Like, they have to be good on this.
This is the first tournament where we're getting Cache
almost every single series,
and I'm absolutely here for it.
I've seen a great map to spectate and commentate,
and to see it evolve,
interest to see what ideas Furio bring to the table today.
I'm sure there's a reason why they picked it.
Of course, it goes without saying,
they need to pick this map out to take us to Mirage,
to stand a chance of getting us to that third map.
But for now, ladies and gentlemen,
a buck or your seatbelt.
Team Spirit is standing on the T side here.
smoke down towards Z and looks like today it's more than happy to take this
challenge as he takes the clock out towards middle. Just jumping on nervous.
You are absolutely right. He was not afraid. There is a player you can doubt it
could be faking them. They're already through the vents. Did he realize? He's
there so fast with his USB in their back. Okay, Serato inside of the site
and fallen up on the high ground. They've got so many CTs here. There
should be a good defense right now but they need to find the head shot. You
ready to get the first on the
sights and he's just cutting
them down to twist head shots
and suddenly the whole round
is turned on its head only
falling left and it's you know
what a great start to that one
before but it was always going
to be an uphill battle so it
will be spirited to pick up
the pistol some rock them
Stockholm counters right to
kick things off here on cash
to fall on be split it will
be to near cracking things
over towards middle couple
players through the vents and
absolute pandemonium ensues
it looked like a very
promising setup in the CTs as well. One tucked away on default. In case they're
out to take in the aggro, look that they did enough. But of course, who steps up?
It's the boogeyman. Donk finds a couple in ridiculous fashion and it has to be the
eco now for Fury up. Spirit take the T side pistol. Smoked down towards E once
again and boosting a couple of players up towards the heavens. See whether
there's any sort of resistance there. I very much doubted it's a couple of
P250s in the mix. Spirits pretty much have this one in the bag already.
guarantee mid control you can't see a five man stacked towards highway could be a
couple of kills there but look who's waiting for them yes they don't have a
flash either so it will just kind of be a little bit based on the vibes here when
do you go for it smoke just on a land in the ace warm side behind them and
rotate on it don't it's gonna get one let's see more people in the middle
I can't keep a standard here, there's Sontics with the Mac 10, so either way I think they're going to be just fine with this one.
I don't hate the idea though, I mean you might as well try some and you know you're going to have a tough time at the round, no matter what.
Bomb planted and Chiro, please trade it out, actually way more successful than I thought.
Nice little idea, re-aggressive middle, five players with P250s and USPs, they managed to find three, keeps them very modest on the spirit side here.
So it's 2-0, Auburn locked in, the Echendar, he'll look for a kill though.
If he can get one more of the Mach 10, that's a great round for them.
We'll farm an extra $600 for his troubles.
I don't think there's any way he can actually get it though.
That's the problem.
I kind of love the fact that he's trying for it anyway.
Like, his mentality again.
He's pretty strong with that one, but yeah, a couple of kills, and a couple of casualties
on the side of Spirit.
nice work I like that fury up the AWP in the first gun round here full eco in
the previous molodoy we're gonna sink his teeth into this one we'll see what he
can bring to the table plenty of options for aggressive picks
molodoy's bread and butter here on cash zero and two right now I'm sure
it's gonna change case rato and sendery towards the boost the most
Spam on the CT side, takes a couple of bullets himself,
he's actually done a 25, that's unfortunate.
The spams are looking deadly, you can say that again.
And as Magix will find the first through the windows.
A case of odds and a theory went way deep.
We landed way on the T side of things,
so gotta be careful with that.
Not that it mattered this time, nice grenade.
So what's the response now from the CTs?
We have got Yuri pushing in towards B storage,
smoked out for an hour in a committed position.
Grey Swords Highway, Yakindar down to 57 at this point, 5 versus 4, plenty of time on the clock as well.
Bombs making its way over to join Zontics in the Sun Room.
And Molodoy...
That's the bomb.
...pressive line hits the shop and no kill found.
Okay.
Now where are they gonna throw that Molodoy?
Yuri?
He's good.
We're gonna swing for this one.
That's very good.
Because Molodoy's called and he's led some on, so he might as well take the challenge.
Very true.
Magic's looking to make his way to the vent, but he's spinning in the meantime and Donk
in the middle, he finds the first one and he's got no fear of running up this highway position
even without the smoke being down.
Deep Molotov towards the back of the bomb site but doesn't actually flush out Fallon
who's laying that MBK corner.
I wonder if Molotov knows or if Donk knows that at this point in time.
He's looking to see if he can jump up but Fallon will peek him.
Perfect timing as Donk was spinning around looking towards the truck.
0-1 to Nier, could do anything in the last 20 seconds, I doubt it.
Really nice work here from Fury, our three players alive, surely nothing to Nier can do at this stage.
You might better get this kill, but no, Uri shut it down, great round from Uri, nice comms we mentioned.
Taking the initial aggro was Molodoy hitting the leg shot then Uri mopping them up there,
taking the scoreline to 5 and 2 and it's the first on the board for Fury.
Money is actually somewhat broken in their mind against Apolliko, they're losing three rifles, has affected them dramatically.
So even with the magic's opening kill with the wall bank, it's not enough.
Great reaction.
Agro in towards B.
And it should be an opportunity to get a couple in a row here.
Very weak by now.
Donk though with the Galil.
It's the best they can give him.
And I'm assuming they're going to boost him up and try and crack things up into towards middle.
Furia have to convert this, Sanders.
There's no two ways about it.
They're going to stand the chance here on cash.
These are the sort of rounds you need to put to bed relatively easily.
And they had a couple of opportunities like this as well on ancient and to be honest if
they would have won those rounds yes and the minimum they get overtime they might even
have just wanted the regulation so yep boy is an aid.
That is perfect significant damage for people connected with.
You'll take that and again that forward position over by B so they're gonna have a little
bit of warning in case anything happens.
man set up at A and fall in playing at a position that's kind of hard to get rid of right now.
You can smoke that elevation smoke, but you can play around it and you can especially shoot
over the top of it.
Careful now, Yakindar.
He knows the HGs aren't going to be coming because they don't have the money for it.
A lot of grenades landing on the A bomb site.
There is a mid-portion.
It looks like they're going to be sending in these couple of people out there.
Here we go.
They're going to be running fast.
He's running fast.
I'm looking at takedown here.
That's actually a great idea.
Fallen now.
Smashing his way into the fight till takedown sonics.
He knows Donk is around the corner and he's going to battle him out.
That's a brave challenge, but he comes out on top.
Really nice confidence there from Fallen.
Applying that pressure, forcing the issue,
gives him the man advantage here.
It doesn't take any damage for his troubles either.
Should be a nice easy retake here.
Just dealing with three pistols, no utility,
and magic's quite low as well.
Here we go.
Absolutely fine. As sure as the opposite work.
Great incendiary, that's K. Sarato to force Tinier out in the open.
Oh, but Shiro, if you do that again, it's gonna be dangerous.
Nice crouch in. K. Sarato finding the kill against him and Tinier's so low
that this one should be much, much easier.
They're getting close now. Oh, he's lightning fast, though!
With a tech nine and now he's playing for time.
Ring around the rosy as Yuri's simply can't win the round.
Oh my God, that's Tinier in 1v2.
A little bit of assistance from that bomb.
It's that one deek from Shiro.
Yeah, that throws a spanner in the works.
All of a sudden, the bomb sticking at some pace.
And anything's very uncomfortable before falling did enough.
With this nice little two kill towards the highway.
But yeah, that one deek.
Teneir isolates the jewel.
One versus one, bombs is too far gone.
Dancing around the bomb site.
It's a huge pickup.
Pelafuria needed that.
And it's not going to happen.
we go 3-1 in favour of spirits here. They will have enough for a pretty decent buy, only
K buy at least, 2 of the 9s, Famous Orb and 4 for Yakindar.
Oh, that's an interesting position with K Sorato.
Yeah, so I have to say the same thing. So presumably the default spam won't hit
him there. I'm guessing he's done the homework on that.
Maybe worth mentioning is one of that previous round. Because Yakindar was playing a much
more shallow position on highway he didn't know that the spirit was actually in the middle
obviously if he plays too far forward he risks going down but giving up that map control is
what allowed spirit to get very close to the corner and fight him
there's always something that you're giving up no matter how you're playing
it's again zonzik's into what's at sudra
three players around the boost spot right now gotta be going for that elusive mid control
Molotov's coming in towards mid, slow down towards Z.
Stifling for Quesarato, they're not dissuaded.
Beckon down to be dropped by Donk.
Grenade Quesarato, I think he's utility damaged really off the charts right now.
He's landed a couple of really good needs.
But can you re-hold on to checkered is the big question.
35 seconds, they are executing him behind him
and he does have Molotov with the AWP now just coming in.
Oh, my God, that's great control every single time.
If he gets that, it slows down the team.
Molodoy missing another shot,
and it's a bit desperate at the end.
That's a shame.
Plenty of opportunities there for Furia.
Unable to land the shots, the all-important ones.
Good effort from Fulham once again,
but that is a massive round.
I can't stress that enough for Fur-
for spirit, I should say.
Four to one now.
Money broken as we see them.
with just pistols presumably.
Okay, Serato.
One at five, it's fallen top of the chart right now.
Model we're yet to frag. Definitely had a few targets there.
And there's...
this was the all-important kill.
Barely did any damage.
And it was just as he looked away, it was Dongletoach here to come out of the vents.
He swings towards storage, goes down.
Could have been a very different affair. He just held the vents.
So...
We'll get into it.
of the ECO here. Yuri with the M4 goes down early. Did find Donkili's. So that's something,
but better mind his teammates don't have Kevlar. Couple of upgraded pistols, a smoke to work
with here. There's a little bit of a stack towards the A site. We have got Yekandar joining
Fallen. One towards MbK, but he'll be flushed there right now. Presumably easy conversion
for Shiro. Yekandar trying to sit in the flames, get a 1D possible, not gonna happen.
Fall is playing well, but only with the USP this round. Nothing he can do. 5-1, all but confirmed.
Molotovid is looking for his first frag out of the map, in case he's arrived at 5-7.
Might be able to get to near. Cheeky angle, but quicker shots.
Molotovid just wants one. Get that confidence frag.
What a point. Anything you get really at this stage...
To me, I'd be very careful to check that one. Quad kill as well.
And yeah, spirit. 5-1.
that is a preview to start.
Let's look into the rest of the
day here, Anders. As we've
mentioned a few times, this is
a seeding game, so not as
intense as you might like, but
coming up next, this will be a
matter. This to me is the game
of the day. Maybe above in the
last one, but G2 Aurora. That's
the lower bracket finals. So
one of those two teams going
home, one will go to the
quarterfinals. I've already
enjoyed what G2 have put
down this summer with the
new roster. I think it
looked fantastic. Both with
new lineups, of course,
Aurora now going
international instead of
Both of new lineups of course are all right now going international instead of fully Turkish
Yes, I think
Zantares has been an interesting talking point
I feel like he still has the talent and the skill but maybe not the discipline now Maja's been taken away from the equation
I think that's been the big talking point
I think it will remain that way until we see more evidence one way or another either they can like return to his all-time peak
Or that he could change, you know the nature of his game. It's definitely something there
So, that's all we'll be turning up the heat of the commentary.
That's coming up after this one.
Fury vs. Spirit, continue there on cash.
Looking for a 2-0, and a place in the semi-finals.
Our spirit is going swimmingly so far, if you don't mind me saying.
And it's going to be a rough buy.
Fall down to the MP9.
They do have the Molotoy all, but as mentioned yet, it's a frag here.
Boosting K-Sirata open towards events,
and of course, boosts going on across the map here too.
Going up towards the Heavens here.
It was Yackindar this time, in not case they run on the utility, but they've landed some
really bow-coded grenades, that's unfortunate.
Yeah, Spirit.
I haven't quite nailed that nades throughout this tournament.
Every once in a while it screws it up for them, but they're going to be flashing away
in very deep monodoy though.
There we go, picking up a kill finally.
Better late than never and all that.
And next to the next to go down the most successful start to the map for himself. He's one out of five right now
And they should be locked in but I feel like I'm not even
Spirits they look like the strongest team in the tournament
So I kind of do expect them to beat fury up at fury are giving up some really annoying rounds that they should be winning
I think that's the frustrating part here
I feel like they've had many opportunities to do more
That's Mollidoy. Oh, no, they've got a boost
I don't think it's a real problem, or maybe it will be Yuri needs at least one more.
He goes down with nothing, there are a lot of trouble here.
They might not expect all that, check him for it though.
Good day.
Yeah, but to near though, you can see him very carefully.
Who knows if someone else could be on the bomb site, Shira now low enough on health.
With only 20 seconds,
there is backup coming in as well, falling instead behind him,
and Shira knows, I think he heard the footsteps, he knew that he had to do something.
Wait, he's got 12 seconds.
He saw those flashes came from the fall.
There's four of them, swing on the plant, he's on the low ground, he's tricked him.
Yeah, Shearer thinks he's up there.
Oh, he's mustering him!
That is a high IQ play.
All right, he saw where that grenade came from,
and then Fallen relocates to the low ground and defeats him.
Big pickup.
Massive work from Fallen, MP9.
Got the information he was low.
Time as well, closes the gap.
Low HP on Shearer, a couple of bullets would do it.
Denies a plant.
The second round found the fury up.
I guess to try and defend Molotov, he smoked off and he's thinking,
I must go in front of the smoke to help Yuri.
Like, that's the nature of what he's trying to do.
Yeah.
But it looked very, very risky once they had that check of control.
Just comms him a little bit off, I suppose.
He didn't get the information there could be checkers.
Must be. Must be that, but they get away with it.
Good effort there from Shiro.
Fantastic output from Yuri as well.
He said he needed one, he gets a couple.
sets up Fallen for success. It is nice indeed. Fallen will operate with the MP9 once again
as we enter a very, very important round for the economy on either side of this server.
You see Tenir operating with a Geagle, as mentioned, Fallen on the SMG. So if you pick
this up, it's going to open the floodgates and they're going to have a very successful
T-side campaign on a very CD-sided map. Flashbang into A-main trying to obtain some
control here no one really home I like it though the good ends out just doing
this presumably if spirit want to come back and take this part of the map they
now has to check every corner maybe after Molotov the front corner speaking of
corners well here's one yeah fallen up close and personal with the MP9 I've
seen this spot work a few times this tournament it's also really awkward
having a Molotov in this particular corner because you could push that
smoke if you're fallen you can find a timing here get a sound cue there's
No reason why you can't just go for the smoke.
What?
How do you feelin' here?
It's a high-risk maneuver, don't get me wrong.
Yeah, it is.
But I mean, they're also far enough behind right now, Fury,
that maybe they do need something like that.
Donk has been thrown into the middle.
There should be a flashbang for him to turn the corner.
This is scary.
You can die dustin' around for it, so not flashed yet.
Deep angle day.
Does he realize there's someone that flashes so good?
But!
They did have a plan B, and it was molodoy.
A little bit deeper back, he finds Donk.
turret on the ticket booth dodging flashes finds the opener and it's the
all-important target you're right and don't goes down 30 seconds remaining a
split's gonna be attempted here but a very difficult one spirit need a quick
kill on the air can die then the plan coming in is loading air can die out of
MBK but still doing well still alive that's a friendly grenade a little bit
of damage coming out falling with a kill and yet can die does find son tix
Magic's in Shiro time.
What's this for? It's just no time. You're right here.
Come to the bomb. You can just do it!
But there's an incendiary landing.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it landed on the wrong side.
How has this happened?
It's a two-on-four into a 2v2.
You know what's with Shiro is they know where Magic is.
At least somewhere on the bomb site.
They have a couple of smokes.
Open the retake.
And Kit's a molodoy, but he's 10 HP.
Honestly, this is a bit of a nightmare.
They can smoke meh, and they can smoke squeaky.
That might be the play.
Can you stop someone from running through while the defuse is happening?
Smoke goes into main. It's a little bit deep, to be honest.
It's a shit smoke.
Flicks him.
There are so many missed grenades and just missed opportunity.
He's furrier.
He tried to eyeball it.
There's so many lineups.
Like, four different spots are throwed out.
That's unfortunately costing them out.
It was still gonna be a very difficult retake.
Don't get me wrong, bird-san.
That's a demoralizing waver to go down.
Mr. Smoke and then he's get dropped.
bit of a freebie for Shiro in the end.
That's a shame, it was looking very competitive.
Yakindar to work so hard to stay alive.
Always fully blind from Molodoy as well,
so they even had that going for them with the opening pick
and still unable to cover.
Magics plants in the bomb with one second of spare.
Shiro though saving the day, time and time again.
Molodoy will have the AWP,
but Deagle's otherwise and 6-2 now.
Molodoy needs an opening pick
and this is your aggressive towards Dore or Main.
I don't think he'd be still near bombsite
and uh... see what's available to him
oh you're right, he's trying
i think he is going to use one day man
but no one's there
i like the attempts but uh...
maybe they get roots of people over
it's gonna be pretty quick here, another flash through, spirit have been really good with the flashers on this one
here he's in the smoke
and the pistol is in the hand
oh wait, oh watch, output, what? he's well played
like, i don't think it changes the outcome of the round but certainly
Did very well.
P250, double kill.
At least give some something to work with here.
Little attempt, somewhat of a retake.
Falling in need of one hell of a shot with that Deagle.
Not gonna find a bomb planted.
Default spot.
Not much utility in terms of smoke.
Molotovs, and they do have a Molotov.
They will be finding the open up.
And it's 3 on 2 retake.
Difficult that the view's kipped.
I suppose when you're this far behind,
you feel like you should try something.
Magics, they're holding the angle very well and they have no utility to get rid of him otherwise maybe he's just in the wall bang honestly, he's the one that has to get on the side but he's planted in the whole position, he's got his back turned, he has to go straight for it, try not to fake it but Teneir heals the timing very well.
It's 12 and 5 on Teneir and I'll blame Fury for trying to go for that retake to be honest, they're in a little bit of trouble here.
Oh they absolutely are.
They're all making envy, they've lost like three rounds that they could have won.
I mean, yeah, you know, you're absolutely right there.
It's been a few fumbles, a few missed grenades, losing the pistols too many times here.
Speaking of pistols, the P250 with great output there, Yuri did absolutely everything he could.
Moldova, couple of kills as well. I like the full defuse.
I think that's the only way you can win that, but it doesn't quite work out, and it reads it.
And we have got another four gun rounds here.
Mac10 suggests we're doing something quick, a set piece, perhaps, and indeed we have four players towards B storage,
Polotov in towards the checkers room cut-a-see of Zontics
Yuri trying to get some speculative damage through the smoke here. Nothing landing. He needs to be very careful
They're gonna pop through the smoke and here we go
All he has is the rightful cannon and send Yuri and none of it's gonna matter. They're headed. Oh, yeah
Don't you want some more?
It's been to near kind of taking charge of the game at the moment for the spirit side of things
Smokes are going up to the main entrance but this high ground position only flashes for now.
One more for Shiro coming in really trying to slow them.
Some counter utility, Furia, it will not be an easy retake but the bomb is delayed so
they have a little bit more time to work with.
It's fine, they plant it.
There's a smoke to provide some coverage.
That's a nice one for the CTs here that allows you to run out like that so you
can see if that's going to create enough space it seems like they're all coming
in from the low ground.
The match just set it up and Doc couldn't see a thing that absolutely feared him out.
But Manjix, the last couple of bullets, that's a great burst.
He's taking down Fallen and the rest of the career walking away.
Close with no cigar, he's got a lot of that and a straight up wall bang from Shiro.
There it is.
You hate to see it.
Molodoy left.
And with a wall scenario, it's going to be 8-2 and like I said before,
considered quite a CT-sadded map at least right now.
round simply one do it's that looks like the spirit of already made it to the
semi-finals to be honest with you I'm sure you can recover this and that's if
you get the next two rounds it'll be in a pretty desperate situation semi-finals
where they belong Henry I think so they're the absolute favorites coming
through this tournament after EWC yeah I don't think anyone could have
convinced me otherwise sometimes there's a bit of a doubt but I feel
like they are the team to take down I do think there are plenty of teams
that could though on the right major which is really exciting but but it will
not be easy like I said one of them even with the standing in vitality they do
have that weird disadvantage that they already don't play ancient so they're
gonna have an interesting kind of veto scenario in the future some takes the
spray down we do like the aggression we've been talking about it quite a
He's got the question all the time, Dong is hunting him, but he's got the bomb out there.
If he could find something, he knows that something's going to be there.
He's actually found Dong instead, he's battling every single player from Spirit out there.
Sit around him, you can do it.
Still a man down.
Kind of a wild maneuver from Dong, he's making all those sound cues, just like trying
to answer that quickly.
Doesn't find him, brings the round back online at least three on two, not done
quite yet.
going K Serato. Problem is K Serato, the absolute superstar of this team, normally a beast on
cash as well. We saw earlier in the tournament against M80. Oh yeah, it's two and ten. Yeah,
I mean he's been playing towards his mid position a couple of times. I'm like he's done great
damage. Again I say with utility. I feel like it was good. But that's not how the
kill is yet. You can find some ticks in the middle and you'll hear the grenades
landing on bees.
He doesn't let me know.
Yeah, the summoner's up.
That's actually a nice grenade.
Oh, wait, is it?
No. Okay, actually, this is a good damage.
Totally wrong.
I mean, you'd better give it here.
If it had been a nice grenade,
it would have stopped the bomb, right?
So, well, I'll take it back, Henry.
I'll take the L.
Might be enough to win the round.
Maybe...
T8's been found out.
Oh, it's so quick, though!
And Monodoy!
Wide swing!
Dude, I gave it to me, it commits to that fight, but for once Molodoy is going to be getting to flick on this a double for him.
He was like 0 and 5 or something at some point, so now he's up to 6 seconds.
So, we said 4, still wouldn't be a great half, but it looks like I might be on the way to do so.
It'll start to double kill here.
It's a little bit like sloppy, I would say after this one, I don't know why Dom really forced that fight so much afterwards.
They got that huge advantage.
Yeah, but that...
And nice work from Molo-Doy.
One versus one, nails the shot on Teneir, reads the swing, and we're going to the final
round of this first half.
Mane's somewhat affected now for Team Spirits.
They've got a tech nine and he can little to work with in the manner of the half.
Should be a nice strong buy for Fiora either way.
They guess we need this.
Four is the bare minimum, I would say.
Nine-three doesn't seem recoverable.
Sid still seems to believe he has two at this point.
They made a great comeback on the second half of Ancient.
So you gotta have some faith in Furia here. Obviously it's been a rough game.
I don't want to hammer it on too much, but it's kind of on their own making.
So many opportunities. This probably could have been an 8-3 in favour of Furia almost
if they just win some of those rounds.
Well that's what we said at the start of this game. You have to convert against the Tech 9 to P250s
if you get a standard chance against Team Spirits.
Hasn't happened. He's losing to the less advised. This is another one of them. It's fantastic
But so is the spray down the Echendal really stepping up here in round number 12. He's not done yet
Actually just Godlike
He dodged two different flashbangs. He knew the timing perfectly
What a great play
Don't know how Yuri saw that play from Son Tix, but he shot him right through the smoke
I'm interested to see that future gates.
Molodoy will take out Shiro.
And this one is locked in.
So at least they get a fourth round.
It's Tenea.
He's trying to take a fight, but it will not happen.
Four, eight at the end of the half in Favourite Spirit.
So walking that goal, nobody knows the angles.
Yeah, but it's like aim, boss.
Yeah, you see it like the angles.
There's still a guy.
Oi!
Oh, okay, okay.
I killed a guy.
Yeah, yeah, I killed a guy.
What the fuck is this?
What is this, man?
Right side, right side, somewhere.
Nice!
I think they have a spot behind me. I'm checking the top.
Attack the scout, low.
No! You can do that.
Small, yeah, let's keep up.
Tractor's full.
They're coming from the side.
Nice, let's go.
I'll be back.
Left, left, left.
Halt, sit, sit, sit.
You're going to right.
Yeah.
Nice.
I'm hiding.
I'm behind you.
Nice.
Nice.
He's a good spread
Coming
Nice
Good shots, good shots
In default
I'm going back, going back
Oh
In front of them
I'm holding, I can hear
I killed one.
One left behind.
I killed one.
One CT.
One balcony.
One CT.
One CT.
Nice.
Good trades.
Good trades.
I killed one.
Nice.
One going blue.
One going blue.
One more pool.
One more pool.
Yes, that's right.
He's in my kit.
Easy.
Yes, boss.
Good afternoon Counter-Strike fans, it's your news of the last day of Groups here at Blast
Open Porto.
20-26, seeding game between Furia and Spirits and it looks like the latter might be booking
themselves a place in the semi-finals.
Sure, Furia woke up towards the end, a couple of nice rounds there before, doesn't
feel like enough for Least Enders on the CT side of Cache.
I think more than anything they need to get rid of some of the mistakes here.
Once they get into favorable positions, they must be able to close out against Spirit, otherwise it's just never going to be quite enough here.
We've got the utility up, so yeah, we've known these smokes for a while, setting up towards that red container, and maybe up on the railing as well.
But Tenir's going to be in front. Three people coming up behind him.
Is that enough? Sometimes this door is being held by doolies in that NBK corner, but now it's just USPs.
I don't know if that's going to be enough stopping power Tenir.
Oh, he's close to Slutton's door, one at a time!
Locks him in.
Unreal.
Silenced first kill there for Teneir.
Magic's trying to chime in as well, but it's gonna be Donk,
left on the A-bomb site. Can they take him down?
It doesn't look good.
Doesn't look good at all, and there's four versus two.
Oh, you gotta be careful getting onto that A-bomb site.
Molodoi now into one versus three.
Little bit of a gooch onto Magic's.
And at least they got rid of Teneir, the doorman.
Keeping people out of the club out of the party. Okay, they're low. Winnable. It's kind of winnable
He's also tagged up himself and finally the magics will get in
That's a good triple for magics. He'll take that. He had a slow first half there. That's so funny
Dude, it's an air opening the door letting one out and then locking him in the bomb site and saying you're mine now
Never seen that before but I'm here for a comedy moment
Yeah, I think ridiculous. You
ain't having no friends here.
And then the incendiary as well.
I mean, the round was already over
that stage you're clowned on.
It has to be the full eco, no bomb planted.
It's pretty comfortable in the end.
Molotow in the 1B3 got some gushes,
but unable to get close to the bomb
side itself. They managed to get some
decent kills on their full eco in the
first half, Anders, who managed to get
three of them, I believe.
So, well, I'll see if they can
Replicate that sort of success and affect the economy going forward for Team Spirits.
That's unlikely with the blocks.
Maddie's sort of putting things up and now trying to alley you donk with the SMG on the site.
Oh, it's on Succession Set.
Yeah, right, you are.
Don't get shown up in the meantime, so he's gonna get a little bit of art.
You know, he's been...
He's been relaxing in this game by his own standards.
It's not bad, he's got ten kills, but...
Yeah, it's been... it's been silly doing most of the work.
Yeah, hasn't been a one-man show.
which has been the theme throughout the group stages here.
Oh yeah, a blast open.
Dongda seems to get 25 kills every single map.
So nice to see a change, but the result still remains the same.
Yeah, they have a big lead.
And Furia, they come to meet me in this round.
It's almost like a mirror of what we saw in ancient,
a very similar kind of position that they're in.
So, yeah, winning rounds early,
shut down the spirit economy.
We all know the template
for how you get back into these games by now.
A lot of door in.
Down through my summons.
That's a good angle though with the incendiary to take some space to fill up.
HG did not land, but they've already forced them back.
Bones the door as well.
Okay, advances with the firepower, suffering from success out of the spirit.
The bonus situation here.
SMGs in a formace.
All the shroud boosts and as you've been asking for it, it's finally here.
Yes. It can be very potent. Super, super hard to flash people in this position as well.
It's one of the challenges. I feel like the normal flashes that you'll throw for the MBK corner,
it lands behind that player. So they're not going to be as flashed.
So good utility in the middle. Okay, Serato, well it's not being out of the event,
but the real problem will be this A bomb site and this absolute classic boost that they are
going to be running into. Bombers by the squeak door so we know that they're going to be
be coming for you. Eventually, Shiro is here. They don't have a molotov for him either, so
they can't actually get rid of the forklift. This should be a done deal almost immediately.
You can see just a three-way crossfire as they try to get out. They are slaughtered in
this position. All right, we might be down here. That's way too convincing, Anders.
They upgraded the three AK47s. They only lose one casualty there. That's ridiculous.
Pretty weak. Flats. Entrance, FF, I didn't feel like they had a chance there whatsoever.
I've got a video in the works Henry. Oh yeah. And a lot of top-up shots from the middle.
I hate every bit. Are you going to ask why teams aren't doing it every round?
I was. Have you taken that away from me now Henry?
That's a little bit petty of me. That's what I'm like.
And, uh, wow, I hate to say it. It feels like we've already found our semi-finalist here.
Tech nines. Like a little desperate now.
now and when it's rushing in through the flames hoping for the best running into
Teneb, who's having an absolute burn burn, the performance is donk as well.
One by one they go down getting nowhere near the bomb site here. The Tecna might be
gonna get a couple with the backstab. There it is. Okay round somewhat on but
Yuri's very low in Kcerato towards the forklift. That was the chance. Not
gonna be converted. Maybe one more kills available in Kcerato but not going
to happen four and fifteen he has been a non-issue for them the absolute
superstar the player that's supposed to go toe-to-toe with Donk yeah just hasn't
arrived here on the second map it's a real shame.
He's been playing very well individually like you got a good credit for us
half in the B-bomb side he was good but they do need that Cacerato factor
there's no question. Well the fact that Fallon's got more than double his
kills that kind of says it all you know what I mean Cacerato supposed
me the guy, the super star. They're Donk. He's had an interview. They've got Donk.
Well, we've got me. And yeah, he hasn't turned up. Not this time, yeah. It's a good quote,
though. The kind of confidence I want in someone like Keisaranto. Yep. And he's got the utility
damage. But we really want to kill Shiro. We'll take some of that grenade. Yackindar.
Again, aggressive. He was doing this on ancient great success in the on the T side. It was very impressive
Maybe you can carve out some space on the map on this side of it. They're not throwing any utility on a I do think contact
Plays on a are going to be interesting
Especially because a lot of teams will play a is retake anyway
So you could probably walk out at least some rounds and that's exactly what Jack-in-Daw's doing coming up highway
looking to take to near out of the round so
Well, no doorman shenanigans if that's any of this time.
Um, you'll get this one to look in, but I would say most teams are saving, considering
it's well for up.
You don't necessarily need to throw AKs away, whether Team Spirit will do that yet to be
seen.
I think they are saving.
They should be doing massive buffering rounds.
There's no reason to do anything crazy.
So we're going to need eight in a row.
I suppose seven now after this one.
But a clean sweep.
Jakunda, O'Neath Bragg, required.
Finds the gap towards Forklift, punches, highway.
Jobs good.
But like we said, Donk with the AK.
Same story for Shiro as well.
They'll bring the AWP for Shiro next round.
12, here for the AK.
Presumably if it's in here.
And I daresay we'll probably be done in the next round.
So that's in the AK.
It'd be a good minute before we get really invested in the combat story.
Like it's hard early on because you know one mistake and the combat's over.
So if they were on the CT side, I'd have that conversation with you.
Alright.
I'm not going to have that conversation on the T side of cash.
Alright.
Get up to 10 rounds maybe? Like 10-12? You start to feel it?
If they get there, I'd be very, I'd be shocked, Anders.
Alright.
You start out of the flag.
I think we end it right here right now.
You're not going to find those sort of gaps by your economy at every round.
You've been reading the future quite a bit already, so I'm going to help you.
But, um, it's near again.
Yeah, this door position is super, super frustrating to be against.
We've already seen how you can close it.
It also is not really monosolved, because obviously if you're coming out the door, you don't want to be monosolving it.
So, it works, at least for now.
Slow and steady, and Shiro to open things at us towards the sunroom.
And it's Yuri going down, their top player, and he's on cash.
Yep.
And that's that whole side of the map lost.
Yep.
You don't know if you're being backstepped now.
You have to be on high alert.
It's got Celtics in the vents as well.
He's going to be Molotov out though from K-Zerato in a couple of seconds, but...
That's if he nails it.
He's going to miss a couple of times.
Nails it.
Alright.
So far so good. They're trying in the middle. They got a classic double wall in the middle.
That used to be a mainstay of-
Sure, that's old school.
It is a bit old school. Maybe it's because we got four of them assisting a bit.
Donk is traded out.
There's still a chance here, but it is getting very, very tricky.
Okay, Serato lining up on another monitor this time by the sandbags.
Unfortunately, nobody's there for them, so they don't get the free kill I think they were
looking for. They're still a man down, but maybe even worse.
They've only got 25 seconds, there is already a double setup and this deep position, I don't think they're strong.
They are checking in very late and the round is going to say,
it's a little time left, it doesn't matter, it's 1-6 in the fire!
Just comes out with a burst, it's 13-5 and it's spirit in the semi-final.
We knew this would be a difficult game of the area, but I didn't think they could
that destroyed it on their own math pick.
13-5, they didn't even get a look in.
Where was K Serato?
He finishes at a 4-16.
supposed to be the superstar of this squad but I'm sure as it comes to no surprise to anyone
team spirit are indeed going to the semi-finals. No real surprises at all and I think it has been
answered when it comes to their cash that spirit are not weak on this it is not a weak part of
their map pool and they will not allow themselves to be tested because guess what you don't even
need a heroic dong performance on this one it was a team performance with Teneir giving that
little extra spice throughout. Not a single part of spirit right now is is weak by any stress
I think that goes without saying how they performed lately. Ever since the group stage at EWC, they've been honoured here, they look consistent, they hardly drop any maps to be completely honest.
Even against foot in that grand final, where foot played the best point of Counter-Strike, Spirits still remained to stay stable.
And so far this tournament, it's been very, very easy for them to get into the job.
I think Sierra and the boys will not have to play cash in the next game. I think opponents have tried now to see if there are any holes on that map.
on that map. So going into the semi-final we have a spare place against, I think they'll
probably have to play a different map pool this time around, perhaps Nuke or something.
Okay, well we've got your kinder with us here on the desk, how you doing my man? I know we're
looking at a loss down the barrel of that, but we don't want to talk about this game overall.
We want to talk more about you when it comes to this.
Oh no, it's okay. We lost three or four anti-forces throughout two maps. We cannot win
the map if we lose anti-forces. I feel like we won more by-runs than them on Ancient,
but it doesn't really matter if you're playing like two e-co's or three e-co's and then fours plays and whatever.
Just individual mistakes that didn't allow us to win this game and especially as well on cash,
I feel like at some point it got a little bit into the emotions, into the mental
because again we're losing at the equal, you know, and then the game was over, I think.
Is that a general issue for you guys or isolation just today?
No, not really. It's fucking hot in this studio.
It's really just impossible to play and it just gets to the head of like a lot.
Yeah, yeah, but don't worry we're sweating out here on the desk as well, from start to finish with it all.
But I want to talk what it's like for you right now as IGLing on some maps, you know, like how you approach it,
how it's working between you and Fallen. Just give us a lowdown, because it's quite an interesting scenario, how this works.
Uh, well, I do, like, I, IGL, we kind of agreed to IGL, that IGL on cash ancient, because I played ancient before, and then cash is a new map, and I have fallen, didn't really feel comfortable on cash, because, like, historically, and then Anubis as well, it was like, I don't know, it was a kind of decision we made to try out, not only for the future, because one fallen retires, maybe, maybe I would IGL whatever, I will not IGL, or at least, or at least I would not want to, just, just too much, too much cortisol, honestly, and, yeah.
I feel like it's an ungrateful business.
Can I ask then, you're saying that you don't want to IGL?
Is it worth continuing at this stage or let it fall under?
Like, how do you now plan this out for the rest of the season?
Well, it's hard because it's like, it's still going to be hard
for following the call system, for example,
the Decorated or something, so I don't know.
Honestly, right now it's a mess.
Like, we don't know which player we're going to get.
We don't know who IGL is, which map, and whatever.
We're still getting good results and whatever, but we need to fix many things still.
Okay, question for me, talking about this whole like in-game leader thing.
Obviously I like to know things, I like to do as well.
Do you think the reason why you're calling on some of the maps is the lack of the specialist maps in the map pool,
where normally you would see a guy like Fallen and Overpass controlling things?
Like what's your take on that?
Yeah, I think the map pool right now is trash.
I think after they removed the...
The statistically least played maps are usually the ones that are hardest.
That's why people don't really play them.
For example, Train, Cobble, Overpass.
All these maps where you have to play slowly with the Audicle to get space control
before actually hitting a site or whatever.
I feel like those maps we were really good at.
And this season we got a big hit with last season as well.
When Train got removed, now Overpass got removed.
And yeah, we'll play Cache which is a lot more straightforward than overpass compared compared to overpass and I don't know if it's about the specialist thing or whatever but
Yeah, it requires more individual like inputs 25-7 these maps in mep to right now, right?
Well, as before you have your freedom, but you will still have to follow like this big plan from spawn
Especially on overpass if you got killed on a I know
Well, I think on cash it's the same, but I think in terms of like roles not only the IGL is
IGLs were better
Of like specialist IGLs as you call them, but also role players like good role players for example
It was very hard to find an A player on T side who can take space without dying and like actually give
Like good ideas for the IGL and whatever there was hard to find a con player
Who's gonna be able to take on like solo most of the time and then when you go to cash?
well, if you look at cash, it's
B hit early, A hit early, mid-smoke into high-way pressure into B, mid-smoke into high-way pressure into A, everything is so simple that
I completely agree
I hope I'm not pushing a nerve here, but not knowing what the future holds like for you as an in-game leader, for your team
Would fall in retiring, how tough is it to show up for practice every day and for every single tournament and still believe
Things get better and at what point do you have to make a decision?
Yeah, I mean well, it sucks of course because
Because, well, when you don't know about features,
it's completely normal for people to kind of like overthink
or whatever, like feel uncomfortable maybe.
So there's a lot of uncertainties, but at some point,
well, I think closer, maybe like to three months
before the major or whatever, there's gonna be
the probably decisions already made
and or at least a direction.
Right now, I was saying this in an interview
before this event as well.
It's like we are in our experimenting phase.
Not only we had our strongest map from Maple get removed and the fallen retirement of course
and we don't know which player we're going to be getting and whatever, but also it's like,
well, our last season wasn't that good, we got second place Crackle, second place Major,
but we still had a lot of things to fix, so if you combine all of that, there's a
big load on the players, on the staff, on the management, on IGLs and whatever,
So we're kind of dealing with our own things right now and happy though anyway with the
performance that we had this event, the performance we had against EWC we could have closed against
FOOT many times on this tour and they're a good team and they showed a good side against
Spirit in the finals and honestly we expected a little bit more maybe here in this specific
game but Antique was fucked up.
You don't have to spill the beans but is there a deadline set internally with
team that by this time we need to know what's going on for next year and that
line is that coming from you or is it coming from the organization?
No really, right now there's no information like that, okay.
Right so just waiting out to see how it pans out. I also want to ask you around
being title contenders while going through all of this stuff. That on its own is
kind of impressive right that you could be able to do it. So does that fill you
with some extra confidence in some way you know that like okay look our
foundation is here because this was a few years at one trove is you are
still the same five players and you're going through this you know how
to play off each other so is that a positive you can take that actually guys we can still do this
yeah I mean of course we we still do believe I don't think it's because we're making finals or
whatever but it's because we won last the last year as soon as you won with the lineup you know
that the lineup is capable of winning and well now we're gonna after this event we're going
Fischer in China so everything can go a circle Fischer in China Thunderpick and then there's
there's going to be a time limit.
That's what we're thinking about.
I like that as well.
And I want to talk about Molodoy a bit,
because I know when Fallen's retirement was announced,
he was obviously hitting very hard as well.
Do you think that's impacted him still as a young player
in some ways to be back at his best level?
Well, right now he has healthy issues,
problems with the eyes that he needs to fix,
and that's why maybe there's a little drop
of maybe performance or whatever.
I think, of course, falling for him is almost like a father figure.
And losing a father figure like that is definitely hard.
But as well, probably like the rumors about offers and whatever.
Like if you're a young guy and you, for example, you get the offers
and this guy is retiring and you start thinking
and then when you start thinking, you know, like the game can go completely different
when you're actually playing during the season.
This is something that he needs to deal with himself, we can't promise or help with anything and well, he's a good player, he's a good lad so hopefully everything's going to be okay.
I'm guessing the dream though is right, you want to keep him under the furia badge alongside you as long as possible?
Oh, no, of course not.
But I mean, you wouldn't want to take another loss like that, right? The goal is to keep this four core and find the relevant...
Of course, of course, that's the goal, that's the mangle, yeah.
How likely do you think that is as current stage?
I think it's pretty likely, but many people do not believe in the Twitter community or...
That's what I'm asking you, I'm trying to find out but I'm not listening to the bullshit.
I think it's pretty likely, I think there's some questions that need to be answered, but other than that,
I don't think there's like 100% chance he's going to be leaving or somebody's going to be leaving.
Good, that is very positive. And lastly, before I let you go, I know you want to go and call down.
Is it going to be the whole team decision on who comes in? Is it going to be like a nice joint decision?
Is it maybe a coaching decision? How does it work inside Fiora of like the next person?
Well, I think everybody is going to be asked and informed and asked for an opinion, but I think it's still mainly staff, a coach and a fawn, but maybe as well, like even though he would be retiring,
he would probably have a great input about like a certain player or whatever, like in terms of ideas, he still, even though he plans to retire, he still helps a lot for the team and for the organization.
Am I right in assuming that you'd like an N'Gimbi to join?
Oh yeah.
No, the thing is it's like...
I've explained this before but I do consider myself a good role-player still.
And I feel like if I'm IGL and I'm not doing the role-playing thing,
so we lose a good role-player and also the IGL part is like an unexperienced IGL, so...
Do we have time for one more question?
You can do whatever you want man, it's more of a you can do whatever you want to run or not.
I think this is super interesting because I was looking before the game, obviously you
are trending a little bit upwards individually in game leading or not.
How confident and how good does your kinder himself think he is right now?
Because people from the outside might underestimate you a little bit, also due to your history,
let's say, in Liquid.
But at least from what I'm seeing, I see a guy that is willing to manipulate the
situations to get favorable duels against anyone.
We also saw it again on Ancient against Donk.
You probably won the head-to-head from what I remember.
So how good do you actually think you are and is there even more to gain from you?
Well, I've said this before in an interview, I do still think that I'm in my prime.
In terms of like decision making, positioning, how much I can help and impact the team, best
I've ever been.
Like in terms of mechanics, maybe like I'm not shooting as hard when I was 2,021, you
can do it or whatever.
But for me that doesn't really matter, I feel like CS right now is so decision based
and like yeah of course like if you're better mechanically it's going to save
you in like the more dire situations but I do still think I'm in my best shape and yeah
just waiting for a future and hopefully the bad future ain't gonna come soon.
Hopefully not. I'm gonna ask you one question based on that you said about your prime.
No problem guys, take your time, take your time.
Podcast with you, come on.
Let's go, see. No but you made a promise to me not so long ago that you said oh yeah I won't change my resolution anything.
Have you stuck with it?
Which resolution do you want?
You're on 16-10 at the time.
Yeah, I'm playing 16-10.
So you're staying on it?
Yeah.
Oh man, you promised.
That's a good sign.
Thank you very much.
Thank you guys.
You can go.
We're going to take a look at the bracket as well and just see how things are looking.
But a great talk with your kinder.
I appreciate good insight like that and honesty as well, right?
Because this is a really tough situation.
It might have felt to chat that like, especially with their big fans of your kinder, they're like,
well, they're grilling him too much, but these are the answers people want to know.
Sometimes we need to get some of these answers made on a situation like this.
like this when he's able to be so open in such a confusing time.
Well here's the thing James, he doesn't have the answers.
You know no one seems to be knowing what's going on with Furia.
We know he doesn't want to be IGL.
Sure we know he doesn't want to be an IGL,
but Furia right now doesn't know where they're heading.
You know he doesn't know where he's heading.
He doesn't know if he's going to be forced to be an in-game leader,
he doesn't know if there's going to be a new in-game leader coming in
and that's why I'm pushing on the deadline thing as well.
I would assume at some point the players are saying,
listen we need to figure out where the future is heading
and I'm going to hone in on this point one more time,
not in isolation to this game against Spirit because I frankly don't care.
player you know that it's retiring it's a very unique scenario and you have to
threat that very very carefully because as he said as well this is a proven team
that can win trophies we've seen that before you cannot mess with that you
cannot all of a sudden get into a scenario where things are going so
dire that a guy like Molotov is like maybe I start to doubt whether I should
even stay here maybe a kinder for that matter started to doubt whether
he should even stay here so if I'm through and if I'm the organization
right now the sooner you can figure out what the deadline is gonna be for
acquiring a new player or at least laying out the the print work for our future the better otherwise all these you know
Creeping thoughts are gonna come into these players. It's a very interesting situation
Especially also considering what he is telling us here
But he is in a gray area where if you do really really good in the coming see like coming couple of months as an in-game leader
You become the in-game leader, right? I don't want to be the in-game leader, but I need to do it so
No matter what it's a very weird situation
Not only for Aria Kinda, but for the whole team because everyone is screaming for you know
Some guy from the outside to come in and take the reins from Fallen
But there's also a matter of trust lifting the fury of banner moving forward like a lot of look not a lot
But at least like well-known players have tried and have failed
So I think they need to consider it very carefully, but they cannot use on but till you know Christmas new years to do
It they need to have it pre-print. Well, also you guys know as well right for teams that are making changes
We may not get the news until December, but those things already happened a couple of months before that's how it works
We're in the industry, but we need to go to a quick break and then when we come back
We've got a brand new super exciting show. It's the rugger and pimp show
Hey guys, this is Mahon, and I'm gonna break down on the pros hold short on mirage
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 tease back
The slash 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 possibility 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
Before you reach that point, there's a chance a T could cross the initial angle before you
get to the 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 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
on to it, you'll be able to catch a 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 in the window to spot the cross
towards connector.
Tees 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 faster and short.
If you peek middle from ladder room, keep in mind a tee 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.
While G2 is getting ready to face Aurora for a spot in the playoff here at the Blast Open
Portal, I figured we may as well spend the break time getting a little bit smarter.
Now, we've had the opportunity to have you join us for the disc throughout the entirety
of the week and picking your brain a little bit.
I thought that's a pretty big brain of yours, so I want to pick it a little bit
more in terms of roles in Counter-Strike.
We often speak about roles on the disc.
We often talk about anchors.
We talk about aggressive players, etc., etc., but we never have time to deep dive
into what that actually means. So to begin off with why don't you give me the
share overview of what a role in Counter-Strike actually is. Like also the
like varies a little bit from map to map but the most common thing is that you
would have you know players that are a little bit more passive in nature that
has more responsibility of making sure the whole picture doesn't fall apart
and then the other side you will have roles where you are a little bit more
active to make sure that you control the timeline the information on the
map but at the same time also move around the map and I think if you look at the map like this
that we have loaded up here for you like on Mirage like this is the classic one that everyone knows
from playing themselves you know like if if you stand and spawn and face it and everyone is just
screaming I'm playing window then all of a sudden no one is playing B and then it just becomes a
weird really weird type of half right so not only does it matter in casual gaming but it also
matters in the pro scene that everyone knows what they need to do what is expected at them
but at the same time also like who actually moves the pieces around once the game starts.
It's a constant balancing act you know and also you know as we we're going to dive into
different roles, different attributes. So why don't we start with the the most famous role
and the most arguably boring role in the game of Counter-Strike playing B-Apps on Mirage.
What does it require for a player to be good in that role and what's the job?
Like basically you have the guy right like his number one priority is making sure that
nothing happens here without the rest of the team knowing it and knowing it slash killing
it is not necessarily the same thing because the B player has a lot of responsibility but
at the end of the day you get valued on how many Ts enter the bombsite without you just
dying instantly and losing the round.
So for that matter you have a couple of tools at your disposal.
One of them is obviously your util where you can start with a deep molly, you can
start with blocking with the smoke.
You have a lot of options, but basically in the beginning of the round, the number one
thing you have to make sure is you don't get teased.
And by teased meaning that you don't lose the bomb site while the rest of your team is doing
something else.
But that's also a little bit hard sometimes because a lot of teams put a lot of efforts
like and resources into this area map meaning that you will be left alone quite often.
And that also goes to say that you need to nail the start of the round almost every
single time as the B player.
in my time playing B-Apps on Mirage was all about gathering information you know
the earlier you would get the information whether or not there was
gonna be a B hit the better you could call in for the rotation etc would you
say that had changed over time now that you now have to be a little bit more
active as a B anchor on Mirage? I think so you will still see like you'll
still see as we also have a clip of Jimmy doing here like just jumping for
the information and making sure that every everything is safe like this
this is the number one thing right what you were hinting towards a
little bit is the out place the extra layers that you can do but at the
end of the day if your B player does this and buys you this much time as you can
also see in the clock then half of the job is already done you know but as you
also said this is just half of it the other half is also being unpredictable
making sure that the T's don't see this every single round because then they
also know what to face like coming towards your bomb site and for that
matter like you can do different things it can also be that you play with
the intent of blocking in the beginning to buy time for what happens
here in the middle as we teased a little bit. It could be, you know, that you're fighting
super heavy here, you're like all your players are like mulling different areas on the map,
making sure that you have these information lines in the beginning. So what you can do
instead, but if this is the case for the rest of the team, like you can you can block
off B-Apps to buy time for your team, as you can also see in the clip I found for you
here with Jimmy doing it. Basically, he blocks it off as you can maybe see on
the minimap a lot of stuff is happening in the middle and even two players pushing
in on A. So basically this is also part of the job. You know that you need to buy time
for the global thing to like basically play out before you get your impact in the round.
And yes, it is sometimes boring, but that's also part of the job.
And how much is that controlled by the B-Plackers? I'm also thinking maybe an extra layer, you
know. Sure, you have the guy blocking information, you have the guy throwing early utility,
sometimes saving utility. Depending on who you play against as well, is it a team that
leans towards doing B-Hops, is it a team that leans towards doing mid-takes? It
it all comes into play, but you could also call over your AWP player maybe to help you
and be that the guy that changes the title a little bit or misses it up.
Is that the AWP player doing that, or is that the B guy calling for help from the AWP?
The ideal thing is, as you saw Jimmy jumping here, jumping with his Util, making sure nothing
is happening, not throwing the smoke, basically to fake that the AWP is here, so they have
to invest Util in finding out is the AWP actually here or not, and that a lot of
times means one guy cannot do it alone meaning they would have to drag in you know another
guy to pressure him off with you till whether it's a flash whether it's a molly and that's
like part of the mind game but as we also say in modern CS like in the ideal world this
guy says it himself that he needs a little bit of help or oh you should see like I just
build it up perfectly for you you can come next round but it's a mix like if you had
15 rounds that you did in my 15 this is a little bit easier you know to build up
But in MR12 it's a little bit more everything you do needs to be with the purpose so the
often times you see an AWP B is either as the secondary AWP or the AWP you know playing solo
while the other four you know are focused on this side of the map here.
So this is the luxury of having an AWP as it requires like little resources but at the
same time he holds down a very powerful angle here as you can also see that we found
with Kati doing earlier this tournament here.
the thing coming in with AWP holding a deep angle and taking away a lot of space basically
here requires Dendler to respect it you know and sometimes install a bit of fear into it
as you can see why Katie ends up getting is it a triple kill maybe a multi kill you know
a little bit aggressive taking a deep angle falling back but at the end of the day he's
doing his job by falling back by delaying the B hit coming into this place now we
could be talking about playing B anchor for a long long time but we need to move on
as well and talk about some of the other roles and playing B you don't do that
by yourself, you also have a player on catwalk playing short with him and I guess there's a balance
in terms of how much is that guy involved helping the B guy and how much is that guy focused towards
middle. What is some of the attributes you need to have in order to be a great short player on
Mirage? To have a really good B player. That frees him up. That frees him up as we talked about
like using a util smartest the B house player means that now this area here like this guy can
roam you know back and forth between these type of positions right you can come here you can
support the B-lines, if anything happens that is crazy. You can come out into middle, you
can offer util into underground, you can offer util into behind the boxes, you can even you
know, re-smoke for the con player. There are so many options and that's also why we use
in modern CS as the CTs among the top teams that this guy is a little bit of a luxury
player because yes his primary goal is to be here making sure Catwalk is not getting
overrun but you will also see players hiding here, players hiding here, hiding
here playing double connector with someone else. So he is a bit of a luxury player because
at the end of the day nothing a lot of times doesn't happen in this area the first 20 seconds
of the round. It's a luxury player, it's a bit of a joker
on a map like Mirage's World. Speaking of what kind of attributes you need as a player
to play short, do you need necessarily to be the aggressive type or can you be more
defensive as well? I'm thinking a guy like Spinks who is very good at playing that
specific role, you wouldn't label him as aggressive yet he functions so well
It's because a lot of the duels you get, especially in this area here, when you think about like the middle side of things, it's headshot duels.
Like this one towards the bench here, like this line here, headshot duel, right?
You can like play the off angle when I remove the langle here. Here, like super favorite off angle.
You have to go into the good aimer. So a lot of times the players that you will see playing on short,
is players that are really good individually, that doesn't necessarily need to be part of too much,
But at the same time, feel comfortable enough sometimes to just be left alone in an advanced position.
Like Frozen has been doing it his whole career, Spings has been doing it.
There's like multiple...
Yikinda?
Yikinda has been doing it as well.
A little bit more active than Spings, but at least Yikinda's take on it is that, yes, he knows as well, might be players fine.
So I'm gonna like help in middle, see if anything crazy happens in the beginning.
Sees no one, okay?
So he adds a little bit of layer to it, mullies behind boxes, making sure it's clear, breaks top mid.
No one is retreating, okay?
You're good boys, sure?
Now I'm going back to B because this is the timing where some players will have to support their B player.
You can also see he's not insta-froing his smoke, he wanted to, but since they had all the information in these lines here,
it was too early in the round. You could see he wanted to do it, but the comp player probably said no.
And at the same time, when he was in this transition here, his B player had B under control.
So at this point in time, this is where the freedom begins, that you don't need to necessarily do anything, until the next step.
And that's where you know Counter-Strike have a lot of different layers, right?
Because if you were to compare Spinks with your kinder,
you'd say they're two completely different player types,
yet they can both occupy the same role, which is to be short.
Now, moving on to another important role on the CT side of Mirage,
over on the A bomb side, to my understanding throughout my career as well,
I think this is one of the most underrated roles in the game of Counter-Strike.
It is incredible tough to play A on Mirage,
because you often lift for yourself,
you often have to do a lot of things by yourself, or at least call for backup.
So, I remember back in the day, in order to be a good A player,
You need to be able to hold your own, but you also need to be great at communication because you need help from the players around you
You need flashes you need backup otherwise you're done for this is the heart in my opinion
The hardest role in the game right now because as we talked about like this area of the map is and will still be the most
important thing in on this city side meaning that a lot of resources goes in here for the comp player from the short player
From the all player that sometimes starts window meaning that you have to hold like all this stuff here
and basically you have one entry point here, you have one entry point here and you have one set of UTIL.
In the ideal world, because this is also not the guy that gets prioritized with weapons and utility as well.
So it is the hardest thing. The thing that then that guy has going for him is if these guys do a really good job here in middle,
clearing out no one is close, no one is rushing, that frees them to come back and help, you know.
Then they can smoke palace for them. Then they can give them a check flash on here.
You can even play default, you can get supported with flashes in case something happens fast on the bombsite,
because this is how a CT site works. You kind of break it into stages, you see what is happening at some place of the map,
and then you transition it into a different plan if nothing is happening.
And what kind of qualities do you need to have to be an A player?
Because I'm thinking right now, Kixxan is a player that occupies the stadium,
we're thinking Yingying, leader holding up to his own, pretty good on the CT side,
but Steery2K, back in the day, she was a very active player on the A bombsite as well.
Is it there to say that it's a very versatile role, that it's a position that can be played by a lot of different types of players?
Yes, like, the only one thing that they have to do kind of is the same for everyone, you have to molly off-ramp.
Why? So there's like no timing the teams can rush up.
At the same time you also need to be able to flash mid, so whoever starts window doesn't die to you know, an all peeking window.
Like these are the two things that everyone has to do.
Autospawn, face it, gotta make sure.
Always, always. And every time the flash don't come, you can hear the window player whining,
Oh, why am I flashing blah blah blah all these type of things right so but yeah
As you teased a little bit. It's very different how teams play it as you would see food when they play this map
They played the skill away. Yeah, they play jokes in this area here
Always part of something where action is happening. It's very rare. You see him go close ran and start pushing out behind
He wants to be in the action
He wants to live and die by what happens in this area where as you can see a guy love kukson
That are also in the clip that we're about to run
He will try to you know to use his brain like get an advanced position outplay with utility
position in terms of like what's happening right as you can see here he gets a little held from his
orb to get the deep line on ramp and then the big brain thing starts happening right like okay it's
clear in a second okay I'm good and now you enable this into the mid-round but now not only does he
has a smoke he has an HE for handling also but he's in such an advanced position that if something
happens in the middle of the map now he can all of a sudden take his chance of pushing in and
seeing if he can find a flank which happened in this game as well and if he doesn't see anything
he can hold on to it, it makes it significantly easier to be part of a retake. Again, a very versatile role.
Speaking of connector, you know, the maybe most important role there, say, that Mirage,
at least the one that is the most flashy. It looks good to be on the scoreboard, it looks good to be in connector.
You are looking at guys like Donk, you're looking at the high-skill, high-sealing players, Santerres, for that matter as well.
Is it fair to say that if you're playing connector, you just got to love action?
You got to love your aim, you got to love action, and you got to be able to fight 24-7.
You need to be really good at killing Ecos, that's the number one thing, because people laugh at it right, but at take 9 rushing at you, when you have an M4 here, if you die, it gets ugly very very fast, but on the more serious note, you need to be able to find a balance in being in this area here, and then being in this area here.
And that's where I think some of the top teams right now, they have a good balance of this.
Like, they know that they need to disrupt, you know, the T's coming out here into these like advanced positions,
and not just give them the chance to do the re-smokes, do the re-smokes, and then do their thing, you know, like,
okay, we're gonna do B split without being contested, it's gonna be hard, because they will come with 5,
and you're maximum 2, unless you're like, window player has the perfect read.
So a lot of times, this guy, he needs to find some success, not only in the entry duels,
but also at the bigger picture things and some of the tools that your disposal is the one that I am also
love to do is that he basically he gets the check flash quite early as you will also see in the clip
and then takes care of all the fast things happening like straight out of spawn you see like he jumps
out hides a little bit behind the smoke in a second and then he calls a follow-up flash
boom and now he clears close con because if he clears here now don't like this is super valuable
information on top of the kill you see that no one is in this area here you see
no one in this area here meaning the next 10 seconds of what happens in middle is
irrelevant now if he wants to he can come back to say play as we talked about the
hardest role in the game he needs a little love so you can come back to him
now all of a sudden he can start peeking down into the execute if they
execute a he can also you know hide a little bit wait a little bit save his
util so he doesn't smoke instantly because obviously the longer time you
can hold your smoke in hand the easier it is for you to enable
yourself in the mid-round. So this guy all of a sudden becomes the king of whatever happens
the next 10-15 seconds in the round and this is what the top teams live and die for. Because
if he doesn't get any information and the guy makes it to these kind of positions here,
he used the check flash, now he uses the smoke, then you go blind pretty early on in the round.
So information is key and especially among the top teams the more information you have,
the easier your mid rounds become. So just to put it into context, right,
You can get away being passive or on the B-bomb side to some degree even on A but connect that you have to be a player
That is willing to make place first and foremost, but also have the capabilities to make those plays
So you're looking at your normal star players. You're looking at your center
You're looking at your case of rather you look at you don't you're looking at the playmakers of the team
Yeah, and and playmaking is a big part of it as you also see case of rather doing here, right?
But yes, you can play this like consistent don't take too many chances
But you also need to be willing to take the chances because if the T's knows everything that's happening
they will build their next round around it. So what does Kesara do? He sometimes throws in a little bit of aggro thing
and yes, he dies, but again, the next 10, 15, 20 seconds, middle doesn't really matter because he gets the information all the way deep top mid.
It's not something that can actually snowball a round win into.
So it makes a lot of sense if that player goes for information.
