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The Xbox love to show Molly into lower tunnels is wonderful.
Alexi, support from Cat with a Nade and up short they trundle.
They considered actually a run boost there.
Raps is on top of Flames' head now, Alexi be forced away.
He's going to be overrun, it's just Alexi.
Just Alexi in there accelerating, Apex is going to catch wonderful here
on the jump up, composed for the tap.
Wonderful's lost his head and they've lost the bomb site.
This is really uncomfortable.
There's so much info there.
He's got run down quickly though.
Important for Mekaze. Opens up an avenue towards the long side.
It's going to be very short-centric.
That's blocked now. How are you going to come through this?
You need this Alexi Flash.
Robs can mantle up. He's actually going to be playing on the new box.
They're going to have to come through this.
Flash and go.
In and Mekaze. What can you hit?
Bit could be the late-beast track by Robs. Can't hit it.
USB connects.
It's Mezzi on the side with a lot to deal with.
Does well.
Finds ahead of Alexi. Quick taps on Mekaze.
Oh, Mezzi.
the.
Really start that standard
stuff before vitality and how
they approach these dust to
tea side pistols. You take a
lot of the prep would have been
done. Now he would have been
expecting something similar,
but you never know where they're
going to go off the back of those
opening you to apex finds this
open up at around this event,
they've been very tough as far
as the pistol runs are concerned
in the bottom three teams of
Atlanta.
And their second round
conversions are pretty rubbish
in second gear. So this is an
important one and one where now we know they've been vulnerable. Can they cause
another foot fault for Vitaliy on these second rounds, especially on the T side.
So they've had a really rough goal of things. Especially considering that it's
that wonderful scouting. If he can start as he needs to go on, hit a couple of those
body shots, soft for the month, the 5-7s and deagles to close down.
Second round conversions and a come out one, slaps all Vitality's fingers.
And they have been absolutely rubbish at these throughout the event. 40% second round conversions.
And that number is just going to tank even further.
He's got a stacked perfect display, he's going to be happy with that one.
I have to force my back, but only the 1400 and this was way too easy.
These are the type of rounds that Vitality are known for winning.
I'll be sneak one away early.
Forces in, very deagle centric.
Three of those, light on the U2, Apex with the scout flames with attack nine.
This one's going to be tough, looking to buy on the other side.
You're just seeing some conviction in their game play.
This is a forward position.
They're planning to disrupt the default forward position.
Alexi B draws attention, fights two and then sets up in the first win.
A trade attempt from Flames.
He rattles away over.
the
Couple bullets running him down. Robsters are getting a chance to even relay this desert. Here you go
Double kill from Alexi and Emma on the short side. No wonder, you're gonna see them down to an E-Carrie
It should be a 3-1 start for Navey
I don't expect them to slip up against this and it means they're gonna be able to build even more cash going forward
Run so far for the World number two, a win over passion, win over game, a legion. No one was tough
And then I lost the legacy to give us this bracket. It's an absolute mess
Conversation about this team being beatable
If you're able to take them down here even if it's not for an invests
Confidence going into the major right around the corner might be all now being these
These last three rounds have been and in those three rounds the casualties just one that now we have taken
So do you want to call back into things apex or something fast to continue with this turn or do you want to slow it down?
It's like fast-long heading is this Alexi
He's there with the MP9, he's able to match him to Stockholm, upon entrance, a combination
of MP9 bullets and the Molotov flames, now the double-nade!
Rob's catches that one on his chin, and an XE8 done, swaps out to the side arms, no spam
and smokes, and there goes Skull!
This gun rounds over already!
How many casualties?
Is that still only one in four rounds?
Four rounds, one kill for Vitality, and this is all happened in the blink of an eye.
Only one and four rounds left.
Four rounds, one kill for Vitality,
and this is all happening in the blink of an eye.
To get away from you quick, you're down to another partial.
I'm feeling the confidence to be building now.
This is just rapid heads up CS.
Show the buying pattern, not great,
but we'll see this partial.
It might be an X test timeout going into the following.
Remember, I loop this up next.
We've seen the full folks for Vitality on that in this tournament.
against Beppu.
4-8 in 47s for now.
Let's see how many of them.
There's no wonder for the mix just yet.
So once that comes out to play,
and this has been rapid,
we're talking about all these streaks.
In pursuit of their 22nd consecutive top four,
last time they didn't make one was at Bounty
in season one of 2025.
Chucky made damage for Apex to stomach. It wasn't the whole squad, though.
On top for now.
It's not only those streaks, you take a look. They've only lost to two teams over here.
One of them was Bedburn.
On the two occasions, it was...
...that of Falcons.
It starts in 2026. They're second teeth, but then 12 in maps, so 70 wins, 12 losses.
As far as series are concerned, it's 31 series wins to three series losses. That's it.
Now, we'll set up for an A attack.
All timed and sentient, Flames is going to go regardless.
The head of the utility, Spam from Wonderful, will move a bit from the back of the party
from Flames, he's looking the wrong way to stay on a goose!
And a goose lag for Hobbs, change now, cracks the skull of Alexi.
It's all he's going to get though, a consolation prize, a little bit of bloodshed.
Cos this round's going Narvi's way once more, wonderful, putting that AK to good use.
Shards, finds another.
Bits locked the door behind him.
Best case he gets out with Bits right for.
Uh, worst case, he goes down after time.
He needs to die and Bits running away from him here,
turning the screws of the finance, he just goes away.
Robson's going to get the loss bonus.
He's only got $19,000, that's it!
All right, you want to play those silly games.
Now they're happy to oblige.
You get a couple of frags, short.
Ross.
No, lost one is going into this next one.
You'll be able to get a galil, but the U2 is not there.
X-Tars save the timeout.
And an enemy tank right now.
First time where you're right, X-Tars understands this is an emergency meeting.
Yeah, getting a go and quick.
Just so few frags in what has been a landslide of five straight.
Long hasn't gone down at any of those.
No open kills.
Nothing to note.
Navi are in the flow state at the moment.
How long can this last?
The conversation being once it gets to the playoffs,
Matali starts to play some of their better counter strike.
They're not here to waste time.
It's not going to witness before the major would be
some of the blood in the water for all the other teams
with Cologne just around the corner.
Timeout down, remember, reps as finances low.
He's just going to lurk the upper tunnels, as everybody else.
What we're getting outside long today, want to try and pop again,
as he's here for 82, Zaheer joining in, Apex has the flashes at the ready.
They tried this once, and Alexi B completely shuts it down.
So I'm on a bit of a different tempo.
I'm making sure there's no top mid aggression, not climbing into lower,
they're not pushing up towards palm tree, and that wonderful AWP is a quip.
Now, Emma is the man I want you to keep your eyes on. It's the Joker in this situation.
This is your A rotating right flank. Alexi will take contact first and Emma might go
overlooked.
Powerful off angle from Alexi. You don't see this one all too often. He's going to eat
the flashbangs.
Inflash!
Yeah, all good for both of them. Alexi gets nothing help from forever. Emma goes set up
to succeed.
Just body shots from Messi. So sketchy from the individuals of Narpi. That's given vitality
a hefty advantage.
They can't claw this back.
I know it's a 3v5, but the mental is
going to take a bit of a hit.
Nicole was right.
The setup was perfect.
The execution was more.
45, ace split.
And it's wonderful.
Mikazi and Bit, well, two of them, the bee holders.
Wonderful.
Going to evacuate.
This might just be around handed over.
I mean, to hold on to this financial advantage
they have for a while.
As Mikazi spams away at slow and steady, a lot of vitality.
But by the looks of things, this one is secure.
Is Robs going to look for a hunt?
Because they need to get their cash flowing as well on this T side.
It's something that's getting cited about the Vitality
since that pistol round, which felt like it came way too easy.
behind us. Don't you worry about
that. The flash where he can see
sloppy the second one completely
blinds up. I think that's messy on
the way out. Lucky Flames is here
with his standards as far as 2026
is concerned has not been having
the same level of tournament.
An opportunity to turn that
around in the playoffs. It's
that boom up next for either of
these two for Vitality. I'm sure
that they would love a little bit
of revenge from the group stage.
Take a time out off the back of
off the back of Xtases. So adjustments on adjustments in one of the, you can see it here, double AWPs.
As he has a good longspawn, so it doesn't have his all.
That advantage lies on one side of the server. Wonderful.
Nice ready player for Navi throughout Atlanta so far.
It's good that he's in fine form. They just double smoke long corner.
They have some missed comms for Vitality early.
Can't keep behind that incendiary missed throw and gave him an angle.
This neighbor is going to affect his aim all over it.
White smacks ring of chip damage. Unconfirmed.
Interesting that they have started a bit with the AWP over to Wardsay, as opposed to Wondable.
He's just posted up on B in case of a pump he's playing ahead of any U-Tilt,
but we'll lose vision because of this lurk smoke now deployed by Robs.
Look at the reroute.
A-Darp shows you that they were leering towards Long applying a lot of pressure.
Maybe that double smoke was intentional.
Did land in different positions and the B-Pump being lined up now.
They're going to come down to how good the flashes are.
Well, how good Mikaze and Wandaful are.
Look at the U-Tilt between the two of them. It's just a HE.
that smoke's deployed now. They're not going to have anything to stall them. Flash is all lined up. Here they come.
Clashing home. MacAze called upon to deliver for Navi. Does start strong.
Fights flanking. Couldn't wrap up a second and guess I would.
Wonderful down on window. That should be round. Okay, another round wet. Navi will have to opt with the save.
Take a look at MacAze. A left-hand side. 14k.
This isn't the most glamorous, right? They will start contending for rounds at a certain point,
point, but this is just gonna give them more gun rounds, or at least they're on level pegging, right?
They bank balances and blown open. They're not down to four spies.
It's a good recovery for Vitality. Felt like they could have been a little bit show-shocked after the second round loss.
And then just that landslide where they weren't even doing damage. But now they're in it and, well,
they might be able to get a couple of exits here.
Yeah, they're gonna smoke this one off, alright.
That should cover them.
All right, and now they're starting to accumulate a little bit cash and I've always been able to scavenge himself and AWP
They come in as he goes down
Chiqui, if anything it's more for the show
Do you see that little flair this time because he does well with the burst right through out the nades
It's not really helpful for Wonderful with the AWP right towards the smoke-off.
Peering through window, they'd already scoured further than he had thought.
We're back under way.
So we rattles off a shot on the cross.
I think it's definitely just a MAK 10.
Four out of five players on RV do have head armor.
So Wonderful's the only one that is going to be extremely potent against,
and it looks like they're lining this up once more.
It's going to be a double pump, and it really just
be the force to issue on Mikase's side.
Mr. Ami has more utility to work with.
Could be a defensive smoke dropped in in his feet.
Door smoke in.
The splash of flashes.
Here we go.
Mikase, he's got a flanking send here.
They're going to come here ahead of that.
He's on the site, begging for backup.
Fully blind, and there's that Maktan!
Flames him!
He's swift with it!
So nimble, just charges into the site.
Mikase, he saw his frustrations on the can.
It's only going to be exacerbated now as they've had the audacity to just do it again.
Well, you know what that means. Once more, everyone's favourite four-letter word.
A save comes in once more.
Flansy picks up that AWP, denies it from them, scooping it up again,
and even gets himself an upgrade into an M4, so everything's done in that round by Flansy.
This man...
It's great on the entries, but it's because of the well-awed machine that Vitality is, right?
He has so much trust in the flash of these teammates are throwing.
Now we should go in first if you know the enemy's going to be blind,
And this is a recovery and a half. 5-4, the score will read.
I think Flames used as well, one of those players, when you talk about flight parts.
If you watch his demos, you'll see every decision, every part he chooses into a site is deliberate
and is taken into account.
The system, the supporting invite, the flashes, the smokes, the timings, he seems to nail it.
All right, round ten.
And as he has longsforms,
he also joined by looks of Apex and Flames there.
So if they do want to try and change the gear,
now they're just going to boost the AWP.
So Zawoo spots the cross, doesn't catch anything.
And I'm going to run the double offs this time on RV.
It's bit acting as the unknown entity.
So some real hijinks for Navi early, right,
with these different positions.
positions as far as name plate counter strike is concerned, a name like Bitmaca overlooked.
I don't think that Vitaly would dare run another B-pop, but right now the bomb is in up the tunnels.
So sure, it might not be directory tunnels that are meant to be as possible.
Going through the motions, we'll have to force back short.
Yeah, you want to make this convincing and Apex could get caught here on the swing.
Ahead of the expectation is in now, off the flash, catches Flames, and he likes to be set up in that.
Now they can be...
They're gonna have to, it's only Mikase.
If you can get anything, any kill is everything!
There it is, Automacy!
Robb's a trade, bombs in to B.
It's a 2 on 4 and the AWP is on that cross.
These are the two you want alive in a 2v4 situation.
Didn't quite manage to spot them over the top.
The incandescence of the flame.
No smoke for the doors, just a Molly and a HG.
How's that Molly? Utilized towards window.
Buys a little time, that's a very lurky smoke from towards the doors.
Very threatening, very uncomfortable for Zywa with the AWP.
Here comes the next chain of UTIL.
It's deep.
He doesn't achieve his mark. It's all about this flashback.
It's coming through, Tunnels.
Alexi B synchronizes, flash connects.
So we brought down to half HP, goes down, overlooked his ropes.
Looking for the clutch, and there's Alexi.
Alright, finally a retake they've gone for here, and that's going to happen.
They catch two players, blind as hell, over towards short.
They accelerate into being Mikazi. As you mentioned, he got his.
He's that heavy number advantage, and then they piece the retake together.
They don't rush in, they don't extend individually, they do it as a team and Na'Vi get to six.
It feels so much more uncomfortable if Mikaze gets nothing.
Sure, it starts fantastically, great flash from Alexi, Imer as well, quick to piece together the double kill.
Using their numbers on that retake and breaching back in.
Wonderful, going on an early venture.
and the Naveed have not taken
about call versus call off of
Vitality since Cologne 2024.
A few years ago. And also Duster,
they've already managed six rounds
and the 20 played this year for
Vitality on Duster. Only five of them
have gone double digits.
So maybe you've been getting to 10
on your small victory for Naveed.
This is time for Cluster of Vitality.
Off up their chance to take this short control.
Is something gonna go again?
It does.
Inner's gonna be able to land a hand.
Wonderful missed his first opportunity.
How many more does he get on that ram side?
Not comfortable for you.
Flamesley shows us how lovely from Flamesley.
Provides the double entry once more.
once more this time on the ace side. Burst from Alexi, Willy nearly goes down to Mezzi and it's
Mikaze giving it a go. Found by Robbs to wrap it up, it's just Bitt. He may have a look,
right? Heaps of cash for the final round. Bitt needs to give this a go.
On the ram side, since I was going to be tasked with a plant, he's going to go through the flames.
He is. Robbs is going to have an isolated jump in.
That is outrageous from Bitt.
Just what Narvi needed.
It was starting to look like a 6-6 half was on the cards, but Bit turns the tables.
That's going to cause some frustration in the Vitality camp.
This felt like it could have been a collab right there.
Wonderful goes down, but it's sloppy, right?
There's a bit of individual overpeaking from Vitality.
Good grip determination, but Bit, that's what they're looking for.
And Alexi, the boys, they like the way that one feels.
The tempo kicks up, wonderful.
Our shot taking the fight. Apex finds the opening, wonderful down again.
Over extension has cost him the opening.
Was riding that high from the clutch a bit, but now they've conceded an opening.
Yeah, just go away. You know the offside there.
Apex is. He's gonna go waltzing on in.
Fires off a warning shot. Got the Lexi to deal with.
Nice fight from him, supporting from the long side, but it lost him out.
He's worried about Messi. Good awareness!
Catches that long lock.
Bomber the back of Flamesy because he activates through mid, held by Robs.
Oh, and that came from...
Lexi's quick on the rampside. They knew where he was.
And Bitt so disconnected from his teammate. This is so disadvantaged for Na'Vi. Is there any way back in?
HB and now loses his head. Bitt's position now. No team rocks. Fully aware and ready.
Seven to five. We've got a game here ladies and gentlemen. This is Dust2. This is Vitality's turf.
And Na'Vi putting up more of a fight than we've seen before.
I
I
2nd quarterfinal here in Atlanta, first maps first half, we saw a clutch from Bit, another
second round loss after a one pistol for Vitality, now we did the hard work early, a run at five
off of that second round, and a single frag from Zywit.
Yeah, this is surprising. Zywit's been in fine form here in Atlanta.
Nice rate of player of the tournament so far,
but that might be changing if he doesn't pull up his socks.
And expect to keep the absolute best in the game down for too long.
Let's see, CT side, he'll be an integral part of this.
Can they make it two from two on the pistols?
Much better with the conversions on the CT side.
Flames the wards long.
needs a third of that range, it's not the weapon for the job.
This is partner in crime.
Rob's towards CT, Mezzi partners up on the short side, bit on this reclear,
looking for and trying to retrieve that bomb is so uncomfortable for these two now.
Last of the Nades hoping that enables a fight on their terms,
not favouring them anymore.
Zywoo's here, for one frag to five in the blink of an eye.
There you go, that's impact.
No other way to frame it.
and that A split, it looked perfect. Opening kill, all pressure on Apex. He's trying to
scamper the Goochers in space. And before you know it, Zywoo with Duparedes is shooting
you in the back. You've got no idea. Look how rapid this is. They're still finding Apex
on the side and Zywoo's already taken down three.
First bullet accuracy as well. Some players, you know, they capitulate, they get nervous
with the backs turned to their opponent. Zywoo's so quick on the trigger.
All right. Well, Navi into this one. They haven't forced. One of us bought the scout. He's
look to find a kill on the cross. He hasn't found that and now they're going to take the eco.
So next round, wonderful. Can just work with a scout again, but you're still hoping to allow
your sniper to find a couple of tags, right? Then the Glocks, even the P250 from Imma,
could look to convert a kill or two to keep the finances humble. This feels like a freebie,
as far as the conversions are concerned. We did some brutality a little bit earlier in the
tournament. Lose a Glock eco and that is why this team is feeling beatable in Atlanta.
But. Highlighted here by the
obstin, you can see apex on the
ramp with just a USP a bunch of
names as well. Be able to get
to Zawoo and all pins to the
next as long as he doesn't go
down in this one.
It's going to be a slow drawn
out round as we now sub one
Troubles, Zawoo goes down, should still be fine. Flames is chipped down low, hold up a second.
This gets weird. With that bomb loose though, you have to drop down and that's what Bitt's doing.
Tries to grab the bomb, this retrieval mission, kind of working. He's mantled back up,
the bomb's going down, just denied in time. Okay, Shady key.
And in fact, should be able to drop this AWP to Zawoo.
to be another for wonderful, a
little bit sketchy. We are all
tied up seven apiece.
See what he settled into with the
first rifle round wonderful.
speed. It's just a default coming out early from Nabi. No pace to this one. Can you return
later on? It's a bit wonderful and Alexi, one of the toss with Flames, he hands over
It's just such a powerful position for Flamesee.
He's flapping around with rage right now.
Oh, get in court!
Clunky! Clumsies! I was just in time!
Flamesee's position noted in that wallbang did connect,
so Flamesee and Robbs have felt the wrath of that scout.
Pivoting into a mid to B quite quickly here.
We've got 60 seconds to find the finish.
Mikaze out middle.
He's got Mezzi to trifle with.
My shot!
Hails it!
Only one there, and the site had to be robbed, he's delivered, and now Emma goes in!
And that site's open!
He takes a dive in quick towards the window, flushed forward by the Flames, and is comfortable for Emma!
High in background!
I could signal the save!
It certainly could, Zylo is having a look.
If he wants to find something here for free, they might have a look at it, but Flames is still very short for Lerks.
Yeah, it just felt out of sorts. Wonderful jumping up windows.
You want to try and contest this, if you give it over, then they can give it a go,
But halving away, vitality, and we find him himself on the save.
Really impactful round out of him at that.
To turn that around after being a man disadvantage,
because he walks out middle, able to get one,
puts all the pressure on Robs, who he knew was low.
Emma coming through the smoke is a risky move,
but one he has to make if they want to contend against this round.
And yet, Na'Vi, they draw blood on this tee side.
So we can drop flanks in the same.
And as he can operate on something a little bit lighter,
we'll see the distribution of weapons come in at a moment.
It didn't even, there wasn't even a full commitment.
A crisis going up mid on his own.
Rumble stays around mid all the same as Alexi.
They're waiting for the reactions.
And fortunately two of their space takers do exactly that.
Apex forced into a tough decision, takes a risk.
And that for the in-game leader.
When it pays off, it looks brilliant.
Now the frustrations boil. Oh look at this aggression.
Straight up the guns in the middle.
Botted.
Leaf excharging.
Leaf the blast.
Does find the head of wonderful and dips away.
Gotta get out now. Keep them out of advantage.
Try to find the ball back.
Can they swing?
Can they find anything but they disappear in a puff of smoke on mid?
Junkie mid as well.
Right on the chin.
Kazim I want to try another mid to be in maneuver.
He's just walking out in his left.
So, Xbox smoke fading.
Doors one is up so they are covered off.
And they're right to try and find this gap just content walking. Look at the car there.
Makes his move. Robs is there to tend to it.
Mezzi too. Turns to flash. He's the headshot. Nice burst from Mezzi. Can't find the follow-up.
It's in there on the trade. Robs didn't power the trigger.
3 and apex with such low HP plan around the edge of the smoke hoping for an overstep
Corsh is parting from Alexi bit does bring him down still flames not the long arrives just in time to make it a 2-1-2
And look at this one on top it clean with it clutch available for
Just tapping away
Ties us back up a to piece now V
I love the flair just to walk out there on that timing.
The idea from Vitality was great though,
taking the two B defenders trying to pipe them over towards A.
Props taking an angle that's a little bit unnatural,
but I think he's expected not to be cleared in that scenario because, hey,
there's already a player taking that fight from C.T. Rand, but Flames.
Beautiful shooting from him.
I mean, that's exactly what you want from your long anchor on a retake.
And they needed that. The money would have spilled open for Vitality there,
So we continue to go back and forth, blow for blow as Blade will take time on number two.
Wonderful, does have an AWP. Does also have the best long spawn available.
And right now he's posh to head that way but with the coach on the mics and adjustments from
whatever the light plan was. And my motion. It's also going to have to be a little bit of a different
long set up coming out of Vitality unless they want to risk the corner fight.
And Apex has the best spawn. Flames the long anchor with one of the worst.
So depending on what call blade is made right now,
he might be able to contend for this long control.
Wonderful, it's no longer.
Looking towards long, they might want to just take something a bit more standard before the finances run dry.
Or not.
That's not like he's taking it.
Wonderful. Quick for that long fight. Looking for Apex. Does crowd the corner in time.
Flames it up here in case there's a second timing pop.
Mr. Stand has set up this time round from Vitali. Nezzy, Romsby, Zawoo, around with the AWP
and then Apex in rotation while Flames, he burrows down. But look how fast they are.
Commodating very quickly and silently. Right, no mollies, no flashes and they're already
up Catwalk ready to explode. This would be fast. It pecks his HEs, they could do some
serious damage if he gets the timing right.
Thaywen, quick flickle to Macalsey, there's the first name, is ringing for Alexi B. There's
more where that came from. Bullets, a hail of them onto Alexi and it's clean as a whistle.
But before just 5 HP tagged through the box, running into Robs, with his knife out and
he's gone.
And while Robson pick up that off and now they can run a double AWP set up on this CT. Oh, no, okay
All right
Knowing they're in a lighter by scenario to the next
If they think that he picked that up to carry it through them. I want to try a little bit of a B-pop
But this is a real shutdown and so I would remember he had one kill at halftime he now has 10
He's back where he belongs
Let's see what he finishes the map with, but by the time they take the lead, 9-2-8.
Couple of digs, K250, and the smoke here for Alexi.
of
I need for Alexi smoke. I'm going to use that L-Sweep.
Well played. Next takes the contact. Now we'll take the frag and they're just going to continue to wrap this one up.
It's a little bit shaky to kick things off. It was that 5 1 spree after losing the second round conversion, but this one. Practically spotless. They keep it that way, and as it confirms, it's now a two round gap.
Yeah, two flawless runs back-to-back.
Rob still has this MP9.
That's a good spot for lower tunnels.
Might want to try something a little bit out of the box here now.
It's not too common to see Rob's go for something aggressive.
I think in this patch of the game, right,
you can definitely change the tone,
considering you have this nice buffer of cash you're working with.
Safe from the cross, wonderful, unable to connect.
Look at this aggression.
Undetected, and Apex as an exit does get out long behind the long corner, smoke, Flamesy.
Gonna be feeling some fresh up.
They call it complete B-Clear.
So they continue around the world with this, Flamesy's to stay alive, wonderful hit to pit.
Oh!
Orpheus is A.K. Flamesy rips his head off.
So we're playing around that car as well, he's safe from the flames, they don't spread.
Look at Apex.
They're going to walk the smoke, Zilu in a position to push this.
Does catch bit walking because hey, he's got it as well.
Zilu, one frag at the start of this second half.
Up to 14, top of the tables and another one for Zilu, even peeks on it, peeking at your
own risk, at your own power.
The Chosen One's back in the server!
It feels like all of these impact kills from Xayah have come as multis.
What a shot from Flamesy.
That's massive. That's against the AWP. Wonderful.
You know it's good when the production team give it to you three times.
partial by-final me this has gotten away from them down quick yeah they run that
long tech nine a little bit of a pace on the flash bang wonderful's got some
space this is a fake the bomb heading back towards B I know it's gonna join
bit mccasey in the upper tunnels
the
the biggest threat at the
moment will smoke as we can see
not landing perfectly not the
first time either.
Lexi now joins the pack
wonderful looks to be the mid
piece.
He's on his own right now but
he's got a flash and he's not
too far away.
These are those defining moments of the anchor.
The whole squad running out, you've scored from Messi, solid as a rock.
And Robs gets nothing, and now Messi's got two!
Okay, this one gets uncomfortable.
Wonderful, parked in middle, hoping to catch a rotation.
Backstab on to Flamesy if he's not diligent, his back is turned, just in time spots him.
They've got info as to Wonderful's location.
Oh no!
Oh no!
Hey!
Apex matches up!
Needs bitz AK!
Lethality and a clutch available for the wound
Yes, so no
Nearly got very awkward for bit that's the second most for now being this map so far
And a very important one
Mezzi gets the first two kills on the way in and they're able to turn a 3v5 around
That's the two of them, Bit and Mikazi, traditional B-Juru now doing it on the T side. Look at that.
Had to be audacious there, Bit took a risk and a big one.
Such a brilliantly calculated risk as well.
Leg shot. Rob's limping towards his bomb site.
He's tagged a couple times now.
Still money for another buy. Fatality do lose this one, but starting to get a little bit ropey.
It's going to free Nezio up.
I'm talking about the 52nd market. Yeah, they're reading this right the fact that apex is demand to flow over towards B
He's not hanging around
It's be smoke deployed now in the air Chris cross
He begs and messy playing around them
Oh, XTB!
It is brutal!
Almost inhuman for the XTB!
Look at Casual about this one,
but that was nothing Casual about happening in-game, leader.
He's going to get baited into Apex every day of the week there.
Smashing shot.
Zaheer gets one, goes down over to Wards 8.
Now it's just a one-round game, they're looking to hunt the dogs are off the leash, Alexi might just do it himself.
Got a 4k on the plate if you could find Rocks, remember the money is still there, the lost fight is starting to build now for the CT side, it'll only be 1,900 into the next.
We got a game, double digits reached.
Yeah, we got a game.
That's a be on the gets out of bed for the world number one.
Stuff for these teams to manage the energy correctly when they're at the tippy top of
the field.
The expectation was this is meant to be Sunday.
This is meant to be how we conclude I am Atlanta.
This is how both these teams are kicking off the playoffs.
on the mic his second tactical timeout allows Blade.
So contributing, this is a massive round of the context of this game.
After the buys have come in,
a couple of players hovering around that 2K mark for vitality.
There was a site early,
get a couple of saves in,
that'd be fine for a buy.
But the money is not great.
It's not being the ones who have been winning the lighter buy rounds.
and it has a good long spawn.
Here's that shot again.
Just a whip.
Put that one on a post.
Mr. LXEV.
Your in-game leader is delivering your openings like that.
Remember the real shot against the World Number One.
Apex, if you're wondering how the hell did that happen?
Here we go. All boosted up.
Is it another tag on the ropes?
Get across this side.
This time unscathed.
I will smoke so he will extinguish any bottles of flame but nothing comes his way just yet.
Oh, wonderful line of view tilt towards the door side and Alexi showing restraint on his lower crawl.
Play around the edge of the smoke.
Mikase starts to aggress. This is going to come down to Zairu yet. Feeling a little too much pressure.
We'll back away as Mikase. He's got the timing on this. Zairu's posted.
They're lining up the nades now. It's going to be the double smoke.
It's their commitment behind it. Bit late long. Four congregated towards the shoreside.
Good HE could damage. Because they have health.
It's going to smoke there. It's infinitely more difficult without good smoke coverage.
I don't believe it's A, he's always playing for mid.
They will now, they've just seen Bit trying to progress long.
Flamesy relays that information. Now that pulls rotation.
It's always not going to be there in time.
Apex is going to have to try and delay as best he can.
Flames at his feet, Zywa awkwarded the open in limbo with an AWP.
Bit still manages to rack up one into the car.
Zywa, now in the open. It's a shooting gallery.
2-1-2, Dust will settle, 30 seconds bomb to be retrieved.
Wonderful task with that.
He's got Flamesy on the long side and is Bit still coming back for this fight.
This is so late.
I've always been retrieved, timing everything, he just looks away.
Oh, the game has nailed him!
Robs is turned in the clutch.
Denied by the flaying for the walk-up.
Giff is going to swing in, comfortable for Robs.
Can he do what bit did in that first half?
An impactful clutch when he needs it most.
Both teams sitting in silence as their players locked in a 1v1
with such big ramifications, Robs is expecting one thing.
down to just 17. Hedgehog will do it though. Wonderful!
He's got a tight ball game folks!
Money hits the conversation. I'd be surprised not to see a tie-down here.
X-Tars not out of his seat. They don't want to take these 30 seconds.
But I think you have to. Zawoo gets there. Gets the first.
They've already swarmed. Wonderful's all signs.
But this is it. Such a late line. This 2v2.
It's actually Navi to take the timeout bit. He's only got 11 kills, but every single one of them has come with absolute impact
Get him across the line there. You've got to give WandaFleur extra knuckles for that. Well, that's 1v1 versus Robs
He's the guy that wins those
That's what he's in this roster to do
WandaFleur doesn't capitulate. Haven't shoved yet
Navi is taking this timeout, so maybe Blade didn't like what he heard coming out of the in-game leaders mouth going into the next round of play
Maybe they wanted to take the time to assess what the buy could be.
Well, you can see on the screen right now what's taking shape, but it's not a shove.
It's not an all-in. It's 2900 loss into the next. They're hedging their bets right now.
But Talonty, they're not playing for overtime, but they're giving themselves a chance in this one as well as round number 24.
It's 2-M-4s, 9-7 a scout and an MP9. It's the lack of U2 that's the real issue.
Wonderful, just counting chickens up across. Didn't see an 80 either.
Oh, Slapax, how many times are you going to cross that door?
There's this game he's playing, and look at the game Flames he's cooking.
From lower tunnel to back turn, a free headshot, that's another one!
Rikase's got two, finally fouled!
But the damage, the ramifications of his push, it's looking a push.
Look, who robs!
He is taking so much space right now, Alex is actually heading for the left.
He's not ready for this!
There's no way, there's no way!
Robs is hearing all this!
This is outrageous!
Vitality on the left from Leesh!
Flames the up mid, Robs pushing tunnels.
All the information now is what, they're stuck in T spawn and we're at a minute ten.
This is so uncomfortable, look at that smoke as well, there's so many places, Robs's MP9 could have borrowed.
Wonderful and they're feeling hyper and comfortable.
Ipex just found himself and upgraded lower tunnels, now that Mx7 turns into an AK.
There's nothing for them here, every option.
Closed down and this flank keeps on pushing.
Oh, a burst to the face!
What are we meant to do now, wonderful?
45 seconds to just try and hold on to this,
and the map feels tiny.
Battalia everywhere.
Such a crazy round to be pushing like that.
Wonderful finds the first on title, aggressive long.
1v1 is one thing.
Up down set up from Apex and Messi right now.
1v4.
Asking way too much.
20 seconds. He's still worried about the long flag apex.
Nezzy, primed and ready, and they take it.
Vitality, map point.
The finishing regulation, it has been a wild rollercoaster ride.
And just when their money was teetering, when it's Mag7s, when it's Scouts,
flames he up the guts of middle.
It feels like a gun round if you're not being... Doesn't it?
Your first contact is against an M4.
You don't have to worry about the Scout with a Mag7 at all.
Sure, the MP9, but it's the space and rumps.
Close lines bit with that one
Is it gonna be another close but no cigar now be there be getting closer and close up
Oates right there. It's right there for the taking
Compromises sure galil tech nine
3b start
Let's go, Bobby!
Let's go, Bobby!
Let's go, Bobby!
Let's go, Bobby!
Let's go!
BANG!
Flash in, Flamteep, Stealth, notes, presence outside the long doors.
Mikazi and Alexi announce theirs at the short side.
Box smoke deployed towards B and there's more where that came from.
60 seconds.
Mid corridor is theirs, but I don't know what lies on the other side.
Axie B pannes up with Mikaze and tests Nezzy.
It's been unable to find the frag, drops into the site, but this is where the third man is.
8-pits on the bridge side, uncroached headshot, Nezzy's there!
Navi in trouble!
Spiraling downwards, not looking good, one back from Bid!
There's one before he's ready for the push through the smoke as well. So we fixed twice about us the tracer fire visible from flames
He but he does
Disintegrating fine. Oops is on the site. They know he's around here somewhere strafes on it. It's comfortable for ops
It's looking like they've done it vitality the last round of regulation. It's not
Regrets and that's that's the home turf this one was tough
Zywoo with one kill at the half, ends with 19.
By Taladin, they do their best work in the playoffs.
All right, we're down here on the show floors, the Intellecturing Masters in Atlanta.
You know exactly where we are.
So today we've come on a mission to find the most questionable curse t-shirts that we could
find.
And so, in doing that, now you're going to want to pay attention.
Watch this.
All right.
First and foremost, where are you all from?
Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania.
Okay.
And y'all flew here, drove here.
What happened here?
So, there's, I mean really the best way to put it is we heard about the Kerrigan transfer
and then Launders had come out with a video with this picture. Yeah, let's go
and turn it off. See how it's going to save the reveal, but huh. All right, let's get
the origin story for the backside too. And yeah, so Launders had just put that photo
of Kerrigan in his video and we just thought it was hilarious. Originally we
didn't know what we wanted to do for the design, so on the front we decided to
do the Niko phone meme with him with the whatsapp and then on the back
Kerrigan's been summoned by Niko with the whatsapp phone as you can see here
it's it's lovely it's beautiful I mean this is this is what Niko called up for
like it's beautiful I can't do it either way gentlemen thank you for that
you have any more suggestions you need more crazy t-shirts you let me know okay
We'll do absolutely. Thank you so much.
No problem. Anything you want to say to the internet while I have you?
Be careful. It's forever.
If you're not here, you're not living.
Let's go, the boys!
Thank you all. Hey, good job.
Thank you.
I'm tired of your star player tilting.
Here at ESL, we've been studying rage for generations.
And after years of testing, we can now finally rearrange.
We're taking the most tempting thing in Counter-Strike and combine it with one tool.
With repeat exposure to these drills, we've observed drastic red reduction.
Cool, no power, no fire.
I'm sorry, shit, I'm sorry, sorry, shit, sorry, man.
From the spawnstab to the classic block, you have many options to explore.
Forget simple hotel room, the only anti-molding you need is Rerage.
Rerage highly recommends pairing drills with the usage of a powerful sedative or tranquilizer.
Results may vary.
Rage is not permitted for use in ESL practice rooms or while using any ESL equipment such
as headsets, desks, or monitors.
I will break you.
Such a competitive affair between the two best teams in the world where no doubt Navi made
Vitality sweat, but just like Jules gone by so recently give Vitality an inch and they will literally take a mile
Waps with some crazy initiative, which I'm sure we'll get on to later
But it feels like the same story time and time again Jacob Vitality
dangling the win in front of Navi's eyes and smashing away in the final moments
Yeah, it's a bit unfortunate if you're an RV fan and if you're hoping for a series going all the way because there was plenty of
opportunities in this game for Navi to finally get a map win. But as you said,
vitality that just masters are finding different ways. One way to label this
one around would be Simon in the first half. He goes one on seven, right? The
player that is playing so exceptionally well as a Blake, he's nowhere to be
found in the first half. Obviously that means that Navi is getting off with
seven rounds, they're getting off to a good start, so to speak, into this first
half of the game and then Simon comes alive in the second and they can't find a
way to close it out. And I think that's the way I want to reiterate this
before we go into detail with what happened.
It doesn't matter how Vitality win,
they always find a different way of doing so.
This time round by Sairu not clocking into the server
before we played 13 rounds.
Yeah, and then he was doing some dangling of his own
in the second half.
Well, I think going into this Dust 2, right,
into this quarter-final,
Vitality played Dust 2 20 times this year.
They've lost once.
And that was to a foot with a stand-in as their coach,
right, like in a game that didn't really mean that much
in a series that they already won.
There's been more times that they've held their opponents to five rounds or less
than their opponents hit double digits against them.
Like, that's too... And this is why they pick it.
Because no matter what's going on, the game plan goes right.
If it goes wrong, they can always adjust on the fly.
The individuals will always have their moments because they all love the map.
And they understand it on such a high level and it just seems like Navi,
they hadn't, they win the force by over their own in the first half.
They win a half by in the second half to get rolling, to get to 11-11
And then again, things just fall apart at the worst.
It's crazy. It feels like Navi just need to feel the standard of their own,
to have any hopes of doing something versus Vitali at this point.
It must be so frustrating if you're on the side of Navi,
to think we have them, we have them right where they want them,
and then at the final hour, just gone.
Yeah, especially because you can make a case every single time
that they play close that, hey, have we won this round,
have we played this scenario better than we could have won the map.
But when the end result is the same over and over and over,
you also get to a point where, I guess, Falcons are one of the few teams
You can imagine that you know that yeah, we get so close, you know
But we don't really know what the issue is because we can never get it over the finish line
And I'd say the same for now right here over all the plate a good game of Counter-Strike
They put a good fight up against Vitality as you said as well one some of the key rounds
You know state competitive applied a lot of pressure
You have big showing up in crucial moments as well
And yet that's still not enough when Saibu is not part of the game for the first 12 rounds
So there's always a silver lining going both ways and at the end of the day the end result is always the same
Let's dive into a couple of moments to start off in the first half. We got round nine. What's the story for vitality here?
Yeah, I mean they had some good reads Navi and even in this round
You see just flames he going quickly down lower. He's making a lot of noise
He's gonna throw this mallet all like he's just simulating a default here
So that Navi thinks it just another standard round
But actually they just want to do a B pop and we saw back to back round where vitality found success
but here it's a bit deceiving because Makazi is playing exactly for this.
He's jiggle-peaking with an incendiary, but just as the hit is about to come in,
he's going to switch to a smoke and he gets caught juggling nades and now it's too late.
The more the incendiary is too deep, he gets blinded and just gets chased down and that's
where the frustration comes in for him from the player cast because he had the right counterplay
and I think he just, someone told him, okay, let's just smoke tunnels now and just as he wants to do
that here they come and it's the worst possible timing and they were targeting that B-Bomb side
in the second part of the first half. It's honestly just very unfortunate because as I said he's
ready for it, he's waiting for it and at the worst possible moment he decides to pull out
the smoke and at that point you can also get credit to Flamesee for just running in straight ahead.
You know there's a clear idea of how they wanted to enter the pathway into what's at Bombside and
having the efficiency with the Mk10 here is credit to Flamesee. And the first gun round that now he
loses they have the read you know it was the double long set up with Alexi
baiting for Ima and Vitality counts they just can't connect on the kills and
then it was those early few rounds that really allowed for Vitality to get back
into the game. Well look that's for the time where Navi did manage to connect the
heads as it were because it came down to be in an incredible clutch for closing
round 11. Yeah I think Jett said it on the cast you know that every single bit
kill we got in this game was with impact and round 11 was another one where he
showed up massively and around where I feel like okay this is Navi
entering this game at a point where I started to believe that it may be possible because it was
atypical for Vitality to lose this kind of round. Again, they're taking short control,
they're setting up for an A execute. Flamesee again in a position where he's obviously getting Flash
4, he's the first guy in and usually he finds a lot of success with that. Wonderful, he's being
pushed off the angle with a Flash, takes the repeat right here, can hit the shot. Again,
it's Flamesee coming in with a double entry as he's been doing throughout the entire day of the
year. Then Alexi B does the only thing he can do and that is taking a fight from a very tough
position to get up with Makassi he's bringing back the round and all of a
sudden we find ourselves in a 1v2. Now you'd say Siroo and Rubs is alive in a
1v2 and you know Bit is coming over from the other bomb site, Oddsah that he's not
going to win this. Even gives up his position by running through the Molotov
but he's instant on both Rubs and Siroo. I'm not even gonna fault Vitality or
Siroo or Rubs for playing it badly in this scenario it's just wonderful
counters right coming out from Bit but it's atypical. Normally you always see
Vitality win these kind of rounds so when this happened I thought to myself
Okay, we may have a game. It's exactly the sort of magic that you need if you're going to take them down on a map like that
too, so they had these moments
They had chances in like at the end they were able to turn it around but vitality just found a way yet again
To close out the game. Yeah, 100% true. Talk about some magic on the side of vitality because round 23
We see a you know, maybe a typical push from Flames here very balls
He wanted that but then rocks this is where the magic true here's the thing. There's a couple of things
Well, I'll get to it. Let's talk about the round first, so you can see it's some sort of a buy,
but having enough money to buy in the final round too, and Flames, he pushed up, and they did this a lot.
They were very aggressive on their CT side, pushing tunnels, pushing up mid in the first gun round as well.
And Flames, he gets a double kill, and robs once he sees the names, and two guys dying lower, he knows,
okay, no one else is covering this, I can take the space, look where he kills Alexei.
I mean almost in T spawn and at this point like all the space is taken away from Navi bit and wonderful in the 2v4
There's really not much left to them to do
But I was really surprised about
Late taking a timeout before this round because they brought back another sort of 3v5
It seemed like they had vitality on the ropes
I guess he didn't like the plan for his from his team
Maybe didn't seem like they had a clear direction and he knew how important the round was
and wanted to get all their ducks in a row, but
that timeout gave Vitality time to organize themselves and called maybe this push from
Flazy to figure out how they're going to support them. Usually when you're winning
these rounds you're not supposed to, you leave it to your opponents to take a timeout if they
have one because it's very frustrating. Exactly, I saw the timeout logo and I was like oh,
she missed Vitality, right? You just lost that round prior to it but then this call comes out
and it's just, yeah, I mean it's so typical Vitality, isn't it? You're literally on the
bring overtaking them on their home ground of Dust2 and it doesn't happen yet again.
Yeah, they always do find a way to win and it's hard for us to explain exactly what it
is because I feel like it's a different thing every single game every single series at this
time around.
I got to give it to Flamesee, right?
We're just showing you three different rounds and then every single one of those rounds,
it's Flamesee getting a double entry, you know, he finished with 15 kills, not necessarily
highest on the scoreboard, not having the most sick ADR, but he was involved in nine
over in duels and a lot of the opening kills he got was double entries where he's single-handedly
winning around. So in terms of setting up flame seed to succeed, in terms of having him run in
first with flashes behind him, with smokes pathing the way for him, I think apics who are 20-26
really have found a perfect way to enable him. And then the other side of the story as well,
as we said, Syruh first half going 1-7, nowhere to be found, part of the reason why they lost
that round against Bit as well, couldn't get the trade kill, second half as you said, Janko,
all over the place, going 4, no brain kills, really putting it down and ending up as the top frag on the server.
To have a star player who can go missing for 12 rounds and then show up like that, that's also a pretty unique aspect to it.
Very quickly, gentlemen, just some thoughts on Anubis. I'm happy we saw a competitive looking Navi, because this is their map pick that lays in wait, right?
Well, you should be optimistic, right? Because we said, how great Vitality is the ultimate, the best team ever to play this too, right?
And you were able to take them all the way, and we're within striking distance.
So now you're going to your own map pick and a map that you probably should have won four times you played it in
In these grad finals
We talked a bit about the matchup and how it changes like it just becomes a meta in its own right when they play each other now
It's all about how a new business played in general
So I'm curious to see what's vitality will bring in that's a little bit different to keep
Navi on the back foot well
We are gonna be diving into it but not before we had things to a short break when we return the map pick of Navi coming into this one
It's a new bus going down in just a few
I'm down here on the stage in front of the stage for the man who loves fantasy as Jason if your fantasies you've had in your time
Jason, but now we're gonna do the cool ex fantasy. Oh, that's a different fantasy
But obviously everyone's favorite fantasy is having three vitality players on the same exact team. So I assume
You and I reach for three vitality players. You're indeed gonna pick three vitality players
I'm gonna go with Apex and Zairu first of all, and I'll throw rocks in there, shockingly, that's gonna be the three Vitality players I think.
Yeah, who are you fleshing out the team with? There's two more you gotta find.
Right, I'm gonna look at the rest of the tournament, I look at the playoff side, I think legacy are gonna do pretty well,
and there's like a duo in that team that everybody always talks about, it's Dumao and Latte.
So for me, those are the two other players that will pick outside of Vitality.
So you've taken Apex, Zairu, Rops, Dumao and Lato.
There might be some communication issues, but I think it should be alright.
That's fair enough. I'm gonna be something similar. I'm going to Apex, Zairu, and Mezzie.
Oh, alright.
Yeah, I'm picking Mezzie up in there. And then I'm gonna go a different direction. I am gonna take Dumao as well.
I like that from Legacy, but I'm getting Mikaze from Navi.
Mikaze from Navi. He's my secret weapon. He's the secret sauce of this team.
Well, if Navi beat Vitality, then he's definitely gonna play a part in it.
Exactly.
So that's our Coloss fantasy teams. We'll see how they perform. I'm feeling good about mine.
Not so much about Jason's, but we'll see how he plays out here at IEM Atlanta.
I'm in hell of these folks, each one of them, here we come, each one.
Can't you double-peak, you can't you jump!
I'm gonna burn, I'm gonna burn it!
Something special to talk about this deal.
And that's it!
New announcers!
Can't have it, sir!
We are back!
Nice!
Just back up, I'm gonna push mid.
Okay.
So careful, guys.
One shot, one shot, one shot.
Second.
Okay.
Short, yes.
All in one?
Two three, two three, I think, two or three.
Stay behind.
Long one, long one.
I'm leaving, I'm leaving.
Too long, too long.
Two short.
Short, short, pushing.
I'm pushing window.
Easy, easy, easy.
All right.
Nice one, Oshak.
Nice, long long, two.
Go back, go back!
I'm going back, I'm going back, I'm going back, I'm going back.
Go back, I'm going back, I'm going back.
Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.
I'm not sure
I'm not sure
One more low
They cannot go back low
Two this one
They cannot go back
They have to kill Robin I think
Nice boys nice
Hello guys
Crazy summer right? How are you doing bro?
Yeah brother
without people asking for pictures, you know?
Same.
Wait, do you guys have fans?
First major win and I'm even more motivated.
I don't know what Jail is talking about.
Same, brother.
Boys.
Not gonna lie.
It feels...
we can do no one.
Oh, blessed.
We unstoppable.
So what do you guys think?
I'm not lost, Dan.
It's a push in the living, Dan.
It's a remover.
Dan.
Ah!
I'm dead. I'm really dead.
Marked in weakness is the discussion, but how much can Na'Vi manage to convert here?
The record ain't pretty.
Does the game break their spirits?
A narrow, narrow loss on our first map.
Is it just going to be a vitality semi-final or is there more twists and turns?
It has to be a different story for Navi to remain in contention here in Atlanta.
This is the Intellect Stream Masters, we're live from Atlanta, you're having a good time
tonight.
We'll see if Navi are.
We'll see if Navi are.
Fourth head to head this year. Every single one of them being in the playoffs. Two grand finals, two quarter finals.
Winner of this one goes on to be the heavy favorites to lift the whole damn thing.
Another T-side start for Vitality, this is by choice.
Setting up for a B-Pot, Mikaze, wonderful.
You've got Khamenei.
He smokes off, yeah.
This is going to get uncomfortable quickly.
Fortunately, wonderful does get back onto site.
He'll have vision to try and disrupt it.
Oh, he nails it!
Catches sideways throw in the back plant.
Molly enables Mikaze, wonderful for a second as well.
Apex, he needs a whole lot more.
He's caught reloading in the smoke and he's got no support.
And as he arriving now, the damage from Apex
It's Renépex, it's bit on to him, but Nezzy try and make something out of this one on three.
Masken X and bit, but it's Will too.
Now he put the right foot forward to start.
Beautiful shot there from Wandaflote, but it's on to Zaheer, who was starting to heat up in that second half.
Mikazi then gets the good gracious to come through the smoke, knowing there's that buffer.
The comms must be in a comfortable place for Naveed.
And they knew that Dust2 was always going to be tough.
it's concerned for Navi CT side. Alexi
towards jail. This has been highlighted by Yanko in that prep for the game. He's going to be your B main holder. He'll be partnered up with Laksimakazi.
Holding off towards E-Box. That means you get a combination of Ima and Wonderful in middle. These two. Now Wonderful's the Rotator. Ima will be playing more towards A and he'll be joining that a bit as the anchor.
But just causing a little bit of a kafafu early vitality, just showing themselves shooting
off a couple of shots trying to draw out that U2.
Now they gravitate towards mid.
That's where wonderful and Ima reside.
Ooh, Asher applied.
Ima's done well.
He kind of stands his ground for two, eventually went all the way out by the Glock of Robs.
If you can get another with the 1400 investment of these two digs, not too shabby, but it's
going to be tough.
So 40 seconds now, Zau and Mezzi are going to start the look to die.
That last burn is in the back balance and get the guns out into the next.
This could be a great time for Alexby to get his frag total started.
Simone Armored Pistols versus an MP9.
Macalze steals one and he gets started indeed.
I was gonna pick up that farmers that can be dropped across her and for
There will be no issues in the bind apartment for now V just know a WP for wonderful this early in the game
We know that my time here now going to be edging in with the bike
4k's and a little for Massey needs to facilitate that new tool
you can't go saying it's a
Longer the broader approach of these two teams in the map doesn't matter being built with the head to head
So see how these mind games play in
I think I have the box early for either team.
They don't mind if we're standing close if they want to harass.
The blocks aint made.
Basket, smoke, force and space.
Robson's going to try and take this away from bit.
Oof, centering.
A little bit early there's that one.
Oof, this is not even more uterine.
Look at this, starting to path back towards B.
Still players middle as well, they could drop out of the window and more could head through E-box.
The bomb being picked up now.
Finish.
Funny feeling like the B split, isn't that being drawn back towards middle, Alexi and Mikazi.
Still with a decent amount of Utah between the two of them.
Oh, spam from the cars, it doesn't quite finish off Apex at all, just a single bullet scrapes
his knee.
Now he has to respect this.
Yeah, they're going to push through, well placed on the game sheet, and the top's going
to be on the back platform.
XB first to receive, carpet of flame here, and XB, tagged through the smoke, spam from
Zywu and Mezzi, coming in from B now, here it comes, pressure amplified, flashes, flame
and a head shot from Flameseed.
There's an XC, just the one.
An opportunity for more, they're low.
Imme is quick on the C, Flamese is going to get cleared here,
so that pulls us into a 3 on 3 nearly transfers it onto Apex
with that bomb plot.
I think I'm going to kill him and they can give this one a go.
There's no U2, this is going to be tough.
It's hard, he wound it.
Another triangle, ooh!
He brings the fight to them.
That's outrageous.
Bit one back, Apex and Over extension go swinging in,
at least confirms his whereabouts,
now as Robster brings the fight.
Ambitious, much available, hang on.
Should be comfortable in Robster's hands here.
Look at the time.
Bit knows if he could just isolate the duel,
but Robster's played the clock.
They'll take the round.
I think Apex is assuming they're going for the save
in that situation.
Right.
With that type of a pick, I think it is no way.
The gun show.
Apex has got some competition out there.
I think because their money's not
going to be great going into his next round of play. So the fact that they're giving this a go in a post-plan scenario
it was a double pump as well right layering in the U2, waiting for the block dates to come out from Narvi.
The second wave flansy fantastic with the openers and this one. What a shot!
That's just a just down into that and Robs stays cool. Forced by InfoNarvi, 1-M4-1 Famous, MP9 and a couple of pistol upgrades.
They'd love to be able to wrestle this one back in the early game.
You lose this, the rounds will spill open and Vitality should be able to take the lead.
Selling, eh, Narvi? Nobody close bar skirts, nobody attending with the site whatsoever.
Very heavy B set up coming into play. Now look, if you gamble incorrectly, just hold on to these and go again into round number five.
I tell you, I'm tracking in this direction. Let's see if they're as diligent with the
U-Tilt this time round.
I think ZB is holding a flashback. Trying to catch them and disrupt them upon the commitment.
There's that same Molotov. They make life miserable for the two of them. Back black. Wonderful
burns down. 12 HP. Still manages to catch one on the back foot. There's Zai Wudo from
And the E-Box position racks up a double in their back left for another headshot, Robs.
Tracks him as he tries to fight and they're losing everything here.
They put all their pennies into the center of the table and Vitality have managed to
secure a second round.
It's given it a look.
Certainly will have a go.
It's that horrible crossfire though.
Trying to breach this with Mezzi, only a Mach 10.
He can isolate.
Oh, can he though?
Nimble from Mezzi.
that moving accuracy of the SMG.
Na'Vi bankrupt.
It was like a sense of inevitability, it settled in.
You sense it with the crowd, maybe as well as the players from Na'Vi.
I think it's the mental anguish with how close they were on map number one.
They had some big moments, some flashy moments.
But Vitality is still prevail.
I think it's the Pet Boom loss 13-10, which is what forced my
They've done that since Chuck do, it's here he is, Apex, the Farm Fest, that's 3, he knows the 4th and Zywoo, he won't miss, so just need to find that a bit, they'll expect him over towards A, but not a bad shot.
Much more damage.
And that's what this is looking for, right, Vitality again.
They win this series, they put themselves up against Betvul in that semi-final tomorrow.
already locked in legacy versus gamer legion and whoever wins this one they
are the heavy favorites to take the title again I think everybody they're
coming out here to Atlanta expecting the grand final to be Navi versus Vitality
Bethsa hey the footfall to Lucina and folds this is where we find ourselves
yeah you heard Masi in the interview with Martin as well just talking about how
they like to try and consider themselves two different teams and groups and
playoffs. Intensity shift right for them groups for like a formality. This is the
bump up exactly on the big stage with that loud Atlanta crowd. You guys in
the green it's been saying energy.
I'll be not giving him too much to cheer about right now. This time early
a main pressure applies. What intensity here this side is that rotation has been
draw. Wonderful AWP will be posted on the line. They're blocked towards mid and juggling
in nades. So that's how they're feeling quite comfortable. They've got the map control that
they're looking for.
Look at Apex on the camera. He's got a very clear game plan. He's relayed. It's just
hands off the mouse and keyboard, making sure his troops know the marching orders.
Fight coming in the way of Robs. They're never paired up to clear it out. And they're happy
with what they see. But mid's been a void throughout all of this. Wonderful heading
back over. Can't really push into the line. 50 seconds. It looks like we're going to get
an AWP head to head here. Wonderful heavy advantage and nails it. Removes the woo. They pivot now.
Do they want to head towards B? They know that Wonderful is AWP.
On the other side, here we go. Heaven Smoke, Flamesy and Mezzie. They need these good flashes
from Apex to be able to parv in. Wonderful centre to collect another. Jogging over his
like a side quick flick onto Merzy and a fad and frags. Spotless from Narvin.
Beautiful. I need more of that. Very comfy stuff. With wonderful with another head-to-head
against Zywoop. Seven and four for wonderful, keeping up that good form from the group stage.
Yeah, he's sat him down on the pistol and has kept it up with the AWP.
That tells me you're not walking into that drive, you expect the AWP to be there, right?
The students are going to get some room to get some rifles to be able to post up.
There's a bit missed right now for Vitality.
Tech 9, Mach 10, and three rifles.
They've missed a smoke here.
Yeah, messes with Flamese's lineup.
Do you want to try towards middle again Flamese at least?
Starting to flirt with the smokes.
You just want to waltz on through.
Wouldn't put it past him and he has just gone straight through that smoke
Enabled cywoo and messy the tail joins it
Amen supported by wonderful. There's the headshot cywoo. However onto him a quick and wonderful. How's he getting away?
Missed spray a second lease of life for now. He's sniper
They're applying a lot of pressure towards a again
But it doesn't have to be to finish to over a minute on the clock and they can pivot back Alexi's have to rotate over to help out
Wonderful, he's gonna get head to what bits site
So split 2-2 at the moment, looking around the same round again.
There's the flash though, this is the difference to make up.
Bit eats the flashbang and Messi parthing it to the side for one.
The back of the side lies wonderful, he has to find a multi.
He does so, pieces together for two.
Side lost to Lexi B, he falls as well on the camera position.
Zai will aware of it.
Kazi's close, he's two, he can give it a go.
Certainly will, raps towards fountain, Galil Vm4 looking the wrong way, makes it even.
side with low HP, Mccasey's even got the HE, this could make all the difference.
An impactful round, three kills deep from Zywoo, but Mccasey can make it all for naught.
Back of the side, where's that HE going too deep? Zywoo pinks and Zywoo frags before!
Such a... Zywoo's had one off half right now, he's sitting nine and four, that was a massive round from him,
just hitting everything that moved on that A side.
back and forth as the score now reads four to three. So it's been some stubborn calling or at least consistent calling for a tiny run.
Two rounds in a row with this B split in through water. Once you get the E-box control, the mollies towards the plant.
Now they've run a very similar looking A split round after round.
He says smoke comes in.
Is anybody gonna push after this Molly?
It looks like it was gonna be a...
Hey, it's out of the window!
It's in it, just gonna bring the fight to them.
Sure, he's 40 HP.
Catches some flak.
Two of them in the canal.
A forward start from the defenders, but gaps available.
If Flamesy pushes mid, off the flash from Apex, he's in.
Yeah, good response to losing canal.
Look how uncomfortable that makes Mikaze.
He's gotta be worried about so many different avenues.
That's to back away, E-box, safe.
Now the pressure is on Pete, right?
Because you're going to lose canal control once the T-Sphere smoke fades.
You know that they can apply that pressure.
I'm still in limbo, no commitment for Vitality just yet, but they're coming into sweet mid.
Oh, that's a lot of info.
That's a whole lot of info.
That's the whole squad.
Easy frag though.
Bit with the M4, rips the head off of Flamesey, Apex is next victim.
He's a dead man running.
Back turn, and that pricks it up comfortably.
Sawa's got the bomb, can't afford to commit. Now, Mezzie hoping he catches one, returning from temple.
There's wonderful little peek out, gets the info.
Still a body.
Outside B main, smoke will obscure two of them, but that site is safe,
and Mitheth can damage through the smoke there.
Mezzie trying to keep boots planted, and they'll just run at him.
Think it's a safe. They're just going to call this one off.
Opps and Sawa looking to hold on to what they brought in with.
And Apex, if people caught it there and they can after those deaths, it would have been, it was very frustrated.
I think with all this players, he saw maybe you're hoping for a reaction from your teammates.
Maybe you thought, hey, I made the right call. It was just on a later timing.
They came and swept through middle. We time things up again.
So 1400 is the last bonus. Zaheer and Robs won't get any of that.
Apex is in Galil territory. Flames the Amesia.
Gonna have to be down to some pistols. Zaheer could drop her Galil.
And the tactical time now called.
So good chance right now to organize that by.
to the left. Timeout subsided
now they're on freeze time yet to
see what investments are coming
through behind this. Okay,
peace of it together now.
Exes going take nine armor with
Nate's claims over the Mac 10
there's the other technology
while this is tough, right? You
have to balance the fact that
you have to save WP and
everyone else is on something
Flames you. Just miss throw right there on the molly and try to boost him up trying to
catch him there could work out. He's gonna play us safe. Throws a block smoke near to
tucks him to join bit on A.
Clearly trying to demonstrate presence outside of A main. You want to force that
that rotation, but with this 3-2 set up that's been opted for right now in this cheeky fangle
here on top of the box. Emma will not be pre-empty whatsoever.
Well, the smoke dotted now towards Evox, so over towards B.
Oh, look, Flash coming from LX. See, they're going to clear out B-Mae.
Mezz is very passive with this. Well, he might get caught in Limbo. Here comes the Flash.
He's got cover. Tuxing relays the information and takes ahead.
Makaze's dead, wonderful, very quick pivot, and knows that they're gonna try and
scope up in towards E-Bot, swinging in, Zyra unable to track him.
It's made the focus, in-and-bit of set this up, the trap.
Up on the boost.
I say that, but he actually drops off as they start to commit.
He knows he's gonna be nimble, but goes down, comfortable frag for Robs.
It's bit for the multi, can't provide.
Some damage, heavy damage inflicted. This one...
An interesting lay of the land.
Yeah, it might be over before it even gets started here.
Alexi and Wonderful having a conversation over to what CT spawned.
They want to go fishing, see if there's an overstep.
They've got a kit, but no smoke.
And there you have it, all right.
Considering the timeout, the financial implications of the investment.
Mezcu does very well, that does neat.
Under a lot of pressure, the flashes come through.
He's having a calm there and focus on the cross there.
Gets one done.
But you know, the flashes came through in two players, P.
So a lot of information.
And then, Emma, it looked good, right?
But at that point, he's no longer playing for info anymore.
I think he's going to rejig the setup because of that exchange.
And we get to the time again, so five to four.
Wonderful good drop, and that'll go into the hands of Mikazi.
Everybody else should be able to buy it, but it has 4.6, and it has a 4.3.
And Blade's got his thinking face on.
Yeah, it's just right now a bit of an arm wrestle.
But again, if you now V4 round CT side, it's not terrible, right?
If you're able to get one more, you'll be happy with that.
And the drop-off couldn't come at a worse time.
It's turn to call the time out.
There's a chance there, right?
Bit could have gone massive, really.
He gets that frag.
The player's low.
He mobs it up and they're able to stand tall.
Just because of this pattern around, right, neither team has any loss,
but that's what we're having to see these saves.
If you want to have something to contend with,
you're going to have to keep holding them to your guns.
We've only got a handful of rounds remaining in this half.
And after electing to start on the team's side,
I imagine if I tend to be hoping for the lion's share.
I was going to be into the Evox lined up and away we go.
As he gets another chance this time, just waiting for the early peeks out the hole.
the game. Take a look early,
better react and then drop back
into a bit more of a standard
set of 212.
So many made juggles going on
for this T side. It's just so
confident on both sides of what
the other is doing, right?
That's your opponents. Yeah,
that's the meta game within this
game. Flash forward midspace
Three players here to deal with this
In that forward position
Powerful angle they're baiting him in as well in the go spring it can't find it
It will at least combine to keep it a level trade
Rob span and smoke wonderful returns five of the tracers portraying that was ugly
Exchange on a four LV another mid-play is dead and the rotators dead group up hit the site together
It's a wide-open sight, Chad. You were talking about it.
He's evacuated. It might just have to be another save for Navi.
He's seen enough.
And the red carpet rolled out for Vitality's sixth round.
Mikaze will have a look.
Do some bright investigations into the retake ability.
The Lexi's here.
It looks like he was going to be on his way.
I think I'm going to call this one off. Yep. All right. Well, more of this.
for your team side of Anubis reach six. I'm just questioning what now we're gonna
opt for here, right, because Alexi and Mikazi will both be able to drop M4s.
Since Ferdinand has been there going to be lighter in the U2 department. So do you
want to just partial behind this three saves? It's a good tip.
That's a hydro homie if ever I saw one. That's getting dry out there at the
moment with that the tone of this game now they're going to need some water for
all the salt if they do not find another round on the CT side yeah okay so
they've just gone for the partial right they go for a full gun round for the
final round of the half so this one sure there's still chances there's three
saved guns a little bit of you till gonna need some individual output to win
this one yeah well we know that is capable in the individual department he's
He's also got his AK-47, will turn the flash, it's a rops versus bits standoff, there's
another flash to set him up, it versus rops, again, dipping his toe in that water, it's
Mikaze, this forward position, ready to flick down, catches Apex for an opening.
Okay, that's a B defender, am I accelerating them into that site?
And we're considering it, Flings is bringing the bomb over there now.
I'll tell you too, for the finish, but the stack is back in place, they looked a little
bit jittery, but have rotated back in time.
Oh, opportunity for Cybert, easy frag, onto wonderful, he wants it answers and instead
he gets an AWP bullet in his rib cage.
Rops arriving, Alexi B pre-occupied,
he's gonna be exposed to Rops, the back turncourt,
the quick switch doesn't matter,
and site taken, it's just Macalzey,
they've got to get past.
Hiding out behind the site of smoke.
It's here as well, he's got a flash.
To the air.
Yeah, Rops is not gonna be blind,
but there's one on to him,
and he can't find the second.
Great covering, fire from Rops.
Now Bits turn, sweeps on through.
Flames it, gets the information safely.
Now Rops peeks in, get adjustment,
but there's Flames.
Those jiggles are so annoying. The bomb goes down. The first thing Flimster does is jiggle that Plaggett for the info and then they all just focus fire
So seven rounds to vitality
Can they make it eight and they haven't really had a gear shift in terms of anything quite pacey and in your face
Wonderful right now. He wants to get across before the smoke comes in and he's removed from play once a bit of his teammates
They can group up maybe get a rifle if maybe
fellow comrades goes down
He gets core and that's what makes it the 4v4 so that one sucks
So I would go for an A main pick real fast.
This is a really quick AWP.
Bit hears that, takes a heavy nade damage.
It's actually wonderful Zorb that's managed to remove Robs.
Smoke break on E-Box.
Apex continues his walk in, a contact walk.
He's got support from Alexi.
Bit, spotted outside, Molotov's going to make his life miserable.
Dips the play, backup Brigade has arrived, a couple of limp flashes.
He's eating that, and there's him. No trade potential on that from Apex. It's a 3 on 5.
Navi to end this half with at least that fifth and less.
Slywood keeps getting shots like that. Catches him over the top of the smoke.
They've still got Mezzie as a bit of a lurk outside B.
So I was hanging around looking for another. If anyone comes begging for questions towards Heaven,
The smoke's also late. Does he get a chance?
Where's he starting to float over now?
It's not either one's looking for answers. Grouping up towards middle once more.
Is he very late to this? But he does have a smoke.
Waiwup has Util as well.
Camera smoke, Heaven smoke, get a molly in towards backside or bricks and away you go.
Here it comes.
An abandoned bit.
That cut of noise has put it all onto his shoulders here.
Rotation swift.
And swings on in for nothing.
Nezzy, clean headshot, covers Flamesy as he gets the bomb down.
Now Zywoo responsible for camera, Alexi B trying to get through.
And it's Alexi B that finds the headshot.
Oh, Soda's wonderful!
Just Zywoo in the clutch, can't hit it!
Now V5, Vitality's several.
Is there more to Anubis? Is the third map required?
Cannot beat, beat this team!
to the end of the game.
Vitality in pursuit of a
semifinal upon the conclusion
of this second map of our
quarter. Now V are trying to
take a map off of vitality for
the first time since cologne
2024. That feels like a lifetime
ago, and that's the same with
vitality and those top four
last time they couldn't achieve that.
Like a blast at Bounty Season 1 to kick off in 2025.
But here we find ourself in the pursuit of Cologne,
the major right around the corner.
They're looking for weaknesses in the world number one.
I do this, allegedly one of them.
The games are close.
Let's see if this one delivers in the same capacity.
to get the ball out of there.
It's a kev and flames with a
smoke and a kid. A whole lot
more you two invested upon
the finale in this one. Quite
a storage defense over towards
a. The bomb outside B.
The back of wonderful. There's
no clear commitment as I was
calling it completely clear.
Flash out E-box with that molly.
Capital smoke, obscures I with you.
You're respected for now.
Is this a fake or is that commitment?
They're not getting any resistance right now.
They might want to head in.
Bombs starting to float back.
Flames the apex and robs.
Also getting a little bit jittery.
They're rotating away.
Bombs has headed back.
They're going to try and plant this one on the site.
Makazi, he'll be tasked with that.
They have the retake package on Flamesy.
Another smoke for Tampa.
This one heavily favouring Na'Vi, surely at this point, sure.
Smoking kick.
A first headshot could start the house of Karts tumbling.
They're going to get to the bomb first.
Just about rocking up now.
Mikazi hitting on the pillar, feels good for Na'Vi, feels great.
They can find the first, they make scorn and another.
Mikazi catches the smoke, pushes clean.
It's spotless!
It's exactly what Na'Vi needed.
Just a blender there.
Really a tempered approach in no rush, fell to out,
didn't find resistance, suspected a stack,
and they were right.
Stuff from Naveen there picking up both pistols.
We'll see if Vitality 4 starts to take shape.
This is just way too easy, isn't it?
The smoke skittles in, but there's no flash.
There's nothing to make that a possibility.
Just locking them down and finding the fire.
You're just going to get past this one,
and you can take the lead.
A couple of MP9s, two Tiegels,
and a 5-7 for Zawook.
These are the rounds you have to win if you want to put vitality away.
Four man, silent crawl middle.
No eyes on to Zawook playing jooker smoke defense from camera.
I think he's ready for this.
What's the show that does not
hit that immediate headshot? It
could give it back to what they
don't have to commit with this.
Feeling so much pressure, though.
does not hit that immediate headshot.
It could pivot back towards A.
They don't have to commit with this.
They're feeling so much pressure, though.
Navi, plant pick from every angle.
You got big...
Holding out for any of those A rotators.
It's Zaheel and Robs trampling aside.
They're not no triple swing, though.
Good from Mikaze.
Support from Wanda for the two.
Easy headshot.
Zaheel goes down the A side of the map.
Then Imer activates onto Apex.
Okay, that's nice from Navi.
They can crunch themselves in enemy territory.
By the time they feel like they have to make a move
and they run into a tight choke point.
Sure, that's where they have the pistols and the SMGs.
The Navias set up for that,
and they will be able to tie things up seven apiece.
Fernando is the third and designer of this one,
with the victory being, as you mentioned,
Navias can just pick up a map.
That's going to build some confidence, right?
They've been getting closer.
There's been a couple of maps this year,
But this is the fourth time their face have been blowouts.
Two grand finals, one quarter final will make it to now here in IEM Atlanta.
And taking a map off.
A lot of teams struggle to do that in Vitality's era.
Vitality want to join that.
Sorry, Nami want to join that list.
Alright, Robson gets to hold onto his D, his head over.
It's given you a wave.
That's what the kids are calling it all about.
He's got plenty of that, but it's the partial.
What's going on? It's information that they are vacating.
Ah, it's just a race right now. They should be able to get into A, no issues.
Yeah, there's no one there. Flames is going to be the first man on the scene.
Has to get across this mid-line, though.
Alexi B is drawing the line in the sand.
What are you supposed to do? You go off a flash, and comfortable.
In it, Alexi! Pick him up!
Pick him off!
And sees control of the A site.
Alright, well, Rops and Apex, Madswell trying to a little bit of damage here, see if they can find themselves an upgrade
just for some revised for teamwork regardless of the disadvantage there and back. It goes down.
It's a very well-tempered approach from Navi.
Nothing felt rushed, nothing felt compromised or hurried.
They're being allowed so far to play their own pace but when the guns come in that's where the
the questions will need to be answered.
Offs again, last man standing.
He's going to get nothing for his travels, flawless.
No kill for Vitality in this one.
They're not to stop him from getting it down.
3-1-1 with the set up, Robs, Solar, Azawa middle, the other three over towards B. They haven't
moved in mind, but they're just expecting it to be an early play into the B site.
Again, the bomb on one of four outsides, Alexi, it goes through the motions from the midspace,
back the doors so it doesn't really feel too much pressure as an aid
it's far on the dome there of mccasey brought down to 63 another one through the
window mccasey turn the flag damage there could be number three apex even has
it
keeps hold of it for now in the growing up in Utah is this just the double
The heart is too slow to the sky.
Ready for our second wave.
Captain made it.
Send the airy package.
Set towards the Evox.
We'll force Mikaze away.
Still subbing towards B.
Nim is going across.
Okay, multiple angles to pick it up.
B in a moment's time.
HP on a signal bullet has found Mikaze.
Just H.E. grenades stacked on top of each other.
I think this is all posturing now.
And maybe they're right.
I'm wondering if we're starting to cheat back.
40 seconds.
Robson has Zywoo in support. Alexi be already forging a part through middle.
It seems the bomb's going that way too.
To the front, synchronized with Big Macalzee through a main.
This is the finish.
They hear them coming.
Pressure is applied.
Zywoo, ready, go on.
Spots Alexi, controls his spray.
Trade from Wonderful is superb.
An opportunity, but they've got to get this bomb down.
They've got to get past Robson.
Starts his strut onto Macalzee.
The bomb, 13 seconds.
There's Pick with one, but the box lost!
Ten, that should be around there, the right there!
The name from Flames is securing it.
Oh fellow, the sorrow of the round was the hey cheese.
Truly.
So much damage done to McCarzy, never easy to try and get that space, but copted it every turn.
In a save, they got plenty of cash, wonderful, can bring out the AWP.
An American Pantermine.
It's a good timeout from Blade.
Definitely a lot of mental warfare in the server area, just with this tempo and tone.
I think there's so many expectations of responses or reactions to map control.
There is or isn't going the way that they were hoping for.
I
Rivals rear Rotterdam every time they need this team
It's been close sure this one in particular starting to shape up nicely for now Viet 8 8 spot vitality CT side has just got its first round
Is this aggression? Flash is for Ross. He's not necessarily swinging on the first. He will go out on the second for a quick glance. His flames, he has one out window.
This will slow down the default, right? The fact that they've done this on a second timing.
So now we have two choices. Let's react somewhere else or we'll wait it out and take the space back later.
They apply a bit of pressure towards B, but they know that mid becomes the weakness.
Those teams on their seats seem to have had a room to move within these mid rounds.
I'm still down outside middle.
55 seconds.
Looks like Alexi heading back to pick that up.
Wonderful waiting for a re-aggress.
fade to camera. It should be coming in a moment over here. It counts. Wonderful has been primed
and ready for this way from Flamesy. Shot and spotted, Orb connects. Zayu up to bat,
versus Macalze. Stayed nimble though on the spree. Commits to it. Has Alexi low and now
Messi's eating flashbacks. Needs another. It's Robson steps up to the plate.
Supported flashback from Messi. He's actually rotated over towards A as well.
He's got the headshot, he's got them both clean!
From Vitality's captain!
Game's playing at a really odd tempo.
Both of these teams are giving each other so much respect
in certain situations, waiting for those reactions
like I'm talking about.
Then you get these spurts back and forth,
and then, well, there's only 20 seconds left,
and there's no chance.