He's a high-risk high-reward player at times,
but at the same time is the guy that controls a lot of the stuff that happens because he is in persistence to rotate around the map.
A lot of valuable information, Rok. Thank you so much for taking us behind the curtain a little bit.
We could be doing this for seven different maps. We could be talking for another hour,
but we do have a gain coming up between G2 and Aurora,
because we have to find out which team will make the playoff and which team will go home,
pack their backs and not be part of the Porto event next week.
We caught up with some of the players heading into the game.
You've got to deal with Aurora, who you beat last time already.
Obviously, there were little adjustments and stuff that come into it,
But I'm guessing you feel very comfortable and confident against this team despite maybe how close it got on Anubis
Yeah, I think you said it correctly pretty much
But it's always harder to play the same team especially when you won the first game, right?
So I think we expect that it's gonna be a way more tough game than the first game to be on it
Especially from them, but we know they won't go with the same mentality that we know we can beat them
We are not expecting easy game. We need to fight for every second because they're a good team
They have good individuals and we need to fight for every second for each other against them
and be on point, basically, and then I think we will take the W.
How far do you feel like you guys have progressed from just learning from the last time you faced G2,
and like, what is it in your opinion is the most important thing within this series in order to get the win?
I mean, I think, first of all, we got a couple of like confident wins versus other teams,
so I think it will be a boost for us because we showed like,
when, how can we play when we are on like, a game, like we can play really good, you know,
And I think last time when we played versus G2, we were not individually the most nervous
if I remember correctly, like we were not the best, you know?
And I think it was still like kind of close game, at least the Anubis one I remember.
So I think if we can like be ourselves today in a way and just play how we have been doing in practice
and how we prepared, you know, we don't forget stuff and we kind of just focus on our stuff
and try to help the team as much as possible and individually we can be like there as well.
I think we should have a pretty good chance, you know?
I would say G2, in terms of the level, they are really similar to us, you know?
We didn't have that much time to play, but as an individual, sometimes we are stronger, you know?
At least aim-wise, you know? We have a lot of good players, but so do Tate.
So it will be a really tight game, I think, today as well, but of course I hope that we will win.
that we will win, I hope that we can do our best and qualify to the main tournament, you
know, to Porto. That's what I want. It's my first time there, so it would be nice to get
there as well.
It would be nice for Aurora, and it would be nice for Yumi, because since he went on
his breakaway from Maus, he's been missing that kind of environment. EWC was, yes,
technically an arena of some sort, but more of a lighter crowd than the real
effects of what an arena would give you in that one. When it comes to this matchup, Pimper
Mugga, it's a rematch. Anything can happen. All bets are off.
Yeah, in theory anything can happen. And I think on paybots who said coming into the first
game it looked a bit like a 50-50. I think the favourite in this game is still G2 for
various reasons. The way they've been playing so far G2 have been very positive. I think
you've found a way to enable Wrinkle, you've found a way to enable Heavy Guard
and you overall look like a very solid team whereas what a gather from a roar so far
especially considering the first game we had here as well.
They show glimpses, they show glimpses of what is to come for the future,
but I'm going to say it one more time without sounding like a broken record.
You do.
They're not quite ready just yet.
Just like As said yesterday as well,
it's going to take a bit of time before we gel together.
He feels the improvement are coming steadily and fast,
but to beat D2 in the best of three already by now,
it's going to be a tough task.
Let's not underestimate that these guys are like competitors.
So even though they say a lot of things about how much time they need,
when they enter the server is with the one objective of winning and anything
other than that will be a disappointment so obviously the long-term thing I
completely agree that they are not looking to peak perform here now but all
the emotions everything goes into this one game to see if they can make the
playoffs because then as we talk about like you're ready until you aren't
that's what you said right like you are you aren't ready until you are and
this is the case of that this could also speed up the whole process of
making sure that they dive like go into the top five earlier than they
Yeah, that would be a huge positive for them. Looking at G2 right now though, we kept calling them gatekeepers in this one.
Well, they are the destroyers of NAVI. My God, that was rough if you're a NAVI fan.
It's brilliant if you're looking at G2 in the way they can perform and seeing what that level can look like.
And I feel like that's what we're going to figure out about G2 in this tournament as well.
How much was that NAVI, you know, being NAVI at the moment, clearly not a team in form,
clearly a team with their own issues. And how much is that G2 ready to take a step up?
because we also did see G2 play against Spirit in a game that wasn't competitive.
So I still label them as the gatekeepers.
And if you've got a gatekeeper team right now, beating Aurora is the perfect way to showcase
that you're still the gatekeepers of that area of Counter-Strike.
100%. I'm really excited on G2's behalf, but I also think they also need to show it again.
Like, before we praise them until the end of the world here,
they need to show that they are better than the teams coming below them
trying to take their space and the ranking.
So I think it's a very, very exciting matchup with so many, you know, mind games, where they're at in their forums, long-term, short-term, I think it's a very interesting match.
And one way that G2 is able to be one of these great gatekeepers is this Inferno pick, right?
I mean, some other matchups, some map pulls may be a bit more worrying, but when they can get the Inferno in there, it's almost like a free win.
Almost, you know, they play at a very high level. I think they have a solid CT side, they flow state of the T side as well.
as well. Hunter is exceptionally good at calling the troops on a map like Inferno and then with
adding Wrinkle as well, you add an extra element. A little bit more aggressive with the AWP. We saw
him on the CT side constantly go for peeks whether they're being in apartments, towards boilers,
sometimes over towards banana as well. He's very fluent in the way that he's playing Counter
Strike so I feel that's added another element to a D2 that is already working well on Inferno.
Yeah, this was the game where we talked about Wrinkle not only being good with the orb,
it's also the rifle game that won them crucial rounds in the last time they played each other
And also going into internal that's lovely to have an opera that thrives being a rifle as well because that was probably a little bit that
That's the Sunpires didn't like offer the same thing
Whereas here you can throw a third guy into the map control on banana roll the dice for him and see what happens because this is also the great
Right like the great opus also need to find impact when they're just rightfully and wrinkles confidence is building in his
Mentality is getting stronger in each and every one of these games once it was like destroyed when he was in an IP
So he's just ramping back up. I still fully believe in what this all began deliver
But looking out towards now Aurora and this Turkish core it's you can see I would say right when they play lesser teams
They can thrive they can do the things they do better
But then again tougher teams like a G2 when you need to be a bit more tactical a bit more fought out
It becomes tough. Yeah, we we had a conversation with Ash and yesterday and he kind of was very open and very honest about it
To be completely honest that he felt like it was a mess at times in the beginning in terms of gilling together to play as you know
the reactions and how you rotate how you play off each other was an issue but the skill can always
bail them out because that's the thing with a ward they are an incredible skill team kicks in one
of the best fracking in-game leaders right now centaurs popped off yesterday as well we know voxic
have the ability to do the same if jim fett is supposed to be your third best player then
you're in a pretty good position in that regard so it's going to be a question of how much can
they hide and mask the fact they're not ready as a team with all that individual skill they
have to cook up on the server yeah and when we're talking about what they can cook up on
on the server with that individual skill, I would say that they show they can do it
and they show they can beat G2 because they were ahead in these games and then it fell apart.
Is that what we're going round to be more of like the team synergy as of right now?
I think it is an emotional thing.
Like they were leading 4-1 and 5-1 on the two maps last time and for me they need to
showcase they have a better mentality today and not just you know roll over and let
Hunter do his thing in calling the G2 squad back into things.
So they need to show that despite having a good start, not necessarily getting everything
right from that point on, that they will fight for it, that they will stay in control.
Because it is something we've talked about this Aurora core before, that they were too
emotional, it was too easy to string rounds together because they were so frustrated
with what was happening, either the duels or the situation.
So this is what I need to see from them before I buy into them being the correct
five here now.
It's also a question of how deep the playbook is.
It's a clear plan A right now with Haruah. They're working on it, they're practicing,
but once you have to go down to plan B, plan C, that's what's going to take a bit of time
to build up, you know, to get that know-how. So the deeper we get into the games, the
more we get into overtime and, you know, 12-11 scenarios, the more likely it is for
D2 to be pulling ahead. So Haruah, if you get off to a 5-1 start or 4-1 start, you
better have that killer instinct in you and get it done when you have them down.
Well, talking about getting it done, we need to get our maps decided on. Once again,
it's time for the video.
Boom! We're back into the Vito and Rugger. If you're a coach, you've already faced them
once this tournament, do you have a plan of like, do I mix up the maps or do I just go
for the same again? Like, what's your way of doing it?
Like, G2 100% will pick Inferno. I'm a little bit more questioning what a role will do.
They might just take the same as last time, thinking they can do better. But it could
also be a case where they'd monitor, explore the map a little bit.
They were in a leading position right on Anubis, so if I'm in a row, I'm leaning towards maybe giving it another go.
We also talked about the prep, Anubis coming in right here, the fact that when you lose a map,
there's more to learn than when you're winning to some degree. At least you look at it from a different perspective.
So not too surprised about that Anubis pick, Inferno should come into the mix.
Now the question mark is, is the third map going to be the same? We didn't get it last time around, maybe we do today.
And back then it was Miras, so I don't see a reason why neither of the two teams should stay away from a map they trusted a couple of days ago,
compared to now, now that they didn't play it.
And we're banning out cash as well.
I think it's the expected Vito, also what I teased a little bit with Ash yesterday.
Like, they were the ones that could decide all three maps, because they...
No, not all three, but at least two of them, because they knew Inferno was G2's pick,
so they could influence their own pick and the third map.
So they have known this Vito for quite some time, and knowing a guy like Ash that also does his prep,
I think they will be more than ready.
The question is whether they can throw some dirt into the machine of G2 because Hunter has been looking really sharp as it can be.
I don't know about you, but I would have liked them to play the underdog card a little bit more here and then maybe force Cass into the series and be like,
listen, we're willing to risk it on Cass. We know Centaurus can play it at a high level. They've played it themselves already and that would be saying that,
listen, we're coming in as underdogs. We're trying to stay up to shit a little bit.
Unfortunately for me, Mirage is another stable map for G2, so you're really saying if you're a war right now that we got to beat them head to head on same terms,
so to speak and I think they're too big of an underdog nut to try something.
Yeah I like what you're saying there boys but let's see what happens when we get inside this series.
It's a raw we're taking on G2, it's a rematch and once again it's Henry and Anders.
Thank you very much boys, comprehensive breakdown of the game upon us, a rematch Anders.
We commented on this on day one, it was Wrinkle that dominated Anuba, super aggressive,
dictating the pace each and every round. What's Polymark is saying,
do you reckon G2 are the favourites still?
They could be, they're really exciting, I think it's very hard to tell,
Like it is almost a bit of a quen for my head too.
I like both these squads.
I like where they're going.
Like it's such a great start for both of them,
but there are some mistakes on the Aurora side.
And that's my main concern for this one is
can they stop Centaurus?
Like can they get him to play well,
but not overextend one such advantage?
I would say no.
I don't think you can teach your dog new tricks right now.
He seems like he is kind of locked in, but over peaking.
And especially when they have the advantages,
he seems to be disconnected from the squad.
but there's no denying his skill.
You could not take that away from him.
I think it's as well, like I said,
he got that ace with the dualies,
and obviously maybe that will just keep him fired up.
And when he can play like that, I mean, you're right.
We are not questioning the skill of this guy.
We know what he could do inside of a server,
but let's see if it's gonna be today, the big day here.
I mean, for G2 though, I mean,
what do you think, what are your expectations here, Henry?
I love what G2 are putting down right now.
That new roster with Rinkle coming through,
I'm really impressed.
I think Heavy God is looking fantastic.
Nurt is finding his form matters as ever, like he's been so stable for this squad since he joined.
G2 are still my favourites, but I have been impressed with Aurora.
I think in terms of the individuals that they can turn up today,
if you have Woxic posting the sort of performance he saw in Dust2 yesterday,
where he got his best map in CS2 history, there's a real chance there.
The fact they played Anubis already was the opening map of day one.
It went so well with that. There's 16-13 for G2, so the door is still wide open
and historically for the Turkish squad, especially Aurora, specialists on Anubis.
Yes, they are. They always have been and I'm very, very interested in how this one plays out.
I mean, last time, I think early on in the tournament there, G2, they were lacking heavy
God a little bit, but last time we saw him, he was playing the lights out again.
He was starting to really get there.
So, yeah, if they could get it all out of running, it's two of the most iconic anchors
just about Jimmy and heavy God.
Go Anato, that is a lot of fun.
The other player that I feel like maybe hasn't been highlighted so much, but I feel like
I've played a great tournament as a mattress.
I feel like individual, he's just a rock solid player right now.
I'm actually looking forward to his contributions here.
Yeah, super consistent, very stable,
always seems to be at the tip of your tongue
when it comes to top frags for G2.
And we'll see if Kicks that as well.
He's been the top performer for Aurora this tournament,
believe it or not. 1.3 racing in the group stages so far.
Certainly a fragging in-game leader.
Whether that's cause or concern, I'm not sure.
You'd rather have his Antares with Cardi, right?
But still, we'll take it all day long.
Yeah, we will.
He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder too, one of the proof that after Falcons he's a good prospect, a strong player.
I think that's maybe a problem with Xantares because he hasn't got the luxury of Maga running in for him anymore, right?
Igor Kexan, who wants to be part of the Fraggin'una, he's not going to be as sacrificial as Maga was.
Maybe that's why we're seeing Xantares not necessarily lost for not looking as usual self and having to make more nuanced decisions
rather than just running through and trading out Maga.
And I mean, it is early days for this kind of a lineup.
What's on the line here Henry the last one it was just true and we're doing this one
We can actually have some fun with the last one was just seeding semi finals a quarter finals
No, it wasn't that emotional this one is good everything on the line
You have to make it to the quarter finals or you are eliminated so Anders
I'm gonna let you off the leash this time
We are here to give it the beans last game for us the group stages
And so let's make sure we give everyone a good show here. I'm hyped for it. I am hi
I've really been enjoying these new lineup
So I am ready to go and once the teams are ready we'll get into a new business our opening map here
It's gonna be very very interesting. I think last time they played inferno first and G2 kind of crushed them
And this time it's a new bus first
I think that's that's I mean that that dynamic is interesting right like you're not coming off of a loss on inferno here
Or if you're a war I say I'm not big but it does mean you have to win your a map big
It doesn't you have to convert it because we know G2
I'm not gonna say God like an inferno, but they're very very good on it
Yeah, it didn't look like it was any moment where they could have stopped them
Aurora once we got to infer like that just wasn't the case here so yeah I
agree they do need to pick this one up and hopefully and it's you and I it's
day six of the group stages we're commentating two series a day every
single game we've casted has been a 2-0 if which one goes to zero as well as
some sort of historical feat I can tell you that much I've never seen
anything like it in my life I hope it goes three maps I want to see a bit
attention. Some of us say the games we've commented have been bad with the 2-0s.
They've been excellent in fact, but we're nice to get the distance, especially when
there's so much on the line here. Real last chance to loom for both teams. You'd
love to see G2 there, but also the new roster of Aurora. They've got a great
personality as well. You'd like to see what kind of damage they can do with the
new coach, Ash at the helm as well. I get some arena experience, so I'd be
happy with either results. But ladies and gentlemen, it is time to lock in.
It is time to decide who will be going to Porto and who indeed will be
going home G2 on their opponent's map pick sat in the T side bear in mind T sided
map and as we have two molotovs two smokes and a full-on a execution to kick
things off here the utility really giving the game away on those flashes
though to note that is true and molotov is one of them gonna land on that cake
because otherwise yes okay well if not I was gonna say they're gonna run into
Wokardi's doolies.
Guesting smoking heaven and camera, molotov boxes and cake.
Okay, that's a good lineup. I like that you've set that up for us here.
P-2000, but the real danger.
The 30 bullets here for Wokardi.
He is very good at anchoring his bomb sites.
No flashes on you said, so it's a straight headshot.
Now Woksi snipes away in the back.
Pistol in his hands, still, but he has been pushed all the way down to 11.
So now he's just playing hide and seek for his foes.
He can't, how did Kexham get that?
He was running up the stairs for a headshot on Hunter.
That looks ridiculous.
Now, he's got no chance here.
Jimpak will take him down with that kill for Kicksand.
That really threw a bit of a wrench in the works for them.
Really could have used that molotov for K,
huh?
He opted for fountains instead.
And yeah, the lack of flashbangs,
you could see a bit of a shooting gallery there.
And Kicksand continues his fantastic in-game leader
fragging form here.
They were ready for this.
And there's Julees on the front lines.
Woksyk is iconic P2000 kick-sap, ice-cold with a USP, clothesline.
No plan found, G2 on the force by round number two here.
That's huge, winning the CT pistol is absolutely massive and it can't stress that enough.
You do need to get past the all-important second-round force by the round.
Hunter falls sent for the double doors, always heading in towards camera.
Can he find the entry? Woksyk once step ahead of him, completely flashed.
Woksyk will find the first of the MP9, it looks like it's very comfortable indeed.
Cardia confirms around and heavy god nothing to do nothing to say one player remains and he'll be going down as well
very convinced in conversion coming in from Aurora
That was
Really well handled you're right
This is obviously a big deal for Aurora starting at this well Woxic landed an insane he for connector
Over the wall on everyone running in this desk show low on health
They are soft enough already by the time to get it. You can see he's assisted on these kills a lot of the time and even managed to rotate around
My god, okay. This is massive Ash knows it as well. That's three zero locked in on the CT side
Most teams would be okay with just three rounds alone
So now you can start building up a massive hall here
objective for a roar I keep five players alive
Let them have
Middle of you have to Santar as
peaking out the window right now seeing if you can get any intel people plans
crossing over they've smoked the tea steps you're gonna see that a lot for
other CT campaign opens up options and ideas to get aggressive towards the
canals for now though G2 just catching their breath trying to take some of the
pace out of the game gonna be bleeding out a utile they've got deagles and we've
seen plenty of eco victories this tournament almost too many I would say yeah
that is so unnecessary it's gonna be a fee for us every time I'm watching
Santaris I dude I get it you want the frags but if you go down there's no
one to trade it like what are we doing I feel like it would be negative if we
point it out though like we kind of have to um it's not the end of the world yeah it's not but
it doesn't inspire me of hope if he's going to play a conservative discipline game
something that we discussed quite a bit the last time they played on this map was the fact that
a roar suddenly weren't really playing middle at all they were playing it's a really good point
on the bottom side of the beginning like it's a very strange kind of experience
Rubble though, do that again, it's yet to be seen.
A little bit more expensive than you'd like if you're Aurora, but not the end of the world
as mentioned.
Santares needs to be careful.
He hasn't had that flying star.
We know he gets a few pistol kills.
To Miko conversions, that's when he has his best games.
If he gets down in the dumps like this, he can be known to over extent.
That's not a good angle.
Like, you want to be jiggling those sort of things, a sitting duck in the window,
it's going to be free fired.
I will say this though,
Wakadia is a really strong anchor on that A bomb,
so that means the A's policy is right now.
It should give them more opportunities to defend middle life.
They don't need to pull somebody else into A
as long as Wakadia is doing what he's doing here.
That could be a nice bonus for them.
Walks a green pocket open in smoke.
That's a very, very impressive map.
As I mentioned, Dust 2 yesterday
was his best map ever in CS2.
Whoever he can find that sort of form
You get to be seen, but they'd love to see that.
Five and five.
Slow and steady here.
G2 not giving much away here at the start of round number four.
Very important one for them.
As we mentioned, T-sided map.
We need to get going here.
Start whittling away at the economy of Aurora.
They did a pretty good job in the previous round
with two D.G.G.L. kills.
Also, Wrinkle as well.
Slow start for him, one and three.
So, heavy guard is going to be throwing some retake utility
at the front of the A bomb site.
But the bomb is over on B, so are they just sort of
Signalling we could be going a we could be setting up outside. Yeah, just suggesting players could be in towards a main
Confirming there's no CT presence in towards those boxes with the Molotov. Okay
And these are the backstab comes gonna be delayed you can release hope for a bit more time with these side
But I don't think they're necessarily committing just yet the bomb still essentially a T spawn. We have got Mattis
Rocking around that smoke 40 seconds now
Looks to be a bee finish at this stage kicks and tucks himself in towards the box
First challenge coming in, Anders. It's a good one. Lots of damage from Kicks out here.
He's again multiple kills. He's got backup from Jimmy either way. Very convincing so far.
HG grenade towards heavy. God, he's left on 10 HP. And surely this one's converted. Nice work from Jimmy.
That is such a successful peek from Kicks on your right. You know he only gets the one kill.
And you know what? I think that's the frustrating round for G2 because they were waiting for that peek the whole time.
And you know, last time Aurora were doing it. They were pushing out quite a lot more outside of B.
Bit of a nothing bug around from G2, I'm afraid.
Didn't really get any space, didn't really do any damage.
And getting absolutely owned in towards that e-box room.
It's the defense taking the game to them.
That can't be happening.
Need to find the mojo, maybe a tactical timeout already,
to be honest.
They saved the AWP.
That's the nightmare start.
It's such a different vibe
at this time already for Aurora.
The fact that you said the important fact
of winning the pistol,
but then winning this first rifle round on top of it
is you couldn't be better right now.
This is Rinkle's bread and butter though, hero AWP.
We heard in the interview, Hunter, as I speculate,
the Rinkle calls his own, uh,
Sussitions at the start of the game.
He knows where he likes to get picks and uses sport.
He's gonna have to find a few of them here
and he's gonna dodge him flashes
and just force sending the AWP into a D-box.
Now this is ambitious, but this is what it's all about!
Rinkle brought in to disrupt the defense
and it's looking fantastic for that first kill.
What an incredible weapon to bring into a round.
You're right, he ran the whole distance.
They've thrown the double Molotov in middle, so he wasn't going to get picked from the door either from the window.
And it kind of covers the sound cues as well.
That is so sick.
And the confidence to do it, that is the thing that we've really been blown away by here.
He's looking like his old self at the start of him joining N.I.P.
This is why people were excited for Wrinkle, and maybe we'll be once again.
I remember he was on a new bus in his debut tournament for N.I.P.
That's when I realized this guy, he's got a seriously unique playstyle, very aggressive and he's like rushing middle just like that with the AWP and going over crazy picks and I was like this guy's got some confidence.
He's got something about him, swagger and demonstrates it perfectly there. Might not be enough unfortunately. 45 seconds, man disadvantage, but a wrinkle. More than willing to take the next challenge.
Heads in towards camera, Roxyq should devour him here, easy shot by his standards.
Should be enough to win the round here, we'll be hunted to recover the AWP, heavy guard taking some damage towards a main.
Jimmy nice swing from the temple, and there we have it dude, this is getting out of pan 5-0 on the CT side.
Bit of a miracle here, you don't see this too often.
They're loving it at the moment.
Heavy guard, a lot bit of damage, anything just to get the team activated.
The party is very very quick on the return. He is by the way 11 and 2 he's been tested quite a bit over here
So Taurus hasn't killed anyone he's not died. He hasn't done anything silly
So I'll give him that like it's actually being quite common discipline, which is something we've potentially been lacking
So commanding that
He's got the AK-47 as well. They're trying to get him online
Nice one from wrinkle high octane counter strike there rushing the e-box rivulets and any orphans go for that play
Yeah, it's a really sick idea. Problem is they've lost the wrinkle orb now.
He's down to a killer.
Not ideal perhaps.
Some mid-utility once again from both sides really.
Centaur is also early on putting up that smoke.
They could just find a timing here at the bombsite.
I like this. Not too complicated, Hunter.
Falling it and they'll knock out a couple of players.
Centaur's side is trying to relocate and he was trying to reinforce that bombsite.
They know that there's someone in the connector, but why would you care about that too much?
If they're gonna let you plant the bomb, then just do that, keep kickstand away.
Right now, you're probably not gonna win the round,
but you can certainly make it uncomfortable for the remaining T-Shite here.
You can just affect their economy, lock them in the bomb side,
make sure you contain them as much as you possibly can.
See if they can find any exits here, but that's gonna be round.
Nice change of pace, F and G2.
Goes well, same, that's their most convincing round.
Good call from Hans, changing things up, fastened towards B.
Finding the entry himself.
Matt is jamming in. Job done. Santar is 0-2. Jimmy can't hold on.
So that's the only red flag I'm seeing for Aurora right now.
Santar is unable to get into the game, but it's only given up one round. Not a big deal.
I think he almost ran straight into the shot.
I'll say this though.
If G2 had tried this kind of a play in the last Anubis game that these two teams played at the start of the tournament,
then they would have run into the triple stack, right?
So I'm wondering if Hunter has already realized that the Aurora are playing it differently.
They're not playing 3 early, they're early on with just a couple of people there and that opens up for this play again.
If he's that quick to catch on to the tendencies, if they realise, actually Centauris is in the middle now early on and we can know that by some of the utility there.
Maybe they found another opening that they could exploit here.
Ash is the one to call the time out here as soon as they lose their first round.
He wants to get stuck here, he doesn't want that to happen again, he needs them to be aware of the change of pace.
high alert for those rushes. Get into it now, round number seven.
Mani's still very, very good for Aurora as you might expect.
AK for Wukadia, 11 and 2. Woxig still with the AWP.
Rinkle unable to find his sniper though, so it will be AKs across the board, no galilla
least. Woxig with the best spawn he could hope for.
He might go for even more aggressive. A main peek here, or just go straight towards
middle. He's got a couple of options with this spawn.
We gotta see how they play this one.
Okay.
Pretty quickly down, leaving the utility behind.
We're just gonna keep running though.
Still going for it. Flash on over.
We'll persuade him to think about it.
I thought maybe you would try to take it even deeper angled.
He can now.
Yeah.
That's good.
You do like that.
So a little bit of teamwork.
They even have another incendiary behind that's thrown out just now.
He was flashed in for the fight there, but you could see the meta that's evolving out there with the different grenades
Trying to trade and vibe for that position
Just to know middle open again back to what we saw in that opening game. They wanted to sort of it
Go walk to patrolling it for the back end for example if required and you have three players in towards B
Tantara's rotates over towards middle though. Just gonna be checking things out here
Three players outside the A bomb site for G2.
Need to post back to background, said 6-1.
I'm not sure you can recover.
Flashbang into A main, trying to get some basic control here.
Heavy God confirms his clear.
What's the response with Cardi?
Presumably smoking A main.
Good time to do it in 40 seconds.
It could still go back to B, is the thing like that.
Canals part makes it possible to rotate on back.
They're going to be careful though, Santaris is near enough by to hear them.
certainly setting up some utility nerfs going down. Centaur is finding his first kill. Very
nicely done. Okay, blocking that smoke from actually landing up on the heavens, but the
bomb is walking back. That's what I said, they could rotate back through canals if they
want to. They've already committed three people to the defense over on this side, so
this is actually a really good late round call coming out here from G2. Only 10 seconds
under clock, so any mistakes now? And the round is gonna be over, but the entry
Kicksand now holding onto the defense.
Now Pan, there's no time, you're absolutely right Henry, they could not find that solo.
If not for Kicksand and the double-doll it would have been almost perfect.
Dude, Kicksand.
Kind of killing it.
In an Aurora jersey.
Yeah he is.
Looking very good.
Nothing too flashy, it is well positioned, good understanding of the situation, ready for that play.
Team-made swing, takes the aggro, a little bit of damage, double kill.
Wins the round, Vantara starts to kill as well.
I think, really nice.
This round highlights so well why that front of A position, up by the beans, is kind of boring in a way.
Because nothing much happens there, but if you lose control of the CT side, you don't know what's happening.
That's why they have to commit to that defence on the A bomb site.
Ash is loving this.
He should be.
You don't see it too often.
These sort of landslide score lines on the CT side couldn't be going better.
They're looking tilted on G2.
So desperately trying to reel them in.
What's the response?
Move back to the background for G2 as of yet.
Only one on the board, they do have cash.
Rinker will have the AWP.
Let's get into it.
It's definitely not easy right now.
You know you're in a lot of trouble.
You need to get up to six rounds here.
If they win five in a row G2, they're still going to be in trouble for the second half.
There's no question about that.
Let's find out what have we got.
Double setup in middle.
You know I'd love to say this but there's no CT smoke in middle, there's always an indication that someone is up.
Too loud walking into any shots at the moment.
There's a lot of very slow stuff to this round here.
Jesus, we really want Aurora, and last time we saw peaks like fighting outside of A, double
pushes outside of B. I feel like Aurora were a little bit more poking on their CT side.
Maybe that's why cheats were spending all of their time at the beginning of the round
kind of waiting for that similar thing to unfold.
Here comes the mid-take.
Only round has worked out so far as a fast B-Pounce.
Zantares, AK-47, his weapon of choice.
Can he start sinking his teeth into his first half?
You know he's going to take a challenge eventually.
Zantares hasn't rested on his laurels.
Not a great first interaction flash.
What are you doing?
Hello?
Hi.
Something is wrong.
OK, he's got other targets.
OK, don't worry.
He's actually...
What's that?
He's actually, he's beyond mocking them, at least frame mocking them in the server.
Sorry, I need to look back here, I gotta send them.
Alright, he said, come on, you know,
I'm giving you the opportunity,
take Sands next, and the B bomb site's completely been destroyed.
Seven seconds here,
I don't know if they said they would've been on grenade to slow down that bomb,
but that's not really the case, and that's...
I don't know how Zantara's playing that on someone else.
That's all right. What is he going to blame that on?
Why have you dropped both your weapons in towards them?
What is going on?
I don't know.
There must be an explanation that I'm not understanding.
It did seem like the kind of challenge
that you'd seen like a match-game game.
You're like, that's the sightless knife.
You know, you got a knife out.
Drops the 8-game.
Then the USNG.
He's just staring at them.
Listen, Henry, it's one of the unwritten rules
of Counter-Strike.
It's almost like knifing that wall or whatever.
You have to go with the knife.
I think he's just hoping none of his teammates saw that.
Yeah, here we go.
Yeah, that's a nice gun, it's a good skim.
Like that.
I just not picked it up.
Like, I don't know.
Yeah, you dropped the gun, bro.
Why are you looking like a piss?
You dropped the weapon.
Okay.
That's the second round for G2.
What the fuck is going on, I'm in a cream, yeah.
Okay, we were wondering that phrase was in my mind.
All right, probably something was, you know, messed up at any rate, so...
Ghost in the machine.
Yeah, something like that.
They're fine, they're still in a good position here, and I watch six in the middle, sniping away, taking down Nurtz.
Get the ball for that grenade, but the country's inside of another smoke towards Cam.
That actually opens it up. Now they know where Cardi is gonna be as they will search for him until they find him.
They're not gonna expect for nobody to be on the bomb site here. Oh, watch six.
He sneaks in that kill, stops the bomb momentarily, and now what's hard is back up on the fattoe, he's behind the pillar.
The fact that he's repositioned from that front of main position is now very scary to them. You can see, he's looking to catch them as they come on out.
Sneaking close here, and finally a shot coming through from Wrinkle and an opportunity maybe for G2 to recover the round.
What's six done? Gods work with the AWP. Bomb will be planted. Four versus three. Retake certainly possible, but maybe even a slight edge.
Even in the 4-on-3 for G2.
Got to defuse that bomb, got to get through all these tight choke points,
Rinko now in a compromised position losing a lot of HP and he turns to the swing.
Needing to step up here, there it comes and it looks like Woxic might have done enough.
Heavy God, one versus one, can he connect the dots? No, Woxic steals the round away.
Four kills for him.
He steps up massively there.
A couple of awkward moments, last two rounds,
But it will be walks it to seal the deal here great opening kill gets for in total plans the bottom here
I leave you to a lot of pressure allows them to rotate over and we go seven of two on the CT side here of a new bus
Stop for G2
it is
But we're kind of getting what we wanted right because we've been saying inferno probably gonna go the way of G2 unless they
completely
Collapsed mentally on a new bus. Don't think they should
This might be our best shot Henry so far and actually finding a third knife.
I don't know dude, um G2 have this level of play then no it'll be 2-0.
They look tilted, they don't look at themselves, saw us desperately trying to dig them out of the mud.
I don't think so. I don't think the map will be a factor if this continues.
I'm enjoying the hype aspect of Ash. He's really building them up for this as well.
I think that's important to remind the team of sometimes you don't
and truck the weapons randomly before you take a duel.
Yeah. You'll probably be fine.
So, just joining us, this is the lower bracket final.
Winner of the series will be going to Porto in the quarter finals.
Loser is the need going home after six days of play.
Long old group stage here.
And G2 would be fantastic for us.
This is the flattest they've been in the tournament so far.
And that's not great.
It's going to be quite scary prospect as well,
because they won Anubis in their first show.
this is a rematch as well. Sure they won an overtime before but they looked much more convincing than this.
Yeah it's a really different dynamic that we were looking at there, just a different kind of pep in
their step, whereas now you're right a little bit more flat and also with both Wakadia and now
Woxig added to the mix, started to hit some shots, it's getting pretty scary out there. The bomb
is running back through T spawn with about 45 seconds, still time to get there. Woxig though
is going to be drawn in the canals and he's got a couple of players that could be behind him for the defense
so this is going to be a very one-dimensional play there's Hedigard down flanking through the middle
is potentially nerds if he wants to keep going but all he's done is throw him smoke so he's not
really drawing too many people away from this Woxic now back in position 20 seconds on the clock
they're running the bomb back through middle now they've actually changed their minds based
on that position of Woxic they're now going back to see if they could find the A-plants and
and he might just be successful.
Nautz hit a catch.
No way.
Oh, what's Nautz's horrors?
He's back, baby.
Yeah, getting a kill, stopping the bomb and winning the round.
Give him a gun.
He can deliver the goods.
Zantara's the sequence in the map so far.
So no time remaining for Matis.
Pretty easy round in the end.
Nice idea that he found the open side,
but again, Anders, it isn't this joint here.
This is not a G2 that's going to port it.
Let me tell you that.
Oh, Nautz.
Here's the footsteps. He knows he's got a forward position.
You're supposed to win that fight.
It's the time pressure though.
They can't sit back and take good jewels. He has to swing it.
Yeah.
Um, okay, yeah, this feels like...
I know I said it a few times, but CT side, A2.
They're now on pistol. It feels like we're already done.
I don't think you can recover this.
Especially the way G2 are looking. They haven't got super unlucky in loads of clutches.
I don't think they've really even planted the bomb.
The bombs went down twice.
Yeah, I mean, do you think you're right or like, unless we see like the big mental sort of change here for them, like somebody has to hype them up, somebody's taking them back online.
Okay, nice shot from that.
Needs to go nuclear here.
Trying to show a bit of presence towards a maze around us to sneak through, double kill, right? The rounds on.
Unnecessarily swing there for the Zantara's.
Yeah, can still have Ocario running, but it has caused a bit of a rift in the defense.
bomb a little bit far back so wrinkle will be the one to go back and pick it
up here 3v3 that's patrolling he's really waiting for somebody sharp look
at the risk that's been taken wakarnia is very low on health and he's decided
to kind of go towards CT spawn now he's holding middle from the other side
that's super unexpected right you don't think that the a anchor is gonna be on
this side of the map so they're pushing out at the same time they're
actually sandwiching nerds in are they gonna boost up behind him I don't
I think this is a rare trait. I don't think anyone's seen this before.
Not at this stage before they actually really happened, but they've missed him.
Alright Nuts, rounds on. Gifted a freebie in middle, gets a double-couple, now there's the third.
Wow. All of a sudden, this round's turning on his head. Well, it felt like he'd give us a five on three-anders.
Not too late though. Kicks hand, picks up one, and that's the bomb on the ground with now just ten seconds!
After all of that work that Nurtz put into the round, he now has to try and crush it on his own.
And he shot him back instead.
Zantaro should buy his kick set of beer tonight.
He almost threw that round with that overextension.
It's been a theme for him throughout his tournament.
You've got the man advantage, you know their pistols.
Why are you committing to that fight in such a wide manner?
Just relax.
Nurtz, great job.
But that round almost falls apart completely.
This pick is what?
What is that?
What is the intention?
We don't know and I mean at least this time it's not costing them or everything
Kicks them saving the day that's why like yeah he's owning it and so many key
situations nice too last round of half here
Oh boy they've already done more than enough there's only so many ways that
they could say it's brilliant first half of them and G2 at this point just
Play yourselves into this at least, like try and get some of these individuals fired up.
Wrinkle, we were excited because he had that early rush down with the hero AWP,
but he's on three kills, Max is on three kills,
so I highlighted him as one of the players I was excited for.
Like I said, the map's not gonna be effective.
This is the G2 as well today, off day for them, it's 2-0 all day long.
They don't seem up for it.
Can't be having it off day though, not when you're about to potentially be knocked out.
We'll see. Sometimes all it takes is a break between two maps and you could return to it.
We said this last time but they are so good on Inferno.
If they're playing well.
If they're playing well.
Yeah.
That's the big extractor at the moment here.
40 seconds.
They're still not really being rewarded by a lot of peaks here from Aurora.
so much more passive this time. And G2 still are waiting around for a while.
The three men set up at the B defense.
Hickshand's been very good on this side and now the Flash comes in again.
The timing is so good. Catching them in the middle of the setup.
Woxic, is he going to be Flash from this position? No, he's shoulder peep instead.
Heavy gobbled one opening, but Jimmy's on the plateau. Only good for the 1, 3, V2.
And finally, Bonplam will be coming through here. Deep grenade and trying for more man.
That was a nice idea, but it was probably a little bit deeper than that, so an advantage, finally for G2.
Can they do anything with it here, Santaris creeping in, looking for an opening.
Didn't spotted anyone yet, the nurse is sick of waiting, goes for the shot, finds his 7th kill,
and Bacardi an unwinnable round in this one, I believe, 1 vs 3,
and all they have to do is not face it, and they're gonna be absolutely fine here,
There's a little peek, still there's almost no time left on that bomb.
And the ring could get the last one, 9-3 is very little for G2.
Aurora should be winning this map.
So, guys, here's Pigsaw from Timorora.
So, we're from a meeting.
Hello, I'm Max.
And I'm gonna raise some of our bet comments.
And find out if they're based.
First one, why is Jinfac on this team?
Hello.
Free Jin?
Yeah, I don't know man.
I think he deserves better, to be honest.
And maybe you can stop disappointing things.
No.
North American.
So, probably get used to it.
First, Stratbook has been condensed down to don't go kill since early 2024.
not lie to ourselves they leave and die off of his entrance it's only now that
he's getting some support in the form of Nier that's pretty based so yeah truth
new so for starting to watch actual tier 2 theme I wish I knew last year was
their pick but you are writing on internet and I am playing soon sorry
for that Narn out here it maybe has been the most mid roster forever well
Well, your vids are getting worse.
Mouse no longer hour less, but spirit is spirit less.
Wow.
This is tough.
This is tough.
But mouse are hour less.
Anyway, even mouse is more hour than this team now.
That's questionable.
NIC really have been became a wrecking ball.
You must try to trust NIC to better put NIC in another place.
Honestly, I made you just disband. Three years of life came in one tournament to being giga ass for the next four months.
Anything my life feels.
If this isn't a wake-up call to Ali, I don't know what it is.
A literal stuffed inanimate object has improved his team over whatever he has been doing.
Big bro needs to just keep his mouth shut and let his players play.
Oh, this one has toxic as fuck.
Archangel underscore in seven.
If there was a championship for blue-balling I made, it would be a time stamp.
That's for sure.
Oh, but you have a Cloud9 logo.
Ah, it makes it a little unfunny.
Minus Mayor Wen, never broke.
Mayor is my helper, so...
nice Mayor forever.
He took the serious player to the head and made him a...
...bot 67.
Truth in.
Don't worry, they play better.
It's stored as an invisible karma.
It doesn't show up in the server now,
but NA will win another major in the afterlife.
Probably not, but we'll see.
Pixel elevated Aurora from tier 2 to tier 3, maybe from tier 1 to tier 2 instead.
Who would have thought that wives and 6-7 are not enough to win matches?
This just can't be real, it should be working.
Just reading bad comments.
Thanks for writing these comments.
To be honest, I don't care too much on internal comments.
If you try harder, if you're writing a bad comment, I think you guys can do better.
do better than that. Thank you.
Last day at the group stages here at Blast, open Porto 2026.
G2 have had the wind taken out of their sails. They are not looking at the capable team we know and love.
This has been a bit of a horror show. Aurora in the driving seat. They move out to more favorable
side of the T forces and now we'll see whether they can close the game out yes
in the D Henry we've got the second half here still in the opening map but
they're so much on the line for both squads in Aurora they look much improved
given an anomaly potentially last time playing on this map where like you said
they've lost it in overtime but I don't know how we can get over time from
this position. It's gonna take an absolute miracle here. Need to wake up, lock in, right
now. Loses pistol, I don't think you recover. Aurora by no means a perfect team though.
They can definitely make mistakes. The execution looking likely here. Smokes going down, left
the bomb site. Right side of bomb site. Flashes to go over. Molotov to the killer. His backup
is not really there. Heavy got him. He's all behind him so yeah, nice and done, but that's
what I'm talking about. Kicks him. Running in through dark and the teammates, Hunter
and the rest, they couldn't help him out unfortunately. The bomb is going to be planted
now in spite of the fact that they've only got the one kill so very quick to the objective.
Grinkle on the flank is caught by Woxic and now it's a 3v3 Hunter.
He's got Jimmy, there's nothing to talk about if they can't win this pistol.
So G2, no kit in play, and a 3v3 in the after part, takes hands to pick up the dualies.
He will only get the one, but there might just be enough for Cardio who's played a great
game on Anubis so far, finds a headshot on Hunter, leaves Nertz, he's tapped the
bomb, but it's 10 seconds to find inside.
Alright, it fakes out at least Woxic, goes for it, and now he's holding it,
Nurtz, he can't find anyone with Cardius got the knife and it doesn't matter even if he dies the round is gonna go to Aurora
Slow and steady in towards B. Good execute
Heavy God needed more than one kicks and back stabs him from dark bomb goes down. Felt like they were just
Guests in to give that one over at the end
There's a confusing moment when the rest of the B defenses smoked off and heavy God
Like, either they jump in front of the smoke truth, have you got it?
Or he falls back behind the smoke? I feel like that's a little bit disjointed perhaps.
Well, he's got the dualies right. He wants to be up close and personal.
He's hoping to get more than one. Obviously didn't work out.
Aurora will find double digits in the first round of the second half.
Force by has to be.
And they need to convert it as well.
The map, they'll want to forget.
Managed to win it in the opening game of the tournament against Aurora.
It was 16-13, went all the way to overtime, don't think we'll be getting there unless
they win this and start quite a triumph and we're about to hear from on the CT side.
So one Famous, two MP9s, in terms of the set up, three players towards middle right now.
Yeah, sort of a layered defense.
They threw like a very deep smoke on middle, almost looked like they wanted to bait
somebody to peek into that three-man setup.
Sniper going down towards Temple.
Setting himself up for another B execution here.
Don't send any much resistance.
Matt says we need a double kill in the 5-7 for this round to even be interesting.
Alright, you've made a call.
Let's see what we can actually get.
There's a bomb.
It does stop the bomb.
And I was wrinkled to kind of step out in the middle of the chaos.
And denying the plan actually does...
throw a spanner in the works.
It will card you as low.
and have he got sneaking in while they were holding it.
Great patience for Aurora in that moment,
knowing that there could be more coming steel hunters
close to finding the kill.
And now it's on Nurtz.
He's got one.
Bit of a flank, and they are very low.
Swagger's on, he's charging right through.
He kind of has to, and Jimmy's holding it with Khalil
on the other side. It's triple for him.
That's such a close round.
They had almost no health left.
Unfortunately, Anders, close doesn't cut it.
At this stage of the game,
it's 11th Roy, you technically have to weak it,
but I dare say that it was by, I don't think you'll be recovering a 12-3 deficit.
You have to go all in really.
And I got such a shame last chance to learn everything on the line.
And this is by far the weakest G2 of looks for the entirety of the tournament.
Yeah, there's no question about that.
Strange to witness because we've been really, really hyped about them
for every other map that we've seen.
It's just looked very interesting.
There's always been something to talk about.
Wrinkle's been in the non-factor essentially. Yep. He had 25 kills I think in the first half on that first show-end
But if it just for you, right? I mean there was there was not that much but one around with the Opus the one that we can really remember
Yeah, well, that's that's on the orico as well a partial buy
Went for that one pick. They didn't even win the round
This one's somewhat on though kicks and low three versus three some lights at the end of the tunnel
Yeah, they pushed into the middle always fun to try that
I know it's also down at 12 himself.
Forward position for Wrinkle, I like seeing that, like we said, at least you're trying
to force the seat of the C-Side to use some utility to get rid of you.
If they don't, then maybe you could stick it a kill with the FAMAS, but he's going
to start to fall back, he's worried about the middle because none of his teammates are
there.
They're over on the other side on B. I guess he's right to be worried.
Well attention, 35 seconds here, contact play, they can molotov the platform from e-books,
all he does is get contact into the site itself.
Well, now they've definitely given the game away, get smoked, now the molotov's gonna
be following us, they go over an important kill, needs to die and now they know where
he is, 1v1, one can't really factor in this one, 15 seconds left, he's tickling
Nice! It's swinging heavy god!
Three kills with the SMG
Upgrade into the AK and another round for G2
It's a very long road back into this game
But it's got to start somewhere
Absolutely has, down but not out
Heavy god keeps the minute
Desperately needed that
Does that light the fire beneath his teammates
Get the head in the game, where is Mattis, where is Rinkle
4 and 12 for the former Rinkle at 6 and 11
Got the AWP now
Well, we know he likes to dictate the pace of every map he plays, especially on that CT side.
Choosing his opener is getting aggressive. That's his calling card.
And it's going to be a foursome response here. Zantara is giving the opportunity to show us what he's made of.
Pretty poor showing from M5 and 9. If he can crack things open here, all will be forgiven.
very quiet and towards middle seems to be the way the MET is evolving here in
the new bus here we suddenly see more of it so far here at last open porto
it does give some space or they're gonna investigate wrinkle very deep back on
the a bomb site AWP good reaction from the CTs yeah knowing that middle's
probably compromised.
Take space elsewhere.
I don't know how Jimmy gets that headshot.
Surely not a double.
Mattis will find him through the tempo we go.
I'm so good awareness, but only good for one.
So the three versus three, looking for map points here.
Aurora in this round now.
45 seconds, Mattis just can't get into this.
Five kills on the all he gets here.
Renewed us, spawned to be planted.
And both players coming from water.
The AWP on the retake.
One smoke, no kits.
Don't think he can win the Sanders.
I don't think you can do it.
Ah, yeah, I doubt it as well.
Flash in.
Probably good for the first kill.
He's trying in.
Oh, he was blind in the corner so there was an opportunity.
But that Incendia and Santaris are going down right now.
So that's going to buy even more time off the clock in 10 second defuse.
Now the kit is in there somewhere, but I agree.
It's not worth going for.
Guess you could have made a case for Mattis to kind of stay outside of the
A of the bomb site and wait for his teammates to get there.
But at this stage, I feel like probably everyone on G2 wants to make a big play to kind of do something to get them back in.
I can't really blame them for it.
12-4 ladies and gentlemen.
It is Aurora looking very good once again on Anubis.
They weren't happy last time, losing it in overtime.
16-12 to this very G2 team, just a wee show.
It's been a long, long time since we've saved this up.
Yeah, I think it's 6.
But at nights and day, unfortunately, maybe running out of...
Gas in the tank!
I've got faith Henry in G2 for the second map.
I know you trust us, I don't know why though.
Have you been watching this?
It's gonna be different.
Alright.
It has to be different.
These are the kind of shots that Brinkel normally, last time he played,
hit them every single time.
And this time missing the opportunity, Santara's there is...
Maybe a world in which you wanted to take that one, but we're not gonna criticize it would be a little bit more laid back
Wait for the team on the other side of it as well because we're carnia
playing that front of a position
See if you can sneak in a kill or maybe just catch someone who's rotating into this position
There's so much pressure on be that it's not unlikely that the CTs in a will push out
One more round we'll do it
Here we go G2
Back to the wall, flashing towards.
They made actually quite an impressive flash.
Good alley-oop, man advantage here.
AK-47 found, back ten.
Killing towards the e-box room.
Nice round here, G2.
At this stage, it's unlikely you win it,
but let's just get as many rounds as we can.
Let's shake off the tilt.
Get into the series.
Yeah, and that's the most convincing round
they've had all map long.
Five players alive.
Good teamwork.
Nice protocols to reclaim territory towards A-Main.
BKL for nuts gets the AK follows him in towards the box and there's no response the money will be broken air
12 to 5
Key to keep the head above Warsaw walks. He just better off saving the AWP here
It's gonna be a slightly frustrating around for Bacardi because he was way like the whole theory behind why they do that with
With the pressure on B. They're expecting the retake coming in outside of a like he knew that he was waiting the whole time
But the flashlight you pointed out was just devastating out about that deep in the corner
Very nice indeed
Well I like that from G2, picking up the pieces here trying to salvage some dignity on this first map.
Every round they get, they feel a little bit better about the situation, they still don't think there's a conversation to be had about a comeback.
But if they can get 8 or 9 rounds, that would be lovely.
It's easy, I guess, in the break when you go outside of the studio for a minute to sort
of tell yourself a story about how it was just a bad start, and now we're playing well,
now we're ready to go, if you get up to those 8 or 9 rounds, whereas if not, half the team
is going to feel like now we're not hitting any of the shots, we're not connecting
on the other side of the moment.
So Aurora going for a timeout, so chance to discuss things, Ash getting thrown into
the mix.
because they've got the Woxig AWP, the money was completely busted so they're going to buy up around it
and try and go over the haymaker right now, that knockout blow. Can we do any boosts on this map to
find some op shots? I'm towards middle with the smoke but no one plays middle anymore.
Okay, that's a good point. And you can also boost that side of B main I suppose behind that
smoke on the platform. All right, but I don't know, I don't think I'll go for that. I
guess I'll be popping smokes open rather than trying to boost above them but maybe I'm wrong.
Oxy, we're head towards middle.
I'm assuming no CT presence will be there.
It seems to be the way the game's going.
Wrinkles moving up, that's a very aggressive push, they actually are pushed in the middle
but without no one's playing it, so you're absolutely correct Henry.
Look at masses though.
Oh, that's a pretty difficult push from Heavy, got you right.
Oh, they're ready for it.
Okay, we'll kick some guys down
removes the head and snake
that's
Not bad at all
But they were watching that could have been kind of devastating without it take nine shots of the face, okay?
Zantara's hit it I think
So if they had an AK instead then you would have saved them Prince potentially
Smoke down schools temple side rink or nullified
should take care of the merits in no problem nice off angle kardak can do
nothing about that
world here if you're watching where you just want to save the AWP 45 seconds
it's really no way you actually even get close to a bonhide around this one
he also has no armor I guess that's maybe more cause for concern here and
G2 are not really giving them an opportunity not fighting in the middle
which is a kind of what we want to see.
It's been a very slow kind of a nupus game so far, to be honest.
Hasn't had much intensity. There's not been many close rounds.
15 seconds here.
No way, we're not going to do anything with it.
It's walking into the cross-air. If Hans up, should be more of the same here.
They line up from in fact, and it will be lots of the go down.
Clean sweep, getting better and better.
As the series goes on here, they know it as well.
Just gotta keep on truckin' round by round,
till your opponent, the lay, the inevitable,
has to be the eco now,
what that was a force by from Aurora.
Six now required.
Don't buy anything, I agree.
Full eco here boys.
Yeah, we don't need that.
Blocks is what they'll have.
So, you said you wanted like eight or nine rounds
to just start to feel just a slightly better about it.
Just so you haven't been dumbstood completely, you know.
Okay.
What's the problem in reach now?
There is an opportunity to get there.
Let's have a look at the following games.
We've got some time.
This one, one of the more exciting ones.
We talked about the seeding game, Spirit Furia.
Sure, that's a big household name matchup.
Playing the seedings is difficult to get that excited about it.
This game though, should be a lot of fun in terms of the series we're seeing right now, Aurora G2, Elimination on the line, two new linehams trying to get in the arena.
There's a lot to play for here. Up next is Maus vs Falcons, that is indeed enough seating game, but still, everyone left the Falcons, Maus, kind of their new linehams as well, enjoying what they're putting down.
I think that was a good game, a counter strike. And then the game of the day, I think, lower bracket game will be puts vs vitality, vitality with JL, of course.
Um, I think that goes a distance. I've been out here three maps on
And I'm not sure who went up to be honest with you. Zairu looked electrifying last night. Yes, you could
So we'll see what we can take them down. That's gonna be game of the day. This one of the heats up
Should have been amazing as well. Thankfully g2 now. We're having a conversation about a comeback five in a row
sure they're on the ct side, but
Aurora
new lineup new roster
starting to fall off a little bit now. How many rounds in a row is that? I think it's three.
So another buy available here. Kickshawns bought the Mac 10. He had the money for an AK and it suggests
they've got something thick and fast. A best sleeve when they're going for a fast mid knowing
there's not so much CT presence there or he's going to try and get into his E-box.
Those would be the main ideas. The execution potentially as well. They are
leaving that utility and T-spawn allows you to do the full execution for that position we're
holding that yeah there you go I think you've called it Henry is just about
setting up a couple of deep smokes landing on the B bomb side and that
Mac 10 to lead the charge he's gonna be jumping in off setting the cross-air
heavy body is right on point makes sense shut down pretty early on but for
Centauris he will throw it up close not bad until Jimmy
hey one of the hell about just couldn't we need to blow it open with Jim
Fentz 4 and already everything is on fire around wrinkle right here has to
stay in the canals. He's gonna be barbecued in there trying to sneak back in with the
AWP is very unlikely to do anything here. Looks like Aurora have done enough in this
B bomb site to win this map. Santaris double for him and Nertz his position is
known he's smoked off again and all three are waiting on the other side. There
is just no way through this one so B defense it did not hold a simple call for
kick-sand but it is very very efficient individually he's playing great in the first half to finish
the B1 side and he's called into a victory on a new final headshot with Kadia into 19 and it is a
very different score on this one for Aurora 13 to 7 this time. Yeah impressive from Aurora but
I'm very concerned for G2 they don't seem up for it today it's the weakest they've looked
all tournament long they really need to wake up here as G2 have one foot in the grave.
Yes, it certainly looks like that, Henry, and Adam, thank you very much for your commentary
across this one. A very different looking Anubis this time around. We spoke about how close
it was last time, right? But it was a heroic comeback from G2 in the end that got them into
that game. This time around, Aurora came in with the right mentality, the right style,
and then you were to do.
Yeah, the tailwind control from start to finish. Again, you've got to give credit
to Aurora for for picking up the pace a little bit on the CT side I think we spoke
about wing conditions you know entry ticket into the game is the individual
showing up I think that they checked off pretty early on into the game we spoke
a lot about the CT side pistol throughout this tournament as well and the
fact they converted all the time that they also checked off and then
whenever there was a close scenario whenever we had a 3v3 a 4v4 I remember
heavy guy in a 1v1 as well getting misplaced a little bit it felt like
everything was swinging in the favor of Aurora so clearly a better
performance this time around and unlike last time they didn't allow for D2 to make a comeback whatsoever.
I think the individuals today at least in the first map here they were not fully up and running
like for D2 side they had many situations where they could have could have and should have done more
and if you give Aurora this like a little bit that they can feel the doubt in you a little bit
and then the individual skills that's when they take even more fights so I think D2 as
Henry and Anders was also saying they need to wake up not necessarily you know on the team aspects
But I think especially individually they need to put up a better fight and win more of these 50-50 duels
Because if they don't going in on the T side of inferno, that's gonna be hard
Yeah, it could be very hard in there now
I do want to add some fun into this serious conversation as well because we have a lovely Mike top moment of Zontara's
Having a confusing moment with his keyboard. Oh
We don't have it
We'll just play all the rounds and see how it goes.
Yeah, there was one moment in this game that caught the attention of a lot of us, you know.
It's 6-1 for Aurora, off to a strong start for some reason, since her drops his AK-47 right here, looks at it, drops his USB, looks at it, can't really figure out what's going on, has to step on Ponnett and somehow gets away anyway, doesn't get punished for it.
Clearly a little bit frustrated, not quite sure exactly what happened. Rumors has it that maybe the, I guess the court from the headset, you know, was stuck under the key or something like that.
You think to yourself that, oh, that could be bad,
because they actually go on to lose the round.
And Santeres is visibly frustrated that you can understand why.
You can understand why.
And I thought to myself, OK, maybe that's a way in for G2.
You're playing on a strong T side of Anubis.
But thankfully for Santeres, you know,
rested the team and himself, for that matter as well.
The next following round, you know, stepped up,
and it was never really a factor in the game.
But we have spoken a bit about the mental state of Aurora
and the mental state of Santeres.
This could have been a moment that turned out to be nothing,
but it's fair enough that we keep an eye on it.
Well, I did hear, so I tried to call out the mic at that moment instead of just telling me what it is.
He was just like, bro, my keyboard, my keyboard is just lost.
So at least he took it pretty well, right? I would agree.
Old Zontaras maybe wouldn't have enjoyed that moment so much and it could have hurt him throughout the whole game.
He was pretty much, he wasn't a non-factor, but he wasn't needed to go above and beyond, you know,
because the rest of the team played so well.
Mykadia, for that matter, stepped up massively.
So it's one of those games where if you're a centaurish, you're probably happy that, you know,
it became a non-factor that even though you were maybe a bit frustrated and couldn't get the kills going in the server,
Well, you had a team that backed you up from start to finish.
For once, my team is doing it, just thinking.
Yeah. Thank you, thank you.
It's been an entire career where he had to be the guy, you know?
It might be nice refreshing for him though, right?
Is this something where we can look at where YKD can be the next best thing within the Turkish scene?
It's what people try to put him out for a long time, but he never had the tools like Zontarist did.
I think he is the best thing coming out of Turkish Counter-Strike and Hezben the last year, to be completely honest.
And I think there's still more potential in him.
You rate him, but I see a Wikipedia that could be malted still a bit working with Ash working on an international roster as well
And I don't think we've seen the best of Wikipedia as of right now. He's the best Turkish player
I would say in history still Santerras no doubt
But this is a man with an immense potential like his ceiling is like with the type of CS players that succeeds right now
And CS 2 his ceiling is way higher than Santerras
But the one thing that Santerras has always had going for him is his consistency
that he rarely has these big drop-off games, where Vaikeh still has them every now and then,
but it also combined with the playstyle he has.
He is taking more 50-50 duels running through stuff in his career with Major.
He was also jumping, sometimes getting team flashed while doing so as well,
so he made it make a lot happen out of very small parts of resources
and I think any team that has these type of players that makes the room for the Santaris
or the G-Mis to get into the clutches, they should praise them internally until they don't want to do it anymore
to do it anymore because it's a skill not every team has. I do want to praise
also kicks on a little bit in this he's not gonna jump off the scoreboard right
and look at his numbers but some of the impact he was having than the ability
he's able to put in some of these rounds was key in their success. 100% you
know statistically speaking even though you don't want to say it in
isolation to this game he's having his best of endeavor on route to have his
best of endeavor as an individual player seemingly freed up a little bit you
know we we labeled him as as a fracking in-game leader and apparently
the fracking he did in the Falcons was at a relatively high level I'd say even better
now in Aurora seemingly he gets a bit more freedom to maybe call around himself a bit
more as well doesn't always have to run in first or be involved in that department so
I think it's a kickstand that is showing the world right now that he's still considered a great
in game leader but also a great player. Like for sure like you can also see that the players
trust him a lot that they're setting him up in you know the bet and switch setups on CT
they trust him to to stall the map while he's doing his thing you know on Mirage
like the rest of them are stalling all of the the mirage whole map so he can
flank and get good timing so they trust him a lot and it also shows in his
individual like performances that when they give leaders a feeling confident
they know what's happening have the full trust they also tend to play a
little bit better than than the norm now before we start talking about the
next map when we talking about one of the next games of you guys we're
gonna have our polymarket segment right now where we look and miles
taking on Falcons now Falcons have had their struggles Falcons are the
big and named Falcons of the ones with Bora, but Maus they look like the better performing
team throughout Blast so far.
Yeah, I think that's a cool matchup to be completely honest and obviously it's going
to be a big test for Maus I think in terms of how far they are integrating CELIX, integrating
PR and getting even more out of Spinks as well.
It's hard not to argue Falcons being the favourites but Falcons is a little bit
more hit and miss you know day by day we don't really know what to expect so
I can see why the poly markets are thinking this one is a close one.