It took a timeout for that,
and they didn't get what they were looking for.
Ropsilander, a lot of pressure here at the rotation.
It's not going to be the force for
Na'vi, it'll be a partial bite.
A couple of rifles in the mix.
Na'vi might want to do the same,
run and hide right now.
This one's starting to have that
familiar feeling.
Can Vitality be the first to reach
Dumbledigious?
The buy is definitely in that
favour, but you go back to Dust2,
Can vitality be the first to reach double digits?
The buy is definitely in that favor, but you go back to dust, too.
They lost a bunch of rounds to purchases like this.
See if Nalvi can put it off again.
They've done a good job of putting vitality off on their timings and tempers.
There's a lot of cases where normally they'd have three strong
and everyone would have their nades ready, their guns out,
but they've been caught out in certain scenarios.
And that could happen here again.
The read of the situation for Apex, the stack is on the wrong site for now.
They don't have so many smokes to this B defence, both Apex and Mezzi with more smokes to deploy.
pin in the clutch
as he seconds, Bob needs to be retrieved
so has his cross back to Bob Retrieval
it feels like it's said and done
nice miss shot from the Op, gives him the freedom to pick up the bomb
the 22 HP, 1v2
and Robs in temple, he's going to walk straight into him
it's an open plant
a Hail Mary play
Robs doesn't play, but then he does all the work
lazy, can we address how quickly he pees together three there
That happened quick out of the smoke on rotation just smashes that attack apex was under a lot of pressure
Mezzie as well
Fortunate for the rotation the bomb does go down when you're not gonna be buying anyway, but that is gonna help out a decent chunk
Flames he saves the day
Three more rounds out for my talent to book that semi at final spot
A chance to take on Batburn.
Time to try something aggressive there, but he is just going to have to respect the U-Tilt.
Oh! Oh, we've lost Apex!
But can I say he punishes him for just a straight head-to-head aim duel.
That was both friction in the middle as Flancy on the clawback.
Okay, gets a bit keen.
Swings in to try and find bit as well, and it costs him his life.
Advantage Narvi.
V
You wouldn't expect another borrowed into middle like this would you
Robbs is counting on that I want to find this an e-box right now that one info
So who's all bleeds the charge?
It backs away looks like they are gonna retool for the open runway into a money's not great on flames
He's only got 600. This could just be another save and Navi did the same.
The timing of this from Mezzi is going to be way too late to the party.
Blade watches on and Rops gets here, but he's in time.
Just in time to at least have a first fight.
Go across his sideline. Worried about that lurk a little and it is there.
Chunky Nade onto camera position as he approaches from A-Made, looks for a lex, he finds it, that's an equalising frag, bomb goes down.
Clock starts to take in Navi's favour, in it, activates, he's defends it with a sound cue.
He has Zywoo, wonderful solid onto ropes, picks up and retrieves the AK.
Better for this. Grouped up towards Heaven, it's wonderful and bid, everything to play for.
That clock ticking in your favour further.
further. Zahruz swinging on Antron to draw attention. The Molly's great if he can get
some way. Good find from Wonderful. Just as he hit the clutch, he's going to try and
stick it off. There's no way! There's no way!
Alright, Mavik. They get the chance to make some noise there. Again, just these tempered
approaches. Rocks felt like he had thread the needle in that moment.
Imma would have been spewing if that round had gone against him. That one could have
signal the downfall.
This is that opening.
Yeah, playing ahead of the smoke because you have to worry about...
That's it, Apex just barely out of the smoke.
Barrow spot, this one makes it all possible.
And then Mezzie, he had a tough time finding it.
Well, they didn't have a hard time finding him.
This time Vitality's money's on the line.
As he wants to go aggressive, he's posture towards B main.
I think the smoke is blocked.
It's going to change their dialogue.
Get him!
Look at the space Makase's got here!
Walks into the bebomb site!
Fritati, nobody's home!
You can't believe your eyes.
Just need to get the bomb across it that confirms Messi's coordinates.
That's what you have to say.
I know it sounds crazy, it's a 5v5, but 1900 next round.
They're going to type the game right here.
If you go for this one, then you lose everything.
The bombs are down, the clock's already ticking.
You don't even have a kit.
I think this is it.
This is just such an odd game with the tempo and the tone.
Easiest rounds at Navier.
You're going to win all game long.
And they'll take that one.
Hoopers on the CT side.
We know it's a map where the CTs feel like they're
forced into taking some risks.
I understand the addition of the hole
that makes some of these rotations a bit swifter.
A bit of harass over the water a little bit earlier
in the round, short.
Vitality, they gamble incorrectly.
How many home events to really tell
what was hitting that site?
And RV, they've gotten away with one there.
So we tie things up, 10 apiece.
It's only really mini-streaks that we've had throughout this map, unless anyone's posted
and secondly have been three straight rounds.
A crowd divided.
the last round of playoff.
saving. You have to assume they
have something, but in terms of
what they're actually equipping
and bringing into this next
one. Well, they're not going to
upgrade too much right next round
the 2400 loss bonus. They'll be
to buy again. You get back under way but the round will not be as easy as that now V. This
one you're going to have to fight for. Collision core set for this boost. He scopes up. And
mounts. Wonderful heads back to spawn, picks up the bomb.
He's hanging towards A again with this setup. Two MP9s alongside the M4 of ropes.
It's Nezzy and Zawoo holding on to B and Mikazi while he's back up to his usual par-bing.
Good space game from Alexi off the flash.
Drops blocks A.
Only once remaining now that's on Apex.
It's not looking good for Flamesy and Lobs, they're going to have to do it all on their own.
The cavalry is completely departed, it will just be a 2-on-5 on this A crunch.
Lobs tucked on that pillar, Molly's going to make things weird for him, forced to stand
in the flames and try and deliver the multi, unable to do so, Mikaze goes down and that's
the end of the A side.
That's got to be an RV round.
Apex, just an MP9 versus Alexis Galil.
And Galil, victorious.
I'd say this all, hold on to that M4.
Ravi, in post-11.
It's the lack of exchanges earlier.
No real spamming through smokes, not really seeing too much damage being done.
I understand with the type of buy, they don't have too many nades, they can throw out,
But that's the type of round you have the all maybe you go for the triple boost towards a you get the gap up towards t stairs
We did see earlier in the piece now be we're actually expecting and I think I saw mccasey holding for in an earlier round
So all these little tricks that you have to deploy
the lead to a way from securing
something that has alluded them
for years.
That's been an awfully long time.
Now, Robson is the best he can.
He comes in kind of extinguished.
Just have to stand it back and you
hang on.
They have to deliver a multi-kill
or at least go one for one between
the likes of Flamie and Robson
to give him a 3v3, a chance in the post plant.
But he's just making so many assumptions at the moment.
A lot of this is without any actual info off of the map.
This is a full bike.
They're ahead of that.
Ross doesn't know because he bit walking in,
wanting to take this head-to-head.
Just gonna push and go.
Robs has not got the smoke out at all.
He can't block them.
They are in E2A.
He's stuck well.
Catches the timing bit.
Was looking towards camera and Flamesey available as well.
Good Molly.
Gonna make things difficult.
H.E. as well to chase him down.
The dunk, the double.
Flamesey huge.
Delivers what's required.
Still wonderful.
Alexia kicking up a fuss.
They are gonna kick this one up.
Is he still there?
Yeah, he's gonna be in a prime position here.
He can actually take the main and catch them
on the cross to the bomb site itself.
Will just deny the plant.
Alexi not to know that.
There's he everything to do here nails it onto Alexi.
There's one off now. It's just wonderful in a 1v3.
What's he got other than the plan? He's got three targets encroaching on his position from three different access points.
Rob's coming from the E box side. That looks like wonderful. It's going to go looking for trouble.
Needs to try and find these jewels on his own terms.
You know Rob's catches these timings.
the back of the ball. Swing
the roster to do catch you with
your back turn. You look at
somewhere else. Find so wonderful.
Can't find the fight. Rops
arrives just in time and we tie
this game up once more. Just
felt that's been the constant
words coming out of her mouth.
Just got tipped the tap
throughout.
He gets our back is on they get
that diffuse through no issues
in the buy at all for Nave.
All 24 rounds coming your way again, but does this one have overtime or is this one a now be victory?
Can they push us to the third?
We'll do vitality clinch it and seal it.
Booked that semi-final slot.
Some great support at Utah for Facy there.
Yeah, right. Once you know they're across found you've only got off your force, then out the nade just follows them and then they swing with it.
So extremely well done there.
And then very tough for Alexian. Wonderful. I know they needed to get out of dodge.
He's played. He burns his final tactical time out. He's got them all in regulation.
That one was a change of tempo, right? It wasn't a rush. It wasn't noisy, but it was
a whole lot quicker, right? They be lined it as passively as possible, right? Just that
silent slink in towards the side ropes. Shaving that first one off the pack was great, right?
doesn't over extend, doesn't swing wide.
And sure, we talked about the fact that since Cologne 2024,
Navi haven't been able to take the map off of Vitality.
Well, they have been close.
Is it really going to be the same story?
Every round of regulation, but still the L in the column.
What can now be flipped a script?
Big early space.
We'll beat Alexi.
Let's throw that.
Tumbles like this.
We'll see how much impact it has.
Which means there's a little bit less pressure on Flamesy towards middle.
But they are playing out of one of these two-three setups.
It's Rops and Flamesy in combination towards A.
It's Zaru, Apex and Mezi.
I was gonna say towards B, Apex.
the world. A lot of their stacks
though. It's felt like they've
been in the wrong place. It might
get caught here. He's got the
scrap of health, but bit allowed
to escape. Zyro sets up to
succeed finding the car say
towards the box. I'll actually be
across the camera line, though.
It does open up avenues for a
haven't used for a flank. Apex has the line. Apex is part of the position for this, Alexi
didn't find the deep clear, Apex dips out. It met the unknown entity. Maybe Audibals
are still focused on Apex. Mezzy relays the information, so it has to account for this.
Has to account for this, doesn't! Maybe Mezzy didn't. After all, that wonderful can rock
up with the bomb. It just got Mezzy to get past the distraction shot and now it's
Two clean entrances looking good. It's just going to be Robson Flamesy on the way back in.
I got a kit for this.
Okay, it really comes down to what Wonderful can get done.
Partens up within that. Both of them with HE grenades into what that E-box could be enough to find Robs.
Well, he's not going to achieve anything. Wonderful seems destined to deliver this one here.
Too easy.
Finds it off to Flamesy. It's 12 now, V!
Run away from doing it!
The first time in two years!
I'm going to be over time at a
minute. I'm here Vitality. That
could have been heard should
have been heard. Mezzi was at
least addressing the possibility
apex posts up gets one drops off.
So I would just sticking out like
a sore thumb. No consideration
for that guy. Must have been
communicated in it with a massive
double and wonderful closing
things down. It's scrappy by
Back into the serve up. Last round of regulation.
Rops is fed up for giving this space over.
Here go Bits playing a pass at this time.
Thome doesn't pull the trigger on the flashback. Trust drops on his comms.
Now they go on the second tempo.
There's one final flash from Flamesey.
That flash has just gone out, so Khan made the play for that.
This one's going to feel damn good for Na'Vi.
for the taking. Weapon re-advantage.
Fantastic strung out.
Repositioning.
Him has already made it across to the right side of the main. It's just Apex here.
Again, Vitaliy don't know what's coming. Always in the wrong place.
He's dead. Surely this is now V's for the taking. Apex with nothing.
Empty hands and an empty bomb site!
That's the hardest part. The bomb's going down already.
A well-placed HE doesn't quite find its target.
Wonderful, far enough, warning shots, but this is looking good.
An ugly retake with no kit.
Navi to take it the distance.
Mezzi falls.
Zai was going to be their next victim.
Walks up on that close wall.
Strength in numbers, box of flash and flash.
Wonderfuls get forward and we need a fight!
Two years of waiting, now VHALF managed to fell vitality and it will be decided on that third round.
You know, it's like having God above you talking to you with this headset.
With the blindfolds?
No.
Okay.
It's going loud.
Yeah, it's loud.
Left, left, left, left, left, left, down a bit, down, down, right, right, right.
Where you are in the shot, Robin?
He's avoiding from me.
That makes, left, left.
Left him down, down, down, down, Robin, shoot, shoot, left, left, left, left, left, left.
You can do it, you can do it, go back.
Down down down down down down down down down
He's down he's down
Yes yes
The night is the goat
Okay but no knife we're getting done
You're kidding
Keep going
Keep going
Shit
Can you give me a 360
Turn around
Stop
I am here
Yeah in some of the
You can't... Down?
That hang down is in front of you.
Up, up a bit.
To the right, a little bit, actually.
It's a door.
Up a bit, right.
Down?
Down?
Right, right, right.
Right, right.
Down, down, down.
Left, left, left, left.
Right, right, right.
Shoot.
Shoot.
You're here.
I'm the fucker than you!
To the right, down, down, Robin.
And up, down.
In the water.
In the water.
Shoot, up.
Left, left, left.
Shoot, right.
To the right.
Okay, you're shooting.
Shoot, you're shooting.
To the right.
P90 or P90?
You're on a rock.
Okay, so...
Okay, let's see.
You're going towards the house now.
You're looking towards the house.
Yeah.
Yeah, and you open the door.
You're right behind it.
To the left.
To the right.
A bit straight and to the left.
Back in my...
Forward now.
And then I'll go forward.
Inside the house and you're outside.
We'll bend you.
You're outside the house.
Just move around here.
Left side a bit.
Left side a bit.
Left side.
Straight, straight, straight.
You're gonna need the wall.
Okay, I'm gonna need a fucking knife.
Is that the bomb, Roof?
Look behind you.
Okay, you're going up the stairs now, you're in the house.
Knock the door, do it.
Down, down, down.
Get to the door.
Down, down, down, down.
It's a really...
When you put the bomb, bitch!
You're not putting the bomb in Susie?
I didn't know the bomb was planted.
It's gonna explode.
Oh, that was a real knife?
Yeah, a nice question.
That was kind of fun.
and Fernando to see who will be going through to the semis. It might have taken them almost
two years, Jango, but finally, Navi get to celebrate and also breathe that sigh of relief
that by talent you don't end up stealing this map from them.
Hey, I think they just took a page out of Hunter's book when G2 finally beat Navi. No
one beats Navi 16 times in a row or whatever it is that you said. But yeah, I mean, this
is just such a huge feat from Navi. Also, the manner in which it happened, winning five
out of the last six rounds, you know, to close it out. I know it's T side and
Ubris, but still you're going up against Vitality, who you just lost so many close
games, time and time again, so this might be a real turning point for Na'Vi.
I was just about to say, you know, this could be the turning point for Na'Vi and
on the back of a very tactical game of Counter-Strike as well, I think chef
mentioned it a couple of times during the cast, that it felt like both teams
constantly knew what each other were doing, like both teams were playing with
an insane amount of preparation and of course also hinted by the fact that they
played Anubis a couple of times, but in the last couple of weeks, so there's been a lot
of prep leading up to this game and neither Vitality or Na'Vi have had a lot of time
to practice. We know Vitality haven't at all, and Na'Vi, there's only so much you can
change in a short span of time, so in terms of the preparation coming into this, it was
two teams who knew each other very, very well, which also created this crazy back and forth
scenario.
We'd agree with that sentiment for the side of Vitality. Up into the final three rounds,
no? Like, it felt like Na'Vi had all the reason for where Vitality weren't stacking,
which is just so uncharacteristic.
Exactly. It felt like they got lost in the sauce somewhat, right?
Because Apex, a couple of, you know, wrong reads in terms of where he's going to put himself as the rotator.
He also had a weird round where Navi goes into almost the MTB bomb site.
It's a 5v5, you know, everyone alive and then Vitality goes for a save.
So, yeah, it was really impressive.
I know it's not exciting.
It wasn't mega entertaining, perhaps, the way in which Navi closed out the game.
It's really impressive for them and really important that they did it in that way and not by you know
Just crazy individual heroics or something while happening. They're just outplayed the vitality
You know towards the tail end of that game and the fact that we're saying that this is the first time
Navi have taken a map off of vitality 16 times 15 times before
Vitality have done it to them
I mean it firstly goes to show the level that vitality are playing at right but for Navi surely this is a mental shift
No, it is a mental shift, you know and it came of the bag of a great performance
He's also came off the back of certain individuals that are highly impactful for Nabi, doing a good job.
Ima went 5-5 with opening kills in this game, wonderful, had a blast of a game, you know, with the AWP.
Also at the later stages on the T side, he was the one finishing it off in round 24 and really put himself in a lot of favourable positions.
So we spoke about it, right? There's many things you need to do if you want to beat Vitality.
First and foremost, you need to be well prepared. We saw that from Nabi, we saw that from Blade.
The tactical time-out is coming into full effect as well.
but then you also need the individuals to go toe-to-toe versus vitality.
Emma had a great showing, wonderful had a great showing,
and I think that speaks to what Navi have changed the most as of late,
and that is wonderful finding more and more and more impact.
Not only as a player that closes out the round, but in this game as well,
opening up the round. She went 5 for 5 and opening kills as well,
so you combine him and Emma's impact in this game,
and now all of a sudden you have a Navi that is very, very competitive.
It's really important how this game ended, especially considering how Dust 2 went.
Because you asked me, is it worse to get stomped or to lose a close game?
During the series, losing a close game can leave you lingering and thinking about every little detail.
So the fact that Navi was able to reset after that and then have the concentration really to come back and win the Nubis
really gives you hope for Inferno that it can at the very least be a close map.
100%. Let's dive into the tail end of it then.
We brought our round 23 from Duzzi to you where Robs had that crazy push.
Let's put the shoe on the other foot. What happens here?
It took so much composure and even Alexi misses one of the smokes.
So you're like, oh my god, is it really going to go horribly wrong in this round?
And Bit dies trying to put some pressure towards A.
This is all supposed to be a fake, right?
And to draw attention away from the B bomb site,
because it dies to Zywoo, but here was the key moment.
Alexi and Ima managed to sneak past in Apex,
expects one guy, but not the second.
And Ima finds the gap, Zywoo almost never,
you do see him shot in the background or in the side.
And Ima, after that first kill, great job of understanding
where most likely Messi is, waiting for his teammates finding timing and this
was a 3v5 at 11-11 that Navi is able to convert. It was a 3v5 at 11-11 with a bit
down to 19 HP and Apex in the perfect position. I'd say they read it like a
book up until the point. I'm super curious to whether or not that's Apex
miscommunicating, not saying to Saibou that hey there could be potentially a
gap here towards middle or whether or not that Saibou not really picking up on
what Apex is saying because as you said Yanco, it's so so rare that you see Saibou
get shot in the back. This was also one of my favorite calls back in the day like
the double lurker. You send your usual lurker first and then you kill him and the
guy says oh lurker dead right and you focus on the bomb side but then there's
a second guy who's usually with the pack and you can catch your opponents off
guard so a brilliant call from from Navi at a crucial moment. Yeah super game
changing for them. Let's run the wonderful highlights as well. Whilst Radha
I mean involved in eight multi-kills 5-0 in terms of openers as well he was
having an absolute field day. Yeah he's stepping it up a lot maybe. We spoke
about his consistency coming into this tournament.
I feel like he's adding layers to that now as well
by playing show-well against Vitality
in this very, very important game for Navi as well.
And as we said, you know,
Wonderful has often been labeled as a bit more defensive,
you know, maybe a hybrid AWPer in the sense
that he's not the most aggressive,
nor is he the most defensive AWPer.
I think he's added a layer to his play over the last year
where he's more and more involved
and I think played it, but mentioned it a couple of times
in certain integers as well,
that that's something they've been working on.
You know, we need to get more out of Wonderful.
We need to make him believe that he can be the difference maker early on in the rounds as well
And not only in the car scenarios. I think it's just the inconsistency because when he's on he can do it all right here
Like he's super versatile. He's not a one-trick pony
But then again when he's having a bad day, then he becomes a liability and you can't count on him for pretty much anything
So hugely important that he's having a good series here and what Jacob mentioned, you know before the series the pistols
Like that saved Navi's ass in this game, right?
Because they've been both pistols and converted,
and Vitality stabilized immediately in Dunrowns.
They took control of both halves,
and it was only at the very end of the second half
where Navi found something and figured out a way
to close out the game.
I just want to take a couple minutes to set the stakes,
coming into Inferno, we're in Uncharted territory,
where Navi have now equalized a series.
What should we read on this?
Playoff, arena, Counter-Strike, Inferno, Decider,
slapped that bad boy right on there.
I think this is a problem for vitality a little bit because they only played it once in Rio and that's it
Like so they've been to fourth world they played the entire tournament here without playing it
And we know they didn't have time to practice
So is it going to feel a little bit awkward for the players to get on the server?
You know how much have they game plan and how much have they prepared for this map?
I think it can be challenging. I think that's an excellent point
But that's exactly what flame see told us when we into you enough to the group stage that certain maps like we're not practicing right now
You know in certain maps we don't play a lot at the tournament
So when you come in, you know in the beginning of a group stage at the first time you're playing X1C map
You feel a bit rusty you forget some of the details
We get some of the agreement you have in certain positions and as Jean-Claude said inferno is one of the maps
They haven't played a lot as of late, so I also see that as a big of a weakness
I will also say just you know sure you want to stay alive in this tournament
You want to go into the semi-final you want to win this trophy as well, but we're looking ahead for the major as well and
Mentally it's such a big game for now
right now. Imagine if they can take down Vitality in this game. Imagine if they can beat them.
Sure, Vitality can go back home and say, yeah, we didn't practice for this. We'll get it done
when we're at Cologne. But if anything, that gives Navi belief that once, you know, time
crushing come at Cologne, which it will at some point, we've shown, you know, just a couple of
weeks ago that we're able to beat them. So I think there's more at stake than just in isolation this
game and staying alive in this tournament, but even more so for the Major as well,
if you have any highs and hopes for Navi doing well there. But to get it done, they're going to
need their young stud to show up. Makaze has had a quiet series so far right and we know he plays
B with Alexi on inferno right that's obviously going to see a lot of action. Keep an eye out on
Apex and the utility right like we know how much damage he does with those Achees and I really
am curious what the approach will be from Navi on the T side to sort of try to diminish that to
some extent. Well Navi going where they haven't gone for almost two years that is taking a map
off the vitality, but can they translate it into a series victory? We're going to find out on Inferno after this.
People, let's get them off!
Something special to tell them is deep off.
And that's it!
We're doing it after this.
Got it, sir!
We are back!
My map does too.
It's so beautiful when the sun is low.
That nightfall, the Elo Harvester's land.
Their cruelty to my people is all I've known.
May thy mask whip, and splatter.
And a double kill, it's all onto Alexi.
People!
He's got 19 bullets, everything he needs.
I know you, butch.
Does he swing off the name to the grave?
And the arm guy, him!
You're not human, it's more urgent.
In my desert, in my ego, in my dust, you.
Oh for fuck's sake!
I'm just going to get any fucking faster!
Atlanta, hot Atlanta, you call it whatever you want.
What we've actually come here to do today is to keep playing and see what happens.
The Great Peach State.
It is Atlanta, Georgia, but mostly a lot of historical...
F***!
The hunt continues.
I just wanted to know if you knew anything about video games.
Alright man, me either.
That's what I was saying, he plays video games!
You play Counter Strike!
Deep into the depths of the Ponce City market.
Hey man, you play video games?
45, so...
How old do you think I am?
32?
Yeah, that's pretty fair, but I'm 36. We'll take that.
Not sure, man.
What do you think about two teams or players playing against each other in tournaments and video games?
I mainly play like Rainbow, Apex.
Is it something where we can kind of mutually agree that there are games that shouldn't be considered respectable?
Perhaps maybe like, I don't want to just put words in your mouth, but Valorant?
I was going to say the same thing.
Yes.
You guys know anything about video games at all? Counter-Strike?
Children's Pirates.
Age of Empires?
Yes.
My team right now is number one in the state on Marvel.
Marvel Rivals?
Yeah. My school.
What school you go to?
Carrollton.
Where can we find some Counter-Strike players?
I mean age empire is cool, but I'm looking for counter-trikers rather go to the hamburger place
Maybe you know in the corner H&F
Thanks for the guidance. You want to say something? What's up guys?
This is a team over team
OVRT I was about to say that's the wildest sign off. I think I've ever experienced on the show here is up poverty
We're back in business live from Atlanta, Georgia.
The Intel Extreme Masters on its American tour and a third map, not what we were expecting
coming into today.
Vitality, Narvi, both slipping up on their path to playoffs, has led to an earlier than
scheduled collision.
This quarter final is heating up.
Narvi picking up a win that has eluded them for some time.
They take Anubis both teams in fact taking their respective picks and counter-strike
It's a long and storied history Inferno third map deciders sometimes often times deliver
Is the win on Anubis a turning point for Narvi?
They have proven vitality can bleed on the IEM stage
World number one versus two
Nafi took the knife. They were likely to start on the defence. It will be vitality. They
have to break the fight. Will Beard the wonderful keep their form up. Janko says eyes on McCarney.
Is it just a map win or is it something more? Let's find out together on Inferno.
The first time we're seeing vitality. I'm outing on Inferno throughout Atlanta.
Ok, Dusty Higgs and Mirage. New can do this. Overpass.
We had to play Inferno.
We're under control with 5-Zaru at the half wall.
And it's flashes at the ready. Flames even a smoke, Mezzi with a molly and Robs has one too.
Very defensive set up right now from Na'Vi.
No early information middle, watching Banana.
Just waiting to react to the onslaught. It's about to knock on his B door.
Double one on top, go. Flames him harming forward, pull.
Nice flash, can't stop. Perfect, god flash.
Connection! Wonderful! Sensational!
Shot down!
Keeping up that form.
Coming into this.
As I wear it, wonderful.
The two highest rate of players for either team.
And both have been locket horns throughout.
Wonderful, kicking things off in style.
This is the third straight, T-side start for Vitality.
They're not going to get out in the blocks early.
They have been stunted, the bomb doesn't go down,
and we know what that means the full input of follow but that is a thing of beauty from the Ukrainian sniper
And that record now 22 and 2 a series record at 9 and 0
It could change right here right now
and only that
Vitality they were looking to do what?
Look at the same as last year they win this one. It would have been six consecutive trophies
Well, hold on. They still got a couple of games to go, but they locked themselves in as the heavy favorites if they did take down now.
Now that's a conversation.
It's all for streak. Sure, they don't care about it, but the history books do.
Opportunity to make it 22 consecutive up for debate now.
And this run has been rocky, the desk highlighting the lack of practice short.
to be able to do that. It's an
army regardless of how they get
there. Unlocking the mental
knowing that now it is more than
possible. The major right
around the corner. Could that
mean these blocks they sprint
into action. This should just
be a farm fest. 40 seconds
remain. They will need to. They
Now we saw roms on thust 2, right? They iced him out.
That was with the D.G.L.
I don't think this time they're going to put themselves in a scenario where anybody
is staying alive.
As Apex is the first one picked apart.
Bit back a bit.
For an ant, it should be able to
just get one as teammates.
They chip in and steal the ace.
They're chat outside, but we're only two rounds deep.
And it's such a blade, time to time out, like you're 2-0 up, everything's been smooth.
He must have heard something he didn't like the sound of, and yeah, just circulating off the storm.
It's so smooth, that by the time he had to get a kill, right?
So things couldn't be going better at the moment for Na'Vi.
Curiously, it's an opportunity for Vitality to, you know, return an extra 30 seconds, X-Tas chips in.
Well, a blade was just spurting something, it was laughing.
So maybe it was more about the vibe than it is about the call. Either way,
that must be looks good for now.
Maybe even just a check in like boys, you've got exactly what you wanted.
Pistol conversion, CT star.
Essentially the bonus, right?
These MP9s carried through as M4s in the mix.
No one's upgraded into a kit.
Let's see if that comes back to vital.
There's your head early fight.
Looking for a tussle.
B-take you till here from Mikaze.
In the jiggling for info.
It's the blind spot, they find Alexi, but there's him there.
Quick to the trigger.
As he goes down, thought he had Alexi booked.
Oh, that's risky from Apex.
He's done that.
He's ambitious, isn't he?
All right, well, they're going to reset now.
just picking up extra nades, but still quite brazen just in front of Na'Vi.
The A defences the Ukrainians, wonderful.
Over towards Mota, a bit tucked in the back of Pitt.
And both of them still have some nades.
Tadej almost had a floundering right now,
but they definitely need to come up with a new plan, long smoke.
Second time deployed.
Wonderful now, tuxing the site, they're giving up the long route,
not expecting that to happen with about 40 seconds left.
Flamzie, leaving Banana to join the rest of the team,
in a lexie starting to make his way over towards speedway
let's see what wonderful and big 25 they're smoked off a lexie b he's gonna struggle to contribute
unless he goes running through that smoky wheel him it throws the flash 18 hb as he leaps to his
demise it's beyond to the side where the bomb needs to go down 14 seconds is wonderful
The ball on the floor just
rubs remains. No V to take the
first gun around here in the
third mark. Solid hold.
A little bit dicey, sure, but
man advantage. Always going to
make things easy. Interesting
little moves there from Vitaly,
just trying to walk into big
contact like that. They're the
ones who get caught. Sure,
Alexi, he takes first contact,
needs him to come to save the
day to find that opening kill.
From there, they stay steady.
And then the two casualties.
As he basically catches that nade.
A little hold here on the side.
They just move them down on the way in.
It has to be a partial floor vitality.
Really yet to get going.
Hashed onto Bear and Mikazi early.
Still have banana control. That's all there is.
There are a couple of smokes, a flash, and a HE remains.
By the time we still have a minute 25 on the clock,
so no clear indication of where they want to go,
but they might just have to wait out the early protocol nades.
Mid's been smoked, deep banana.
Now they clearly believe it.
I mean, the desk disgusted as well, counter-strike a mental game.
Can you finally buck the trend?
Oh, dang. Hang on. Hang on. That's a crazy headshot provided by Flamie.
That's an empty bombsite. It is an empty bombsite, yes.
They're going to work that out real quick.
Diligence from Flamzie, Alexi Bego, swinging it to try and be a disruptive force,
but gets nothing for his troubles, apart from Flamzie flying into his face.
What a crazy turn of events to get Vitality, a bomb planted in a round one.
You've got to wonder, is that a prefire as he's coming up half-full right there?
There's just salmon away with that tech night.
Smashers, Mccasey's head open and Alexi tries.
We've had a lot of this throughout this series, right?
These teams, when they know they have a financial advantage,
they're taking these saves, they're not risking the money early.
That's going to give them more gun rounds the longer this goes on.
There's been an awful lot of saves, especially on the CT sides.
And this is no exception to that in the early stages.
So now, Pete...
I mean, that's such a gift of vitality as well.
Flimsy has given them a way into this third map.
by virtue of a flying tech nine perfect first bullet head shot to a jumping
legase
to take a little bit of a shift at this round for the HG otherwise just before it's the diamond thank you very much
the question is is it just going to be individual heroics they get by Tardy
across the line or is this going to look well polished
well imagine what we're seeing probably not
here's the luck change from the first game of the day
I think the cars is going to have a pretty good excuse involved review.
Okay.
A different approach for the early banana bit.
He's aiming for just the head shot.
It's not an easy shot.
It's what he can hit!
Stunning start around five from Wondervoll.
Head shot to Zywoo, zero and four.
He had a slow start on Dust 2.
Oh, it was not done!
A second!
Racked up from the sniper, finds him.
Flames him with the rebuffle.
Robson's taking a lot of space right now.
He's not near, he's tucked into the pocket.
You can hear the rotations from this point, but it looks wary that this is a possibility.
You can see them, the ball is highlighted through the tip of that wall.
Wonderful 10 and 1, they finally brought him down.
Well, they convert around.
Bit, he doesn't seem to think so. Can't find the follow-up.
Apex good for the trade.
Just give it here.
Yeah, they're gonna wrap.
Flames, he coming in from that shore, so he's gonna flush him out with the flames.
Apex, you've got an auto move out.
Not comfortable at all.
Alexi B from MacAze, from the B side of the map.
behind that smoke. Apex trying to come up clutch, but his back is
tired and Makase feasts. Wonderful. He's playing out of his skin
right now.
Well, the question's about Navi, right? Okay, that we know that they're seeing that
good structure. We know the blades that bring the strats.
Makase comes into the roster for JL.
So much spicier without the X-ray on.
The second one was beautiful as well.
Emma, this has had to be incident. You get flames of your chance. They're in that side to 2v2.
And you can see that feeling of getting pumped up now.
An awful lot of major winners in the server today.
I know what it takes to be champs.
And Zywu, like we discussed, 0-4. He actually stayed for the full 10 minutes between maps, just shooting AFK, Narfi, players and Spawn.
Trying to keep that hand warm.
Oh, he's just been knifed in Spawn. Zywu has just been knifed in Spawn.
They're helping out now, really?
Oh, yeah, it's been tough, Vitality.
It's not the team who comes with no one love,
but we can understand why.
Yeah, certainly lacks a little bit of the polish we've grown accustomed to.
Haven't seen Vitality stabbing each other in the back, accidentally.
They've gone through some of the matches in the group stage, right?
There's some misutility.
There's some clunky moments.
And that's continued onto the stage.
Is there going to be more where that came from?
Mikasa finding Apex in a response through the wall.
All those daggers in there.
Unconfirmed damage to one of the three on B.
This one's brewing now, isn't it?
It is. It certainly is.
Now, it is just wonderful bit.
Robs and Flamesy are both together.
Often it's just Robs. The fact that Flamesy's beside him.
It's a great position.
It's a great position.
It gives them some additional
great potential flames.
He reveals his position off the
flash.
Well right now apex is able to
be the puppet master from the
grave, sure, but I think this
is still so tough, right?
They're very static.
They're waiting for now Vita
play.
Vitality are the ones setting
the time.
They're going to play ahead of
the flash bang because they
try swing finds messy.
Now it's save or forced into
way, right?
This is it.
And it looks like they're just
scrambling to try to pick up
this bomb.
really the best option and this is an out of sorts looking vitality right now. They've been rattled.
And quite the opposite, right? We're talking about confidence. Navi are brimming with it right now
off for a newbis. Just with the way things have been flowing. Surely they've given up one opening
kill, but that was a bit of a miracle. The one that flames you held in that tech nine. Otherwise,
well, you can't, you can't copy and paste that. You can't say, yeah, could you do that again,
please? And that's what I mean, right? If it's going to be individual heroics, then someone
different round after round needs to step up for vitality to get this one going. But
But I suppose I'm one of those games where it might just have to be that.
Quick patch arounds again.
Okay, X-Tas, what have you got?
You can't find a contribution when you're team, you know they're not playing their
best counter strike.
It doesn't matter, you're in the server right now, the outcome isn't going to change
either way.
to get them to draw into what's
next, right? We clearly not
planning on playing again, but
can we get past on a BC or D
game, right? If we can, how are
we going to get there? And they
have done that time after time.
How many tournament wins or, you
know, exit interviews or what?
Definitely not exit interviews.
I think they all won't lose to
one, right? That one coming into
this, this is where they're not
on vacation, but we all know it's
about the ESL Grandslam. They
pick that up. The next focus is
the major.
major. Well, the timeout has
concluded. This time, so who
hasn't been nice? That's nice.
How much longer can this go on
for?
It doesn't even matter that the
lost bonuses maxed out into the
next. It's just a lack of
plant, a lack of damage. We're
Looking six kills in total, and six rounds of play.
Luffy have kept Vitality under their thumb.
Chucky Nade onto Apex's face, wonderful burn away.
They will take the banana control.
Still three here for the defense.
Well, Nade's got Flameseed.
He avoids the majority of the damage.
So, Karam don't Vitality's control. Apex holding a flash for Flameseed's call.
Haven't been submitted for the embers playing over towards Trash right now.
He can have Intimate and Jiggle's clearing it if he wants.
Otherwise, the stack is in the right place and this looks deadly.
Yeah, looks perfect, doesn't it, with Wonderful on the line.
If he was to double-nade, Wonderful's gonna die to the first. It's perfectly positioned.
Opening with the HE. Wonderful on his hand. Apex is provided with the opening kill.
On flash.
Work for them in the pistol. This is Mikaze with an AK-47. He can achieve great things.
That one-shot headshot. Perfectly primed, ready, transfers for number two, Masitao!
No trade!
Katsutama Kazee!
Josairu remains!
The corpses of Vitality litter the B-bombsite!
Narvi's individual's firing!
I was hanging around so he could lose this after time here.
It's probably now Jiggle down, he can't hit the shot.
Zahruz gonna go down, surely they just run at him.
Surely they take this out at the time.
Zahruz has 10 and 50 bucks!
Spatiality team.
What an unfamiliar feeling this was.
Yeah, well, they've only lost to two teams all year.
One was Beth in the group stage, the other has been that of Falcons.
Na'Vi make a very strong case to out their name to that list.
This is it, round one, five consecutive titles.
They're not even dropping maps in playoffs until right here, right now.
And look at the vibe in the Na'Vi camp. Here they come.
They can't...
8x1, Simon Stiegel finding him.
That does give them the leg up.
They're actually still here. They know that.
Century, half fault. You don't just want to break through this.
Rotation from Bitter will be there in time.
A lot of faith on WandaFall on the A side of the map.
Well, they're meant to be cars, they live to regret their aggressive venture.
It's interesting, right?
Bit, look at the radar, he's barred in back of B, he's not playing active, he's giving them the space.
in the space and then Alexi's going over towards Ada joined wonderful with the low HP and bit with the AK
Wouldn't put a past in being able to get a multi at a minimum
Because they've had his moment wonderfuls on
It's been happening on hella mysterious they can smoke CT and coffins, it's just how much can bid to he knows they're coming now
One man versus four of vitality
The high is locked, fixed agent on the cross-set, forced to relocate by the incendiary.