I can also say the first couple of games Maus has played. It hasn't been against Niko, Monizy on the other side, so the young guns of Maus.
They need to show that what they have been doing so far in this tournament is just not, you know, this, yeah, we can play against the teams that we're better than and then get a lot out of it.
They also need to be able to create the space going into a game against Monizy and not die every time he appears on your screen.
So obviously Maus has been playing way better than Falcons, but Falcons are still here.
They're still in the same type of bracket, they're meeting each other so for me I would
be a little bit scared if I was Maus and Falcons would be like, this is where the experience
kicks in.
No pressure, right?
It's a game where a winner goes to the semi-final, loser goes into the quarter-finals, so
you'd argue there's no big consequence for Neve that seems to lose this game and
if there's a team I don't want to face when there's no pressure on them, it's
Falcons.
Okay, well, give me the percentage from both of you on that one, right?
Because we saw it's more leaning towards Falcons in there.
If you had to give us a chance percentage pin, what would you choose in that one?
I'll respect Maus to the point where I'm giving them a 40% chance.
I think it's 60-40 in favour of Falcons, which I think is more than I would have given them three days ago before I was in play.
If you ignored the teams they played against, I would put Maus at 51, but considering everything I would say exactly 50-50.
I think it can go both ways. There are so many things in this matchup with the young players, the experienced players, the best players, the upcoming players.
There's a lot of things going on and for me it's the first real test of Maus to see how fragile this new version is.
in us because if it isn't then you get the performances out of Spinks, all-in-all-in.
Yes, Spinks is definitely one to keep an arm, but that's a game that's coming later on today.
For now we're heading to a break and when we come back we're going to see if Aurora can get the
revenge they want against G2 or if G2 on their tried and tested Inferno will stand strong and
take us to a third. You'll find out in just a few minutes.
I
We're moving into the flames of Inferno, and it was flames at the feet of Aurora last
time around.
Especially considering they got off to a good start, they had their CT pistol, the dream
scenario for them as always, but it ended up as a 13-5 scoreline in favour of G2, they
were just miles better.
I want to ask you guys to start off with though, is how much is this momentum a possible
the finding factor within this series for Aurora now that are going to have
mad confidence after winning this Anubis. I think for Aurora it's a massive
win condition. I think for G2 this is where they have to prove to us you know
that they are a better team and moving in the right direction as we've been
speaking about throughout the entire tournament. If they were to fall down
on Inferno which has been a stronghold for them because of that
momentum you know because of them not showing up today that would be a
classic G2 thing right. You spend an entire tournament thinking oh they
look better here they look better here and then when it has to be
decided they fell flat. So I hope G2 is going to come back and show why they're the better
team on Inferno. I think everything we've seen so far historically speaking but also the first
matchup is pointing in that direction but each game live its own life and it's not impossible
for a world to carry over the momentum. No, like for sure. It is a rower's match to lose from here
but I do think the thing about this G2 is that they have shown, even against underdogs,
like losing a map here, losing a map there, that they know the maps where they need
to win on like let's say Inferno they always put up a solos performance so if
they don't do it here it would be a big surprise for me but it would also be
exiting the tournament with a super flat like feeling of it because they were by
far the better team than the Roura leading up to the Zanubis we just played.
Yeah and that's what's kind of worrying when you're looking at this right
because G2 a lot of their individuals on fire throughout that right now from
what we saw in this Inubis I'm not too sure what individuals are actually
ready to fight. No but that's why it's a good thing coming into a map
like Inferno where it's a comfort pick, you know.
It's a map where the players feel comfortable.
It's a map where the players have shown time and time again
that they can get it done, you know, and where they're productive.
So as much as you can talk about momentum
and not showing up on the first map,
it always helps when you're moving into your own map,
which historically speaking has been very, very strong for G2.
Well, let's see if it is going to continue to be strong for G2
and if they're able to battle back in this one.
This could be the last map that Anders and Henry
get to commentate throughout the group stage.
So give it your all, boys.
Thank God.
I've fought in my pie, Bob.
I'll deal with Jacob later, maybe in the parking lot.
as we get into what could be the last map of the group stages for us that right um yeah i agree with
the sentiment of the death so i felt like a rora good chance for the two zero but g2 you still
believe you think it's their best map poly market still seems to think that uh g2 might be giving
this one away yeah i still believe i still think there's a chance uh but i mean i understand the
concern that it is it's reasonable to be worried based on what we saw on that anubis map they
just weren't really stepping up they were missing some of the key pieces and that can't happen
now. Starting on infernal here it's gonna be G2 on the T side, Aurora on the CT side and
this is the home map for G2 right now. This is where we get a bit of drama, a bit of excitement
and G2 one map away. We're going home after six days of play in the group stages here.
Very important T side pistol for them. They've got double smokes, double flashes and one Molotov
three players heading towards second middle. Are they going for an apartment's
pop? Are they going for the mid a little execution? They're all gonna be doing a
silent boost. Go to seat. Matt is getting up there nice and quiet. About the
apartment site. Look at the utility for Hunter. The smoke and then the double flash
to go over the wall. Oh, but whatever signal they wanted to send the top
banana. Crap. But the dual elites taking that angle. I love that. Don't
See that's him, Alphen.
Swap him, Z-Up walks, and he has deleted the wrinkle.
And that is a beautiful shot for Mattis.
Mattis can get the answer back, and he's found two.
Thanks to Hunter's flashbang.
And that leaves Jim Fat in the pit.
They know that he's going to be down here as well.
They throw a Molotov to dislodge him.
It's Mattis finding a third headshot, hunting now
for kickstand at the back.
Four headshots, and Zantara is tagged in the smoke.
All Hunters, the one to get it,
denies the Mattis ace, but what a beautiful return
So that around five on three deficit.
It doesn't dissuade matters from fighting
almost every single kill there.
Great sequence, four headshots,
hundreds of close things down.
Looked like we were done there.
Santaras opening things up, forcing them in towards A.
Walks it nice little one tap as well.
Didn't love the push from Mokadia.
I'll say that.
Going through the smoke there felt so unnecessary.
You already have that mad advantage
and it's such a gamble pushing through the smoke.
Kind of saw the teammates out there
and nothing Jimmy could do from the pits.
They were forced by in response to G2 nice advantage here and hunters not messing around
Mac 10 and Hatch fast controller banana confirms no one's home the Molotov on either side of the choke point
gives him some open runway here to potentially make his way towards beaters only kicks and which we've seen a few times this tournament him playing there by himself trying to puff out his chest with multiple bits of utility
ability. Very true. Hunter's not fearing anything either with that Mac 10, even if he
takes a bit of a risk, it's not going to be a big deal. As long as they don't overthink
this, overcook it. It's a guaranteed round for G2. Looks like they're going to have
to full on execute, right? Yeah, they're going to Molotov towards Emo as well. This
four new boxes so double molotovs coming in any seconds that's one seconds
remote flashes go in pop open the smoke kicks and it's two kills and a 5-7 not
impossible but improbable have you got a finer food of smoke
thank you like that for the channel flashing his way through further away than he was
expecting so unnecessarily over cooking g2 but definitely doing a good job and
that's executing on the site using all the utility to their advantage and it
definitely helps there's only one player defending. Nothing too spectacular, saving
the rest for the next round. That makes sense too if you're on the Aurora side
don't want to be giving up the Kevlar and whatever else you've got here so yeah
2 and 0. I feel like if you're G2 at this stage and you end up losing that
map in a sort of a disappointing fashion coming in here when at the
and getting a little bit up and running.
I think it's a good feeling if nothing else.
Pauli Mark is still favoring Aurora here.
It's a convincing round.
G2 is already having the break of sweat there.
Like we said, it's a common setup.
We've seen it a few times,
he kicks down in there alone, multiple smokes.
Trying to show more presence is actually there.
G2 don't take the bait.
Nice execution as well.
They don't want to take any chances there.
flooding the bomb side with flames. But spare minor Aurora do save the majority
that force by any one player going down to get a second bite of the cherry here
and number three couple of MP9s in the first time out whether it's technical
attack or she had to be seen it is going to be technical nuts was the one
played with technical issues yesterday. Oh yeah I forgot about that.
We'll see those return too much. Otherwise it's been smooth sailing so
far today we want to keep that up could be a deciding mirage map for a third
that we would you we just haven't experienced yet we don't know what
that's like yeah we haven't commented on the third map in six days kind of
unreal and we're on a generational run Pauline Parker should be doing that
there's a prediction parking will Henry she and his comments a three maps
day is it gonna happen at all saving the best for the arena perhaps a lot of
smokes on the CT side and famously you can really slow the
C side down on a map like Inferno with all the choke points so
even though it doesn't seem like a scary prospect yet if you
hold onto them long enough you never really know. Well this
round set up a debate low chance and then really doing much of
it to format stack towards A once again at the exact same
setup this time kickstands just got a USB to work with
them. Same idea, dropping utility holding on to as long as he
I can, but I think they've just had enough that you can play that game all day long.
We're just going to pop that smoke open and overwhelm you.
Contact play.
No, it's like, you know what, just let me go kill him.
I'll find him, boys.
Don't even worry about the grenades.
We're there all day, so normally I'd say don't leave the AK, but when the rest of
the squad are already on top of it, it's probably not really a big deal.
It's a mirror around here.
You can send no chance.
If you want, I guess you could try and get some exits here. You're not gonna be retaking the bomb site.
Okay, it's looking much more promising now for G2, considered one of the best Inferno get teams in CS2 at this point.
Perfect start on the T side. 3-0 locked in.
Gonna keep it clean though with the CT trying to find a couple more.
I guess he would be really helpful to the kids, thanks for the suggestion about so much utility that he wants to be setting up his teammates with over on that side.
true so maybe that could be a feature of it watch sick is picked up the AWP
the answer moment on a new list to say the least yeah it's been a lot of fun to
watch suddenly so first gun round addictive that's where we're going with
this bit of a bonus situation if a G2 as well to galels mp7 the hempy guard
We've got Woxic looking to get stuck in here deep smoke. We call that the phase smoke
And the CTs and it goes right down there towards the end of us
And
Get him the grenades follow things up not super scourge in the first significantly more in the second
That's some rank all down to about 80 HP
It's a bit of pressure on the T side of it
We saw yesterday on inferno how you can push down into second mid
with that mid smoke being down from the CT side like you said. Double setup in the
pit. And Woxic's gonna be smoked away. Take a look there see if you can catch
anyone early in the round but it's not gonna be allowed for... No, it's holding a
deep smoke on the T-Ramp. See where that ends up. It looks like a full-on set
piece coming out here we've got Woxic, smoke mania iron in he wants to relocate
look are they be wrapping around here the bomb is still in boiler and about 45
seconds left no it's hoping that someone's gonna be peaking banana but
nobody is so he's not being no retakes are happening up there he's gonna go
back and join the rest of the team as they've almost got their fangs
deep into the A bomb site heavy god sprays down Santaris with the MP7 of
weapons too. We know he's a great
The fact that he got a double there is huge sets it up for his teammates to maybe win the following 2v2
Advantage g2
Considering they've got time to burrow away
Themselves one for the flashbang no kits available for the CTs kicks any at the frag same story for wakata here as well
It's a lot to ask
Bomb coming up to the halfway point and hunter with the backs that was why I think he went around on this maneuver
He might be onto something Henry.
AK, they're lined up for him. Should be an easy toss.
He tosses it all.
It's all good. It is all good.
The panic was enough there.
Wrinkle gets the other one.
It's a little bit of a funny moment.
Not so much so for Aurora though.
Their rifle round has completely been wrecked.
So now it's 4 and 0
in favour of a G2 team that again
they're so good on this.
They're going to be even better on the CT side.
4-0. They're quite comfortable indeed.
We will have a couple of M4s here. Are we going all in?
Doesn't seem to be the case.
Oxyx on a Zeus. We've got a couple of M4s and Wacadia SMG for here.
Oxyx of course trying to get the AWP out going forward, so...
Gotta be nuts.
Just edging the smoke here, confirming that no one's at least...
...it's sandbags for now.
right at the corner yeah thought there was maybe going to be something more set up for
it.
Do have a suit on the back I mean I'd rather we get to see one of those used but it would
be funny.
We're kind of here with a more efficient weapon he's taking the first one probably
taking a lot of attention on way two and the question is are you looking for a third
man with this kind of a set up.
You already found the two main B players if you can get Bacardi here as well.
They'll be looking for Wox again the same way.
Let's see what he can do back here.
Gun all charged up and he's found and he's gone.
Reigns out the max and he can't keep it going but a little excitement for the round.
That's what we want.
Excited of you, Anders. You love a Zeus.
I do.
Brings a smile to your face.
Bomb attempted once.
Is anyone watching this?
That's so scary.
I don't feel like they were properly covering that.
If he committed to the fight there,
I think at a minimum he has to kill onto Nexus,
but it might be too late now.
What do you got, Jay?
Grenade to offset.
He knows there's a player in that yellow position,
but the other one in the wrinkle
on the other side of the smoke admittedly
might be doable.
But wrinkle takes the risk
just spams him down for the smoke and it's exactly the right play. G2, five rounds.
Running away with this one. Tactical timeout, as you might expect here. Mirage,
edging closer and closer. I've already to wake up now.
Woksegweb, the AWP, they've got a nice full buy ahead of them. Still really yet to frag us,
kick Sam Wakani, it's found one. But out of it yet, can still win the half technically.
75 available to them that's a big win every round from here on out. Ash trying to dig them out of the hold
They found themselves in here
Timeout comes to a close sewer contributions. He's made with they want to change his stance
Move walks around the map
Moment doesn't do too much for them, but
Takes away a member of G2 trying to test the economy at least
Thomas Wrinkle has $10,000 right now and the AWP already in his hands.
I'm not sure of the... money's gonna be much of a factor here. Let's get into it.
Round six.
Let's look at this down middle now.
Considering if you stick around much longer, there is typically a time on how long you can play that CT in the opposition
before you have to worry about second meat or in boiler room.
room so eventually you're gonna have to kind of walk away. They've smoked it up now, maybe buys a
little bit more time. They're boost on up. Okay. At least they're trying some different defensive
setups now Aurora but yeah they need to really turn this game around right here right now.
Hard enough to feel like it might already be too late for them.
Very important rounds. Getting the one minute mark, Wacadia.
It's a risky position to hold, smokes down though, he'll use it to fall back.
Back into defensive stance here, enabling the crossfires on the bomb site.
Smoke goes down towards the apartments to give Wok's sick an interesting line.
Ash is in towards middle.
Another court himself with that one, doesn't take the angle.
as Antara's next.
Smoke's down towards Arch and the library.
Lot of pressure for him right now, Anders.
I think he's gonna check it, he will,
he's not so he sprays one,
but he cannot find a quick double.
It's a beast flip through CT spawn.
I think he can cover this one.
Jimmy wants to help out.
Woxic's still on the side.
They're bringing the bomb back now.
It's all on the shoulders of Woxic.
Maybe especially now that
Hicks and the skin
smoked off towards the library.
Wakadia does take down notes on the other side,
but he's really up to this AWP
and he is caught.
The timing is dead on perfect.
Matt's is fine three and they plant the bomb
with a second to spare.
Oh, kind of landed on Zantara.
Is there two players in front of him?
Backs turns you'd think he'd get two.
Went for the full commitment in the spray on the first.
50 damage on the second didn't feel like enough.
That's another round of collapses.
Does it almost feel to you like he is stressing
to get those kills whereas once
they've already not checked him?
Yes, so you could probably just wait like a half a second more and really make sure definitely could have taken a beat
Just to confirm it a bit more wasn't the cleanest spray all body shots on the first
Soppy adjustment to the second wasn't his best work. We'll say that
Wakadia hoping to stay alive. It might not happen being under these dead now
Good job six zero
Santa spiral now third map feeling more and more likely
money still okay but it's not great averaging like 4.2k money's easy player
here's gonna be partial by should be getting more than that he knows that
yeah no one to blame them say this though Maxis started to live up to some
of the hype I'm trying to put on him yes out of it yeah pretty terrible map
for him to open things up he's had a good sort of and we know he's a great
player. A lot of MP9s. Don't hate it. Yeah, pass you by. See if they can actually get
into this game looking likely to be 7-0 though. Is it Furia? Sometimes pull out this 4 MP9
kind of play? It depends. They lose the pistol or they go into the first gun round
or sometimes by MP9s then instead of having a weak first gun round. Okay. That's the
traditional fury about yeah well even if it's not completely traditional it's
kind of working here yes but a kill with the m4 and one of the mp9
towers sneak it around remember don't risk anything here you've already got the
513 you don't have to do too much they will lose a player in the sights but the
fact that Jimmy's up in the apartments here that should be a strong
position hard to check everything right now for g2 on that a bomb site and
they can't pull the plug and go back to be either wrinkle planted a bomb on
the right side and Jimmy's holding it. He's probably communicating with the team even as
we speak. The other three door at Arch, that is a world where Nertz gets a spray down here.
The smoke is behind him, fading in a couple of seconds here, but he gets the first one.
So Tara's out of it and he's just holding mouse one, hoping Nertz that he could get
a quick headshot on kickstand. That's not going to be happening. Where's Jimmy?
He needs to be activated here. Rinko has found one, and they know now. They've
heard the footsteps. They definitely recognize where Jimmy's coming from. Nice shot from
We got Adia in the gym for the other one.
I think they might be not entirely sure.
That bomb did tick for a second,
and obviously, if you didn't have a kit,
I think that's just enough for a year,
but they've got a scary stuff.
First round for Aurora.
Yeah, absolutely.
Needed that.
Felt like this one was completely over with the MP9s
entering this round, but they managed to make it work.
Couple of AKs recovered.
Got the AWP for walks again now as well.
down but not out. Six to one, so plenty of rounds available to them, still have the chance
to tie things up. However unlikely it seems, let's see if they can get a few more here.
Gonna be sending walks to go towards B this time. As you go over the first pick they
can boost them on the corner. Talked about that full of boosts, not gonna be the case.
see aggressive line of sight. Speaking of aggression, oh yeah, there's plenty up in Wakadia, ducking
and weaving around the utility, and in the smoke trying to get that first pick if possible.
Goes without saying this is a very important round here for Aurora, can't afford to give
it up but they've taken so much damage on routes 90 damage with the grenade that
they have got banana control they can set walks up and get him in position as
a turret towards the car just like this they're on something that's what they
want but they're sticking very close he sees just the hip of one there he's
ready for more good awareness shots yeah that's really important now you
can just play the bombsite the hard work's been done you're round to lose
Jimmie confirms it. Don't need to push any smokes no one needs to do anything crazy
Everyone show need fire the live it needs to start building up your own economy
This is Jimmy. I mean the fact that anyone checking is kind of wild wrinkled. You will pick it up
Kick-san his second kill of the map, but one that should confirm the round every time
I'm not going to be cold for it, I'm not even going to be needed.
Good double for the captain of the team.
I did like the fact that Aurora stuck to the idea of having Woxig like you said in that top banana position
in spite of the fact that they took the grenade damage, so kind of not giving up on the idea too early.
I like this though, moving things around, conditioning them to the idea that Woxig will be moving around, he will be dynamic.
Just like Rinkle will be on his CT campaign.
Yeah, ass loving map.
Everyone liked that.
AK is available now on the CT side. Three of them still with the Waxgate WP, Jimmy or Rubio.
Rightful. It's time for tactical timeout for G2. Coming to a close now. Their money's absolutely fine,
but again at the end of their gold now just tons of $2,000 remaining and in terms of loss bonus,
they give this round over, they only get $2,400 into the next. So breakpoint for G2. Lose this,
we could have a 6-6 half. That would be such a different finish to the half,
you know from how it started it just looked like they were gonna run away with
everything so if it finishes 6-6 I mean that is probably a it's gonna be a
roar coming into the second half feeling like all right you know what maybe
there's still a bit of a chance here random a nine let's see how this plays
out T2 they've got them at a near breaking point here but they're not
broken yet and watch the flames of the apartment and into the kill on
heavy-gone all right get it get away with it though
Oh, that would have been sublime if he gets a second as well.
Some antics there from Woxig. Funnels him in towards B.
It's been a weaker point of the map for Aurora.
Tzantara's at a T side. Molly, Alivia's a bit of pressure there.
Seven seconds, they can actually just reposition.
Oh, they're double smoking there. That's not great.
Okay. That's a waste of the smoke, Anders.
Yeah, you're right.
But I wonder if they really are going to definitely recognize now
Nerds on top, hoping that there's going to be a peek on the other side.
Three-man set up at B.
This is already looking really, really good.
I'm afraid that he found that killer, Navy God.
That is a wild way to start the round.
Ready is.
Fools back for now.
Walks sec.
Waits towards quad.
Feeling like a flashbacker coming at any second.
Because on Tarra's, he never sides.
Pushes through the smoke of the arch.
Does he take us a peek here?
Dude.
Oh, it's so risky.
Now they've got two people behind it still.
Walksick, he's been left alone from that peek now.
He's good for the first, but up in the axe behind him,
it's a player looking to drop him.
Matt says, though, he couldn't beat the timing against him.
Walksick is sniping everybody.
He's got four kills, hiding in the smoke.
And Nerds is hunting him.
He knows he has to get him right now before the backup is there.
Reload is in and only 12 seconds on that floor.
Oh!
He's going to deny the ace.
You need that bomb plant right now get back in the zone Jimmy's already wrapping around here and looking for it
I think he's got the bomb plant
But does he have the timing for a knot at all at shot and Jimmy wins the round for his team a third for a war
You know what I'm gonna say. I'm just saying anyway. Listen to something somebody might have tuned in for a sign
They might be thinking why is Henry so upset with Sam Harris?
What is this? I'm not necessarily upset, but if I'm his team as my brother, what are you doing?
Like, Woxy's like fighting for his life out there, getting every single kill, and he decided
just to face check middle with nothing really behind it.
Just a slow walkout peek to it.
Like, you're making it real difficult to be a teammate, my friend.
Thankfully, Woxy delivers the goods there.
Nice clutch from Jimmy, nice and composed.
I mean, and you pointed out as well, right?
It was on a new base where it was Kixxan who had to save the round a couple of times
after some of these Santaris peeks.
Yeah.
And it's not just this series.
It's been all tournament long, it's been a huge talking point for them, but it's going to be Wakadia going down with nothing, double nature of a significant damage, and Taurus trying to make up for it, good output, but only finding one.
KickSat alone now. Suggests, there's only a max number of two players over towards A, Jimmy will swap them from top to middle.
I guess when you're a man down you also kind of need to do something like it's a little
bit more urgent in that sense. Woxig, he's found the right angle again, and he actually
navigated this.
Nice movement.
Very good. And the incendiary means he can, at least briefly, look somewhere else. He's
staying scoped up. I don't know if they're going to recognize that he's moved up here.
This could be very sick on the timing. The smoke's fading. He could find the bomb.
He could almost win the round if he takes another step forward and hunchers on the
ground, and so is the bomb.
Woxig playing out of his mind.
They somehow get out of this one.
They've got him to thank in the linchpin
in all of these high pressure situations.
Once again, funny yet another kill-and-ers.
Three into this round.
And Wrinkle, the only man remaining here,
is going to be six to four.
He's going to get another.
Oh, that's bored.
What a spectacle.
Back to back quad kills.
Putting the team on his back right now.
Yeah, I'm blown away by this one, and I point out the money finally for G2.
Started to slip up a little bit here. It is somehow way into a 6-6 tied scoreline.
It's still very winnable obviously for G2. They're gonna be wrong, but we knew they looked very flat on a new piece,
and they don't want to return to that flatness, and that can happen when you have this kind of a lead,
and then you don't really make good on it. What a sick!
What a powerful first half he's had all of a sudden.
Playing like an absolute king.
Eko now for G2.
We're Cardi up trying to get aggressive that office quite a lot up for nothing
and now they've got a rifle presser on Aurora here this is supposed to be the
easier round two more players over towards B leaves a very vulnerable indeed
they're gonna take the pace out of this one top mid control grants of a G2 here
it's walking towards our side to be filling some fresh up
Get Zandre down towards Quad.
He has to do it again, he's going to be called up on one more time to try and save the team.
The backup is miles away.
If G-Rex dies in the pit here, oh, he's shot in the back masses.
Angling for that one.
And a good trade, Nurtz.
This time, third time was too much to call his number.
Centaures had already rotated away because they felt like with that early kill on Mccardia,
there could have been some sort of a B execute, but that was not the case.
Seven now for G2.
After going in a bit of a lost streak,
And then winning it with not that much on the T side that is maybe gonna get the back online get some energy back on G2.
At least they put some cash on Woxic right because of all those kills that you have 8000 so he can drop some of the teammates going into the final round.
I mean he has got to buy an AWP on all of his bets pieces.
It's not going to be much you can drop.
I guess, see, maybe one rifle. Maybe one. Alright.
Just spare something. I guess if he gets no helmet.
Yeah, so after his grenades, we're 2,000 left over.
Alright, so not much. Stop using it.
He can drop a Famous for that.
It's better than nothing.
But they might not even need it.
Yeah, looks like it's all good.
But there it is.
Around there should have been easier.
One for them, got a little bit too aggressive towards Banana.
I'm trying to change the stance a little bit.
Cost him that first kill and indeed the round.
It's going to be...
Zantara is dropping off a lot of utile for the boys over towards B.
Got him to flash back as well.
Wakadia not persuaded from the sandbags at all.
Last round of this first half looking for five on the CT side.
Five more than enough to recover a game.
Four, it's going to be an uphill battle.
I don't know if I love this jump.
I feel like there are a couple of people on the G2 side that could definitely hit a shot
like this one.
Okay, throwing some bullets that way.
I've been the most successful banana defense either for Wakadi, he's 3-8, Kicksans also
3-8, so they haven't had the most luck holding on to this position.
I think he needs a fifth round here or a desperately Woxick again trying to put this team on his
shoulders and carry them into another round of victory.
He's not far off getting the timing but he does not want to overstay his welcome.
It's the only reason they're in this first half of the tour is because of Woxick playing
out of his mind, saving the day multiple times here, single-handedly could smoke
down towards B at the 42nd mark. This is the magia flash we talked about. That's how he
set up. Zantara is for that. Juliates before. It's time trying to set up Ocadia.
I have a smoke as well. That's annoying. That's a lot to deal with now. You have to pop that open.
No, that's what I have to. Yeah, there's really no choice, right? It's about 15 seconds
when it disappears, so you are going to be coming through. They're bobbing it out.
There we go. Flash behind him, not quite yet, but Kali is actually reloading as the
flash is coming in. Tell me if it's a little bit distorted. I don't love that.
Ten seconds on the clock. They need this one Aurora. They want to make it a two-o-o.
Oh sir, that might be almost enough. The bomb has picked up. I don't think they can bump.
The bomb is longer. Oh dear, seven five. And a lost bomb plant here. Maybe there's still a chance for Aurora.
We're at the ASUS ROG Lab.
It's Maui Snake and Voo, and we're going to be looking at some clips of pro players
from last events, and without the nameplates, we're going to try to guess who created the
highlight.
And this should be easy because we're looking at it in lightning fast refresh rate on pristine
color from ASUS ROG.
We're going to be keeping score, but once you make your guess, you are locked in.
Keeping score.
I thought this was just for science.
Yeah, science and fun.
All right, let's roll the first clip.
I can tell you that this one is phase from 2025.
Who has these gloves?
Yeah, some weird skin combo.
Doesn't Brokey have...
This is Brokey.
It's Brokey.
Lock it up.
It's Brokey.
It's like, they're gonna lose this map.
Yeah.
He thinks that I'll go after that kill,
he walks around a connector and then he goes to kill
someone and everyone's like, Brokey's got it.
He's got it.
And then he's right back to give it up.
All right, this one is the Huns 2025.
I know who this is, I can't remember his name.
I thought it was Scor maybe is the only name
I can't remember right now.
I don't think this is Scor.
Okay, yeah.
Someone else.
Okay, if we can't remember the name,
I'm gonna say that what happens next is,
who doesn't get a whole bunch of the Eagle kills
and makes one of the best clips of the year.
I was watching this in my mind,
but I can't remember the name.
Yeah.
Ha!
Nine.
Next up, Furia, 2026.
Oh, this is K Sarada.
This is going to be the pistol lace where he flicks right.
Oh, this is such a sick clip.
One of the best highlights of the year.
I think it's four kills.
What's it for?
It's like a bounty, right?
Yeah, pretty sure it's something like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it moves.
Oh, my god.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Next clip is going to be Vitality from 2026.
Yeah, this is a zywoo flip.
Oh, yeah.
I would flow though and he purposely looks into the wall when he peeks so that he can flick really hard, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is I was
a gratuitous flick
This clip is falcons 2025. All right
I'm taking Kyosuke. I think it's Kyosuke five kills. Yeah, I'll give this Kyosuke four
Indecision in the action. Nico would have already thrown the nade would have turned around
Randomly swing your rod shooting. That feels good.
Yeah, just looking for fights all the time.
Well, GG. At least the highlights were incredibly clear thanks to this ASUS ROG.
I agree.
invigorate them a little bit it's not too late for a robot it will be a very very
challenging second half for you. Oh absolutely you still favor G2 massively
third map looking likely but they've got something to work with now it's not a
foregone conclusion they give this map up very important pistol and heavy gods
taking Mattis into his own hands sneaking through and towards the
bedroom how deep does he dare to go all they fumbled the silent boost okay
whatever doesn't matter shouldn't be getting away with that but we'll take
care it's a fairly wacky counter strike in this question three to be honest it's
not been the prettiest but it has been fun it will take it so there's a moment
where they could also be like a missed calm situation for heavy god like he's
seeing and calling out to the team there's no one second mid guys don't
worry and then they kind of show up a second later but that never really
They feel the boost and he's still got shot in the face.
Here we go.
A lot of grenades around the corner, but some colour utilities actually holding them back.
That means they're going to be reckoned upon the other way.
I don't think they meant to do that originally, but now that they're here,
going open the smoke and hunting Hunter, that's very nice.
Like it feels that they make mistakes and they're getting found out that it is hitting the shots right now in this pistol.
We'll take it. Two players still in towards Ado.
It's going to be wrinkled, joined by Mattis.
by Mattis. Good shot of range, and now that that is an around, it's falling apart here.
Thankfully, Jimmy will make up for it. It's Mattis detected in towards the pits. They found so many kills on the side of the map.
There's a quick kill, and Jimmy will take care of him. That should be enough to win the pistol.
A much needed one here for Aurora. 7-6, all been locked in.
Nurture on the right shoulder, Jules with no kits.
No grenades. That's got 100 HP, but three kills to find.
Mattis will give it a look.
See if you can do it here.
There is enough time for a defuse, but it's more about, like you said, digging them out of these deep positions.
They're not showing anything whatsoever.
First point of contact. He knows that he's going to be swung upon as soon as he's deep enough.
Nicely done from Jimmy. Three kills. A roar with the pistol makes it a lot more interesting now.
I think they failed one smoke towards the outside.
They fumbled the silent boost, and each and every time they were getting rewarded,
I would have a couple of kills.
Yeah, they just rolled right out of it.
Hey, that's how I felt
That's a reasonable moment of crash out. You're allowed to crash out of that happens
Like if you're actually like we need to welcome that but we'll take the win
Whatever let's move on. Yeah
That's not what is the force by beg your pardon. So we are gonna have pistol
I didn't see any MP9s it popped up the utility rather than the firepower around us
Oh, what a grenade. Oh, this is scary
If that'll do a lot of connection, how they attack that top banana position.
I smoke, we'll do nothing, they'll go for it.
Yeah, they are already on the other side, bomb fully committed here, Nurtz.
How much can you get out of this? His teammate's gone on the other side.
Okay, now, now it's a bit troublesome for GC, you've got fully committed.
Next, he's lost your lead after this.
That's actually quite nice, I think, for Mikardia. He's the lead man in that push into the bomb site,
but he doesn't go beyond that yellow position.
position like he waits there,
parks himself, waits for the teammate
to also get through the smoke
before they kind of continue the attack.
And that worked out very well.
Good job.
And tied the game.
Like you said, seven, seven now.
And it'll be a minute before G2
start to pick up some real rifles.
So I don't know, it's adds.
If nothing else, it's made it a more interesting game.
I still feel like G2 should be able to close the book
on them here on the CT side.
I'm with you, but it's definitely not the best.
This is like G2 playing their B game today.
Yeah.
They don't have anyone really carrying them.
but they don't have Winkle with the Electrofinal all-performance.
See, he's in very mid.
Mass is looking much better here on Inferno,
but the headline axe, the heavy gods,
we haven't got anyone that's really like stepping up
and bringing the A game.
Everyone looks a little bit underwhelming.
That's the problem right now.
Definitely the groovy, they should still win this,
but they're going to have to really dig deep
as Aurora now will take the lead eight to seven.
It has to be the eco.
They will save two pistols in Kevlar.
Aurora not playing a perfect game
by any stretch of the imagination either.
So there is a chance to give us up as well.
Yeah, both teams obviously freshly constructed with these lineups.
So we do expect that there will be some mistakes here and there.
Especially in best of threes when you're working on those map pools,
it can be hard to kind of figure everything out.
But some of the weaknesses have been shown so far in the tournament.
Stack on the A-bomb site, weird nerds hoping to dissuade them, he's got the smoke out,
he's got another one picked up and I don't know if it's going to be quite enough.
They are starting to rotate over, so something that they've read in this one, some kind
of a feeling that maybe this could work out, yeah they haven't done much fact-finding
across the map. That's Antares always likes to get stuck here when there's pistols on the other side.
See if he can actually crack things open here. Multiple bodies all tucked away for now all by the
fountain. He's taking over the smoke but he goes into the grey screen now this is getting messy.
Gotta be very careful here.
Yeah now they're in a lot of trouble because he's not gonna stop rotating
Get back towards A, where do they go with this?
There's gonna be heavy God.
Yet to really have massive impact.
Can he find multiple kills here?
There's an Eagle shot suggest no.
We're cardiac saving the round.
There we go.
They will take the lead.
You can see how that could have worked out though.
They had the pressure on them.
Timing on that smoke landing on top of Centaurus.
Okay.
Disengage.
Wow.
I see that enough, pretty sick shot.
Very nice from Jimmy.
In the end, not too bad.
Only one player going down, it just was slightly chaotic.
Squeaky bum time with the second smoke coming through.
Santaras is in vision for a second and all the USBs swinging out.
But a clean finish.
And they've taken the lead. Bear in mind that if they were 6-0 down.
Yeah, that's why maybe it also feels a bit deflating for G2, right?
That kind of lead, you think, well, they should have been better than 8-7 now,
They gave it up a little bit, started to let them in, I guess they didn't even do that.
Woxic forced his way back in to that first half.
It's the weakest we've seen G2 all tournament long, worst day for it to happen as well.
Six days of group stages and then last chance to lose to get into the playoffs.
They have not looked themselves, no one really stepping up, no one inspiring hope that they can get a turn over the line.
Need ring call to release up, applying the pressure, turning up the heat.
Kicksand looking to do just that.
Aggressive maneuver.
It will be Zanzaris to find us.
Huge open up.
They keep him alive as well on five points of health.
Mathis with a mountain to climb now.
They'll park Kicksand up with the Mach 10.
He'll be listening for rotations.
He'll be showing presence as they get ready to execute
in towards the A side of the map.
I like it.
So Kicksand will be the linchpin here.
He'll be trying to wrote calls rotations give information here when he feels like he's done enough. That's when his teammates will
Play through smoke down towards arch
Sendering a response smoke down towards be kicked and started to activate now
Fires are a few bullets through said smoke and actually gonna be falling back here. What's the plan?
Is he the deploy smoke or just join the teammates?
No, so he'll be the latter
That's the rear in the middle. There's three people here. Come on wrinkle. We need something. We do need that
Oh, he sees the Shadowbot.
Wakadia has got the perfect crosshair placement.
More grenades landing.
It's a very nice grenade.
Is it enough, though, to put Heavy God into action?
He's found the kill on Santaris, and now he's got Hunter.
Bit of a crossfire set up.
There's still time in the round, though.
No rotations coming in from the other side.
Hunter, it looked like there could have been a Sprayder.
Look at the health lift.
18.
Behind Bill Nassu players there.
Walks a gun, 15.
Wakadia on three.
The matters he was holding be the whole time.
No, Kip. It's not gonna be confirmed that bow flow.
He's got time to look into this one.
Get on the site, I think.
There is definitely a gap.
Right by the bomb.
He's got a nice shot here.
Wait a minute, this is a massive off angle.
Crosshand, not at all in the right position, but he still flicks and takes down Woxic.
You know, one of the pits, and now he's hunting for it behind that box.
He'll find it easily.
Hey, just gotta discover the bomb. That's a huge clutch for Woxic.
Woxic.
He's kicking himself there.
He knows we hit that shot.
It's a very different story.
High-risk position.
Didn't deliver the goods, and Matt certainly did.
Two versus one, no problem.
Both of them very, very low.
All started off with a wrinkle going down with nothing.
He thought that was enough.
Bucardia, three kills in total.
Had to work so hard for them, though.
No HP between the two of them.
Missed shot, costing the round.
Bucardia, nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
Let me tie things up.
Eight, eight.
There he goes. He knows. It's a big miss. I think he pre-fired a little bit too soon,
spotted the shadow, the elbow. Trying to get the kill before a bullet could hit him. Money
should be absolutely fine for Aurora, but this one's going to be a nail by the ladies
and gentlemen. G2 give this map up. They are knocked out of the tournament. Aurora
make their way towards porto. Both squads they need the experience they want to play deeper in
the tournament they obviously want to make it as deep as you can for the prize money and everything
else but you also want these teams to really have you know a great start to the season and if
you can win here that would definitely set them up in the right direction round number 17 and let's
see what we've got a mac 10 on kickstand again that could set them up they got that kill
He went nuts to the previous round that was sick at the start, hunted him down, should have set him up for an early victory here.
Double HE and nurses put a little bit low on health.
He's not quite dead yet, that's just behind him.
G2 really can't afford to give this one out back because they are fully invested even after winning the previous round.
Barabun, one player surviving on the CT side.
If they were to give it up, they'd only get 2,400 into the next.
Aurora have a ton of money going forward either way.
Going through the motions of mid control here.
Have you got not buying it though?
That Molotov designed to take vision away with the smoke down towards Arch, but they're
playing in front of the utility.
So they've got a lot more intel than Aurora realize.
They have such a crazy trust in Nurtz in this round.
got no more utility except for the HE and they're still rotated four people to the A bombs like
finally maths is done to get a bit closer but um let's see what they're cooking here maybe
has Kicksand found the right opportunity some smoke sliding towards A they are
rotate it back to B I mean there's a chance here that they could find a two man stack of
the A bombs like that shouldn't be enough to hold them back oh that's heavy gore could go
clear in the pits. Rinko relocating. Smoke is going to be up. They might know what's coming.
It's a counter smoke as well. They're flashing their way through Jimmy. Straight in there.
Have you gone on the good for the one hunter? Come on, Rinko.
Come on, get there. Rinko is all on his shoulders. First one it is.
Ten seconds. You know what? If he had that second shot, it was the world.
Waxi, we're hit up. Rinko, this is the problem we had in the IP. He has those
electrifying days where he's dominating the survey. It was a consistency issue.
He felt like he doesn't bring every single day. Yeah, this is a tournament
Well tournament he's looked very good and this is a series where he hasn't shown up
Looking rather average
Needed him to get to that
Orbs normally shining and those high-precious scenarios coming up towards quality looking for a couple of kills
ducking and weaving around the boxes
No meant to be and we talked about the ramifications. They're losing this round and there's 2400 into the next notes will save an M4
they won't have enough to buy. They lose to the lead once again, 9-8. And you can't really buy into
this one. Even a partial buy is ill-advised. It's so risky, isn't it? I think we introduced the infernal map last time
saying that by role, Nert's at the banana position best in the world, and Hunter, I think, is best positioned also at the A-rotation.
Perhaps a real superstars on this map.
He did one of them to show up there.
Any one of them. Yeah, that would do.
That's the problem. No one on G2 is playing well this series.
Like Mattis, this is better, 13-11 for him,
but no one's really showing us they can keep up.
6-0 was their lead, and now the 9-8 down.
B-bombsite technically open, instead of Mattis rotating over.
They've only got the 5-7. I said the partial, but I'm not really possible.
So you've got three players with no Kevlar, upgraded pistols,
couple of bits of utility you're hoping the nerd stem 4 can carry you through this it would require
a series of errors here from Aurora new team certainly capable whoever stepped in the mark
will cardio setting up a util it's going to go in towards our side
okay through all the basics right now be careful bear walk sick you know that money's low
So, ideas to swing middle of 5-7, certainly prevalent.
Kated out one of the bits of utility from that.
He should have something else to work with here.
It's actually Mattis, my bad.
He's gonna have a smoke.
It will be the B execute,
which is, if they go now, the puppy call.
Yeah, they shouldn't be forced back
with a single Mattis smoke.
I guess it could happen, but, okay,
no, it's just starting to get there.
Wait a minute.
There might be a timing here.
Let's see how quick he's gonna be in his feet.
There's the counter utility coming out.
They're thinking about it, and Tarris is feeling the pressure to go through this one.
30 seconds on this! Everyone on the other side!
There's so many targets, you can find a whole one!
Oh, that's it! And it was Wrinkle!
He went for the smoke as well! The spray!
It is close. That would have been the bomb on the ground,
and that could have maybe reset the round.
The round's on, at least.
Okay, well, let's go then.
Wrinkle, he's taken out a bit early.
Would have wanted to see him wait for the teammate to have...
Big bonus off.
And that captures one player by the church.
Flank has been alone time coming for Hunter.
Actually a little bit of a timing window, but Bacardiah,
he knows that's a nice peek from Bacardiah.
Not overstepping, not committing to the fight.
I think as soon as Hunter's discovered,
it's very hard to win the round now.
They know everything they need to.
A quad kill for Bacardiah.
And Hunter creeping away, repeatedly denying the ace here.
But the real big deal is the fact
that Aurora are going to be up to 10, G2.
You said it, I think they're also the start of Anubis, that they don't look themselves in there.
It's such a shame.
It happens, you know.
Have an off day.
Not feeling yourself, few rough rounds, morale's low.
Just been a long tournament.
Sixth day of play.
That's a long series as well.
This is a rematch of day one.
It was G2 that managed to
fight back when they were looking themselves.
Never mind, like, that Anubis game.
Wryckle got 35 kills on day one.
It was so sick.
Yeah.
They managed to claw her back as well.
They were down 12-7 here, remember?
They clawed it all the way back.
That's when they looked themselves, individually.
Now, today, I couldn't tell you who the star player is.
Who's gonna turn up?
Who's gonna make the difference?
Maybe add some credence to this thing that we often repeat,
which is that you learn more by losing.
So, you know, like, they have same maps and everything else.
Alright, go.
Do it again. Ring, Claw, Coat.
Ssss.
Oh, Coat!
I'm...
...what kind of...
Doesn't have the same swagger.
No, he just doesn't.
He's trying, he's still playing like he would have.
It's costing you a bit. Here's Maxis with a flash to set it up.
Nurtz in the corner, he's going to be checked.
Kicksand's playing such great counter-tricks.
Both from a falling point of view, but finding that opening
and turns around with a B-bombsite down will be 11 for Aurora.
Oof.
You can see Wrinkle trying to bring his playstyle in, but...
he doesn't even believe it himself.
Very tentative, almost passive on the aggressive push there.
Flashed and then, yeah, completely dead. No chance.
I want to be honest, if he was scrawny and long as custom, this would be a third map, Henry.
I think it's you and I, where we're custom, we're cursing them.
They can't get there.
Well dude, if you're up 6-0, and then you find yourself 11A down, yeah.
I don't think you can blame the commentators for this one.
You can always blame the commentators.
Because if one thing I've learned, you can always do that.
And it is a wild claim.
They've already won the round.
They don't need to be doing that, but he found the timing perfectly.
Maybe God wants to hold on to the york.
Okay, that's good.
I think he's gonna be safe in the corner.
Doubt if...
Don't step out into it.
Oh, they need everything they get.
It's not too late, but...
The vibes, they're not there for G2.
So they have any more time to put down on Slaft, I'm not sure.
Viridian War from Kixxan.
Had a fantastic tournament.
The highest performer for Aurora.
They've all come into this series of 1.3 rating on average.
Yeah.
Oh, they know it. They can feel it slipping away here.
Gotta keep your head in the game, not an out of your hands.
I think for this series, it's gotta be with Cardio, right? He was lights out on Nugus.
Yeah.
Anchoring here on the pinning, and he's playing super well here.
That's nearly a kill on Nugus.
A little bit of misfortune, and he's gonna be found, but he's in close corner.
Here we go, Nugus. There's this saved AWP, the thing that they brought in from the last round.
round. Have to convert this now. We have to play down towards Logan. There could be nerds
or low HPs on Taris. I don't think he checked this ever. Gonna see if he can get a couple
of kills out of this one. He's getting so much information. Huge balls from nerds.
Oh no. Is this actually gonna work? I feel like there's a 50-50 chance here. This is
gonna blow up in his face instead but holding it back, smoking off some Taris
at the top and everyone else being drawn in. No one's checked it yet. Nerds!
This is the 200 ice you play that we want to take home!
We sprayed them down!
That's Antares coming back and saying, that's my bad guys!
I did not check the corner!
And now they're in the 1 vs 5.
He's just there like, oh, sorry about that, guys!
Pretty awkward, isn't it?
So you didn't check Logs' again?
Just to clarify, no, I didn't even look at them.
It's a small mistake, but the consequences are enormous.
I'll re-particulate him down.
If this does not revive G2, then nothing will.
This should be the moment where they come back to life.
Bit of a blunder Aurora.
Beautiful play, balls of steel from Nertz to hold on to their three-man spraydown,
rather than just take a quick kill.
He went for broke.
Yes, Fran, they've had so far in the second half.
Oh, you wish we could have the listening, the comms for this kind of a round,
and maybe the aftermath too. I want to be a fly on the wall. 11-9. Okay, wild. It's got
to be enough. G2 now with plenty of AKs. Rinkle's got the best spawn for a sniper here, Anders.
He can peek into second middle. He can push the apartments. He can push down. Towards
he steps he wanted to let's see whether he's found his confidence now 11 11 for him
does he want to try and get that first pick against woxic or is he not feeling it here we go
takes a peek flashed off gives him the ankle
for the better woxic rolls right on the other side
first sign of life
Some pretty deep utility landing at the bottom of the banana.
That is something that G2 did last time.
They were really good at pushing deep down and made it a little bit more comfortable for Aurora
on their seaside.
See if they can revisit that.
This time Aurora, they're all ready at this quad position.
They will be granaded back, but it forces out a ton of utility fairly early in the
round still.
No, it's just kind of peeking the half wall by jumping.
Wrinkle.
Sorry, but surely finding some impact, but that's another big miss.
Gives them space towards the outside.
Holding the tighter angle, but presumably we'll be smoked off.
They're gonna focus their efforts towards short.
Two players in the pit.
Hunter and heavy guard.
Smoke already down a wall with little hits.
Heavy God finding a headshot.
His favorite angle by far.
That's the bomb.
It was leading in front, so they're very committed at the moment.
But there's only three people defending.
This is still a winnable round for Aurora.
Don't count them all yet.
Maybe getting closer now as Heavy God finds another one.
Centaurus gonna get out of there.
There we go.
Rinkle gets two and Hunter, a secondary player in the pit that they were not expecting.
So G2 up to 10.
Should be a timeout here for Aurora.
Two rounds in a row.
Heavy God owns them there from the pits.
Great work from him.
Lovely shot to the AK-47 and Rinkle finally having some high
impacts for the AWP.
Those are the shots he needs to hit.
That's what it's all about, Anders.
That right there.
Yeah, we've been waiting for it.
They'll take a partial by Aurora, that is.
One AK for Wakadia.
Rinkle, here we go.
Now he's feeling himself.
Now he's feeling himself.
pushing through the smoke top mid.
Takes hands on Torres.
Nice open up, they're going to run through the smoke,
they're disrespecting it.
Heavy God was working out for him now,
jumps down towards the pit,
plenty of players around him,
kicks out of the arcs,
the back, can he get a second?
Heavy God fighting two for Nail and it collapses.
How?
They've done a lot of damage.
Oh, the block, no, Woxic!
Can we stop it?
He's dead, he's dead.
Yeah, he has tons of down here.
Oh my, oh my, I don't say it, I don't say it.
What happened?
Aurora on 12?!
They should have been winning this round every single time, G2!
I am blown away!
Wuxi didn't do any damage on the first interaction, right?
Did he hit him at all?
I don't think so. Not enough to...
It worked out...
How did he do 100 damage when he dropped down?
With a Glock?
I don't know.
I don't know.
He first dropped down, he shot him right at the crotch, I mean...
That's brutal.
That's the most, I suppose.
Yeah, it's efficient.
I'm flabbergasted.
Yeah, sure, you can do it.
You can shake all the hands you like, but...
Dude, that is one of the most demoralizing rounds you can receive.
And you know, having got played it so well,
he saw them in apps, he threw down the incendiary, they had to run through it, he's back in the pit.
Like, all of this is really good, you just can't find that headshot.
I don't even know how they get all the kills right, like three kills in a second.
Oh, it's the burst fire.
That's how he's done it.
Yeah, we're all having a good time there, Woxic.
Yeah, not all of us, Henry.
Okay, yeah.
Oh, no laughing in the lower bracket, Henry.
That's one of the rules.
No crying E, but GC might be crying after this one, 6-0, Arpy, and now we're looking down
the barrel, a tournament elimination 2-0, you're supposed to be the World's Best Inferno
team.
We're supposed to be going to Mirage, and he's just lost to a glock in the end of
the pass.
Attack and I'm rushed with a 5-on-4 advantage.
Better not wrinkle-gull the opening pick there, we were screaming he's back.
I think he found in the middle on that opening now nuts trying to manufacture
something here already some tires in front of us there and finally we get a
chance to call us found to open a ring house but Hunter you've got to step it
up here there's a flash behind them looking to set it up but we can't get
just in care not flashed at all and that one kill should pave the way for a
bomb plant. Wrinkle applying the pressure. Have to work with heavy god here. Feels impossible.
Feels like it's over. Wrinkle though finding the confidence. Peek in with the AWP. Can he
find the pick? Yes he can. Two on two. Huge peeking into the retake. They've got kits.
But all the work is still ahead of them. And there's some more left over on Jimmy.
Oh they can do the diffuser. The diffuser. He goes straight for it. Does he know the lineup?
Have they chopped this through? It's already on down to a second here and he can't find a shot.
K just went for it.
An ocean of smoke up there, nobody could see anything.
That should have been GG, now a raw atil to this, you get all those openers.
You don't get a quick kill on Hunter.
Sure Hunter only gets one, but he delayed them for so long, allowed the rotations to come through and they fumble it.
Ring call, fair play to him as well, pop the smoke open, got a crucial kill with the AWP.
And now overtime, looking likely, they will be kicking themselves. How they don't convert that.
I'll never know.
Great work though, like you said, the smokes, the kits, two players towards banana there,
I think, and okay, we got the Molotov, we'll just molly the bomb, but then the double smoke comes through.
Yeah, the problem especially with that forward smoke is that it makes it hard to kind of navigate
where to put that cross-seller. You don't have any of the reference points because they're just
all in the smoke. My God, this is now a real, real good game of Counter-Strike.
Coming down to the wire here, round number 24.
Swing, separate the men from the boys.
Walksig, AWP once again, AK's across the board, money's strong.
Aurora, wanna get out of here right here, right now.
All on the line for G2, give this one round up, you're going home.
First kill, once again it's the same angle for Kadia.
Rinkle went down here before, this time getting out of the boiler room.
Yeah, that's where he was flashed and just completely destroyed.
He has been much better in the last four rounds, but it might be too little, too late.
Flashbang goes in towards the bedroom, Wakadia.
Peaks on at footsteps, given away. Should be a kill for Rinko here.
Hits the shot, Santaris.
So late.
That's the peek he should be taking. I am over.
Hits the way he looks at him.
Watchs it was trying to take on Oba, but he doesn't hit the shot.
And in god, he's been playing at exact angle a number of times,
and he keeps finding kills there.
They're gonna go back to revisit
the top banana position.
Nurtz was in front by the sandbags,
but now he's gone a little bit further back.
Francis hoping to find some impact with the HE,
but he didn't quite land on anyone out there.
40 seconds on the clock and a smoke goes down.
Oh, that's bad news.
That is gonna be gone by about 20 seconds.
Overtime looking very likely, yeah.
It is.
They will limp in towards the B side. There are three CTs here. They've read it well.
Look at the flashbang that's being held by Mattis to try and set up Nerds for a huge spraydown.
He already had the triple. Hiding on Banana. See if he can do better here. 19 seconds.
It's actually Hunter to begin and there's the flash set up for it. Nerds to get the kill
over time. Pretty much confirmed. So one versus five and there we go. Mattis on the final one.
Somehow G2 have kept it alive. Dare I say G2 have arrived now.
This is the G2 we know and love. Finding some form when they were scraping the
barrel and looked like they were done for. When they won that round towards
Bernardo, a hunter kept them in the game by staying alive with the new boxes
and that's when they realized they're still in it. They can still fight their
way out of this one. Nurse hasn't given up yet. They know it's wrinkle 16
and 12. Heavy God finding a lot of impact towards that quad area in the
I guess they were going to a third. They look like they're back.
At the 11th hour, G2 have arrived on the server.
All to play for now.
Momentum on their side.
This is turning to a marathon game. If we go to a third map now,
it's going to be some fatigued teams that were short for that one on Mirage.
We never know if it could be even more mistakes because we've seen them both sides.
Yeah, slip-ups, too many peeks, not the right communication at times, the tower is here.
You would love a headshot of someone thinking about it, but um...
He's got no one there to flash him into any kind of a fight.
The grenade bounces off the wall, so it doesn't actually tag him.
There's a play here.
It's turned into a bit of a reset of the round.
What is the flashbang for Santaris to confirm that no one's immediately at that half wall?
And maybe that's enough to hit the A bomb site.
Smoke CT spawn.
That is, well, smoke back and response here.
Has to be the A execute.
Yeah.
Santaris to set up the smokes.
The problem's been wrinkled and heavy-guarded.
On this bomb site, defense have been very hard to shut down.
Hunter, I think we're nearly running away. He comes back for a smoke there.
Flash to maybe slow down Kixxan on the other side. There's only 22 seconds.
There's Rinko. He's back there.
The kind of flick that we really want to see out of him. Hunter comes bursting out.
Takes down Kixxan. 12 seconds. The clock of the Israel might be already over.
Still got Kenny got down here and they're trying to buy a little bit of time.
No time.
Six seconds. They cannot plant the bomb. It's still on the ground here.
Very well done, to be honest. The fact that Hunter stopped rotating out.
He came back just in the nick of time and then that first flick from wrinkle gets a job done
I don't think Aurora even believed in that round
limping in towards a
Losing the first pick and sender is down no time pretty underwhelming effort
Excellent work from G2 though
Fantastic shot from wrinkle secured the round of that flick
And they take the lead 1-0 here and overtime versus 16
We have one extra tactical timeout Aurora will use as now.
This is a game you can sink a teeth into Anders, this is what we are looking for.
No blots here, that's the shop.
Yes, sendery at 15 seconds, nice little push from Hunter as the chaos ensues.
And heavy gods set up the flash for Hunter to get out through that smoke as well.
So there's a lot of pressure in that moment, but they still communicate about that which is really nice
It's Aurora plummeting now
G2 this is more like it now you can see heavy going the impact recall hitting shots on the orb
nerds and masses
Suddenly gets stuck in good greater kick things off him and nerds feeling himself goes to the peak but met by Santaris
Opener found by the Turkish Terminator
Yeah!
A 5 on 4.
They didn't just keep it simpler at this.
They didn't just go over the BXQ with the man advantage.
Well that's what G2 are hoping for,
because they've already got three people here ready to catch them.
I feel like KickSan so far as a T-Site caller for this team
has proven that he's not a big fan of just doing that.
I feel like a lot of the times he wants these round resets instead.
G2 would have loved it.
They would have loved nothing more.
I'm gonna go back now, there's a lot of utility on the other side.
Wrinkle, playing on the front lines over towards A, happy to hold that position.
It means that you have a bit of an advantage with 3 CCs.
I dare say this could be enough for G2.
Nice name for Monza.
Almost questioning the fact that they threw down the smoke, don't want to be pushing
your roar away from this, you've got the setup for it here.
Have you got the force under the fence without the accesses there and then realizing
a roar, he made a peaking mistake in showing up.
You can't see what he's shooting at,
but he's still getting the double kill, Hunter.
Yeah, again, just didn't look like they even believed
that was gonna work out.
You get that opening pick.
You're in two mines, and we fall back.
So we just stick with this.
You're running through smoke, and it's all too easy.
You haven't pulled anyone away from B, very telegraphed.
And yeah, you have to save.
Boxing will need a weapon next round, so no time.
and I mean maybe a little bit of again an indication of the trust that they put in the ring call
and that corner over at the A bomb site saying you know what hopefully if they show up you're
going to be able to to do some fireworks so you get an opening pick that's the only
fraggy gap as your execution towards B suggests it was not the right call whatsoever
Yeah.
Got to lock it now, boys.
Heavy Gods showing his pedigree.
That's what you like to see.
Now this looks like Jeter on the server.
I mean, when you see Heavy Gods name on the scoreboard from the B-bomb side,
you know that you've been read.
Like, wait, that's the Bip player.
That's the Bip player?
Yeah, unable to show presence elsewhere.
I swear, I was hoping there would find two players on the other side, it's anything but
last opportunity, AK's across the board.
This is gonna be so dramatic on Mirage, if G2 could finish what they started here in
the OT, it took a long time to warm up.
They didn't arrive on the first one, and looked like they'd given up a chance to
win this after a 6-0 lead in the first half of regulation here on Inferno.
They're back, you know, see you starting to look a little bit better now hunter in the corner
What are you shooting at but what kind of strength day on the other side?
Well, that should be enough of the three zero hunter knows it fall back now defensive setup
The entire is already half HP towards me as well. That's it last now. I
Don't see Aurora being able to fight the way out of this one
Where did he go with that time ticking away 45 seconds your kicks and found a gap at least you can get into wall dodge a B
Split could be interesting
Yeah, but that's his entire stay alive. He's getting fresh out of the corner
Okay, yeah, he's forced somebody back still three people at this bottom side here
So the defense not bad at all that incendiary alone is going to put even more pressure on them
25 seconds. He wants to go for the aggro line. You can do it, but he's thinking about it
right in between them heavy guns
from in the pits and Jim Fats
found a way back into the
rounds unbelievable work for him
walks against the towers to follow it up.
This looked like one of the more
difficult rounds to win.
Sometimes that's how around
can fall apart one miss shot from the
AWP floodgates open heavy gods
been very good at that particular
angle by the truck.
But I think he's got pre-fire
this time he's used it too many times.
Jimmy just pre-fires it takes him down.
At least they have something to work
This is looking woeful for them on the T side and opening kills advantages
It's quite flat on the final commitment
Zantara is anything but nice shot to close things out. He finishes there 17-17 2-1
What a roller coaster G2 is still in a comfortable position here, but I didn't get the 3-0
They were looking for hunting for this is enough
Unfortunately head shot with a smoke
We're caught here, needy not enjoying that, that's the miss.
Yeah, oh, that is the angle he's been holding all the time.
So you're right about that, Jimmy, seize it.
Okay, seize the campaign now for Aurora, looking to 2-0 this, want to get the hell out of here.
Can they fit the best foot forward? Bear in mind, GT, you just need one to guarantee double overtime here.
3-0 is the only way to come in here on the city side, Bacardi has gone down to nothing once
He burns alive for 100%
Here's the sandbags, flashed off
That must have been it, right, just blind
There's no idea what's happening
I guess so, because he burned down to like 10 and he got naded afterwards
So, okay, fair enough then
4-4, technically favours the T side here
Especially very good kickstand alone in towards B with no utility landers this boost. I don't know how could they see far enough out here?
Not towards coffins kicks and alone
Yeah, he's gonna park himself up there that is committing off this one. He's got no backup
He can't really challenge much more than spraying through on initial contact
It's literally zero you till needs backup right now. It's coming in the former Zantares. He's got a flash
He's a fraud in the sport right now. There's a flash
Quite effective
doesn't get the kill.
They're still more though.
They have a couple of HGs as well back there.
They could be doing some real damage.
G2, the window might be low.
For them, Santar is a sprayed couple.
And Nurtz the matter is that they find a way back in.
They're not quite done yet.
Jimmy in the smoke as the bomb is being planted.
And Waxix real far away, so do you want to risk this?
They might not realize that he's already here.
One of the smokes is gone.
But look at the reposition as well.
Nurtz he stepped in front of it.
It's a really nice work for Nurtz.
Low HP, going for the gamble, playing the smoke here, walks in, can't afford to miss a shot, HP not a factor in that particular duel, it's all down to Jimmy here.
Wait, he's gonna blow it open?
No, he's low enough, no, he throws it deep, and here he comes!
C'mon, reaction!
And then Jimmy with the spray onto Mattis, what a tense 2v2 for the end.
But it's a roar, now tying up the game again, we're not letting go of Inferno just yet.
Certainly not.
14-14.
Oh, it's uncomfortable. It's messy. Let me get the job done.
Can't hear you going down first.
But then Tartar is actually saving the day here being sprayed out.
Oh yeah, fortunate on the second.
Roxy, it's a great awareness.
Yeah, if he's a second later with that AWP out, then it's all over.
This is the kind of game that's worth tuning in for.
Everything on the line, two new rosters, desperate for reps on the big stage.
It felt like G2 had this one locked in.
There was 6-0 up in the first half.
Aurora then stole the show so much momentum in the second half, managed to have two series of elimination points.
Fumble to a huge advantage of that B bombsite and now we find ourselves in towards overtime
To one of the first half of G2, but Aurora find the first in the second half. We're all tied up
First 16 that's the number
I'm actually around the corner here to see some classic utility at the top mid position or top
banana position. Two man set up in towards bedroom. It is a bit of a classic itself. Matisse will be
more than aware of this possibility. He should be able to take care of business for Jimmy. We'll
get it. Lovely open up. Laucadia sells himself out too aggressive. They're going to push on this.
They know the second CT is as well. B bombside wide open, kicks that nose in
and down he goes. That should be map points. Should be the opposite words. Antares, what
can he do with the AK-47 in towards Ruins? Woxic has got a plan towards the bench as well.
He's going towards Arch. Heavy good, we'll hear it. He can go for the backstop. In towards
CT Sport, he activates now. I can't see a ward where Aurora wins this round, Anders.
They should never. They have a little bit of utility on Woxic, but you're right.
flank is coming in we have to be some
she's a big mistakes here deep grenade
forces hunter but it doesn't matter
because he finds the head shot immediately
heavy got is actually dead on the
flank that's weird nearly the spring
what's against all of that got it
would have been game changing but
instead a wrinkle finds a quad and that
puts you to and map points it really
does every rounds on a knife set
yeah back and forth we go opening
pick for Aurora you thought that might be enough but they find the gap in towards B through to smoke
kickstand goes down with nothing. It was with Cardia down at the carp, they're kicking himself that
he was so aggressive after they got an initial frag. They could just play with teammate, have
the crossfire on the side, it's a very different round. Wauksic bravely challenges top of middle
here. I mean three players towards B for Aurora. In regulation he was late south defending
this bombsite right back to back quad kills he's the reason they probably got
the five rounds that they had in regulation so I can't really blame him
for wanting to get activated and do a little bit of more work there we found
the target yet
have G2 done just enough here the Vegas to a third map the individual
starting to shine, showing us why they considered one of the best on Inferno.
It took a long time for them to get activated, to get warmed up, to find their mojo.
He can't deny they've found it now.
And now, taking that vision away from the CTs, they're in the dark a little bit here, they're
very passive. Aurora 3 towards A but no one patrol in middle whatsoever, it'll be as Antares
Buried away in the arch, drops down his defense of smoke.
I do like it.
Trying to make sure that he can't really push up behind it.
Molotov in front here, they're going to be throwing flashes in the corner.
Just a quick peek, only 35 seconds, and don't have to recommit, but he will!
Matus takes him down, if he just stays alive there, then he can help out the rest of this A defense.
25 seconds.
Let's see if he just sold his team down the river.
and it's walks, he's pushing in front,
Bray is shut down, but he misses the follow-up
and they straight out a kill by Jimmy, he's in the pit,
looking to get this one of the double OT,
Mattis, not a lot of time, not a lot of health,
but he just powers on through
and gets back to the form is too far away.
I think he's picked it up in time.
Oh no, he didn't go deep enough!
And that will be double OT, Henry.
What is this madness?
I don't know if he had enough,
but if he missed the bomb pickup,
he certainly don't.
Good try there for Mattis.
another male biker, a ballterra of arounds.
Jantarajir right-handers,
get that one, kill, stay alive, he commits to two.
Chaos now, it's not beautiful CS,
but it's certainly exciting.
And yeah, misses the pick up on the C4.
I don't know of the head time,
it would be down to a few milliseconds.
I don't think he did.
Well, a sigh of relief there.
That wasn't pretty from Aurora.
No, I agree.
Not the prettiest counter strike,
But it's definitely entertaining the way that it's been playing out here.
Absolutely.
Let's get into it.
Still a single orb set up on the CT side.
All we said now, first to 19.
He's on the way, see any time.
No silent boost here.
Let's get up.
Oh.
Going for a quick kill.
I think he's going to take a swing towards Quad.
You might just find the timing.
I think the turret's realized now.
That's pretty cool.
I mean, if you could have found him, man.
up everything Jimmy the pits exchanging grenades if they could find him they
know it's on it's still navigating the bottom of an honor but a trade to start
the round with it's very lonesome right now for Jim fat he's gonna need some
teammates to start to help him out kickstands roasted in the time he's
absolutely gorgeous still a lot of trash for Jimmy though it is
The waiting is such a long time.
Kickstarting for Kickstarting.
Huge, okay, yes it is.
Quiet, this game so far, the corner.
13-22, that's big from Hunter.
A-Site actually kind of open right now.
Kickstarting, good damage.
600 and 18.
The round's back on though. Down to Wrinkle.
He'll have to do the heavy lifting. Hunter will have to borrow himself away and be supportive here.
Never smoked down towards Moto.
Anyone's round.
Wrinkle though, needs to hit this first shot.
Flashbang doesn't catch him. He hits this all day long.
He hits this all day long.
He's not been lucky.
Oh, dude, you've got to hit that.
Last time, he would have hit that every single time.
If someone is a bit off today, Hunter,
he did not have the help for it.
He is going to go down.
So first round of the second OT.
Shocking.
He had to hit that.
He knows it as well.
Last time, that would have been a hit every time.
The fact is you're up against the AWP as well.
It's such a disadvantage, Pete, for Woxic.
You know where he is.
You know he's about to peek.
He's already flashed and given us position up.
Oh my god.
He shot his teammate in the back of the fence.
Um, yeah, that's rough.
Flaringo, Kistin, oh, dude.
Yeah, you feel it.
That hurts.
That's tough.
Time now.
You're right to point out Kixando.
I mean, those two kills, they weren't the flashiest.
Just really good positioning, good timing.
That's all you need sometimes.
When you're having a rough map yourself, he's 13 and 23.
He would have been 11-23.
He just had to play smart CS.
Had to find his timing, get the freebies.
1-0 advantage for Aurora, baronine 1st and 19.
I'm really enjoying this map, though.
It's turned into something now.
Beginning it was a little bit one-sided.
See if you're just joining us now.
Anubis went to Aurora, which is not too surprising.
But this map has been a real struggle.
It was just noticeable, G2 just didn't turn up.
Yep.
And it was the same case for the most of Inferno as well.
They were 6-0 up, but then this fell off.
Woke up towards the end of regulation, got us to overtime.
They were 12-10 down after being 6-0 up.
Admirable, but still a chance to give it all up.
1-0, a war up.
Walks to go towards B this time.
And it looks like that's why they might be heading.
No one entering the apartments.
Three players here, they'll drop the deep volatile
while I'll merge two.
So making his way up towards half wall.
Bear in mind, walks into the corner, backed up
by Wakadia.
Flashbang's good.
Takes, walks off the line,
and actually both CTs get out of there.
Nice grenade to soften them up.
The fact that he's still out of here.
This grenade feels incredibly risky.
I mean, there's a surprise factor to your team.
Here with a flash, another one has set it up,
The nuts! This is what it's been looking for.
Like all infernal, trying to get these kind of entries.
Finally does it, man, yeah.
Nothing the rest of Aurora could do about it.
Pretty clumsy there for Aurora.
Didn't feel like they had control of the situation whatsoever.
Yeah, missing grenades, standing on top of each other.
Just a weird configuration.
They normally have kicks in over there, kind of controlling the mass.
I think you needed that to kind of guide them a little bit.
Yeah, that's probably true.
Tags out of walks here, can it's a bit of a mess between the two of them?
These kills mean nothing.
They really don't.
I think Kixen maybe hoping that there was gonna be just one player left.
I mean, he has a kit, but there's not a lot of time, so...
Probably very unlikely regardless.
Alright.
Probably won't run that setup again.
Suntar is a loser, they care as well.
1-1.
1 flash, double kill for Nurtz.
Who will pick up the last round at the first half of double overtime here?
Money's fine on both sides of the equation.
Big round here.
Massive.
But the confidence going into that second half.
Winning Unity 1 to guarantee double overtime going forward.
Can G2 do it? Can they find their form? Can they take us to Mirage?
Last time they beat Aurora 2-0 on day one.
It's not going to be the case today, but maybe they can close it out in the third, if they can get there.
The longer they go, the more time you're playing, the more energy you're spending on both sides.
Well, exactly, they're the ones who turned up almost nothing into the series, so they're happy.
The longer this goes, you can see the individual is getting better and better.
Nice sequence there from Nuts.
Let's get into it.
Back in...
First team to 19.
Thank you, round.
That's a charging throw with a flashbang.
Santaris is dead.
I don't know what he did. He backed him up either.
I think...
Woxig wanted to be there, but the flash...
...he hit as well.
Cellflasher mats as well. Popped it through the smoke.
CT smoke deep. And Zatars goes down with absolutely nothing.
Only one here defending B now.
Mokadia, he dies, the ground is over once again.
That's two up. That is brutal.
Pretty disappointing way to close it out.
You can say that.
Kicksand's under the routine. They're going to be looking for Kicksand,
but you said normally he is that secondary player to Mokadia.
Sendaries, flashbangs, it's gonna flashbang yourself in. This is a mad idea.
All you can do, literally, don't hate it.
Miracle now required. By 2% chance when you get out.
Okay, well look at the numbers down. Let's see how reality follows.
They've been waiting for the bomb plant, they didn't want to go for it right away, HG is nice, but actually bounces along off the corner, wouldn't it kill Hunter anyway, but you know, might change from 2 to 3% if you get that.
Smoke up, and there's a huge gap.
Walksic is praying for anyone to give him a peek, but they're not doing that.
The discipline is an effect here, G2, they know what they need to do.
Like you said, if they win this round two, they'll set up very well for the second half.
That's gonna be coming up here.
Walksic suging in.
He's already over.
He just doesn't know it yet.
Heavy got to get the last one, 17 to 16.
They just need two more rounds, anyway.
I'll map here.
One more for guaranteed triple overtime.
trying to keep their head in the game. They probably should have closed it out in regulation.
If you remember, they were 12th and they got the first two kills in towards B.
Hunter holding off some new boxes. That's the round they should have won all day long. They fumbled down.
And now, looking sloppy out there. Like, Santar is just running down middle.
Nothing done.
And Wakadia gets caught out of position as well.
So, G2-1 to get map points, barrage point, wrinkle has been feeding himself more here in Furno.
This time goes on.
They're doing a lot right now.
That is very well played.
Spongebob's up in the land as well, that half wall.
So, trying to burn them out a little bit more.
Actually does push Aurora all the way back behind those smokes at the bottom of Banana, so...
I'm pretty confident G2 close it out now. It feels like Aurora and they've had their opportunities
It's getting too messy now comms under fall apart people trying to make heroic plays
Yeah
Don't know I mean I
Feel like Jimmy's been starting to step it up more, but it does feel like the rest of the team are slowly collapsing at the moment
Let's see
Sub one minute
Kick-san
Dropping the flashbang towards top of it.
Breakaway to shot.
Takes me out of 19 HP.
It's something that's better than nothing.
Smoke on quad. This one connects.
Tail kills are not right.
40 seconds.
They're smoked off on the other side.
So if you want this, you're going to have to come through arch to try and attack this defense.
Can't really fall back now anyway. 30 seconds.
The bomb is alone up in the apartments.
That in itself is an enormous risk.
risk. Even if you win the bomb site you could be running the clock down very low in 20 seconds.
They're trying to see if they can wrap around and Molotov lands towards the pit. Put a little
bit of pressure on, heavy gawd. Takes down Santaris. The bomb is lost. The round is lost here. G2
a stepped closer to Mirage. Yeah they've run out of steam here I'm afraid. Aurora I don't have
enough left in the tank. T side looking quite flat. Never for a moment looked like G2 are
in danger in that particular round. Heavy God stepping up massively in the tail end here
of Inferno known as one of the best pit players in the game. Pretty next to Jimmy. Quiet and
regulation but loud and proud here in double overtime. One more round we'll do it for
them I don't think. Aurora have it. Aurora are pretty much locked in if you ask me.
We're starting to get the same feeling here. Some of these rounds where they get
Smoked off Aurora it feels like so just to know kicks out from back ten and around where they had three K
Can buy an AK so it'd be an apartment spot. I'm guessing that is a good call Henry. I like that
I mean it could work, but like you pointed out they're attacking one of the best pick players in the world
They could make different other ideas that it's going to the strap book now to set pieces
They're the defaults. I'm working players on set enough
He's cross-controlled, and there he is!
Headshots before they even can make it out to the railing!
Nervs does die, trying to flank really fast, and now they're trying to run back, but Mattis is here.
They're hoping that that was it, that was the last of the banana defense.
Mattis is slowly backing away, or don't be looking at the chickens now, forget about them.
Woxic nearly hunting him down, that honestly thought he was going to get shot on the side of the head there.
50 seconds.
The only way to win this now, Wotsick gets a clean duel on Mattis.
Santaris, but he just can't find the multis there.
That could have changed everything as well.
I need something for it.
A clean kill is what you ask for on a great mind game.
They smoke up after he's pushed through.
There's no way that Mattis is going to be looking for this.
This is such an intelligent play coming out from Aurora.
Oh, my de-ball is back.
That's crazy work.
The only way they can win this round, Wotsick.
Reading the needle. Hoping CT spawn is clear. They have control for now. Can they hold on?
Low HP on both of them. Both CTs coming in from banana. Walk, zig-tucks himself in, Anders. Flashbang to come over. He'll swing on this.
Or will he?
It's always fumbled him!
They were right there! They walked into his crosshair and somehow needed one!
He just can't do it. He leaves it up to Bacardia.
He's bursted one down, but they're already on it.
Wait, he stopped?
Hunter!
He would have won the round already!
Wakadia comes back in, all right!
He's got to pick it up, but it's very, very close.
He's got an absolutely scary round, but G2, they'll take it.
A shipple from Hunter, a massive performance from the capsule.
G2 in general, as they get to a third map.
They absolutely do.
It looked like they were falling apart, but Aurora kept them in the game.
They had a 12-10 lead, they fumbled the advantages, and they collapsed in overtime.
G2 starting to look themselves as we get towards the end of Inferno,
and maybe they can make it to Porto, if they make their way towards Mirage.
Multiple chances, an incredibly exciting game, but G2 somehow, some way, find a way,
once again, to battle back into a series against this Aurora.
Pimp, you look stunned.
Yeah, I am here to be completely honest.
to feel like this game had so many facets to it right. The beginning was pretty much
G2 in control, Aurora for the first time in this tournament not winning the CT side pistol,
struggling a little bit to get going and then slowly but surely they get activated in that
CT side and we get a competitive game and a close game and then second half, Rocker
you know there were so many rounds where you just can't explain it. You have a,
is it natural dying through a glock hitbox, sitting down in mini pit you know doing
the dirty stuff. Then you have Matt is not picking up the bomb we're gonna go
go through it all, but it was such a mess and back and forth.
But I constantly felt Aurora, you know,
that they had to capitalise on getting an opportunity
and maybe striking on G2 when they were clearly not playing
well, but they failed to do so.
And the deeper we got into the game,
as we also prefaced in the segment coming into it,
the more it was clear that Aurora ran out of ideas.
They had to play an A, maybe they had to play an B,
play an C, nonexistent.
It was such a weird game.
Like, it's my first thing, like watching this type of game
from the analyst desk, it was so weird because...
How would you summarize it?
I think it was a matter of nerves
and you could feel something was on the line
because obviously G2 made some bombers
like throughout this map as well,
but it's the ones that Arora makes
that stands out like so, so much.
Like even in the last round,
like Boxic and his after plans for sessioning this game here,
he's gonna look back at this and think,
if I had just played time, played with my teammate,
a lot of these things would have been avoided.
And yeah, like it's a game of X-ray, X-rescent clutches.
And I would say there were equally, you know,
these things going for both teams,
but it's the ones that Aurora Luster stands out.
We were getting though some of the frustration as well
from the Aurora campus, this was going on weeks.
We expected maybe not tilting,
but some of that mentality to start to be fragile.
But there was multiple desk slams
and there was a lot of frustration,
which shows to me that it was just pushing more
into G2's hand as well.
Yeah, 100%.
And I understand that it's a frustrating way to lose
when you have a winnable position,
you're well aware that as a team they know what we know as well. The deeper you go into the game,
the deeper you go into the map pool, heading into Mirage as well, I think the players felt this
was the opportunity to capitalize on, close out the game 2-0, don't have to stress too much
about it and then as we got into the second overtime you could also see it on the player
camps. It got visibly more and more frustrating while on the server as well. It did feel like
to me Kixon and the boys ran out of ideas. They couldn't really capitalize on the opportunity
they had and that T-side and the way they wanted to execute it, they ran out of ideas.
Like knowing at least the Turkish trio and the old Aurora team, this would be the breaking point.
Like then going out having to discuss what went wrong, I have the feeling they like to discuss these things and point a little bit fingers.
So coming into a new map in a couple of minutes, I think they need to show that this team is different than the old Turkish one.
Because the old Turkish one would come out here and then they would put up a little bit of fight and then the guys will run out again and they will lose the map.
So this is where Aurora needs to get tested to see if they have actually moved on from the old version of them.
That's a good thing though, they got kicks on the lineup now and he's used to that from Falcons.
You know, he's been involved in a lot of these games, so maybe he can go in the right direction in regards to that.
Well, we saw some positives in terms of the clutch in some of these rounds, some impressive performances from Mattis as well.
Yeah, I mean, Mattis in this tournament I think he's stepped it up a little bit, to be completely honest.
was struggling after a bit coming into it. I think he is still a little bit of a question,
Mark and G2, as in how do you get the most out of Mattis and how do you get him to
completely perform, but in this game he did a great job and found an awful lot of impact.
Mattis is forever one of these role-players that we also had Jakinda talking about,
that he gets the maximum out of the stuff that he gets presented in front of him.
So for me, when I have to assess Mattis, I also look for the players around him.
Like we saw Nerds not getting the same success in the beginning of their CT side with the entries,
meaning that when they actually came running at matches it was five instead of just two or three.
And that obviously makes the task a little bit harder, more uterine on the board, more trading power,
meaning you also need to play the situations differently.
But the thing about these players, like when they are this good, they will find their
moments in such a tight series to shine and have impact.
Well, it's not often we get to see clock kills, let alone a burst clock kill.
You go the round we're going to look at next as well, right?
It could be the ugliest round of cards we've seen so far this year.
It's a bit of a weird one, especially at 11 to 10.
Look at the buy coming in for a raw right here.
They have nothing to work with.
A nice opening as well by Wrenkel.
Fallback does everything right.
Same could be said for Heavigard.
A 5v3 for a couple of moments.
He typically can't finish the kill
and all of a sudden everything is falling apart.
Then you have Voxic camping down here
with a glock missing the opportunity.
Then gets stuck and you think to yourself, well, you're dead.
I don't know how Nerds finds a way to lose that duel. I've never seen anything like it.
And they end up losing the round and I thought to myself, that's it. 12-10 for Aurora.
They have to win the game by now.
Well, I'll give you some insight. Let's find out exactly what the comms were like in that one with this mic top moment.
Let's get it tracked.
Let's do it, whatever you want.
Let's get it long. Long shot, guys.
Back behind. It's gonna be short.
Guys, guys, guys, guys. Calm down.
Yes, job is not done yet.
Okay.
I did see that right on the afters.
We only just now hear the mic top moment.
But I'm thinking if Zantara's,
of all people, is laughing like that,
surely you're gonna close it out
and the job is gonna be done.
Was it Jimmy who just went bro
He's like, bro, what are you doing here, you know?
I love to see these comms throughout all of that, by the way.
And then they try to tell him to be, like, not talk so much.
They want some sound.
So there's a balance they're still trying to find in all this.
Broga, what do you make of these comms?
I think this voice comm is like the perfect angle as a coach
to look at where the team is at, because first you hear
the one I think I hate.
Everyone just repeating where people are.
A million times headshot.
You know, like doing something about it, saying,
I'm going to swing, like, trade me or something.
But then at the same time, you know,
when I swing, like, trade me or something.
But then at the same time, as soon as Jimmy dies,
he picks up, instantly showing why he's been on mouse
for such a long time and such a good player.
He dies, starts calling for the players alive
so they can focus on their crosshairs.
And then at the same time,
like creating the picture about what's happening.
He even calls out, there is a guy mid,
even though Voxy hears him.
And at the same time, you know,
keeps this like ping-pong going,
that helps the teammates, you know,
to build the picture of what's happening around.
It gets worse.
Why does it get worse?
Because the round follow-up, you know,
You heard Kixson in the scene clip saying the job is not done yet. The job was done in round number 23
It was so so close for Aurora to capitalize on that
I hope we have it in production to play it out. They get a double entry on banana
They know where the third guy in the bomb site is yet. They find a way to lose that round. It got significantly worse teams
They're trying to find the round for you now pimps. You can isolate that one
I know we're trying to pull it all out. There were so many rounds and so many moments in this right
If you're G2 though, right? This was your tried and tested pick things were not working out
Are you gonna come into this now with like mega confidence you managed to pull it off when you felt like there was no chance?
Or should you be looking this like guys? What are we doing still correct me if I'm wrong rocket?
But I would feel as a player winning in a game where you play like a sack of potatoes
Which G2 did is one of the best feelings ever because it can't get any worse than that
You played a horrible game of Counter-Strike according to their own standards on a map like inferno yet
You got away with a win so all they have to think about right now is that they got lucky and then you know
use that momentum, use the happiness and come into Mirage and just play slightly
better because they've shown that they don't have to play their best point of
Counter-Strike to be the role. Also now it's equal playing ground again both teams
has their backs against the waltz whereas before Aurora could you know
laugh it off maybe some mental exercises I don't know but now it's
back on you know the loser of this map goes out the winner goes to
playoffs and I think that matters a lot especially considering you have a
team that's a little bit fragile mentally coming out of the second map
they will feel that when and if they lose the first pistol round they will instantly feel the pressure.
Well this is why Blast Reduction is one of the best pin. We got your round for you man, it's coming.
And that's the whole point right here Roar, it's a nightmare.
They do such a good job winning the round, which is so before.
Maybe a little bit lucky here, you have Nerds, who actually had a massive amount of impact in overtime.
He gets nailed down by Santerres, nice double entry, they catch the guy right here, Honda on site.
If you were to pause the round in this very moment, it is unloosable.
Where's the trading? How does Hunder get away into this position staying alive for long enough for Winkle to come in,
grenade the smoke and then they lose a 3v2 retake as well.
Two players get stuck on banana while the third guy is isolated in towards Bastop right here
and they end up losing the round. There's so many mistakes.
There's so many moments in this round where you could pause the round and you'd be like,
Unloseable, Unloseable, Unloseable, yet they lost it.
I can tell you why. It's because whoever jumps up first block took the face at waypoint
not wanting to run in and trade the guy. He wanted to jump up, kill the rotator coming off and so instead of trading the guy, make it over.
A little bit of kills on coffins.
A little bit of kills on coffins goes that way. And also there's a bit of a bomb shenanigans as well in this round.
Do you know which one this is, right? With Matty trying to get it in time, running around, scrambling for it all.
That's another example of a messy game of counterfeits. There's mistakes being made on both sides right here.
Again, well done on Rikki, played aggressive, tried to do the job right here,
trading back and forth.
You sink to yourself, okay, Jimfett down here in pit.
He's won the round at this point.
12 seconds left.
The bomb has been spotted on short.
For some reason, Jimfett decides to peek out
and he technically could have lost the round.
Had it not been for Mattis jumping over the bomb,
not paving it up in time, not having time to plant.
Had he picked up the bomb from the get-go,
he would have had time to plant.
However, had Jimmy just stayed alive in pit,
not fought whatsoever,
Hock the wall height, you know, hands off the keyboard, the round would also have been a while.
I don't know what's going on in this game, but it was just mistake after mistake after mistake,
and I guess the pressure got to them. You have more for us.
I was like, I don't know more. I don't know why. I was just going to point out the fact that, like,
we're sat with Raga and Pym during this room right, and they're both just calling,
don't do this, do this. This is what's happening. That was one of the most-
Do lose your mind if you're standing behind a team like that.
When you're like, for me, there's just so many unforgivable as I also
It also seems like just coming out of the game, like when you have the advantage in an after plant, especially on inferno,
you don't need to do that much. You need to get the information, punish the lines,
but at least in two of the impact rounds that we also saw, Voxic overplaying a little bit, going for an aggressive line.
It happened in one of the last rounds at the half wall, it happened on short wait.
They also lose a 2v2 where they're like pressured on time as well.
It's these small things that when you hit the shot everyone is like,
ah, SIG, bro, nice play, but the few times you lose it,
you will feel regrets for a very long time because it's not a hands-off the keyboard,
but it's a little bit more passive mindset in the actual first duel, then you win the round.
I want to talk about Maragh because it's uncharted and untested territory against each other.
It was the decided last time, now we finally get here.
Where did we sit within this map? What are we to expect throughout all of this?
That's a good question. I'd expect G2 to play significantly better.
As I said, I think they got away with a bit of a murder right here against Aurora.
I expect them to come in and maybe take charge of the game.
One team have to stabilize and if I were to look towards Aurora and G2
and ask myself the question, who's more likely to stabilize in a game like this?
I agree with you. I think the mental side of things is going to be a big point of conversation.
And right now for Aurora, they need a good start. More than G2 needs a good start.
It is one of the maps where before the event I was looking at like what did Wrinkle do
before coming into this event on the city side of Mirage.
And this was the only map where he was actually more passive.
So I'm very curious if they have had time, you know,
to implement him into going for more openings,
because I think there are chances against Arora
and how they play the heavy defaults on mid,
leaving Centaurs under window for him to punish that.
So I'm very curious to see, like, what G2 shows up
in terms of taking the driver's seat or not.
Well, let's see if they can take the driver's seat.
Let's see if they can take the game.
Either way, we should be in for a banger of a match
because this one did deliver with excitement and entertainment.
We're going to break, and when we come back,
We'll be going straight into the game
It seemed to think that you to have this one in the bag and as we say it
I think anything is in the bag right now. I feel like it's it's all up in the air at the moment
I have no idea what's going on
I'm glad our analysts were also fairly critical because I thought I feel like maybe just you and I was seeing mistakes
But it's not I say am I being too negative. I'm glad rugger echoed our sentiments here Aurora
I'm gonna say they choked the hell of that map like so many fumbles sounding mistakes
Not a great game from G2 either but the mistakes certainly more glaring the obvious for Aurora
12, 10 up. You had that huge advantage. You choke it out. And then in overtime, it's all
collapses. And I think Pym made a good point as well. Aurora known for this. They have
a couple of bad rounds and the series falls apart. They can never mentally recover from
it. And I feel like G2 are just going to absolutely batter them on the third map.
I like that, Henry. It's a strong prediction coming into this. We know where we stand.
I am so excited. I want to see these teams. We didn't get a chance last time, Mirage.
We never got there because G2 just wanted 2-0 on the same maps to prepare, but now we've got an opportunity.
A miracle for G2 to even be on the third map. They didn't really deserve it. The way they showed up today, it was like a sea game.
No one was there. Heavy got didn't turn up. Mattis looked weak. Wrinkle, a shadow of his former self. He looked passive, tentative, missing.
Sitters, but then they let him back in. They let him get warmed up. The Heavy got arrived. And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, it's Mirage.
One of these two teams goes to Porto, the other goes home.
Pressure is on, and we're going for a bead rush, and there's no messing around here, no mind games.
We're getting straight into it. They'll slow it down with a couple of smokes, but still remains five players going in very quickly towards me.
Smokes down towards the window, and the Arch, you'd imagine, and the flashes will follow. Here we go.
We are, for Julian, straighting on the other side, for Riccardia. He's ready to slaughter them.
and he's found two already heavy God.
Can he bring this team back or is there a lot of damage?
It's not too late, Hunter gets the head shot,
but it is heavy God alone and he will not miss.
He really came alive towards the midpoint of that inferno game.
Might have been too late to actually win the map,
but he's been hitting some shots here and Aurora.
Great job winning the pistol.
Rugger said it's important when you give
that kind of a lead and they've done well so far.
Convincing pistol as well, no complanthid,
Karkatia stepping up double kill with those dual elites kicks and had a rough on an inferno
Fighting back. Oh Jimmy, it's gonna be bomb side one of the best players on that side of the map and all of CS2
Follie go now
G2 1D goal a few clocks
Antares into what's Yandepas be careful my friend
Got a full belt of utile as well. Lots of lose there
Yeah, we've been kind of on him the whole time because he just loves to go for solo excursions.
Okay, he's found one for free if he wants it.
You're the four somewhere outside.
Shocking moment for Mattis.
We could hang out here and control this entire side of the map so probably find
it.
There it is.
Were you two gone?
Four on four.
I don't think so.
Oh man.
To be fair, I guess, have you got that? It's kind of a cool shot, so...
Yeah, of course he's going to hit those shots. This is one of the world's best players.
That's fair.
You can't just go on solo plays. Just because they're eco.
I'm trying to sweep for a minute. I'm doing my best. I'm doing my absolute best.
Yeah, once again. It's not okay.
I agree. It's not okay.
It's an interesting storyline to follow though at the start of the inception of this award
team to see if Ash and the rest of them can sort of figure out what's gone wrong, like
why is this happening all the time?
Good enough find.
You did get tagged up, so there was a threat band that they could have found another one.
It actually would have been really awkward if Jimmy dies.
Because that would have for Cardia, with no backup in B.
Nice shot, heavy guard.
Ash is in this round now.
Another best in the game.
I'm gonna get deep enough, but he's pasted into a corner.
Drive by him soon.
He actually gonna lose his rounds.
No way.
Bombing Clancy in here, if you could swing for it, it might be enough.
Oh, it's Clancy, heavy guard.
He's found a third Deagle headshot, he just needs one more.
Clicker the mouse, and he'll win the round for his team.
Mokadia low.
The body shot started to connect.
He's pulled out of SMG instead.
He's gonna get a chance to reload in here.
24 health left on the other side.
Oh, there it goes!
Heavy God has crushed it!
And it all starts with a little bit of aggression from Santaris.
Completely beloved.
Don't deserve to win the round if you're doing that, I'm afraid.
He's just trying to... He knows Eriko.
He's trying to get stuck in.
He wants to go get a few frags.
You've given up the SMG.
You've made it very uncomfortable.
And you've lost to a couple of deagles and glocks.
Yep.
absolute disaster and like I said deserved you're right we said it last time
around that was days those almost a week ago yeah but we started complaining
about it and we've been complaining ever since we do that pretty well oh dear
Yeah, it is justified though.
Scouts from Wachsik, he's been known to hear a scout shot at two.
He's very good with it.
Your mentor's gonna be in the bin though after that one.
I guess that's the other side of it, we're just saying like, ah great, you know, with the pistol, then you get that little spring into the round.
Jimmy's playing that B position alone.
We'll have Molotovs as well so they clear up the ladder room.
Front precision for the A ramp with the scout playing back towards CT spawn.
Already though.
Hunter with the nice shots.
Hunter with top-fragging, I think the G2 on the second map.
I feel like generally he's been playing pretty well individually once he gets going.
Scouts not a factor.
If it had been, it would have been more of a setup here towards the sandwich, but
It's not going to be happening to clear everything out, leaving Jimmy with his SMG across the map.
Let's try to un-tilt myself, Andy, hold on.
Henry, you've played Counter-Strike for longer than most of our viewers have probably been alive at this stage.
Back when you were competing against Pimp and the better players, how did you un-tilt yourself? Like, what's the trick?
trick? I don't know. I was normally quite tilted. I was like, I was that guy. I actually
didn't have a very good mental. I was actually quite toxic to play with.
I probably understand. I'm going to talk to my commentator. You can imagine what I'd
be like as an IGL. I'm pretty convincing and I'm pretty sure now this is what you
do in front of a way of it. As we said, it's a raw right. It's their calling card.
If they lose a disastrous round, they normally just collapse and it doesn't get much
much worse than four Glocks and a Deagle and no armor. Doesn't really get much worse at
all. We will have tech pause here. Should be the full eco. We will have an SMG.
Maybe people could tweet their best, you know, anti-tilt strategy for you, Henry, if you're
still searching after all this years. Maybe that's, you need a little bit of help there.
I certainly do.
They're more ways than one.
Nice work, Hunter.
Pretty pedestrian round for them.
Not much pressure being applied.
Both captains have had great tournaments,
like in terms of their numbers.
Oh, yeah.
Hunter's one of my favorite Nebulae leaders by far.
Proper captain.
Good fragger.
Always calm.
We do still sometimes wonder, you said this as well,
when the IGLs are on top of the board,
it's sort of, you can't help but think.
Does that mean something else is not working in this team? Like, why is that happening? It's impressive!
You said E.Co. coming out.
Jimmy with the MP9.
Do whatever you want really at this stage.
You want to go aggressive, push, you know, on the passes of an enemy, you could try it.
Ah, just to win this kind of a round.
Miss window smoke shouldn't matter too much.
Not a USP's in the air for mentioned.
Jimmy MP9.
And he's boosted up inside of you.
A position that is sometimes overlooked, but you would hope that G2 have the extra mental
strength here to sort of have that conversation before they get there, if they ever get there.
You can monitor that from the B hallways, but it is kind of finicky, like it's a little
bit weird sometimes.
Nice expulsion in the middle, this one will land in the window, and the other
one at top connects us somewhere.
It took a long time to land, but it is up and running.
Splitting from short, okay.
One MP9 and a dream, and I guess watch it as a teammate, so we can distract him a little bit.
Well actually, some towers kinda looking over that smoke, so maybe already a bit disjointed as I'm trying to hit the bombsite.
45 seconds left.
There's a good spray down, but here we go, just very quick to react.
Yeah, good damage, yeah. I'd like them to win the round, but maybe one more kill, be a pretty successful eco.
Low HP for Wakadia and Zantares.
Oh, they got the AKM kicks in. Maybe the USP should stick around and sort of sandwich them in.
I don't want to see them risking the AKM, I just don't think that's necessary.
Well, it's risked.
It's risked.
You can spot the barrel with Guardian up low HP, nothing you can do.
No weapons available.
Hoping just to find one on the exit.
I feel like even though he's been playing pretty well on some of these maps,
Heavy God, I don't think we've really had the real Heavy God experience.
But I mean, if at least I start to hear 8, 2, 1...
Towards the end of Inferno, we were seeing him.
For sure.
Yeah, right.
You can acquire the regulation, but like, over time you really turn up the heat.
Okay, that's fair.
Yeah.
When the most important rounds come through that was crunch time wrinkle as well
Had some bad moments, but some also some excellent ones towards the end. That's a problem
Kind of raw up pick up the pieces here disaster after the pistol
Such a great pistol as well. I have to work so hard for it
Super clean denied the plan fully go to follow things up and how you give that round up. I'll never know
Well, we've got more for the desk to talk about the release. They were going through all the lowlights
They were analyzing and it honestly it's fair right whatever team makes the least mistakes at this point
It's probably gonna be winning him at the moment of aura giving up some rounds that they just do not need to
Nuts can he blow open the smoke and find Santaris is a common angle
Dancing to avoid the AK bullets that are passing right by his toes
This is
Okay, lucky to be alive, what's that?
Not for long.
Gonna be a trade back from Akkadia.
At least a 4 on 4 now.
Satara's 1 and 5.
One kill he got was...
An MP9 to the Glock in the back.
Died every single round.
Yes, indeed.
Okay, that's a flashbang.
Gonna be followed up with a smoke if they were really risking it.
Yeah, they are doing that
Let's see if Jimmy's aware that they're already on the other side. This is the bomb by the way
He's a top me so he's not quite ready cross out the right position
Nuts fast with it. A lot of damage to Wakandi. That's close to being a double kill. Yeah
He's the only one that can save the round. He has a chance to reload nine bullets
There's no backup nearby. Not yet. Anyway, it's the first one against heavy-god
Five bullets now and they're slowed down behind me and finally peeking in his nuts. I
I thought Wukar here had a chance there.
He all, he took like 150 damage to two people in the first burst that he had on that bombsite,
but it just wasn't enough.
Nurtz with a triple.
Good push through the smoke though.
If you see that Jimmy wasn't, he wasn't quite ready.
Certainly not.
Another convincing round for G2.
Like I said, I think they're going to absolutely be bad at them.
You did say that.
So strong addiction.
Yeah.
It's just no good.
starting every round four and five essentially just just play a standard round
kicks down last player remaining four to one in terms of loss bonus they'll be up to $2,900 into the
next so they get partial by I suppose kicks down and drop a couple pistols gotta save them four here
and it's looking way too comfy now I mean I think even the part where Starris is jumping
down there in the underpass like back and forth it feels like something surely you
want to just swing for a fight like get wakande to flash you in it's great that
wakande gets like a kill and return there but the whole thing just seems very confusing
for one. Ash is giving him a ball of king now he said he said we can't start every
round four and five right that's probably fair that doesn't make the game a lot a lot more
tricky. It's true. What do you want me to say Henry? It's hard to argue against what you're saying, you know.
Okay, let's see. Looking for a bit of a miracle here. What can you do with the saved rifle?
There's a boost behind a boxes for example. You could try to bring out,
you could try and flash him in towards middle. A bit of a partial buy here, some pistols and
and Kevlar. I mean I guess it's worth a bit of a recall to Inferno where there was 6-0
4-g2 and the atmosphere was much the same. You're like, ah, Aurora they're done for and
then they did come back in, you know, brought into double OZ. But it has to be a very similar
kind of thing. And remember, I think it was Woxic landing back-to-back quad kills
with the AWP. It has to be something similar. Any god realizes getting pushed here wants
to relocate. That is a very good idea. Spotted two players in towards Palace though.
They don't commit. Don't try and lock them in. Just going to reset the rounds
here give up an AK-47 there's a tower I said this shot nope that's the AK it's a
nice idea but he's really not been feeling it this tournament I don't know
if we have a stat for how many multi kills he's got but I feel like he is very
often traded out almost immediately I was thinking that in the previous
The most you'll get is one, at least today.
Kind of a mid-round retake middle here.
And before he had that kill, he kind of switched targets almost immediately.
Give you guys an abacadia 1 vs 2.
The bomb is back here.
If you could have found the kill on Rinkul, who's already tanked up, it would have been interesting.
Yeah, because the bomb was down that top middle as well.
Yeah, but it's going to be 5-1, a decent attempt there in the partial buy, but no dice.
Okay, Woxic's got the orb now.
Yeah, gotta turn up the heat. There was 6 nil down on Inferno to be fair.
Got it back to our 75 scoreline. Open in pick.
Got the AK, but another solo excursion gave it up.
Rincor, slow handled, really warming up into the series now. Seconds in time, but he's there.
Execution looks too likely. They dropped two smokes in the corner. Rincor gonna cover the cross.
And yeah, showing mid presence with the mid smokes, like I said, they've got lots of utility
outside the bomb site, re-smoked towards window with the looks of things here, especially
in towards the connect out courtesy of NURTS, so execution coming in momentarily.
Terms of the setup, only two players there, it's going to be Kicks out.
He's gonna be on fire down there in the shadow not gonna be easy if he's found it
Just a bit of real estate to be on
The flash is coming through as well. He's traded out by nuts. Could you tell me?
CT spawn it's Wakadia
You know, we can get some shots and we'll take down nuts that slows it down even further Aurora with a real chance here
Bomb is not planted yet. In fact, they're pushing in towards CT spawn hoping to catch Wakadia
anyone else is going to be there.
Oh, that's very nice.
I thought he was going to get every single one there.
Important kill for Wox.
He walks out to the end for us.
We can take the fight, but Hunter, through the box.
Not really a fair fight at all.
Come on, Tantarus.
We know you've got the battery.
The wrinkle is ready. Doesn't fear him at all.
Post it up on the corner.
We'll take him down. It's another round.
Six in a row.
Aurora won the pistol and then they've gone on a bit of a lost streak here.
here. Another partial by Maximum Ross bonus.
Riccadio will purchase the M4, got a couple of kills, a lot of them more money but heavy
god. Really nice drop in the grenade, knowing they're going to be backpedaling. Trying to
avoid it, that's when he goes to the swivel, low HP, it's a really nice counter strike.
Yeah, really really good. As mentioned partial by MP9 for Zantaro's Riccadio
The M4 pistols otherwise kicks out of the SMG as well. It's quite a potent bar show
Yes, all about whether or not they can actually stack the players in the right position here
At this rate, they're gonna be behind where the T side utility lands
So I guess you can still try to get some shots through maybe do a little bit of damage, but it will be
More arts than science at that point in time
Flashbangs going over. Bombsite's on fire behind it. There is a bit of a missing utility here.
I feel like normally there's going to be another smoke in it.
No, it's still doing a fine job cleaning up a couple of kills.
Should allow for a bomb plant. I don't think they have the line up to spam them down.
So that's almost a job done.
Heavy God with that headshot.
Might just cement it.
We're Cardia and Jimmy.
They need a kill like that for the smoke.
and they need something to work on their side and it's just not 7-1 they don't have the kit
I'm already much to report here G2 going through the motions Jimmy nice shot given that but
doesn't really affect the outcome can't find a weapon but he has a kevlar wikati or the hero in
four doesn't really get a look in. Seven to one now. This feels like we're in cruise control.
Another tactical timeout maybe required already. Ash just having to sit back and watch this one
fall apart. There it is. Well he's still got the plans though right? He's not coming into
these rounds empty handed. He's trying to sort of orchestrate this whole thing for his team.
Oh
Vibes are immaculate
All right
High fives all around
He's trying to get the troops in order sometimes that does require some some harsh words guys keep visiting men
Yeah, six one. Yep. We need one round to get back. Let's go
So if you need a lot more than that.
It comes out of the double ups that we saw this before, right?
This is where Wakadia is actually very capable with the secondary orb.
It's actually kind of fantastic with that.
Okay.
The only one we're really keeping the dream alive is Wakadia right now.
Needing to be that turret.
Oh it's towards B.
An absolute collapse there. Inferno should have been theirs.
G2 turned up looking very weak.
12-10 down in Inferno.
Too many fumbled rounds from Aurora, they led them back in.
And now it seems like they've run out of fuel under the gas.
Nurt's opening things up, Zintar is down here, the AK as well.
It's a great grenade though.
Sets up Woxig on top of the ticket booth and a kick-sand on the follow.
Oh, they have no idea a kick-sand is gonna go down there.
Yeah, sure. Nurt's must realize he's a step away.
Just edge in the corner here.
Oh, nice shots.
What a flick from kick-sand.
such a big kill. Completely turns around in his head. Kicks into it and he's one round
to get back into it and he's single-handedly finding the kills. Triple for him. Wrinkle.
Nothing he can really do. He's got the bomb in his bag. Rebe and Wakadia. We can get the
killer towards B somehow. That's Jimmy though, like we said, one of the best ever in this
bomb site. He knows he's going to stay alive. He doesn't need to force the issue. He's
doing exactly that. Should be fine, Anders. And Wrinkle has to stay scoped up this
whole time. Otherwise, he's going to give the game away. He's almost at the corner.
Finds it nearly for free. None of his shorts, you made a big mistake there.
No, this is really well played from Rinkle for reasons you stated.
Understood what he's up against. Oh, there's a chance now.
Oh, my God. Takes away kick salmon. Oh, my God.
He's got his cross there all ready for it. A one versus three here.
This is what he was brought into the team to do.
And in the tournament so far, he's been spectacular.
But he needs more shots.
Yeah, there is no kit either.
Ten second defuse.
There's a Molotov on Rinko.
He could win this with a grenade, but he'll be a scum.
A massive clutch for this new AWPer.
Yeah, we're done.
What can you even say, D-Rash?
A couple of high fives, I guess.
Kixxan gets you a 1v4.
A 1v4.
And it still collapses.
Like, amazing work from Rinko.
Like we said, Anders.
didn't really turn up to the series but you let it back into it and then he pulls this off
feels like the killing blow lasted the morale gone absolute meltdown they've done it again and a
absolute stinker of a round you can say we need more time but there's no excuse in that one
no there isn't when you called it from the start it was going to be one side error
I wasn't expecting Aurora to give up these kind of rounds, I thought okay with a pistol
round you know what?
Someone to build on but they've lost eight in Aurora and we're still counting.
Utilities gonna be low on the CT side and around like this one.
G2.
This is the sort of series that changes rosters.
Yeah.
I'm not telling you, you could be right.
We're seeing some of the same mistakes over and over again. I mean, yeah, it's gotta be a really bitter experience
In some case almost even watching it from a just from a distance here could be a bit demoralizing
What do they got?
Sickening entry from Mattis
Straight diagonal across the bonsai to cut down Jimmy. Makadia is up here and no one's noticed yet
Yeah, he's sneaking underneath him. Should be able to get this kill towards ketchup
There it is, he knows the second one beneath him as well.
So, man advantage, Bacardiya really is one of the few keeping the dream alive here.
Good grenade, that should get him actually, he's low HP.
Oh! It bounced off the wall.
I think he thought he was escaping the grenade.
But because he was a risk to get some fun, he ran into it.
Oh, yank! Here is nuts!
The spray down from the murder hole, nine in a row for G2.
Everything is working for them, every peek, every call.
Even the failed grenades work.
They can't catch a break.
Individuals are stepping up before his kick-sand to get them a warm-up for Bacardia,
doing everything he could, and a miscreate does two damage, that's wild.
And what a straight down though, nothing to really do about this, the dribble.
He's been on really thick, that's for sure.
Oh yeah, you can believe that.
Spray master.
Really have two different versions of the game being played right here.
Still one, ladies and gentlemen.
One, two, three, four.
Yeah, one, two, three, four.
Yeah, they might as well.
Let's get in.
Good dive, boys.
He's eating them alive up there.
Wrinkle.
He no longer cares.
He's 13-2.
Just picked up a triple.
Rifles against a sniper at close range.
It just doesn't matter.
Ten in a row.
Let's get the last round.
Yeah, I guess that's all you really can say.
Ten to one on your CT side.
It's one of the, like, right now in the current meta.
It's one of those CT-sided maps and oof.
Doesn't look like it does.
Another ball.
What's the classic Counter-Strike call?
10's all they get.
I believe it's what you're saying.
10's all they get.
To be fair, they get 10's.
We talked about it before.
Na'Vi vs. Pain, they were 10-2 down,
but they were on the T side.
They just looked over to the CT side
and they bounce back there.
This is, this is cooked.
level cardio off leash you tried everything now you keep trying aggressive
trying passive you've had one before us yeah nothing's been working he's heard
them running away so I guess that's you know he's got a little bit of info give
me back here grenade again time just as they're on top so they're gonna be
great for luck 1080 it's not the best weapon that you can want here
Yeah, that's his, just peeps him.
Not even the flashbang, do you go on the Cardio?
Come on, give him something.
He's got Woksyk there, and there is a flank.
See, you're right, Woksyk could define the timing.
He's got the knife out, Wrinkle.
Thinks better off with Woksyk though.
Almost bringing it back here.
Chance for a reload before they're on top of him.
He almost gets the magazine back here,
and Wrinkle's still doing damage.
He's found two, and it's Kicksand.
One versus two.
The bomb is not planted yet,
but that's about the best thing we could say.
taps away and takes down heavy god could be another clutch here for wrinkle
he's in the right position and he's ice cold still has 40 seconds left kick sand
do you have the patience to wait or are you worried that he's already walking
away from this bomb site and relocating somewhere else I don't know if you could
see the bomb on the ground either but now we're down to 25 seconds there goes
the peak oh he's going straight in for it and takes him down the confidence
to start match as they win 11
rounds in a row.
Push. You can do better than
that. Coming back for stare as
well. Big performers from
taxi. So close to reducing the
deficit here, but two of them
dropped by foods in the
clutch now who suddenly made a
one V one until he knows he
Wow, that's insane.
He's got no idea where to look, he's completely paranoid!
He needs tablets and a therapist!
That molly will force them into the open, but Fuzzi will deliver.
Bomb planted a moment, and Spirit, a sudden question as to whether they can convert their pistol victory.
Prime taps cleared out from Forklift.
We've got this Midler coming through, but by the time body gets into position, Shiro's already got a couple kills.
Magix cleaned out as Shiro finds a third on the round, and the frag grenade widdles Kadein down to half HP.
Still a smoke in front of him to play off of. Shiro taking to the high ground is going to get the quad kill in the retake.
Looking to get Pop Flash in with a teammate there as well. Twist into the main position. Faze might have the read.
Oh, he gets immediately wrecked. He was carrying utility as well.
Tobone doesn't have any. Trying to hide and claim sight and find a fight if he can.
But there's just nowhere for him to go.
Nathu needs a miracle. He's got to find a lot of...
DIGGLE SHOTS HERE! He might just do exactly that!
What an over-performance! That's utterly ridiculous! That's nasty work!
Bon appetit, fellas. I think we all get one ravioli each.
You know what? I'm grabbing two.
Usually at the start of the round, you want to pay attention to the spawns, that's because
only the best spawn for the CTs gets past this corner before the best T spawn peeks.
So the best use of the spawn is to try to get a Molotov down at the doors right away
to stop a potential rush.
is the incredible electricity in the air.
Can you let me hear you roar?
We had to.
What are you supposed to do with this?
Buckle up.
This is going to be very hard to see what's happening inside.
Some say years of practice are required.
They're wrong.
I will teach you good habits, such as smoking, flashing,
And of course, Winnie.
Bro, how can I play with this game?
What did he ask?
Just advice, emotional support, chatGVT as a help.
What's the point in having Jack up for once,
coach, when you have chatGVT,
that's think he did a great job with Flamzie.
That's kind of scary.
I don't know about that.
My question for him, is, bro, are you him?
Every time when I see him everywhere, he's shouting to me, you are him, you are him,
and I mean, he's so funny, but I don't know, maybe, maybe not.
After one of the best looking pistols you're ever going to see, it's followed up by one
of the most unforgettable anti-ecos.
It led to G2 finding 11 rounds in a row.
I said they're battered, Amanda.
I didn't think to this extent, um, just a shocking showing on the CT side.
We're done here, just a formality at this stage.
You're not going to get overtime.
You're not going to win on the T side here.
If you're on the CT side, we can have a conversation, but yeah,
it's going to be G2 heading to Porto.
Aurora giving away way too many rounds,
where do you and mistakes be made?
Hunter with the dualies and a flash to set it up.
They are already bouncing through though.
So maybe a bit of panic here.
He still finds one as he is burning to death in the corner.
Maxis, what do you do now? You smoked off.
Yeah, and you gotta be careful. There's a flank coming in as well. I think that's Rincourt.
You're actually locked in right here. Did you realize?
Stay alive, Rincourt.
This is smart though.
Yeah, that's how you should be playing him.
Play the percentages. Play with your team.
That's exactly right.
You know exactly where they are.
This is gonna take an individual miracle now. Huge advantage for G2.
No further utility. Everyone flashed. I beg your pardon. So there it is. Long range.
Riccardia on my half-leaves room. I think he's had a really strong showing here. He's the only player that's really stepped up.
Yep.
He's been good on all maps so far.
Watch the game, Jimmy. What could you do?
At least they're finding, I think, an empty bomb site right now. Assuming they can make it their way across.
No one's peeking them from short just yet.
It could be happening if they wait too long.
I think Cavigob was kinda getting close, but he's still in that other room.
They've got a bomb plant at least.
That's something. I guess he can win the round still.
That surprised the A-sides open.
You've got to cover the bomb though. It's been very far back. If Max isn't taking one more step forward,
I think that's the round almost over.
They can just isolate this fight. They can get a quick one. There's a chance.
Chance diminishing now. Luckily Jimmy has some HP to work with.
No kits. Got a flash. Got to take a swing here. They can flash him himself.
Should be a G2 round, but Jimmy can win this.
Yeah, he hasn't reloaded. Might not be a big deal, but I especially know what have you got hitting a shot like that one.
Nice triple for Mattis. Really been enjoying his contribution to the G2 team.
I think I've had like one half so far where I felt like he was kind of underperforming, but otherwise pretty stable stuff.
12-2-1. That is 12 in a row for those of you still counting at home.
That's true. At least you have the Bob Blancet. It's going to take 11 rounds in a row now.
starts with a forced buy, had to close out Inferno. There we learn some valuable lessons
after this series. Ash is going to be fuming. There is so much tape to go with like so many
mistakes. Need a whole bootcamp just to kind of sit everyone down. And you might have
time for it because they lose here they're gonna get knocked out and it will be G2 instead
qualifying for the arena in Porto.
You found G2 on their weakest day as well, they're playing their CDEC.
That is exactly right, yeah.
They were right for taking down Nertz, recommits the smoke.
They're not acing it somewhere, but they can't find it, he was flashed as well.
Mezalabao's charging them down, nice triple.
The only one that's going to fall in here, he's going to be down and out 13 to 1, 13 rounds in a row, and G2 have made the arena.
We set it up to start, we thought they'd get battered on my rise, an absolute horror show of a CT side.
Two greedy in the anti-ecos, two careless in the 1v4s and a deserved 13-1.
Back to the drawing board for Aurora and it's G2 making their way all the way to the playoffs in Porto.
So, just super impressive stuff for them, it really is.
I mean, individually, some of these players have really stepped it up.
Nurtz in the ring call on this final one, but also Heddy-God looking good, Henry.
Absolutely true.
Well, goodbye, Aurora.
Hello, G2. We'll throw her back to the desk.
Us being put out for this play here by G2, which at the end of the day means
that Aurora will no longer be with us here at Blast Open.
They have been eliminated from the tournament.
Rocker, we prefaced it coming into the third map.
We thought that mentally it was going to be a big battle for Aurora,
but for them to fall short in this fashion without even putting up a fight,
is that still a bit surprising too?
Yes and no. I would say the no comes from actually getting a good start with the pistol round,
but then instantly a heartbreak directly after losing it, even I think they have one deagle.
Coming back from that is the ultimate test and we touched a little upon it that
I think for sure that G2 players could also feel on the server that
there was nothing left to fight back with.
It felt like the G2 players were having a good time.
We joined by Ringel here on the desk first and foremost.
Congratulations on winning the game.
It was slightly easier on Mirage than it was in the second map.
How do you feel about Mirage?
It looked like you guys had a lot of fun.
Yeah, it was good, or confirm as well.
It was good.
Yeah, I think we just enjoyed the game.
I think they threw some rounds, some moments,
and they were shooting really good, and it was really good.
So it goes back to Inferno,
because that was the highlight for me in this game.
That was a crazy game of Karnus, right? Back and forth. What happened on Inferno?
Yeah, it was back and forth. I think they played good. They stopped us some rounds, as I remember.
But yeah, it was back and forth. It was a little comeback.
But yeah, I think in the end we were playing good in Inferno at the moment.
Like we have a win streak, I think, three maps or something.
Yeah, I think we were playing good. Was it a stressful game to be part of?
Yeah, it was kind of stressful, I would say.
But yeah, it was, I think, under control when we started taking some rounds.
It talked to me a little bit about this tight game on Inferno, like what exactly was said
during these type rounds, because you lost a heartbreak round, then I roll lose one directly
after, like what was it like and who took control of staying calm and that.
I think everyone took control, like banana player, nerds, like also coach and captain,
like to play slow to end with some mid rounds and basically not hurry up things and play
slow, that's how we play Inferno and it works for us.
you have this little crispy 1v4 on Mirage, could you feel like after that winning that one it was over?
Yeah, I could... no no no, I couldn't feel it, it's also over the map, but after I killed second
guy on B-set I think I thought I could win it, so yeah. And you knew he was coming from behind?
Or just a little feeling? No, no, just feeling cozy. I didn't know.
I think we got to talk a little bit about you, you know, you made a comeback into tier 1
Counter-Strike, I think to a lot of people, maybe a bit surprising that you're picked up
by G2. So far you're doing well. Seems like you have a lot of freedom on the server. Are
you enjoying your tenure back at Tier 1 Counter-Strike?
Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. I think I took it very serious after benching and started
working really hard and I think it just pays off. I'll keep doing it and that's it.
I'm really enjoying my time here and it wasn't expected by G2 but yeah, I'm really
enjoying it.
Was it about the same? Were you surprised when you got the call from G2?
Of course, of course. You cannot be not surprised with this call.
It's very clear on the server that you're very active as well.
You seem to be going for a lot of peeks and get a lot of freedom.
Is that something you're being told to or that's coming from you within?
Is that just your playstyle maybe?
It is naturally.
It's my playstyle.
I think I played like this before, but after some hard time I would say I shut down,
but now I'm just getting back there and evaluating my game style.
So yeah, let's see and let's enjoy.
Speaking of G2, you now made it to the playoff, which naturally is a step in
the right direction.
into Portugal and the playoff, is there any sort of expectations for you guys or is it just about
taking it one game at a time? I mean I'll say personally I think I'm taking game by game,
learning experience and top of the city a few arenas for me as I think it's second or third
arena for me and I'm really excited to play in front of people and yeah making playoffs is really
good. How's that been for you before you know playing in the arenas is that going to get
you nervous or are you cool with it? I liked it actually I think I played my first arena
and Astana versus Pirit first match. It was good. It was really good and I enjoyed my time and I'm just enjoying life and all.
Perfect, enjoying life. Keep enjoying life, Wengel. Thank you so much for joining us on the disc and best of luck at the playoff in the water.
Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you.
That also does mean that we no longer have the team with us that we would have loved to see go further in a row.
To be completely honest, we spoke a little bit about a row care. It was slightly disappointing that they weren't able to put up a bigger fight here.
But overall, can they be satisfied with this tournament or is it the fashion they go out in that you will remember them for?
I think when everything is aside and they have a little distance to the result, I think it's not the end of the world losing two times to G2,
especially also showing major improvement from the first game against them to the second one.
But also looking at how the players reacted when losing this game, there was a lot of frustrations.
You could see it during the game, but also the reaction after the game.
There was a lot of disclamming. I also saw some in-ears fly through the room.
So I think that is going to be the heartbreak thing to kind of get over.
And if they get over this hurdle for the next time they are in this type of situation,
and they actually close it out, then they will look back at, say, at this moment,
that this was the learning experience they needed but for sure like it's gonna be hard like key memos fill out of
You know out of the game at the last map of things the tires had a really rough
Rough mirage and he's normally the driving force behind like dictating how Aurora plays on the CT goes without saying
There's a lot of potential within Aurora, but they need to get the mental game in check as well
A guy who can probably help them with that for the future is ash teams caught up with him after they were eliminated
Aurora won't be going to the arena and fruits of playoffs in this one
Despite what I would say Ash, and correct me if I'm wrong, that it felt like you had this game in your hands at times.
Obviously, Dini, which was huge improvement from last time, felt like you guys could add some momentum.
How much did losing Inferno destroy the guys' mental going into this third map of Mirage?
It definitely affected us. It felt like we kept them into the map pretty okay, I'd say pretty hyped.
And then losing that round to, I don't know if they were Faleco maybe, I'm not sure if they were Wundiegel.
having there from the other quality dropped a lot.
I think it's kind of exposing a little bit of mental weakness, maybe, that we have sometimes.
Like it kind of shows in Gapin on the furn as well, where it felt like the game was kind of worn,
and then we get too excited, or we shut down a little bit.
So, I mean, it's just lots of individual improvement we need to make there on the mental side, I think.
And, I mean, they played really well on Mirage.
They kind of understood that we were not in there fully.
And I think Hunts have called really well.
It was very fast, it was very in your face, and then some individual brilliance as well.