It's the one that's on fire!
Two clean headshots, Flamesee finally falls.
Pits gone down and we could get that bomb planted. This still not a certain version, but all we made is fade.
It's just going to be sitting in the open.
Alexiope's pulled out the incendiary, a chance for WandaFoth to block, and now awkward for Flamesee to go down!
Bit does enough! He was alone, isolated on the set, he gets his two!
And a comfortable retake for Wonderful and Alexei, it goes from bad to loss.
As soon as Messi repos for the plan, he's realised it's fading and he's committed.
They do the right thing, which is the double swing, but they put themselves in a tough position.
Messi zero and seven.
Wonderful survives as well with some gymnastics.
James is doing the most for the team right now.
They've got such hunger on their faces.
We know that this means a lot to Narvi.
This type of a victory.
Ahead of the big one.
To show you can beat the big bad,
it would be phenomenal for Narvi and their chances.
Another season end with Silverlack.
They're taking nuance out of this.
I think they're just turning this through an ace at peace.
OK.
A change of pace.
in a relaxed spin.
Sound is asked by Siewin,
Esmezi as well,
and the individuals finally both connecting
for Vitality and Unison.
Just wondering is this going to be way too late?
It's already seven rounds to Navi.
Why couldn't you just see that save again?
A handful of rounds to be played here right now.
They want to make sure they're fully strapped
to contend with all of them.
Alexi Mikazi, how wonderful though,
they are heading over.
It's not in Vitality's best interest to go for the hunt. They know that.
But they've been sloppy across all the areas. Maybe this is one they can find another way in.
Even just some damage being done. You've got the finances, but you can take a risk. See if you can take a couple down with you.
Force out those rebies.
Just said mezzzy 0 and 70 gets on the board and impactful one as well
He's had a whole lot easier.
Head of the pistol department, currently 3-2 and only one to play.
And that tide has shifted.
Three straight.
The Nubis now into Inferno.
I think he's sitting right behind you.
How much of a return to form, good vitality find in the remaining three?
Well, as I said, they took the nuance out of it, they didn't default, they weren't playing
a reaction game, it was let's just do a set piece.
So, is there more of that?
Right now the complexion of the default says this is more standard.
FD Dave.
Still takes the space to Macalzy.
Oh, that flashed cat from Macalzy.
It does.
And now he's got a couple of flashes to assist Alexi B.
Now Flames is rotating back to try to apex and rock on the A side, it's just BIT.
40 seconds.
They're going to leave sideward to see if he can create a little bit of chaos.
See if he can find anything here, the flashbang.
Wonderful, he's pick up, he sets himself up for that.
They're giving this right right now, BIT's playing long side.
There's nobody here, there's nobody side, they just need to get in.
And they will. Just out of the balcony before Inner arrives, he's going to spot Rock, looking the wrong way.
BIT's the kill, gets away!
The front is Na'Vi, and still no bomb planted.
Bit has this fight, easy as you like, Masi goes down, it's gonna get ugly.
A two on four for Apex and Flamesee, or this scoreline will extend in Na'Vi's favour.
They got the numbers, surely that's gonna be enough here. Flamesee would have to do some xickening.
Apex are distracted, but if a cross finders are flanked on the smoke wall, there's a chance.
Nice from Flamesee, Apex, they're doing it!
Two on focus, one on one, Apex is holding off.
Whoa, it's not pretty, but it counts.
That'll be number three.
Whoo!
They seem vitality, just don't have to flow in the game.
Those folks have carried on from the nubes.
They're just getting caught off guard.
Like, ropes right there.
How often do you see them just sticking out
in the middle of nowhere?
This is vitality.
Really having to scrap hard,
But Apex being gameplay that steps up not with the calls, but with the gameplay
11 and car control
That's a hefty head.
The half will smoke and the second is coming, he's going to get awkward for Masi, real awkward, real quick.
Ouch, 30 watts to work with.
Lexi B similarly impaired.
Yeah, got a lot of pressure on the B defense though, this is forced up.
This is Chucky U-Till.
But fact-finding on the other side of the map.
Bit wonderful, burrow in, bit's going to take a chance.
Spot pops is hoping for.
borrows into Boiler, anticipating something more aggressive.
Is Apex really ready for this?
I don't think so.
House is clear.
Apex, still ready.
Nails to hedge on to a bit, but would he have done that alone?
Is the question, it's just wonderful.
An email on either side of the site.
Oh, wow!
Cash is so low, just as the smoke blooms in Almezy.
Go walking into the Vantage and RV.
More from wonderful.
Really?
House and RV!
Oh!
Take a bow, son!
Flamesy, a little women.
Wonderful 3K, surely not for nothing.
Not in vain.
Mikaze on the short side, Flamesy's got two to worry about.
Pivots fought the balcony approach.
This could make all the difference.
Mikaze ensures it.
Back turn, it bumped.
and wonderful needs an extra firm and shake if they can convert more.
Show us number three right there off the top row pierces the skull.
Apex gets in the entry. The side feels like it's about to fall and wonderful.
First one's nasty. It takes a punch off through the smoke onto Sidewood again.
Molly comes in, forces it out of pit. This is under pressure and this is beautiful Apex.
Thanks for coming. You've had your ticket punched.
the
best player in the server right
now. No doubt about that.
So we're paling in comparison
four and eight compared to 15
and four. And wonderful has that
impact throughout.
Pissed around. He kicked off the
show. He wants to finish it.
Eight to guarantee.
That was nine sounds.
Covering of a 7-5, that was a satin eye sleep.
It has committed to the balcony position.
It's a perfect position, but even if it extends, it drops down.
It's a perfect setup. Oh, and Vitality slayed it to pieces.
Marvin, so close to the realization of the elimination of Vitality.
It is a livelihood at down here in Atlanta the Intellecture Masters thoroughly underway
now into the playoffs themselves.
How you doing friend away from?
I'm from Idaho all the way up in the north.
Doing fantastic.
The game.
Did you drive here?
How did you get here?
Thankfully we dropped it Dallas last year and that was a trip exhausting is it not yeah
It was a day and a half there. I asked who you're a fan of
Out of everybody here vitality
Love some apex. I love to hear it. Sometimes they need a little up to hey you enjoy yourself. Hey, what are you from homie?
So I'm from Arizona friend. He's from Seattle
I'll be strong early and he's from Boston. We all flew in here today. Oh guys a boy strip or what?
Yeah, it's a voice job, but he came up to watch this game.
Nice.
Came up to watch this game.
So, who did you want to see win this game?
Now me, man. Now me.
Now me, of course.
Yeah, he was just here. He was standing over there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love Simple, man. He's my everything, and I wanted to meet him.
Nice.
A little bit about how it's divided so far. Thank you very much, gentlemen.
So far, Vitality, then a little lobby, and an Astralis fan has appeared.
Agically. Where are you from?
I'm from Tennessee, man.
You drive over here?
Yes, we did.
What part of Tennessee?
Johnta City.
I hear you.
Look, so you've got the Astralis thing going on,
but what's the big message you want to send today?
Fuck Apex.
That's the message we want to send today.
And on that note, I think it's been decided.
Copy all the way.
Let's go.
We need to stop continuing.
They're playing against each other.
We need to play against each other.
the world's best player and he's putting him in his pocket. Think about the amount of times
he picked him off first. A pistol round and we'll call this one done. I think the bookmakers agree.
Let's get this one underway shall we?
Three to two in the pistol department but three consecutive pistols for Narvee. Can they make it four?
What do you think Atlanta? Narvee doing this?
And from some Nezzi stay this quiet. You'd have to agree. Won a piece for those two.
Austin the source.
Just for info here. Just for info gets his. Holds the block smoke.
It's here in the game that they've been having. Good restraint being shown.
Oof, I take that back.
Quaking in his boots.
Zahra has a smoke to block over towards B with his Juba Redders.
As he assists him with the flash.
You've seen Zauru have bad halves and then a pistol round and he ignites the fire.
And it's to be spotted, guess the info.
And is he ready with the God Flash upon Zauru's core?
Blocksmo available too, Navi are not rushing things.
They've got two smokes of their own, have been deployed.
This is a fake.
It's work.
Apex is rotating.
I can't say to full commit with the Lexi V.
Running in, Zahra's fully blind.
Looks like the first Frank's gone the way in, Vitality though.
Drops and Flames are still in pit.
Yeah, they're in the right place for this.
Flames, it just goes old!
And now it's up to the head!
Watch, come on, track in!
They were still there, they didn't bite.
The hook was not in their cheek.
It doesn't matter if the bullet's in their head.
Apex overlooks pit on the box.
Stick your fuck in this one!
This done!
And those might just go down with the ship here.
Pepper's away and here he wants to finish him off.
A cracker of a shot there under the pit player.
And by Talon, they are stunned.
It's a little American vacation.
to be able to compete the same
feet as we saw last year. Seven
consecutive trophies. Well, this
was in pursuit of their sixth.
They might be cut short.
Vitality just wanted to see the
sights, but it's not be seen
their bombsite. Taking it with
ease. Apex has lost a chunk of
health there.
the chunk of health there wall banked rough. That's from beer to stamina in the
bridge in second mid they force bought this one's a brawl the marbles in my
opinion.
This isn't even the worst scoreline they've had against Navi a recent history
they did bring newt back after an 11 to 1 but inferno I think that's a
different story.
I mean look at the health look at the weaponry everything indicates this
should be Navi taking an 11th in the open just sitting ducks far too
comfortable for MacCasey. He's running at ya.
Inside reverse is the jumping MacTanor supported flashbang and a headshot from Alexi.
You've got a 5-7. You've got the mag and you've got the deagle. Do you want to hold on to these?
I guess that's your only option. This would be to the crowns to light.
to the right. They could have
had this done into. Oh gosh. Yeah,
still was another 13 to 11. I've
been running rings around vitality
in that final stretch of an
Ubers and continuing that right
now into inferno. I'm either
was decided to take it here by
totally removed you. Now we had
the choice between Mirage in
I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I
think flames. He was the only
one putting up consistent
resistance and then apex
combining with him in that 2v4.
That was something. Yeah, but
it's not the spark they're
looking for normally after they
win those type rounds. They
picked himself up. They
dusted himself off. They start
believing and they make it
and they make it happen. Today, Vitality.
Tony Jester, the fragging output from Navi's individuals has been on today.
Wonderful and bit, Imr as well, all hanging at the top of the scoreboard, exactly as it should be.
McCarthy, look, he's been here for this one, 10 kills for him, but it's like a team effort from coast to coast.
Wrapsnokes, charge in library.
Messi's only got a deagle for these kind of fights, it's so uncomfortable for him, I forget the leaping, jumping.
Mag 10, Zywa with a hell Mary, pushes into bit, an easy headshot for him, flames are just around.
They're crumbling, Messi's holding on by his fingertips, trying to claw around out, but he goes down.
He thinks with an ulti play for it, he's going for it, a Max 7 smoke, BUSH flies into the site.
That's how little hope they have.
His best bet is to BUSH the site, a Role V2 with a Max 7, he ain't got it.
It's straight here to just for overtime.
How about they start with the first, the half.
Fully port, everything invested.
Shit on Mezzi.
Apex.
Now this is a presence of banana, but Harvey, they know there is no rush.
Just one round, just five kills.
And so many chances to get that.
That match in series point.
Oh, Flames is going to be in the open here.
You can see a fast drop, a leg shot, trade from 1 to 4.
U2 comes in, but that tells what the setup was.
Savu goes to rotate, but Mezzi...
He's the man on the scene, and Apex is down, and Apex is down.
Surely this is it.
Red Carpet rolled out.
Messi arrives on the scene in time. Rotation from Zywouz spamming smokes, Alexi catches flak.
Should be seeing that bomb go down.
Messi can try and just run, no he can't!
WandaFolk has got his number!
19 tracks from WandaFolk.
Up against Vitality and the right is on the wall.
Slaying their demon.
The team they just couldn't seem to beat.
On the eve of the Major.
Na'Vi now know it is possible.
A first for this Na'Vi versus this Vitality.
Sometimes the first one is the hardest.
Counter-Strike's a mental game and Na'Vi, time and time and time again they have tried and they have failed.
But today they prevail.
Vitality, the top four streak.
It comes to it's close. The first time since the start of 2025 and this win, this win could be the one that unlocks the metal for Na'Vi.
Wonderful. His name, the best to define that form. Absolutely amazing output from him today as Na'Vi.
They send Vitality packing. They put that semi-final spot against Bedboom and they do it in style
Eyes on the prize now for now if you've taken down Vitality
There's more counter-strike to be played but you can't help but feel like this is a victory
You're the tournament favorite from here on out
No doubt about that. I've just taken that and now going into the semi-final tomorrow
This is your tournament to take. You've got some names to slay. There's legacy on the other side going up against Gamelidge.
You got to get past Batboo first, but this victory right now, sure. It unlocks what's possible.
The world number two topping the number one today.
There's still a trophy to lift.
I'm going to throw this one down to Trace with the Lexi V.
Historically speaking, unable to tame that beehive for the longest time, Navi outshine
vitality today.
Atlanta, make some noise.
But it begs the question, Alexian, they had your number of Budapest, Rotterdam, Rio, vitality
has had your number personally.
How did you do it today?
What was different?
Just mentality.
mentality, you know, we never quit, we never stopped believing and we always
worked hard for this moment and I know that, you know, we deserved it today, that's for sure.
How important was this win over Vitality today prior to this major, prior to going into this
major cycle? I think it means everything, you know, like imagine us losing today again
and facing them on the major, it would be 10 times harder. So I think us winning today,
They understand their weaknesses, they understand they need to do more now for the major, but we also understand that they're beatable and that's something huge for us.
Tomorrow you'll face old school Navi alumni. Does Navi plan to boom this, get out the way? Or are you guys going to put them away as well in Betboom?
I think that they've shown some strong CS. They were the team that beat them the first time and we were watching how they did it.
So they are definitely ready. We are fueled up with this win and we need to show up tomorrow.
Tell them something, Alexi.
Thank you to all of you who watched this.
Greetings to Espoza and Kote Katsumo.
Make some noise for Laby!
Snacks fans in the house full of it.
And we're live. Quarterfinals in Atlanta begin.
And right out of the gate safe and theory could be playing towards the a bomb site bathrooms on defense
Talcyn hypex and PR with the bomb lining up outside of monster
So while the slow opening to this pissed around as both teams cautiously look for aggression, we'll get a mid-round exec
Resin snacks to clear things out. They're the ones in danger at the moment for game religion
And look at the position of period on the mini map now climbing the ladder can have a very fast wrap around
He's just got to pick the right bomb site
How long do game religion hold this the longer they wait the more effective period becomes on the flank
And it's I mean it's all about the faith right they want this utility on snacks to be thrown out towards long
But period is gonna discover it sooner
Now snacks and runs immediately have to figure out there's nothing you can do because the bomb is dropped on the other side of the map
all your teammates dead in a second.
Yeah, that's huge. What a play.
What initiative from Piri on good plan from Payne.
Gamer leaching taken way, way too long to develop this tactic
all the time needed for that push.
And one missed detail ruins the entire round.
Nobody looking for the flank while they waited patiently.
So a recovery mission.
Two versus four.
Resin snacks coming back now.
Utility is spent.
And it's grim in this pistol round.
What a lovely performance from Pyrrha.
A long journeyman career down in South America, been on this team for very little time.
Just a few months, what a performance to open up these playoffs.
And A's calm, lines him up, knocks him down, and he gets all five.
His team wants him to chase it down, so a bit of glory.
And that's going to give you so much confidence in the play you need to step up in the playoffs here, right?
The fact that you've started the first pistol run like that, period has been so good for Payne.
Important that we see him continue that kind of form coming into the playoffs here, and for GamerLegion,
and another tech issue here on Snacks.
I mean, only add more frustration after getting back down to the pistol like that.
Yeah, it will be for sure, but you know, still early on period.
Meanwhile, it's been the best player for pain at this event,
operated players statistically for the squad.
So they've obviously been loving the work he's putting out and it's going to
continue when he opens up and starts to a game like this.
So snacks out in the conversation.
In the conversation around pain has always been about bigger, Zara right?
The fact that we feel like he could have many points in his career
going on to play at a bigger team, but it stayed a pain game.
It stayed committed to this organization.
And they tried to bring in young players and talents
and change things up so that pain have a chance
to deliver what bigger Xero is capable of.
Well, he's an IGL that showed a lot of cool things, too.
Like really started to peek around the Paris
major with his qualification there with the pain team.
That was the squad that had skulls on it.
Back when he was popping off as well,
that was the best we saw skulls ever look at any team.
So he's shown the ability to develop players and develop
a team from building from scraps to then achieving
good result. I was thinking about the Austin Major last year. I mean he has a good run again
and getting into the playoffs over there so America seems to be a good spot for Biggis
Era to perform with his squads and now there's newer version. We didn't really know what
to expect of Payne coming into the event because we hadn't seen him in so long but I think
you and I got the cast of the Roman Gaming and it was oh wow this actually looks really
good. Yeah I mean there's some very cool things that they can bust out. I think his biggest
problem has been the up and down nature of some of these Payne lineups over the years
So establishing that consistency, finding a line up that can get to a nice peak and kind of hang out there and be able to deliver those results event after event.
That's kind of what he's been lacking over the past few years of his career.
But a lot of roster changes, a lot of swaps trying to find the proper fifth player, the proper fourth player, trying to mix people into things.
So would be a big accomplishment for Biggie there to bring another pain lineup essentially from nothing to a playoff performance.
I mean, we're talking about pain as a whole, as a team, having seen them in a long time, but it's also in particular safe, right?
We were talking about how he hasn't even played counter strike at this level at an event in so many months
Yeah, we casted his first game here is to and that was the big thing for me
It was like just keeping an eye on him and it looked good like it had been
I think like nine ten months since he played an official match at the professional level and he came out spanking everyone
Really really cool to see we'll see if that continues to develop on the other side of things
Mentioned res we all know res we all love res haven't one of the best starts of his career
Which is crazy considering how long he's been around kind of one of the first players the the next Swedish show
a superstar quote unquote coming out of the NIP era
back at the early days of CSGO.
But a lot of this team is also the development of Hypex.
And Taliesin has been very, very rock solid for this team.
So some strong riflers.
And I think the development of Hypex
has been the thing that's made everyone kind of kick up
a notch.
When you have that offer finding comfort and finding impact,
everyone's life gets easier.
And I mean, that's been the story around game
allegiance for a long time with Ash as the coach for so long.
It was always about trying to find that offer
that fit into the squad.
They just couldn't find one that clicked.
They brought players in that looked promising in their other teams, they'd bring them in and they would just fall under the pressure.
I think Kersi was a good example of that, I'm sure he'll bounce back at some point, but he's an example of an AWPer who came in and really that mentality shift you've got to have when you step up to another level of counter-tracking.
They weren't really able to handle it. And Hypex comes into the team and I was talking to him and he was saying the same thing was on his mind when he joined the squad.
He had seen how many AWPers had been cut pretty quickly by Gamelige and he'd seen the pressure that they were getting.
He was getting a lot of hate and a lot of doubt thrown his way and he read into it for a long time
But he said coming into this season. He just stopped caring stop reading it and stop caring what they were saying because he's saying even the likes of
Vitality are getting hate online
So it's been great to see high back start to show some of that confidence that he's shown his previous teams and his teammates are noticing that as
Well, yeah, I think I think that's part of the reason why that story around highbacks is so cool because yeah, you're right
He does come in and notice and like oh, this is the slot of the team that's just getting rotated out
This is the musical chairs place and I mean having that mentality coming into annoying
That's the situation when watching him kind of struggle and then overcome those and step up
That's that's really cool seeing that development and that kind of comfort to fill up within a player within a team
Yeah, which being quick seeing game released and performs a while at this event as well because I know they were worried
Yeah, there we go. This is the crowd for it
And also one of those sides, yeah, they're very well done down to really good job with that one
Yeah, I mean we're talking skimaly's as well. They came into this event. They were open about it
They talked about probably how they're not feeling so good
You know a couple players picked up the land flu from the last event
So you know they were coming in a little bit worried about that
But it seems like it hasn't really affected them all that much
I just like watching snacks
Nax feels like he's like kind of like half like troll mode at this event
We had him like the clutch where he's just slamming the door on daff over in the lower box over and over again
He's just having a great time out there
Combo over cash? I don't know about that one.
No. I don't know about that one.
Didn't have that one cool B execute though all those years ago.
Yeah, I did have that one cool B execute.
So getting things checked out, snacks still open some issues.
Later on today, the second quarter final, a huge one.
Nice time-leaf thing to put the phase jacket on because we got Vitality.
They're going to be coming in taking on Navi. Nothing to do with phase whatsoever.
Well, you know, Vitality knocked FaZe out.
True, there's that connection.
So that worked out.
So FaZe might have been in that spot
if it wasn't for Vitality, but...
They could have had Twiz here,
they could have been hanging out, having a great time.
I mean, there's one thing that's gonna be true
in this crowd, is that anybody who's planning
against Vitality is gonna get some support, I think.
Yeah, that's probably true.
Yeah, the anti-Apex crowd out in full force.
Well, it's pretty important we get the headset
of the in-game leader working, isn't it?
So, just working through that at the moment, at least one pistol has gone away and you can
kill that momentum with this.
You know, you just come in, you're coming with a bursting ace.
It is like the unintentional, like, you know, for ice him out.
Ice him out a little bit.
So that ace that period gets you, that momentum, I don't think he's going to like fully be
able to carry it forward, but it will help him out, obviously.
Plenty of money.
Ah, the Bs in the airport, huh?
Nice.
Unksnacks.
Unksnacks.
Nice.
Unksnacks.
Unksnacks.
Unksnacks still got it though.
He does still got it.
I'm sure he's going to be showing his glimpses of it as well here on this stage when we get back live.
Looks like things are getting into a happy place.
Yeah, there's no more referee standing behind them.
That's fair.
Yeah, that is very fair.
I think we can all get behind that.
We can all agree with that one.
All right, here we go Atlanta.
Finally, getting ready to go into the second round, two.
The countdowns through, head sets are fixed.
Let's get the counter strike back out of the way.
Can't promise you the most entertaining round though, because it is going to be blocks out for a game of Legion, so very likely to be that 2-0 start here for Payne.
Yeah, we're all going to get it chill.
See what Snacks is able to do with this block might. I mean, after that kind of extended tech time hour, you can't really communicate a whole lot.
If I want to take this one slow, have the conversation, whatever you might have been thinking of, make sure everyone's on the same page after that extended break.
Payne's going to continue taking initiative, though, taking map control against what they know are going to be weaker weapons.
So you already have period kind of pushing up.
Snow and Biggie there are taking control of short.
Map shrinks for these blocks.
Yeah, just test the headsets fine.
You're happy with that.
You know, no issues now for snacks.
Just moving forward as a little unit past the fountain.
And for pain, you want to just keep passing positions.
Keep your range if you're right for it.
And they come in at periods.
They might just feed the beast a little bit more.
Here he is.
Line them up, two quick headshots, high-packs, and PR both dead.
We'll send the Nade around the corner.
It's all in the line, and up to Steven.
He's coming in to steal it, though.
Snow's racing up, just prevents it, but that's a full-cane from Peria.
Nine kills, two rounds. What a start.
I think all the giggles coming out on the pain side with Snow taking a fifth kill,
could have been back-to-back aces.
Still, everyone's going to be feeling good on the pain side of things due to this start.
Really impressive stuff from Peria.
However, the AK has come out now for Gamer Legion.
First gun round is going to be underway.
Snacks a chance to marshal the troops and get this T side rolling right out of the gate.
Aggressive CT setup, Peri is going to go for an aggressive peek.
He's got the hot hand at the moment.
And he's going to move up, play behind the smoke.
I like this limit test.
What Peri can do right now, flash being activated in towards the smoke.
Just about doing some downways there to high-packs before he gets around the corner, but that's the bottom carry.
A period can't fall back. High-packs, hunts him down with bullets through the smoke, and GamerLegend get the advantage.
Yeah, gave the footstep cue as well, started to run back, and I think that's the sound cue that pulled the shot.
Big Euzera knows he's been seen, know he's compromised. So backs all the way out quickly.
Gets away safely towards Divider, and just when GamerLegend starts taking a little bit of extra control, 5 on 4 for the attacking side.
High-packs sending the flash over the flower bed,
Ryze into the flight, safe, get a die.
And now we've got Game Relegion, two players up.
As soon as the guns have come out, looking a bit stronger here.
The pressure is going to be on bigger Xero to be able to change the outcome
of this round on the A site.
It's going to be very tough with just the MP7.
That's exactly the way you may kind of describe this map early on is that pain.
They got to be careful because this is a map Game Relegion.
Love to just pick teams apart.
two really early kills with no chance of any kind of a trade or any kind of
information.
Pange is no longer have the resources or the bodies to defend everything.
Well 30 seconds left on the clock.
It's got to be a save. Big Yuzera is already backed out to play retake and you don't have the utility to play retake.
You got one kit on snow. None of the B defenders have moved.
So Big Yuzera I guess is just going to see what he can do if there's anything crazy and then try a state.
Well looking like he's gonna be able to slip away and join up with the rest of his
teammates down low but that means Game of Legion have found their first round
win here on overpass. Good timing out towards long with the flash for the
swing from Rez to find that kill that was safe kind of trying to transition
caught in the middle caught in the open with nowhere to go trying to get close
to defend long turns into a pretty easy round for gamers Legion all things
considered plenty of money for the pain side of those so guns gonna come back
out in the next turn they'll try again for gamer Legion a clean round means
money builds up they get to get rich.
Important to keep five players up after losing the first two and yeah money is
starting to look very good. It's got a nice foundation led there. Hypex for $3,000
is the All-Perman reserve. It's gonna be great moving forward.
Pain keeping a couple of SMGs but they will actually bring out the All-Perman
here for safe so they'll have that in this next round it'll be unrivaled.
I like that though I like them forcing it out especially considering money is
gonna start getting hurt with some of those rebars.
VSM's got money left over that's about it so this round depends on if you're
gonna lose what you can bring out of it but no point of this safe off is to
make sure you don't do that get you a big early good shot flashbang hits him a
little bit but safe still drills res to the wall.
and then we're going to go back to the
front.
Brown is going to slow down from here, 5 on 4 on
Gamer Legion, still just playing far, far back, not
wanting to risk anything else after Res falls.
Bombs going to shift back towards the B bomb site, which
eventually it feels be the finishing play.
Snacks not moving past the fountain whatsoever, so utility
making sure nobody can flank them down and we'll see what they can actually
accomplish when they move into the bomb site.
Flash at the ready PR going into the fight. VSM dad Biguzera to trade in advancing
one side with pain but that's now gone back to a 3v3. Biguzera taking a
grenade to the head he's down to 6 HP, relying on Pumperia from Heaven but he
can't connect and Hypex sends a shot back at 3v1. This is all that's left is the
He switches up to the rifle and steps for this. The bomb is not planted.
Hypex just steps aside, dodging that grenade, flying past him.
Safe is not going to pick up the AWP for a while. He wants to go for this. He wants to fight!
And he's got it down into a 1v1. It's Hypex and Safe. Both on rifles this time. A 1v1.
He's got a kid as well. He can play this slow.
Hypex keeps his head down. Safe waiting for the mistake. He's picked up a smoke.
Highpacks is backed off into the monster tunnel.
A great reposition, a strong spot to have, and then out with the peak, it's Highpacks!
So cool and comfortable in the clutch, and raises his finger.
A real sign that he is so much more confident inside of the team now.
Yeah, played that clutch really, really well. Just playing the information game,
not letting Safe ever find out where he was, not giving him any good options,
not letting him have a plan of attack into that 1v1, and quietly waits for a sound cue.
gives it over to him and a really nice timing on the peak just as he's about to consider
diffusing the bomb. Lovely stuff from Hypex, cool and collected. Round five and all the
money taken away from Kane. A hero M4 on VSM and upgraded pistol into a 5-7, that's all
they've got. And game religion in these past two rounds have looked very comfortable on
the map. 4 vs 5 conversion in round 4.
Little snacks has already out into the sights, teammates will join him.
The best case scenario here for pain is somehow making some chaos happen from within these
smokes but they move up to clear the smoke. Snacks takes out that shot and that's the
the site. The VLVL VSM's got a massive here and he's done a good amount of damage. He has
softened him up so he buys on this 5-7. Can he do anything with it? Big Ozzera vs. Goli.
Can't follow up. Saves certainly will though, but now it's just Peria. And unfortunately
for him, two high HP players left against this USP. He'll step down a little bit closer
to Ryze, needs a very quick kill almost instantly here and he does get the frag. The drop down
20 and PR jumps up to clear him out and put gamer legion into the lead.
Yeah, good job from PR. Snacks telling him I have low HP. He needed to take the initiative.
Make sure that kill gets found. They can secure the bomb site before anything further goes
wrong. Very, very sketchy. Nice resistance from pain with very little brought into the
round. But it's two to three as they take their first time out to talk things over. They're
going to have the up back in the hands of SAFE. But they're probably starting to feel
in these last three rounds that Gamer Legion just have a much better grip on the map as they've worked things over.
Rick's not happy with what he's seeing after the first two rounds going so cleanly.
Gamer Legion get the guns out and are now in comfortable control.
We saw early on Payne doing a lot of the aggressive moves early, like pushing up here in the pistol round,
pushing up, climbing the ladder, wrapping around the B bomb, so we've seen them try and get aggressive towards fountain.
Now that you've seen a few rounds of play from Gamer Legion, you should probably start understanding that they're,
They're stooping these rounds very very slow very far back
So the plan for pain if they want to maintain that aggression is just gonna have to be measured is how exactly do you want to do it?
I imagine they're gonna incorporate safe in that game plan a lot get one shot with you to be safely fall back
So game religion again a lean towards the B bomb site
Four players here, so I'm gonna mess with the other side of the map.
That's where Safe's off is. Opening kill provided by Peria. Extended battle. Res can't control the spray.
I don't think that's gonna dissuade anyone from this B bomb site though. Might just relocate the point of attack.
back
and pain know exactly what's coming safe has been front bathrooms with his
a w p this entire round he's heard nothing he's seen nothing there's been
no pressure applied
so pains happy to have a fourth defender here
very tough defense to crack into if your snacks in game religion
Oh, there's grenades landing right on top of Snow.
Fire as well, melting away down to 2 HP.
He'll back behind the pillar, Towson coming out of monster with VSM dead.
Defense toppling.
And Gamer Legion in full control of Overpass at the moment.
He'll take something special from Snow at 2 HP behind the barrels.
I'm not checking him at the moment, they're actually giving him a chance.
He'll snap for a Snow to take. It goes out again, but PR this time respawns safe.
Connects with it off. It's still a 2v2, so no pain of staying in this.
What a long extended hit, great utility usage. PR wants to try and force a play out of the tap of the bomb.
Nobody's home over the top, now he's picked off.
Yeah, really exposes himself there, and all of a sudden, game of legend, 9 seconds left.
Have to rely upon Hypex, he's got the bomb, he has to plant, and now there's no time for it. It has to be elimination.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! That's incredible! How has he done that?
Last second to Hypex, but he's pulled it off.
And nothing will make you get more comfortable on a stage than a clutch like that, the 1v1 earlier.
Hypex is going to be feeling like a king here in Atlanta.
He can do no wrong.
Look at this utility usage though, it's actually beautiful from Gamer Legion.
Such a strong defensive group against it and they've destroyed it everything.
Everything snow couldn't find any comfort battered down the crossfires broken up
One kill towards monster because snow had to back away. There's no more defense
This is insane high-packs has had another level right now for game reaching
Yeah, you saw period you can have the ace in a pistol you can have the clock kill in the follow-up
I'll take these two clutches
To put gamer Legion up by two that round was so hard for as well for pain
just to stay in it they find themselves in the winning position down to the final
second of the round it's not even now I think more than anything the frustrating
thing for pain is going to be the fact that you had the read you knew exactly
what was coming you knew it was going to be a be exact you had a five on four and
you had four defenders stacking the bomb site that was being attacked to lose
that round and then have the fashion of the loss in that clutch there's like
heartbreak upon heartbreak there there's layers to it
and then another tech pause so let's let them stew in it in silence
now hypex gets the alt out for the late stages he's got plenty of money to purchase into that so
you'll have it out for paying you don't have anything to fight them with
i think that's the tough thing too is that yeah you've lost everything but in that two on one
played incorrectly I guess the time wasn't it wasn't really called out the
time they missed that kind of detail
AWPer pushing forward trying to get him off the bomb plant but the other player
low HP not backing off you know that with then you look at the clock in that
time you should know one player can be the aggressor to take him off the plant
one just needs to live still incredible that high-packs is able to take advantage
of it snap shot up to heaven through the smoke and now you just have time to sit
there and dwell on it. Now having a PC restart at the moment for safe. Once we get
it locked back in and ready to go the game will continue. I shouldn't take too
long. Rocky went home man. Yeah gotta gotta wait a while. Yeah you got to give me
some time for that one that request I'll get to him eventually.
It's been a very different landscape coming into this event right the teams
you thought might perform well and might get into the playoffs, fallen a little bit short.
I was excited about foot to see how they would be able to continue their form and this seems
like a perfect kind of event for them to get into the playoffs of.
Yeah, I mean we can talk about it too because it was, we had mentioned, it's a good run
for these teams that we didn't really expect to be in here.
Just for Allison, foot as you just brought up were two teams that we probably, we kind
of said before this event felt like the likeliest to make it into the playoffs but Payne came
into this and handled phase in their opening match.
We casted that one, very surprising to see Payne open up in that fashion, 2-0 win.
And then they went on to foot, one of the other teams that we expected to be into the playoffs,
beat them in a 2-1 series as well.
So that's when the eyes started opening, and then a loss against Betboom in the game that
would have qualified them to the semifinals, brought them here to face off against Gamer
Legion.
They run a little bit of a different affair, opening up with a win over Sinners, losing
next to Navi 1-2, and then beating down Liquid 2-0, and then taking Astralis to make it into
the quarterfinals, eliminating Team Liquid and eliminating Astralis on that path.
Yeah, and the way they handled both of those teams was very impressive, right?
It was comprehensive victory for the team in each game.
Yeah, not showing the love for that, eh, Pax?
No, no, no, we knew that, though.
Yeah, crazy to see Vitality having to play at quarter-finals as well.
Yeah, that's a different experience.
It was crazy seeing them be on the verge of elimination, either.
Like, having to even have the conversation of,
is it possible that they lose one of these matches now?
It never felt like it really significantly got super close in those.
No.
But it felt like the possibility was there for the first time in a long time.
Yeah, I mean, especially that first map versus phase right on Nuke,
which was close, you had that like hero performance out of twist coming in.
Yes.
Okay, the Vitality bleeding just a little bit, but they picked it up.
They got it done.
And once they get into the playoffs, obviously still favorites to win the entire event.
That's what's scary is they're playing like they're B and C game
and they're still beating everybody they come up with.
So Vitality, yeah, favorites into these playoffs.
Fist bumps are out.
We're going to get back into the action.
Atlanta, thank you for being patient with us.
Round seven set to begin.
Gamer Legion coming off a four round win streak, four straight after the explosive start from
Peria in pain.
We're going to be fighting in this round with some upgraded pistols.
Armor picked up, Deagle's 5-7's a little bit of utility.
But Gamer Legion is looking really, really solid on this map, this T-Side Snacks has
got them under complete control.
They've brought back and converted to four versus five rounds.
Even when Pain get the opening kill, it doesn't seem to lead to a victory for them.
Since the gun rounds began, it's been all Gamer Legion.
So once again, just a quick check, just a little bit of presence out towards Long and
towards Fountains just to see if anyone's pushing.
I imagine Gamer Legion yet again in the anti-eco, the anti-force by going to rotate back to
the B-Bomb site.
gonna be left on his own some away from the pack.
Well, this is the only way you get something going
if you're paying right?
Is he gonna do it twice?
He's gonna do it twice around the back.
Now, the pistol round, he had so much success.
Gonna be much more difficult now
with rifles on the other side.
And with the Deagle, Deagle's not as reliable.
DSM holding, but here they come, round the back.
Period, can he get much done at all?
His teammates are doing a good job,
and there's the flight coming in as well.
All of a sudden, Payne are in a full V2.
You've got to see Snacks and Rize pull this off,
and Snacks back tracks, he's going to die to Snow,
and now just Rize.
And he's running down, wondering how the hell
all of his teammates have died to the pistols here.
They now spot Rize early.
They didn't learn their lesson from the pistol.
Round takes way too long to develop.
Payne with weaker weapons, happy to take a risk,
and it's that exact same push, the exact same player.
That wreaks havoc and causes chaos.
Peria again. Add in the staunch defense at the point of attack towards the P-Bomb site.
Look at the X's on the radar.
Yeah, I mean, aim religion just gets stuffed.
Certainly the player that creates the cast right at the end of the round,
but even the initial defense was strong from Payne, right?
They hadn't even activated the period of flying.
He hadn't even taken a shot before two kills that came in.
So the initial setup from Payne gaming was way too successful.
Oh, I mean, it's a really nice timing for it.
They recognize Peria probably communicating like stall them out.
He's about to turn the corner and he wants this attack to slow down.
So that's why the flash comes in at this point.
That's why all the pain people get aggressive on monster
at that point as they swing with the flash.
And that's why this just gets shut down.
And what a nightmare for Gamer Legion.
There's four free weapons picked up off the ground
in that round, three AK-47s and an AWP.
Tons of money all of a sudden for the pain side.
A complete reversal of the economy
as it rips the money away from Gamer Legion.
They're fighting with pistols and a single AK-47.
I talked about Rez at his start at this event.
Really gotta try and continue that now into the playoffs with the Hero AK. How much can he do?
You've got Snow now stepping into water. He's got some backup in Bigger's era.
This is where the fight might happen, Rez.
The AK peeking out, losing it against Snow.
The AK falls to the hands. The very capable hands are PR, but he doesn't have any Kevlar for this.
Passing the flashbang off, Big Euzerre wants to be the proactive one, he's going to set
up over towards boards, he wants to clear monster on a timing.
Gamer Legion has readjusted their hit, it's going to be coming through sandbags, but it's
all four players in that direction.
So Big Euzerre has got the opening, shuts it down, wants to clear monster, sees nobody
home, and Paine with him, very comfortable.
Good kill from Hypebacks, but is it enough?
I
Puck Steppy
The couple of kills between the high pecs and tell us in both dead living snacks
One of the four with this D. Go on. He's no one here anybody really so back it away dropping down and trying to get into the fights here with that
D. It's gonna be a tie game pain gaming bringing up four to four yet next round
I'm gonna you need to do at least some damage, you know, even if you had a blues in the round
You need to get some kills look at the money on the on the pain side of things for people survive again
Remember, you got four free weapons in the previous round.
So, I mean, if Gamer Legion doesn't take anything away from them in this one, if this is too
clean of a win for Payne, their economy is just going to be way too strong for the rest
of this half, and then Gamer Legion's constantly fighting against full buys.
So, really, really tough stretch of rounds coming up for Gamer Legion, but they've handled
most of the rifle rounds okay.
Two, three Galils in the mix, two AK-47s on PR and Towson, and Snax is going to line up
again to try and get them back into this.
off out towards Long A in this round.
Actually, I feel like Gamer League is on a better job
of working this map when they spread out,
put some presence towards bathrooms,
try and push towards the A bomb site.
That's where they found some picks,
grouped up towards B, hasn't been as successful
as they'd like.
Stepping through the smoke,
some free kill,
Rice, dead, period, gets a second as well,
backing into the bathrooms.
He's got low health, but he's so confident to fight because he knows he's still dead.
Bomb to the floor, and he once again steps up to the next fight, but Hypex has finally put him in the ground.
But the trade comes through, and GamerLegends' T-side has really slowed down here.
Yeah, this is nice, seeing Payne kind of snap into place on this defensive stand.
Really well done.
The low by round, giving them tons of money, tons of confidence.
Saves gonna go for another peek out towards the longsleeves. Nobody, Holmes, two on four.
Towson still waiting for the follow-up push as PR clears long.
Gonna pick up the bomb now and now the move comes in from Snow.
VSM there as well as they slowly creep up.
PR and Towson pick the A-bomb site.
You've got Big Yuzera defending over in bank and a fast flank once your position is noted.
The ball now is crossing, it'll die so easily taking that one, putting PR in the 10 second
clutch.
So 1v3, you won't see the mistakes made from Payne to make this one possible.
So PR backs away, hangs on to the AK-47, he's gonna peek him, they're gonna challenge him,
and PR fights on, but Burge P towers in the corner and here's the push coming forward
again and Snow not gonna arrive in time.
At least the AK carried over, but it doesn't really paint a prettier picture here for Gamelidge, and they've run thin on cash.
They don't have much gold for them at all, and this is what we're talking about.
There we are.
This is America.
The full ensemble.
Lovely double kill from Peria.
I feel like there's a gap in that smoke.
I feel like resin snacks both saw the gap in that smoke and were like,
well, that's tantalizing.
That's a cool little gap we can slide into.
This smoke might not be as effective as they think it is, and both get punished for the risk taken.
Hero AK-47 on PR and fast play towards the bebong site.
Oh, well, yes, I'm a...
Housewheel.
Yeah, exactly. A bit better spot than that for sure.
And I mean, I think game religion was like, they were going to commit to that,
but when that kill comes out so easy and so free,
haven't taken any damage back off again,
now you can spread the defense out.
So this Hero AK-47 on PR can be a little bit more effective,
because the defense is going to be scrambling to see exactly how they want to position.
So you've got some room to work with elsewhere on the map.
All the way out towards Long, they go. The A bomb site at the moment, just populated by
one defender, it's Peria, who's going to be jumping over the APC, jumping over dice boxes
to try and find information. Big Euzera, Snow and Safe, stuck defending the B bomb site,
committed to it. They haven't moved yet. And off that shot, you start seeing Big Euzera
slide back, but even Peria kind of calling them off. So between two lines at the moment,
Big Ezzera is going to commit. Nice kill from safe and that's going to move the A attack forward.
Oh, here he is stepping up over the top of the stairway, a shot back from PR.
A 3v3, somehow game-illeging competitive in this round.
If that plant comes through, it's going to be Big Ezzera snowing safe to recover the round
and Reznor's Deagle rings out Big Ezzera dead.
That might be it.
And that might be it, but Snowy decides this fight is still on
because PR offers up his life as the AK player as well.
All of a sudden, just rises Deagle, that's what it's talking about.
Hypex steps forward just to glock, trying to keep them distracted, trying to keep them back.
And he gets one off, but it's gotta be Raz!
And this is Deagle, inches to feed!
All easy indeed!
And a big round for Gamelooch, and they needed that one because their life was running out in this first half.
That's the way I wanted to see out of Raz.
I want to talk about how well his years been going.
That's a disgusting round with the Deagle.
And he saves the misplay from PR, who gets aggressive when you don't need to, but look at these deagle shots.
Lovely stuff here to give you some extra space.
This one is so nice in the 1v2, and saves already been deep-tucked and brought a little bit low.
A clean up with the deagle, and Gamer Legion snaps around the way with pistols.
Making it even. Pain won a little by round earlier.
So Res just returning to favor.
Also in a position where he's trying to stop any period flank because they're trying to go also this time.
Smoke fade, smoke fade. Who's quicker?
I'll see. Safe. Gonna be taken down.
Hypex opens up the chance. Now a charge comes in.
Game and leech in. Sending their forces into the B bomb site.
Smokes are up, keeping Pain alive for now.
Find them crucial seconds to position themselves ready to defend the site for the Utilities coming in.
It's making it tough to stamp for BSM.
He's removed, but Storm Filters in repunishes the same position
and gets a headshot for his troubles.
Oh, he's being creative. He's causing chaos though as well.
Not dropping back behind the bombsite, playing within the smoke.
I don't know if Gamer League is going to be ready for it.
They might even be forced back 4 on 3,
but that B bombsite does not feel comfortable.
No, the reset at least gives them the advantage
and they're able to hold it and now they're looking for the reaction.
So Ryze is going to push up through middle, all the way up to this A site.
Actually, they might hear these footsteps as well.
I definitely hear the nade so it's gonna force the defense to make a position
Reza's actually the only one he wants to make them second-guess the entrenchment at the B bombsite and one kill would do it
Spots the information
It's forced snow to back off and play a bit more passive which leaves Pirae on his lonesome
Nobody spots PR. He knows he's right there, but yet to pull the trigger
Biting his time until the perfect moment. They move in with a plant Pirae steps forward
many member they know he's coming from the A site and Piraeus got him as well and 3k from Piraeus 20 and 6 right now
an unbelievable performance in the first map of this quarterfinal yeah God's here from the newest addition to this
pain gaming roster how impressive he's been such a good job so far in Atlanta and in these quarterfinals
he's got them started with the ace in the pistol and this is a big time round again just a small miss
detail for GamerLegion never pushed forward during all that chaos. Penn's defense
prevented them from clearing the safety behind the bomb site, finding that.
And Peria has just been the dagger. So impactful. This is like the third round he's saved for
Penn.
Frustrating moments for GamerLegion in this first half, but they've already got five
T rounds, right? A chance for six as they come into this next one. It isn't gonna look
pretty. You've got Mac 10s on two players, Snacks and Towson, a Kek 9 for
Hypex, a Galil for PR, and luckily an AK 47 for Rez. So Payne are in the better
position here to try and get a 7-5 lead going into that second half. Well I
think the trouble for me is Gamer Legion has done a really good job when they
spread this map out wide, when they make this defense move, when they get an
opening kill and force the decision. Now you're playing with the Tek 9, two Mac
10s, a Galil, an AK 47 on Rez, so you're gonna stay more grouped up in this round
And I think that's been the lesser effective rounds on the T side for game religion, but it's all they've got
I'm gonna burn him out from the barrels, but he still got that head shot snacks
That's the SM going for the dead
Turning out a bullets now need to be cleaner more economical with the right for it's now snow in the site and biggest error for the final kill
A 7 to 5 lead from pain what a start from Peria. Is it enough to win map 1?
I'll be back, I'll be back
I'll be back, I'll be back
Well, Birria has been on this pain team for about five months.
Highest performing player for them here in Atlanta so far in this event.
20 and 6 to get them started in these quarterfinals with a 7 to 5 lead.
A journeyman player, this is the best performance he'll have had in a team.
Finding his comfort zone and giving a pain leading into the second half.
Gamer Legion still struggling to find themselves here on this opening map.
A very small deficit as they switch to the defensive side and we'll see what they can do.
Here is some of the first staff with an ace in a pistol hoping for similar success here as they switched to the T side
So D-Religion going here got to a brought us up for Towson
Made for snacks a flash or for high-packs. This would be a devastating map loss for gamer legion
Their map picks 67% win rate for them 17% for pain
This would be a huge upset a huge steal if they can complete this good form that they've had
This surround goes a long way for the T side of Overpass.
It's going to be solo Reds here, he's not got any teammates with him.
He's just going to detect the information early but now starts to back off towards Bathroom.
Yeah, and Hypex ships over, Snacks even backs off the B bomb site a little bit to set up with Utility.
So he can have a fast rotation between the bomb site.
Gamerilligen's still pretty tentative on the map, still trying to figure out what's coming.
So haven't spotted anything towards this A bomb site, but by the time they do,
This is going to be stuck in this close up fight against the Glocks.
Rezhypex and Snacks to defend.
Rezhypex taking a lot of damage on board. It's Rez and Peria trading blow for blow.
Snacks waits a truck.
Snacks fights cover this way. Just trying to leap away with one headshot, but hasn't been able to collect it.
and you see pain starting to back away.
Yeah, I'm surprised by this.
I think the problem is they didn't get really good at pushing
the bomb site with their initial salvo of utility.
So I think they're a little bit nervous.
They don't have anything follow up.
So now they're just going to go quiet,
little bit of news made towards the B bomb site,
just a footstep, just to get that inkling that they're coming back.
And now the only defender is low HP high backs.
But they're missing the window of opportunity to re-aggress.
Game religion is starting to move around the map
and figure this out.
Yeah, gathering the information,
realizing it's quiet elsewhere, and pain
have to commit into the A site to close this one out.
But, such a limited time to do it now, and here comes the flank.
This time, from Gamerelegion, but Towson isn't able to do anything with it.
He's taken down, Peria again with impact.
It's just Hypex, and he has to pull off something special here,
and he just can't do it.
Safe to put him in the ground, and Epistol out for pain.
Both of them now picked up.
Yeah, Peria's not slowing down.
Triple kill for him and Epistol.
Hypex there, that would have been a miraculous clutch to win in the 1v2 with low health,
but he's already won a number in the first half,
and I think that's one of the scary things for Gamerelegion is,
Yeah, five rounds. We normally say that's great on the T side.
So many of those powered by high-packs clutches, right?
Some huge ones, a 1v1, a 1v2 later on in the half as well.
And it feels like almost on some level there's some artificial inflation of that game-religion score line.
Gonna try and recover in this second round, turn it back, scout in the hands of high-packs.
MP7 and MP9 picked up upgraded pistols.
So game-religions here in round 14 to fight.
Now this is the game of the legends map pick, you can see this and go to Nuke, Pain would
be feeling fantastic about their chances of seeing a semi-final, it was boost deployed,
PR up on top of his teammates head, he's going to hear the steps, pull the trigger now,
holds down mouse one, gets VSM and backs away with the advantage for game of the legend.
Okay, a little bit of information though, if you're the gamer legion defense, there you go, Snow sliding into a shot.
Two players boost, it gives that information a pain, but losing a player as they try and take advantage of resources on the other side of the map.
We're back into a four on four.
And Hypex has missed the cross of long. Safe has made it safely to the right side.
They've lost the advantage, it's now Payne moving to the A site.
Now you're going to be smoked off as well, your scout even has to give up the bomb site,
so it's all about saving now for Telsen PR hypex.
No chance of winning this round.
They just slowly move up closer and closer
and take away all your options to fight.
Good kills and good utility in place.
So a ninth round for Payne.
And whatever more they can take away from Gamer Legion.
It's tough for Gamer Legion not to catch a break
or piss around or even a force buy here,
by here which is just going to give Payne the perfect start to the half they were looking for.
Yeah, even Saif is kind of pushing up to try and take a weapon away and he might get there in time.
Hypebacks is backing off slowly, slowly, but Saif is clearing out these angles and they could meet right at the end.
Knife out, there's the shot with the scout, there's no way he's letting you get away.
Saif's going to turn this corner, final kill and Game Religion have all the weapons ripped away.
No chance of bringing resources forward into the next round.
And it's got to be one where you sit back on just pistols and now Game Religion starting to feel a bit of despair
for the first time in this map.
I don't have anything to really fight back with here.
You know, got a deagle out for PR 5-7s on 3-plots,
high-picks to save a little bit of cash,
because he knows he has to get through all about as soon as he can.
10-5, the most likely outcome of the next minute and 40 seconds here.
Biguzera clearing out Conn, no one home.
Spread out across the map with paint.
Something Biguzera worked.
Snacks does have a flash to try and activate his teammates at bathroom once they make contact,
but regardless, it's going to take something out of reds because the USP, you can't imagine it doing anything here.
Yeah, only if they're only that flashbang is the God flash, it keeps everyone blind.
everyone blind. Well there it was used, nobody was home, so they missed that
opportunity for the little setup. Pange is playing this so passively that it's
hard for Gamerleague to get a read of when they're stepping into the zone for
the trap.
Spotted, StoC1 in bathrooms, good amount of team damage on towards safe, but it's
all good, they'll back away. They don't like what that looks like. That's the kind
of implication that there's a few more players around and now safe has fallen.
Oh, here he is, has two more, picked up.
An attack towards the head of Snow.
He put on a pressure here, trying to get away,
not wanting to give up the advantage they hold,
because he had VSM, how Alto was wanted to help him out,
and worked out well.
Rice on the hunt, the ball plants out.
Oh, he's working together, making sure this is very uncomfortable
here for game allegiance.
Snow takes the attack from that 5-7 down to 1 HP at the tail end,
and he's going to be finished off.
Rez was ready for it.
They can actually go for this.
There's still time in the bomb timer.
If they want to push forward and try and make a miracle happen,
Res might just be happy to take the rifle into the next round and maybe they missed the opportunity.
So now about exit kills.
Well, PR isn't a spot to do that.
Come towards him now. Deagle shot's good.
Yeah, there are too much to ask of him.
Here he is. You're just not going to beat him right now. 28 kills for Peria.
That's crazy. Not 3k.
Poor Peria just adding these multi-kills, piling them up.
We're going into round 16. He has 28 kills. It's just insane the level he's at right now
I still can't believe snow is still away his second AC. Yeah, I know, right?
He's probably can't believe that at the moment as well
Really cool. We're seeing a time out coming from gamer legion
5 to 10 their own map pick feeling desperate pain starting to beat them up around the map T side starting to develop quite nicely
But this will be the first big test and gamer legion into this first gun round
This is where they took control in the first half and went on a little bit of a streak was right when their guns came out
They're thinking the same thing here in the second half, and they need it if they want a shot at staying in it.
They want a shot at taking this map, coming back and reversing their fortunes. It has to start here.
So Hypebacks is going to have the AWP, M4's a utility around it.
But Gamer Legion has got a sense in this moment, they don't have too many chances with this scoreline to get their half started.
It's taking their time.
And gaming moving past fountain, scope up for save, looking towards the bathrooms.
How passive game religion are in this setup right now.
There's so much of the map to work with if you're pain.
Now the game religion wants to mix too much into the playbook with those aggressive pushes until they've got some money behind them until they have some confidence they can replenish the weapons and utility they need.
So I'll tell it's long, feels like the first point of contact.
Russ is going to be shot by taking down by Snow. Snow looking for the follow-up. He's not alone, but he doesn't need any help because he's got that second kill for Payne.
And the confidence of the all-provided cover, and there's Rukimzera, the knockout blow. No resistance from Gamer Legion.
This is insane. Payne are looking so good. There's a Snow going down to 1 HP again, but he just goes into the open. He takes two kills along,
And you know, there's a certain feeling that Game Legion are eventually going to get into it.
Just with how many times you've seen good CT sides of them on overpass.
We've had no chance in this one.
Yeah, I mean, it's a brilliant first kill from Snow on the res,
but then the willingness to follow up the next fight.
He didn't shy away and tuck in.
He kept swinging a little bit of wider, forcing that fight to happen,
allowing safe to get an angle with the AWP.
He finds the second kill.
And they even knew the position of the third player for Big U's error to come in and grab his headshot.
So just a brutal, ruthless round that Gamer Legion had no chance in once the fight's begun.
For Peria, this is the most kills he's had in a lamb match in two years.
Great time to have it.
to have it. It's a lovely time to have it to get the team started. Quarterfinals as well.
As you're looking to make a deep run in these playoffs and get a little bit of confidence
for your team heading into the major. Yeah, certainly the attitude among the
Carshore communities get a change around the way they're playing at the moment, right?
I don't think many people were super excited to see them return. We didn't know what to expect
from them and come out and give us a taste of what's to come and it's great to see this.
Look at that get to map point now and the opponent's map pick.
Got Pyrrha waiting in the front of PR and peeking towards him, but Pyrrha's got that kill and opening
onto PR. The aggressive play on his own has not worked out at all.
Advantage for Payne.
They're so comfortable in knowing what's coming. He backs off after that initial information.
Gamer Legion probably worried about the presence over and showing the possibility of his sandbags attack.
Dude, if it wasn't for some high-packs clutches, this would be a complete one-way street.
Yeah, it'd be just be a stopping at this point. Might even be over already as
Clutch is keeping a minute, but it hasn't actually activated anyone from from game religion to match his impact impact inside the server
Some of the best games you've seen from game religion have been outlier performances from snacks as well
Right showing that he can get to a high individual level really struggling at the start of the quarter finals here to 14 for snacks
You've got Rez playing in behind the fighters snow
So, he can start backtracking just as that A comes in, and take up the same position he was once standing in.
This will be interesting. Snacks can be a distraction. If he gets a shot off, can maybe tag him to make it awkward to clear Rez's position.
Good kill from Snacks. How does Snow play this now?
Right, goes into the open. Snacks makes it back safely.
Ryze able to make it work. Also, Snow needs another one, and he peeks out a second kill from Ryze, who's a divider.
Look at Safe.
When he's second, that's the jump that opens up the B side, period.
Now running to join him.
Just enough time to get in and get that bomb planted.
Towson feels like he's really given one away.
That's the escape route by Safe.
Up in position.
Hypex is here with his in heaven.
There's a kid on Snacks as he makes his way out.
Oh, Safe from the back.
Snacks is gonna die safe again.
It's gonna be Hypex again.
We just talked about his clutches earlier in the first half.
They haven't led too much.
Perhaps he can get another one here.
the last lifeline, but safe is right there.
Atmourns, they're safe for the masterclass in this round.
Opens up the fallback plan and makes sure it's the round win.
What a huge round for safe.
We mentioned how impressive it's been.
This is his first officials back in such a long time joining this team.
Stepping in like no time has been missed.
Unbelievable triple kill in this round.
Opening up the escape route into the B-bomb state
when they encounter issues on the other side of the map
and sealing the round as well.
beautiful performance and in that round as well Peria hits his 30 kills in
regulation
powering pain a seven round lead and seven chances to close out this first
map stepped into it with a 17% win rate gamer legion choosing it as a punish
picked due to the weakness, but that weakness has been absent. Payne have come in with the
game plan and executed perfectly, and game religion looked like there's three steps
behind. Three steps behind on their own map selection. This is incredible to see what
Payne are capable of pulling off at the moment. There are steps up. There's a man to really
open things up in the first round of play here. He's looking to be a man that can close
Use this.
Attempt the water.
The position to get early.
Vicky Zera has the bomb over towards the B bomb site already, right out of the opening.
And that can obviously rotate back at any point, but with that starting in that part,
on such a large map, you feel like it's going to be the ending point.
So it's nice that Rez is able to control the middle of the map.
Rez coming back into the flight period, spams away.
Through the wall, it's a kill on Rez.
He'll get away.
with 30 kills now, high-packs and snacks, really important that the poles combined to get two kills here.
They put Gamelitch into the advantage, but Biguzero on the hunt, gets the headshot on PR.
Unlimited left. Still working difficult in this round for Payne, but not impossible.
I don't think Biguzero feels like he can do a hard clear to the right. I think he senses the positioning, right?
So that smoke is going to make Taliesin very, very nervous, but I believe Biguzero is going to try and just disappear.
So, Piri, how long does he run? I believe Snats is hearing these footsteps.
is shifting over, but they're trying to connect Peria at the B bombsite with Big Uzeras, so his
idea is to flank.
Highback swings out, but Peria's got the headshot.
Highback's gone. Numbers even. Snacks to drop, Peria.
Snacks realized what he was doing. The Snacks realized that he was trying to push CT spawn to meet up with Big Uzeras.
Because Towson and State put over in Graffiti.
Well, it's such limited time now, right? You're at the 15 second mark.
As Big Uzeras arrives at the monster tunnel.
He'll go, he'll clear right, he'll look up to the left side of the site, but no one offering him a clean chance.
They fall back, Towson from Graffiti confirms they kill, and another round will be played.
David Litch is staying alive.
A nice idea, almost able to connect the pieces. Good job from Snacks being aggressive and making sure that flank can't actually happen.
Saves the round. If he was able to slip into that smoke, there would have been a really tough defense, a 1v2 at that B bomb site.
Highbacks with the opening kill. This is the one that really made things difficult. No control towards the A-bomb side, made it desperate.
Made it so Piriah had to try and make the miraculous play.
Round 19.
Game of the Legion's sale-off just barely.
And we run it back.
Oh, Nate's towards the boost.
Snacks and Magnets are then...
losing over half of his health.
fight Kahn, VSM ducks out of it before the engagement even happens.
I feel like VSM, okay, once that fighter needs got it, I was gonna say he's at a quiet game, 3-14, now got his fourth kill, that's a big one.
Early on, 5-on-4 now for Payne. And any presence in the middle of the map to gather information for game elision is gone.
No reliant on whatever PR can provide them.
Pior trying to tap away onto VSM who does a good job not to over extend into the open
and offer up his life.
Yeah, but now that he backs away, they're blind on the map.
They have no idea what's happening.
So this is all about how long does it take for Hypex to spot this play out towards long
A. That'll be the first indication they have and that'll force snacks and Pior.
One of them will have to shift and rotate.
But if he goes down first.
Don't jump again. Don't give that chance on over it.
Came a legion to play her down low on health on snacks.
They see that utility stuff to fly through the sky towards this A-bomb site.
Ain't making it clear to which site they would like to close this map.
Flash is going forward. Now into the play. It's still wrapping around the back of the dice box.
PR Dan looking for the follow-up, but Hypex.
The seminal kept his team in its snacks for shots forward.
Hypex again.
A 2v2.
It's Gamerley.
Janita survived here and now.
And it's Hypex.
One small being the player to deliver the impact.
There's no kit.
There's no smoke.
But who else to close the map?
But Peria, with the kind of performance he's been having,
it would be a poetic finish from Peria Jr.
to win this one out.
Goes under the open.
Hypex down.
Imperial Junior, a journeyman player, finally made his promotion to the senior
squads and now plays on the stage. Look at the man, he's a composure to close it and he has won it.
No kid on top, Imperial is the man to round things out. It will be pain gaming to take map one
over corner finals. Game will reach his map pit and they get destroyed. 33 kills from
Imperial and incredible performance.
He's got them starting on the right foot.
That's one map up for pain gaming in dominant fashion.
It doesn't matter what day you're joining us.
This is the Intellect Tree Masters in Atlanta, Georgia, 2026.
Mike Chegg, one, two, one, two.
You play video games, man?
So violent for no reason.
Hey, yo, what's up?
Y'all know anything about Counter-Strike video games?
You know about Counter-Strike?
I'm on the Georgia Tech fencing team.
Tell me what crossroads there might be between Counter-Strike and fencing.
You know, Counter-Strike here, in a clutch situation,
it's kind of like the 1v1 situation of you and your opponent in fencing.
Just going in for the last stab or that last quick-scope op.
I bet.
That was good.
What do y'all think about people playing video games against each other competitively?
Oh, I love it. I like the smack-talking they do.
BIMBAT THE HOT, GET IT DOLLIN'!
Bring your favorite Counter-Strike players.
I gotta go with an OG Kenny S.
What would you say to Kenny S if he was watching right now?
You're my inspiration.
I think about you every match, but I'm tensing.
What do you think about that?
Kenny S was never my favorite, if that's what you're thinking.
Y'all play video games by any chance?
Oh, he didn't even realize it.
I mean, Jacob, when you rolled up here and you saw this mic fly,
you said, oh, I'm gonna bike a little bit faster now.
What do you think?
I thought I missed what I get as far as was possible from you,
as fast as I can.
So you're up on a media day.
I had a blasted meteor, meteor day something you did what you had blasted meteor day
Just kidding
I smoke site, I smoke site.
One heaven, one heaven.
I pick heaven, I pick heaven.
I'm only heaven.
I think I'm only heaven.
I can smoke heaven.
Oh, chill, Mila will smoke it.
Let's deal though.
Is it bottom?
I smoke heaven.
I smoke heaven.
I think it's top.
I think it's top.
I didn't see him, what happened?
I think it's mid.
I top, I top.
Okay, one MPC.
You have it?
Yeah.
fourth first half there was no question who was in the driver's seat as we moved
into the second pane with an almost flawless T side and of course it had to
be Peria after what was an astronomical overpass Jacob to be playing the final
now that is that is one of the strongest individual performances I've seen
from any player so far in this season two to have 33 34 kills in the end I
believe 33 and then I've been you know coming in with a couple of clutches
winning a lot of opening duels as well and just in general you know there's
different ways where you can get to 30 plus kills in a game of Counter Strike, right?
This is not one of those device s ways where you don't see the kills, you don't really
feel the impact. He was dominating Game Religion from start to finish.
Every single round, 20 kills in that first half. And without that, I'm not sure that
the CT side would have had much to offer, really, from pain, that it felt like they
were getting roadblocked and outgunned by some of the stars on Game Religion. But then,
to think one of the playoff rookies, the international playoff rookies on this team, popped off that
massively in his first map this changes the tone of the entire series 100% I
think we do need to dive into that first half there was a human we're saying
much more of a competitive affair there there was one round where there was a
lot going on so I want you to break it down for me yeah I feel there's one
round that encapsulates everything we were talking about coming into the game
and that is round six that we can bring up for you guys on the
illustrator we spoke about the trading game coming in for paying gaming and the
lack of trade or sorry the other way around the lack of trading from pain and
and the trading game coming in for game or legion as you can see in the radar
just to start the round right here. You have Peria in underground all by himself.
There's no teammate next to him, he's playing by himself and that's where the
impact came from. He obviously walks down, he finds the duel against Ressen. As he
did throughout the last year of this game, he wins that duel. So again, relying on the
individuals right here, you know, wants to go for it. Then you have Gamelisling coming in very
well prepared, throwing two grenades towards Snow. He survives that, a third grenade and a
mullet up on Snow as well. Somehow, some way, he survives with just a single HP. Then you walk
into this B execute as well. You're down a man, but you still find the opening on towards BSM.
You now know Snow is low on HP, Big Ossero gets caught off guard as well, and Gamer Legion
slowly but surely fighting their way into the round. Snow still a bit of an issue right here,
gets a single kill before he gets taken down, went into a 2v2, Saffir gets the kill with the AWP,
and you can have a winnable scenario right here for Gamer Legion. Unfortunately for PR,
he completely overextends with the bomb right here, and then Hypex, fake plants, gets the kill on
towards safe, not quite sure what the guy in heaven does and what we heard coming into this segment.
The teammate yelled, heaven, heaven, heaven. So it was actually on Hypex seeing him, but it was the
teammate. I think this rounds encapsulates everything we saw. We saw a well-prepared
gamer legion, clear game plan, good utility usage. They really had to fight for their rounds,
but the biggest issue they had in this game was Peria. When you have a game like that,
it doesn't matter how well-prepared you are. It doesn't matter what kind of strategy you're
throwing at your opponents. It doesn't matter how many times you're nading, snow, forcing them out
position when period is founding impact every single round you know even a
well-prepared gamer you can't do much if even if you know statistically or
looking at this game you're trying to anti-strat a pain you would actually
want to target that B bombsite fairly frequently but you can't only do that if
you do so you know those eight players will start to lean over they'll be
cheated rotations they'll be more aggressive moves made by pain because
those players typically do struggle in that B bombsite but they couldn't ever
test the A side of things and the way they wanted to to actually stretch the
map out and then you look at the scoreline right here right it's game
religion T side over pass you're leading 4 to 2 you win a massive round you're
forcing the opposition into an eco and then what happens for us they lose the
next round some way somehow no should we roll it they lose the next round some
some way somehow right an unloosable round would you consider the economy and
to me that was the breaking point of game religion got off to such a good
start showed that they were well prepared look at this by coming in a
couple of diggers you know a couple of smokes no armor whatsoever on two of the
players. This is unloosable. You
mean, I mean, it's a very proactive
move to at least being made. I mean,
on around like this when there's
nobody sort of aggressing on that
T side, yes, you get to see
period make a really ambitious
play. But they actually fully
believe in the idea. They're catching
the right flank here. You could have
flanked a you could have made that
choice if you wanted to. They stole
with you till they don't swing for it
because I know period is coming to
multiple threats, but sometimes all it takes is this one risk.
And I love the patience as well.
As you said, there's stalling right here,
GamerLeading with the Flash.
They're way, way aware of the Perias coming in from behind.
A lot of teams would fight,
a lot of teams would poke in that Flash,
but they played calm, they played collective,
so as much as I want to give credit for GamerLeading,
getting off to a good start
and showing that they were well-prepared,
if anything, pain matched them in that department.
Should we just run the Peria highlights as well?
Goss, Radit, this is insane.
Like, we can't overstate enough
how much of an incredible performance this is,
considering you me first big land stage for him on an international event.
It would have been totally acceptable if he had a couple of shakes.
I mean, DSM is actually in a similar position as him, actually,
and has maybe been more of a journeyman throughout his career,
but Peria had such a composure to him in the fights that he was taking.
It didn't seem like he was nervous at all,
and he was sort of basking in the moment,
because, I mean, he started off the game with nine kills.
He aced in the pistol, and then he moved into the second round,
and he got four more.
So I guess if anything is going to get you fired up,
It's probably that hot at the start.
That's the cool thing about it, right?
Because you often see players get off to a hot start, you know,
maybe having a great pistol around, you know,
farming a couple of kills in the first couple of say rounds,
but then they snow down, you know,
the deeper we get into the game, they'll have less and less impact.
He just kept on doing it in the very last round as well.
As you said, Farah, right?
He's the one winning a 1v2 and closing it out for pale gaming.
He takes that so nicely.
He takes that so well.
You know, with Karm, he's composed,
he's very well aware of what he needs to do
in order to optimize his chances of winning the rounds.
And to me, that's equally impressive.
One thing is the aiming and other one is the decision making for period in this one. Then put a foot wrong
And I think this is part of why they made the acquisitions. They did in pure and VSM
They wanted people that had actually been through the trenches in the South American region that actually had to call their own number a lot and
To an extent card carry their teams for the fact that they're able to make those moves probably just in actually reinstall some of confidence
That it works out so early. They didn't lose any of these ridiculously silly rounds
maybe the the 1v2 you could you could excuse in some some respects, but the fact that they they kept on pushing with that I
You know those rookies would typically crumble if you didn't make these massive mistakes because then you know big
Uzeras breathing down your neck for the rounds to follow. Let's just contextualize this as well
This is game allegiance map pick right you heard big Uzeras saying some pretty big words prior to coming into this
This particular series saying I feel like we have the uphound on overpass now
We move on to nuke can you give me some logic you mean as to why they might have chosen this map they have in their last
I think coming into the tournament is coming into this year. They have played it on an international stage
against other teams within the top 50. Now, you know, that that is quite a large range. You play some South American teams in there as well.
But internationally, they have actually found success on this map. They've taken, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, they beat Aurora
in inclusion of poker on this map. You know, that's one of those situations that they do feel confident in the style that they play,
style that they play, but it is an unconventional style to most nukes that you'll ever see.
It's also historically speaking a map where Picocero loves to call, loves to put himself
in the center of the situation, and I think when you bring in a stand-in like safe as
well, you've got to make sure that you bring a map where the rest of the team is very comfortable,
the rest of the team doesn't have to stress about their role, which makes the implications
of having a stand-in with you less significant.
So I think it's a map where NQC, the way he plays the Orb as well, is somewhat equal
to the way safe is playing, not that aggressive on the T side, not that aggressive on the
CT side, but you just got to make sure you hold up to your own.
So in terms of mitigating for the fact you're playing with a stand in,
you're picking a map you're comfortable on yourself,
which makes the implications of having a stand in less significant.
What does that lead game of Legion?
Well, I mean, game of Legion can also play the map, you know, we've seen that.
It's not a punished pick against game of Legion.
It's more so I picked the pain of doing to make sure they're comfortable themselves.
So I'm not too worried in regards of whether or not we're going to have a
comfortable game. I've seen PR do a lot of good stuff in this tournament as well.
Janko had an around that he brought up as well a few times where he likes to dive into the vents and like to create that
Kersen and apply pressure early on and that's kind of the gamer leading. I want to see
Please don't stay away from the aggressive counter strike that we've seen so far
Keep the pace as high as you can on a map like nuke and then you got to make sure the PI is feeling it
I think when he's in the entry department finding success on a map like nuke
That's when gamer leading are playing the best. I talked about the style for pain being a little unconventional
They don't use flashes to set each other up
This nuke is actually a map where you see them get into some very, very chaotic situations.
That's what they really try to do, especially on their two sides.
It's just flash, get into flanking positions, and just really create this casted wide net
that gives them a lot of options later on, but also puts a lot of pressure on those pieces,
not to fumble any of those moments.
Well, Payne come out, all guns are blazing on that two side of Overpass.
And that was indeed Gamer Legion's map pick.
Payne's pick of nuke awaits after this break.
Hey guys, can I interrupt you a little bit?
How are you?
What's your name?
Henry.
Henry?
MJ.
Alright, you're about to play Counter-Strike. Are you here specifically for Counter-Strike? Are you enjoying that?
We love Counter-Strike. We love Counter-Strike.
Alright, are you watching the tournament as well when it's on?
We are, yeah.
We're walking around now.
Sorry?
We're walking around because it's half-time. We're still...
What are you going to be cheering for here during the weekend?
Well, we were going to go for FaZe, but we all know what happened to FaZe.
We don't talk about that, right?
We don't talk about what happened to FaZe at all.
Oh
Phase are out, but they're still the best teams coming in there's vitality
Are you gonna be just enjoying the best kind of strike that we can get in Atlanta after a long long time?
I think I'm cheering for vitality right now for sure. Yeah, so we are swapping jerseys mids tournament. I like I guess so
Yeah, I mean that's that's great. I don't want to take away much of your time
You're clearly warming up to beat vitality, right?
hell yeah and yeah take away and enjoy the game thank you for having me bye bye
can I ask you before you join the game hey what's up what's your name my name is
Harrison Harrison how are you doing yeah how are you doing you know actually my
name before I introduce myself I know you man you're a legend legend legend
I appreciate it I'm doing really good I'm enjoying some contract here but I
want to ask you as well are you about to queue into the game you're here to watch
the tournament or came here to play. Both, I play in both the tournament and the game.
Tournament, tournament and then also play in the game as well.
What are you cheering for Harrison? Honestly, I don't like my Tauti too much so we're doing
Navi. We'll do Navi. Navi's really good. Makazi, you know Makazi's in really good form lately
but I don't know, Zewoo's he was just too good right now, he's too good but I'll cheer
for Navi. We gotta nerve them somewere, right? Yeah, we gotta make them nervous, we gotta
get crazy in the crowd, okay? Crazy, we gotta get crazy. Everyone cheering for Vitality.
I feel like this is kind of a thing that is, you know, we are cheering for the favorites,
but right now you're against the crowd.
Now, really?
Everybody says it's by its audio over here?
So far, so what I asked is by its audio.
It's too much, it's too much.
They're dominating, they're dominating, you know.
There's no other way to describe it, so.
I want the underdogs to win.
I want somebody to have a reason to go crazy over here, you know.
All right, it makes complete sense.
I mean, enjoying this for the whole weekend, are you here with friends?
Are you here by yourself?
Yeah, it's my team right here.
We had a full team over here, full team of five over here,
so we're having a great time this weekend.
Should be a lot of counter strike,
a lot of fun this weekend.
You're about to join the game,
so don't let it myself to lose you that elo.
So I'm not distracting you, I'm not distracting you anymore.
Yeah, see you.
28. Yeah.
This is IAMAtlanta.
See you on the screen.
Does your moisturizer suit your narrative?
Why should age determine expectation?
Save your skin.
With the all new potential.
A skin care range by friends valid.
Potential defends against the four symptoms of underachieve.
Why be a future star for just a year?
When you can be a future star forever.
here in Atlanta, but it's been so disappointing so far from that first map with play.
Yeah, for a team that has so many players performing well for them, really that first
map was all about height backs and the cultures he provided them to keep them alive.
On the other side of it, it was Peria for paying his best map performance in over a
year and a half.
An absolute master class.
33 kills for Peria.
Was a beast.
And now we're going to see what they can do on Nuke.