So, I mean, they punished us really hard here.
Looking at that as well, right?
When we go through your very understanding of the situation
and you know as well, probably from the Turkish side,
that they've always been under the radar
being maybe like having this mental.
Was there anything you tried to say to them
between the maps or before going into that game
or anything you can feel like
you can do in a situation like that?
I mean, of course, I think there's lots of things
we've tried and there's been lots of good moments
as well, to be fair, we bounced back.
It's just still, it's not lucky it's just them,
Either it's a, I can't just say that one or two people shut down.
I think the whole team kind of shut down as well.
So, I mean, this is kind of Counter-Strike at the top level.
Lots of pressure, third map, qualification game.
We've just lost a game you think you want to win,
and suddenly people don't want to,
they're not thinking about the details,
thinking about we should have won the last map,
we should have won the EECA round,
and it's kind of how Counter-Strike is.
See a lot of the younger players and stuff as well.
So, it's just disappointing.
We need to learn from this in the future
because our level dropped so low here, it felt like,
and they just felt like we would not bounce them back
what happened and what was said. So I mean it's all on ourselves. I can't even say too much about
how they did a good job of explaining this but I think it's just it's a game you can barely analyse
the thing watching it back because it just felt like we were shutting down completely.
Coming away from this right just your whole experience here through the group stage where
you feel you can take some good learnings from this and what's going to help you to propel
into a better position for next events and going forward. I think we've taken lots of
positives. I think it's been some really good counter strike. I think we should have won
I won this series 37-10 maybe on Inferna where they're playing really well.
I think the brown was in the back, 4v2, some overpeaking going on.
These are mistakes you can't really make at this level, you can't let teams back into it.
And then suddenly you saw for the rest of the game, we didn't feel like how much we tried as much as we can to get people out of the shells.
It was very passive predictable and I think that we were suffering so hard and we weren't playing the rounds.
So there's lots of positives we can take, but we've got to work on these negative side things as well.
Because we should have won 2-0 here after losing some pretty hard in the first time.
And then we should be in the playoffs, but now we need to bounce back again and go for the next one.
Well, I know you're a man that can get the job the next day early on in this version of Aurora,
so good luck overall and thank you for your time, mate.
A lot of shoulds, wishes, hopes, but he knows what the problem was, right?
And Rugga, you said about this, you said this could be the case when we go into Mirage.
For sure, like, it has been the history of at least, you know, the previous Turkish Aurora,
that this could happen, if things didn't go their way,
a little bit heartbreak, frustrations in there,
then you feel the fight stopping and you could see it.
Like, I think everyone could see nothing went their way,
the entries, even when they got them,
like a guy got overrun by a good headshot,
and Ash is also saying that they played in their face,
like G2 played in their face.
So even though my, one guy might find success,
like someone else crumbled at the same time,
and that was just the story of the whole round,
like the whole half, and then on top of it,
wrinkles one before it's it's it's sealed the deal it may sound a bit harsh
you know but at the very least it's a great learning experience and the very
least it gets exposed early on because there's also a world where they win 13
to 10 on Inferno which they should have as I said they had a 4v2 a lot of
overpeaking going on T2 punishing the mistake and then people may think
at home oh Aurora is ready now you know they are playoff contender maybe
they can go even further in the tournament maybe all these mental
issues are no longer apparent within the team now very early on it gets
It's exposed that it's still a massive issue which means you can work on it.
So in that regard you can always spit it into a positive.
Right now naturally very very disappointing for Aurora.
They had a winning position they weren't able to capitalize on but you know if you try
to be just a tiny bit of positive at least it gets exposed early on so hopefully they
can figure it out and work on it.
From what you were mentioning about Hunter there as well though right and I guess what
Source says from the time he probably knew okay this is where we can strike even
harder than before right and fully bully them into this corner.
like Hunter and so on has been this in a million times,
like the thing, understanding when the opponent
is about to break and staying in the game,
even when they lose the pistol on a third map,
they stay in the game, make it hard for them,
make them sweat to get these rounds on the board.
And when that doesn't happen,
it's like you can smell the blood in the water, right?
The sharks are right there,
just waiting to go at the opponent.
So I think that was the biggest thing
that everyone, also inside the server,
the spider ringer, saying it was not over,
they could feel it. Yeah, they could definitely feel it and they did in the
worst way possible. We're going to take a look at the bracket though as we round
out this game, playing more counter strike to come your way today. And there
we have it within group A. We've got Spirit, Furia and G2 going through. I
believe that's kind of what you guys were predicting from this group. It's
not often you get all the favorites through without a massive surprises.
I think Navi is the one that stands out naturally and not being able to
to make it out of the group is disappointing and not even being
close to making out of the group is even more disappointing. But I
I think it's fair to say that we have by far the three best playing teams from the group
making it through and as easy as that sounds, there's not always the case you know depending
on the draw and you name it, but it should make for a stack playoff already.
I already asked you guys about the whole Malz Falcon one that's going to be coming
up next right and you said that like little percentage in there you were more in the
50-50 you were saying 60% towards Falcons.
So let me ask you about the last games we're not covering that one either right.
Foot vitality, a very exciting foot, a vitality with a stand in that are still being
able to deliver in some ways and some moments, Pimp, who are you going with?
Well, I think that's a 50-50 game to be really honest. I think Foot have shown me enough as
of late that they are the real deal. We maybe knew that, but we forgot it when they made
the roster change with Longs. Now bringing in a guy who's just been tearing it up,
X-Flower has been consistent. Lee, the best player ever since he joined. I see a 50-50 game.
I still have faith in Vartelli, even with a stand-in, but Foot can most definitely get a W if they play well.
I think this is a case of maybe too early for a foot, even though it's with Vitality as
we stand in.
I think Vitality is major favourites and I actually think that they will get the better
of them punishing all these small things because knowing how to, like we played against them
a lot of times in Astralis and it's a little bit the same as with the Aurora we just saw.
If you stay in the game, make them sweat, make them do these like small mistakes,
that's where the experience kicks in and I think that's going to be the case here
as well.
Also, because it's our last segment together boys, I think we should do some glazing
this desk was fantastic and a good lot of fun, Rugga. Your first outing with us here.
I know you probably want to go back to coaching or something else like that, but would you
happily come back to us if we invite you out again?
Of course.
I don't get the main decision. I'm saying like I have control over this.
It's just season.
Okay, if I had the choice and I had the power, Rugga, I would have you back. Would
you welcome him back?
A hundred percent. I think he's done a tremendous job and it's nice to have
someone who's been coaching recently, you know, to dive into it. So that's a
bit of pressure. What is it called?
Brotherfresh air?
Fresh air something like that. Yeah, that's pretty good. Pimp favorite moment from the group stage
To see a raw implode right here in front of me. I think that's
But I like it. I like to see what means to the players
I like to see what can happen as well. Counter-Strike is more than a mechanical game
It's also a game played by humans. So emotions and keeping those in check is a very important skill set
And today we we got to see the worst of it. Sometimes you get to see the best of it
And I like what I saw right here from from a roar and I guess in a negative way
Right, what about you favorite from the groups two things?
I think the inner circle win against Vitality was legit
It kick started like both of these two teams as you know immediate future
It really made me tells you realize that they cannot just sleep and get the victories
They need to activate from minute one against any team and at the same time
I want to pick out the dongas will like donk has been outstanding
Bering even when teams have thrown five HG sat and we still finds a way to get impact
He also sits in the grenade, so he'll, some players, you mentioned it, avoid the grenade.
He's like, okay, I eat the grenade, 2 HP, I still carry.
Yeah, like he understands that his number one thing he is really good at is killing people
and if he needs to stand in two HGs to do so, he'll have to do it.
He takes it on the chin.
Pym, do you really think the inner circle was a fluke?
A horumson.
You know, I didn't see anything from Inner Circle after that game, this is about
Saturday that makes me want to back up, that they can play counter-attack at this
level.
this tournament having one, I think 11 out of 12 games in tier two. Yeah well
that's the thing between you and I, James. You know you love to be all
flowers and sunshine, you know, I love what I have in front of me and I judge
everyone equal and I think InterCity is not ready for this level of
counter-strike just yet. Doesn't mean they can't be for the future. Is it
really a fluke, Barger? I think I slid it. Obviously it is a fluke but I
think the storyline that they you know went in, played to win, where we
saw some of the other teams in the group stage, let's see, 9C. We thought
we would get the same they didn't now this upcoming team comes and just plays
straight out how they want to play and I think it's a shoulder pad to them but
obviously as you're also saying like there was not that much after it now
it's back to the drawing board making sure that the next time they come they
swing to three games of these like highly energetic type of run at you type
of games and then let's see whether losing it's okay it's the fashion you
lose in sometimes and they didn't really leave much of an impression after
the battle so I love having both you got the idiot response we got the
Well articulated response and sometimes that's just how it goes we are done here for now when it comes to a bit my favorite moment with
Donk when he just pointed himself off to get any aces like yeah, that's me
I know what's up, and you guys all know what's up after the break with falcons taken on mouse
Now we
Try grabbing for two sex. I'm a pretty big fan. So I was hoping you could sign a photo for me
Oh yeah, why not?
Excellent.
So the hints to photos.
Is this at the gym?
Yeah.
Appreciate it, man.
Of course. Anything for a fan.
Can't wait to frame this up.
We're doing it to everyone, so I'm not a sloker.
Hi Henry.
Can I borrow you for a couple of seconds?
Where are you from?
I'm from the UK.
Where exactly are you from?
I'm from Glass.
I'm from Glass.
Great job today.
I was hoping you could sign this piece of memorabilia.
That's alright.
I feel like a caveat coming here, what's the matter?
That's from about 2015 I reckon.
Okay, where were you?
I don't know, I looked like an early Gfinity event or something like that.
Strong headings though, they stuck around this long?
I don't have head like that anymore, unfortunately.
I wish I did, that's when I was about 25.
Lot of change since then?
It's been about 17 years, at my 38th birthday last week.
Can I grab you for a couple seconds?
I was hoping you could sign a photo, is that alright?
from my actual professional player or say semi-professional playing days.
What year is this?
This is 2000 and maybe nine.
2000 and nine?
Yeah, yeah.
Source 1.6?
1.6, we were playing Rocket at the time.
It was a good team from my friends.
This was in gamer-based red.
What's up with the world?
This was a very good event, it was a very fun event.
We ended second place, that's not the end of the world.
So second place we will take.
I was very worried we were going to come last.
We have very minimal practice in between and we had a stand-in who was not one of our friends.
We just went up on my seat.
Thank you so much. Hello boys.
You've got three minutes. That's perfect. I want to wish you luck today and if possible
Could you sign these beautiful photos?
This was boxer photo shoot. Okay
The bomber jacket that everyone loves
WDSG Barcelona
2016 on the
Floor of the virus gate
Hugo Byron took this photo. Don't sell this. It's already on eBay before you signed it. Hi now
Yeah, it's you this time. Listen, we want to wish you well on your broadcast today. Thank you. Would you mind signing this?
When was this taken? I think it was
2012 this this feels like
It's like a old Samsung. It does. I think it's like post-hunger games
Wow. Incredible. Have a great broadcast.
Yeah, I'm terrorised by that. I will never forget. You will not live this down.
Perfect. No problem.
It's our final day for group stage here at Blossomia Open Porto.
I do a Voo and Maui Snake enjoying me now.
How you doing today?
Just fantastic.
Last day of groups, but that makes it all the more exciting.
Every game, it matters.
It finally matters.
Yeah, and we saw the first three map affair in the early part of the day.
this is an incredibly too heavy, centric event.
The morning shift didn't know what to do with themselves.
They're like, on map three, how do we handle this?
I think there was a break they were supposed to come back on.
They're like, just throw it to the casters.
They didn't know how to handle it.
It's easy to forget there was a third map.
That's true.
One of those games might be wanting to be forgetting that too.
Yeah, I think maybe a lot of you
is out there, might have forgotten and wanting
to forget what happened there.
But we're looking towards what is going
to be our second half of the day here.
But before we get into the matchup,
before we have a look at what teams are still to take to the stage here.
We're going to have a little bit of fun, something that I love to do with my panel here.
We're going to be playing higher and lower.
Yes.
Yeah, I totally, they love it.
Essentially, what you guys have to do is be able to know and or guess
if the skin on the right is higher or lower market value than what is on the left there.
I know this skin is higher.
I honestly don't know.
Yes, I don't know that.
No, I know.
I feel like it would be lower, but I trust Voo.
I trust Voo.
And we're gonna lose on the first one genius genius questioning me stop question headshot
Another one. I don't even know I assume AKs are usually more expensive though
Higher go for it. This is Maui's call. Oh
Must be lower who used definitely lower in this economy and definitely lower if it's not fireman elemental nah
Oh, that's gonna be really close. Yeah, I feel like this is not even close. I'm gonna say $7 case
I'd feel like it's lower, but I'll trust you. I'm trusting you. Okay. Whoa
I've seen professional players use this so I would assume I'm pretty sure we've had these farmers like $14 or like $1390
Wow, all right that close. Okay. All right. All right. We're taking out on this one. That's cool. I don't know
I just feel like we've seen them
Shucks. Shucks.
How much was it actually? Maybe it's significantly low.
It was 9.79.
Ooh, the wear matters. If it was factory new.
I cannot read that.
No idea.
That's the problem.
Alright. Are we doing again production? Can we go again?
Alright, we're gonna go.
You guys, look, last time you did so well, what was it?
21 was the record I think we've had?
21.
21.
We're getting a repeat? We're getting a repeat? Okay.
Higher. I think it's lower.
Just basic memory here.
I don't know this one either I
Higher would you say you have to be aware of it as well field tested? I'm thinking it's about that same price higher higher oh
Okay, all right
Worn I don't think it matters with the slate. It's all black at the end of the day
I don't think it's very expensive. I don't think it's more than 20. Okay. All right go lower than
Whoo five dollars. That's gotta be lower. These are worth nothing lower. These are pennies
Yeah, literally wow higher higher
Mmm, ooh, ah higher higher higher higher. Yep. Yep. Yep. That was close higher higher. This old one
150 bucks nah
Oh, this is oh, this is pretty hard actually castle to higher. I think it's higher does well 23. Oh
No, it was close
It was close. Ah
It's okay. Your value isn't so much more than just kidding. It's just kidding. Just kidding. It's just
again. It's not why I'm here. It's not why they pay me. Actually, it kind of right. It was a sponsor
obligation. So yes, it is why I'm here actually. Yeah, a lot of fun. Pardon me. A lot of fun doing
higher and lower. You guys can have a chance and try to best my analyst score there. If you
We have one over on Bloss TV.
It is up powered by IC market.
So a lot of fun there, but it is time
that we get into our matchup here
because we're gonna know who's gonna be the higher
or lowest seed going into Porto.
It is gonna be Malus coming up against Falcons.
But give me some final thoughts
about coming up against Falcons today.
Always excited to play against them.
I think the game is always
always on fire going on on the server.
They also won the major.
So we're playing against the left major win.
It's always nice.
I really like Zonic as the coach and just in general the team, I think they have a good vibe from them
and it's always a pleasure to play against these guys on the server.
How do you see your series against Falcons going?
I feel like it will be good. I think that we are mentally ready for it. We prepared a lot for this game
and I think that they are a great team. At the same time I think we have really good things that could work well against them.
But as you always know with Kerrigan, he's always able to cook things up on the moment.
He's a great IGL and I'm looking forward to play against him with the new world.
Do you think that then this is going to be a little bit of not just a battle of the teens
but also a battle of your test of as an IGL?
Yeah, of course. It's the newer generation against maybe the older one.
He has so much experience. I have a lot of respect for him.
At the same time, I also think there's definitely some flaws which I want to abuse in his calling.
and yeah I mean let's see how it goes, not gonna get too high of myself but
very confident person so I believe we will win today. You guys have had very
hit-and-miss maps at the moment, you've continued on in the upper bracket, you
made it to Porto so maybe a little less pressure coming up against them but
does it feel like that this is the real time, the first time you're really
getting tested in this event? I think we got test against Legacy, obviously we
had two maps against this event we're losing, third time is the charm, going
for the same map in that sense, so in my opinion we are trying to improve our map pool.
The StoO has been very stable for us since I joined and I don't like to be a one-trick
pony with the veto, so this event we also trying to improve that and so far it worked,
even though we lost our map pick every time.
That means that other maps are growing and now especially when there is not the highest
stake in this game, we still need to improve our map pool and looking forward to the
again to let you see how we are improving on the match we haven't played so much.
Do you think that it's going to go to a map 3 when you come up against Maus today?
Yeah, why not?
What is it about Maus and you guys that could either be incredibly similar and make it a
tough matchup or things that are different that you think you do better than them?
I'm not sure. It's been some time since we played against them last, I believe,
and they seem to fit really well together with the new team they have and obviously
won the tournament already this season so I'm excited to play against them and see what they bring.
I would say I'd be incredibly surprised if this does not go to a map number three. It seems to be
something that Falcons love to do for themselves but also when we look at the caliber of the two
teams you would think that a matchup of Falcons and Mazz should be a test of the extremes.
I think this will be a test for both teams regardless of it being a seeding match or
not you hear them talk in the pre interview they're talking about you know
we prepared quite a bit for this one if you're mouse and I think a carrigan led
team that's a team where you get into the thick of it and he's gonna call you
out of a situation no matter the the preparation no matter the situation he's
gonna make it cinematic no matter what that's what I always hope to see with
carrigan but that doesn't always speak to me in regards to consistency for me
mouse have been the more consistent team this season obviously kicking
things off with the win at the blast bounty and Malta and losing to the
the eventual champions at EWC or not eventual champions,
eventual runners up in foot,
but they looked like they were champions at times
with how good they were playing.
So I'm gonna, even though this is a really tight game,
I lightly wanna take Maus just because I feel like
they're always in a position where they feel like
they need to prove a little bit more to everybody.
Yeah, I kind of have to agree with you on that one.
I think Maus has come together as a team
really effectively, they find some more consistency.
And whereas you have a wavering form
coming from Falcons, you know, you look at this one,
Maus come into this having easily too old their last two opponents.
So it looks like they had such an easy run.
Falcons played Lynn Vision.
That was supposed to be an easy tool.
It almost, it almost baits you into thinking they had a harder run here than they really did.
Yeah, that's the, that's the thing that we're looking at, right?
When you look at a Maus, you know what you're going to expect.
When it comes to Falcons, anything, including the unexpected, could happen.
And so looking at Maus, everything that they've been able to do as a roster together,
I liked what the exertion talked about where he was alluding to
This is newer versus older generations of IGLs, how they're going to call, but I also think for him
as a newer IGL, how is he going to be tested? How is he going to come up against what could be the
unexpectedness of a Karrigan? Well, one of the great aspects of it is that you would kind of put
these guys on two ends of the spectrum where Karrigan's real only contributions on the T side
are his calls, whereas exertion can be a fragger. So it's really just, I would say
say Kerrigan hoping that his players are able to follow his plans to a tee,
whereas the exertion is oftentimes one of the driving forces of whether those
plans work out. And it's a reason that I also think that Mauser are a scary
dark horse in whatever tournament they play in because you can get all five
guys who can shoot super hard, who can execute a variety of plans. And maybe
if it's a super high pressure game, I would favor a Kerrigan in like an
arena or something similar, but in a match in a studio where everybody's
well, where everybody's prepared.
It's not a really hostile environment
with the crowd roaring.
That's when I really think mouse have always shown
throughout the years that they play great CS.
The problem for mouse with getting all five guys
activated is we've got three players
that kind of want to play the same roles, right?
You've got Zershin, you've got Zellix,
and you've got PR that all want to be
the more aggressive players on that team.
They want to be making moves.
And on the CT side, they want to have resources.
They want to have a second player there
so they can get aggressive, can throw utility.
So you have three players kind of fighting
for the same role.
when they don't activate, sometimes you do see weaknesses.
You see some flaws in the mouse camp
that usually they can overcome.
But I think over time,
certain teams are going to be able to pick that apart.
A lot of that comes down to how are you going to have
your IGL call for you?
How are you going to be activated by someone
that is supposed to be the ring leader
when it comes to those rounds,
the early, the mid to the late calls there?
And I did get to speak to Xershin himself
about his IGL journey,
but also Xershin thinks about falling in
under his leadership.
Xershin, the potential of making you repeat yourself,
but you've had a lot more time to fit into the IGL role now.
What has been some of the easiest and hardest moments of transitioning into that?
Well, it's a good question.
I would say the easiest part of it was that I have things more in my control now.
I'm also able to influence not only on the micros on the game,
but more on the macros, like the deeper topics, the system of the game.
That, yeah, I think that I'm a little bit,
I've always been a little bit stubborn with how I see the game.
So I think now it's in IGL, it's really nice that I get to
with the help of my coach control it.
The hardest thing is definitely the mental side of it,
that there is no way that in any moment of the game
I'm not present for the guys.
I need to all the time keep calling,
keep communicating no matter what.
And in the past, I definitely was more of a tilter.
I think nowadays it's getting much better already.
So yeah, I mean, I'm really focused on the present
round by round making sure I have good calls.
And so far actually doing my career as an IGL,
I don't think I had a game where I kind of threw
everything out the window, I feel like.
and I always was there for the guys who they needed me.
Was there any moment in which you almost
had to try and convince some of your teammates
to buy into the idea of you being IGL,
or were they very open from the beginning?
Well, luckily not, I never had to.
I have teammates who trust me from the very beginning.
Of course, we have Alda, a PR who came in, who was new.
But I think since the very first days,
he understood that I have his back
and we're going to work on finding his comfort zone
together.
And yeah, I mean, I have the trust from everyone,
and especially from the management and also Dennis, my coach.
So I'm feeling great since I went into the IGL role.
Everyone trusts me and understands that I'm really fit for the job.
And I think most of my career, they understood it even more than I did.
And now when I take over the role, it's really nice to have them support me as well.
And of course, as well, Accession becoming your IGL.
How happy are you with this move, with him being the IGL now?
Is it much easier to be able to follow his directions?
I don't want to compare him to my older IGLs or anything, but I know XS for a long time.
I know him for a couple of years, even before we were teammates.
I remember it was my place a couple of times, and one time I told him, like, in your future,
you will become IGL if you want to, or it's especially your decision.
Of course, I think it's hard because when you are a good, he was a good entry flagger,
you can think about your individual goals, maybe you want to make it to top 20 or you
want to have whatever goal in your eyes.
The moment you are IGL it's a bit harder in my opinion.
It's still playing super well and you can still do whatever you want to do of course,
but it's not as easy in my opinion.
So when you become an IGL it's sacrifice some of this stuff for the good of the team.
And I told him if you want in your future you have everything you need to become
a great IGL.
And I think in the last, I don't know, four months, maybe three months, I don't remember exactly.
Yeah, he's been showing a great level, I already won a T1 trophy.
People forget how young he is because of his airline.
So, super young, so a young experience, the IGA like.
What else can you ask in your team?
The Sphinx couldn't hold back from it at all.
That's crazy. That's crazy to even bring that up.
Hey man, they're close enough friends.
He was saying, even before they were teammates, they were friends.
I feel he got his in there,
but it is true people do forget
about not only how young
aggression is when it comes to
being an IGL and as a player,
but also this roster right
mass themselves bringing in a
lot of change coming into this
season. Go on to lift our
Blast Bounty trophy and still
make it incredibly good and
deeper on for themselves at
the previous tournament. Yeah,
one of the things you did
see in that blast bounty is
that regardless of them
winning, they did have
struggles on some solo site
anchors and they're
on some solo site anchors, Spinks not helping PR on B on Dust 2 comes to mind most notably,
but PR I think has still struggled to find his place in this roster. He's really struggled
statistically, he's not been giving the roles, and when he has on occasion some maps he does get
the same spot he was in previously, only a few of them, but he doesn't have the same resources.
He's not given a second player there, Spinks isn't there to support him in the same way
that he was previously where they would funnel a lot of resources into a PR. Now he has to
manage on his own and he's really been struggling.
That's really surprising for me that we haven't seen PR come back from what he
showed in 2025 already because it felt like in the previous season when he was
with game religion that it was a circumstantial sort of dip in form that
he really didn't like the fact that Ash had left the team that snacks became
the in-game leader that he thought he was going to be joining a tier one
roster but now this is that chance this is this is where he has to really
put up or shut up because you could I gave him a little bit of a pass because
of the extenuating circumstances. There's no more passes. This is a mouse
team that needs to be contending for top four finishes minimum in practically
every tournament that they join. And if you're the guy that's dragging them
down because some of his stats on individual maps and halves of those
maps have been really poor and shockingly poor. If you want to look
at stats, though, someone who has been putting up numbers for the side of
mouse is Spinks. I remember Bloss bounty. He was having a rough start
the season of that event for
himself in the grand finals.
He really showed up.
So he is definitely someone
that you can rely on.
And if you compare him to his
counterpart over on Falcon
Dutnikko, you gotta weigh it on.
That's a bit of a chop and take.
It's a tough one to compare.
I think that the comparison
here is that they're both
trying to add more to their
repertoire.
You see Spanx, you want him
to help his team a little
bit more.
And you know that with this
current iteration of the roster,
he needs to be taking over
games in a way that he's
not really been capable of
doing for the last six
months maybe where you need him to have the aggressive moments to go for the
aggressive plays whereas Nico similarly I think he's taking a backseat to
Kyosuke he's trying to enable and empower him you see him so often if you
have a voice stuff a biked up part in the game he's praising a Tezzas because
he wants to be that leader for the team more so than he needs to be on the
server anymore. If you took just the first six months of this year Spinks
would not have made it to the HLTV top 20 list but now with the MVP that he
one at the bounty and the fact that he's been performing just extremely well in
general. While actually changing some of his positions in this team, in this
iteration of the team, I find Spinks to be showing how complete of a player he is.
It seems like his ability to handle situations is still very strong. My only
gripe would still be what Vu brought up on CT side. He can kind of meander
off into some other areas when he probably should center his defense a
little bit more closely around his anchors. But what about on the side
of Falcons? Are we going to talk about them too in this matchup? Because
you've got given a lot of praise as well as real takes on what are some of the
downfalls for mouths there, but Falcons at the end of the day have made it seem
like it is a journey and a treacherous one at that to even qualify for Porto.
Well, you have the problem with Falcons where they have one player that you
know is simply not going to frag and then you have three players that name
them, huh? It's carrying. He's just if he's going to break a 1.1 rating
that you see team when Kerrigan is winning when they win events. A lot
the time it's the one off event where he has a solid rating because when he does well the team is not
built for him to do well he does sacrifice himself quite often he does run in first but he is the
rest of the team it's always surprising every time they do that cheer I'm surprised it makes
me jump a little bit but speaking of Kiyosuke is the player that I think needs to be more
consistent that's the player we've seen at this event he's been having bad games and when he
he has bad games, they're really bad.
Like they're really, really bad.
It's hard for them to win with him having a bad game.
And then you add on top of that, that they have an IGL
that simply will not frag.
You need your stars to be showing up.
You do. At least you have Monosy,
who is gonna keep on fragging for you.
I will pick up on the kill scape point though, of course,
because it just watching him play is just,
it feels like it takes absolutely every Iota
of brain power for him to just play around his team.
because his gut reaction in almost every situation is,
I gotta swing, I gotta go for a fight,
I gotta look for a little bit more.
And to me, that has been exposed,
that has been totally exposed,
that he can still get himself out of those situations
occasionally with some good gunplay.
But the frequency that we've seen on particular maps,
like Ancient, for example,
where he'll just for literally no discernible reason,
push through a smoke and die,
even if it seems in a man up situation
or a favorable position,
it just happens way too often.
I think that's valid to bring up that map
because we want to know exactly where this best of three
is going, if we're even going to see the prospect of an ancient
or if it's something that might get shied away from.
Now, for those who are listening intently
in the pre-match tag and kind of spoiled it,
he said he will not shy away from it,
and hopefully third time is the charm.
So I am alluding to an ancient pick
that will come out from Falcons.
Yeah, that's a map that they have really struggled on this season.
I know you're not such a fan of it here, Mellon.
No, I mean, to me, if Falcons really wanted to win this series,
and if it were a semi-final or deeper, like a grand final,
you're picking Dust 2 first against this Mousim.
But to go for Ancient, to me, it's weird,
because they did have their life on the line
versus some of the teams they played against.
They did pick Ancient, and it didn't work for them there.
So they're still going back to the well
and trying to work on it here in this seeding match.
And that's kind of sometimes what you get with these seeding
matches where Matt, well, the thing is,
Mous is picking the map that I've always expected them
to pick in Nuke.
But for Falcons, you can even see Mous were afraid of Dust 2.
That's why they banned it in the second phase there.
I'm actually going to disagree with you on this one.
I think I like Falcons picking the Ancient.
I think maybe Dust 2 made sense.
However, I'm really worried about their map pool
if they don't have Ancient.
I think they need to prove themselves
on this Ancient map show these couple of times we
picked it, we lost.
It was a struggle, some affair.
Mous is a team.
You know how they play.
They've played this map quite a bit.
They've struggled on it themselves.
If you can't bring ancient to be a solid map for you
on Falcons, then you're going to have to have dust, too,
as your main map.
You're going to pick that into a spirit or a vitality.
That's scary.
I mean, we are starting on Maus's map.
Pick them, Maui Nuk.
Is this very heavily favored towards Maus?
I would say it's a strong favor,
because even though they had some difficulty getting
Zellix and PR up to speed on the seaside,
it still usually frequently pulls off five rounds
on their offensive half.
And then when it swaps over the CT,
I think they're great.
Yeah, once you get mouse on the CT Falcons have really struggled on the T side on this map. I think miles are gonna bring it home
Okay, it's a big strong correlation right now between my analyst desk and definitely predicting the correct team before a map plan
But we'll see if mouse can take that victory on their map pick up nuke
Yeah, I'm debating of the results of this match debating the the motivation behind ancient and I would love to get the ancient to
See what those upgrades look like if there are any mobile
We've got nuke in front of us first so we begin this series on mouse's pick
Semis or quarters right both these teams going to Porto over on Pauli market. We've got well Alcans is the favorites
Yeah, just barely just barely. I mean it goes to show that a lot of people believe in Maus and it's very reasonable
Like this is this is a close game on paper. It's probably gonna be a close game
I think we've seen you know, it's a clash of brackets right now
So we don't really know what to expect based on their previous run. You know how good they're gonna play today
I'm not expecting this to be easy for either team
So far this event I would argue mouse's experience has been kind of easy
They open up versus 9z they defeat inner circle boom you're in playoffs just like that
The only thing is inner circle beat vitality and that is fair and 9z are actually supposed to be really good
Bit of a head scratcher because then inner circle went on to not look so great
Test S will be the first. Test it inside A site.
Okay.
Oh, wow.
It's done.
Into the semis.
Just off the pistol.
And that's it.
Just like that, baby.
Wow.
No solid stuff.
I mean, if again, big question about like how quick kills can come to the Falcon Squad
and all that one.
But as fast as it can go.
Do they miss a flash here?
I'm trying to see.
There's just full lines.
like no flash assist in the kill feeds or anything
You know I'll say this, we had this conversation about Beretta's
Sorry one second
You know Beretta's spamming in pistol rounds etc
That was a classy pistol round
They do the field fashion way
USP had shots
Like scholars of the game
They really aren't trying to win
Swagger points
Kyosuke after getting the two
Two knowing monosies here for more USP frags.
All right, we've got a quad kill for Kiyosuke versus the save
of my house.
You know, I bet they don't pick Ancient
if they don't run up by Kiyosuke, first of all,
because he's the one that needs to be good at this.
Oh my god, I forgot about that.
He's the one that hates Ancient on this team right now,
so every other map he's unbelievable.
It's one of the most parabolic you've
seen across maps, amongst the good players.
Bratan!
You think he just wakes up in a great mood or?
He's got a- he thinks he's got to have a coffee to get there or?
What is the Karrigan's secret?
I dunno.
It's such a energetic world view.
Ooh!
Modesty goes looking up for a very cool-
Great to see you today!
I did say it after the pistol, didn't I?
They still have zero kills.
Quick AWP aggression in this first gun round for Maus.
Oh!
They're ready for everything.
Solid damage.
Zelex.
Widow low to 22.
I can't stuck in behind that red box.
What's that doing up there?
They could see through everything.
TSS into the headshot to search in.
We finally get a trade out, a lifeline,
and Stelix's 20 health was good enough for one.
And then the AWP strikes once more.
Majority of life for Falcons as Maus' first gun round gets sunk.
Seriously.
Two kills in three rounds.
Great starts across the board here for Falcons.
Oh, I think they...
They missed one smoke for sure. It looked like maybe even two.
Did Led Zealot's challenge mean because of the opening? But hey, shut down. Sometimes people play up there.
two extremes the best rated player CT side nuke in the top 30 this year monacy and the
worst carrigan all shucks but it's not really a different form yeah again that's just not
what he does and monacy the logs carrying that's his biggest Windsor when him and
Niko have carried.
Monosithin lights out lately.
Shutting down the A-splits.
Player does emerge with one,
but Kira gets there to scoop it up
and still stands because Niko's got his IGL well covered.
Okay, Falcons are flowing.
I know this is just versus Tech Nines,
but still the amount of speed that they're weaponizing
to get players on the scene to shut down moments,
4-0 as good as you'd hope for.
What? We've got three kills in four rounds for the entirety of Maus.
Mm-hmm.
That also affects the money.
Dawkins look a bit scary right now. Every kill coming a little too easily.
easily and a chance at a couple back there for miles and sand to lead some
frag grenades damn zelex lucky to even have anything to do this round
it was kairgans last five and oh start everyone else just owning let's play
kairgans or monosy who dies first kairgans had a great map a couple days
ago as well.
All the smokes where they should be this time around and Kyosuke opts to fall back away from
what could have been a secret peek.
Now let's move multiple bodies.
Four in fact.
Downstairs, two Kyosuke who's playing in front of vents.
They're on the edge
Great warning, but it's a fast trade and there's a good pack of players here with no actual second layer of beef site defense
That was wicked fast out of exertion
Oh boy good head shot back for PR I suppose but I mean gives away a huge advantage his teammates still upstairs
Spinks only now thinking about going through squeaky door, which means Karrigan's ready to wrap that last bomb plant attempt
And Spinks has not had his hands on this round at all. I need 6-0 start
I need now I need to I mean 5-0 start can happen, but when's the last 6-0 start Karrigan's had?
Both him and Monacee still without deaths, and Karrigan's carry on this team
You know the flash comes out from PR they do it for a reason I don't know if
there's just no lineup for it or if it lands on the spot but Niko is just
perfectly tucked in a way that there's no way to blind him but maybe the flash
was to meant to cover dark I'm not sure it's one of those rare situations
You might not have a lineup for that specific thing so
It's hard to say it didn't look like they came out hard clearing Niko though right look like they're mostly clearing dark
Okay, so it looks like the flash went past Niko
Right there to cover dark enough swinging so he always had that made
Still called for him to keep it clean, and well, it's Niko, so he will.
Great rifle play.
Spinks is 1 AK saved, now bolstered by a Galil and upgraded pistols.
And we can get halfway through this T side with Maus, 0 rounds.
See if they can squeak one onto the board though.
Top silo player dead already, that's the AK done for.
They'll be relieved that Zellex, who had 3 health in the opening 10 seconds last round,
has managed to get one back, but it, again, cost them a lot of HP.
Irretrievable weapons, as far as the CT death goes.
Okay, can we see where the AK fell by chance?
Maybe it's actually up on the silo?
Oh, Torzzy has it, never mind.
Already scooped it up.
but he's quick
so silver lining changes hands
see if they can weaponize it elsewhere
that'll be annoying
i want to go off this care again stout lose focus this one's gonna walk right
into you
looks to site
beats Zershin in a duel, and four versus the little he died at.
His first death of the game, you've got Kyosuke up in Heaven to support.
Monosy's still yet to die this map, and now both of them here inside of Heaven.
Bomb plant, front site, AK for PR, these two kills into this as well,
but I mean, they haven't barely any HP left over.
But still, frag's coming through.
Monosy, big health advantage.
Yeah, PR just can't get out of there.
Desperate to get back into the cover, goes through the jump.
It's pretty cost effective as far as mouths are concerned a four versus five with a started with two rifles still nets for kills
Ultimately, but all you're doing is chipping away at a massive pile of money from Falcons in this six-zero start
Yeah, and it's a one-on-two for monosy, and then a bomb plant some kills. It's helpful for sure
There's still chance to force an eco out of Falcons they have to start winning
That was 100 to 0 real quick.
Hot fin.
Hot fin.
Karagin started the Cologne Major semifinal against Spirit 8-0 on Mirage.
Okay, fair enough.
And he won that.
Good work, B-Trams.
Funny that it was like his worst individual, the worst individual that ever, and he
won it and also had his hottest start.
Fine care again
Hop in
Back to full guns Mao's approach main. Oh, yeah, monosy just saw a bit of torgy
It's getting a little bit sloppy here for Mao's they're just walking into these
Well timed as well. Oh
Karegid's gonna finish off
You're trying anything going this was back with another gun round
We thought truly, how close the two writers got that this one would get closer.
No, sir, not one death on the side of Falcons as they go up 7-0, ripping Maus's
map pick out of their dead clammy hands.
This is getting bad now.
This is like a really off-form out of Maus.
Can't keep up on any kills.
We got Miss Spray out of PR.
Never see him miss a Spray like that.
One of those days where everything's going wrong,
I almost feel like there's no level of coach intervention on the specifics
That's gonna help. This will be just about reminders, energy, positivity.
Things that just get them back into the flow, because they kind of need to start from square one.
I mean, luckily, they're playing this badly on T side.
They only need to get so many rounds to feel okay about it.
I think that's sort of where the conversation needs to go.
But they walk into this kill, the secret player walks up to you to kill,
Karrigan gets killed on top of me, it's just so easy.
And that's crazy.
Matt is still...
It's only 9 of 35 potential kills.
She's been so empty-handed in that department.
So we'll see them go back to one of the buys that actually got closer than anything else.
Same purchase essentially as what put them in that 1v1 monosy cleaned up.
1v2.
They don't get wild, just in case.
I can hear this.
Oh, Kiyosuke doesn't have a rotator either, cause he's over here.
Yeah, sorry Niko, you didn't have that much time, brother.
Big pop of the mouse downstairs, ramp compromise, Kiyosuke.
Oh, he gets hit by the Technite.
And, okay, out of nowhere we're looking at a perfect mouse round.
Welcome to Nuke, my friends.
Monosik could just exit with the AWP. What real value is there to gain?
Oh great shot nine and zero monosik, but
This is a lost round finally mouse get on the board off the pause and he said just go fast
Shout out to Cyclone great idea
Change of pace works wonders for mouse
Niko thinking he could peek out that vent with a smoke in his hand wrong. Yeah, they committed quickly
That was with full, with monoclysm every footstep as well, so...
Exits could still be secured here.
See what...
Just...
Probs them and goes.
They'll jump scare for Maus, but they will keep three up as they win their first round,
eight rounds into this half.
I feel like that was worth it for Tessas to just try to get one or even two, yeah,
like...
I would have felt so too, but...
The elite thing to do would have been while the walls exploding during the shockwave. Yeah, yeah while it's loud
It's weird though because that shockwave messes with your aim for real. True. You know it messes with theirs as well
But it's just it's so awkward sometimes. That's true
The Augs out
On the last day of summer.
No correlation.
Tricky stuff, PR.
Don't walk into another one.
It's towards you dead, PR testing main.
Yeah.
Monacea's gonna land his shot.
Oh, damn. Almost had a chance at a second bullet out.
PR will deny that one.
Don't want us on the floor.
Four Falcons.
I mean, this'll be a bomb plant surely, so...
Not a bad spot for mouse.
Can they lock this down though?
Actually don't have a smoke.
That?
That's tough.
They can walk right into Mini.
Meanwhile, Kerrigan does have one. Imagine if he blocks off Squeaky.
Yep.
He's gonna make this post-plant all the harder, cause it also kind of obscures the vent player, so Flash comes out.
We're gonna get retakes from both sides simultaneously.
This is a great blind headshot. You take those if you're Zelex.
They try to boost behind the vent to catch an angle off, but I mean, Falcons just had all the tools to make that happen.
The fact that Zelex even gets one.
Yeah.
Valiant effort out of Maus, but they will remain on a single round.
1-Tek-9 basically rushing to lower.
But we are really seeing their mistakes and compound quickly.
One opening kill goes away Falcons, the next one happens right away on another part of
the map.
To be fair, the setups are very good.
Monus is always in high-yield position. Always a chance at an easy kill.
A ramp's ass coming Kyosuke's way as we get into the dying moments of this first half.
I feel like it's always scary to be so light outside when I feel like Falcons have been
on the brink of kind of testing that aggression.
All smokes will keep them back in this case.
And Kiyosuke, it's just about how many he can get.
First one, clean, monosay single frag.
And so this is a mouse man advantage hard fought for as PR gets his outer almost getting
clipped into the cross towards secret.
We're going to have Kerrigan chase them towards ramp quietly and Tess S pound his way down through that vent.
PR says, oh you shot but you missed, I'm flanking vent.
Tess S remains ahead of the time. PR is going to clear this out. PR is eventually going to give a good chance at catching Tess S off guard.
We'll see what Kerrigan finds when he arrives on the site. Tucked in back silo. Kerrigan spotted.
They know Tess S was back here. Where's he gone off to that'll be a question for mouse
Positions for Tess S at least two of these positions known if the single door swings. That's the whole picture for Tess S
tries to close the gap. Oh wow
dropping
M4 fry makes that real interesting, but props to PR really stays on the pace of the round and will give mouse a second
As long as he closes it out. It's all good
There's two rounds to go here. They have a buy now, so it'll be good no matter what
He's got a lot of damage, but he's got a lot of damage.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
You give him an extra second.
He maybe regains vision, but PR was really on top of that, so shout out PR.
Getting his kill outer to start that as well with the simultaneous ramp hit.
Round 11's got Kyosuke already forfeiting ramp, and check this out.
Now let's find it, vacant.
Kind of love where this is headed,
these last couple of rounds.
A lot more pace.
Already tons of bodies down here.
Kerrigan doubles back to the single door.
Utility's gonna confirm this.
What's he thinking about getting off to?
Josuke letting him get through the control,
catches him on the jump up.
Kerrigan spotted backside, holds his own.
And then the door swings, Tess has ready for that, jump over, sees it coming, and we've got still this slow ramp duel unfolding to Monacee's favor, all on Zellex now.
They go back to the B bomb site, they do not find it as understaffed as it was previously.
I mean they're gonna force Zellex to fight, he can't, you just cannot get a bomb plant in this spot.
Like, if they don't peek anything.
I
Watching for this though this loses his head
No, no trade potential between what's left, but you get him with the element of surprise
I'm pretty surprised myself that Kerrigan ends up getting that kill from back site
It was Torgy double doors approaching feels like Torgy has the advantage in that do it rough
He could definitely just hold down to his spray and make sure Kerrigan can't peek
Yeah, no, that's true
No one's really standing out on mouse one good round at a PR, but it's
He's also had some bad ones too and fragging has been an issue
When's the last time mouse be sitting on one kill spanks one kill Zershin?
It's their last chance to improve that
This T-Side is gonna be nothing close to what they were hoping for.
I'm honestly just been so unbelievably solid.
And like, basically no hard kills, you know, just everything's super easy, good positioning, good patience.
Feels like that major MVP's done him good.
Rock solid ever since
What was risky business playing on this side of the doorway?
Yeah, when you know Spinks is on the other side as well.
Oh, honestly, another clean and easy one. He's like device right now.
But at this point, this form Spinks, one frag to his name.
Karrigan doesn't seem too afraid of it.
Of course he's got the bomb and a tech 9.
Karrigan slips back on his side of the door frame.
Tess S peels Zershin off the play.
Very easy looking 5v3 from here on out except there is this one player exploring outer past tense.
Excuse me.
Monacy.
A second kill this round and unfortunately for Mao this round just haven't even started
their round.
It's never had an opening, let alone a hope of closing.
So, bomb gets dropped.
There was, I don't think a single kale
that could have even been traded here.
Oh, wow!
Honestly, with a nasty little adjustment,
Falcons come out swinging,
and I think Maus clearly up against the best opposition
they've had to face here at Blast Open Porto.
I don't think there's many people who can do what they can do.
The speed is just unreal.
He has so much confidence because of his understanding of the game that he might look like he has
nothing to lose.
He can't fly because he is fast as fuck.
He knows everything. He's always there where you are.
You need to take care of the rest otherwise the one is always there.
You let him do anything he wants.
His game sense is just superb.
He's gonna keep being one of the best for a long time.
Watching him play, you just gotta realize he definitely brings something special to the game.
This is in the house, Henry. He's just knocking them all down right now.
Every single chocolate. My God!
He can't trade this guy. He is too quick.
What a lightning, the flash, and thunder!
Oh, my God!
He's got himself a third and the fly!
Simply sensational drop on his feet!
Whether it's truth or otherwise online, no matter what the level of competition is,
Manasi keeps the reel going.
Oh my God, when he hits that, you know he's got it all.
Lightning strikes twice in the hand to the flask!
And so we return with the 10 to start and Moe as soon as that half ended you looked at
me and you went well that's a suspiciously good start yeah I feel that too like this
This isn't going to be that easy of a day, right?
No, it's not fully awake yet, guys.
We're a bit sleepy.
Yes.
When you're playing good to me, we gotta be on our toes.
We gotta go for it.
Yeah.
Yeah, can't take any naps versus falcons, that's for sure.
No, sir, take out the toes.
Spinks, Coretta's into hot.
Oh, man, he gets shut down.
If they win the second pitch,
why is he having an unbelievable match?
17 and 2.
I know Maus aren't quitters, but a part of me thinks they might wish they could.
We'll see if anybody can just save the pistol, it would have to be Torgy by the looks of
it and that kind of a tap certainly helps.
Modesty also down, Torgy looking for more, he's good at tether off from Zelex from
the back sight.
3v5 pistol comes together.
Okay.
Okay.
No giving up just yet.
That's why.
All it takes, a clean double kill from Torgy.
That was a Torgy who was 3-11 in the first half,
executes two in the pistol,
and Zellex makes sure to keep his numbers up.
He's top performing player, him and PR, right?
The new pieces of Maus right now,
trying to be their lifelines.
But don't set up the 3V5 only to lose the 3V1.
Niko absolutely has a chance.
It's actually very good.
It's sectioning off angles like this,
just about the reeds and the cover.
It's gonna be a little luck involved when Torsi comes to peek this.
And if he feels something beneath him...
Oh, no shot.
Minded on it.
What the heck?
What are you doing?
No way!
Wait, how could you let that happen, Zelex?
Now, Nico knows exactly where you're at.
He's gotta go and push this bomb.
He's got 10 seconds.
He could grab it.
Torsi's gonna wanna peek.
Grab it and get back behind that silo.
You can make it into the back sight here, Nico.
Oh, and he's done it.
Dangerous for Torsi, but he's gonna let this go to a longer round with the bomb planted.
And he spotted.
Closing the gap.
He goes!
Oh, oops.
He tried to bait him into the swing.
Thought he had an extra quarter second to get that shot off.
There's a whole lot of moments we could unravel in that pistol.
I'm more like, focused on Xellips for sure.
That was...
Letting a man land on your head and not shooting.
Also, you're landing on someone's head.
You're gonna notice.
Hey, it is awkward, you just expected him to land on the ramp, not his head.
Hey, 3v5 pistol gives maps the lifeline they need, if it was the first half that they were
playing sleepy, then that should wake you up.
Not over yet.
They've won 7 straight new maps, 71% CT side win rate during the streak, I mean those
are damning numbers.
to think a five versus three Falcons pistol could have probably compromised all of that.
Because they have such a lead, they're not playing this really aggressively.
They have a bomb plant.
They go into safe.
No rush.
Oh boy, there he gets there.
I've seen better days from Zershin.
Definitely, uh, I mean, he's usually an animal.
Taking a lot of opening fights, winning him.
Just a little bit of a rocky start for him, and this man.
Spinks as well, still one kill to his name.
Sees their presence, shuts that door behind him.
Chance to make a bit of money here, but Tess S will at least drop one.
15 to the clock.
That's how much longer he's got to live, and he'll even get a second kill,
So, it's a couple SMGs lost by Maus.
Yeah, two rebies, talking to be okay with that.
They saved.
Maus have bigger problems than losing two SMGs right now.
I'm honestly, who's been playing phenomenally,
It's on an AK for the start.
Carried a talk about their like...
Performance is a very hard to predict like if it's gonna be a good CT side, a good T side.
I think the T side's a bit farther in fear between but...
You never really know what you're gonna get on the day.
Recently.
I'm all the top to think about PR.
Coming through that solution, he's all redammit.
Zellex covers back, at least for the trade kill.
Kerrigan's gonna go hunting for that one,
and Zellex locks it down with another...
Oh!
Filthy.
Headshots out of Zellex.
Disgusting.
In all of the right ways.
That was like first bullet on every burst.
Starting to look like their hero.
So far on mute.
He starts with the MP9, gets his pulse on this AK, and puts it to work.
That was a bit better than it looked in the kill feed.
Falcons haven't started to tailspin just yet, but now it's clearly catching up and building
up that self-belief brick by brick again.
All the stats, that streak on Nuke, it's all gonna have them convinced that they can truly
make this happen.
It feels like it's still hinged on that pistol, and that's why the 3v5 to start is a lot.
Into the ramp goes this force from Falcons.
The Tec-9s now without utility, just their pistols, if they overstep they'll find
Torshe's off.
They could try to fly into him.
he's gonna look the back away from all this
and that's fine, they can't quite chase him fully.
He didn't fully retreat,
he's gotta be a little careful.
Yeah, no problem.
Oh, let's go, okay, okay.
And all of a sudden it's a four round game.
Now he's racking up cash,
now he's building up confidence.
I see you. Where'd he come from? He's gone ladder.
What the heck?
Falcon's chucking tons of nades at that squeaky door. We're hoping to double nade somebody
along the back AWOL, but there was nobody there at the start of this round.
We get this torsion angle, all burning, uncomfortable, and there's a lot of pressure around him.
So first blood goes Falcons here in round 17.
Underestimated that Molly.
Put him into a terrible spot, taking that much time.
Really wanted to fight and stay there.
And TSS, is he going to beat this?
Yup.
Nope.
Did the Sphinx even see him?
Not sure.
I swear he didn't get there early enough.
Switched to his POV.
I don't think he saw it.
didn't see it. Tessus has vent control. Now this means that the lower pressure if it comes
down if it's slow enough but they're not going to smoke it off so I feel like no one's going
to drop vent for no reason. Oh man, because Tessus is down here they don't have to use
nades. Yep. The surround's over. That's insane. What a find. I mean really the perfect
call if uh Spinks walks back down because he's a little nervous
you get committed but he's not gonna be suspicious of how many people are here
they need this kill
you'll find is one kill and then yeah they just swing doors wide take over the
site as they were always prepared to do
and mouse's stomachs just sink
Oh sweet
realizing damn they lost track of the round allowed for Falcons to get that
close to the b-site in such strong numbers.
If all the rounds they couldn't win up until this point on T-side it's a pretty creative call.
Let's take another look at Spinks checking these vents out.
He obviously narrowly didn't see Tessus.
Getting comfy inside the vent.
He's already tucked.
So when he goes back, he's cautious about the window he opened, but Niko is deep into
that single door.
Impossible for Spinks to survive that one, and I'm sure just kind of giving away all
all that space when he was the only guy down on B while you're 3 and 14.
Salt in the wound.
Falcon still to victory.
And Koskis runs through that whole mall. He's got a plan and they miss.
Spotted though in the process.
Torschey doubling back into the garage.
Niko's going to drop on the main.
Oh, they're out squeaky.
Yeah. Great pitch.
Tessas comes wide, executes spanks.
He will go down empty handed in another round and you've already got Tessas
Cracking the whip inside of that upper site. It is wide open for the bomb to cross back over, but Torsi's still here being a problem.
He can just go back around.
Oh, he's gonna stay here.
Josuke takes that kill out, and now it just feels like, what can he do?
It's an event going up Heaven, two most expected spots. There's no one in secret.
Nobody's watching this though. Zershin will get away with just this open gap.
What value can he find from here? He hears the stomping, gets the headshot.
Backside player confirmed, and then it's all about finding this other one, and Zershin tries to just tap that bomb and cause problems.
Tess S takes out his support, and Zershin now, it's so time limited, they're not going to give him anything else I would have thought,
but he'll return back into it, had to be on the bomb here, this is an unwinnable spot, he'll just rack up the costs.
Falcons secure their 12, and shout out Rene one more time.
Tess S with a triple kill this round finding that opening from squeaky gets two players peeled off a site
That was just an excellent call. Looks like we got a good bait from Nico that we're gonna watch he drops off a mini
Tess S walks out of squeaky and kills spanks and spanks. You have no choice but to turn around there's a guy
Allison stomping right above you and I mean, this is so fluid. It's unbelievable
You know the last call they made because Tess has got in map control that he wasn't expecting to get so cleanly
This one it's straight from the plan from spawn
It's excellent from care again. They're gonna try to finish on a rush, huh?
Send a statement
What could be the final round of nukes spanks a multi-kill finally in this map, but it just widdles down mouse into a torgy 1v2
Definitely with those stats beat ramps highlighted you'd think mouse could have had a likelihood to make this comeback happen
The numbers were there, but it's just too flat out of the game.
Falcon's seizing the opportunity to embarrass
Maus on their map pick with a commandeering 13-6 victory.
Falcons were able to come in and take Nuke in a convincing fashion.
that first half of the Maui was pretty unbelievable, I'd have to say.
A stalwart defense that was propelled by really practically everybody on the team, having at
least a moment here or there. Obviously, you've got your usual suspects like Niko and Monacee
were able to get multi-frags regardless of their position, but I would say that was
a very great team effort that actually was quite inspiring for Falcons.
Yeah, on the other side, Maui, they just couldn't seem to get anything going on
their T side. I mean they leaned into torsion times gave him an
AWP. I think he died two or three times outer as the first or second kill of the
round with the AWP in hand, really struggling to get anything and when
they could get ramp control or they could get to lower you had Kerrigan
sometimes pulling off a kill, you had Niko in position, you had Tezas on the
rotation, just too much to deal with for bows on that T side. This is the
most falcons thing falcons could do is come into a matchup in which we
thought it was going to be pretty difficult for them looking at the display in which they
had put on so far in this group stage and instead they go actually we'll show you what a really
good first half of Nick looks like. And I'm not saying their second half was bad, Maui.
Of course there was just a little bit more room for Maus to be able to get again going
for themselves in the way that they won pistols as well.
I feel like Maus are probably, I mean, Cyclone at that one time out talked about the
fact that we haven't woken up yet. I felt like the shoe was going to be on the
the other foot for this kind of matchup where it is for seating where a
Kerrigan led team that really has very little left to prove on a match like
this would just kind of have faltered or let things get out of hand.
But they were extremely thorough with just their defenses and the rotations.
Yeah, I think they played ABC Counter Strike.
You know, they were in the right position.
The rotation was in the right spot.
They didn't need to do anything special.
It's not like mouse hit them with some new eggs, some new play they've
never seen before.
They were just playing safe, standard Counter Strike.
the brand of counter strike that got mouse to where they are today, but Falcons were just one step ahead.
It was a little bit of a trickier second half for the side of Falcons, right?
This T side for themselves, not starting off as strong as they would like.
Round 17, though, is where the tights start to switch a little bit more.
This is the round where I felt like you give Kerrigan an opening pick, and he's going to take absolutely everything from you.
And also, I just want to remark upon the fact that this is the most valuable pick you can get,
because even though in this round the Falcons, they're diagonal smokes to get outside,
outside. They cross actually on the far end, which I think beat a timing that
mouse didn't expect necessarily for them to get to lower because they were able
to just get across so cleanly and also because Tessus went through through
door down the vent. They had so much information and because Tessus was down
the vent, they didn't need to use any utility to take this lower space. They
didn't make a peep. And so they basically won the round based off
of positioning and that opening kill alone. So credit to Kerrigan and
Falcons to be able to convert so cleanly. Yeah, that's one of those
situations. I think you get the pick outer 4v5 if your mouse. You're looking
at that and if they can cross outer without you even knowing that they
crossed, you're just gonna accept that loss. You have to gamble something. You
have to gamble upper gamble lower. So you see, okay, we can't find them
crossing. Didn't see the guy go down vents. They're probably going back
up or completely wrong, of course. And that's what really let Falcons close
out the game with, which did feel like mouse were about to start staging
a comeback, right? They're on the CT side. Falcons have a kind of
notoriously bad T side on this map.
It plays against everything you expect
from a Kerrigan IGL-ing situation,
but when you can get a 5v4,
that's where Kerrigan can't start to work his magic.
Well, I'm still just impressed
because we always talk about the way
that Kerrigan's able to call for the team, right?
That is one of the things that he's been able to bring
along with the atmosphere.
But guys, since joining Falcons, okay,
he's played 67 maps with them.
This is the six, okay, nice.
This is the sixth map in which he's had a positive KD
with since joining falcons i'm surprised it's not hot
uh... i think it also against this level of competition that's against mouse i
would have expected that it would be verses what let me envision for example
or
uh... some respect of the vision come over
all reserve that to win the
the
uh... i mean that's where i would have expected so to see him actually have a
great ct side like this
uh... i mean first of all he's getting to kills towards is a bomb site
position, rotating down earlier as well, understanding the sort of timings he had.
Sometimes you'll see Kerrigan with those X factor kills in a game where he just
throws himself at an unwinnable situation. And because he gets one or
sometimes even two, that changes the tide of a round. But this was one that was
a lot more straightforward to me where Kerrigan was just legitimately tasked to
get kills on a bomb site, get that first as they're coming in or even
just kind of slink around a during some of those A site hits that mouths were
throwing at him and he just got his kills and I like those did not look crazy like that you look at the highlights there
And you're gonna have to be yeah, you're thinking what what's the big deal?
But that's actually how low the bar has gotten that those are impressive given the context there
So 11 9 Bravo Bravo Finn standing ovation from the desk join him please shit
That's how shocking that was those have to be the least impressive highlights
That's like someone showing you tic-tac-toe highlights.
Like, Y plus DX there, and the O is X.
I agree with you, those rounds.
One of them, the one in lower, if he dies there,
that's a totally different round.
It's 8-2, it could have turned to 8-4.
That could have been a mouse game,
if not for a couple of Kerrigan heroics,
where he can pull off his best performance of all time
in a Velkans jersey.
No, it's the CT side is the key there.
I actually, I wanted to talk about Kerrigan
because Kerrigan can be a bot.
We can play 4v5 on T side.
I don't care. It's the CT side
where he's got to actually frag
so we can defend his spot.
And that's where he struggled the most recently,
and that's where he's actually showing up in this game.
Again, you don't need to be flashy.
You just need to do the bed minimum
if you're a good, strong foundation for your team.
Karrigan did it. I loved it.
He obviously offers so much more,
but the real reason why it doesn't matter so much
is because when you're looking at a team like Falcons,
they've got Monacy, okay?
You can rely on him showing up
and making this flashy a place.
Monacy is never missing.
I don't know why you have Missons never missing.
Monacy always money?
No, Monacy never missing.
Money, Monacy.
There you go.
That is a low bar, guys.
Mine off of you is significantly high off.
OK, well, he's already got the flash, baby goat.
That's the James Banks special right there.
What next?
I mean, we don't need to say anything more.
Let the highlights speak for themselves, OK?
He was all over the map.
He was just whipping his op around.
He even got a couple of rifle kills early on, too.
but anytime Mao's wanted to contest him,
even sometimes when Monacy was on some pretty dicey position,
especially on A, he was able to pick up multi-frags
that other operas would really just dream of.
So to even see this map right here,
if you collected the highlights on this,
I think a handful of the operas in the scene
would have wanted to have a similar reel
after just a whole series.
Yeah, Monacy, you look at this Falcons roster
and you think you can rely on Nico,
you can rely on Kyosuke, you can rely on Monacy.
really recently you can rely on monasy. You can rely on monasy and you can rely on monasy. That's
the main player for Falcons. He's the only one that's truly been consistent regardless of a
downswing and upswing for the team. He's always there. He's always the we'll call him the backbone.
He's always the backbone of this team. I look I'm just I was actually sitting here trying to
think of another like nickname because I liked the Nissan never missing. So I was trying to
go for monasy. It's tough. I'm going to need more time to do that. But we're talking
So, we're talking about how
strong that CT side was for
themselves again, we saw
mouths surrounding a bit of a
comeback for themselves on that
CT side, but there was one
person that we have to give
props to because even in a
losing game in a game that it
feels like there isn't much for
yourself. So it's still really
showed up from mouse. He was a
linchpin to be able to try and
some amount of rounds. Zell
X also has had an extremely
extremely difficult time
despite the fact that they
had such a good win rate in
this season. In fact,
actually this mouse roster was
five man lineup until this very map.
Zellix was one of the worst T side rated players for him.
It was kind of him and PR going,
band for band for the race to the bottom.
But this was a map where he actually found
a lot of impact towards outside.
His snappy aim that has really kind of
caught people's attention.
So the stats nerds who really want to just
give themselves a number that tells you
how good someone aims.
Zellix has actually been extremely high
on things like spotted accuracy, headshot accuracy.
And this was a game where anytime someone appeared on his screen,
they died within half a second.
If I had to give a weighted rating to his aim in this game,
I'd give it a 1.19.
Wow, see, thank you.
Now all the people at home are thinking,
that's a number that I can write on the HLTV forums.
The Voo aim rating, yes.
This is his Alex performance.
I mean, he's not set up for success.
I think he put a lot of resources into Spinks now,
a lot of resources into Torgy.
Zershin throws some flashes,
but they're still setting him up for success.
So when you can have your third, maybe fourth star on this team,
maybe even fifth star in Celecs, having a really solid performance,
unfortunately, you expect more from Maus.
You expect when he's having a good game,
they're going to be able to perform.
But he was the only one having a good game on that squad.
We do just have a higher expectations for Maus,
the way that they were able to clean up the competition
in their previous two best of threes here, four blast open porto.
You would be thinking that there is more in the tank,
but there is still more to this best of three.
of course, we're going to be going to ancient off the break.
question and you might not remember the round but this is back on ancient we see
Kyosuke kind of like thrown to the wolves and you're in a position that you
could trade him out but instead you decide not to mid ends up being called
cleared for the CT side and you guys end up rotating to a different side hit and
you end up getting like obviously almost a perfect execution I want to ask more
about it like why and how in that moment do you make that choice first
of all we did a huge mistake by using five smokes to take mid control I
I wanted to take fast the window. We ended up having one window and I reset the round
And I was about to talk and when I heard he died there was a split decision. I'd I trade I don't I'd decided not to
because we had advantage that round and the moment he ran away
I did made a fast mid-round call to walk behind him
Because the way you would clear mid like this is only had numbers and then you all rotate to B side
So it was one of those situations where the mid-round just comes really fast to me
and sometimes it's really good sometimes really bad but when I'm hitting the weak side perfect
world I would maybe tell him a maximum that he could die from it but there were so many
things going on that round so yeah end up good but I said sorry to him after not to
communicate of those.
But sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe not so great there but it was the moment
of brilliance of Karagan and it was nice to get to follow up with him about how
it happened and it is just one of those things. Sometimes you fall into it. It's a split decision
made there and that's what we're hoping to see be emulated again this time around on ancient
because they picked it twice for themselves here at this event and both of the times they've lost
it. This is what he's hoping that time is the charm. If I can pick something out that's a concern
there is that he's clearly not reviewed that since he said that's only a play that you'd
make with multiple people. There was one guy there. There was only one. It was just one
player pushing into middle and they need to have reviewed their ancient because
their ancient has looked pretty weak so far on this event. It has and that's why
it's a little bit curious to see it in the veto for the third time even though
they've lost at the two. Reminder just a super brief history of Falcons ancient
in 2025. They were one of if not the best team on that map but then with
the Kerrigan iteration of it we already asked Monacy kind of how he
feels and he seems like he believes in a system that's being created with
again at the helm of this, but it's obviously not quite there yet. And so at Cologne when
they picked it versus Batboom, they fell there, they stopped picking it for a while. And now
they brought it back for this tournament, but still to no avail. And so they're just
kind of hoping in a seeding game that as the maybe it's the pressure is a little bit
lower that this is when they're going to figure things out the most.
Now, I'm going to need you, though, to give me a very short why I should believe
in mouse to make this a map three. Why their ancient is good.
I think that Torsi is actually active enough to make this one a really competitive affair.
They won't make this competitive affair. Falcons 2-0.
Okay, okay. Again, I know what I was asking for, but it is a seeding match at the end of the day, whether it's for experimentation or just confidence here.
We do have Ancient coming up between Falcons and Maus.
So Falcons have the highest lickability.
Lickability?
Of the two teams.
Okay.
They're very slick players.
Ah, okay. I was a little worried there.
Alright, you got there, Moe.
Yeah, very flavorful.
Big fan of Falcons. I do think also
Kyosuke betting against him three times in a row.
Feels odd.
I'd not be a good idea.
It hasn't been good so far this week on Ancient, but
it was always Ancient sandwiched in between
two good maps too.
It was a little strange.
You can't be constant, right?
You got to have a little bit of an off game,
and so we've seen it from Kyosuke.
Enough of that.
How about now, when it could be straight into
the semifinals, when you could be guaranteeing
You're on the opposite side of the bracket from spirit
This would be a perfect moment to really just kind of bring it all together
You know lickability we want to see falcons gel lickety-split
That first one was
Well ancient be as fast because nuke god. I feel like we I feel like we were there for 20 minutes
Getting on the T side
Even with the loss to legacy, we did see an improvement from Falcons versus Lynn vision to legacy, so they're getting Matt going
But how about you just go ahead and win your map pick for once?
The unsupported push here for Spanx. Still great, but ah man, it's covered. He was waiting for that one risk
But they had it covered. It's a comfortable split for Falcons into the B site
You really want to push? CT's peeling one back. It's monosied down as Killsgate connects.
One guy starts to leave, but that's just to set this up. Yeah, that was a great bait.
They don't even know. If they believed in that, if they thought they were leaving, all of a sudden Tessas goes to clear lane
and didn't realize CT's were still this close.
There we go. Put it on ice.
Ice Falcons picking up a T side pistol here for their map pick and Kosuke's got two kills already
So surely it can't be that rough today
And also just seeing little things like it like even though you're setting up your your smoke in the door
Which is super normal be push it can happen where there's a guy right beside you
Not watching it how many times you see somebody not covering the guy throwing the smoke so they do that
That's a really good catch, and it's not just telling mouse
We know if you're gonna take this kind of risk
It's also getting a kill while punishing the risk while pushing them back
Force by out of mouse has three players on the B site
Little expeditionary force down mid, but those guys have pulled back already
Just got a feigning it threatening it
Then removing half of that setup and adding it to the B site.
If you commit to B here Falcons, you may regret it.
Not to say they couldn't slowly pull players off.
But if you go running in there like Hansel and Gretel, you're gonna get cooked.
This really isn't as big of a B defense as Falcons are assuming it is, and I don't think they
believe it.
It's the one smoke at the mouth of cave.
All the CTs are rotating around, but they're getting blocked inside of middle.
I feel like the mic is going so deep right now.
Oh, okay.
Well, it's only one kill.
Push through.
Seize the bomb.
Seize the bomb going towards A. So now they want to bring it back in the push down ramp
and now they actually might not want to do that.
Got Nico.
Look at the swing.
Look at the chase you down with the Mach 10.
Such little HP for the two remaining players.
Such little bits of time.
Oh, things could still get scary.
Spinks versus two now.
Bomb planter gets back up.
That's guns back in hand.
A bullet will get the job done here versus Spinks.
I mean, yeah.
Oh, she still manages to tag Karrigan in the back.
But it would have had to been the shot of all shots.
Falcons a little back and forth,
but still wind up pulling it apart slowly
for the 2-0 start.
Yeah, because of 2v1, it does make the retake harder.
That it does.
Doodalooop!
Guys, one start, one time, the wise man said,
you first, you lose the first map, you still have to win too, nothing changed.
He was like smiling to himself when I thought about that.
You ever think that maybe you ought to be wild?
Have you ever had a dream?
Like, would you, would you what I think I am?
That'll lighten the mood.
Yeah.
I wonder who the wise man was.
So I was like, not me, just so that now it's kind of snapped out of it individually, right?
Slow start back on Nuke, he had sphinx insertion with like one kill each.
I want to say like eight rounds into the game, so they were just like a non-factor in that
regard.
Now even these pistols in these first three have found victims, makes this round a
little awkward.
They just have nothing to work with.
Yeah, he definitely brought the fun factor down on this round with that spam kill.
They have to go for a plant. Now they have to watch Donut, not the smoke, and they have to watch for pushes on CT.
And they get deagle. This is really winnable now, but great move, honestly.
And then, Torzi pushes through that deep Donut smoke, and you would have thought that the 4-spy was what would pull this off.
Huge reposition here too in the meantime.
See if he cleared this.
Considering how much armor they do it.
Crazy, man.
Crazy, man.
And really, if that bomb goes down, it's a whole different story.
But the ZLX P250 smoke spam.
Yep.
That's the whole round.
Falcons.
And the push out of Torsi.
Let's get another motivational speech.
It worked.
This is what really lets it all fall apart.
And then just kind of stepping in before that smoke pops.
Whoa, that was nice.
Yeah, yeah
That round's gonna send a little electricity down the arms that's gonna steal a base
Smoked back on new cat and woken you up round like that
Now's ready to go now and they've got a wounded Falcons in front of them respect
They did it with the less expected round
Because it's counter strike and anything is possible
to fall back. The PR locked into this duel and he'll go down with only damage for his
name. And they are looking happy enough to snap call into this play. The climb up middle
though, will it cut anybody off in time? They delay at the bottom of the ramp. Ooh he's
not shooting at it. Zershin decides to play discipline. Space is locked into his corner
and gets wall banged out of this one. Zershin now flanking into the cave has
got an easy kill in front of him all on Tess S versus three, I don't think so.
tie up at two apiece and Falcons committing just slowly fizzle out it was a patient play with the
climb up middle and I think it still pays off yeah definitely yeah shooting too early can just be
such a disaster sometimes works out to secure the roundhead enough teammates there to make sure
they help this is one of the things that makes mouse tier one is like they when they get a small
opportunity like a half-buy, they always follow up with something good. They never let it go to waste.
You consider Maus like a big ideas team? I think about Maus, I just think about really,
really, you know, they've got a floating defense. They've got a really good CT side where they're
all covering each other in active positions constantly. I think I look at a team that
always puts themselves in good positions to trade where some other teams don't.
I think that's something everyone could borrow from them to be honest like just highly
highly tradable spots at sort of all these different points in the round where you know
you'd see someone or a team turn their brain off go into vanilla positions
sit and watch one thing that is of course when they're playing well
nuke was a bit of a weird map they normally play much better than that
And the numbers would have told us that that CT side comeback was very possible, but they
gave themselves such a small margin of error.
Things like this.
You know, you can have one guy on headshot or sometimes it's one guy on donut watching,
but it's too actively spotting while they have mid control so they both can.
They're going to mop it up.
Yeah, nice and easy.
Two rifles full commit to their spraydowns and they're going to make sure all five
still stand at the end of the round.
So that's how you do that, Falcons.
Converting excellently our Maus and finding a lead
five rounds into this game.
There is another side to it.
I would say that's what stands out about Maus.
It has always for me.
But when it comes to bringing in new utility and things
like that, like miles are not the first team I think of when it comes to how many new tactics
they have all the time, that's where I'm more of a fury of a lot.
I like the opening move from Falcons with the double naid middle, damn near kills
insertion
They come back in with gun rounds an opening move low utility at this point
But still remaining a very real friend
Josuke gets tagged for 50 HP through that wall bang this forward cave setup out of Maus remains adamant that it wants to stay here
They put another smoke down single play inside
He's unbelievable.
Another sequence of headshots.
He did the same damn thing from behind boxes.
A site new.
And this time a key piece to why this rifle round is flawless
out of mouse. That's straight up his ability.
Flat angles like that.
Real good approaches from the T side.
They know where he is.
So good at getting the headshot first.
Solid double made to kick off the round, but didn't matter for him.
Oh, thank you, bro!
I ain't got my boy, bro!
Oh, my God, I'm holding him.
He really did.
You know, it feels worse when you know it could have just been a triple swing to begin with,
but you'd never think you'd have to do that.
Back to your pistols.
You are under threat.
Lots of bodies trying to come up that ramp.
It's going to call for the rotation quickly.
Now's looking to throw bodies at the problem.
So many bodies, there's no longer a problem.
Four members up for Maus' defense that's continuing to look rock solid.
One-a-half-by-round, and then five rounds straight out of that.
Not even a half-by-round.
Nope.
Just an eclectic collection of pistols.
You know?
for a Falcons that's remained adamant about playing this ancient as a map pick this week
up against a stellar defense. Damn, they're losing their team.
They're losing their team. Cloud9.
Cloud9.
Which one?
Yeah, exactly.
We're doing it like a Shiro Cloud9. We're doing a Boston.
Ooh, I don't think Kerrigan would do a Boston.
I don't know. It worked.
Well, ancient didn't exist in Boston.
That's true, that's true.
Maybe it's Boston in spirit.
Oh, a Shiro from spirit.
Off the walls here, looking for the cross, looking to get into that mid-pitch.
Oh, Torsi debangles through a main and Celex now, I mean shooting as sharp as he is, sticks
around for seconds out middle.
And that'll reopen the possibility of this round, but Torsi is quick to react, pulls
himself away from the bomb site, I mean, Maus are all over them.
Falcons down to only Tess S, a matter of what feels like 20 seconds.
So Maus up 6-2.
the plan was Falcons didn't get to really evolve you just kind of get slammed over towards
a main monocle late to the angle towards he was very deep early and that's great when
him and zelex both at this point already have 10 kills apiece actually ancient came into
the pool in 2023 now yeah cloud nine campy boston no not boss but i mean even spirit
I mean even shiro
You know what I mean, that's even so weird
Oh, they didn't have shiro, but they still had a team
Tess us now down low
Niko single a k not getting anything. Yeah, cuz we casted mouse cloud nine at Rio this
Corp mouse. It was on ancient. Yeah.
2022? Oh.
Oh, Tess S. He's a guy.
He's a guy with a Desert Eagle.
Could be Heavy God's Cloud 9 for all we know.
That was a thing.
Could be icy.
Whoa!
Still banking on Niko being a hero, AK to try to escort this bomb in.
Just give him a headshot, but ah, Spinks looking much better here map 2 than he did
back on Nuke.
leaps and bounds better off so that'll be the five round lead secured by mouse
we said it was suspiciously good you know back on this we did
yep
finish off that second half
the cows seemingly alert in comparison to the way they started the first map of this race
Killing her, killing her.
Josuke, to drop Yuzo out middle.
Sitting outside that elbow smoke, the fire starts to fade,
and they're going to try to flash off the flashbangs.
It works out for one.
And Xerxian talks right back into the donut.
PR gets aggressive out the caves,
and there's just not enough presence towards this B site in Niko alone on ramp
ramp to have held back both ramp and cave was such a nice counter I mean even
Tessus comes out second PR just comes out after that he could have cleared up in
the heaven and caught him but the right amount of time in between those two
Nico will miss one Torsey's gonna jump up and get spotted but they have this
cave player so
players got this one held to Keregan will punish the pop-up to inside of
Could they get- Oh, Kerrigan's got bomb?
Yeah, that's worth. God.
That's worth for sure.
Lovely.
Risky.
But lovely.
Still worried about that mid-flank, and it's not reason to be.
That needed to land for Monosy.
If so, Kerrigan is running this bomb in for a plant with a teammate alive,
and Steady's got to do it on his own, and he only takes half damage.
We could be looking at the Kerrigan 4k 1v2.
I love this. I love this.
Is he gonna just go all the way through?
Yup.
He's overthink this one Keregan three kills going on for looking for the one on two
Searching sir. Yeah, he's going really fast
Keregan's got safety, but it feels like he's still considering being not so much doughnut. Oh, that's a way
We got a smoke flash kit here for Zershin to figure out the 1v1 I
Mean Zershin has to know he left he kind of had this cut off
Looks like he's gonna try to follow him and if Kerrigan just keeps on backing up, just keep on backing up, no?
And Zershin's thinking he might have gone all the way around, yeah.
Kerrigan doubles back, he's gonna have to spray at some point.
Now he's giving himself up.
And while he reloads Zershin back onto this with an underhanded flash that the flash misses.
Zershin sticks this.
Oh.
Off to the left side, didn't find the spam through.
Valiant effort, Kerrigan, but he comes up one kill short.
Well done, Zershin, to just shroud it under the smoke
and to keep Maus's winning ways rolling.
It's been unfortunate because he planted back default,
not against the wall.
He thought Zershin was that far on the other side,
but reached out for that one.
Felt like even better chances for Kerrigan
when that flashbang pops like halfway under the floor.
It's like a weird, you know, four inch gap there that blocks some of it.
That's the first bomb plant in the last eight rounds as well.
Spade's too worried about burning to death to expect Kerrigan to run such a risky move.
us back on his rifle and a 4v2 secured with that one.
Exertion is just a little quicker.
Nico goes down.
Who knows how this one ends up?
Instead, it'll be the new pieces of mouse
to try to stage a 2v4 retake.
They have so much money, so they're going to go for it.
Of course, with utility thrown out already,
they are blocked off by the ramp.
That fire soon to fade.
Looks like a gap in the short smoke,
so Kiosk will be able to push up a long cat one.
They are very much stuck behind the pillar, but they're already off to the safe.
It's crazy they're not going in earlier to get the kills, at least they have all the money for next rounds.
Falcons will be very happy to have this rebuy up for people alive on a B rush.
A snap call, very quick, very aggressive.
I think there's a bit of pent up frustration from that previous miss smoke spam.
Hit the point of the half where it's just like too critical to win rounds to overthink
it.
Honestly, he's really struggling this half, but that one entry kind of brings him around.
Yeah, we were sort of sat here thinking maybe the Kiyosuke fall off would occur
again just because he's back-to-back, rough agents, but yeah, monosy 3 and 10, that's
surprising.
It's just been so good this week.
Everyone looks good on CT.
It'll be the real test in the second half for most.
That's fair.
Nothing is working for them, okay?
So this is the moment Karrick and we're trying to force it.
That was in the previous timeout, and he did force it.
and they still couldn't stop and banish my connection.
Through the mid smoke, Ghost Kiyosuke, and out of the half as well.
His final death, empty-handed.
And without a lot of map control here either, Falcons may just feel the need to try to break
down these beat doors once again, easy line up for space.
And so one singular B-Site rush after the pistol round and the conversion.
That unarmored pistol round win out of Maus gave them a hell of a spree, gave Falcons something to think about.
And now unfortunately for Monosy, this 1v5 is going to fizzle out, and so Maus looking at a 9-3 CT side.
Another underwhelming T side for Falcons on ancients.
Desk kind of has some back and forth about the motivations of picking this, whether it was the right map to pull out in this series.
series and for now it's feeling like Falcons may have underestimated Maus.
I'm going to slow down
I'm going to slow down
He's all the right
One more
Back turn
I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Go into the city
Let's risk it
You can also go in with it
I will check it
Nice
Let's take the fights.
I'm on boosts.
This is really strong skill.
Try hard man.
I'm fast, I'm gone.
Oh, I think Sandbox.
Behind you, uh...
Nice!
Smart.
Yeah, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine
10 minutes, 10 minutes
Left, left
Both
One more, one more
Okay
Easy man
Did you hear someone?
One here
I'm peeking
Fuck man, I missed his map
He's right around the corner
Just go and pass through the sky
Nice
Nice!
Nice!
One more, I'm back.
Nice!
That was a good one.
Hell.
One more.
Nice one, King.
One hundred more.
Nice one, dude.
Pick a pick, pick a pick.
Thank you, pick a pick.
I kill one.
This one.
Ah, that was...
Easy, easy.
Mauskoe rip roaring on Falcon's map pick.
Great rebuttal from a first map loss of nuke and now we'll see whether the CT side can breathe new life into Falcons hopes of winning their own
I'd like to take this second to ask if you like counter strike, and you like live trading. Why don't you do it on polymarket?
Now could be the time with mouse looking good all of a sudden
8 up and over, SS, oof, eats the second flash, would have had a back to him so, utility important
there, was Kerrigan and Niko go down, Maus could be securing double digits and a real
chance at a stomp now, here on ancient.
Yeah, this is nightmare fuel well for Falcons, had high hopes of probably taking this pistol
and cruising to a slight comeback, but now it's looking a lot like Nuke in their face.
Yeah, and this is obviously where they wanted to go.
I think Vune nailed the logic, whether or not it was a good idea sort of up for debate,
but in terms of what Kerrigan may have been thinking,
this does make sense. A seeding match to pick a map that you need for your map pool,
sure, to be good, but also not just a scrim, it is an official.
Yeah.
That much more valuable of a rep although it did allow just two to get instantly banned
right after so the series goes to Inferno assuming ancient remains as flat as it is
for Falcons ah yes the old quadruple donut boost bring us in Jay it's a whole box of
them your big sprinkles donut guy right yeah favorite donut I'm like Homer when
it comes to donuts that's crazy man yeah yeah I don't know anybody else who
would say sprinkles number one yeah it's gotta be number one I don't expect
anyone to think that's okay but you do you bro you do you what's your number
I'm a big uh, big uh, jelly guy.
Yeah, I knew it.
Yeah, I'm a jelly-filled guy.
You could just tell-
You're a-you're a narc, that's why.
Ha ha ha.
I like the powder.
They don't have the patience to remain on the boost.
Long side starts to slip away.
This USP is not a surprising punch.
Two kills, bunch of damage on spanks.
Maus will be fine with that.
They sit pretty.
Two rounds from victory.
their opponent's map picks so we're doing that tonight the old steal your
opponent's pick game a classic counter strike experience
it's happened a few times I think this week
yeah doesn't make an interesting situation for where this leaves
Now they face up and they're gonna have a remotely good Asia. Well, guess we can't pick it this weekend
And not the best timing to find out it's so weak oh Niko Kiosk a combining four an opening couple of kills now
It would have to be a hell of a comeback
But it starts with rounds like these that it does
Strong kickoff in middle
Rapid move from Falcons to just add layers to this B site defense.
And they are correct in standing here.
Now all you've got to do is just not lose a 5v2.
Which sometimes, just sometimes, they can manage.
Georgia gets found out.
Rock solid out of Falcons to begin.
And we do still have this question remaining with Kyosuke after the back-to-back mishaps of his performance on Ancient.
Even if this game is still going to be a Maus victory, which for a while now will paint it as that
I'd like to still see Kiyosuke try to get some value out of the CT side
So he's a part of this hold alongside Niko
See how close they may or may not be able to make this game
I mean no pistol makes it ten times harder, but there is a genuine chance they can make it scary so
Three pistols on this one as Mao's bottom up the bank accounts.
Watch this B site.
Keep a close eye on it. PR's Deagle shows itself and there are rifles in the mix, so you hear a Desert Eagle.
But there are still real threats.
And also enough utility to go in with another volley once that CT smoke top ramp fades.
Funnily enough, it's only Karrigan's smoke left over now for Falcons. He's sitting inside cave right now.
I wonder if he'd be willing to throw it for R.A.P. considering he's the cave player.
Looks like he's gonna put it down in front of himself. He could cut off the bomb.
So they get all the smoke grenades out of Falcons. Essentially all the utility, except for monosies, is a minute mark.
Killskate kills Zershin to kick off.
Mao's brave enough to take a push through that cave, and their mid lurker and sphinx gets found out.
So Falcon's gonna sigh, sigh of relief.
Keep the flashbang in the process.
Killskate's got the cave covered alongside Kerrigan, and Falcon's holed off another one.
This time sending Mao into a real save.
Two parts of this.
I mean, you know, you want to have a certain amount of rounds before you potentially give up 12.
Just to say, oh, we only need that many rounds again.
And then along the way, as long as the rounds are dominant,
you have enough money that your next buy after a loss
is no issue.
They're sort of meeting that requirement right now.
Still a couple to go before I think they'll
start sitting up and actually feeling it.
But this is going to be a freebie to get six.
You still want to hold that one round buffer.
You know what your expectation right now is like over time.
Yeah, so hold that round buffer as long as possible.
We'll see if it's dangerous to play a full retake A setup.
I think you want to deny just as many bomb plants as possible, play these sort of aggressively
You know what the fewest buys?
You got a lot of rounds to play.
Keep the warm up coming for Kiosk, gang.
Yeah, even the USP's enough to hold off that one.
So we had a weird round with pistols for miles back in the first half,
but we only had a P250.
Five round game.
I'll say doable.
This is gonna be the one for Maus.
Likely? Not so much.
But doable.
So I'll put this up and they've got like a half buy for eight and the Alchins will have made so much money by then.
Very critical moment for Maus I would say.
Spent a bit of an affinity for Falcons out middle to take those opening risks to be ready for those fights,
but Maus haven't really signed up for those big mid clashes just yet.
We'll see if we ever get to that point in this T side for they will head back to be and they're gonna play with the tempo this time
Monacy fully blinded the player back site almost goes unchecked
Good on PR as he peels test S out of this one
Monacy goes for the deeper angle and shorts are even compromise
Karrick pushes tape, but he just can't manage that second. Monacy's still here and his pistol not enough
It's Nico through cave 1v3
3. Reveals himself to the welcomes, torgy to smoke spam back, mouse securing 6 map points
off of the back of a pretty timely ramp hit.
Yeah, I mean it's a B door smoke that doesn't land, they walk right through it.
They were planting on mistalks, had a little bit of utility to dissuade them, that kill
looked like it was necessary to carry.
A couple moments where they actually still could have denied this or at least made
Transfer a retake, but they missed out on those frags
This will feel excellent now for mouse
We can set it's about winning as many as you can before mouse get 12 so that you can believe in the rest of it
But six rounds is a bit of a stretch and you're just always playing from a power position a little bit more chilly worst worst case
We get overtime already
No, we only need one round.
Damn, Demon's so impactful nowadays, he's got calls about him.
Demon and Cloud9 strats make sense, though.
Said we haven't seen that mid fight, but three players in elbow.
A bit of an indication. Fast boost for Kyo-Suke.
Ay-ya-ya, he loses the duel to PR.
Yeah, straight up, too.
PR's how to stand on impact.
Oh, Torji comes through after the impact from the Nate tells Niko he should spray.
Two come through, one with an AWP, and he falls to it.
A 3v5 demanded of Falcons, or else their map pick goes up in smoke.
So who's gonna be the hero feels like monasy wants to get drawn into the play
But he would have to do this from the bottom of falcons scoreboard doesn't really know what that feels like very often
We talked about other players performance is on this map not so much monasy
Gargon also seeing that maybe running a risk is worth it and two great chances for kills these first two so
Probably goes beyond, can't win the duel.
Just coming up short in those regards is going to cost Falcons ultimately any chance at making this comeback for real.
Losing the pistol as well.
Springboard's Maus into finishing off what was already such a commanding lead.
A 9-3 CT side, whereby in the 9 rounds, Maus 1, they only gave up a single bomb plant.
And within the 8 round streak that they had on that CT side, it all kicked off with pistols
unarmored. So Mao's wind up taking a lot of momentum away from Falcons. The Falcons that
just wanted to prove to us that they can play this ancient at a level worthy of it being their
map pick but they will yet again be sent into a spiral and over to that decider map as well.
It's not been easy for Falcons to close out these series but they still have successfully won
games. That's why this match is for seeding and that's why Inferno's up next.
as bill is taught us Newton's third law for every reaction there is an equal and
opposite of reaction sometimes you get 13 6 and sometimes you do the 6 13 I
looked at my wallet yeah I looked at my wallet between games and there was no
cash in my wallet just like Falcons there's no cash on this team but they're
really definitely should be after watching that performance they've got
it they've just just get rid of get ready just get cash in here what do
What are we pretending guys? What are we pretending? They said they didn't want to be a one trick pony
But right now the only trick I'm seeing is giving away wins on ancient for free. I mean it's just it's just a gift
Isn't it? I mean it's four consecutive ancient picks from Falcons now that have ended in L after L after L
And now the fourth L
It's not getting any better really either that look like the one of the worst ones
I've seen from them thus far T side could hardly construct a semblance of a round there
CT side maybe a glimpse here or there early on but that's just what you're
gonna get with players of that caliber I'm on board I would rather see them play
cash at this point you have the best cash player of all time and see us go in
Niko highest rated check the stats why is he not playing one of his signature
maps all those buyouts and you're telling me they got no cash
that's not bad. That was way better than whatever wall you're pulling at. I can't believe you started with that one, but that was a good one to end on.
Let's talk about Mous instead, alright, because whilst it is an opportunity that is presented where Falcons feel comfortable enough to pick ancient yet again in the best of three,
it's also Mous taking high of that opportunity, right, being able to capitalize on it for themselves and really show up,
make sure that this weak T side of Falcons is put even further down than what we'd see other teams do.
I mean, you have to expect it from a coach like Cycro that he's going to look at the last few games of ancient and go, Hey, that's same game plan. Why don't we give that a little test, little look see if that one works out for. Oh my God, it's a 9 3 half.
I will say when you asked me very briefly before we went live now about what it is that mouse can do well on the map or what can give them a win condition. I was saying Torsi felt like he was fantastic. He was in probably four different
I think that's probably four different starter positions which I think all netted at least opening kills if not entry frag or multi kills that is so he was fantastic on it but got to give up to the young gun again.
I feel like the way that Celix is blossoming in this series is really just been exactly what Maus saw in him being produced in this kind of stage.
If he can actually continue to just be such a problem, I mean even getting
slotted in on some of these extremity positions and just deleting every single
person, this is something to believe in because that this aim and the corrections
on his aim are absurd today. It is so ridiculous to see this in motion and
in full-time speed for a person to pop up on his screen and it's instant death.
I haven't really I've never really seen zelecs pull off this sort of
Firepower against the team of this caliber and he's done it now two maps in a row
Yeah, and they managed to have zelecs involved in the majority of the rounds either going aggressive on a
When they would give up mid and then falcons would just allow them to take the extremity so aggressively then you can pull off a
Two or three K. I mean the very first
I think that's the first gun round or the second gun round
He's pushed up in a main and he manages to find the triple on three players that are ready for that angle
So they're trying to trade on it.
It's just a tough fight.
And then you have Torji there as well.
But when you go to where it's mid, who's there again?
It's Zelex.
He's set up with Zershin.
They're both there to prevent any mid control going Falcons way.
They just couldn't find an out this game.
I mean, at this point, it feels like who we'd not
praising on the side of Maus.
But earlier, we mentioned every single player,
but we're also going through,
we're naming that coaching stuff, too.
Any other shout outs you want to give
for this ancient run on Maus?
Player manager.
Sabrina shout out Sabrina.
That's the team manager.
That's how I was going out with this one.
It was it was a great mouse here, but another fun fact
I give you guys one at the end of at the end of what was it nuke where I said
This was the sixth map since caragina joined falcons in which he had a positive Katie
Well, this is the third map since monosie has joined falcons that he is the bottom
Lowest rated. Oh wow. Wow. It is point four six. I believe wow. He really doesn't get that low rated that off
That's I knew he's good. He's gone falcons for a while though
team. He's got a lot of
players that have been
playing with him. He's got
a lot of players that are
supporting his team mates, but
then when we did see him pick
up the up, he did have a
couple very uncharacteristic
misses as well. I don't think
he got into the game,
especially it's confusing
after a new core. He played
lights out so incredibly.
Usually monies one to have
a consistent series to go
the whole series where he's
showing up will go a whole
roster length and only have
three games this week.
Usually you see him have a
bit more consistent. That was
a concerning sign.
Falcons is because like we were saying, he's throwing the Nades, so he's going to be in the back lines oftentimes.
And at that point, if all of his entry fraggers die, what's he left to do?
What is it about ancient that Maus played now that was significantly better for them than the way that they were showing up on map number one for Nuke?
Well, they got to play more CT side. And I do think that they have always been more CT side merchants than they have been T side teams.
I mean, even going back to the last season on Overpass, for example,
they had, I think, the highest CT side win rate of any team on that map,
which is why it was oftentimes their pick,
because they knew that they could be in the hole and they could dig themselves out of it.
And I feel like that comes from practically everybody almost being overqualified
per their position.
Maus has never been a team where you look at any individual and say,
that guy is going to get targeted this game.
Even when they had Brolin, he was a great fragger per his positions as an in-game leader.
And now that they have exertion, really,
he can double up with anyone and if they're playing off of each other that's one of the fundamentals of mouse counter strike
It's not sexy. It's not just one guy overperforming getting a ton of headshots
Even though zelex might make you believe otherwise
It's usually just been even if the first guy misses his shot the next guy's ready to pick up
Yeah, one of my concerns coming into this one was they gave the ball to torsia bit on nuke
I mean it's T side nuke
It's tough to do well as not but they put him in positions to try and find shots
He missed a few he struggled in that T side of nuke
He struggled in the CT side a little bit less, but then you go into ancient starting on CT side
That's where you want torgy to be strong. It's where oppers tend to be quite well on this map the T side
They struggled a lot more. I was worried that torgy wasn't gonna have a great game
He had a great game and then you always have the riflers there
You you always know the core of the rifling trio from mouse is going to show up
It's not a bit of trio anymore is the best part about it's the yeah, it's all four of them are really great
Yeah, I mean you you really have a mouse team that's incredibly scary to deal with and they've been putting the ball in
and they've been putting the
ball in Spinks of Sands more.
I think that this mouse squad
is incredibly dangerous and you
just see glimpses of that on new,
but you can't get the whole picture.
Ancient they bring it all together.
Yeah, it's a perfectly painted
and curated picture for the.
I do want to talk more about Falcons
wanting to go back again time and time for
ancient and I strongly believe that we
will end up seeing it again because
remember this isn't an elimination.
Best of three.
They're both going on to Porto.
I do still see them in even with
three days time four days time.
They are going to be picking it again.
So what is it now we have to be real we have to be so real. What do you think all to them picking it off?
How much practice can you go?
They are going away after today after today it is dust 2 and a new bus
That's all you're gonna see a porto for the playoffs ancient dream said dreams dad the test run is over
Okay, it was a crash course
It's done. Yeah, I think this was I didn't you have to admit that this is a tester right you look at yourself as Falcons
What maps do you have? You have Anubis and you have Dust2 and you have, you had ancient.
This is the map that you need to have a much deeper map pool than that.
If you want to have consistency at these events, you can't just go back to Dust2 and Anubis.
When a lot of teams ban Anubis and a lot of teams are incredibly dangerous on Anubis, namely legacy, vitality,
falcons usually. You know, you've got Spirit on that map.
You've got so many dangerous Dust2 teams. If you don't have a third map in the pool you can go to, you're gonna really struggle to find consistency.
another big problem spirit has just been lights out on ancient now and so that's
why I almost feel like in a veto if you're care again and if you see spirit
in the semis or grand finals or wherever because they're on I guess they're on
opposite sides of the bracket now we'll find out depending on who wins this
match if that stays the case then you almost want to ban ancient because
this I don't think you can go into it in what should probably be the
semis at least of this event and say we're gonna play spirit on a map that
they have actually looked like they are a cut above everybody else in the world.
Yeah, I think if you if you don't have ancient then you're looking at a Falcons they go into a
lot of series against a lot of teams where you say they need to win map three. They don't have a
2-0 possibility in this series. I mean I did tell you guys that there was one thing we could rely
on in this best of three is that Falcons will go to map number three. It did play out that
way. We were hoping though that it would have been mouse to get their map pick. We would
have been able to see Falcons get theirs but it is the opposite way around for them and so it
does bring us to Inferna for a map 3 after this break.
the same side of the bracket as that. So spirits watching this and hoping for a
certain victor that they really want to be seeing and I think when you look at
the lower brackets of the other group it's it's been very dangerous when you
look at this one but coming in a map three I mean this is an inferno that I
think Falcons have actually looked very much improved on recently they
haven't had the biggest of wins but they've been very consistent in the
place that they've had and it's one of the only maps where I've seen
them actually dispatch of the teams they're supposed to dispatch up in a
comfortable fashion. It's true. It's probably something that they should
perhaps consider over ancient in terms of picking it at this point because it
has looked better for them this season. I would say that a lot of that does also
come down to Kyosuke, who has just been on an upward trajectory coming into
Falcons. I think he only had something like 12 facing games in his entire life
on the map. And now I feel like he has, I think, double that many
officials now. And so it's been pretty good for him at EWC. He demolished
the Mongols on this map. But given the fact that they have to start
the T side. Sometimes I feel like they can run into some trouble. I feel like a lot of
it really just comes down to Nico if he can take banana space and if he does that great
Kerrigan has unlocked the entire map but if he even just slows down for a bit has a little
bit of trouble from the opposing players on the mouse side then that's when things
get a little tricky. Yeah unfortunately I've seen this Falcon
steam struggle they've stuttered when it comes down to Inferno. If they can't
get that banana control the changes so heavily on Nico doing his job effectively he struggled
at this team, on this team at times to find his place in the new system, in the new role,
but I think this is a map where he can showcase himself to the highest level.
Well, now the CT mercenaries are going to buy Maui there. That's where they'll be starting
for themselves. And is it enough to have a good half that we could see them take this best of
three over Falcons? It is Inferno. In Inferno, that by the sounds of the desk hinges greatly
on Niko, Mohan. Good thing it's Niko. And fingers crossed for the Falcons' sake.
After that first stomp on map 1 there, most certainly not going to want to miss this chance to close out and to guarantee semi-finals.
We look at the poly market prediction and it is as close as it has ever been heading into this third decider.
I think it's fair. I think it's also sort of, you know, you wouldn't want to read too much into the ancient.
I'd still say Falcons, just like we saw. Maus pop back up in the in map two Falcons.
We're planning to kind of have to go here.
Uh, worst case.
I mean, because certainly even though it's probably worthwhile to say, okay, let's put
us under some real pressure with not the same level of consequence as let's try ancient.
You still want to jump the semis.
Yep.
You still want to jump the semis, so you still have to have a full plan.
And there's always a chance that they lost nuke.
P.R. awaits. There's a whole lot of Falcons on the other side of that half wall.
He's holding a little wide, a little committed. Okay, it still gets back. Okay, switches into
a pair of Berettas. That's cool. Shot his USP and then jumped into the Berettas hidden
on the B site.
Forziko's back out of underpass.
He's a little bit worried they would actually fall back.
Four here in B, don't have to worry about it.
Hell, X-Kill one blind.
Here come the Berettas.
Nice flashbang at assertion.
Oh!
Now that is about as good as it gets.
I mean, they went right into the trap the entire time.
Maus never moved to muscle.
One guy spotting, a smoke.
Falcons think, eventually they're going to rotate.
Maybe they never had a stack in the first play, they don't believe this.
No, Maus have a full read on this.
And didn't even have to bank on what felt like the X-Factor in those tucked away Berettas.
It was Zellex, watch this 3K.
Catches monosy crossing over, emerges from the CT smoke, yeah free beyond care again
in the end.
But I mean, that is stylish as far as shutdowns go.
And quick to get themselves some rifles off of that one.
It causes momentum from ancient rolling forward with a CT pistol victory.
Questions from the desk about Niko's ability to crack this game open.
Also questions from the desk about just the T side in general for Falcons.
Well starting here proved to be too much of a task.
It's so wild to both talk about them.
Yeah, it's just free ground for Zershin.
Happy to test the absolute limits of this mid-set-up and now all that they've got is
this apartment's totally corralled.
They're gonna have to try to break their way through, so props for finding one kill, at
least on Zellex.
But it's just gloss.
Yeah.
Sorry Falcons.
Not allowed in on this one.
But to talk about this team, like, they're a new team, but also they've won the major,
So it's kind of like, you can't do that anymore.
But it still feels like we see growing pains from Falcons
in the weirdest way.
It's a cool element of Kerrigan's career
that he's able to just elevate for those majors.
We see it happen again.
They are the Cologne Major champions.
What an event to win.
But it is also kind of this weird duality
that was like Falcons struggling at non-major events
and also Kerrigan had that same problem too.
In that regard, it still feels real.
It's almost like he told him when he signed.
I can win you a major,
but I don't know about anything else.
Torgy with the deep angle down middle
is gonna open up in the gun round.
We've got pressure for Niko
as the Nate's pelting down to half HP.
Good utility so far, lots of players.
Yeah, Niko thought he was gonna get into that B site
maybe with a kill, equalize this round.
Maus have other ideas
And a perfect setup to deal with that on top of TSS just being sent into his demise.
5 vs 2 now?
That's a pure art out of mouse, man.
Every bit of the setup catches everything.
Just like the pistol, full read on what they can get away with.
Easy for the AWP and the B players.
Honestly, he's got a gun they want.
Yeah, there's an MP9 in FOMAZ that would love an upgrade here.
And it is right there for the taking.
Part of me continues to go back to the Cyclone timeout when he said guys we just need to
wake up a little bit and you know it was a very uncharacteristically slow start from
Zershin from Spinks.
That nuke was supposed to be close at least.
It felt like they you know on the second half were starting to build the possibility
of a comeback.
But that one gets shut down by some great calls from Kerrigan, some nice splits into that A site.
Yeah, that's another moment where you see like all of a sudden a good T side.
Guys, this is the last game we are playing here in Copenhagen, okay?
Let's give our fucking...
We're going again!
We can't decide how we are going on the plane, if we are having fun or we are fucking losers, okay?
Come on!
I love it.
I love the pep talk.
You're playing play to win
Torsi was the first guy to kind of step into that role as like the leader of men for mouse
Maybe Zershin is your in-game leader, but torchi still feels like your spirit
And you know the best thing about that flight is all the players are on the same plane
So those losers he's talking about could be sitting across from him
Or will it be the ones in the mirror
Final map, like you said, here in Copenhagen for these teams.
And Porto's a hell of a destination to roll into, feeling like you could win it all.
And somewhere brand new for CS, right?
Mm.
Deep angle for PR, look at the flex, the weapon advantage, you'll do exactly that as
Niko goes down 0-4.
Couple of these rounds, obviously just pistols in hand, so won't hold them to it too badly.
And a little bracket split is what Falcons will still have to work with.
These aren't Kevlar Desert Eagles across the board for Falcons.
You'd hope for their safety to get a little bit of damage in.
Something to wound Maus, something to dent their confidence.
But thus far, nothing but Maus impact.
Every step of the way, the bodies fall finally back with two at least.
But it'll be three survivors, majority alive, you've got Maus running away with AK-47s and a 4-0 CT start.
Everything's flowing in the right direction for Maus. B control looks awesome.
It's always great when you see both the chip damage and the well-timed peeks.
It means the right amount of icons on the kill feed every time they get a kill.
It's never just an easy fair fight.
Ancient was just the 7th map, monosie was the lowest rated player on Falcons with this roster.
Ah, said it man, never used to being that far down there board.
Ooh, catching him with the nades though, there is still value back for Maus.
Another nade!
Oh good, double the nade!
You can't escape!
They were just in the blast zone, that was so close.
But a catch from Zershin totally changes the round right back into the power position with an extra player up
That's brutal!
Miss shot out of Torgie!
This is a bit quick to the trigger
Yeah, also missed shot out of Tessus
That was a moment where he doesn't die and has a chance to get a couple bullets out
We're just looking for some frags right now as well for Falcons
They're averaging one kill around
Not a promising rate, but with that vacancy towards the B site they're going to find, there's
always a world where you keep it simple and overwhelming.
As far as defense, you've got Zershin here in sight, closest rotate PR with no utility
to help him.
That smoker that he just threw, last nade on this half of the map.
You'd think you'd love a flash to work with, but instead he's just gonna pop up or take a bullet to bed!
Tess S with a clean one to crack it open, put that bomb down and queue up a potential retake.
Rare situation here for Falcons.
Three kits to go off of.
There goes the last frag. It's valuable. As you've got two-thirds of this post plant softened up,
Monacy goes back, clears Banana.
You'd think that turns him back over now to help out with the CT cross.
And sure enough, it's a CT flash that Kerrigan still just shoots right through.
So Falcons play the numbers.
Walk into the B site, we just search in there.
And good on Tessus to get that entry.
It'll cost him on the exit, but it is still Falcons first round win.
Yeah, they're happy to get it no matter how.
Chance earlier for Tessus to take Torsi out,
but when they go back to B, it's really just that one entry.
entry that's that's what matters
pre takes whatever part of the game plan when you're playing CT inferno both
sides hard to guarantee that was just fantastic not easy chopper test that's
in the process of the climb up take those while you can we'll start 3b
Here come the nades.
No output this time around.
Deep Smoke keeps Mouse ahead on Banana, and they will tuck one towards the logs.
There's a little hesitation here, and it looks like Zershin doesn't actually want to stick around.
We saw that missed op shot from Torgy in apartments this time he'll play on the boiler exit
Yeah, it's just that a couple of misses not super close to potential has a couple of good rounds so far as well
This is where it really counts
Silence forward bracket set up at 35 seconds and send the area in the middle of the pack. We'll hold them back for a little while longer
Now is actually peel away there anticipating a be hit instead Spinks is gone
We'd have loved to have been that third piece of the defense
This one's gonna fall on Torgy and Zellex and these two alone nice track at a Torgy
Looking for second contacts
Roll up to short side, Zalex gets his and Torsi a second, but it's Tess S with a double back for Falcons.
Bomb though has to just bail into the middle of the site and hope this smoke serves as good cover.
He comes back out. Quad kill demanded of Tess S.
He has to read the mid player running. Damn, gives him the audio and gives him something to think about.
Surgeon with the headshot and good on the defenders in that bomb site between Torsi and Zalex having just lost Spanx as a piece of their support.
they still did enough.
I feel like assist, yeah,
towards these kills are so key for the back of default.
And right here, just slowed the exact down so much.
I mean, they're lucky I feel like
to get this fight in the first place.
Had a barrel through this frostfire,
but still took a bit too much time.
That's their Moto Smoke up there.
Oh boy.
Oops.
Funny, that's the way they get a kill.
Is that a Moto Smoke?
landing on the ceiling on the roof.
The staging was pretty solid for Falcons.
I mean, Mao's bid on it, they left the site,
they thought they cleared everything
and Falcons were right there still holding on
to the important bits of map control to do that quickly.
I'll tell you, on the semi-fresh map here again, I'll leave you with an X, we'll come
us through the last one.
Insurgent's having a good time and I'm sure this 6-1 score is fueling that enjoyment.
Torgy and Zelex, top of the charts.
Deep Smoke lands again, Niko in front of it.
Those Nades found no damage last round.
This time Niko dropped down to 30.
Niko, monosy, Josuke, all with one kill each.
That's it.
Wow.
Simply not keeping up in the frag department
are Falcons halfway through their T side.
Bomb in the middle of that smoke, Torji not even giving anything to have to handle.
Just a Tess S dry swing wide, Op connects, 5v3 secured from Maus easily.
And as they await this smoke to fade, they heard that damage done,
and it's not just one player anymore, but two.
The third ready to swing if needed.
Modesty finds his, it's a good line up, there's that third piece.
PR comes through, catching Karrigan in the backdrop, and Kyosuke ahead of smoke.
Maus, 6-1 lead, keeping majority alive yet again.
There are master class T-sides, this is certainly not one of them.
I mean the way that they're both trying to, they're kind of failing to take B control, not even B sometimes.
It's going to be noted in Black at bomb plants and then also losing to Torsi's off on the other side of the map in the same rounds, in the same few seconds.
If you're going to take risks like that with your lurkers, you'd think you'd have some kind of lead to do it, not just kind of give them layups.
Whoo nice reaction while getting dinked
Torgy's the better opera tonight. Yeah big time. I mean at least here. I'm honestly was insane on map one
Also T side hopping on inferno isn't really a thing
A little bit of space on brackets, but you hear that utility behind you in middle and
you can't help but start to feel like mouths are figuring you out.
So make it move forward and they do with the pick on a torgy.
Pull them off library, Spinks and Zellex to be pressured, bomb on the front.
Oh!
Deagle gets it done, of all the rounds.
They wrap around this A bomb site
and it's usually been so stellar,
but for once, Torji seemingly can't hold it all back himself,
starts with the monosy pick off,
and then nothing once they just push through those brackets.
They've given him so many peaks like that
with no flashes at all.
And two times he's missed,
it's actually resulted in the round
being one of both of those instances.
This one in that moment where he couldn't kill Tess S,
left went to B and got the B pick but it doesn't necessarily reflect that well on the falcons either.
It's just on this round they don't really have the utility to go for a full arch-rap so they had to try something.
I'm gonna rack up a price tag and nobody gives Zershin something to shoot at. There's your second.
I'm trying to find solutions on this half of the map and a missed off shot doesn't help
Also, hell, you take those and tear again.
Truth.
Well, it's certainly not too late for Falcons to make something happen.
This happens just they don't really look like they have the fire right now.
The best call they had on that sort of mid pause play.
They miss a motosmoke and then lose the rounds.
In the 2v1, they pull off a path by rush.
It doesn't really tell you anything about what's coming up next.
I was just going to keep going forward there, protocols to be honest, towards the offing
towards me and being aggressive, and all of the great utility over on B. It's crazy the
amount of time Salkans have tried to overshade car, there's three CTs there.
It was almost one less.
Zershin does not have the HP to play those games on banana. Tors you will try to step into the responsibility instead.
Oh, Kerrigan swings so wide into that.
Yeah, he didn't see him until he went super wide.
Oh no.
Already critical velocity there.
Would have loved to have taken that back, but he can't.
So calling from the sidelines, Kerrigan here in the ninth.
Frag grenade into this mid smoke.
smoke. Ouch. Actually could have been worse.
Oh, out of the sky. Wild jumping. Oh,
Spinks gets it deleted. Trying to drop Molotovs on the Kiosk
gate approach. He knows he's got this CT stuck in a weird spot.
There's teammates right behind Kiosk gate now. All in. Here are
Falcons. Zershin from the balcony. He's gonna have a
distraction offer, but Tessa still clears him from it. 25
to this clock. Celest trying to do more. But now
Torsi's locked his angle and Falcons it's hard fought but by God they've put that bomb down.
Kill for kill, not too bad and monocys, late smoke could be the thing that makes a difference.
Two CTs to approach from the short side.
Yeah, this can help them focus on it.
Guns up now, not too concerned about Modo.
Fought goes towards the apartments.
HP's not great but it's an AWP.
Mounds walking off these flashes, there they go.
Oh, monocys double headshot.
We don't get to catch it but it had to be clean because that is his triple kill
this round from two and seven he posts a triple and a hard-fought battle to get
up that short side with mouths having the numbers and nades that they did.
This is a great move from Torsi but I feel like the kills K-1 is the big
kill oh my goodness wow dude I mean he was getting airtime here that's
This is ridiculous!
Two bullets burst!
Another nasty shot out of Kyosuke.
I'm going to use a lot of his nades early on, we're at minute 20, 3 smokes still, but
a lot to meant to slow the roll of falcons and it feels like they're still in brackets
quick enough.
CT's going to try to play for this, nicely done, finding Kerrigan unprepared entirely.
5v3, you are still stuck in with bombacy, but he's not able to get a double down this
time around.
Torsi ready for that balcony exit, bomb in their possession as well, and the final piece
and Niko has been confirmed.
This is still Niko with a single kill on this entire T side.
And unfortunately for him, they have his bomb on the other half of the map.
Back turn, he will remain a single kill on the scoreboard.
Maus will win one back and this time they've got to take the action into their own hands.
Chasing them into that setup and finding a back turns nice.
Yeah with the guns that they have it's just such good use of it.
Uh, MD9 Kimanel, they're ready again, always putting themselves in tradable spots.
Thor is he looking out to the right positions once again?
It's been clairvoyant so far on CT side.
The only rounds that have gone wrong is like he missed a small flick, but he's still looking in the right spot.
top of the board on utility. Spinks.
And let's keep us on a pillar.
Whole different level.
Right towards beating, here we go.
And it's light this time.
There's been this pretty regular mouse three player B-start
that they pull back from this round.
It's not too late to add that third piece.
Spinks is indeed coming over,
but the flashbangs get you off of the logs
and that's just gonna let mouse know
that Falcons were thinking about trying to take this portion of the map.
Heavier presence than say last round when we still have Falcons sat outside their deep
smoke so Niko gets whittled down again and his job has not been made easy in a lot of
these rounds.
They're just never low on players when it's time to go B. Now they make the smooth move
back over.
It's a quick transition.
Oh, they've lost their ass guy.
At least Torshee gets blasted out of the round.
You've got a defender still in sight.
Spinks reveals himself.
It's smoked on both ends.
Not going to be comfortable for Falcons to come through
as the B rotators are fast to make their move.
And good damage out onto the bomb site.
Spinks holds on.
Niko time to shine.
Burst kill already connects.
In anticipation, Claude though on that jump in little pit.
And it's going to feel right now for Niko,
Like the world is just against him.
And definitely I do think though in terms of game planning,
like they're losing this as a team big time,
the risk that they're taking when they run into Torzie
in some of these previous rounds,
like they kill him again just raw peak.
Torzie, I don't think it's been flash killed
a single time this half.
Right, when he does die, he's still just staring out.
Yeah, it's just some crazy raw duel
because they're Falcons, but.
They came into the series looking to test their ancient.
And now we're left with a question about inferno as well.
And that's two spamming from far back to really make it seem like there's some good push.
I don't think so at all the only way it gets better is if Torsi lands his final blow.
Rock solid final round out of the CT side Falcons have their hands full again in this series and
Looking oddly deflated as they will have to take to the second half
Let's get into this one
I would kill this right there, how would you do it?
First, I remind you where we are, Austin, Texas.
This state has been the beating part of Counter-Strike for 25 years.
You know, who's waiting for you backstage?
They want to hear your hype.
They want to feel it.
They want to feel it!
Six teams enter the arena, but there is only one prize waiting on this stage.
Lesboa makes some noise!
It's not a test.
Yes, it's a little too lost.
Do you feel it?
Your heart pounding with anticipation.
That shiver down your spine, counter-strike legs within us!
From the bottom of your heart, let me be you!
All right, Davies, listen up.
Listen up.
No, I say...
I say...
Oh, just say an explain.
There's been a lot of fat communication recently.
Oh, lots.
People are telling you that you need to learn to line up.
That is bullshit!
That is loser talk.
You're too close.
Hold this.
Like this.
Yeah?
Thank you.
OK.
Yeah.
Which is why we've used science.
Science, bitch.
If you're not going to take this seriously, I am taking it seriously.
Then stop.
Peter, I'm trying.
We use science to give you everything you need to win.
Power, Power, Power!
Made by Gamers.
Made by Gamers.
For Gamers.
I drink it every morning so I can play like a pro.
You got to turn it.
You got to know the rotation.
You can drink it whenever you like.
Just show them. Show them.
Power!
Yeah.
All right, listen up.
Power formula!
Think less, win more.
Ready? Yeah.
Let's win more.
Torji gave a hell of a pep talk coming into this third map. They want to get on
the airplane as winners and semi-finalists too. A seeding match that's got
Maus's name written all over it. Rock solid CT side sets them up for a quick
close. A pistol here could spell disaster for the Falcons. So they'll get
aggressive down middle and already starting with a clean shot. PR doubles
down, make it a triple! You know about monosy and you've tagged them down
to 20, PR taking space in the meantime and that opens the door for Torsi the Bomb to now
just move forward into this A site. It's looking like double digits for Maus.
PR is 12 and 1, Torsi's fortunate. Jesus. 12 and 1.
Kerrigan tiptoes his way in, he was looking so deflated at the end of that half.
Too hard as guys to kill, Kerrigan. And they spotted him.
player talks just draws it in for PR's quad kill make it 13 and one
you brought it up in the break but Jared you look especially down I mean you see that
sometimes like no you don't see that so you see sometimes where you know it clearly
is a little bit like all right well he's not even really talking doesn't really know
So, you know, it's clearly frustrated about something, but, you know, head and hands at
half time.
At half time it's a crazy match.
So it clearly, you know, really does, I think, want to answer that, this sort of career problem
it is of, how do I just be good all the time, have all these great players?
Nico is the fourth best T-side Inferno player on Inferno this year.
Two and ten on that T-side.
And I think some of the low scores are, you know, because of the structure, because their
game plan wasn't better than Maus's.
I think that definitely I think Kerrigan does feel that a little bit.
It's crazy when you think about how low that is compared to their average stats, how monosy
for the 7th time was the bottom braggar on Duke.
Oh, but Inferno's a different piece.
Desert Eagle pops two on the approach.
Maus may be getting a little ahead of themselves without celebration, because this
He's forced by Pax and Punch.
Monosy dropped finally, Tess S looks at his feet,
and that's going to be Spinks to fully clear it.
Good job by Kerrigan to whittle another one off this play.
It is Kyosuke and Niko versus Spinks and Torji.
With bomb down, Spinks gets active, sees this close approach,
confirms both players, and that frees up Torji to make this move behind the tall box.
Niko with a Mac 10 between both tries to snap that spray down over.
He tries his absolute damnedest to set Falcons up for the four-spy instead. It is an eight round mouse lead
Got a two three five great eagle kills. Absolutely just a moment where they have to convert it
Now as a quick to realize it took a little bit of time to get to the site so immediately watch for lane
And now it's force ups all the way to the end here for Falcons
Squeeze out three SMGs and two rifles
I'm going to throw B Trams a test, a quick test, by the end of this game you mentioned
that that was an anomaly in terms of Niko ratings.
Was it his worst ever T side Inferno this season?
Where did it rank in terms of his poor performances on T side this season or this year?
You can get us by the time that mouse win this game.
I think while it's still summer we got to call it this summer.
This summer?
Okay, this is the worst tea side this summer
It is the last day of summer in Europe where we are
That's fair
You said that like you're so far away. It's so smug. Yeah, you're up. Yeah
Well, well well
Off the pause the full investment you got monosie. I mean you've got to run risks at this point
This Desert Eagle look good last round.
This M4 kicks off with a man advantage.
The utility damage for the B approach in Maus is costly.
Look how low those health bars go.
But with Modesty dying, it's all on Tessus.
The time being to hang on to A.
Luckily for Falcons, doesn't look like Maus
want to just jump the gun.
They will try to send Nades back the other direction,
and that'll have Kyosuke nearly dead.
That's where sometimes when it's a team failure,
a lot of people have individually bad performances.
You look at these Nades setups,
And on Inferno specifically, it's so much less important about frag count sometimes and just
what's the utility damage look like. The T site needs getting that impact. We never saw Falcons have
that successful once. That arch side smoke drew attention back from Falcons. They go into
this boost but now it's all the mouse ready to execute. You didn't see that he was spotted but
That's not what's named now.
Okay, Skate drops off.
Niko moves it back site.
Okay, he's the flashbang, they'll finish him off.
Niko, ready to shine!
But he'll go down with nothing!
Kerrigan's gotta be the savior, and that will also come up short.
Tess has from the other side of the map.
Tasks to a one versus two.
Give it everything you got.
Buying next round no matter what.
And he lets him know where he's coming in from,
coming in from just looking for the duals seeking a fair fight before this potential pinch new box position revealed at a CT challenge soon to come from Zershin that's going to cash him off nine map match and semi final points for mouse if they just shut down the little left here from the Falcons.
That's just so beastly. I mean, immediately they get a chance on T side. They look super
good right out of the gate. Again, opening kills from Monosu, starting to get a couple
of those, but you know, it helps as well when they got this mutual damage earlier. They're
Their players softened up when they get to the site.
Insane crazy.
This is going to be a mound of confidence for Maus to run into the playoffs with as well.
Josuke sent in.
Jack's searching through it, Torschey recovers one, and as Niko switches into the M4, you
better be careful, because now PR is right there, looking for the duals.
15 and 3 PR blows 3 and 14 Niko out of the water.
It's a little better.
Now's a hit that pause button, let the reality of the situation sink in for Falcons.
There's always a suspiciously good nuke.
You said it after the first half.
Not even the close of that game.
You brought it up.
And it was...
Sadly for them, Ancient winds up being
a total miss in all three series.
There's your stat.
Niko went 2-11 on T side, Dust2 at IAM,
Cologne against Monty, 13th of June.
Second worst?
Cruel summer.
Oh boy, look at this, they're not ready.
Zelex in with another headshot as TSS tries to answer
can see on A. It's going to be a tough go of it for Monasy and
Kerrigan. But a hell of a performance out of Maus, who
with this victory will surpass Falcons as the number two ranked
team in VRS move into playoffs as semi finalists and guarantee
they're on the opposite side of the bracket as team spirit.
Kerrigan smoking off the pitside. Monasy with another
one if they just want to shroud that bomb. That's fine.