It's their map pick after stealing away game religions overpass.
On Nuke they'll be starting on the attacking side with both these underdogs surprising teams surprising ones they're having it continues here
But for Gamer Legion the end is at the end of this map if they cannot show up
So all the pressure falls on them to deliver what we know they can't deliver on the stage here in Atlanta
And Payne stands against them looking towards the semi-finals
Gamer Legion versus Payne at map number two of the quarterfinals here in Atlanta
We're heading into Nuke.
Payne would be so good at these piss arounds.
Thanks to Pyrrhea.
Look to try and continue that as well.
We know how important that T-side pistol on Nuke can be.
They've won every one of them so far in the series
after that first map.
So P250 out for safe.
Some nades here for Snow.
Let's see what kind of call Payne have.
Yeah, both these teams are, oh, hang on.
This is looking a little bit quick.
Pyrrhea getting up to the door very fast.
Both these teams going to be good on Nuke, effective on Nuke.
So Payne's going to have a lot of confidence taking it here.
knowing that Gamer Legion can deliver a good quality counter-strike on this map as well.
Just confident in their own ability to overcome it.
And why wouldn't you be after the first map performance?
Smoke outside to help across.
Flashbang as well to get the P250 in place.
Wants to take some duels and crosses towards Secret.
Oh, we got Towson up on top of the rafters.
First player going into the site. He spots them.
You know, it's also an off to a great start here for GamerLegion, and Piria alone.
He has picked up a kill at least. The only kill of this pistol for playing gaming will be found off of him.
The much better hit from GamerLegion coming out with a better start.
Yeah, very, very clean. That hit really had no strength to it, no power to it.
All the opening kills going the way of GamerLegion and stops that cold.
No space opened up in the upper bomb site. So, a pistol round for GamerLegion.
A luxury they didn't have on the opening map.
And on the CT side Nuke, get a start with the economic advantage and see how far they can take that.
New opening kills provided, it was just a matter of time before Towson punished them from the Raptors.
A lovely round.
And without a bomb plant, without very many kills.
Pain stick on Glocks.
Yeah, should be nice and easy for Dame Elysian to get a 2-0 start here.
There's a number of moments in that first half of Overpass where you thought
Hypex's clutches might just ignite Gamelige, but it was always pain finding the answer,
finding a way to stifle that foot, kept going.
Well, nobody ever stepped up next to Hypex.
Normally that conversation is like,
alright, these clutches are keeping this team in this game,
keeping them alive as long as humanly possible for somebody else to kind of wake up
and help provide impact, but no one from Gamelige actually got into any kind of a groove
on Overpass where they could provide impact early on in the rounds.
It was just all those clutches.
Hopex just waits out towards the bottom of the pelt. He's taking himself just one.
Timberwally at that kill, and now PR. Uh-oh!
This is badly played from Game of Legion.
Yeah, very much so. Maybe they can come out to get one more kill. Thankfully with only the pistols and unarmored pistols at that.
Nothing that Payne has to follow up taking ramp room in the kills there. Big use there. It's a matter of time.
Yeah, but that just feels like a wake-up call, right?
But the fact of how badly that was played,
you see PR very frustrated, almost shocked at how poorly
that was played as he backed into his chair.
Now, they're just hoping they're not
going to get punished fully by it.
Snow has got himself into the 1v2 clutch.
Push that bomb down as well.
It's already a lot picked up here for Payne,
and around that really should meant nothing.
If the snacks now peeking out, Snow,
he pushed him double doors.
Towson comes in and cleans him up,
but Gamelickson losing three players conceding a bomb plant
can give him pain, a heap of cash.
Yeah, you're dead on that, so you're
looking down the line as the two ramp players,
and you're just telling everyone, that's all bad.
It won't happen again.
But that one certainly will shake you,
that the ramp has taken so easily two for two
trade against unarmored pistols, against glocks.
And if you're really bad about the third kill that comes out,
and the ensuing bomb plant as well.
So great job from Snow, great job from Payne
to get in and get as much resources as you can.
First gun round is under way, AK-47s for pain,
Full sets of utility. No all-out yet for Hypex and Gamer Legion's defense.
DSM individually going to be looking for a better map. We know Newt can be a comfortable ground for him.
He's going to be looking over the top of silo trying to challenge snacks and he's got that opening kill in favor of Payne.
Good start for BSM, he had that slow quiet overpass, wasn't needed whatsoever in the victory, but this is a nice open and kill to find.
First gun round, he's given a 5 on 4 and taking out some aggressive outside stances. He joins up with snow on the ground.
Well, those smokes start to come in from pain now as well. Construct the wall outside.
The Nade will land and disrupt that sea of clouds, and we've got high-pikes tapping away.
All towards snow.
There are so many defenders around here for game religion. Three players here and a four versus five.
Even Taliesin is playing like heaven area, ready to react outside.
So, I mean, game religion, very nervous about any kind of yard play.
It's making the bomb site defenses weak, so weak.
Taliesin stepping out a little bit more. He's going to have to send down into the site.
I mean actually he's going to go ahead and challenge VSM but it's a period to get that all important trade.
There's another player at the back of the sub, but Puri is ready.
Hiteback's just tucked behind the box though just in time.
Snow comes out and nearly transfers out towards Heaven.
But a 2v2 off the back of it and Sane just dropped down into the lower bomb site.
Yeah, it gives Snow, Heaven, he's going to have a tough time.
Low HP, but he's got to figure out how to have impact.
What's the cut off the rotation? PR knows the possibility.
One slip down and now Snow becomes the flanker.
Yeah, when does he decide to go?
He's waiting, waiting for rise and Snow's patience is paid off. It's all on PR. He's got no kid on his back nor any utility
It's gonna be an almost impossible clutch to win if it's played well by the two remaining players here of pain
You've got snow out towards Deacon. He'll play first with the low health and safe is at the double doors
So that's the tap the flash comes in
PR when do they push him? What's there for him? And yep, there's no reason to he's not on it
He's not on that stick and they will not commit themselves into any fight
There's no chance for PR to win it. Pain have picked up their first come round
Yeah, really what a great performance as well fighting all the kills necessary and when things got scrappy in that upper bomb site
What a great decision to just drop down the vents bail out plan B. Nobody home downstairs
So you add that into the three kills that were had previously with Glocks in the last round and the money for game
Illusion is in a horrifying place
They're taking a very hard reset early on, heading into round four.
And at time out to discuss how they want to handle the situation, they still have the M4 on PR.
So one weapon is there, and making the decision now if they want to replenish some weapons behind that,
or save their money and fight a little bit further down the road.
Not a situation you want to be in this early on the CT side, especially out of that pistol round victory,
the consequences of a poor round two in this half.
And game religions shove all in. Buy up everything they can.
Hypebacks with a second M4.
Five-sevens in utility on snacks, Towson and Rez.
A very important round for both teams.
Both low on economy, low on money.
I'll nail it up towards silo, DSM back it away from those two grenades that brought to the damage, not connecting towards him.
Now, PR pushed up in ramp.
It's a little bit more of an advanced position. You can play with snacks, you can take the initial attention on the weaker gun, and Talcindor's moved in towards hot.
Looks like they want to set up a lobby crunch in the mid-round. If they don't see any activity, if they're just kind of waiting and standing back on their heels, it feels like they've got pistols ready to push hot.
push-hot they've got rifles ready to be aggressive with snacks over towards
radio and here it comes big is that into the peak spots out all the players that
are here that's information over a period somehow walking away with both of
those kills smell of DSM happy others pain are looking incredible on the
individual front especially period yeah I mean that's that feels like where most
of this game is being won at the moment out that they're tactically behind game
religion in any sense which is individually that is an advantage that
Pain has had a map one and you're seeing some of it still there in map two gamer Legion
They just get pushed aside after winning the pistol pain. Don't care
reset them early on
And big user knows that he's dropped down to the Mac 10 to form up some easy kills
This round speak of easy should be absolutely no problem for pain they're gonna take the lead
And they're doing this without the pistol round win, right? They're doing this without that great start
So the fact you're doing the heavy lifting with the typical rounds is even more impressive here for paint
They keep something of this tea side
And also making you know game religion with flat so far in these first two maps of play
You know like just I kind of disrupting everything they've done so well throughout this event
Remember game religion coming into this with you know big win over liquid to eliminate them big win over Astralis to eliminate them a
a loss to Navi, but a very close affair where they had their chances to win that series, losing the third map 13-211.
We've seen a lot of good things, a lot of good performances, but here in the playoffs at Atlanta,
Payne's at least neutered some of those strengths that they showed throughout the group stage.
A very quiet walk to secret down the stairs. Nobody from Gamer Legion has any idea this is happening.
Not a footstep was made
Big use arrow leading the Mac 10 in case there's a trap the AKs can follow it up for trades
But the stack is at the upper palm site
So this will be a third round for pain and
Gamer Legion gonna look to find a few gifts at the end of the day period is actually put himself in a situation
We're all on his own isolated at AK 47 will be a tasty prospect for game religion
Now under the open two kills picked up quickly for period and no real threats coming his way snow
So, out the corner, clears out snacks, and marches forward.
So, three to two, a great lead for a pain to be carving out for themselves, especially
not having the ideal start.
Yeah, they are laser focused pain, doesn't feel like they're dropping the ball once.
As I say that, missed opportunity, VSM just takes attention his way.
They wanted to double peek in towards lobby to save period, and now that's two AK-47 saved.
Not a disaster, but some free gifts over to the gamer legion defense, and Big U's error
gonna do his best to hook them down. Yeah, he makes some money on this Mac 10 as well.
He's flying over the top of him. Talcini, good spot. Oh, should have been able to handle
him, but somehow Biguzera has won that fight, descending down from the roof. I think you'll
be relatively pleased as Gamerlige and they'll get in one AK-47 out of the mix. You're always
going to be happy about that one. It's an extra cash that you can build up for later on as well.
So Hypex has passed the AWP by PR because he has that AK-47 from previously, saves him some money.
But yet again in a deficit on the scoreboard, two to three as the guns come back out.
All on both sides.
Hypex getting to go on the defense here with the AWP.
He's going to be keeping that AK-47 he hung on to in the previous round.
Hypex searching outside for what would be the opening kill of the round.
He hasn't been able to spot anybody though.
Yes, Snow's playing it super passive.
Just wanted to see if there was going to be aggression.
If anyone is pushing the red box, pushing even deeper than that.
A little bit of a fake going to be thrown outside for snow, but we can see utility towards
the upper bombsite, so they want to make it feel like a couple things.
They say we're either going to go outside or we're going to go through hut.
We're actually going ramp, but Hypex is ready.
Yeah, he's got himself in the right spot to try and deal with this.
PR's here as well along the wall.
A strong setup.
This was the setup earlier that broke apart in that second round that afflicted so much
damage upon them, but it's time for a strong girl though.
Pyfex gets caught with a flash in the open, he gets spur on the corner just in time.
So now Payne forced to look for a different answer, but look at this.
PR is starting to move forward, pushing into the ramp, attempting a flank.
Yeah, they don't have the manpower to watch the flank, so PR is taking a risk, but he's gonna get the reward.
There's a nice shot, that's Pirius swinging out, and now, I mean, Payne just boxed in, nowhere to go.
No options available to him, 44 seconds, and a 2 vs. 4.
trying to walk through the smoke, it's the only play you have available that big
with Zera, you get spotted by snacks, take it down and you leave snow on low HP
walking into the lobby, tossing off the ladder, gets him and it will be tied again
so much better here at PR using the AK saved in the previous round, the dev is
getting effect and we've got a 3-2-3 scoreline with money, not in the
greatest spot for pain but snow has 7.3 thousand so we'll see what they decide
to do. I'd see a timeout for them to talk things over as well, yeah it just comes
in right now. Have that conversation. As you mentioned, snow 7300 so he can drop an AK as well as getting himself one.
So that'll be the question is how much does Paine want to invest in this round to fight sitting at three tied with Gamer Legion?
I imagine the decision is going to be a hero AK-47 and everyone else kind of just chills a little bit. Maybe some upgraded pistols, but
no need to risk your entire economy right now with another full buy right around the corner.
Snow and Peria continuing good play from overpass, seven kills apiece leading the way for Payne.
On Gamer Legion, it's Towson and PR with seven and eight kills respectively, topping the
scoreboard for the defensive side.
Live into round seven.
And it is just the one hero AK and it's just sticking back on pistols for the rest of
Payne.
How much damage can snow cause?
Came to Legion, not giving them any aggressive looks.
Gathering information.
What's next over to what's secret realizing there's no presence coming outside but they
have moved into the lobby at the end of the ramp room and there's no one there so they
do actually have a full free bomb site to go into so they flood into B.
Yeah a little oversight from Gamer Legion I think they're going to be okay playing retake
on it.
I haven't really figured out what kind of a buy it is at the moment the AK rings out
So, Plant should come in with the cover of Snow.
Snacks needs this kill, Piria can't handle it with the P250.
Takes a while for Snacks to get the kill, but eventually picks it up.
And then goes Snow, and the rafter is getting taken down by Snacks.
They move into the retake, they'll handle the pistols, they'll handle the round, but...
Payment will be too disappointed to get a bomb plant out of it.
And they're just gonna go down.
So, Big Azar out of there, Gamerlitch and back into the lead of the game.
It's gonna be 4-3, with the Plant starting to get going.
But here comes the challenge again.
Yeah, I think Gamer Legion there said we know it's going to be,
we know they're going to be by next round no matter what.
You know, they can have the bomb plant.
Let's not lose the weapons.
Let's prioritize our economy.
Let's just play a really smart retake at the lower bomb site
and around where they likely want to have the resources for it.
So Gamer Legion inch out to that lead once again, four to three.
No AWP for safe on the T side.
They've stayed away from picking that weapon up.
This has his.
Talcid can be smoked away.
If you want to stop anybody from attempting the vet dive, Peria has to backtrack
with the utility and let it deeper smoke layers on top.
You're blocking from Gamer Legion early.
It'll force pain to burn a few seconds.
He can just come right back at it.
Snow's outside waiting and being patient,
so I think he's going to eventually turn up
and do an aggressive lurk position
when they start applying some pressure to the upper bomb site.
Maybe a pump fake on the execute.
Maybe actually executing, but Snow is going to be patient,
wait to wrap around and eliminate some of the players
retaking or flanking through Mini.
Yeah, he's going to punish if Snacks fails to compete in this duel.
Start tapping shots towards Snow.
They've got the information, so Snow no longer wants to stand in the spot.
It's about to be littered by utility.
It's a quick decision for Snow to change his position back
and he'll start throwing utility towards where Snacks was standing.
PR's in big garage though, so Snacks shows that presence.
Snow might think that might be the only player out there.
He doesn't realize quite yet.
He's got like no chance of getting in towards Mini
as long as PR is still in the back of the big garage.
Eventually they started to run out of utility towards that door.
They blocked it the entire round so far with Smokes.
Perrier is being so patient, but now it's his time to go.
All up top onto the hot Reds.
Go on, Flash Kim's in.
Both Piria and Raz blinded him so they pause for a second and the fight happens.
Piria gets a kill, runs with the trade, spamming down through the hut as Big Uzerra,
keeping Paine in this fight, but it's all about the flank.
Snax is repositioned, laid into the round, coming through the hut.
There's the kill from safe, so Snax even more important that he finds success from this,
but now he gives it away.
He gives his position away, and now you look to PR to come up from Heaven,
but Snax has died in Lobby, and Game Illusion have not made the most of this round whatsoever.
Peel on guys that have been, and Payne have found a way.
Yeah, Snack's got spooks, maybe just trying to pre-fire something,
maybe just saw a body slumped against the wall,
but that little shot gave away his entire position.
That was disastrous, really, because that was the only way back into the round.
Yeah, he had a really sick play kind of forming on that flank,
a really nice timing for it.
I think the kill from Safe also makes things way more difficult,
right when he's getting into the position to make the move.
Safe grabs one kill, which just makes that really awkward,
and Big Snaps was forced into a play.
Timeout taken as we're tied back up.
Plenty of money for GamerLegion to reinvest.
They built up enough cash with some clean rounds for that loss to not be devastating.
All back in the hands of Hypex, but we're missing that impact.
We're missing that loud play from Hypex that he had on the first map to keep GamerLegion alive.
Right now, they're just barely flinging on.
These rounds being traded back and forth, being grimy.
It's gonna favor the T side, especially here on Nuke.
And now that the money is disappearing for Gamer Legion, a loss here means there are a ton of trouble.
Yeah, I'm missing a rise too, right? We're not seeing those big individuals that have been so important for Gamer Legion's run showing up at a crucial point in this competition.
They've got to hit that switch. Look at Snow though, confident. Moving through the smoke, singes.
All the excel queues up and Snow getting frustrated but communicates the positions of the Gamer Legion players.
It doesn't matter though, as Coulson extends the advantage here and Hypex chiming in, so just safe from Biguzero left, 2v5.
This round had potential for pain, you know, getting snow into main early, it just crumbles.
I think it's actually a really cool tactic to call if you're the pain side.
I think it's basically the similar opening that you had previously, the same kind of a setup for people, lobby, snow outside on his own,
but this round you change it up so that he's more aggressive, so that he's the one to initiate the attack,
but stepping into that Molotov ruins everything, gives away his position, prepares the game religion defense for what's coming,
And you could tell he was a little bit frustrated after stepping into the ball on top not sure what to do next
So it falls apart for pain
There'd be a five on four or to be a five to four advantage on the scoreboard for game religion when all is said and done
But they've barely been able to maintain this lead every single time pain has a response
No loss bonus full of paint.
Yeah, that might actually take the ability to respond away from them.
This is a good win for GamerLegion to put the money in an odd place for pain.
So, Big Eusero, he's looking to see if anyone had a smoke drop,
anything he could pick up because he's going to back away and save the weapon.
It's the only thing they'll have likely in the next round.
Save us 3,000, so we'll see how courageous paint is,
but it's that same decision they have to make from two rounds ago,
is how much do you want to force up around this one save decay?
How much do you want to invest?
How much do you feel like you have to win a round right now?
Later on today, Atlanta, you guys have the other quarterfinal,
Navi taking on Vitality.
How do you feel about that one?
It's going to be a party.
Yeah, how we feel about Vitality, though, here in Atlanta?
You know, we don't usually have a lot of fans of 8-packs around here.
So that's going to be a novelty with the favor of the crowd there today, Jason, you'd imagine.
I don't know if it's going to help them. I don't know if it even matters.
They're going to need all the help they can get.
I think that's the only champ that could have beaten out USA.
Oh, it's beautiful.
A glorious thing. Thanks for coming out of that.
We'll see you all week and it's going to be a great time.
Back into the action.
Here in pain taken on Gamer Legion. Timeout comes to a close.
Round 10.
Gamer Legion with a slight lead and pain.
They want to fight for this round.
Around the saved AK, one more bought up.
Two Galils, a tech nine.
And they'll try and batter down this game religion defense once again.
Smokes outside.
The second body here this time with Snow Peer is going to join up with him at the hip.
Thank you, Zaren. BSM over in lobby.
Hypeback's not spotting anything yet.
Snacks, okay!
There are headshots outside.
Peria and Snow growth down.
Hypeback's patient pays off.
Goes back in again.
And the double dip also successful.
Leaving safe outside, 1v5.
to not get a conceded player in this round.
Did Snack see anything of a heating shoot?
I don't know if he pushed through the side of the smoke.
Yeah, I know.
We got into a late.
That's a very Snack's thing to have happen.
Double kill outside.
This strategy ends before it even begins.
It looked like he was coming back into the smoke.
So we'll see from his perspective.
So yeah.
OK.
He was just popping.
Look at that luck as well.
Look at that.
Oh my god.
That was three.
That's devastating.
You never even get a crack out when you're called in the round.
and you invested so much in that.
That's a buy that puts you on the back foot.
Snatches, wrecks, pain.
And whatever game plan they had for the last two to three
rounds of play in this half.
Four rounds on T side so far, and a chance for another
towards the end of the half here.
But Game of Legion, they'll be up to 7-4 lead.
Spotted the head of Snacks over the top.
Can always be a difficult shot to hit.
Snacks just two-quits.
What's more?
Yeah, much better from Snacks in the second map.
Great to see him here. Such a quiet overpass. Never really got into it.
And one of the great things about Game of Legion as of late has been Snacks.
His research is individually...
Oh yeah, he does a bit of a show outside against the Pistols.
And finally, a little bit too much to handle.
But some profit is being picked up and around like that.
Yeah, all good. I lose an AK-47 for it, but not going to matter at the end of the day.
of the day, one more round remaining in the half after this.
GamerLegion's going to have a three round lead
when all is said and done here in round 11.
Seven to four, and then we'll see
if they can close the half with a really strong lead,
with a dominant stretch of rounds.
They'll have won five of six as soon as this ends.
And they outlasted that little mini run
from the pain offense.
Three rounds straight, rounds three, four, and five.
But from there, the GamerLegion defense snapped into place.
Oh, big as Eric does, and down he goes.
7-4 for Gamer Legion.
Last round of the first half of Nuke coming up, and money back for Payne.
So AK's coming out, there's no AWP in sight for the T side, so highpacks will be unrivaled in that department.
Yeah, he hasn't had that the entire half essentially.
I've never really gone to pick it up and never really prioritized it.
It makes sense how slow things have been and how kind of like, get into a position,
they've been executing a lot into the upper bombsite,
off a little bit unwieldy in those scenarios.
They'll certainly have it on the CT side.
So Snaks and Hypex going outside for the moment.
The off in position over towards credit.
Some pressure to apply at the upper bombsite early for Kane.
Just taking the time.
The smoke's deployed outside again.
Snaks looking to be a real nuisance.
But that is not the story.
Game of the Gilda.
home for a period stepping up arriving in the kill feed again
DSM to dive down onto the top of main to play resident a great success
try it again it goes against him and now the defense falling apart with the lineup
Team kill on that bigger Sarah dropping his own teammate for DSM to step up and respond
he takes a lot of damage he's down to 4 HP but it's got to be PR and high-packs to
win up this 2v3 if you want an eighth round see if your game will each and
Highpacks in the bench, five, seven, out, oh, great quick, head shot on Snow.
VSM feels trapped, VSM feels trapped with the bomb, he heard the steps of PR taking Lobby,
so he feels like someone's wrapping behind him, excuse me, safe, feels isolated with the bomb and alone.
Yes, that could alleviate that, but he steps into the open, PR is sharp on that head shot,
great turnaround here from PR and Highpacks, and PR will close that out.
So German Legion showing up in the quarter-final, but no way to be seen on Overpass, but on Nuke, they leave the way, eight to four.
Well, we've got game religion show it up, man.
Now, second half of Nuke set to begin, but that first half they really won't go up after an overpass in which they got beat up across the map.
Here on Nuke, they plant their feet and they stop pain from driving any kind of advantage in this opening half on this second map.
Now we switch sides. It's game religions offense. They're going to go up into the defense of pain and snacks.
Let's see what kind of master class he can call because they want to force us to a third decider.
They want to force us all the way to Inferno to bring it close to these quarterfinals.
We got to win five rounds before we get there.
Pain winning both pistols on map one.
Gamer Legion getting the first pistol of Nuke.
Let's see if they can double up themselves.
You've got Snow playing towards main and Taliesin about to wrap around into the smoke as teammates move outside.
Bigazaro going to take contact, wins the first fight against Rez.
First blood drawn, second blood will be a trade.
Taliesin and PR are able to put things back in their favor.
their favour so game legion 4v3 fighting with blocks outside getting information
on two of the remaining three players of pain yeah now you know that you know the
bomb site's open as well yeah you might have to deal with this play from Heaven
but you've already got tossing inside the site one-for-one and Snatch can get the bomb planted
safely yeah bomb going down because there was coming up through secret now
they know he was last spotted there and now they'll confirm he's still in that
position safe just waiting at heaven trying to jump get some information and
and just really send himself out into the fight, but it hasn't worked.
So, despite Big Euzera getting the opening frag, if this pisses around,
it'll be Gamer Legion, who end up winning both pistols here on Nuke.
Yeah, I think maybe a little bit too much of a reaction off that first contact
and first kill from Big Euzera.
The period push in towards the hut pretty much immediately right out of the gate.
They didn't realize that they didn't have the full picture of what was happening on the map,
so the Gamer Legion lurkers come right back into this round and snatch it away.
Both pistols now for Gamer Legion and they're up 9-4 with economic advantage as well.
Everything you'd need to close out this second map is there.
Everything you need to force us to Inferno, Gamer Legion has on their side at the moment.
It's gotta be a great force by here for paint.
Double scouts coming out. You've got safe and vs. M rocking them
From us here for bigger Zara deagle for a period 5-7 for snow
But this I mean this this really feels like kind of the entire half of the high tire map
I kind of lends itself to this one if you don't win this you're gonna have a similar by moving forward or even less
Well strong tag through the smoke snacks gonna be down to low HP
The safe is still on the prowl outside, but not connecting any further shots just yet
But any information seeing heads crossed towards secret. Yeah dangerous cross back against the fence with a with a wall
That's very close up
And they're not gonna like that smoke as it pops they want nothing to do with it snacks
They want to took the tag from that scout earlier, but now they're gonna get funneled white right back into the arms of safe
They're gonna have to have a decision to make do you want the battle moving forward where you know
There's likely a stack on the other side of the smoke or do you want to fall back and deal with the scout?
Minute on the clock.
Game religion paused for the time being.
Big Ezzera making his play forward, clearing out Lobby.
This is what hurt game religion on Overpass though, was the slow rounds that gave so much time to pain to figure out what was happening and position themselves appropriately.
And this is still taking a very long time.
Big Ezzera is almost wrapped all the way around through yard. You're no longer dealing with just the scout.
Big Ezzera is like, you can rotate. I'm actually gonna get some free kills.
get some free kills.
This is exactly what you were talking about though.
Like this is the same as period of flanking
in the monster, getting in on the flank,
because they're up and safe.
Chime in and kills here for pain
and safe then drops into the back of the site.
25 seconds left for game releasing
to try and get in towards the site itself,
but they take another tag on board.
Safe goes out, he finishes off high-packs,
he's being run down by the bomb who's spilled.
And now you've got to try and come back into this
if you're game releasing and fight on multiple fronts.
Two players at heaven.
get to reveal both players up there though.
The plant will be coming through, snow goes forward,
nearly catching the perfect timing, but it will work out.
Towson alone has to win it here for Gamer Legion.
VSM searching for him inside of hotbed.
Towson is quickly repositioned.
He didn't realize he jumped away.
He was looking inside the bombsite.
That was a chance miss.
And VSM over the top,
and the lead more than anything for Gamer Legion.
Towson tried to fire up the crowd,
but that's just a sigh of relief for Gamer Legion
that they pull that one off.
Oh yeah it is, that got very close, very, very sketchy, very disorganized, a great recovery.
So, game religion could breathe a sigh of relief and for Payne, that was an all-important round.
You're sitting at 4-10, probably not feeling super motivated, you had such a great flight to buy.
I mean, it seemed a great flight to kind of achieve that situation, that harassment as he comes around.
You're down on pistols again here, Payne, just as you were highlighting in the previous round.
That felt so important for the half through for Pan-Gaming.
And it's heartbreaking how close it comes.
But Telsen is safe. Game of Legend here.
And kept that dream of him from a wide open.
It just looks like we're going that.
And Rez has already made his way down secret.
Who had fast? Okay, five on four.
Good shot from Big Euzera.
He can drop down.
Rez hasn't turned that corner yet.
They know players cross. Rez was loud about it.
So more players, more defenders coming down to defend the B-Bombsite in secret.
He got Big Euzera.
He's got the eagle out for a spin again.
second kill but gonna be tough. He drops back in on the side. There's three defenders here,
two two defenders here. Rez has connected on to big Azera they know where VSM is.
They have a Molotov for this position as well so they're gonna point them out taking their time.
Oh my god he can actually just stay in the same position and they know that.
Sending 18 they're gonna be distracted which sets up safe for a kill but a 5-7 to snow needs
something and there'll be nothing. Tell you what two kind of sketchy rounds though from
from gamer legion the previous one that they almost lost this one had elements of a stack
kind of shutting down their attack. Good for them to get away with the victory again having
to fight themselves out of a tough scenario. So period is going to pick up the weapon dropped
by big user is killed earlier that's a free rifle moving forward. And at four to eleven
pain can't give away any of the gifts that they're able to find that's a weapon that's
going to be valuable. Yeah but regardless they will get themselves up to eleven rounds
to a gaming legion, even if it did look scrappy of the last two.
Period. Honestly, with his team not performing as well either,
he hasn't been able to keep up that performance from overpass.
No, both teams dominating the opposition on the other team's map pick.
Yeah.
Going into maps.
And I mean, this one was a little bit more reasonable in terms of how the history of both these teams on the map
Payne having a bit of a new lineup with a couple of players chopped and changed,
same with Gamer, Legion, one or two in.
All right, what do we got here? What are we doing?
Nice, I just appreciate you getting faked true. I'd rather you never fake it Jason. Yeah, the bar is low
I'm not big into that
Round 16, it's 11 to 4
Last to Raw for Payne Gaming here on Nuke.
Oh my god.
He's coming to VSM.
Okay, he's got himself the all-gallie.
He's taking it for a spin.
Ah, he's under a lot of pressure now.
He's called his teammate over.
Safe to try and help him.
And the AWP will try and make it.
So, Snax is gone.
So is VSM.
And Safe.
He's got another one.
And you better believe he does.
And he's actually landed that one too.
Oh, he gets away with it.
All right.
Style points for safe as he holds down the ramp room.
Oh, if you're going to have a moment to ignite the team,
it's not some kind of crazy clutch.
It's not going to get you out of your seat,
but a rock solid performance from safe,
shutting down the ramp attack.
Gamer legion trying to end the map.
It felt right there with an uppercut rush towards ramp room.
And Payne was ready.
So Snacks calling on the fly, vibe calling.
Shut down, and now Rez is left in a tough situation,
with four players alive still for Payne, too.
If they capitalize on this, great job growing the money.
And there goes Rez, found by Big U's error.
Safe gets paying their fifth round on the board.
And let's see if they can turn that into something worth
talking about.
Step one for Payne.
Long road back into it.
Gains of that first step.
AK for Rice.
The rest on.
The blocks are a P250.
I like this.
I like this as well, from game religion,
the choice to just go for the here,
Lake and Res and not invest too much around it.
You could have bought some tech nines.
You could have on a Mac 10 made this interesting.
See if you can steal around away at the upper bomb site.
But you have such a lead and you want
to maximize the full buy rounds you have.
So trying to have a round with a little bit of danger,
but set yourselves up for the future.
Also may say a lot more difficult for us not having any support whatsoever
Well, let's see what he can do with just the brawn of the 8k 47 and nothing is period held a good angle spotting the legs early of
Razz
He will fall into the hands of many players here on game of League
Eventually getting a kill but it's the block of PR for this fast success on period who picks himself up a 3k
PR left on low HP caught by safe suppressor maneuver through the ramp room the close
And it's 11 to 6 so pain gaming with some life left in them yet
Here we go
The rarely seen crowd upgrade
No, you don't get that one too often. That's a new trend
We've got 11 6 the school I game in Legion
That's what you were mentioning, you know, saving most of the money so that you can get a buyout here, but it has left Rez without an AK.
He's only got a DEagle for the time being. Oh, Hypex!
It's important that he got that kill because he burns away instantly after.
Say, a trade, Hypex and Saniko, blow for blow.
Yeah, he falls into the hands of snacks.
Yeah, he just wants to make sure nobody's going to be able to recover it, give it over to Rez.
Oh, he didn't have a gun to start this round.
It's just a DEagle.
The fortunate thing is, off that kill, there's no one taking space outside for Gamer Legion,
so they're happy to leave it as a point of danger and go elsewhere.
Talcim might have a gift to walk right into his crosshair.
BSM Shadow shows, still loses the fight, and PR goes 2 for 1.
Double kill.
Ramp is wide open.
Yeah, let's put them in the spot to try and get them out point to your Gamer Legion.
A 3v2 to close on.
It's going to be a bigger zero in snow.
Pull this one off together.
And you're kind of isolated. There's no way to really join up and watch everything you would need to.
So Snow is going to tuck himself behind the box.
Sorry about the wrong angle, though.
Yay, it's easy kill for PR. That's the third in the round for him.
Upper bombsite over Ron and GamerLegion's offense gets them up to 12.
Big 0 up.
Stepping up from secret stairs, clearing up towards garage, but no one going to offer up their life here for GamerLegion.
for game religion, they want to make sure they stabilize, they keep three players up,
they don't have a huge amount of cash either, so make sure you're buying the extra onus
as good as possible to ensure you a chance to close out a 13-6 win on Nuke.
And I think Biggie Zerr would have the knowledge as well that money's a little bit busted,
so I mean if you grab any exit kills, if they try and evacuate outside 3 yard, Biggie Zerr
can even out of a victory do a lot of damage to game religion, but they go elsewhere.
Yeah, back in the way safely, all the way towards T spawn, and we'll carry those weapons
over, high-packs look at his AWP back, Resil go to the AK-47, but this is what you wanted
to see from Game of Legion, right? You want to see PR and Taliesin actually getting into
the games, you know, your rifling engine showing up at some point in this quarter-final. It
was so disappointing to see them play on the first map, but a big part of that, you have
to say, was definitely the strong start. The paint came out of the gates, absolutely swinging.
I guess some time to actually get into the game here, both pisterons picked up from
Yeah, we didn't see that rifling, the rifling engines come online on overpass for game religion
because the individuals of pain shut them down in the openings, you know, pretty much
every single time.
Those first steps, it felt like pain was always winning and the strength of game religion,
the first map was the high-packs clutches.
Now you're starting to see those riflers provide some impact.
Strong stands on the CT side, now here able to find some picks and work themselves in
a good situation.
Yeah, and that's going through the confidence back into the mix here for game religion as
well when you come into the second map.
get banged down on overpass usually a comfortable affair for you guys you come
into the you can you stabilize you shall okay this this is the car so we've
been playing over the last while more of what we expected to see out of them
today as well coming into this was shocking to see them a little bit flat
very quiet on overpass so how many rounds are gonna take for them to close
it out they got six chances to bring us to inferno as a third map this side or
in these quarterfinals the snacks to me on 25 kevlar right now he buys on that
Definitely have money to upgrade.
No one outside for Gamer Legion. Safe looking for it.
Little gap in the smoke caused by the break.
Sees nothing.
Gamer Legion lined up like they want to hit the upper bomb site.
VSM once again.
Back of the ramp. Is it a very quiet quarter final?
And he silenced again.
Again, high-packs to drop in as he's opening at the ramp room, and you're going to see
Gamelitch and Flood in.
Losing such an important part of the map so early in the round is going to feel you spread
in if you're paying.
You've got to rotate the player down lower.
Well, Snow's going to wait over towards control side.
No indication yet that they're committing to this bomb site, but Snow has no backup whatsoever.
There's the smoke to block his vision.
utility in to find a safe, comfortable lower bombsite, get that bomb planted, and it'll
be a full on full retake.
Peria wants to challenge towards Decombe, just be a nuisance for the moment.
And right now, Gamer Legion trying to have a conversation of how they want to handle
this.
Yeah, plant being locked through.
Ball that's smacked down on the ground.
It's got to be a fight for a retake just to stay alive a little bit longer.
Snacks doesn't want this to happen, but he's going down.
It's Towson instead toppling two and taking Game of Legion 2 and Furno, it's safe 1v3.
The only player that can do anything about it and he will be denied.
Game of Legion bounce back, Hypeback stands up, that's more like it from Game of Legion, they will see map 3.
It was the height of the 1960s, the space race was heating up and the wards were never
The Beach Boys and their hip-new genre of South Rock were about to burst onto the airwaves as Americans demanded the end of rock and roll.
It was an era for change, an era for elevation, an era of the brave.
North American Counter-Strike was alive and well with Cloud9 and Liquid featuring American Maid, Canadian Supplemented Iron.
Brazilian Counter Strike was already in full swing, and Scream found himself playing alongside the French.
It was the dawn, the early embers of the looming Astralis era,
that in the small manufacturing town of Oakland, a new miracle was about to take shape.
NIP signed newcomer Reds in the hopes that he could take the disgraced Nip Squad to new heights.
The only title the once illustrious squad could still defend was in Oakland.
The final bastion of a bygone age. Expectations were low, but morale could not have been higher.
The old kings of forest get right and exist had a point to prove.
But not even they could have expected what happened next.
Frederick Sterner came into the event with bookies baffled as to the young Swedes' inclusions.
Groud looked on, unprepared to put their fate in someone so unproven,
unknowing and uncertain. These were the times.
He exploded into the event, tanning heads every step of the way.
It might have been the swinging 60s, but all anyone was talking about was the new hot
up and cover.
An MVP performance like no other, finishing as the top rated player in the event who
made the playoffs.
No one could keep up with him, as Carragant, Nico, Grave, and Guardian, alongside Olafmeister
would learn in the grand finals.
Rez and Forrest felt inspired by these performances and so in the final put forward his best performance yet.
The Ragtag team of Rez and Forrest evoking memories of better, brighter tides in NIP's past.
In what was described as the greatest bestified final of all time, NIP battled back against FaZe Clan in the grand finals.
A lesson they would surely remember, an experience they would never want to repeat.
ended the event giving NIP their last and the trophy win and true visionary and true believer and a new golden age for Swedish counter strike
I'm gonna kill, I'm gonna kill!
Nice!
I don't see more, one more!
One more in door.
One more.
I need to take cover, I'm gonna check.
Chill, radio.
Don't die if you don't need to.
He's healing back, I think.
I think I have him.
Nice.
XT.
10 seconds, 10 seconds!
You need to pop back, get it, get it.
10th floor.
Out of the house.
I have him, I have him!
I have him, I have him, scout!