Now's a lean back.
They've got the amers and the individual level on this map to just shut it down.
Falls on Modesty, who loves a good 1v3, though the smoke in front of them and angle open mouth
make sure that they don't just send themselves to Porto as winners of this match, but as
real form to contend for who knows what, because this team continues to gel and in
this best of three stomps Falcons out of the server convincingly with map 2 and
3.
Yeah, it was not a close affair by any means here on Inferno. It was an amazing display
from Maus and definitely a good feeling knowing that they're coming into Porto now as the
high AC. They don't have to worry about what can take place in the corner finals. They
just get to sit pretty in the 70s. We got that torsie listening where he said we
can go on the plane to Porto as losers or as not losers. They're going there
as winners. This was not only a win, but a dominant win. That was incredibly impressive.
Yeah, it was a great, great performance from them. You could see how seriously they took it.
No experimentation with the Vito. Just getting it done, picking the maps that you're good at
and making the absolute most of this opportunity. Nice to see Maus in arena already with the
semifinals berth. And it's nice to see Zellix joining us here at the desk. How you doing?
It was a good feeling, great to be honest, it was nice to beat team Falkons for me especially.
I've been in tier 1 for 5 months now, so it was a great feeling.
Now I beat Spirit, Falkons, and still need to beat Vitality once.
We might have to wait a little bit longer until that matchup happens, but you guys
had a phenomenal map 2 and 3, so I do have to ask, Nuke was your map choice, obviously
you had higher expectations coming into it, but what ultimately went wrong?
To be honest, I think we just didn't really connect.
That's why on the first map, maybe it was because we waited too long in the player room.
The player room and yeah, I mean, we just couldn't get it together a bit.
But I think we had a lot of good situations where we just didn't get the kills, to be honest.
And yeah, it went their way, so it's hard when you just don't shoot them.
And yeah, after that from 10 to it's of course hard,
but we just focused on getting some rounds, so we get into the game a bit.
And yeah, I think we did that good, at least.
So, yeah.
Going back to ancient, you guys seem like you had a really good read on Falcons.
Like, how good was your game plan coming into that?
I mean, I have to praise the coaching team there.
Like, Dennis, of course, and Zippertnicks and Dori,
because there were the three guys who focused on that a lot,
and they just gave me the paper, and I just did what I had to do, of course.
So, yeah, I'm not sure how we had those reads,
those reads but I mean Dori is calling really good on city side and of course it makes my
life easier when I have someone like him experienced that much and yeah he was calling really
good and I think the guys on B were doing a really good job and I'm rotating well with
the AWP so I think it was just a really good team preference.
Talking about your individual form there's been some chat like you know PR, you insertion
sometimes you want to you're competing for the same resources the same you know
style of play do you feel like you're getting more comfortable in the way you're
playing now?
Yeah, I would say so. I think it's just, of course, need to get used to it. It will come
with time and yeah, I think today it was already so much better than the last time. So, yeah,
and I wouldn't say that I think we are, everybody is fitting their roles now perfectly
at the moment and yeah, we are still learning and still getting together as a team.
I wanted to ask about your own individual form and mechanics because there's been
some kind of numbers that have come out with like spotted accuracy, headshot accuracy.
really extremely high in both of those categories. So I think the chatter right now is about
your aim being extremely good compared to all of the tier one players. So what's your routine?
To be honest, I was surprised. I think I saw the HLTV post where they said it. I mean,
I don't have anything specific. I'm just playing the bots in my own way and just DM,
but I was really surprised. It's one thing that I rely on my aim a lot, of course,
Yeah, I don't think I'm not doing anything special.
How much time? How much time in like aimbots versus DM?
I think both sound depends like maybe 10, 15 minutes, I think 10.
And DM it's sometimes like 20, 25, but I cannot play more than that on DM
because then my hands are just getting tired.
So just like 30 to 40 minutes a day?
Yeah, okay, okay.
All right, that's good to hear. That means it's attainable.
Yeah.
Don't need to spend like 8 hours a day doing that.
Okay, okay.
And how about, I'm curious also about, just like facing up against a team like this,
I mean, you had some crazy multi-frags today,
so it's not just obviously that you can shoot them in a bot's environment,
obviously it's a live environment too.
How did it feel, did Falcons push you out of your comfort zone at all today?
Because when you were on, you were on for pretty much all three of those maps.
Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say so that I felt uncomfortable on any of the maps.
I think Nuke, it was just a sloppy start, it was hard to come back from that,
but individually I felt okay, maybe Combs was just getting there slowly, but on 2nd map and 3rd map of course it feels nice, you know, when you just kill those players in a way, because half a year ago I was watching them, so of course it's a great feeling, but I just didn't want to really think about it,
like that was always my biggest issue, just overthinking stuff sometimes, so I was just staying present even when I get the triple K in AMA or on Uke, I didn't think about it, I just go next round and just focus on it.
What do you think then was giving you trouble in the beginning when you first were playing
for mouse?
I mean it was, you know, you had a couple of different iterations of rosters now.
It's the solidified one, but you look just, I would say in a couple of months, just night
and day different player.
You're red hot right now.
I think it was about, I mean for me, mostly the mental side of the game.
Just that sometimes I was not maybe trusting myself or second guessing myself, not listening
to my intuitions.
Yeah, it's all about just getting comfortable a bit and get used to who are you playing and
because of course you don't play like let's say Falcons every single day and it's just
a more unique feeling.
But I think it was all about that and now I'm working on it a lot on my mental side
that I don't think too much about stuff or I don't overthink it and I'm just trying
to focus now on my own gameplay and don't think too much basically that's it.
How much of that is up to you to get better in those aspects and how much of that
is maybe some one-on-one time with an analyst or a sports psychologist or anything like that?
I think they helped me a lot, of course. Dori especially and everyone from the coaching staff,
to be honest, everyone from the team, they helped me a lot in the last few months.
And yeah, the two sports psychologists that I have helping me every single month, every day,
you know, when they can. So yeah, I mean, I think they gave me a lot on my individual level,
To be honest, of course, on my mindset, on my thinking,
and yeah, it's great when you have those people around you
who can just help you and you don't feel like you don't have
anyone to ask for help.
Is that like a mindset thing?
Or some players have talked about they make us wake up at 10
AM.
We're not allowed Red Bull.
We're not allowed to drink sugar.
And it's something like that?
I wouldn't say so.
I think that's more about your individual thing.
I think everybody's doing it for themselves, of course,
and for the team.
But if you just want to have a better day,
just wake up earlier.
Have some routines.
I mean you're doing it for yourself. Of course everybody can tell you to do it
But we don't have like rules to do it
But it's just of course you can see it on someone if he's waking up earlier coming earlier to the prep room
But playing bots or something you just see it on him that is working for it. So it's of course, it's a different vibe
And you're also talking about how you beat spirit nice beat Falcons
Are there any other tier one can a strike accomplishment you want and I'm not talking like trophies
Just other things that people might not think about
Yeah, to be honest, I don't think so, I mean, I don't think I have anything specific for
me now is just, of course, playing against all the big teams, beat them.
And it's just, I think, yeah, I want to stay consistent, you know, that's my, like,
own per goal for myself.
And yeah, basically that's it.
I just want to enjoy the game play and we will see where it gets me.
I had one last question.
We don't really talk about him too much, but you might keep mentioning the coaching
staff.
We know Zipnix is just being the clutch minister, the clutch meister, you know,
and I don't know how much he can instill in terms of just,
like, he can't just tell you go clutch better or anything like that,
but what is he actually doing in your guys' team talk times to aid you?
I mean, he helps a lot, let's say, if you, you know, more in these retakes or after plans.
I think he's going more for the specifics and details and the micro.
If you have maybe a one-on-one, then you can, maybe if you lost it or something,
You know you can just talk with him how would it be better or how you could play better your repositioning
He's looking more into this stuff and of course he is doing the prep to be the team
So I think it's more of his job than and he's just helping us to
Progress on these type of like I said after plans retakes and these these things. Hmm. Okay. Thanks. Zellix
Thank you so much for joining us. I'm excited to see how you guys perform in Porto. Thank you so much
It's an absolute pleasure to get that insight there, everything from personal goals and accomplishments,
but also just the joy that it sounded like as Alex had for himself of competing at tier
one.
I mean he's really putting into perspective that maybe something we failed to do.
It's been five months for him and look at everything he's been able to do on this roster.
We often overlook that because of PR being that newest addition and Zellix being this
weird kind of stood in for them, kind of did in, kind of was joining the roster
and now actually is on the roster.
Yeah, I think when you've looked at mouse in the last while you've really seen that the story is almost never on zelex
It's always on where's the roster going? Who are they gonna have as their fifth now? It's coming into PR
How is he gonna slot into the roster? He's kind of gone unnoticed
But he's really had some huge strides forwards in such a short period of time
He was to me kind of the ceiling of this team and if he can actually frag out like that against Falcons
Then actually there is no ceiling for mouse
that's what's really crazy about it because we always kind of felt like
watching them play that they were in some ways a bit hard capped when your
star player was supposed to be someone like exertion for example we all kind of
understood what he was he was a great player or he still is a great player but
it was more of a known quantity where the wild card really still lies is
zelex's performance series to series and if he can pop off like that it
changes a lot. Well we're shifting the tone, Zonic is joining us here of
Of course you guys still making it to Porto, but sucks to not be able to go out on top.
Yeah, definitely. Obviously we go into every game, wanting to win.
And a bit disappointing on the second and third map, and the third time was not a charm on Ancient, unfortunately.
I have to ask about Ancient, of course, there's this little bit of a joke that I don't have the charm,
but are we going to see it again from you guys? Where does the faithful wanting to run it again for the third time come from?
I think it's going back to the hotel, looking a bit at it, and we have one day between,
and then also testing our map pool.
I think both me and Karrigan have talked a lot about that we can't really just be a
one-trick pony.
We tried that also with previous iterations, if we keep smashing in those two every time,
then on the bigger goals, bigger tournaments, then it's going to be a bit rough.
So we needed some more official matches on the map, and clearly we have worked
Well what do you think I guess in 2025 with Kicksand you guys were excellent at
ancient you had a crazy streak on the map I felt like Kicksand's grasp on it was
great we talked to Monacea a little bit about Finn's system on the map and
everything and he's buying into it right now but what are some of the maybe
overarching you don't have to get into all the details but overarching
differences with Kicksand versus Kerrigan calling it. I think obviously
Kerrigan wants to create a lot more chaos around the map where Kicksand
a bit more structured I would say. Let's take mid default and let's take mid first and then
we go back to you know either hitting B or A or taking a bit slow waiting for the opponents
to also create a move. But I think right now our issues is mid on both sides. We struggle
a little bit to find out where what to approach and maybe a little bit behind on the mid
term. So have to go home and look some more.
Okay. Also I have to ask about Kiosk. Because his performances can be so up and
I mean how is it you've worked with so many just like stable players in your life that this has to be a pretty tough
Task compared to someone like zip-nix where you know what you're gonna get day-in-day out so much
I mean he's young and I really don't want to be too harsh on him because he is you know also
You guys don't know how he's in on the server
But there's so much he needs to learn and he's young and he's just listening and trying his best and I'm super proud of him
But yeah, it's also about you know
We worked a lot on Inferno when Karigan came in and Kjorska has always said that I hate this match.
Kjorska is facing history.
Yes, but now he's starting to ask a bit more for it.
Obviously, right now it's not so much ancient, which was one of the more favourite maps for him in the past.
But we need to go home and check what he can improve, and what we can improve as a team as well.
How do you find the balance of being good cup, bad cup with someone so young, right?
like when is it time you have to be blunt and honest with them and when is it a
bit more gentle parenting time? I mean I have to do both with him obviously
sometimes you know I want him also to go in and you know check skybox and check
what the opponents are doing look a bit at himself but he's also very young in
his career so you know one year ago he joined it was also issues about being
on time outside the server as well but yes so much and especially his
communication is really on point and it's something that we are working on daily so
yeah sometimes I have to be there and could that and sometimes you know show
some some love and encouragement. Staying on the Kiosk point maybe this is a
question that applies to Kerrigan as well but you know you want him to play
perfect CS if he can that kind of a strawless classic style CS but at the
same time if you try and chain him up too much then you maybe lose out on
what's so great about him you know how do you try and find that balance?
That is a balance because I see a lot of things and sometimes I have to also kind of discuss
in my own head do I take this fight with him because at the same time he's young he needs
to be able to make mistakes.
I mean he barely travelled before joining Falcons and now he has to speak English.
He's travelling all around the world so we are very patient with him.
I think what Finn has done with him, we're taking it step by step, a lot of improvements
but he needs to also be able to have some bad maps or a bad period.
right now it's they might be ancient that is struggling a bit but I have full faith in
my sim is he's a wonderful kid.
So one more I've been dying to ask you for a while because I heard in an interview from
you a long time ago when you came into Astralis what one of the things you didn't like about
Kerrigan was that you would go on to all these practices you'd have all these strats
and then you go in again here.
What's this strat?
What's this?
What are you calling?
I've never heard this before.
You know, have you has he grown from that or is that something you got used to or
how's that?
I think we have both grown.
I mean, we represented back in the days two different styles of play.
I think nowadays you have to be able to do both.
You have to play the structured way and you have to, you know,
have the Karrigan style and the Bullshit or whatever,
triple fake into whatever and something that you haven't done
or something that he saw in the prep that could work.
I think now it's more my job to maybe pull him a bit more in the structured way.
But for now he also needs to get his system implemented
and have full trust because I also know he needs to have people around him that fully support them.
And of course, we will have some talks, you know, when we don't see eye to eye,
but and we have had that already, but we have always found a middle ground.
I think that is also what is good on this team, that we have to be able to play different styles.
And today we maybe like the better patients, I would say.
I also want to ask, I guess, because with Falcons,
I feel like presented the opportunity with the chance to play with so many stars knowing that there's more and more stars
That probably I mean that did come into the roster
I almost just want to ask on a simple level
Was it harder than you thought it was going to be because you got to play with some of the greatest of all time?
But I would say there were less egos and people like Zywoo and device now
It probably is a little bit hard to even get a word in as and have it have impact when you're playing with guys that are
are already superstars in their own rights.
Yeah, but I think we are doing a really good job in the staff of keeping things honest,
but also making the hierarchy pretty clear that Ilya is the ultimate player that we are playing for.
And this, I think we have to, of course, there are some times where we,
you know, see that that is not the case or he's not getting the support that he needs,
but this has always been the case. And I think it's very important when you have,
As you say, a lot of players with individual ambitions as well, let me call it like that.
It's really important that you are clear in how the team functions.
And I would say I think we have managed to do that really well,
where they know who we are playing for in general.
I'll do one very quick question. We are going to see you guys in Porto.
What is the time between now and then look like outside of the normal like
Counter-Strike prep? Is there much relaxing at all?
And of course, we also have to have that travel day, too.
Of course, we need to review the games,
but yeah, we'll have to travel day and review the games.
And obviously, we'll review a little bit of ancient,
but then we'll see.
I mean, I can't reveal too much,
because we still have a tournament to play.
We might pick it next time as well.
OK.
I like that.
You know what?
I love it.
That's the best note to end on.
A little bit of rage bait for my desk.
Sonic, thank you so much for joining us.
It's an absolute pleasure.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Giving us the rage bait that I know Maui wants
that because he does not want to see ancient. But look, it might still be big depending
on how this review goes for them. And we're looking at our group B bracket where this
match was proceeding. Miles get to go through to the semifinals for themselves. Falcons will
have to play it out from the quarters. But what's more important is the fact that
we don't yet have our full six teams go into Porto. There is still one more slot
left up for grabs. There is a result here that could really, really disappoints
of the people that are on the
desk. I don't know what you
think. I think he's going to
get a little bit of a deluxe.
He's gonna really take down
vitality. That's true. That's
true. If what are able to
overcome that, I know I'm just
going to quick react to what
Sonic said. Yeah. No ancient
He's just keeping his cards
close to his chest. They're
not picking that. I think you
would ask them. He might have
even said we could pick cash.
Who knows? Yeah, that's half
the fun, though, of getting
people like that on the
We do still have that final series for us today.
That's going to be happening off to a sprake.
I mean, the unforgettable names in Elthrack Counter Shrike,
I mean, there's so many in every single generation.
I think usually it's someone who's
able to kind of break the rules of that particular era.
Someone who kind of unlocks this vision of the way
they want to play the game that other people can see
and build upon.
The first I'd name is Snacks to find
how smokes could be used.
The way he played around and the way he walked through them, the way he hid in them, that wasn't being done at the time.
That particular moment is a time of greatness for snacks.
Someone like J.W. and KennyS with how aggressive they were with the off.
Trophies, winning events, going on streaks, the NIP guys because of the streak that they went on,
the fanatic guys who established an era, there's always greatness there.
I think for Pasha I think what made him was his personality.
Having someone being that outspoken and that strong, it provide emotions and provide his thoughts
be entertaining in a way that the audience can connect with and fans can connect with
and we as commentators can connect with.
He was always able to get kills and despite that you'd see these moments where you were
like how is this guy a pro like the way he walked around corners, the way he stepped into
a 1v1.
In fact, pros at the time even had a name for it called the Pasha Peak, which was
like the slowest, most awkward peak ever.
That was kind of the greatness defining mood around the team at that point.
Olaf back in like 2015, he was such a force to be reckoned with, he was one
One of the players that Fnatic could just send out and say find us a kill and he could
go dual two or three players at a time.
He really did become that player where once upon a time he was the jack of all trades and
he was just so good at all those trades.
2016 was the era where Brazilian Counter-Strike really hit it.
Fallen's greatness obviously comes from his movement and his ability to understand
his positioning, take a shot, fall back, find new cover and he was like a master
of this kind of retreating off defense that would just pick a player off.
So you add all that together with his leadership and kind of the style of Counter-Strike that he developed with the Brazilians
and Fallen's just in some ways a complete package of greatness.
Device was someone who kind of mastered the textbook of Counter-Strike and always played within its limits to its maximum potential.
Zai Wu is someone who just has incredible consistency, sharp with the AWP as well as the AK-47, extremely versatile.
And he's a star player that doesn't demand a lot.
Simple's greatness came from the fact that he just beat the game.
He's the best player to ever touch it.
His motivation at some point was, I want to put on a show.
I want the crowd on their feet as I decimate you inside the server.
And that level of greatness is really hard to achieve and might not ever be achieved again.
For me, I think the GO! Conversation is a fun one.
Device is the greatest CSGO player of all time.
Four majors, 21 MVPs, 20 MVPs.
He was the center point for the greatest team of all time, of that Astralis lineup.
And then we get to Zai Wu, and he's going to take the mantle of the greatest player of all time.
It's just a matter of time before everyone kind of gets on board and accepts that someone like monocies someone like Donk should be next in line to have some kind of a goat status conversation you need the major trophies you have to have them.
Donk's already got one in his first rookie year. He's doing this in year one. Where is he going to develop into but it's competition and it's counter strike and things can change in a heartbeat.
be. We're moving into our last best of three here in our group stage before we say goodbye
to Copenhagen and say hello to Porto. We still need to figure out who is going to be that
six team. But before we get into it, everyone's talking about the go, the best alpers, the
change of alping style. How would you rate your alping right now at the moment, dude?
Probably about a three out of ten. Well, I think that might be too high.
I don't know who's saying that, uh, five.
Five, five out of ten.
Generous, generous.
Some saying maybe if that high.
Greatly exaggerated is how I would say it.
I wanted to see because they're not bad necessarily,
but they could be better,
especially if you head on over to refrag,
because there is a mode in which you can use
to help you perfect your opening holds.
Wow.
That's how you do it.
That's how you do it.
You go to refrag.gg slash glass and then you try out this mode
Which is called Nat the fall pulled up hold
Up hold great way to practice your flicks. Yeah, right. I'll practice your positioning your game sense your aim your
Stop scope flick fire your aim. Did you say that one? I think that they're awesome
I think that given that the upcoming series is gonna be a hotly contested one
I would say both oppers could use this one more than the other
I think there are three offers that could use this.
Both offers end whoever is doing the clean sweep.
Hey, that's not fair!
This person, this is what this tool is for,
is to shrink your positioning, hold your lines,
and make sure your angles are good.
If I was to give some advice to those at home,
don't hold your crosshair 12 feet from the corner
and wait two business days for them to sling into it.
Practice holding it close to the corner
for when you get Xantarez peaked and then flick out.
Okay, production did just tell me this is scrawny
I mean production tells me that during the segment I am going to relay what production said I've seen scrawny off. It's not this good
On a serious note refrag is the best tool to get better at counter strike at CS 2 if you need
some help. And I'm gonna say with utter certainty, y'all need some help. You should go to refrag.gg
slash blast. Well look, two teams that don't need help because they've already made a great run for
themselves here at Blast Open Porto is foot and vitality. I think they're a good team. I think
we're a good team and it will be just a good match today. Any predictions for how many maps
it'll go to? It'll be three maps, I think. Yeah. I don't think something special needs to
I think we just need to play our game against them, we never lost so easy against them,
we always take one map and we lose close games, so they have even standing,
so I think we have higher chance than other time.
Full chaos probably, everybody knows FOOT, they're super skilled individuals
and it's going to be tough to play against them if we're playing like we did yesterday,
the headshots that we had yesterday and for us you know obviously we're with
a stand-in we have way less pressure and we have a lot of fun that we want to
have on the server so I think this game is gonna be a bit chaotic and then for
me it's the time for JL to play against Davy Jr. right like that's the one
thing that he didn't do it in his career but we played against him so
many times no not so many times but we played him and it was always close
games and they're playing really good so we want to beat them. Like
These two guys have been playing better and better. They've changed for Xcrawl and they've been improving massively.
So I think it's going to be a tough game for us, no matter what, but we know them.
We know they are a bit crazy as well. A bit like Legacy yesterday, they have a bit of kind of the same playstyle.
When I watch the games playing against each other, it's craziness and uncrisiness.
So for me, it's important that we once again focus on ourselves and be sure that we don't get surprised by game being crazy.
I'm not sure I ever really would have used to describe Vitality, but it feels like that
is what is on the cards for this best of three elimination.
It kind of feels like they're trying to talk themselves into it, because watching their
games- You will like this chaos, you are going to thrive in it.
Because watching their games at this event, I feel that they've really struggled to
put two halves together where they really understand their identity with their new
roster in both halves.
It seems like they can come and have one really terrible half struggle to pick up any rounds.
And then it's the second half.
They finally go, guys, we got to loosen up a little bit.
This isn't normal vitality.
We have to play differently with this roster and they finally can now admittedly, Maui,
the craziness was described as foot foot were the crazy ones.
And that's what they were going to bring to the table.
Well, that's kind of what they've been known to do.
Some may say, but I do think that foot are starting to actually the.
The one thing that I'm a little worried about with foot is that it's starting to get a little
bit more picked apart, a little bit more figured out.
However, I am seeing progress from foot live, on air, on broadcast, through their matches.
So they're a young team that also is picking up steam, recognizing the faults that they
have through this journey to try to progress to the top.
And they're trying to bandage it up along the way to that mountaintop.
Yeah, they have had a previous matchup, the most important one, of course, being
at Cologne.
that we wanted to have a look at because again, you're seeing this progress live on broadcast.
Now enough for them to be the ones that are looking towards taking this.
For a lot of reasons, I would actually want foot to win this one because I do want to see
what this team can do. I know that they had a little bit of a hiccup versus legacy who's now
out of the tournament, but that was a fair opponent. But it's also a foot that is improving.
And obviously, we look at this score line here that these two teams have faced off against
the Cologne Major and there's been a change.
Look at that. Look at the bottom
fragger. He's not here anymore.
OK, they got X Floud in his place now.
That's actually true actually to say to say.
Yeah, they both improving.
Obviously, you'll be back with X
Floud and he's been.
I'd say he's been at times.
A standout player for them.
Yeah, I think X Floud.
He comes into this roster.
You expected to take a little more time, right?
You know, Longs was a great player for this team,
despite what showed in that last scoreboard.
for the most part he was one of their better players. He was in a lot of positions to have
a lot of impact in game to game. You bring in X-Floud, you think it's going to take some
time to actually get him slotted in? It doesn't. He hits the ground running almost immediately.
I think you could actually argue I think he's been an upgrade from long so far and
that's going to put this team a little, I'd give them a slight edge in this one
because they have that experience with X-Floud and because you have a stand in
for vitality. Is this the main part in which you're seeing the growth happen
now or are there also other individuals that have been stepping up more than when
they were that five roster? Not even just individuals but their macro
understanding of certain maps. The progress that they made from EWC prior
tournaments, a five map lost streak on Nuke was remedied in this very
tournament. It was going into that map number two in their most recent
series. I thought they were done for. I thought they were gonna, well I
I thought they were going to at least lose that map.
But in fact, they have clearly rectified some of their issues
when it comes to just having an active defense,
making sure that they're not just on their heels.
Because even though I would similarly characterize
foot as being a bit chaotic or active,
explosive on the T side, sometimes on CT side,
they kind of fall into patterns of just sort of
everybody holds their position away from each other.
But in their recent match, they did in fact show,
they can actually just react.
They can recognize we lose space
on one side of the map. Now let's retake something else.
This happened yesterday versus inner circle,
who I think a lot of people are going to look at this
and they're just going to say it's inner circle.
Who cares?
But they were so bad on this map.
Voo and I both thought that inner circle
had a great chance here.
But because of rounds like this,
where you see foot lose that sort of outside space
and then they make some moves around
as inner circle are taking that elsewhere.
Look at this, they're reacting by pushing into lobby.
They're getting a kill there.
And then they can focus their defense.
Jokes can now fully lock in on this heaven play because he knows the lobby is no longer a threat
And that just activates these high-fragging players who you will never question their mechanics
It's just sometimes the decision-making, but if they have great macro positioning as they do in this round
Then it's all a done case. I think sometimes you have teams come through the tier 2 scene
You they come through the tier 2 scene and they rely only on their aim
And then they come to the they go to the T side they're grouped up
They're playing three two four one all the time and then they go to the CT side and they say hey
We're just gonna we're just gonna like test you can you out aim us and the answer is going to be no
So we're gonna win and then they don't develop the activity on CT side
But you don't want to be overactive where you're just gambling all over the place
But at the same time you need to have those re-aggressions
You need to take back space in the current meta the way the game is played if you just let the T's
Continually take control of the map bit by bit eventually. They're gonna 2v1 you these top teams
they're going to have a flash there and they're going to have players. Hey, maybe they can't be quite at your level of aim,
but they're going to get the trade and then they're going to overwhelm the bomb site.
I'm really happy to see foot growing as a team because they've already impressed me even before this level of growth.
I mean, someone that you said the last time that we saw a play that stood out above the others was demon, right?
You were singing his praises. You were very amazed with it and so now it feels like everything's coming together for themselves.
The macro is getting better, but we're also getting an individual like demon stepping up.
Yeah, the thing I like most about demon is we had him in the interview afterwards and I asked does the coach ever have to tell you to, you know, speak a little bit less to not over swing.
He goes, no, he's they're telling me the opposite.
I need to swing more.
When you hear pros talk about this guy, a lot of them will put his aim up there.
I don't know if you put it with a dog, but he's he's reaching to those heights where his aim is one that people talk about even when you're looking at a foot team even a few months ago that wasn't at the level we're seeing now.
So to see this guy begin to blossom and really move into the ability to actually execute on that aim that he has had for a while is incredible.
I felt coming into this year, first couple months, that the hype around Demon was overstated, that he was overrated, that they were just judging him because his name sounds cool.
And they didn't know how to pronounce Jugs, okay? And Jugs to me looked like the better player because Demon was getting completely owned by Tier 1 utility.
in on anchor positions, especially it didn't feel like he understood how he
needed to play to dodge to play anti flash. But now that he is well
understanding of what sort of utility he also has to maneuver around in order to
have fair fights on his bomb site. Now he's just a full tour de force. It's
really hard to unseat him wherever he plays on any given map because of the
mechanics that he always has been had on display. Yeah, you're adding a
a little bit more of a layer towards this foot.
And again, we're talking about this last meetup
that they had where the bottom frag is a boat note here
for both sides, right?
And so now looking at both of them, comparing them,
we've got JL as the standard for Vitaly,
X-Flight joining the roster of foot full-time here,
and looking and comparing what exactly
are they bringing to the table
and how could they either uplift or hinder
what is going to be this matchup?
Well, on one side, I think, as I mentioned before,
I think X-Flight has been an upgrade from long,
it's kind of surprisingly to see it this quickly.
JL statistically, he's done quite well.
I'd still say that makes this a less effective roster,
especially as you look at him,
if you really watch him in the game,
he's still, even after a couple of series,
I'm hoping if they make it into the playoffs,
this will change, but he's playing scared.
He's playing like he doesn't know his position
when he can make a move.
So many times, what I liked about JL
when he had his pop off here,
he knew the exact moment to pounce,
to snowball around, to make a move
in the mid and the late round.
In this team, he doesn't know his role quite well enough.
I think he's scared to make a mistake
and lose his team the round when he's
on such an incredible roster, but he
has to be able to make those plays.
And he has to have the confidence
to go for those plays if this team is
going to beat a foot that's looking this good.
JL has been, for his entire career, in my eyes,
especially a system player.
Back on the Apex roster that had that deep run in Paris,
that was a very structured team.
I mean, even Zonic just talked about how kicks in
is an in-game leader.
That's what JL was working under.
He was in a really strict system.
Then he goes on to Navi, another very strict system.
And so once he got in those systems,
then he found the wiggle room necessary
in order to become one of the best players in the world
in 2024, extremely clutch, knew how to break out of it.
But he also had to know where the guardrails were at first.
If there's no guardrails and he doesn't know where they are,
oftentimes you're just gonna see the gutter ball play.
That is something that he spoke about yesterday
when we talked to him.
He thought that he was gonna be coming in
into a vitality that was incredibly structured,
but they actually allowed him so much more rope,
so much more freedom than he was expecting.
And so I decided to flip the tables
and ask Vitality, most notably Apex and Flamesee,
about how it is having JL join them.
Flamesee talked to me about the vibes on the team
with JL standing in.
Well, the guy's super chill, he's super friendly.
He does a lot of things with the camera while he plays,
in which I didn't expect that.
You don't notice he just does it,
that it's also really good in the game obviously,
but I think the energy brings the vibes,
it's so funny, so many jokes, it's trolling a lot,
and we, not that we missed it,
but it's fun to just experience it once in a while,
so it's super fun right now.
Yeah, I was gonna say, you can correct me if I'm wrong,
but it feels like you guys are almost a chaotic vitality.
This feels like the dark side vitality almost.
Well, maybe it was super calm and super,
I wouldn't say serious,
because maybe it trolls a lot as well,
But it's more calm, it's less likely to be loud and like crazy jokes in the parkroom.
JL kind of opposite in that sense, so parkroom is way more chaotic.
If Apex me and JL and Robson's eye are not falling behind at all, they're also pretty good.
So yeah, the team right now is a bit crazy, but that's it.
Look, since JL's joined, I've noticed you guys on play-cams and everything,
and even what Flamesy has said, you guys are way more chaotic.
Is this something that you're loving? You kind of hope that it sticks around with botality?
Not really, to be honest. Actually what's happening right now is that
Justin is way more crazy than William, but we already have
enough craziness in the team, so it creates a big chaos in a lot of stuff.
But no, it's chaotic on the server as well, and that's really tough for me to handle that.
But hey, it's normal. He's standing, he doesn't know everything we have. I try to
like, learn, teach him everything every
every day because he likes a lot of stuff, I mean from our playbook. So it's a bit tough, but yeah, it's funny at the end.
All right, so we're gonna be looking at the Vitos here. I don't think there should be any surprises here with the bands.
Foot gonna be going with Inferno, Vitality's gonna be going with Ancient.
Question begins for MeVoo actually on Vitality's pick. I think Foot are definitely going in Nubis.
maybe Mirage, but I feel like you could probably even get Mirage as a decider if I'm foot.
Yeah, I think a Nubis is the one that makes most sense.
I agree with you. I think the Vitality pick is the most interesting because up until yesterday,
you would probably put Vitality to pick Nuke.
Yeah. Okay, okay. So they go with us too, which has been a very troublesome map for foot.
It's one where we've notably talked about symmetry on end.
We'll get to that when it gets there.
And for the decider, I mean, you can see also foot, they didn't want to play Nuke.
really no bad option there and actually Vitality ban out Mirage so we're gonna be going to cash for it. Wow. Okay. All right
Why is this a surprising you don't want the chaos and the craziness that they've been talking about I
Mean, I don't know how much they've gone over since then they got battered by Inner Circle on cash Vitality
I don't know what they're going over after that one because it's not like Vitality have years of a
Bedrock that they could rely on on a cash map that is doing the pool
Yeah, that's a that's a cash where you are going to be sorry
I was a corner camera, but literally is a Vixen sitting down. He said fuck you
Didn't catch
I think I think cash is gonna be a very it's a scary one for vitality to go for I'm actually surprised they've been
Mirage rather than cash. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't expect that one to come
Maybe they just think that foot of the more solid team in general and that's kind of where you would think foot
are can be the favorites in this because they are the more stable team. They just made a
deep run in another elite event. Vitality didn't even go as far and that's when they
had their five man lineup. So I'm going to actually lightly edge foot here and I don't
hold me. No, just for the turn for the series. Okay, for the series. I was just going to
talk about only a new business. I don't think foot is going to be miles ahead. I think
they might be maybe a toe or two over the line.
OK, well, then what if I just realized, literally,
I face the face and I just go on the one one.
OK, so then Anubis, though, is it a little toe
or the big toe that's over the line?
I think Anubis is the big toe.
It's a half foot over the line for them on this one.
This is a map that Vitality has been struggling on a bit
more.
I don't think, really, I don't think
they like the way that you have to play Anubis, where
You have to continuously be active.
It just doesn't always fit the vitality sort of style
that's a little bit more staged in terms of round.
But yeah, that's not the type of guy that's the foot.
Yeah.
Well, we would actually know if the angle was the foot.
He's looking at boots.
He's looking at the back of the boot.
He's got the back of your head, Bill.
And he just gave it to you.
Bull people.
Oh, no.
He's just projecting from it.
But he wants to say to XS, I guess.
OK, sure.
This is layers upon layers here.
All right, Ben lost.
non-jokey, right? Because it's elimination for these guys. As much as we want to have fun,
they are trying to put their best foot forward, and we're wanting to see a new,
just be a good start for them. Did you do that too on purpose? Yeah, I got it.
It's just hard sometimes to get yourself out of it. I'll just say, take it into this game.
Crebeni, the way he controls the action in mid, is what makes foot so dangerous on this map.
On other maps where I feel like it's almost sometimes simplistic and almost too straightforward,
what foot's going to do next? Crebeni actually has some great mid-round action on this one.
of all the maps in the pool. This map plays most into their play style where they can get aggressive.
They can continually regress. You have CTs have some of the the initiative on the map
whereas usually it's on the T side and I agree with you. I think for Benny in middle does an
incredible job compared to most mid players. Well the crazy chaos fun doesn't just extend or
stop at the players. It seems it's extended it to the desk and we'll see if it extends to
our cast is scrawny and launders. Yeah you guys are infectious usually so I think this one's
is going to be exciting from a counter strike POV.
We'll try to bring the hype as well alongside it.
Over on Poly Market, we've got Vitality
painted his favorites mode.
Big time.
I mean, that's pretty steep, you know?
I mean, considering the level that Flithev.
I think it's just hard at this point.
We're now talking about elimination,
and I think it's hard to envision
that when push comes to shove in the ultimate most
important match so far, that Vitality
don't make it to playoffs, that they don't appear
in playoffs.
Like, the odds of them just genuinely,
it almost doesn't matter who they've got to work with.
the team you expect to be there for sure.
So the way that people see a foot
are going to have to rip it away from them.
I think if you ask what they feel like this
one's going to be like close,
you know, I feel like they probably
would go with a 5050 with the ability
that they've shown, but again,
they're one of the couple of teams here.
That's on the breakout.
That's not really got the full respect
of the audience just yet.
And even if there have been individual
shortcomings and questions around some players,
I mean, we're talking about a demon
Do you know what Zywoo's rating is coming into this?
He's 17th best at this event so far.
17th.
And that's the highest rated player on Vitality.
Oh, the bomb's about to get caught.
Wait, they're watching it.
Oh, damn it.
Oh, they're watching it big time.
Cemetery catches that flank.
Dude.
And gets Robs his head as well.
Now Apex could still be the hero.
And honestly, he was in their last game.
A driving force to their victory gets one off of this pack.
And so bomb down comfortably here for foot.
You've got cemetery with a triple kill already.
I think that's going to bode well.
I feel like his name has been kind of tagged on to with some negativity this week.
Just this year in general, if you zoom out and look at the numbers.
But hey, I put it is a very good player who's been struggling for sure.
So.
Never too late.
So on the event flames he done for.
Jiggs has got him finished off and foot will strike first in the pistol.
Zaiwu was very electric in looking to want for that flank, right? Dives into the water, hunting down kills, pauses for a second, then has all of Foot coming back at him.
Yeah, he kind of thought he was the one in control. You can tell he really slowed it down for a second as they were faking this exact, but...
Like, guys, if you're watching Foot right now, like, you have to understand, like, in any given round, they're as good as anybody.
You know whether they could do it across the series is one question, but even in terms of their map pool and in any map overall like
This is next up this is who we're watching like they are starting to I
Don't think there's any team that feels like they go up against them. They're like, yeah, we'll definitely be foot
I don't we're just not in that place right now. They make the entire pack nervous
We've good reason and I like how the desk really highlighted for Benny's play in middle on a new this particularly
You know really hammering home that this is kind of a map that plays into their strengths and the preventing has a cool way to
evolve the mid rounds
Yeah, I think he's just a fantastic IGL. He's bringing such a good style
It's like feels every little bit of aggressive is early furia, but even more structured
So he's never just entering with no one behind him yet. He's also getting lots of openings and being aggressive at the same time
It's just that right amount of modern
Obviously not bringing the right guns to the job so it is cleaned up easily by foot who convert it with five players up
The two zero start right there for the taking game gets interesting right about now vitality is m4 is inbound
Also got to remember I mean vitality narrow narrowly avoided getting eliminated already
Yeah, big time that's like a huge performance from apex in order to stop that from happening
Sort of the hero in that decider game, or decider map versus legacy, that recently.
0-7 since early May on Anubis, Zywoo has a 0.92 t-side rating in that time span.
Ooh, I love this one, B-Trams, because it sets up Zywoo for the second half.
We're going to get to reference this one as the game goes on.
The lost streak, relevant out the gate.
Yeah, the map pool is just not in the same place, plus it's standing.
There was a time where it was like, oh Dust2, that's a free win. Oh Anubis, that's a free win.
Oh like this almost every map was just a guarantee until proven otherwise. Now we're not in that place.
It is almost September 2026. That is no longer the case.
Now we get to the aggression down through canal. Lovely move from Apex.
You know again, sometimes forced to make action as a CT on Anubis.
Flames you and apex continue to hold back in the site
And they're gonna just charm foot thinking that they had a chance to walk out through that smoke and take some space
but in reality rock solid first gun round for vitality and if it has to be apex then so be it he's starting this map
With an impactful decision to push down canals as the frontrunner and doubles back to the site for a second kill as well
Yeah, it's cool to see his individual level rise up
And I kind of like the way Anubis is going.
We don't see as many flash retakes as much overt aggression on the extremities of the map,
which always just felt a little bit more random.
Sort of like trying to flash retake all of them in front of you.
You do it sometimes, but you got to time it up perfectly because of people playing anti,
and you know, how much you can't just trust one flash.
But with pushes into canals, CT's getting more organized to it.
It feels a bit more consistent.
Nothing we'll watch for here for Vitality as Rops on the A site.
He's got a nog right now.
When Vitality were out there best it was with the new edition of Rops showing how much he
can bring to a team by himself.
Playing that side of the map very aggressively where a lot of other teams just didn't know
how.
Yep.
There's a driving factor in unlocking Vitality's potential on going into the era, hanging onto
the era, and only recently are we starting to discuss things like Vitality missing playoffs
for the first time since adding Robs.
These statements nobody really wants to have to stomach, especially Vitality themselves.
Now, Apex will waste no time getting right back to it.
This man's getting his steps in as he overtakes Canals on his own.
JL doubles back to a B site with a silent foot blocking out here.
Oh, they try to spam through, but all that does is invite JL's response.
And then Demon's gonna find him.
That changes things, man.
That one, the spam, it's a can't necessarily push through right away.
And Juke's in such a good spot against this kill, yeah.
He's heard the Aug fire a bullet into E-box, so Robb's really loses any element of surprise.
And it's Demon who claws them back into the man advantage thanks to setting up that juke's kill too.
So this was Vitality starting well off of JL. Nobody else able to offer kills just yet.
Krobeni hanging onto Platte will be first contact. Long player coming through won't get an angle just yet.
Sairu's got to deal with the first one, but he goes down empty-handed.
and it's Foot's in-game leader proving again that he can step up to the plate when it comes to Kills,
Foot rebounding from Vitality's first round win with an instant answer themselves.
I'm not scared to go through the smoke, you know, and I don't think, and I think Vitality is surprised about it
because how well they handled it last time, and Jail does an admirable job of putting up his two kills with this one.
That was just a key thing. It was like, even if Demon doesn't get that kill at that second,
the CTs will push through knowing they have to help Jail, and he will not be able to deal with all of them.
deal with all of it.
Demon so impactful nowadays.
We heard in that last game.
Yeah, they had a demon call.
Players calling for demon.
It's always a sign of your impact.
Calling for demons.
Is that a seance or something like that?
Yeah.
Like eight candles in a circle.
Don't be surprised when he shows up, rops his og again a chance this time, layered with
Flamesee who's walking into this door.
Could damage out enough for rops to win the clean up.
Flash comes through, Saewoo dodges it and Apex hangs on to the in-game leader fight
best in Kribeni.
Now, Apex still out here.
Man, however they figured that out, they got all the rotations over to A.
One after another.
Cemetery doubles back to try to see if whether Apex stuck around in the water, not the case.
And then as he returns back to long, he gets smoked off.
He's just gonna take his chance through it.
And Robs is gonna make sure to keep things honest.
Nice answer here from Vitality to have the money to keep themselves healthy.
And so will this next one from Foot.
Slight limitation, sure.
But it's still a dangerous start to this game.
with a back and forth economically like this.
I was like so focused in on Rob's August scope
that I wasn't seeing how the CTs knew so well before this executive
took place at this full on retake.
I feel like they have been so quick to get the info over on B.
Maybe they just knew really early on.
Uh-oh.
He comes back at him.
No damage though, never happened.
This one's more of a preset lead.
Just crazy, because you know how quickly foot actually move into the B-side attack.
Sometimes teams take a long while to get E-box.
Foot do not bother with that necessarily.
You
Get some self-serve not bad. It's great output apex flashing himself back in for the hold
Demon cautious about the approach and he wins the headshot despite taking damage in return here
We get that temple wrap around bomb crosses in Krebbenny just jumping around if they were to somehow interrupt this it could get weird
Smoke fading fire deep and Krebbenny in cemetery clear out e-box
There's Frank so hard robs activates that's going to give up the element of surprise
But at least you've got demon dead to rights
What was left of him gets swept away and robs on arrival not playing with a kid if he takes too much time those next kids
Are down in the canal so they never really even got close enough to site robs
He's got 15 seconds on this block four seconds to spare
He's got to go here and now and he decides not to let's this one slip foot away
It's another answer back with a demon double so many teams you put them in that spot and like they will lose to vitality
who have E-Box someone just through a smoke-in.
There's a small gap in timing.
The frags will go vitality's way,
but just, you know, the foot are just so reliable.
So they get one extra frame to get that shot in.
It's likely going to be a headshot.
The spray is going to be super quick.
And Jail almost made this possible with basically no space
to work with.
Jail showing value right now on this B bomb site,
not his first double kill under pressure
from utility out of foot.
I have to think how bad the round would be if you didn't get those two kills in most situations, they still lost.
Right, and this is where it leaves them.
Robs with the Saved AK-47.
And a couple of trimmings for the others.
Not even an additional set of Cavalier, but Apex is getting away with this E-Box push a few times.
Not too much to find right now.
Other than the information that all of this is open.
Gritty's doing his own thing out middle. This is good. Yes, the flash finds him. Flames, he's got him dead to rights for Zywoo, thanks to the flashbang.
Keeps that AK-47, one of which is still here with Robs and JL's going to serve up a distraction in a second. This feels like Foote can trip over their own feet.
But now JL's stuck on the pillar, they'll get him out of here. And again, it's a hard fought moment, but it's one that Foote come out on top of.
Never let it avalanche like as soon as they have to get back in it's two three kills instantly Zywoo
There's a real chance that I speak too soon smoke over towards the box bomb not blanket for it either
But he obviously doesn't have a kid Jigs does he bite?
A book goes back in and that's a clutch out of Zywoo
Excuse me for thinking vitality. We're dead in the water insane. He very industrious. I will earns that all for himself
himself. It's his own AK, his own opening kill, a flash assist to help him get that,
but just pure individual brilliance from there on.
Slow wrap around, Krebbenny. At least one here out of Robs. It feels like such a healthy
rebound, but he just creeps on in.
Just so fast.
NOOOOO!
WOOOOO!
Ooh, that's an early lifeline.
And Kulio's jumping on that instantly.
First time out in this battle between X-Tas and Kulio.
That's a very refinalizing round for Zywoo to win.
And again, when you're relying on Apex and an elimination map to keep you in this tournament,
I think it's going to be great for Zaiwu to remind us why he's one of the best tonight.
You know, Apex happy to keep your tournament life alive to put you in this game,
the final game before playoffs.
There is no better time for Zaiwu to dominate.
Pulls one out of the hat, sends the money back vitality's way,
and now we'll see limitations for Foot to have to handle.
And it looks like Tempo immediately is off of Kulio's timeout
Through that fire they'll go. There's already three defenders here.
Flash finds Zywoo. Fire at their feet. This is awkward for a second.
Zywoo and Rocks though. Good to combine for two.
There's always seeming to be an answer and sure enough here it comes again.
Apex steps up into the spotlight, finds his impact.
X-Flight would love a bomb plant but he's got six health
so he'll commit to punching in digits.
JL can't find the angle.
But Apex has got to clean up in the majority of the kills
as Vitality's in-game leader takes three.
Yeah.
OK.
I mean, they always jump at it.
It's that third kill up there in heaven
that sometimes foot are going to grab that all of a sudden
after the trades come down.
But Vitality, they look sharp right now, too.
Foot try to throw the fastball off the time out.
Vitality knocked it out of the park, set themselves up nicely now for more CT round wins.
Foot know what it's like themselves to finally break a losing streak on a weak map.
Their nuke was under question, they solved that.
Vitality dude on Anubis
Said this is one of the maps that leads best to foot's calling style flash is gonna be a little late
But they already made noise
Easy mop up for him and flamesy with two players inside of the temple jail can tiptoe his way out
They're just trying to sneak this crab any plant so they read that antico so insanely well
They really didn't have to see anything
He gets a chance JL keeps it clean draws him into the line of fire and puts vitality in the lead
It's just such an excellent setup. I mean they're ready for that split towards B on that timing without any view of the players
Desk did discuss a lot of acrobene mid-action is to be expected. Yeah
Obviously the perfect prediction in that last round Flamesy was barely even needed inside
of the temple.
Apex almost did it all himself.
Just a once-willed camera they do it wasn't a bluff.
We do know a foot don't fake a lot.
They like to stab you in the front.
Pushing off site with his AUG
It's curious place to be but it's a lot of map control unannounced if really focused on getting canals it's been
Yielding a lot for vitality usually apex where ops makes a cameo
Still always this question about middle and with those flashbangs, you know, they're making moves forward
I would push us out as well right because you could have say it's gonna
Optic camera or something like that, but not this time. I would doubles back to an A site
We'll see nobody has pushed through that. This is one of those times where it's like not a good time to go
B. You just got that full flank caught off
Changing plans also sucks at 50 seconds, but they have to respect this map control
I mean, rotations don't look incredible. This might have to be some kind of sight holdin'.
You've got the op in the right place.
Flamesy takes a very passive line in CT spawn, so there's also the threat of Temple at some
point, but now they smoke that off and they're just gonna dive bomb down through camera
right into Xyros' scope. Excellent return from X-Flauze! He gets two, Kerbetti finds
Flamesey and even though vitality seemed to have the whole picture figured out you can't stop headshots from coming through
Cuz form across the board for foot. It's just like it's form its belief and it like conviction when they move and even
That's a losing position. They know it's vitality have a kill. They have two players who are still there
They have the op on the perfect line, but they just they realize that there first of all gonna commit to this round
They're not saving and when they do that, they're on the same page
They run out so wide even if they lose one player. They've already spread the site as I lose the aim is displaced before you can even get on cycle again
And they have the aim to back it up. It's a terrifying combination
That it totally changed their idea for their B-play
That'll definitely put Vitality back on notice.
I mean, at least, you know, five-round CT side is very good here for Vitality, so as hard-hitting as Foot have been on this T-side, they've had better anubis T-sides.
Flamie's definitely been a little bit up and down recently, but apart from that, no one's struggling.
tough timing for that to occur as well after such a phenomenal start to this
year I don't write fellow he's going for a player of the year oh yeah we
actually considered that donk might not win opener of the year
back to reality down to a quarter health has no help put this round for penny
dude the headshots come through so quickly that's crazy jukes commits to
the cause burnt to a crisp.
While the money hasn't bottomed out here for vitality, they'll have
another one in the final round of the CT side.
And yes, we can say they are par for the course with five rounds
already.
There really was a chance at more here for vitality.
Totally.
But that's been the case in that number of these wins.
Unfortunately, they do play good CS, but this is a team that you
can't just copy.
You wouldn't be able to put yourself pre-exec in the same
positions as them and be like, this is how they won the round.
So you just can't guarantee that level of aim on any random bifurse stacked
Even a guy like X-flat who only has four kills this whole half so far
We saw those two come out from camera blast Zaywu out of the round
follows up on the robs
Quality from foot squad once again
and he just continues to wreak havoc from long beam.
Feels like he's very comfortable on the approach
to this bomb site, regardless of the smokes in front of him,
regardless of at times, two man disadvantage.
So XTAS takes his first time out
in the final CT attempt for Vitality,
a chance to tie this half.
A map pick that we fought heavily favored foot.
I could, I could, I could, I could.
Voo said one big toe ahead of vitality.
Maui said half a foot.
Yeah.
I don't really know what any of that means.
I think it's six-five, sort of that sort of where it's at.
Okay. Yeah.
I would have said like a size seven over for a foot.
It's a whole foot.
Yeah, but only a size seven.
Okay.
That's still most of the biggest foot you could find,
it's...
Is it 13? Two times bigger than... I don't know how that works.
It's eerily quiet, considering how often vitality has poked this canal setup.
It just comes down to how much they want to respect this, because it is just Rops.
Nate goes deep doesn't actually find as much damage as you would have thought
They're gonna try to blast the doors off charge on soil for the final attempt on the attack
Rocks goes down with little apex is the guy again with the multi-kill to try to make the big difference demons
Oh, what HB is what keeps them in this moment, and they are going to eject the play
Spray paint and they're out the CTs will have to scramble back
Gale taking a slightly longer route and Zywoo making sure you can hear everything.
Can't beat them there. It'll be foot on site and into the post plant.
One-eat-eat.
Flanker and Angel onto demon. Perfect dunk out of JL. You put cemetery into the clutch.
Zywoo obviously hasn't announced himself so if JL continues to offer a look,
it's possible cemetery gets blindsided by this long play.
He's not gonna see anything on the flank so now he actually will be worried about Zywoo.
Bump is planted, Platside not tucked into the cubby. Cemetery clears water one more time.
Got to know they are both on this bombsite now.
In the molly.
That's going to make problems for Cemetery as he dives back into the cover now, sitting 30 HP.
Oh! Almost killing Zywoo! He gets him off!
But he's still got this defuse. It's by half a second.
Vitality down to the wire and they will secure a tied half.
A hell of a chase and a hold from a two HP Zywoo.
This was me just six weeks ago before I started my training program,
commentating stressed, depressed, but look at me now.
Headshots. Another headshot. Headshot again. It really is that easy.
I'm here to teach you competitive Counter-Strike or maps such as
Dust 2, The Power Plants and of course Morang. And that's not all.
We'll also cover advanced maps such as Inferno, the Egypt one, and Aztec House.
With the energy system you'll get your professional player certificate in no time.
Have a look at mine. It's already arrived. Some say years of practice are required.
They're wrong! I will teach you good habits such as smoking, flashing, and of course winning.
For example, you throw the smokes and now you wait. The enemy becomes confused. Come on, this is strategy.
I've coached many players using this plan. Some of them improved and some were already professionals.
Now you don't need to memorize all of the smokes of course, just the coolest ones such as mids, the other mids, a rune and fun banana.
This is a very strong flash.
As you can see, it even blinded me.
And this smoke will land somewhere near a bomb site.
The enemy will not expect it and will run away.
And if the smoke misses, that's fine.
Because you are smarter than them.
I personally don't use smokes.
I simply know where the enemy is going to be.
And if you do lose a round, remember, it's not your fault.
The other team is cheating.
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In the process apex gets the better of his teammate now he's got the utility to keep talk out of this
He knows he's gonna swing
Apex baby
Look it's plugged in.
There we go.
Yeah, Char Char, even though you're with we love you.
Thank you madam.
I'm gonna make sure that I always put 100% effort in truth.
I don't know if that's coming through.
Then you know, you lose this this timing that you get
with the element of surprise it's like worth it to lose a plan.
You're too bad! You're too! You wish you would've been!
Give me!
Even in the fucking train of fuck you suck me!
Apex at the top of the scoreboard for Vitality yet again, but his counterpart in Crebeni
almost doing the same for Foot.
Its demon topping the charts once again.
It comes into this game as the fourth highest rated player at blast open porto and we expected great things from foot here on a new bus in improvement from vitality compared to their recent outings, but we will still have to ask ourselves, what could this T side truly have in store for us?
It's a big question, a real test.
Jail's been obviously thrown into the fire, but he's been looking good.
In a collection of multi kills back on that B site defense even in rounds the vitality
unfortunately couldn't materialize.
You know, Messi's missed on the T side though.
It's got new more needs than everyone.
That's fair.
Very fair.
Very fair.
Probably weird to play in his absence.
Jokes is going to go down with nothing.
Cemetery sticks around.
A teammate behind him in the form of Krubeni.
Molotov's smoke queued up by Apex.
And Cemetery gets in, only one.
As Sairu will find his double kill,
and this split into the A bomb site
is met with zero resistance out middle.
Surely that turns attention back to the flank.
That's why Apex gives the bomb over.
And what are Foot gonna do about this?
Can't say they didn't have chances at that one.
Some of those fights were a little prolonged.
A 341 on the hold and B is not good enough,
obviously.
I'm going to use my ulti and ultimately not even needed, it's just clean kills, a forward
facing defense that left an open site and for a team that loves playing middle themselves,
The mentality just skated through mid to no resistance.
At least for the pistol.
So you ex-
Step one, win the pistol, step two, don't step on the landmine, but could be a force-fine
foot stacked at a bomb site.
We know how dangerous foot are in rounds like these and I see more than one FAMAS.
Yeah, sometimes it'll be Kermini playing A by himself if they go for a stack.
This time we got Juge's there.
It's a full spread here for vitality, looking for info.
They want to force it into a later round decision here for foot as to where to be.
I mean, they're starting to crawl up on E-Box, obviously, three CTs here.
Not the most terrifying spot, but the guns are good.
Good headshot from Apex as he crawls into X-Flout's angle, puts one of those two pharmacists down.
JL, finding tools, goes to clear the obelisk, does exactly that. Platt still hanging on to by Demon's Fommess.
Nothing! Coming out of this force buy whatsoever. 10 bits of damage. Apex can stomach that. No problem.
As Vitality gets through the force buy and extend this lead to two.
to two. It's been another great map for Apex as an in-game leader and caller helping himself out.
And as Vitality raised through the ranks as they established the foundation of their era,
that was one of the things that we had high praise for. You know Apex has been in this Vitality
jersey for some time back years ago, could cost you rounds by just maybe sometimes blinded aggression.
Yeah, the fact that he had his best year as an individual in 2018, I think it was, and
yet he could recede to the levels of the solid 2020-2021 as an individual and then develop
from that in his new role.
He's kind of done it all perfectly.
I feel like we haven't had to tap into him playing like that as of late, but with moving
parts, with new players, with what will be a constantly rotating roster for the short future.
Feel like sometimes, you know, there are some people who show up to work and only do what's in
their job description, and then there are others that are willing to get their hands dirty,
and it feels like this week Apex will do whatever the hell it takes to make sure vitality make
the port though 13 kills in two rounds the gap he said it himself you never know
when the drop off is coming never stop working hard fight for it
The remnants of last round move into this one, 4 foot.
There goes the FOMIS.
The carry doesn't have a- okay, 5-to-5-7.
They'll just continue to hit this pause button, allow for foot to step into these unlikely
challenges.
Apex with another multi-frag, now up to 16 and 8.
He uses this opportunity to feast on easier frags.
I'd love to see Vitality kind of play a slower tempo,
just kind of catch foot trying to make their moves
as this CT half goes on.
The closer Vitality get to the finish line,
the more desperate foot may wind up playing.
And within that desperation, you're creating mistakes.
And a possible open door for Vitality to win a map.
I don't think we'd expect them to take in the series.
It definitely stands against the numbers. Definitely not a bad place for a flit to try to take them.
Also streaky. Whoa, that's a crazy pick.
Cemetery on Zywoo, I mean. See you later.
Couldn't see a thing.
There's a transition them into a quicker a play though cemetery pulled back
instantly oh they're through the smoke yes they are it's time to keep walking
absolutely Jukes trying to fall back eat that flashbang won't be able to stop
them and there's Molotov in front of the camera so there's a real space here
four robs to get into the site bomb is still yet to cross boss is gonna have
to create more for them he doesn't go all the way tries to go back in a
second attempt and that's where Jukes cuts him down bomb is on site
Finally JL's task to cover you've got a heaven player that's priming himself to pop out in the site
JL goes big over the box
another hope and then he wins it around yeah, he's one of the round look at him shake his head
Single-handedly climbs up into the box and rips around away from foot to hell with their man advantage
That's lovely. He saw the multi kills from JL coming in the first half. They weren't converting off of them
Now he's bringing it on the t-side and it's working
But overall it's the idea more than the man years they get into the site walking through a smoke
perfect call-out on Jugs and
Honestly, I think the round should have been done when rops put that right amount of pressure back on heaven
Jugs just had an excellent shot to kill up, but he was he was painted into a corner nowhere to go
You can sort of feel this multi-kill potential from JL brewing in the first half
They would lose the bomb site, but he poses to
Watch it from this POV.
It's gonna be there.
He could have this level of form, you know.
Not playing half as much as anyone else this year.
Just waiting for his time to bounce back and remind us.
This man is a major MVP after all.
Krabendi in a 5-7 trying to cross this bridge, he's found out but not stopped entirely.
They will still trade back and I think that puts Vitality in a decent spot but they have
missed or did they hear X-Floud push their spawn?
I feel like Apex is extremely cautious about this right now.
The Robs to watch right?
Robs is still concerned about the canals push.
X-Flight rounds the corner, back turn.
They're gonna know about that.
But for him to be there, it means the B player's pushed.
So obviously this is where Vitality will head.
A hard fought battle from foot to get this man advantage.
At the moment it's still just the one gun.
Cemetery grabs one off the bridge.
But X-Flight's put himself in a place to maybe hold this back.
Yes indeed, catching eight backs and side redo.
Not the only guy who can 3K JL.
X-Floud catching one when foot are working with less and then some response
They don't get scared whatsoever
That's a really big malty that they had more than one way to win that round a
5-7 opener that helps out his stats over suffering in the first half
Pretty massive opportunity there for foot it's still got six grand on it
I'm gonna slide after that round.
Again! Trying to play with a bit of electricity here, but it costs them!
Oh, they committed so hard to that. My goodness.
Two players outside of B, passive enough to still deal with bridge.
Man, not this engaging look. Insane, obviously. We can see the guy behind the wall, but...
I should have sensed it.
JL just draws Krebeni into it. It's one thing when you can feel that the teas are right there
I think that's what would justify the extension right if you knew somebody was throwing a nade or yeah
They were just around that close corner
But you kind of step out into this open cap. I mean you miss your first two bullets fine. You still just push back
Still feeling fiery from around prior
Cemetery operating on his own right now will cut off the potential e-box split does he go back at long because they just pulled
the bomb back. Yeah, they didn't do anything to respond to him. I mean, he's
gonna feel like a flank's gonna come in. I wouldn't be surprised if he fully pushes
here. Robs finds an A site for him taking, and as Flames he gets cut down to
size, that's just gonna prioritize the bomb linking up with Robs. Jukes moves
through, Molly in front of him, Robs. Oh, that's dangerous. 94 damage for Jukes.
Jukes to have to summit. Goes wide, finds more output, but it is Zywoo to
This is a huge flank at a cemetery.
I don't know if this is what they'll read.
Double pushing up through camera.
It's one of those moves that would be a touch risky, but they also know they'd be moving
maybe into an op.
And now it's just kind of done.
The only thing Jukes could do right here is throw a molly at camera.
This place is a back site.
Doesn't want anything to do with it.
Opt 2 valuable.
It's that early mistake on the mid-push and it's not the mid-push itself. The flash actually worked. It's just committing to it
Right shooting at a foot around a wall and assuming no one would ever become on flash or come back to try to fight
Vitality won't let them get away with that mid-impact two rounds in a row
My next side will be dropping this round
We'll see if that was one mistake too many.
It's two rounds.
We'll be a little scared, you know, the way they lost that previous situation, the A-Play,
the smoke coming up, they left it for a second, two guys walk through it.
We get this walk-up from Vitality towards the B site, bombs no pop steps, that's a tough fight for ZywOo to walk into!
But as he peels one off B, the second player dies to that long peek.
And no trade at all, they just know but X-Loud that he would be here.
That's a really nice reaction to the play that Foot start to set up.
You know, they kind of reveal intention, I think, to fight out E-Box with that bottom Stair Smoke.
Would you ever expect ZywOo to just walk through that?
takes a duel on his terms while they have two players for contact on long in the off chance
that JL doesn't win it.
I call this work perfectly.
X-Flight leaves the site, they go take it.
They get their camera control pretty quickly.
Midfoot have a big decision to make right now.
X-Flight commits.
Not a lot of positions here for him to play and Apex headshot instinct.
Long jumps over uncontested. Oh no. Okay, Lee's cemetery will earn his chance to depart.
Apex not thinking they would have had a second player close like that. Vitality will take 812th
and earn themselves four map points on foot pick.
A massive respect for Vitality for this game. It's how good they look man.
Look at Jail, second fragging on this team to Apex.
All to the perfect.
And Foot played extremely well in that first half and they still only got six rounds.
You got foot right where you want them I think those bridge pushes indicate foot's
you know willingness and desire to kind of leave an early mark on rounds a bit
Too much repetition.
Vitality just feel a little calmer
in the face of this opposition tonight.
Apex finds himself on the brink of another 20 kill game
this week.
Seeds.
throws out some mucil reload this actually I was going to push this
so I was been very hungry for these duels in the last couple rounds actually
have three player he boxed now he's a little bit of utility to it so I was
spotted so he wisely falls back smoke fills the doorway can you line it up
no stop the mark
I want to be rops down to half health, thanks to the grenade off A site.
Kraveni having to go back and check middle, he's left it empty for some time and it feels
like they're putting this boost up and they do it before he arrives.
Flames he gets a couple extra seconds to clear corners before Kraveni steps out
mid and with that camera flash coming through, may just indicate, yeah, they've got intentions
to get info here, but.
Stand battle on E-Box, dual towards Long, in between two smokes, right?
Both teams create a pocket on Long A, and it winds up being Jugez to get his kill and take a man advantage.
But then, as Krebbenny had departed again...
So how is he still going A in this spot?
They slide through, they catch Krebbenny, temple totally compromised.
Zywu vs. Jugez as the smoke begins to fade, and Zywu gets both!
Oh, somehow they can actually turn back now.
Pulling that bomb back instantly, Zywoo with a sixth sense returns to a foot that thought they were going to have to try to hold off the B-play.
Zywoo's off up, hears you in the water, sloshing around with hopes of a retake versus four.
Look at him fight this. He's saying you got no chance, buddy.
Apex still crawling around in the temple, we'll get caught off by X-flat, there's a chance.
It's slim, but there's a chance, and hands forced to fight for their mafic off that flash,
Zywu finding another one.
And we were wondering when he'd find his impact outside of the top ten players so far here
for Blast Open, but when it really matters, when playoffs on the line, Zywu steps it
up at the final hurdle and he will still close down on this.
A real challenge offered up by Flut in the first half, but a T side out of vitality
that totally upends all the numbers.
Anubis was never supposed to be theirs.
A strong start for Vitality here.
Being able to go into half time at six and six
puts that question mark of can you still get another line
at the end of the day, but they did.
It's a tough one for Foot when you, you know,
you think six six is a reasonable score line,
but then you remember, hey guys,
we're about to go into the CT side of Anubis
and the CT side of Anubis sucks.
We're going to have to remember what that feels like.
And this is the game that reminds you how bad it
sucks to be on the CT side of Anubis.
I mean, they just couldn't get anything going.
The ability that Vitality held where
they were able to get the kill and then just freeze,
that shook foot.
They didn't know how to react next.
You saw individuals trying to make little extremity plays
by themselves.
They didn't see the teamwork on display as soon as
foot ever hit those four V5s.
And Vitality were able to capitalize.
This is really scary for everybody else at this tournament now because now you've got two things one of vitality from day one that looked horrible to now taking a map that they were not supposed to win and on top of that they broke their anubis lostry like this is all the makings of now everybody that's already secured their position to play
off to realize.
Wait a second we've got a roaring vitality that's coming on our heels and you really see the the improvements from vitality that they've made over time you know they'd want they don't really legendary lost to liquid of not.
that long ago on anubis. They could not stop the aggression here. They're stopping the aggression
freezing really effectively. Their A site holds were really effective. They struggle with that
against spirit. You know, they've had a lot of holes in their anubis. I think this was a really
well oiled anubis where they could really combat everything foot was throwing at them,
which was quite a few different looks. I do think that there is an element of not everyone
that we were highlighting on the side of foot stood up today in that map. Of course,
there's still more in this. Best of three. So I'm not I'm not speaking like is it's
it's an absolute that it's over.
But this anubis definitely brings in those questions, right?
X-Flight is the one for me because we have sung praises
so often that expectations are actually pretty high.
And when you look at the scoreboard,
you are wondering why wasn't he able to get
a little bit more for himself?
Why we sat in this position of talking about
no one in football could actually really get anything.
I think they really struggled to get things going
after they lost an anteco near the beginning of the game
and then they struggled to get good buys,
good situations going.
Then they go into the CT side
and they're just not in a good footing at that point.
I think X-Floud generally has been an upgrade from Longs,
but this is definitely a very tough game from him
to really get started with weaponry
and with good tactics as a team.
It's the map that he also wasn't really playing
for the last year.
So that's another aspect of it,
where when he's aggressing and trying to take fights,
sometimes the way I saw it in the POV demos
was that he'll swing, and then he
reacts to seeing a player on his screen.
I'd have to dive into a demo again
to see how some of those situations broke down.
but usually when you're an entry fragger
and you're being set up for a fight,
you're gonna envision where that next kill
is gonna come from, but often,
but that little bit of hesitation
or not really thinking about
where the next fight is gonna come from
means that your mechanics are then 25% worse.
And yeah, the chair is empty because, unfortunately,
he was missing through a lot of those rounds.
I think that's the story production
I was trying to tell there.
I'm just the one that put work to it.
That was actually the play of camp during the,
the, no, I'm joking, it wasn't that bad.
I think this one starts out with a really solid plan from Vitality. They understand the one of the common plays. You have Kerbenny taking solo mid control. We talked about it before. The flash from Kerbenny lands. The counter flash immediately afterwards. There's a pop. Then immediately the flash is thrown. He's full-weighted. So you just have to go for it.
Krebbeni taking solo mid control. We talked about it before. The flash from Krebbeni lands the counter flash immediately afterwards
There's a pop then immediately the flash is thrown. He's full-weighted
So you get yourself a 5v4 on it on an anti or on a force by rather and you're stacked in the right bomb site
They've got four players rotating in towards me here. It's just tough to hold the bomb site, right?
It's not the easiest bomb site to hold you have all the players coming in then you have Xayah 1v3 and
And what do you do in this situation, Maui? 3v1.
Do you maybe flash a smoke and then Zayu walks through and kills Cemetery full blind?
That is... I have to think that that's kind of just autopilot from Demon there.
We praised them in the pregame, but there's absolutely no reason to be throwing that flash
that leaves your teammate in a 1v1.
And the half snowball from there, I mean, that's a 4-2 round there,
and then they don't have a good buy in the following round.
There's more rounds where they can't get good weaponry.
They just really struggle to get back in the half.
That flash is what you throw when you just realize you still have utility in your pocket and then some app like leadify tells you you keep having utility in your pocket when you die.
I don't know people, that's a deep kind of people are using that kind of tool, but it's just that it's unnecessary.
And those are the kind of margins that a lot of teams that are at foot's level don't exploit.
But then when you're against one of if not the best clutcher in the world in Zywoo, he looks for any single instance like that to make a move.
the things that you live and you die by the smallest margins, right?
That is what is going to separate you from making it to Porto and having this
be your final best of three that you end up playing.
But there is still a little bit towards the tail end of that first half
boot that gave us hope towards foot right being able to even it out a little bit more.
Yeah, we have a round 10 where Vitality did manage to get an opening in their
favor, but then foot managed to bring it right back with with an
a hip that they were going for the same a hit.
essentially several times.
They really wanted to try and attack Robs,
which is something in the past
that has worked well against Vitality.
Confusingly, you have a bombsite where Robs is there
and often Xayu is there.
They really like to hit A Spirit,
found a lot of success doing that.
And in this one, I mean,
you have Vitality with the exact right read.
They just can't hit the shots.
Well, this is something that I have also found
with Vitality that I thought they would have changed
by now where there was a huge aggressive play
at the beginning of the round.
That's great.
Robs had all of that position.
So you feel like that's taken care of.
But then so many other teams that I watch play on Anubis A decide they don't want that exact setup
where one guy's kind of around A main, the other guy's around that fountain pillar.
They'll shrink more into A main itself and almost just play it such that you're gonna always cut off that one pincer of the attack,
but you're also gonna kill anybody that wants to take space because the last thing the T's want is to take A
and no A main is still held by the CT's.
But that's so they're going to try to force into it later,
but it's one of those situations where I feel like vitality.
You have just at one point, because I've seen it enough times
now that it's just a conscious decision.
It's not just getting caught in the moment.
So I still think they maybe should rethink that kind
of moment for themselves.
Yeah, I think it's a little too easy when you're in that spot
as vitality.
You have the player on fountain that can hit a shot,
but then Robs is in a spot.
Does he commit to a main?
And maybe you get you get pincered.
Does he take the duel?
But that's not the most comfortable duel of all time
in that position.
And if you lose that all of a sudden, you basically just lost the round instantly.
We would love to see this foot be able to take it a bit more.
And whilst we say that the halftime is at 6-6, it's all the tail end after that, right?
Their CT is where it really struggles.
But is there a reason why their CT struggled more than maybe we've seen from other teams?
Well, we've got a round, round 18 that I'd like to take a look at.
And that's how I know that the picture of the chair that production showed us was from after the game.
because if there was nobody in the chair,
we wouldn't see X-Flog running that deep.
This is really common on the team side.
You have two people outside B kind of committed,
partially for that reason,
partially to defend the B aggression on this side,
on this side, right?
But X-Flog, he misses the first kill
and almost in frustration swings forward.
Then they both die in middle.
And look, the situation's not great
when you miss that first kill.
You are 131 in that situation, but just give that up.
Don't put your team in a spot where,
You know, as much as cemetery can make a few things happen,
the round's basically over as soon as that push goes that bad.
That is another one of those moments
where I just feel bad for X-Loud
because he just doesn't look like he's completely
comfortable with the fights
or with those split second decisions
that come after the initial engagement has been made
because you could also decide at that point
maybe stop committing,
but really what you're just trying to do
or hope for is he just gets that first kill.
So unfortunately, you would have to probably see
a handful more reps on, uh,
on inubis for him to just either
make the right decision or get the frag.
This almost feels like one of those
frustration ones where I messed up
the round that were committed to this
play were 131 for this play.
I gotta go for it. Looking at the
bigger picture though of things that
foot weren't able to get going for
themselves, things that maybe they
opened the door a little too
wide for a vitality that loves
to take those opportunities.
There is at the end of the day,
individuals that are showing up
and more often than not,
it's I would ever talk about.
But this time around,
I want to look at the stand in jail.
We talked about him coming into it,
just how impactful he can be,
and also someone who needs a little bit of freedom,
like you guys wanted to be able to flourish
more outside of a structure.
Yeah, I think when you look at JL,
as much as Mezzi wasn't necessarily a fragging force
on this roster most of the time,
you know, he just could be the supportive aspect.
He could get killed some of the time.
When JL's filling his shoes,
he's not gonna be as good communication-wise.
He's not gonna have the greatest utility
the same way Mezzi does.
He's not the same player,
So we need to find a way to have impact the way he knows to do so.
And that's fragging.
Hit the people in front of you.
I don't even know if I said who has the better aim today,
which one I would necessarily pick.
But Jail's ideas, Eamon, his mid-late rounds
are why he was such an esteemed and elite player
at the peak of Navi's powers.
And of course, we saw that again today.
I think the A post-plant where he was defending it
to the oncoming CTs was another example where my eyes
I probably see Mezzi set up more around defaults or farther back,
maybe even press through heaven and try to play a fading smoke perhaps,
like a more of a gamble thing.
But JL just puts himself right into the fray of action,
and it's why he is sometimes,
he's sometimes look incredible for doing those kinds of things
when he's on point like that,
but sometimes he just missed the first kill like he did at the tail end of Navi,
and then you're wondering why did he make that push?
I mean, I've said it before and I'll say it again.
JL needs to have the confidence, he needs to be enabled to go for these plays,
And even if it does occasionally look bad, which is I think maybe why he was worried about going for it in the first couple of series
He needs to be he's not going to succeed if he plays scared
It's just not going to happen. So when you see him play with confidence, even if occasionally it goes wrong
Look, this is a stand-in roster. He's not here forever. He can have a bad game or two and we're not gonna blame him
I mean, that's why we choked up day number one being so rough for them, right?
It is exactly what you're talking about a confidence was a little bit shaky
not only in him fitting into a name and a brand and org, a roster with so much behind them, but also them having confidence in allowing him to do what he needed to do.
And now they've got this machine oiled for themselves. It's working really well, but I wonder if it is enough to be able to 2-0 this best of 3 if they're going to be able to continue and secure that last slot to Porto as we have to dust to after the break.
I was foot not picked for themselves.
And now we're looking towards a dust two,
which has been a best shaky for the side of foot.
I would say shaky at best is a great way to put it
because at worst it has looked horrible.
In fact, you come into the series
and you think to yourself that they need to pick up a new best
because dust two will almost certainly go
the way of vitality.
And the stat I've got, their last nine outings,
foot have let the enemy team end with 13 rounds.
Couple of them foot managed to win 16-13,
But for the most part, they make it way closer than it needs to be.
This game to me is a story of seas,
because Vitality have already talked about a couple seas that really have hurt them lately.
It's chaos, it's confusion.
Those are aspects they are trying to avoid for this one.
Things that the great era-defining Vitality have had for them in terms of seas are calm, consistency,
And for Dust 2, it's symmetry.
I knew when this was going.
I could see the running in the hole.
Now that they know that they're against him as an AWPer,
I feel like they're just going to feast.
This guy has actually done absolutely nothing of no
on Dust 2.
The entire time I've been watching him,
it is unfortunately where a lot of, I would say,
the not even misplaced hate has really gone
because when you watch him on this map,
you realize, oh man, foot are playing with four riflers
and a guy that's just a decoy.
Yeah, when you look at Zywil against anyone,
it's going to be a very tough matchup for them,
but Zywil against Symmetry.
Symmetry on this map with the AWP in hand
has an under 1.0 rating.
It's like 0.89.
Bad AWPers.
People we consider not good,
usually have like a 1.2 with the AWP in hand.
This is exceptionally weak gameplay from Symmetry.
So even when the Riflers show up and they're on point,
they're going to struggle on this one.
Well, maybe they should get another Rifler
on the team for us too.
Maybe they should look towards Symmetry there,
but it is elimination.
So I feel like there is going to be an extra step for foot,
an extra effort put in for them here.
And we'll see exactly how they're
able to bounce back on Dust2.
Certainly, no doubt, the foot will do everything they can.
But that's the big question.
What can they really do on this map?
The numbers go against them.
The impact, the negative round swing stat
that we see from your offer and some pretty heavy
criticism from Maui about Cemetery.
We're going to have to keep a close eye
on them in this game because it is now elimination.
foot have had one too many tastes of playoffs to just let that disappear now.
Totally.
And there's not going to be any questions for Zywoo.
Obviously no surprises on Pauli market.
It's a game that by title you're now in control of.
I think there were questions definitely for me about Anubis.
But I mean, they were all answered.
It's great that JL could have put a performance like that.
Apex as well.
The calls were great.
Zywoo even had that massive 1v3 clutch.
So, they're feeling themselves and this is why, you know, if people can envision them just being in playoffs, no matter how stiff the competition, this is still vitality.
Oh, Flamesee. Thought he was gonna get blindsided, but he'll wind up finding X-Floud before Krebbeni kills him.
Interesting. They've really dropped their guard about this.
Get away?
Yeah, well, props could actually spam them.
Yeah, it's on hands.
Oh, my!
No way!
Goodness.
Krubeni manages to survive that rop's challenge.
It will still be JL to take a man advantage of vitality, but a second CT here.
Oh, yeah, they exchanged glances.
It's Demon versus JL.
Oh, and Junz is now dead on the other side, so it is the last CT up in Demon
in demon and found out a little dual towards middle as I was gonna run into the B site bomb is heading tunnels to take that
Road over and I was just got to give the cover needed
Apex is a Molly as well
You can really slow things down
You'd have one sick chance at the cross one in a million, but won't be looking at it
Oh, he pulls up this round after Cabeni gets that flank killed down.
They'll be over the moon.
I saw one player cross back to car side.
Oh!
Zywoo just sends the bullet round.
A triple kill for Zywoo in the pistol could be a great sign of things to come for Vitality's
AWPer.
Yeah, totally.
And also it's just, it's a pistol round?
Done.
Like at worst they split them now.
They just have to lock up the antique, they don't even have to worry about this kill going wrong.
Jail really does, just keep finding his moments this evening.
Yeah, he's an impact player, man, I mean.
Sorry, Rock.
Oooooookay.
Wow.
So fast, we couldn't even get in the server quick enough.
There's one for the kill matrix.
Rigor Mortis over here.
Brickdom.
Cemetery is a better rating on CT side dust 2 in the last four months
than McCauze.
That's an insane.
Oh, the tie in is that they're all
knobby junior alumni.
Good save, B-tramps.
Good to dress up your hate in different ways.
Yeah.
Or just do like Maui and call him a decoy.
That was a bit unhinged, but.
Four riflers and a decoy.
See if he can make him eat his words.
The stats would say it's unlikely.
Blank's gonna try to cover, but Krebbenny sneaking through.
Always sneaking through with a pistol kill that Krebbenny.
So majority up for vitality is they convert their pistol.
Always made easy by Zywoo slamming a headshot through the doorway.
Now unfortunately here for foot it's a real save.
Yeah, Zywoo's life game would be, can you call it a life game when he plays
well?
I would living yeah just existing right now playing above average
If he flies off the charts in this map, yeah, I could boat a real well for vitality heading to the playoffs
It's got to be over at that point
It's strange to see the scoreboard it's like JL who you don't normally see and then a pack to the top of the board and
So I would pop it off, it's like, you actually didn't have to worry about playing Z or even rock that game, right?
But I think it's going to be a weird time for Vitality in general, you know? It's multiple different stand-ins.
I'm excited to see what they look like without Apex calling, just like what the team looks like.
Just out of curiosity, structure-wise, yeah.
And it's cool that they'll use the same stand-in. You know, they don't really often get that kind of a situation, so it's a very rare trait in general.
Yeah.
The top team would go through something like this.
Particularly the team that's coming off of Counter-Strike 2's first era.
Yeah, it's JL.
He's going to be the Johnny Sins of this team.
He's going to make Caller.
He's going to be the anchor.
He's going to be the entry.
The vibes guy.
Hell, he said he was watching Vitality at EWC over the shoulder like Xtaz.
He said I had a coach's POV for the first time in my life.
And I was thinking, this is kind of fun.
It's like you get the value.
You get to see the game in a different way.
Watch.
Xtaz is going to take a break.
The next thing you know, JL comes back for that too.
Oh, he's going to be the avanaak.
He's like, oh, I was going to be a streamer.
I want to be a, I'm going to go drift a car.
I'm going to jail on a life journey.
And it just happens that we're lucky enough
it brought him back to Counter-Strike.
Now we find out what sort of a challenge
can even offer us tonight on Dust2. If Vitality can improve on a Nudist like they did, if
LinnVision can improve on Dust2 like they did, uh-oh.
Um...
Instead of I can't have it, no one can.
Why do they make a gap underneath that fence like that?
I don't know.
They have to use an HE to get back their smoke, like what's the ROI?
of the
of a totally called a ross has tried that
take those for free one of five before staff
was from the first time around
But it's not like JL takes damage in that
Just kind of held back for a second. We hit 35 seconds
Looks like they're gonna collect themselves bomb towards the tunnels sucks that you lost robs like that
But effective CT smoke goes down
Krebbenny's gonna hold his own over apex
Do they even really chance this? Yes, Molotov to the back plat one player card jugs up in window
Krebbenny slotting in wonderfully as the flash finds the window player
It's going to be an awkward cross.
A huge rotate coming through from foot already.
2v5, Zyra 1v4, and the time was never really there for this.
So foot know they can just steam roll over,
and their first gun round nets them three survivors
at an early round win.
It's nice for Jux to get a kill like that.
It's his first of the map.
And to take out Robs on his lark,
one of the very few instances will
be that aggressive to walk through.
It was that smoke.
I was holding everything together.
NAAAAAAAHHH!
Long fight for Flamesy.
Stutters for a second.
Swings ahead of the CT smoke, goes wide.
Oh, needs to kill for X-flat.
Apex there to spray back to even doubles down.
Swear he was blind.
I love to see that for Demon.
Vitality knew exactly what they were signing up for, but Demon makes the difference.
Oh, and you drop one kill there?
That's when he turns it to a garbage compactor at long.
Krobeni vs. Robs could happen here on middle as the bomb on Zywu's back still sits towards
long doors.
I mean, he saw his foot, right?
I don't think he did actually.
I thought it was still in cover.
It's like Robs was right on the limit.
I feel like the B player would be more concerned if that was the case.
that he's tucked. Oh no, never mind. Play her on car.
Huh?
Great output.
He does it.
Huge round for him. Two kills already.
Oh, Crebeni right there. Happy to slide out with the rox frag.
And poor old Zywoo will be lucky if he gets to save this one.
this one so there's the demon factor for you yeah you're new to watching foot
get a over 2.0 rating on that one series
ridiculous impact that's a crazy good kill hot effects lab
He even fought tooth and nail for that one.
He locks it down, he sends vitality into this.
on Apex pistols for the rest.
have to be greater than the stats tonight, foot.
No pressure for the cat approach, but once they crest the A site, they will be met by Util.
that made land at a good time cemetery is teed up for easy first-kill shots
still apex frontrunner type of the scale goes wide oh oh headshot to cemetery
never gets the fire back and the ramp players tight apex with another what do
Can you see this?
Oh, oh, such output.
But here comes Demon trying to find headshots.
That scout finds itself and flames these hands.
And all of a sudden, it's a 3v1.
Apex, again, is taking rounds into his own hands.
I mean, Juice has got to give this a run.
I mean, it's unlikely.
And the op gets retrieved.
But that's the scout.
Three frags, two from Apex.
And he just out off cemetery with it.
Bomb on his back extends in and then off the tag
has the confidence to go hunting for the second CT.
I mean Apex top rated player on Dust2 versus Legacy
to keep them in the event.
When they really looked like they were gonna get pushed
to their limits.
Oh, it was Dust2, the 20 kill map.
Yep.
And now here he is six and four already
posting scout shots like that.
What's he got to say about it?
We love talking about an IGL having a great map, but this will turn into a great series.
The map that on paper fits foot perfectly.
They don't overcomplicate situations.
have unbelievable aim and to be fair you know they they do get lots of rounds but
they are just losing this map constantly
and
and
and
Yeah, what boss?
Don't worry about it.
Optimid, Zywoo.
Miss chance.
Still a lot of players running out with the tunnels, though, here for vitality.
Krebhany go and talk mid early with an escort.
Him and Demon.
Taking up space while it's there to be claimed.
Vitality don't like what's going on.
They're gonna go reset from T spawn now
Which means they're not allowed to play their idea out of spawn
This is effectively gonna burn quite a bit of time off, so it's fine on dust too
He has a real worried if someone had pushed into a sneaky spot, but
I
Wind up still collecting themselves in middle no resistance offered up by foot
They didn't really get what they wanted. I guess I'd have spawn either. Yeah, I mean they didn't hold on to any map control
Cemetery looking for his first kill of the map. Yeah, it's gotta be him man. He's up at goose. I
I mean, maybe he moves to the ramp.
This team is so far away. Oh my goodness.
Oh, it's rough. It's just so vulnerable.
Oh, it's rough.
I don't know.
And they're going to try to hunt him down already
Yeah, no unfortunately we've been talking about cemetery a lot this week. It's not not good
I mean now it's snake didn't mince words and with that moment didn't even shoot at least a decoy makes noise
He didn't shoot at the scout either
That's crazy shot
Hey, Pax didn't even know his name.
Oh my god, he said the-
Who the fuck is that guy?
Oh, the AWP was Goose?
Brother, that AWP has a name!
Robz eats the team flash. Oops.
Two players layered here.
One of them was, Kribany, past tense, gets blasted out of the round over the shoulder of his teammate.
Jig's gonna pull back, grab the M4 now, and we'll see where he can reposition it as needed.
Opens up an alien.
But an alien featuring two 5-7s, one set of Kevlar.
I don't know if it's better or worse, but when you see Cemetery on a rifle, he actually has had a couple of multi-kills,
but just not doing that with the AWP, which is way more expensive than way before.
Oh! They find eight AWPs! Nice rifle work.
Doesn't panic under pressure with only really headshots to hit.
Aim punch will serve up an issue for jugs you'd assume.
Spend the whole map alone.
Bombs planted safely.
Crack and player holds. All's good.
Majority alive once more for vitality.
There's a solid amount of damage.
Four foot in a round like this.
But I think when it's playoffs on the line,
we're on map three of the series.
Excuse me. Map two of the series.
You're looking for more than a little bit of damage.
6-2 T side. No real reason to believe that this will get easier for foot anytime soon.
Crazy pick up. Oh, man, cemetery. I mean, I get bad for him.
I'd say he's getting embarrassed. I mean, he's getting completely saddled on.
The scout shot was crazy. The AK head shot's crazy. The Zaywu adjustment's crazy.
I will say you watch back the, you know,
the rounds it's not and there have been maps where there have been bad misses
from him so that's another problem this game though it's been specifically insane
shots on him too.
Jax blind gets the trade back X-File moves the off
Oh no one can off on this team miss chance ruthless oh oh they pressed into each
other Jax has killed Robs a couple of times trying to get through that
smoke grenade so there's a silver lining but as he departs the B site
I'm gonna open a door for the bomb. Apex is just gonna take his sweet time with this
Mid to B smoke down. Jubx is giving up the site. Apex is probably ahead of Jubx's timing
Yeah, that internal clock in his head hasn't considered this walkout because he just stuffed rops on the approach
But Apex is in site.
He just makes some presence. Yeah, okay, just draws him in.
Let's him walk back into his own death, throws down the smoke grenade to guarantee JL can add himself to this hold
And now no longer hands busy with the plant. This is crazy
It goes about how you expect emerge through the smoke executed by both
JL and apex went out the 2v2 that could have been x-flowed catching a kill on the exit
That would have been JL stuffed outside long look at this
Cemetery just getting slams out of this game. Originally I would like to see that from Cemetery's POV
because he's obviously not holding it it looks like he's holding the green box
pick but he also might have been holding to swing if Zywu shot so he could have
been pre-aiming suicide instead and Zywu just got right in front of him I
mean they have just been
it's like a thousand ways to die with him yeah so he's just readying to react
So it's just a great play at his eye. Woo
They got him enough there was no save guns last round right? Nope. No all five died
Starting to get into those acts of desperation is a risk to
Oh my god!
Dude, this is cool.
Feel bad. Feel bad for Sematary.
Oh yeah, you should.
He's fallen off of a player, has no accuracy.
Two guys slide up into the catwalk play for him.
And this is a risk as a team. They're setting up.
They don't have anyone lower.
They're not actually hopping from mid. They can't hold the cross.
But they're on a mix-by, so they're taking a risk.
Right. Makes sense to do it.
Yeah, yeah, that's... it's just...
when you compound everything. Oh man.
Yeah, this round in, you know,
in its own capsule...
Ooh, unlucky, but you rack on all of the experiences he's had so far this map.
You're also kind of just getting perfect calls out of every approach for vitality.
Kind of like this team would have been capable of an era.
We were worried how long it might take to onboard JL, but he's got—
An MR-12? You can't get an era.
I didn't catch you saying I was laughing at your comments.
I think he said, I think he said, he said Cemetery, yeah, he does know his name, he can do everything against him.
Can we just play fucking passive and trust at least once in our setup and stop pushing, peeking, because we are just losing every fucking round because of that.
I'm not sure I agree, honestly.
Even Cemetery's deaths aren't over at aggression. He's just dying usually in a solid A site spot or he's getting peaked
Yeah
By Zywoo and now cap play that's that's his four deaths at least not what coolio's talking about surely
Although they are I would argue some of the key deaths that are causing the round losses
Man, full credit though. They've got him this off every round. Oh my gosh, please not again.
I'm just peeking him off cat. It would have been Apex. Yeah.
Say that like Apex isn't tied for the most amount of kills.
You play back and suddenly Zai Wu starts creeping out your midpoint. Oh boy. It's the
the leg shot as Apex just jumps past the angle and dives right back into his teammates.
Just one of those days.
Still 5 health.
Man, he's got everybody coming his way as well.
They're gonna put a smoke in front of him.
Kribani getting active.
He will peel Apex off the plate.
It's a compromise cat situation.
Cemetery finding a slight gap in the middle of these smokes.
Looking for a target, can't see a damn thing.
Still yet to fire, will eventually shoot and clip JL.
Robs is finally gotten out through the tunnels.
Bomb is on site, and Krobeni's gonna make sure
that this one added to the foot scoreboard.
A third round from the CT side at the very least
from a Krobeni 3K.
That push-off cat, I feel like so hard to read.
Apex had a full clear of the A site.
Krobeni immediately started pushing after that.
What's so funny is just right after Kulio thought I'm about to do that?
I honestly just feel like how could that be right?
Actually...
I don't know, Kerbetti marches to the beat-o-zone drum.
Long challenge, boy.
Nice shot.
Cemetery on the retreat.
Oh, it's tagged through the edge of that smoke, his angle predicted.
Jail's sitting around waiting for this lower push.
Ooh, but he's gone underneath it.
And still Jail will snap over to X-Floud.
He's got himself a three kill half.
And it wasn't props to get the kill,
so Juggs is gonna be a little nervous.
He's usually in tunnels by himself.
Never given a chance to get to the top of the stairs.
Wouldn't have seen the second one in there.
Juggs is actually getting active.
There's another two-player CT pushing the tunnels.
Can Jail do it again? Absolutely.
Both dead now.
Man, they're just- they're holding everything still.
Vitality have crawled out through those mid doors and they're also scaling a long long wall rocks catwalk almost
But demons still here with about as much health. This is teammate in this site
No off-impact at a cemetery this round three missed chances fourth one connects apex dies to it
Cemetery taken down to 9 HP jail and spawn
You just join up with this post plant. They don't have to worry about this crawl up focus on cat
There's Molly there. There's also a smoke grenade for JL. Imagine when that goes down in front of what is all of foot's retake.
Now things get dire. They've got a frag grenade on demon to pop this open if they want to try to have vision for the retake.
Round 12. You're doing it.
Cemetery's chucking a flashbang for them at the same time. Hands forced forward.
And now Zywu starts to come back from long to assist as needed. All three extend.
Zywu won't miss.
Damage further and these two tagged up players get no footing on this bomb site.
Bomb site vitality hold up their end of the bargain and as we would have expected foot struggle on dust to remains real
Hey guys, it's a week from a meeting. Hey guys, it's quality from the daily. Hi guys, it's kixxel from the world
I'm a just won't just fit this here. I'm gonna be reacting to some of your bad comments
I'm sure they're not too bad, but we'll see
The first one, Kixxum probably belongs in tier 3 CS, yeah I mean I was playing in tier
3 once so maybe I can go back.
What the fuck is been doing?
A team?
It maybe is fantastic, just needs to work on comps and map awareness.
Spirits broken, they took a stack of 4 childs to play with DUNK, all they do is meme
around, how the fuck they want to be, the IGL if every interview is just troll
answers they're working to put some respect on people's time. I think that
both me and the interviewers and the cameraman's are still getting paid while
doing this. Next one from Javi Javi de Fun. What the fuck I'm not fucking okay. AI logo
already hate watching what I can say it's the time is now. Cross replacement.
Economy management, pistol aim, optics. Out of our tier one I think so. They're playing all the tier one events
So, I think we are
I don't know what people expected
Besides that one major live game
He's already putting up IGL numbers without IGLing
Good has no legal qualities and can't call for shit
So, right with the vitality flare
Y'all this end knows the fall
Grade spot, smoke spot, pop flashes positioning
5-0 to 6-6
6-6, classic throw, throw dora, just don't change
Yes, friend, we're all been there
Bomb plant positions, retake ability, funny hopping, spray control and getting kills
It's a bind, you can do better than that.
This shit is so ass.
Okay.
Minus box equals holiday.
Could actually be a tier 1 team, but I think we're tier 1 now so.
Some IGLs have further like qualities.
Example, Paul and Jayme even chopper.
Some are solid dudes with high probability like Apex or Kergan.
Meriffs is neither.
His calls are subpar.
He doesn't even shoot well.
His supposedly good vibe is not existing anymore.
Uh, I do shoot well, sometimes.
I don't think that having a bird on a man is further like furthering.
Aurora still suck unfortunately.
Teal should pay sticking notes before they, they reminding them to turn their monitors
on.
Yes, blast you should do this.
This is bullshit, random level 10 face it makes playing better.
Probably.
We are done with bad comments for today.
I've seen worse, heard worse, they were a lie that's fucked, flaming us, okay?
Um, said worse to myself in the mirror, so, do better than that.
After all those comments, I appreciate very much, thank you.
I don't really care about all those comments, so keep writing them.
Oh, we've got a package inbound, uh, cemetery fans of VirtuaR Eyes.
It's all the unfortunate ways of which he died throughout this half, owned by Zylu on the
cross.
That one's just standard.
Here's the scout shot from Apex.
Here's the AK peek from Apex.
That was insane.
Here's the Zywoo peek from Green.
And when this totem pole gets taken out from underneath him.
Yeah, some missed shots in the middle of all that as well,
and Zywoo putting him on ice for the very end,
but I mean, it's just, it kind of gets just dog piled on him.
Yeah, it was just a bit of everything.
I mean, we had definitely cemeteries.
Performances have been very spotty.
The off presence is not there,
but this is the worst one of all.
You know, I used to do a series called Unlucky or Bad and that is fair share of Unlucky, we'll say that.
Perfect storm, really. I actually can't believe how many times they got in the op, though.
They really made that a priority.
Really hoped it would be the solution.
Didn't wind up getting them what they need. Three rounds to foot side.
Wimpsley just gets left alone inside of pit versus all five foot players.
Cap on that smoke.
JL is going to punish. Apex catching one as well, but that's what happens.
Believe interrupted on the execute. Just give it a little bump.
Offset the smoke. Krobenny is going to try to take things into his own hands
as X-Flight goes big off the cap plate, and they will indeed still stick this landing.
Foot giving themselves a chance back into the game with a much needed pistol victory.
You know, I think the most damning part of the cemetery is like the nature of which he plays the ace.
We see when he gets peaked, how he instantly gets killed, but the positioning to lead to that moment can always be different.
And in terms of setting himself up for easy shots all the time on car and everything, that was definitely missing.
Now that we switch over to the T side, it could be a new lease on life. We'll see. There will be just as much hopping if they get the money.
Since IWU Scout and a very empty looking tunnel is for Apex held onto by the Mag7 right now.
Oh, X-Flight taking a nade. Apex considers his flank, but he won't.
Just gets hard cleared by the Mag10 and a man advantage earned by foot.
Don't catch anybody climbing up, A site prime for the taking here for foot's favor.
Demen and Krabeni trying to fight tooth and nail to keep foot in this game, to keep them
in this tournament in fact.
Grand finals in Paris to four rounds away from getting eliminated shy of top six here at
blast open Porto.
It's a scary prospect become accustomed to playing on the big stage seeing your name
up in the lights.
It's a painful flight home per foot.
They can't bring this series back
It's going to take a wonderful tea side of calling a lot of different players contributing may they do have demon in Kerbini who
You know Kerbini is the IGL so he's own other host of responsibilities
But the nature of which he plays counter strike for this team and the opening kills how he moves around forward with his frags
It will be very important that he's just successful in his duals. He doesn't sit around bait
He doesn't get exit kills. Nothing like that. If Kerveni's got a frag, that's usually a
Complete opener for how they're gonna play the rest of the round
So they got this deficit here, but they don't lose anybody
That's how you will make the least money possible
Apex wanted to shoot that mag 7, so I'll grab another.
JL has brought an R8 to Vitali.
Oh man, he has ace with his gun as an hit.
JL was allowed to... does Apex know he bought this?
He's a stand-in, they said he could do whatever he wants.
They did say he had the freedom to play how he wanted, you're right.
I don't know if this was on the list of things they expect.
There you go.
Oh no.
Zywul gets output off the scout with X-Floud down low, Deagle's still around this bomb site.
Bomb can't be interrupted now.
Jumping at 9-7, queued up, explains he gets found out, Deagle damage is indeed there.
Apex hit him in the head. Headshot's the ramp guy. Jumping for the car kill.
It's a wild scene set of Apex, but he didn't get any action with his mag 7 last round, so
you know he had to give it another shot.
Yeah, if you don't use it, you lose it.
Well, I suppose that R8 is gone.
Turns out it's hard to react when your gun needs a wind up.
Ah, they won't be able to go get it back, that's sad.
Foot getting through from the pistol to the conversions, doing it quite convincingly.
Got split pistols this game.
We'll really get started on meat and potatoes.
Natality right away, get the op-up on Zywoo.
We'll see if there's another showdown this half.
Lovely stuff to get a tag like that early days.
Still time to regain confidence to leave impact on this map for cemetery.
Really vitality interrupting too much since this CT side began.
They're gonna walk through that smoke? No way. Incredible timing, but it's 3 and B now, actually.
Apex gets away from this. He's gonna love this.
Just tucked in, plays behind car, rops on full display, worried about the tunnels, but there's nobody there,
but many gets one. Apex pops up and they can't hang on. This team.
Foot just swarmed their way through middle into the B bomb site,
site and concerned about tunnels.
Wops just kind of left out to dry.
Making this game interesting with a strong start over vitality's first gun round.
What a call by Krabash.
I mean, it just under, but to be honest, they ran into a site that Apex was excited
they were doing like in that moment, three and B, you want them to do this split.
Um, and he didn't get killed outside of the site either.
He actually got to his body wanted to.
Even from the car lineup, only one kill there.
The fact that Split can survive these three players and only lose a single guy is insane.
Like not many other teams can do that.
This is a win.
Cemetery gets a flash assist and a damage assist in the middle of all that.
Robson's time on Dust2 has not been enjoyable for him either. You know, we want to talk about shortcomings. He's 4-11.
So something they spent the least amount of time in transition, which is really good
They go for the mid doors with his own setup. Yep, but not me entering around mid walking up against the wall
They accelerate like electric cars
The new generation, yeah
Positioning up in Zai Wu's hands as a response
whole lot of players on that corner and he clips X-flats shoulder first.
He's got a boost as well with the MP9. That's the bomb.
Oh no, but they're going to need that back.
Preventing solo mission, out-middle spotted while Ross just rips through.
There you go, Ross. Triple kill, mow down.
Foot thought they were going to get away with a simplified hit of that B bomb site,
but they meet their maker in the form of Zywoo.
He slows it down. They feel like they need to commit,
commit, but the bomb going out in the front as well, that just spells disaster once Roth
slows him down.
Well, we compared the operas like in him to talk about what makes Zywu so efficient.
It's like the amount of starts in this, these two maps alone, where Zywu is in the right
spawn position, in the right site holding the right angle for the most simple kill
ever.
The amount of times he set himself up, or Apex has called him to a spot, has made
it so easy for him to just collect frags.
No sweat, off a shoulder peak, no flash, no full exec, no nothing to dodge.
They have really read into Flix's strategies so well.
What did he say?
I think oh
Man would they dare try it again and and I will is here again by the way
This time it's a better gun for robs tucked into the car instead. They're gonna do the same thing
He's going to have the same kill on the same person rinse and repeat
And the triple come out from Rob's again
Or will it even be needed?
That is how you off
The sedentary burns Zywoo from the back of sight.
Zywoo under pressure is just an animal though
and Moe's down foot's approach.
They're getting red like a picture book right now.
This is just so blatantly obvious to vitality.
Zywoo, it's Groundhog Day.
Baby's first dust two.
They thought they were doing something really crafty.
We just got shut down super hard on B.
There's no way they're gonna put you out there to start.
They don't believe we would try it again.
They know you better than you know yourselves, but...
All the money as well. Foot had invested into this one, but two lickety split rounds back-to-back for vitality
who could start to smell playoffs off that one. Apex on for his third straight map with over 180R.
That's a slow clap. I mean for the sacrifices IGL is making in the first place, it makes it hard for them to
get good numbers because they end up dropping more bygmades. Then they look at the radar more, all that stuff.
That only makes those numbers feel even higher.
It's cool that when there were questions around what vitality would look like without Mezzy and what it'll look like without Apex, we got to step up from him in such an individual level.
To Robson JL at B this time, Robs can't get back into the cover, damage output from Windo, but Demon still stands for now.
More YouTube overtop another challenge and Cemetery's galil kills come out with the back-to-back end shots
Third time is the charm here for foot. I'm saying if you just put them on a rifle, you'd actually have really good maps overall
Funny that they go right into B again
Rops doesn't get the first kill, but they're right as I would have started me three times in a row.
They double down and then triple down.
Window players just couldn't find enough there.
It's very sudden foot into the bomb site.
Keep this a three round game, keep four players up as well.
well just so much money well oh keep three players up as well okay
let the offing okay
we're trying to help you buddy really did you see those go little kills
Prey 2k.
Little awkward, but you wanted an excuse for the upgrade. If I tell you, you have lots of money left over. They get two ops. They'll indulge.
Yeah.
But it looks like it won't be the fourth consecutive all in B.
We actually don't know that yet.
Fair.
Okay.
Up on cat.
Made perfect.
Yeah.
Yep.
JL kills the bunny and X-Floud.
Damn.
I mean, you.
They're kind of insane right now, man.
read in the change up foot do something different vitality make it seem like they knew it was coming from a mile away
Demon can't get both the kills off the cat play jokes into the one v4 instead
Bomb was spotted in that process so he gets taken down to 50 because of the need
Trying to play ahead of it
Brant player remains cautious so much trade potential here for vitality
Jukes though taps through to man gets a bit of chip on flames. He has him just scuttled back towards long instead looks to link up with
Robs who remember plays an off this round. Why does it feel like you can win with seven HP? He's playing like mr. Robot on these peaks
Missed off shot here would have cost you but Robs locks it in and that frag grenade on Xbox at quite literally the perfect moment for
Cywoo to catch a kill and JL doubling down.
Yep.
They pulled that setup apart before it ever had a chance to get going.
Caught with your pants around your ankles.
Nobody's made foot look obvious at this event, except for Vitality in this series.
NOOOOOOO!
Limitations come through now.
AK, Galil, all they've got is gonna be a slam out wall.
and it's Flakesy to step up to the plate.
They're falling right on their face.
They're going hard.
They're sticking to their personality and their play style,
but they just lost their two guns.
Geez, this one unfortunately,
four foot starts to fall apart at the seams.
We had huge questions about vitality
coming into this event this week.
Criticisms as they begin to fall apart
and it felt like they were having to put up at EWC
because once the roster starts rotating,
it felt as though Vitality would look even weaker.
Well here, with a short runway,
they have showed improvement day to day.
Unexpected pieces stepping up to the plate
in the form of Apex,
like we saw a third consecutive 180-yard game.
The captain has up and Vitality
secure playoffs in Porto.
We don't know what this feeling looks like.
We don't know if this team can still hoist trophies,
but we know damn well they will fight
every step of the way to give themselves the best chance
possible to continue to compete.
After what was a bit of a shaky tournament for Vitality
to begin with, they dispatch a foot
as if it wasn't a problem whatsoever.
Two maps in a row, impressive in both showings,
and they end that one in the same fashion.
They end it with a bang.
I was priming it after there.
Nubis, but you see it even more so here on Dust2.
a demonstrative victory for the team that nobody wants to face in the quarter
finals in the semifinals of vitality that is clearly powering up that inner
circle loss feels like it was months ago with how clean they looked against a
foot who just reached the grand finals of the last S tier events. Yeah and you
still see them growing with this roster jail looking much better. You see
them picking up improving their anubis as well just incredibly impressive
from Vitality to see them come into this one.
And as you're saying, I think powering up
is the right way to put it.
Well, it looks like we actually got the honor,
the privilege to speak with Flamesy,
right after that victory to secure playoffs.
Yes, indeed.
Hello, Mike, hello.
How is it feeling with Apex?
I think we have the stat on screen.
Over 180R in three games.
It's not usually what you're expecting.
How does it feel getting carried by Apex?
Fucking great.
It's tough to lose like that, you know what I'm saying?
I think it's obvious if Apex does really well individually, it's pretty much a guaranteed
game almost, unless it's Spirit and AWC, but the rest is good.
Looking at you this tournament, so far in this event, this might be, I think it's one
of your lowest rated events so far.
I don't think you've done anything wrong, but I feel like the team has struggled to
bring JL in.
How is that affecting you as a player?
I don't think, maybe there's a bit more focus on JL, but yesterday I was in a different
I was communicating well, I was doing what I needed to do in the server, but I was individually not there.
And some of the games have been sloppy and tough, and some of the games have been much better.
But maybe there is a bit more focus on obviously integrating JL in terms of telling him what he needs to do.
And sometimes it's tough, you know, the playbook is so vast that you can't just jump into every round, every call,
and it's smooth as fuck. You have to go slowly, run by round sometimes.
Sometimes and that's about it, but I don't think it affects me individually as much as I was just lacking focus yesterday on my crosshair
If it makes sense, I don't mean this is a dig at JL
But does it make you appreciate what you had with Messi, you know what he brings to the table even more?
I mean, you know is a keeper like William is such a
You know obviously people look at the numbers the stats
But Messi is such a solid piece in the team like he never you never
to some extent he never like
loses us the games and he always, you know
He has those like winning the game moments and major fans like big games
But he's just such a good like he has such a good communication
He has such a good balance between like playing for the team and recently in the WC platform
He figured himself out like get into his form a bit
And it's it's a you know
It's maybe upsetting for him that he cannot come here and like show this form
But yeah, of course, we appreciate maybe so much that even when we play with gel
We know that even before we play with JL, we know what we're missing with Mezi.
The benefit he gives outside of the server is just too big to ignore.
But with Justin, you have different kind of benefits.
He brings his own game into our Vitality playbook.
In many ways, it also can work. We just need to adapt to him.
We don't need to just be in the mindset that he has to adapt to us.
We can also lean forward to him and share those rounds that we do what he wants to do.
And I think it works out well so far.
Like we're getting better game by game, so yeah.
What would be some more specifics on what is he bringing to you guys
to try to reinvigorate or just even just to change how you play a situation out?
Well, I think Messi, like the difference between them is like in their personality,
obviously like Messi trolls a lot, but Justin trolls a lot more.
Okay.
A lot of jokes in the prog room, like a lot of crazy jokes in the prog room
It's very unique, we just need to get used to him, but the difference in that sense is
just a lot of it is outside the server and a lot of it comes down to maybe on the city
side like he's just a bit ADHD, he cannot sit down in one place, Messi is very solid
in just holding the bomb side down, making sure everybody knows that he got this position,
Jale would want to move too much, not too much but it's just a different counter
track right like you need to we need to adapt to him in that sense yeah that's
the main difference between them also kind of like when you came from OG to
vitality yeah guys chill out like I want to play aggressive a bit but it's I
brought this game a bit more to vitality I think apex always had this mindset like
to play a bit more aggressive to not like not to let the enemy team do what
they want and that's all all what I'm about okay I want to zoom out on a
kind of a bigger picture picture topic I remember back at Austin when you won
that one. You talked about it on the desk after the grand finals about how you know you wouldn't,
you don't get that kind of five-man roster very often. You guys knew you were on the precipice
of something great. You've already achieved something great but there still is more room
obviously especially when everybody gets back to tell more of that story and to push that
legacy further. But what is this kind of period right now with the couple of stand-ins coming
up where JL really coming in to try to, it might feel like a speed bump or what is it in
in your guys' camp as to how are you treating these sorts of tournaments?
Well, right now we really like Justin, and we want to give him the opportunity
to play as many officials as he can, so the goal here is not to just see where we can go.
We want to play good counter-strike. We don't care if we're losing the quarter,
if we're losing the semi, we don't care about this, like specifically about the results.
We just want to play good CS and enjoy playing on the server together,
and give him the opportunity to also play as much rounds as he can,
We can't play as much because it's been a while for him that he could have played like a LAN
and pulled to a big stage, so it's also pretty nice.
And I think what's nice about it is also like we cannot get a different approach to CS, right?
It's a bit fresh, it's a bit new, we don't have this pressure that we always go in every tournament to win it.
We have a different kind of pressure, a different kind of stress.
The expectations are just more on the game and let's do our best
of like we're coming to you know to do something impactful you know what I mean
and I think that the next tournament that is without apex like the in two
turns three events or something I think they're like we need to improve as
individuals and it gives us a lot of opportunity because apex is such a big
voice in the team and it talks so much that you know when I joined from OG you
can get lazy as a player because you don't need to do as much you don't
need to communicate as much you don't need to to to give that many
inputs because you have such a big voice such a big leader and in this
This event, you know, Masi will be ideating for us and we will be giving the idea, we will be giving more inputs because we have to help William, but also because we don't have that big voice, right?
And that gives us a room for improvement. Definitely if you, like, as a team you don't want to take a tournament without a player, right?
You want to stick to the same roster and do your best, but this is just the case of circumstances and, you know, we're such a good team, we're such good friends, we're such a good group of people
We want to give the best opportunity for Dunn and William to enjoy the time with their wife,
their girlfriend and be there, be present.
We also want to know their partners, we want to wish them the best and we don't want them
to worry, we want them to just chill and that's the opportunity for them.
And zooming back into just this game in particular, obviously Fletches came off the back of getting
to the grand finals in Paris, great run there, they seem to be on the come up
but you guys dispatch of them relatively easily I would say, maybe Anubis could
could have been a bit trickier, but how did it feel playing against them in the
server was, you know, what, yeah, just in your words?
Well they have insane skill, you know, but my girlfriend has a birthday today and we
wanted to finish this one quick, because we wanted to celebrate. So we prepped
really well and became pretty strong. I think they're good individuals, but I
think every beginning of seasons, and it's still the beginning of the season,
there is a tier two team that, I mean, debatably tier two, because they're
so consistently in the playoffs and stuff, but they show up a bit more in the beginning
of the season. Parvision was last season in 2020. So there is always this kind of 2025,
it was the Mongols in the second season that came up finals, one trophy. So I think it's
always like that case a bit, that the T1 teams are a bit more struggling, maybe perhaps also
the bottom of the top 10 is kind of taking a less break, maybe. I'm not sure what it is,
right? Maybe they're more hungry and we're just lazy and not working hard. I don't know
know what's the situation. But definitely to the server we felt like we were in charge
of so many situations. We communicated so well to each other. We knew where we were
going, we knew what we were doing and this right out is going to be very hard to beat
us.
Alright, with your girlfriend waiting for you, we don't want to keep you any longer.
You can take the headset off and we'll...
Thank you, guys.
Thanks for coming to the desk and we really get a lot of insight whenever we have Flamesee
you know he's he's always got so much.
He was a little more relaxed than usual.
Usually Messi's in here freaking out,
smiling, having a great time,
but I think he knows they clocked in to work.
That was a really impressive way to dispatch of what is an
incredibly dangerous foot team if they give him even an inch
back into that game.
I just loved when you're like, oh yeah,
it's great to have flamesy on the desk.
He's looking at me like, yeah, that's right.
That's right. It's good to have me on the desk.
I mean, you guys all the inside that you wanted there.
But yeah, I mean, look what flamesy brings in the server.
He doesn't in being able to do the most basic of human things where he's owned Jersey
I don't know if he lost it if it's in the wash or what but he was
He was Matt's or something on the back. It was in Jack's
By the way is like I think twice his height and like double his width. So that's why it looks the way it did
I thought I was just trying to do one of those swaggy
Vitalities for the streets, right
Hey, I'm not saying that.
Well look, they are made for Porto, they qualify for themselves, they are our sixth and final
team that we'll get to see in the arena, but that does mean unfortunately we have to say
goodbye to Foot.
Kulio, it was a bit of a tough tournament for you guys here, but talk to me about
what you think went wrong and how it ended with this result.
I mean it's vitality in the end, but yeah, we were playing with so many mistakes
today and yeah I think the experience again showed that they are just a better
team. I can mid-round situation on Anubis especially like they were winning
rounds but they were never able to win it and then they just got the momentum
and then after we got some pressure and then we just did some mistakes and
they were just much better. What are some of the positives you think you
in the foot team can take away from this? In form it's always positive if
we can take teams who are lower than us, so it's good that we could beat Lin Wigem and
Gner Circle. I think the legacy loss was, again, kind of our fault. Like on ancient, we should
have closed the game. But yeah, like today I think we had a chance, but then we lost a
few important rounds and after that they just played much better.
And lastly, is there anything you wanted to say out there for the foot fans?
Yeah, like thank you for the support as always, like what they showed us for
for us in Paris it was amazing. Now we have some time off, we will have two months without
official calls, so we will practice, prepare and then we will come back for a picture booker.
Thank you so much for joining me, Kulia.
Yeah, a really tough one for Foot considering every matchup it felt like it had been difficult
for them in some way, shape or form, they've been tested, but to hear that they're
going to be showing face at any two or one tournament in the in the near future.
But it's a bit heartbreaking. No shame in the way they lost to a vitality,
the way they lose to a legacy. I think they really should help hold their heads
high coming straight from Paris, straight from such an incredible showing.
They come here and they beat the teams they're supposed to be.
It's you cannot blame them for losing to a vitality that's in a form like
that. But of course, if you're cool, Leo, you're going to be very
disappointed, especially there is at least two or three rounds that he wish.
you always wish as a coach that you could get those rounds back.
You see the mistakes as they're happening,
and you're kind of powerless as to fix them.
But still, you can only give respect to foot
for the run they've had recently.
I definitely am going to keep my eye on foot
at their upcoming events.
Obviously, it's going to be a bit of it,
but I feel like also at this tournament,
when you have a deep run like that at an S tier event,
you really put a target on your back.
The same thing exactly happened to ParaVision last season,
where people started to study them a little bit more.
They started to recognize what it is that they're doing
that gets them into positions, deep in tournaments.
And then you start to game plan a little harder for them.
When you catch everybody by surprise in the beginning
with that explosive, often times 4-1 style,
it really, you know, you hit them pretty hard in the face.
But as soon as they start to look at your demos a little bit,
they realize, oh, there's a lot of flaws in that style.
They're like, Foot, do not play the well-rounded style,
that vitality play.
They don't always leave themselves as open to mid rounds.
And oftentimes you have to see them all five bunch up
to move somewhere else on the map.
if something goes awry in the first 10 seconds.
Teams like Vitality eat that up.
So even though I am so excited about them,
I like some of their individuals,
they definitely have to go for a little bit
of a strategic diversification.
I don't even think you need to really call it an upgrade,
but you need to just have a couple other ideas
in some of these rounds if the plan A goes wrong.
I mean, that's what losing is all about, right?
Learning those lessons, being able to walk away
from it and ensure that when you come back again,
if you get the chance to have this matchup,
it's gonna be different, it's gonna be better for you.
and maybe the small amount of break that foot are going to have is what's going to propel them when we do eventually get to see them again.
But it has been an insane final day for us.
We now have our six teams going to Porto, and our day started off with a seating match.
It was Furia up against Spirit there, and honestly, it didn't even really look too difficult for Spirit at the end of the day.
That one could have been an email. That was incredibly, incredibly decisive for Spirit, especially on Furia's map pick.
It seems like the event of losing your own map pick at this point.
Yeah, I mean, brutal stuff.
It wasn't even, I don't even think all the donk show on cash.
It was a team effort, practically.
You're going to pick any player on Spirit to be the star there.
But I am glad that Spirit are punching their ticket
into the semis immediately because they are looking just
like the hottest team in the scene right now.
And second series was G2 up against Aurora.
And this one absolutely got wrenching
because when you look at it, Aurora were able to take map one.
What was an insane double overtime needed for Inferno
goes to G2.
And then you look at a map three,
and you realize it's done and dusted for Aurora.
Not only their hopes here,
but what felt like mentally in that dead map too.
Yeah, and that G2, the win on Inferno
was just unbelievable.
I mean, the back and forth nature of it,
some of the rounds that went away from G2,
Nert's dying to a Glock somehow in a pivotal round.
But then you go to map three and you almost want to forget that map three even happen.
I think you go to you go back in the team shuttle if you're Aurora and you go map one and two.
We could have won though. We could have won that second map. You know, third map they just didn't even show up.
Yeah, third series for the day there was Falcons up against the Maus and it was a similar back and forth story until you look towards that last map and photo.
Again, it feels like a similar sort of sentiment where you get in the shuttle and you go, yeah, it didn't really happen.
But you also have to look at it because you're going to Porter, right?
This was a seating match.
Even though it is just a seating match, I feel like it was very clear that one
team came with more preparation directly targeted at their opponent there.
In Maus, just completely botting Banana on that final map.
Like Nico had nothing to say about the result there.
It was just him just eating nades, eating spam.
And that to me is again a testament to how great Sikrone gets the troops prepared.
The last time I saw Falcons or a Kerrigan lead team get destroyed that hard on Inferno was the Copenhagen Major where Kerrigan went 0-12 against them.
I thought you were going to say Cloud9, Boston.
Cloud9, Boston.
That was a little bit closer.
This one is even more depressing to watch.
We're looking at our port of playoffs bracket though because that seeding match was important for these reasons.
Spirit and Maus go straight through to the semifinals and it leaves us in a position where we're seeing Falcons go up
against G2 and Furia go up against Vitality in the quarterfinals.
I got chills looking at it.
I got chills looking at it.
We got six of the best teams you could possibly ask for here.
I'm surprised we don't even have a plucky underdog there.
It is just legitimately six box office teams
that we have the pleasure to watch in Portugal.
This is going to be an incredible, incredible playoff
bracket.
Both sides of the bracket, there's
no stacked side of the bracket either.
They're both stacked.
Both sides of the bracket are completely stacked.
You get to stake your claims right now, though.
When you look at it, what team are you hoping
goes to that grand final and either causes
an upset or absolute pure domination?
I want to see Spirit.
Yeah.
No, I want to see Mouse.
I changed my mind.
I want to see Mouse.
I want to see Mouse.
I'm going 3-0.
I've seen Mouse struggle too many times in playoffs.
You see them at the bounty.
They actually manage to cash in.
I want to see them do it again.
I mean, I have a butt.
All of those teams have great narratives surrounding them right now.
One, Maui!
One!
I'm going to pick all but one.
I don't want to see a team with a stand-in.
I want to see a l-
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