Nice!
Let's go, go, go, go!
That was fun.
That was it.
Payne dominated on Overpass, but Gamer Legion clapped right on back on Nuke.
Both teams now one map apiece on each other's map picks,
and we do need Inferno to be separating them in this quarterfinal,
but not before myself.
Fresbiz, Yuumi and Pym break down this one.
This was an impressive, but necessary bounce back for Gamer Legion.
Yeah, very much so.
So, good to see Gamor Legion turning up and playing the brand of counters right that we've seen so far throughout this tournament.
I was a little bit worried after the first map where it felt a little bit lacklustre on the side of Gamor Legion,
but the instantly bounced back naturally helped by winning the pistol, naturally helped by winning all the key rounds of this game.
I think if you were to dissect it, you would take round 14, which we just saw a bit of a recap of as well.
Every single time Gamor Legion were in a position where they could lose control of the map, they would win instantly the next key round.
key round and I think that was a pretty telling for me as to who were the better team here in Nuke.
I think there were some early warning signs though for GamerLegion coming into this map.
You could see, I mean, what they were against full glocks in 1AK, they gave complete ramp control
and actually allowed just a free access 5 on 5 B take. You know, there were, I think, moments
where you could tell players were maybe shelling up a little bit on that GamerLegion side, but
you could tell the prep work is there as well because they were trying to be very disruptive
outside. If you look at pain demos on this map, they constantly try and work outside as a like
like pivotal points to get themselves into bomb sites.
And once they started to get locked down
because Snatch was trying to be disruptive
or getting some support from Rez,
it did feel as though they'd ran out of options
because then they have to run into PR,
who also had a fantastic game.
And that's the thing, right?
For game legion, we were praising it so much
in the group stage, the preparation
that you alluded to, you knew, right?
I think the perfect example of that was against Navi
on their kind of home turf of ancient,
seeing them being able to put in some of that preparation
actually into practice and execute it perfectly,
That was really nice to see.
Super, super nice, you know, and it's again, it's a team effort.
It's not necessarily about one player popping off or one player dominating his area of the
map that then opens up for the rest of them.
I think the prep goes without saying that when you have a team who's all buying into
it, it works much, much better.
This time around, we speak about PR bounding back, having a great game.
Speak about Towson as well.
A player we haven't mentioned, you know, at any point throughout this game so far, also
finding an incredible amount of impact.
Even Snacks had a bit of a Snacks of 2017 moment with the AK-47 in the yard where he's just tapping away and feeling like the best player on the server.
So one thing is the preparation, but it's more so the entire team buying into it and the victory, or sort of like the impact, can come from a lot of different directions.
Yeah, and I think when players start to find that success, you can tell the fire just starts roaring for the Gamer Legion side, which is absolutely necessary.
Because, I mean, they said on the casp, you said on the desk, it's just a flat start from Gamer Legion coming into the series.
And I think the real problem now for pain is that listen if the two if thousand and PR the guys have start stepping up
You're moving into a map where anchors actually are really pivotal and both those guys are on separate bombsites
There there will be no weak side. Oh 100%
I mean, let's bring up some of those PR highlights so we can kind of bask in them
Right, I'm curious as to your perspective you me obviously when PR was kind of coming on to the scene for game
Allegiant everybody was counting him as like the next big thing obviously
We don't know what happened with some of the rumour transfers over some of those off periods
But in terms of PR delivery in this map, obviously instrumental, but just overall, do you feel like you want a little bit more of this version of PR more consistent?
I just think coming into this year because of all the rumors, and I think there probably was something happening in the back end, once that fell true, he started this year pretty terribly.
He didn't get the impact you wanted. You saw him fumble, make bad decisions very frequently.
I think this event and maybe the event prior as well, I'm starting to see that resurgence
informed from him and his, I think he's regained his composure.
Actually a like in his career, kind of similar to Lawn X on foot, where once upon a time
he was on Sprout, really big prospects that I think his transfer got blocked on that team
and then they start to see a deterioration in his performance as well.
But we see how mature he is now and how much of an impact player he is now.
So in terms of career arts, maybe those two have some parallels to draw.
I can't remember whether it was a quote or a tweet coming out of PR when he was saying,
you know, you hear certain things happening, rumored to be you, and it doesn't come to
a version like, ouch, that must hurt.
Yeah, I think he was pretty disappointed, you know, because also the prospect of gamer
leaving that point, you know, losing Ash as a coach, the entire team, not really sure
what direction they were going at.
I think PR were looking on his way out, so to speak.
So I can, I can somewhat understand why it took him a bit of time to get into the groove
again and why it took him a bit of time to maybe believe that the gamer leading project
was one that he needed to buy into, but he's also instrumental into their success.
We saw in the beginning of the year when he was struggling, Game Religion is struggling.
He's the player that is involved the most in opening duels.
He's the most explosive player on the server as well whenever he's on the team.
So I think PR playing well and PR believing in Game Religion, that was the most important
task Snacks had to do when he came into the line.
So that's always been the difficulty for a team of Game Religions calibers, that they've
kind of floated within this sort of 10 to 20 bracket rankings where they never seem to
to be able to punch that much higher up, maybe you get a playoff appearance every now and
again and you think, oh, maybe this could be the moment, but if you see the team is not
being able to make that progress, then if you start getting offers, if those rumor transfers
do actually happen, then, yeah, of course, you're kind of hoping that you can escape
a stable ship, I suppose.
Yeah, let's go back to the first half of this one though.
CT started the game, what did you pick out for us?
I mean, this was just a moment that I thought the game started to shift because it felt
like the options were drying up for the pain side. When you have, you know, this is the
moment where snacks actually creates some chaos towards outside. And I did note it as
a pivotal point for this pain gaming roster because you see them take a lot of dry fights.
They try to flash through smokes. They try to be tricky. And if we're going to attribute
anything about snacks, he is tricky. Once this wall goes down, because pain had actually
been looking for these later timings in the half, we had seen previously snacks trying
play around the red box and then
got picked off by the player on top
side, this time he played in
garage. And once that second wall
comes down, he just lines himself
up in a position and just as
that's all looms two headshots
instantly. But this was the next
part of the equation is that when
they lose outside, that is the
response from pain is that they
start hunting and searching
either towards ramp and hut and
highbacks already have an
advanced position. So I mean, I
just think this is a really well
put together around in and I think
they identified as well that pain
were playing with the same pace
that they'd had in some of their
game where they took control of it. In the beginning it was back and forth, the
game legion definitely had a couple of rounds that could have slipped out of their hands,
but at this point you win this one, you put the economy into the bin, you go up six to four,
you then move into the second half, you win the pistol round, you convert, you're now leading
10 to four, and then as I said round 14 to me, that was the breaking point. You have a 2v1,
you had the pain gaming with upgraded pistols, you know, forcing their way into the game,
that was the last chance they had of remaining competitive to some degree, and it was just
every time there was a key round in this game, it would side the way of Game of Legion and that's why
we never really got a closer or a tense game. Well, it is the deciding map, that is going to be in
final, gentlemen. Quick thoughts, where do you think this one is going? I'm still leaning towards
Game of Legion, I think the stability they've shown throughout this tournament for me is what's
going to give them the action on Inferno, I've also seen them play well, play very aggressive
which, I've been speaking to Janko about it a couple of times, the T side pace coming out for
Game of Legion is something that's tough to deal with if you're paying, I suppose. I can't see why
I should be competitive, but eventually one side or another I'd go with game allegiance. My eyes are just on period
You can't have an insane first map and then just be okay for the rest of the series
He's gonna be important as well. He's the appartments players. He's he's he has to create that chaos
Well, a very exciting third map does await but not before we had things to a short break when we return
It's inferno between pain and game allegiance is a side who is heading to the semis here in Atlanta
I
I welcome to the Jason Rogan experience as a man obviously who's very obsessed with
what he puts into his body being that my body is a temple.
I'm excited to have you here because we obviously get to talk to someone who's been
so good in terms of not aging.
Yeah, how have you managed to stay so long as the young veteran?
I mean, I think I do. I put a lot of effort in my health and keep my face really young as it is.
I can tell.
Yeah. So I think a big part of it is probably my resident here in Sweden, living in Sweden,
trying to stay away from the sunlight as much as possible, staying indoors, playing a lot,
online tournaments. Like I don't try to go out ever almost. I stay inside,
keep away from the sun to keep myself young.
It's it's an interesting strategy too because a lot of people try and qualify to stay in more events and go deeper in tournaments
But you're sitting there like you can you can lengthen your career if you just don't go deep into the playoffs
Yeah, I don't understand like why people don't focus more on this like yeah, this is like the most important thing in life
I think you said looking young and they're put a lot of mileage on their bodies on mileage
Oh, you obviously don't have to carry with you, which is great. Yeah
Yeah, I think this is the most important part of me like this is what defines me
Can we talk about diet a little bit because out here in Sweden obviously you guys have you guys have this beautiful land and I'll be
known for your moose meat.
That's an important point actually.
I think I usually go on weekends
after we play our online qualifiers.
I used to go out hunting with my friends.
That's a big part of keeping my body as it is.
Right.
Now talk to me a little bit about the whole fish thing.
You guys have this fermented fish.
I imagine that has to do something
with keeping the skin clear, all that fish oil.
You don't even take the supplement.
You just get it right from the can.
No, I go to the sea.
Richard yes, I wish I straight from the source, you know, and I eat it raw. That's beautiful. Yeah, that's perfect
Okay, I like it now. I would say like for me. Have you ever looked into like stem cells?
So for me like I'm really a big fan a big proponent of stem cells and big proponent of the ice bath in the morning
You're talking about the moose meat. I've had that as well
All of this seems to just do great stuff for for keeping the longevity of what you're of how you're looking young
Which is something that you've been able to accomplish stem cells. I don't believe in that that much. I would say I
I would say it's probably just the Swedish atmosphere is all you need.
Now one thing that I've heard that this has been a little bit of a conspiracy but I wanted to talk to you about it.
You were in the NIP roster for so long while Swedish Counter-Strike was struggling to bring in new players and new people.
Now I've heard that you have some kind of a thing going on where you actually kind of take the power, the life force of the younger Swedish players coming up to the scene
to make yourself a little bit more powerful and longevity.
Like I, when I play with young players, I try to always,
the first thing I look at when I get a new young project in my team is like,
how do they keep themselves young?
And if you take that away from them, then all of a sudden you will get to reap all the rewards.
Yeah, of course. That's the, I think that's the point of everything and for my career.
Well, that's beautiful. I think you've done a great job.
Thank you.
Keep going. Keep it up. Stay young.
I will.
Check it out!
Hey, Jason.
Rock game.
Experience.
I'm gonna strike by day.
Jason Broke at podcast by night.
Welcome back to the Intalk.
Tree Masters at Atlanta.
We're ready for the third and final map.
Payne vs. Game of Leeching.
Two one-sided affairs in the first two maps in play,
hoping Inferno can deliver. One side of the fairs, Payne's egg and Gamer Legion's map pick 13-6,
Gamer Legion giving it right back, taking Nuke 13-6 as well. Inferno, one of the best deciding
maps we've gotten, Counter Strike will be the landscape for this final battle. Winner goes
on to the semi-finals, their opponents await them. For Payne, you've had Peria, your star player of
the event, stepping up, performing well, delivering for you on this stage. For Gamer Legion, it's
It's been Hypex who showed up on map one.
It's been the Rifleys of PR and Towson
who brought things all together.
Snacks at the helm takes those pieces to see if he can find
his way into the semifinals of Atlanta.
One final matchup, one final battle on Inferno.
Well we have all come together here in Atlanta
to kick off the playoffs.
The last map of the first quarter finals.
Georgia, you've been so loud,
you seem to be so great throughout this one.
So make some noise for map number three.
It's Inferno, and we hope it will deliver!
This around is live, we're going clean if we're Gamer Legion, no utility.
Armor and pistols are cross the board.
On the other side, pain, they've got tons of nades, everyone's got nades.
They've got so many options, but Gamer Legion's gonna push right down the throat.
Yeah, Rez goes in.
Oh, yeah, that's a good start.
We've been waiting for Rez to show up in this quarter final to the level that we've seen from him recently, and this is more like it.
Rez running down mid, three kills picked up in this pistol, and Gamer Legion have picked up where they left off for Romnook.
Damn, well, that's a statement in the pistol round.
Gamer Legion not gonna sit back on their heels, setting the town early.
A very strong mid-push powered by Rez.
Paine had no chance. They brought four players into that with Nades, and all of them get taken down.
They don't get to use any of it.
Never spotting the push. This comes in so fast before they can even react.
When we talked about how Paine couldn't get into the game over on Nuke because they lost both Pacerons,
he didn't have those strong stars that they had on Overpass, which seemed to prove so important for them.
They're all going to do the hard part again here with Inferno.
You're going to be starting slow on T side.
Most of the heavy lifting needs to be done obviously in these gun rounds that are coming up.
But this gives Gamer Legion a 2-0 start.
Yeah, nice way to kick things off and see if you can build up a little bit of money.
Now on Nuke, they kind of had a hiccup, right?
They lost three players in this round, made the buys a little sketchy.
It took a while for that CT side to get the economy back up.
But here on Inferno, it's looking like they're having no issues whatsoever.
Mio Nukui started talking about how PR and Towson showed up right to the rifle as you really want to see perform.
If you add res into the mix with this third map, then obviously Gamelidge and go up a level.
Very strong working defense.
Especially when you consider, you know, like, yeah, that third rifle into the mix would be something incredible.
But especially when you consider Overpass the first map of the series, one of the great strengths of Kane was individually, they were stronger, they were better, they were sharper.
That all switched on overpass. Everything kind of changed. Now it feels like
Gameligian individuals have hit a level and Payne has sort of faded away.
Seeing Gameligian play this map twice at this event against Sinners, a 13-9 win
against Navi, a 4-13 loss. Payne on the other hand, having had to play this map
this week, this is their first time in some time that they'll be seeing Inferno.
Guns are out. AK-47s for everyone on pain.
Early utility exchange in Banana. Looks like the defense...
They're gonna challenge at least for the top portion of it.
Snow spots the jump. Not sure about the push there. It is. Counter flash is just better.
And Pain take a one-man advantage. Five on four.
Yeah, take a lot of damage, but holding the extra player for the time being here for pain.
They're very far back. I mean, happy to take this man advantage though and start moving into the mid rounds.
Utility to take bracket control. Left side mid smoked off. Molotov to force back any defenders.
Towson just standing behind it but not forced too far away. Snacks, the point man on this B defense.
Big Sarah burning. Further damage done. Look at the read from Gamer Legion. Snacks is going to go
confirm it as well. Flashbang is out. Good fire from Snow. Yeah, second kill though for pain gaming.
So you may have the read. You may know what's coming at you, but handling it is a whole different
ball game. You won't expect two more defenders behind Snacks here. You thought maybe that's the
second player, but Rez has arrived and Hypex is here.
All Rez out, new box, Hypex behind Smoke, so it has to be Rez out first, takes that kill
unsafe.
Not going to be fouled though, he's 29 HP, eventually removed, Hypex sending shots down
through that smoke.
Couple of low HP players, but that bomb plant not denied, it will go down in pain gaming
now, but post plant in which they have a player advantage.
Yeah, below HP, unconfirmed unfortunately, but if Thalson can find some clean looks,
you might be able to get a quick double.
He wants some utility to force them out of these positions, but they've only got a single
flash right you can't even block banana so this is a strong pain set up in the
post plant having three players in a triangle of death yeah and they didn't
give any peaks Towson was given some footsteps tried to bait somebody out
with the flashbang flashbang uses but nobody actually peaked with it big use
there in snow stay tucked in one kill on the exit and gamer league is gonna be
happy to sink away after that to keep the two M4s in hand first round for pain
on the board here on Inferno
So, you know, nukes out of thousands of the bomb blast, only a single player survives in this round for pain,
but they'll be happy to get the round on the board.
But that damage is more important than you might think at first, because there's not a huge amount of money here for pain,
so it's not like you can dive the bomb and immediately reinvest in absolutely everything you want.
You're going to take some hits. You're going to have to go to goleals to get some extra utility.
Yeah, we're in that phase of the game where both teams are trying to be the first ones to settle things down
and get comfortable with the situation that they're in.
This round means everything to both squads.
And game religion definitely in the better spot when it comes to the buy here
They've got the all-out everybody's got a premium rifle and plenty of utility. Yeah, two kits as well for the CT side game religion not in a bad place
They'd use their a VSM are moving up the middle of the map very quickly without slowing down
Towson wants to get aggressive behind the Molotov. Yes, this worked out walking period falls off the ledge
Towson gets into a position with that Molotov thought it cleared it out
Oh, but Talcin and Hypebacks open things up here for Game of Leech and damage done to Snow.
And hard to see a world in which Pan Gaming now pulled his back.
Yeah, it feels like too easy of a kill to give away if you're big user.
I think trying to spam through the smoke to catch the player retreating,
but meets the AWP on the other side as he blows a hole in the smoke.
And now all that you have left of your VSM Snow and Safe is this hit towards the B bomb site.
See if you can get lucky.
We got PR sliding into the site, going to reply that there was a darkness safe jumping
south you made, going into a CT spot, snacks are going to move out, but he's got that information
over to his teammates who are ready for that CT fight.
Yeah, this is where you back away, this is where VSM and Snow say there's really no more
success you can have here, VSM got that calm just a little bit too late as Snow steps
out of the angle.
You're going to have 35 seconds here alone if you're snowed.
He's not really away.
He's staying committed towards the site.
I know next round is going to be a low buy regardless.
So, Snow give it a go and he won't die at the hand of PR.
So, no falling back, no saving, and Payne Gaming's money reset.
Yeah, gamer legend looking rock solid at the start.
Took that one round loss, that little hiccup,
but this is a very strong victory in response to it.
Now it should be a fourth to one lead off the back, but this is a correct move from
Towson because that Molotov goes in.
You think it's clear.
You don't expect Towson to be in the spot, but he found a little bit of sanctuary and
just being in that area so quickly after the flames fade away, you just get surprised if
you're paying.
Important to note is he missed the jump when the Molotov was still burning, so I had to
come back to it.
So, his own mistake caused his death, we'll give it to him.
Towson going to be chilling at top middle.
He's here with Res and Hypex on wrap side.
a period going to play with just the deagle. So that's the only thing worth talking about
in the round for pain and even that is not going to lead to anything magical you would
imagine. So 4-1 up for a game of Legion. There is a world in which this just is another one
sided victory in favor of game of Legion. If you're paining you win the first map, 13-6
on the game of Legion's map pick. To me it felt like the draw needed to be done on map
2, right? You get that start and then you come into Nuke but the way they lost that
Second map is really disappointing and it's it's tough to see how they're gonna get back into the series now
Especially with the start the game really you're having on Inferno
Well game lead, you know right now are playing a game of Counter Strike where it feels like they're not taking a whole lot of risks
Right like there they're kind of staying far back
They had that mid pushing the pistol on but in these gun rounds staying far back not doing anything too crazy. I
Think they're in a position where they're like all right pain show us that you can take the initiative
You can be the ones to make the move that your T side can break down the defense and we'll see if we have to switch things up
But they're really happy to just play kind of pretty basic counter strike and come out on top
Hypex gonna get challenged here. Snaps up to Big Uzer on the boost. Spots a few more.
Uh-oh. Oh, PSM's, Deagle's erupted. Hypex and Snaks both dead. That opens up the B site.
More pressure on the sole defender in PR.
Yeah, and actually, Rez and Talcyn are frozen right now. They have no response to this.
They don't know if it's gonna finish. PR's saying they're all here, so it's all on you. 1v3.
Shrouds himself in darkness PR with the 8k is the light for game of lichien
Illegiating everything with a 3k they march to the decks inside of a B bomb site and the 4-1 leaders die
So the pistols they break open as a chance thanks to VSI, but in reality it comes crashing down upon them
They are put them in a dangerous situation as well where they weren't sure exactly how to handle things if they should push down
middle deal with CT spawn
Right between the wickets
This is a VSM making that Eagle worth. Great shots.
Well, flashers of what VSM is capable of. I haven't shown it in this series yet, but
there's a little glimpses of what we know we can do.
Man, it's not without impact either, right? Limit the money of Gamer Legion.
Keep them as low as humanly possible for when you can start building some momentum.
Pain still looking for an initial recipe for success on these Inferno rounds.
No banana control, no banana presence this time.
And because of that, IPEX is going to take a deeper angle.
IPEX wait, speed comes in.
Short goes between the legs.
minute left of the clock utility being thrown in towards the A site the launch
monkey's just faded they toss went out to cover off the front of library but
there's a push coming in res taking the risk stepping in front of it for
information and then falls back when he sees no one progressing this that's a
brutal like shot to take snow brought down to 20 HP and he's the guy who wants
to be aggressive it's our take in some space and be aggressive and assertive
towards the P bombsite up banana but with that limited HP VSM's got a slide
into the role. Pirion safe coming back to join him with the bomb so Biguzera is
going to try and be a fake and nuisance alert to wrap through CT spot on the tail end.
Yeah we'll see if they even need a rotation or if this defense is going to be strong enough.
Biguzera has been spotted. I don't think he realizes it either. Look how rapidly Rez is
communicating that. Biguzera looking towards library. Rez is so ready. Biguzera dead.
Now the defenses are freed up on this B bomb site ready but it's high-packs missing a shot
And they flood into the site so the plant is coming through, going to try to deny it, is PR through the smoke, he's got two!
Here we are in safe, both dead, bomb is planted, but VSM and Snow are now in a 2v4 and Snacks comes up through Banana.
It's all on VSM, we speak of potential, but no chance to show it here.
It's going to be around for Gamer Legion 5-1 up and PR is handling business on this B site.
Yeah, I've been just rock solid from GamerLegion, and then this round we lose into one player as well, like Panges cannot find the kills.
Hypex was left alone in the B bomb site. This play from PR is a thing of beauty.
I was surprised they didn't have more presence inside the site considering it felt like they knew what was coming.
But dropping the Molotov, spamming him down, obviously does the job great.
And that turns it into an easy retake as there's no position safe for the pain players inside the bomb site.
And you force him into a timeout.
There's just not enough money to get a good buy out again here. It's such a rough situation in this first half for pain
They're in such a deep hole. They've got to pull themselves out of yeah
I'll tell you what it feels like at the moment the economy is the least of their worries
Having so many issues tactically not able to find ways to challenge and aggress the B bombsite earlier
Haven't been able to really push up banana get any of those fights find an opening kill snow or vs
M and banana at the start of rounds up bait hasn't really worked for you
We've got to find an NA player, so it's nice to come into the playoffs here in Atlanta.
You know, it's snacks is one of the ones I take as well.
I'm with you.
It plays with that entertaining style.
We've got high packs going down into the peak at mid.
A little bit of a charge up with Payne sending players in the second middle marching towards
A. Taking the pause now as they want to set players up into the balcony of the apartments.
among them and Towson was peeking early for information but drops back to play
from balcony keeping some range against what is likely to be lower tier weapons.
Yeah we know in these rounds popular strategy get a get a few of the tech
nines and Mac 10s up in halls and do a halls pop it almost feels like pain is
playing with that idea at the moment. Gonna show some utility as if it will be a
halls pop but most of the force is gonna be coming up lane.
Yeah well they're all coming up short now Towson spraying away taking a while but not getting anything.
Ryze has to help his offer inside of the site.
It's time for Hypex to ready himself,
but it has to be Ryze, and he's done well.
He's got himself three kills in that defense,
a 10 and two score line right now from Ryze.
But now Snow left alone, and the push is coming forward.
He got that info just in time,
and they fall away.
So, a 2v1.
Snow doesn't have the information of the second player,
and uses a smoke perfectly
to block out Longside again.
But Snow feels paranoid.
He feels claustrophobic inside of the site,
going out into the open. Side of the smoke, sideline snacks, and now Snow against PR.
And PR has been so great on Inferno so far, but Snow has to win it, and because they needed someone to show up and it snowed the lands on top.
They picked up this guy to be someone who can create moments like that, win moments for you.
The talent he showed as a young kid inside the Brazilian scene, it's taken a long time to get some of it realized.
That's a lovely clutch and a critical moment.
Yeah, you need to make this the turning point though, right?
That has to be the catalyst that gets this first half underway.
I'll tell you what, Snack's really foreshadowed this play though.
Showed exactly what he wanted.
Whoa, he's exactly on his mind.
That second smoke created him in other avenue,
but Snow used it back in his favor.
Used it against Snack, Snow, and what was coming?
Well, Clutch is going to fly a pan out, but can they run with it now?
An AWP for safe.
AK's out among the runs.
Plenty of utility.
And you see how quick that timeout comes in as well from game illusion
when they lose that Clutch.
They want to make sure they stifle this before it even gets going.
Yeah, money's in an odd place for them, so certainly don't want to deal with the consequences of losing two in a row.
And if you're paying, you've got to feel like that's the moment.
This is the one you have to seize.
Combine rounds together, potentially break the money.
Find yourself some easy back avenue back in to competing for this third map.
Highpacks waits at top middle.
I'll block it with a smoke.
Oh, I like this from paying.
getting into the smoke, looking to burst through.
Hypex is in position, he's getting overwhelmed,
and he's not careful, and he doesn't have help,
and that's exactly what he's got.
Rez makes sure that the trades come in,
and he doubles up from the same spot.
Now, period, a walk out of Boiler,
but Rez is not moved.
Rez is ready, and Rez has got the rest.
And so there is no chance to build upon the clutch of snow.
Safe marches off to save his AWP,
and Rez has answered immediately.
have 13-2 performance from Reds on Inferno,
and it's 6-2 lead right now for Game of Leagy.
Yeah, that round was all decided.
That is a strategy called to just say,
we might win it on this play,
but when they're combined,
when there's a crossfire up top,
so much attention towards the AWP and Hypex
understandably, and Rez just doubles you up.
He's been brutal,
destroying pain throughout this map.
Good adjustment for Hypex.
Second flash is perfect,
and Rez first takes down the player,
meant to eliminate him.
VSM can't get it done, so Rez is able to have a double-up easy double kill.
Safe ult.
Still in play, still intact.
But it must be the shining light of the round, if anything is to happen here for Payne.
Hypex waiting at top middle, a challenge coming his way. Flashes up, so Hypex will fall off the angle.
fast off the flash. He's locked in.
Goes out. Look at that PR catches safe back turn.
That's the old dawn. It falls to big
Uzair instead. You assume there's going to be some safety there
when you show the off having that angle.
So that's quite a risk for PR, but obviously comes out on top.
Yeah, now you've got Hypex is have all the time of the world
to reposition back into the library.
Thank you. Sarah might feel like he needs to overextend the overly
aggressive with this up to make a play to create the opening for
his team. So Hypex might get a chance.
See if they can bit out the shot here so they can get past the angle.
Hypex is going to start throwing some utility down trying to heat things up.
Biguzera does get into the flames. He takes the risk, but he's not able to capitalize.
Yeah, but he's out. He actually has Hypex pinned down. He's not going to want to peek again.
Right. He goes again anyway.
Flash and Ryze again supporting not only with kills, but with utility res.
He's delivering impact, but he's gone now. Here he is. Dropped it. Here he's got another.
But Hypex, still here, still a threat, but a miss shot.
If they run right past him, he has to deliver something,
but it's miss shot after miss shot,
and relies upon the rifles to help him unveil him out.
But they will be there.
Gamer Legion, hold on.
We mentioned it's a different team
when the rifles show up for Gamer Legion.
We've talked a lot about Rez.
Now PR arriving in the exact perfect moment
because Hypex is about to get overrun.
He's got no real options with that AWP in this scenario
until PR buys him that extra time.
Gamer legion starting to fire on all cylinders. It's a 7-2 lead. 5 rounds ahead of Pain.
Full control right now, Gamer legion.
We still haven't seen Pain ever like work up the motivation to go challenge for Banana with any sort of aggressive nature. Hyper aggressive.
Like no one's trying to scale towards half wall. No one's trying to turn the corner and pressure these B defenders.
Well, it seems like Gaming Legion think this might be the round, because they positioned high-packs over here for the opening.
They're looking for that changeup. This isn't the second or third time we've seen him start here in this position.
So, I mean, they're looking for that moment when Payne decides to actually aggressively take banana, but it's not coming.
They had a game plan very much about avoiding it, looking towards A.
Even after that snow clutch, right, the idea and the follow-up rounds, they're trying to burst through the top mid-smokes.
It's not been working here for Payne Gami and Snow getting taken down, you got Towson
with an easy kill towards Pyrrhea.
None of these kills being challenged back from Payne, so it's a shutdown for Gamelitch
and making it look easy.
And Biguzera, the only player left, has to try and clutch off.
Now, he has actually done very well to get this into a 1v2 all of a sudden.
So Biguzera out of nowhere, and can it be another clutch on the site?
He's going to be trapped inside the bomb site, nowhere he can go.
He knows. He goes big or they go home.
Inside of the site worried about the short push coming in. Biguzera
Crosshair chopping and changing trying to catch the right timing
but he knows he's coward in the corner. He has no idea where they are.
No one to hide, no one to run and Hypex takes him down on the first chance.
It's a nice try from Big O'Zara. Three great kills on the site, but in the end it's Gamelige pushing themselves up to eight rounds and looking to push Payne out of the competition.
Yeah, it was all desperation. It is nice to make that doable and a good look to get those couple of kills to put yourself in a 1v2, but it started to get sloppy and disorganized from the Payne side.
Going down, losing two players before the execute even begins. And there's no chance of its success at that point.
And it's sad to see, I mean we were so positive about Payne coming into the tournament right, but it seems like they've lost control of it now.
It almost feels like they might have done one of the classic where they almost feels like they've prepped so hard for Overpass to look so good there to understand what Gamer Legion was doing, knowing it was going to be a pick that the other maps maybe didn't get as much love or don't have as much focus and game plan built into them specifically for this matchup, either way.
Also helped that Puri was having a lost or getting out on that first map, he has not been able to keep that up obviously.
Yeah, we thought that life game it feels like there's been very little production on this T side, only two opening kills and the 10 rounds of play on Inferno so far.
One from Snow, one from Peria.
8-2 lead for Game of Leech.
Paying half to win the next two rounds here, otherwise this is done.
Yeah, they need some room to work with in the second half, don't they?
Let's see what they can get. Snow gets...
Yeah, but it's still not super aggressive about it.
Counter utility is going to force the defense back immediately, not wanting to mess. Here we go.
Yeah through the fire though they're gonna be slowed down so good response of
utility for Gabriel Legion. Keeps paying back for now. Oh that's a huge name on a
snow's position down to 18 health.
Further utility about to fly through the sky as well.
We got PR stepping out clearing top cart. And all that banana control you fought
I thought a few pain has been taken right back by David Legion.
And still very, very low. At least some shots being sent back to PR.
Yeah, PR might have to switch positions with Rez, right, with his low health, so... okay.
Looking for a little play through the smoke, a boost up over the top, snacks.
Looking for anything. And pain's on the other side, just tucked against the wall, barely missing the information.
information.
All the snacks, here they go, under the open. Snacks is taking two. Of course he has
bomb spills, 30 seconds left.
PR is very low inside the bomb site. He is not really any kind of resistance to speak about.
PR earlier in the half delivered a big 3K from here against pistols, but this time
the right force but they don't check him and that was a free kill PR is very
disappointed and frustrated about that but high-packs at least getting one kill
back you've got VSM on 12 HP this retake extremely doable we'll see game
allegiance banana fight this is everything for period not to give up
his life do not leave the SM alone a 12 HP our period taking damage but not the
kill still trying to fight Towson still trying to win this fight and he picked it
Not by ESN's got the head shot and all of a sudden it's Rez alone. He's got the 1v1 though, and now he's on the stick
Rez has stolen it away from Paine and surely that is it
He's got to be getting the call from Talcin saying he's low. He's done damage low HP red and banana
And Rez takes that information and say he's gonna want to play the second one
He's not going to swing here with this HP too early in the bomb timer for it
Okay, right. He's just having a great game right now 14 and 4
Clutches like that. Yeah, Towson jumping up the jump was a little crazy wanted some information
I think just swing for the fight in that kind of scenario both players running low on ammunition
Should end it really that diffuse rise should cut this short for K
Nades down banana, bigger Zera getting battered, down to 52 health.
You get a BR up on half wall, VSM's ready for it this time. You can't try that two rounds in a row.
Snacks double from it in the last one. BR gonna be punished. Snacks trying to fight, at least getting one kill here.
But a lot weaker on the defensive game, at least on that B-Sides. Wide open now.
Yeah, there wasn't the time to shift the third player over, so now those losses are really, really painful.
The defense arriving just now, but they've already made their way into the site.
Extra damage with Utility.
Yeah, Biguzera barely alive.
5 HP left on Biguzera.
Aim Religion's been good in these scenarios.
Yeah, they have been.
Utility gonna come in as well.
Try and make that plant a little more difficult, but
safe has just enough health to make it possible.
But this time on the retake, they've got some Utility, right?
They can isolate the banana player, throw in the smoke in,
but they're getting blocked at CT, so the utility comes in at the right time for pain.
Yeah, they're just gonna have to pick this up like they could stream out relatively quickly
Can't wait for these smokes to fade you do have kits and here comes the retake
Yeah, well they're forcing snow to take an open fight
But he's found some cover good movement from snow to stay alive in it and a third round is gonna be squeezed out from pain
It doesn't look like it's gonna be enough game and Legion definitely in the position to move through this quarter final
I
Legacy awaits in the semi-final, the winner of this quarter final that will meet them
tomorrow, currently watching their countrymen struggle and labor through the series a good
map one but disappeared on Nuke and haven't yet found themselves on Inferno.
One final round they manage to scrape together right at the tail end of the first half to
give themselves what breathing room they can but it's backs against the wall for pain-facing
elimination three to nine and a huge comeback required as they switch onto the defensive
side of Inferno.
It's tough to see a world in which this is going to happen for pain.
A positive start to the tournament, but looking to be a disappointing end.
Kowson waiting at the barrels for that first peek.
Big Azera will provide it, but no headshot from either player.
Just a little bit of information as game religion slowly creeps along the map, a default spread.
Seeing what they can find, seeing what information they can glean from whatever set-ups Pan is playing.
And they're gonna fight for this banana control as well. They see the two players. Flashbang
is held by VSM over at Coffins. They'll activate shortly. As soon as they sense Gamelige and
turn into corner.
Because they're up, going into the peak and then falling back again. They've got the
info. They know they're coming, but you have to be one of these kills and Snowcat doing.
takes him away. Opening kill here for game leeching. Oh my lord this is
at this. Yeah and this is gonna, I'll be surprised if they execute up this. I almost
feel like if you wait a little bit longer you can buy time for PR. He's found the
lurker, landing the shots, not getting the kill. We'll find it. Yeah finally PR
made a meal of it but eventually takes his solo snacks. Vipex has killed his own
in-game leader and then Big Uzzara's gone away with one. It's a drop like that through
banana because look it's safe coming in a little bit late. Big Uzzara has done
enough to keep his team in this, but safest demand that looks like he's gonna win it.
And then Hypex spins, takes the plant, pulls him in, and another clutch for Hypex!
Yeah, another one for him, and look at the attitude when he wins them.
Tejabu back to map one, he was clutching all over the place on Overpass, that was the
only shining light, he gets another one here on the pistols.
It has shades of that Overpass clutch too, right, where he catches the headshot just
This big is our it's jumping back around the corner. He doesn't even pick his area. What the fight? He wants to see if he's sticking the plant
What a disgustingly fast shot from high backs?
Let's see it again
Yeah, yeah, he was just about to get around that corner and that might just be the final now getting hammered into this coffee
Pain came in going for a force bite. You have to
But it's on the wrong side of the map. They have an aggressive force by there
They want a stack banana to take advantage of any presence there.
With no one home, they're going to pick up the paces.
Now, this has been an issue for Gamer Legion taking too long for their tactics to come
to fruition, but they might speed this up.
They're not doing anything else on the map.
You might as well just go now, and Snacks is going to find this push.
It's got the information, Lace will call that over to his teammates.
Hyped out, adjust himself, but they're losing members rapidly, residently sending a shot
back.
But Gamer Legion are going to get funneled out through the balcony, but plenty of players
ready to meet them.
It's got to be Rez, who's in the strongest spot inside a pit, but he gets overrun.
BSM gets to the side and sidelines Rez.
And they're able to land upon his head, but it's not going to be enough to drop him.
So once again, you ask Hypex to deliver for Game of Legends.
The bomb has dropped in pit though, so they have to finish you. They have to win these fights.
But at least that kill will even things out.
Towson and Hypex trying to bring down BSM and pick up Zara.
Must win clutch for pain.
Lose this, and you should be out of Atlanta.
He has some weights in the smoke, not always about to peek, he's given the peek, but Towson
can't take the kill, so once again, Hypex in the clutch.
There's no way, surely no way, not this one.
It's going to be so tough to force him into fights, the first chance waiting for the
peek out from the page.
He knows the positions, he just can't get into the engagements he's looking for, so
Pain gaming with a four-spot keeps the minute.
That's a spectacular round.
I mean, a great push down banana.
Snacks gets caught completely off guard.
Those are things that have worked for you in the past,
back on map one, even a little bit on Nuke.
It's the shot with the scout that really seals that
into a dangerous round, picking one off just as they
jump out of the halls.
That's the thing of beauty.
By the skin of their teeth, Pain survives.
Force a second time out out of gamer
region to talk things over. A 10 to 4 advantage. The pain is thrown, a spatter in the works.
Now you've got to be concerned about a comeback. Much more within striking distance now that
the guns and the money has been taken away. The game of the Legion looked to challenge
you again in round 15. Buy up everything they can, fully invested. You've got a Galilean
Towson
Pistols and armor on the rest of the players
Very light on utility so gamer legion's decision in this round
Is going to rely a lot on what this galil can provide then they can't create opportunities for it
Yeah, you don't often say here or galil do you so?
I'm actually surprised they're buying here, but
It have to save in the next one is there is there a line of thinking with the losing bonus the way it is
Let's see if they can surprise you again
Do something with this
For pain they've got snow all the way down banana he'll play at the logs
He's getting you into a good enough spot to kick off the round
Game really do want to move out through top me snacks gonna be taken down for the smoke
And there's I mean there's really nothing you can do which is part of the reason why I'm scratching my head
I don't think there's any kind of significant game plan. You're gonna fashion with this by in two smokes the whole time
Haven't even used the utility yet. You're relying
To get a killer to first before you put those smokes into place
100 minute left
Safe he's gonna get flashed into the peak even eats a bit of that flashbang himself
So you can have the angle safe again getting caught by the flashbang
They're just trying to fend them off and he's doing a decent job at that until traded by Taliesin
Here's the flight and snow. He got that early position, but even that's now being detected
But what can you actually do with 30 seconds left?
Game of Legends starts to move in. Piri is still in a strong position in pain.
He ascends headshot, rings out, Piri uses the distraction to be effective in cleaning up the rest.
And the MP9 rings out, makes some money, and a fifth round here for Payne Gaming.
Yeah, now we'll see, now we'll just see a full blown save for the gamer legion side of things.
And the problem now is that the gap is going to close even further.
So we're looking at the likelihood of 6-10 for Payne
going into the next buy round of gamer legion, and all of a sudden that little,
I'm not gonna say it's here yet, but that potential for a comeback just grows
They're gonna be within striking distance very very soon
One flashbang that's all you've got here to work with for a game allegiance
So a six-round for pain coming up in no time snow is a chance to melt the mid
The mass out to the wheel for snow only to war and how the glocks taking down both of the rifles
I know there's lots of weapons available, that one flashbang is proven very effective,
another bolt plant's coming in!
Oh, it shouldn't be possible, good kill from safe!
He's got the rifle though, Snax picked up the galeel.
Yeah, but what are you doing?
Yeah, I mean you have no armor if you're PR and Snax, they've got utility, and they've got a man advantage.
So at some point, you have to get aggressive and put a stop to this, just lying and wait waiting for the turn of the corner.
You can't lose this, Payne.
Smoke's too deep though, PR can actually play in front of it.
Snacks is ready, first headshot same, but the two kills come through and pain aside of relief
That round comes way too close
There should never be a world in which game and leaves you even have a chance to win that round
But it's a huge benefit that you win against that force by earlier that you're able to pick up and upgrade a couple weapons
Because that's gonna help you sustain the three losses that you just took the rebies aren't gonna nearly be as painful for pain
They're within four rounds
How does Snacks want to open up the gun rounds on this T side, on this offense in this campaign
to close out the quarterfinals in Atlanta?
Or Safe is going to have the AWP for this CT side, looks like he wants to bring it towards
Banana to start.
There we go.
Puts it down. Great work from save five on four provided.
What's the response from Game Religion?
Got PR who's pushed up behind that top mid smoke.
No presence in Banana, thanks to the early successive pain to operate in save.
So Game Religion only filtering in now.
Their fullness are very casual. So Actors are like, yeah, he probably fell back.
It's a little bit of utility. You'd love to find an equalizing kill, but safe is relocated.
Minute five. That's all that's left of the round.
Game of Legends starting to get into position in Banana. Could be set piece here coming up.
Yeah, and I mean clearing out brackets if you're safe right now is perfect while that smoke is up,
so you can actually send VSM on the rotation. He's sliding through CT spawn right now.
Gonna join up with this B bomb site on defense, so three players here.
Four players do attack into it. GamerLegion had some sick executes in utility of the previous two maps.
They need another one here. They're going up against three defenders.
35 seconds.
More utility being saved until this crucial point for pain.
The fire will fade and here come GamerLegion.
Attacking into the site. DSM swings to the smoke. The trade is in after one.
It's gonna be snowy, and Leech is one.
Snacks taking down Big Ozzaro without much of a fight.
And Game and Legion are into this.
2v2.
Off on the flank.
Snacks has a big role to play here.
Safe gonna start turning the corner.
Off angle for Snacks.
Oh!
Drill it!
Yeah, now it's high-packs.
He's been clutch all day long, but he walks right to the smoke into period, and Payne can
start to believe they're starting to do this one step at a time.
Still a while to go, still three rounds back, but they're winning the important ones, keeping
themselves in it and it's not a great purchase coming up here for game
allegiance but this is probably the best pain has felt since overpass right
you haven't had that feeling like you're in control like you're coming back
like you're able to string rounds together nuke was a complete blowout
first half on inferno had nothing positive for you to take away finally
now starting to see this side build up some confidence in some faith they can
come back in this match and this is when the Brazilian teams get the most
dangerous is when you start getting a role and start getting that momentum and
And in between rounds when they're hyping each other up that just gets stronger and stronger
Yet to see like truly convincing round victory though that it's always touch and go
It's always down to the wire even the block round man
Like even that round felt a little dangerous
So yes pain are winning the rounds
But they need to start showing a little bit of a stronger setup on the CT side
You need to be a bit more convincing about it if they truly are going to come back all the way
Well thankfully they got plenty of money to sustain any losses they would take.
PR's knocking on the door of Halls. Flashbang is out. Simulating a Halls pop.
Yeah, safe after ready. Good shot. He gets him from the second player too.
And safe as in falling back. In fact, he steps out into the open looking for a
further kill. What a great first event it's been for safe in this pain jersey.
Good to see him back on the server.
Gaming Legion, I want to send him home though.
Here they come, coming in towards the A side. The flank is coming in as well from Telston.
He's joining, he's coming back from Banana, he'll join up. So there's more extra players
now available for Gaming Legion to attack as they get ready for their final maneuver.
You've got safe, who's after ready? Looking for the P-King, but Biguzera, Peria and
safe all combined together to bring a stop to this attack from Gaming Legion.
There will be no way through as the CTs hold on, and now the gap is just two rounds.
That's what I'm talking about. Look at the difference. Now they're starting to get hyped up.
Now there's energy going and flowing through the pain side of things.
Gamer Legion looking for more after each and every last they've taken.
And that is now the convincing round we were looking for, right from pain.
The round where they actually put a stop to Gamer Legion before they even find themselves in a competitive position.
Convincing a round, and all of a sudden it feels like Gamer Legion's playing a little bit tentative, right?
They're sliding into these positions, they're waiting for the Peaks, but there's really no aggression, really no pressure being applied.
They're hoping that Payne is going to give something to them, but at this point during this time out, someone from Game of Legends is going to have to realize they're going to have to go and take these.
If they want this win, Payne clawing themselves back into this series. Five rounds in a row for the defense.
Yeah, this fall over. It fell completely over. Payne looks so flat like there was no one showing up.
no shining light to look towards to get you out of this pit of despair but all
of a sudden pain have turned on and it's been safe his off play was the one
that started this streak had some lovely rounds
well the time up game a legion of deciding to invest a little save a lot
and buy into the next one but how can they perform with tech nice and speed is
in the mix they're running him down putting pressure on that very man that
got them back into it. Safe is down for pain and all of a sudden this round feels wide open.
Period trying to shut it. PR through with a D-ball. Period dead.
And again a legion coming in with a swinging play towards the Zay site. The weaker weapons
have been upgraded and 11 rounds loom. Crank of the aggression up to 11. That's a wild change
of pace. Payne never saw it coming. And safe force all the way back into CT spawn. Caught
off guard with Nate in hand and you can't even go for this retake. Of course it comes in a round
like this where you talk about safe being the impact player the reliable force for pain and the
way you deal with him it's just overwhelming him forcing him back into the archway pistols running
him down take it away the AWP I just I love that call out of the time out I was just mentioning it
It feels like Gamelige had just gone so sensitive.
That Nate coming in, that's actually going to do good work.
And there goes one.
P.R. just, well, that's it.
That's the wrong thing.
I'm just going to relax for a second.
But yeah, I mean, it's great for Gamelige
in terms of the economic decision, right?
Because the fact that you know you're
going to do good by in the next round allows you
to take more risks in this round.
And also, I think this had to have been one from the coach,
probably, when he's noticing similar,
I'm assuming to what I did of the tentative nature.
And when you call around like this,
you take that tentative decision making out
of the players hands. Everyone knows if you're going for a fast attack like that,
ain't nobody let's go at W. Nobody slows down. Everyone moves forward for the next
fight. So you take the decision making away from the players who are probably
feeling some of the pressure of this comeback. Some of the nerves are being
able to make it into the semi-final and you remove that from the equation.
And now Rick's needs to get on the mic one last time. All the time else burned as
Payne somehow need to discover themselves once again.
And who will it be this time? If Safe ignited them in this half to get the comeback started,
who's going to be there for him to help it continue?
Could be him again. Still got AWP.
Payne trying to come back. They've come so far that it might still be too little.
The Guzzera wasn't confident, but they get battered by grenades.
Pan Gaming so long.
Two players below half HP.
And Snacks continues to move up through Banana.
He now sits at the half wall, but Snacks is going forward.
Side of the smoke.
Utility up. Sound Q made.
It's a hit-off, Big O'Zara.
But they've got top Banana control.
Hypex challenges. Snacks goes in with a second kill.
And Gamer Legion in a better position.
43 in search of series point.
Not a nice timing, not a bad timing for that play from Pan.
to re-aggress, but man, Hypex blindshot kill. Now Snow wants to be the hero, but it's not
the case. Towson's ready. Gamer Legion locked in and will miss no details.
And now the two remaining players for Pain are on polar opposite sides of the map. At
least you have a defending player on each side, but it has to be a hero play from either
Peria or safe and Peria has won his fight
But now you know that least there was only a single player on this B site so the hero play must come from safe
The question you pose was who is it gonna be for pain safe steps into the open
Towson embraced as they move into the site game a legend in a 2v2
Bomb plant coming through that's all safe needs for right now stay alive. You got the kill smoke broken
Nobody's in the open. Oh, he gave him the flight.
Highback stepped back for it. Risky.
Kids on both defenders.
Safe steps out into the open, missed shot.
He's back in a costume. He gets away.
So still a chance.
Imperium moves up.
Snacks ready to silence him, and Highbacks is down with him.
The pulls prevail.
An extravated for game of legend. Series points.
The opportunity was available for safe to rip that out. He had his shots, he had his chances.
Hypex gave him a couple of extra looks.
That he just can't land and he has been good in the clutches all day long, Hypex.
Another late-round scenario where he steps up to have impact.
Four chances for Gamer Legion to progress into the semi-finals of the Intel Extreme Masters in Atlanta.
And this is what paint have to play with a max seven and figures errors hands over towards B
The rest will have rifles one of them are for mass
And game illusion slowing things down to kick off the round
There's not a lot of utility to play late the game here if you're pain
We need a max 7 moment for Payne to stay alive and the damage is through to Kill comes in, but Biguzaro traded by Snaks.
Pretty critical trade as well to grab that one and find it yourself in a 4 on 4.
Yeah, it prevents Biguzaro from getting his hands on a better weapon as well.
Well, if you commit, it's exactly what Payne are looking for. They've got a vertical stack and period ready to respond.
Snacks and Rez out through top mid, Payne delivered one, safe traded by Rez.
Effective trading, but Peria puts a stop to PR. Rez out through top middle, bomb is at bottom mid.
It can go elsewhere, if Rez can get into the archway, they can split this B bomb, so they can split the only player here in Snow.
He mentioned they brought him in position, not a good position moments, but he's in the open and he's dead!
Snow cast aside, Ryze into the site, and it's a 2v2 for the life of Payne here in Atlanta.
Maybe a miscommunication, Snow being very, very exposed.
Bomb down, all in the retake, there's no kits.
Ryze ready, Fiasse am gone.
Period, next up, goes in, into the church, and he better play because that's the only thing that could save him.
But Gamer Legion went it!
The Legion of Gamers will march into the semi-finals.
They will play against Legacy.
And Paid started this tournament.
They started with positivity.
But unfortunately, it is a very flat end.
Yeah, continuing this great run is Gamer Legion.
Bouncing back after that map one,
dropping it in a horrible fashion,
but resetting, looking good on Nuke,
looking good on Inferno, the lifelors showed up.
They got to be happy because everyone's playing.
And we saw all day today their players getting comfortable on the stage
Hype backs winning clutches getting the crowd involved hyping them up
Snacks making his place. It's so good to see game agent have a bit of attitude, right?
They're all per actually
Win these big clutches win these big moments for the throughout the game and then actually shows him confidence not cowering away and falling into
Themselves well, they're gonna need that confidence tomorrow
They've got a really tough task in the semi-finals of legacy for pain a good showing eye opening
I think safe coming back has got to be very proud of how he played in his first event returning to official matches in quite some time
They still look like they're showing improvement
But obviously a little bit of a hiccup here as the map pool went deeper
They'll flat on new fell flat on Inferno tried to fight back but all the overall
I think a good showing from pain that makes you think there's something cooking in that camp
Yeah, it's been a while since you've seen them and great to see them come back and be competitive make it to the playoffs of this event
But definitely a lot of work still to be done as they get themselves in gear for the world championship of Counter-Strike coming up in a few weeks' time.
So up down on the stage, we have got Snacks.
We do indeed have Snacks. Atlanta makes some noise for Gamer Legion and Snacks.
Snacks are coming from the Golden Age of Polish Counter-Strike.
Over a decade later, you're playing again in front of an Atlanta crowd.
Talk to them, man.
Thank you, guys.
A lot of legendary moments from your snacks. You've built quite the tenure, quite the career.
Talk to me about this game today versus pain.
I mean, overpass was a little bit tough. I didn't show up at all. Maybe two or three frags, so obviously we cannot win map.
If I play like this, at the second and third, I felt like we gained the confidence back and we tried our best.
A little bit was shaky at the Inferno at some point because we didn't go with the plan I had.
But yeah, I'm happy, you know, to win is a win.
You've got a big game and legacy and a semi-final. How does that work out for your snacks?
How does this break down for game religion?
I mean, I think we really don't care who is gonna be next up.
As an opponent, we treat everyone the same. We want to beat everyone.
So, I hope we can make it, yeah?
Snacks, I've got one last question for you, bud. Do you like peaches?
I like those kinkais.
Yes, because you're in the peach state. How hungry are your snacks?
I mean not much actually it was I had a Brazilian barbecue yesterday actually I'm not lying with the team
And I couldn't eat for a entire day after it so it's fine. It's fine today
Stacks anything you want to say? Thank you guys for shooting and see you tomorrow. Yeah
Side oh nuke not looking fantastic for vitality especially yesterday
So they see anything get a chance here on this map straight he sighed honey
You tell first they're going to break open the squeaky door
Because I will charge you outside with some confidence starts things with a headshot on Jacob
That twist to trade him out a big conversation around face clan and how good they are on the pistol rounds
Well, they're currently behind on players. Thanks to that shot from apex. Yeah nasty shot from apex justice
Twist is making the drop at Robs. He's gotten transition moving back into position. That's frozen to pick him up
so all across the map two players falling for each team and
and Vitality is struggling to close this gap. Apex in the open, two players fighting, good kills.
Yeah, really comfortable, this pistol round for Team Vitality. It's just broke, he left over towards Rampereum. Apex comes for him as well.
A very strong start from Apex, three kills in the pistol, and Vitality, happy about this start.
Yeah, that's beautiful shooting from Apex. Really good move, really good job moving around the map as well.
FaZe coming back up that ramp, they wanted to fight, they wanted to exploit that extra rotation sliding over from underneath Heaven,
Underneath heaven and bid off a little bit more than they can chew. It's how it started some good trades back and forth
They expected just apex. Maybe you can go one for one didn't expect flamesy to step into the fight either
and it sounds like with some uh
Noise cues of the above the messages in game that we're gonna get a little bit of a reset here in round two
Yeah, don't harm no foul. Yeah, well done. We got it. We caught it. Yeah quick thumbs up
count back down and get ready into the game again today. I mean, Faze have had a real
mission in front of them which is get as many VRS wins as they can, right? Then the
fact that they were able to perform well in Fort Worth and I've got a win here as
well, I think it's good enough, right? They got themselves into the top 22, the
22nd place in the VRS ranking. I mean, it's better than being an absolute freefall. A
win here, massively unlikely. We would bring them up to 19th place and we'd break into the
top 20, but it has been a conversation around phase kind of just making sure that, okay,
we aren't expecting to win any of these events that were right in America, but we have to
at least get some wins.
Yeah, Frozen cut a little bit of flock.
I think he had a quote saying something like that, like even more so than the trophies
I care about the VRS points.
So, I mean, you can, you can see how much missing the major and Cologne means to them
and how painful that is knowing they have to sit that tournament out, especially for
guys who have competed and gone deep.
They played in the grand final of the last major as well.
two teams a rematch of those grand finals obviously very different lineup for the phase
side of things so I mean yeah that kind of inability to make it to the world championship
to the biggest competition really really hurts that's the goal of phases to get back to that
and to that you need VRS points so apex stepping in we're live into this round had a couple
of resets maybe one more I'm just gonna I'm gonna wait patiently this feels like it could
to be. They're on. It's all fine. Yeah, we're good. We're searching for some headshots.
Always was the back of credit, but at this point phase in no rush to go and die. It's
going to be the result all the same in the next few seconds in apex with the rifle out.
Individually struggled yesterday for Ajax. I think everyone kind of struggled yesterday.
I think everyone maybe caught off guard by how hard that boom was shooting and the fact
that it never let up. That boom played a great series against Vitality.
Fantastic work from them. Well over to play on spot. Spam coming through. Flames
going to take a little bit of damage to the walls. It's just a patience game
right now. Vitality making sure that eventually when FaZe come in towards
their crosshairs they're ready to not concede any members. No shadow.
Oh
That's one way to approach
Have you ever seen anything like it two to nothing for vitality in the AK 47s come out for phase
I really looking for that hair clips balancer is
What's he doing? Oh
What plays like that I guess I'm attention that is okay. Let's watch that again sees the shadow
I mean, I thought it was even a little bit crazy if he swung with the rifle to go for the kill considering
How exposed you are but the nades
Well providing some entertainment in an otherwise dull round so let's get into it to zero finally a bike
I'm about here for face clan. We're gonna get into things in round three
Let's smoke it a good old tool with a single door and the outside smoke's deployed from face
Now, the NAVE for Apex is gonna land right on top of three players.
That chucks them down, crossing gonna be difficult.
Twist, Brokey, Jacob, Nature, and Frozen, all of them coming outside right now.
They've relinquished every presence over in Lobby.
Nothing towards Rampus.
Oh, it took a while for Twist.
Yeah, it took a while that Apex didn't have his gun out, so Twist will pick up the opening Freikip.
Things will slow down right now.
Right now on FaZe Clan's favor as they send multiple players three in fact down secret bomb is among them
Flames I try to kill them with a flashbang now might as well
Like it
All right gets the spot falls back safely into the bomb site
No shift yet from the defense I woo and rops both over and ramps
So there's actually gonna be really really fast support coming down
Twist is a bit of an X factor and as the IGL you could see with this positioning with his position to make a play to wrap into the
Bomb site he's calling everyone back over towards mini so they pressure down lower
They make it feel like they're gonna creep into that B bomb site gonna come right back up
So Mezzi has a huge task
You could see him clearing out lobby to find a little bit of safety at the moment
You know well flames faking out that door push back into the site
Kept the information flowing in favor of vitality so they know that phase aren't exactly setting up for that B split
but it doesn't matter because they've lost the upper sight.
The kills have come in here for FaZe,
and now 3v5 to try and recover this from Vitality if they want to go for it.
I think you just saved with the positions.
You have two players in the lower bombsite when that bomb gets planted,
so I think you could just kind of keep these M4s in your hand.
Robs can have the MP9 in the next round, and you just saved the economy.
Maybe grab some gopers and exits.
Robs especially can be aggressive with the SMG
if you want to try and grab an AK at the end, but...
Yeah, this is just FaZe out working.
Good job from Twist out calling the rotations of Vitality in this round.
And no action at the end of the day, so round 3 goes to FaZe, they get their first round
on the board.
There's Robson's final move, once that kill on Tuisson, he's got it.
Little bit of extra bonus money, wants to survive the bomb blast, and he will not.
Taken down at the end.
Nice, Robson.
I took my money, he closed the smoke area.
Alright, so Ipex just mentioned what happened, saying there's nothing really wrong, just
the timing of it.
Yeah, I pulled the Molly out, he's exactly right.
Wasn't ready for the push, it happens, support timing.
Twist gets the opening kill and calls his team to a victory.
Round four, no off in the field just yet.
I'm pretty quick here for Frozen to get in position, but I guess calling for the flash
and then Flames is confident to stay fighting towards the door, so the opening frag falls
if ever a vitality, and Flames just going to climb up on top of Hutt, lock out the squeaky
door with his smoke grenade.
Ooh, and Frozen's going to step in front of it, good flash from Flames, and now we'll
look at the aggression, what a play.
Ketch is frozen, trying to be a little bit sneakier.
Now upgrades to the AK-47.
You want to talk about guys who had a rough game yesterday, you mentioned Apex, Flames
as well. Very, very tough game. He seemed to be just getting caught off-guard, caught
in awkward situations, sometimes not even his fault, just a lot of things weren't right
for bad players. Yeah, he was just ineffective, flames yesterday, it happens. But today obviously
changing that a little bit with the initiative over towards Sweet Door, double kill and a
five on three
here in the steps tracking in his apex
comes outside of the smoke broke he gets the trade. He gets some payback on
Twizz as well. His turn to cross the smoke and Twizz not being prepared for it
taking down Robs.
sees that smoke as well once nothing to mess with it
two on four
all down to timing and broke it
right around that corner perhaps is his death unless you hard clear this
there's the peak out from ross that's the bomb going down in jakeham also
toppling off the top of heaven so
fight out he lose one round immediately bounce back yeah you can see i think
Twist was trying to, I think he likes that, that win they had previously with that kind
of extended round, right? He gets the opening kill, the round plays out, they work the map,
they pressure lower, go move back up to the upper bomb site. I think that's the kind of
a style he sort of wants to play right now, but you know, when you have Flames, Flames
getting aggressive like that and dropping in, getting a double kill, putting you in a
five on three, those like kind of mid-round start to, start to feel really uncomfortable
for you, not a whole lot of good options, so every move is a little bit desperate to
find a way back in.
Nobody home for the Triple Nade up on top of Silo.
Apex still being a nuisance outside, deep Molotov.
Brokey Jacob and Twist to move outside towards Redbox.
Support from Natchoo with utility will follow them up as well.
It's Daewoo and Apex as always to figure this out and put it together.
Now they've used their nades on the triple-nade for silo, so they have nothing to break this smoke.
Xayu is still good at that fine one as Twist comes through, the smoke just fades, poor timing, and a five on four.
They're flying all over the show at the moment, back in this spot, towards DeCon, just gonna be jump spotting.
It wasn't detected faking out the door in the previous attempts, you might try that again.
The problem right now is this is this is the exact danger that you don't want if your phase is just like losing that player without any ability to
Trade it without any ability to gain too much off that death
It happened the last run you just get whittled down and then you don't have enough actual resources and players to do anything
Gonna be hard breaking into this bomb site frozen will lurk over towards ramp
Maybe they want him to take attention away that fight that 1v1 against robs would be important
Well, Robson has won that 1v1 fight against Frozen, now Flames wedding, boosts it up inside
of the site looking for the shadows, but double-throwed players, he comes back to the angle, he still
gets that kill and Robs helps him out, so a stronghold of that lower bomb site and Vitality
feel like they're in full control.
Yeah, you see how much, I mean it's really hard when you lose that player and things
slow down so much and the map is so quiet, Vitality's gonna start piecing that together,
right?
I mean look at what happens when you eventually get to that lower bomb site because you get
the one kill on the cross, because the smokes fade and you have the information if they
come back.
Three players downstairs when you try and break in.
Smoke just fades at the worst timing for Twists, but you're just never going to break this
kind of a crossfire.
Robson's IWU basically a vertical stack with dark spot, flames inside the bomb site itself,
by tallying complete control and back to pistols for phase.
I'm just spotting towards solo as Apex.
I'm not gonna get a chance here since they grenade up towards twist instead and it's a BG1.
Vitality maintaining their distance, the advance is just with the better weapons.
Faze taking this round very very slow, hoping for the peek, they're going to get it just accompanied by a flashbang.
It's a nice and easy for Apex to gain a little bit of information.
So much of this half has been played outside it feels at the moment.
Faze really wanting to establish some success out in the yard before they go elsewhere.
Maybe this is around they can do it. Good shot from Twist to take down Apex.
Five on four, but you still just have the weaker weapons and no utility.
There goes the Nade to the side of Red as they try and cross over.
It's going to be Flames, Scywoo taking multiple kills between them.
Now you've got Flames stepping out of Scywoo, getting that final frag.
So yeah, I mean this is exactly what we expected to be on as Vitality coming out from a slow
day yesterday, getting a loss under the belt and having to come out and fight for survival
and we're going to go to the top of Phasier.
That's what I mean.
I mean if we've been listening to Apex over the past year and a half of this Vitality
dominance like just not a guy who's gonna let them come in and have the flat
emotionless quiet and you know no energy day twice in a row especially when you
when you look at it you know Trace kind of phrased the question of you know this
is a new position for Vitality to be in where you're in a game where you're
playing and you potentially have to you know do the quarterfinals and the
semi-finals in the playoffs which usually you get a skip straight to the
semi-finals the other one is not too often in a position where they're
looking to get eliminated in the group stage either you know already kind of
facing that prospect so that I think is the big factor that that apex probably
hit today of not wanting to have just a completely flat and early exit of a
tournament right before the major begins. This is, yeah, been a stretch where they
get a relax and focus on other things and focus on resetting themselves for the
grind of the major, but you obviously don't want to go through that and just
have that depressing collapse and any kind of event through that stretch.
Flames a 9-2 start because I was 6-1, robs 5-2, apex also on impact 6-3 here.
He's pushed up to the outside smoke again.
We're gonna be disruptive to Faze.
But he knows I've just got their buy back again.
So if you're right in the face
and you start ruining their initial plans,
how do they recover?
How do they find a way?
And there's a miss shot from Brokey.
All I made is gonna clean it up surely.
That's fine, it's the killer, Jacob.
Brokey does get away, but low on HP.
Yeah, this is very, very suffocating from vitality.
Not allowing Faze any space outside, bringing the AWPer low.
You've got Robs here at secret stairs as well.
It's going to be tough to get even into a good position to begin this round for
face. Look how active vitality is outside too. Look at how harassed phase is just to
take the first step. They haven't even crossed the first boxes. They've lost one
player. Brokey stake in 93 damage. I think now on some level you're not even really
motivated for this. You've used tons of utility just for the safety of it. And
you've got nothing for all the resources out here. A brutal start to the round for
phase vitality just laying it on thick and making nothing easy
let's twist outside tapping away on apex so
at least one kill brought back here for phase numbers are even
twist slipping towards man we've now got zaiwu ready in the ramp i'm gonna get those
steps coming in
Activates out of May, pulling around out of twice and frozen hunts down Saewoo.
A big turnaround here from FaZe. I don't know how they find themselves in this
kind of position, but it's Twist who's applied to alleviate all that pressure.
I mean, that's, I guess that's vitality. Maybe some miscommunication. Maybe the
players didn't have the timing and when that smoke would fade, but they knew Twist was
outside. He gets the kill on Apex. Maybe an idea they thought someone else was
going to be covering and maybe raps from secret, but man, Twist just wins that
round. Straight up.
I mean, Twist is gonna be comfortable playing towards main and making these
kind of plays, but this is the first fight just to start reaction apex just dry
swings into the open. That one's fine, but look at these kills here. Like no one
no one's aware it comes a little bit late. Maybe Flames is trying to make his
move to get some safety into its door. But because Twist, Twist gets those
kills in the upper bomb site, Zywoo makes his play probably before he really
he wanted to, and he gets taken down over towards Ramper and throws some exit kills for Rops.
Perhaps on the cards, Twists, bomb goes off, goes for the swing, Rops wins that as well,
keeps the AK in his hand.
It's a speed bump, a hiccup for Vitality, they've got plenty of cash to buy back in,
and I guess your reward for winning the round like that is that Zaewoo gets to buy the AWP
moving forward.
So that task of taking outside that's been so difficult, you still haven't established
any success with, now encounters the Zaewoo AWP.
Well, Faizo, for recent weeks, have lost Karagin to Falcons, and now are facing elimination
at the hand of Robs.
That's kind of the exit, really, cause the problems right now.
Yes, they really are.
Well, Brokey takes some fire damage packs off.
Zairu is AWP outside of big garage.
This time, a little bit less focus for Faizo towards the yard, only two defenders here,
so Mezi gets aggressive, but caught.
Awkward timing as he tries to shift back in towards hot, a 5 on 4 for FaZe.
There's a slow approach from FaZe in these rounds.
Good opening, allows them to be pretty comfortable.
I think the logic is someone's going to have to shift away from outside,
so it should be easier for them to actually exploit yard now that they have an opening kill.
It's a minute 5, still a lot of time.
And FaZe hold me, it's ready to send.
The other side wall, but it's Swiss crossing.
Pass the scope as I will the shot does not ring out from the French all but
Apex has a knade for the smoke.
They're gonna break it, no one crossing from face that second smoke has even come in yet.
Now they're disrupted again, no one from face is crossing behind the smokes
cause they're actually playing in front of the smokes.
Twist trying to get towards main again.
Trying to activate a play out of this area.
We're so successful in it last round and he's undetected again.
Look how much space Twist has got.
He's waiting for Apex just to come over the top of heaven.
of heaven. Oh yeah, this is actually sick from twists. One kill would be great, eight
deaths is ready for it, good find. Yeah, twice during work, again now flames under
the water, pressure at the back of the site, can't do much about it, either can sigh woo.
And now that's the site, that's the round, and face up to three on the T side really,
fighting on, getting themselves into the game. Okay, now we're starting to see the game
plan come to fruition. Nice pick onto Mezzi with his aggression, good final kill from
Jacob as well. Rops can't save the AK-47, that's a huge dent into the economy of vitality,
They'll have to buy up, and I imagine we see a timeout so they get to discuss things.
But yeah, they starting this half just getting shut down outside time and time again.
It started to look a little bit silly.
I was starting to think like it's time to switch things up.
But that twist rounds, picking off Apex, wrapping in towards Mini.
Now once again you pick off Mezzi.
You know he's an upper bombsite anchor, the most experienced guy, the guy they're going
to leave there to last most often.
And you exploit that as well.
Wrap in towards Mini.
That's an opening you've found a couple of times now.
So Vitality got to be having a conversation during this timeout about how they want to manage that situation when someone goes down.
Many must be watched at all times because Twist is exploiting it twice in a row now.
It's a great effect and if it happens once more, Vitality's money is broken and FaZe's T-Side really starts cooking then.
This game felt so comfortable for the first few rounds there for Team Vitality, but faces
stayed in it.
Well, they found ways like the kind of head-to-head outside hasn't worked out whatsoever, but
obviously when you can pick off Apex and find that open, when you can pick off a player finding
some success elsewhere and then kind of executing your game plan a little bit late with that
outside control, that's starting to look effective.
Flames walking into the lobby so frozen gonna be caught by an aggressive play from Vitality now
Zywoo holding the locker room's cross, twist walks right into the arm, Zywoo doesn't get away
Shot back through the smoke it's Jacob with both kills outside
And now Messi steps up to take a next engagement and face despite losing the opening kill have fought their way back into a position
Where they have the advantage and they're ready for every move that Vitality are throwing their way
Yeah, damn they were so prepared as I was with a little jump wanted some intel Jacob
That's a nice kill the spin towards mini he cracks it open now Rob still has a chance in this round two players trapped inside big garage
And he knows it the X Factor is the knowledge of where broke he is on the map
But Rob's is gonna have to take the risk and say my best chance is to make sure I always have the information of these guys inside
Big garage and keep them trapped there
Well, that smoke is going to allow rops to actually move out behind it.
He realizes in a clutch like this, you have to take a risk if that's the bomb.
That's going to slow things down here for face. 25 seconds.
Rops doesn't have the information of the second play, but he jumps up and finds it.
And now he knows exactly where Prokey is.
Rops up against his former teammates.
Look at it, what a big clutch here in the first half.
And he's going to know Prokey's dropped down.
Lower it.
Prokey against rops.
Plant is through.
through. Ropps runs him down and the whole clutch, he gets that door close just in time.
And Ropps, next back, goes for the reload. Rokie runs away to the double-toes, but Ropps
is hunted and down. And for years they used to clutch together, but Ropps on his own pulls
it off.
I'll tell you what, Rokie's going to be really frustrated with himself. That's a clutch
you kind of played where it looks like he had no confidence. He wanted nothing to do
with any of those fights at any point. Thought he had the opportunity to escape.
That's a crazy clutch.
It's a lovely clutch. Over the top of the smoke when he sees it doesn't panic, finds the low HP nature.
But this one, quick shot, just as Broke, he's about to close the door, can't get it done.
That is nasty. Robs just hitting his former team with a dagger.
I was going to tell you this, staying out of the attacker face, you did so well in that
round to pull it back.
Remember that started with a Flames advantage.
Jacob had to get three kills in the mid-round.
It's going to be so deflating considering how that T-side was starting to warm up.
Well, trying to get back into things with an immediate hit towards this A site, you've
got a twist waiting at high steps out of the open.
He's detected it, trying to sever them off. He gets the trade from that.
And that's lame. Stuck inside a main. Can't too much about it.
And a simple attack towards the A.S.I. has paid off here for Faze.
Yeah, it feels like there's still an element of vitality snoozing.
Not as reactive, not as predictive as we normally see them.
A little bit discombobulated. Maybe Faze has knocked them off their game,
but right back into it, a change of pace.
That's a change that vitality hadn't seen yet.
So much attention has been kind of slow, grindy outside.
Working utility, working smoke walls, and now you hit them with an upper pop.
an upper pop. And again it's Twist. You gotta give him so much credit. The guy who's won
the first two rounds at FaZe gets in his half, but this one here. Dropping the Molotov,
Mezzi on top of the silo, and Twist knows that's the one kill. It's the only kill he
needs to get. It's the kill that opens up the floodgates for the rest of his team. Spends
his life to grab it, and then it's an easy win as Vytaera's FaZe swing out behind him.
Absolutely awesome performance from the FaZe captain, keeping them in this game, and still
the money issues for Vitality are still there, not able to string rounds together.
Three the last four going the way of FaZe and Vitality have a decision to make.
AWP at AK-47 brought in on Zywoo and Rops and they're going to buy up around it.
Alright, holding it in.
Doing his best.
We're now.
Yep, keep it in.
I'm really struggling. I'm really struggling about staying in there.
Alright, boost up InstaWiz around for a rop that's gonna go up on top of the boxes.
And with a weaker gun.
Great work from FaZe, they're able to bounce back after a rop's clutch like that against them.
They're gonna have to come and challenge him at the start of the round.
Now, rops really shouldn't be able to get too much done here. Maybe one.
Honestly, can you see that? Nope, and you will get close to it, but not able to take the second kill.
Frozen certainly will take his second kill down Flames. Rotated as fast as he could to try and catch them off guard,
but Frozen was so quick to react to that, and all of a sudden, FaZe are in a better spot. They've got a 4v3.
FaZe is so prepared for all the follow-up fights that Vitality are swinging into, even when they kind of have a read and a jump on a quick rotation.
FaZe is just ready for that next guy coming around the corner. It's really great to see. Very focused, locked in these FaZe players.
Defense is centralized now because they've just been surrounded.
Ramp's been taken away from them. No presence outside.
So stuck all three in the upper bomb site. Zywuz off apex up in heaven with the AK-47.
Mezzi with his MP9 inside the bomb site as well.
And Twist just being the guy finding information. Just piecing it all together so we can call his team,
tell him exactly where to go, seize the player up in heaven, calls him downstairs.
And he can even be a nuisance towards vents if anyone tries to rotate from vitality.
Uh, twists.
He's spotted now, but he's just always one of these fights to remain.
No one's able to challenge him, apparently.
Xayah will finally get rid of him on the trade, but a 3v2 bomb is planted,
and Faye's going for 5 T-Rounds on Nuke.
Pex finds this.
Pex has found the kill on Netshu.
Xayah will still a long way off.
Yeah, they don't have a kit.
I think he doesn't want to call him back in.
Also, the footsteps indicate, and they're coming.
There's really no chance for any kind of secrecy, any kind of edge in this retake.
Five rounds, he's side from face.
Yeah, it's actually awesome to see, especially considering this started out five to one.
They lost the pistol, vitality, defense outside.
Remember, it was a lot of pushes, Apex getting up in their face, fighting up towards silo,
picking them off really, really early, not letting them develop those tactics out in the yard.
And Faze just found a roundabout way to get that started with kills elsewhere,
with Twizz having big performances, a pick on towards the hot player, Mezzie going down early.
You find that weakness, exploit it, and go back to outside, and Faze has made it work.
They gotta say it has mainly been twists with the impact here for FaZe in this first half.
The amount of kills he's got out of many is just mad.
How has he gotten away with it so many times?
Yeah, he's been excellent for FaZe.
He's certainly been the gasoline to the engine to get them started and keep them in this.
And now, keep it very, very close.
Looking to head into halftime with a tie scoreline.
Crazy to think about how things looked in the first six rounds, but FaZe have shown
up here on the opening map of Nuke.
Apex in 12, Zairu still got his AWP, Roki has one on the other side as well.
Another opening for FaZe, less bodies outside, but it's quality not quantity and Twizz is
going to be that player.
the outside wall looking to hit towards upper. Apexin's I lose attention out in
the yard for the moment while these smokes are up.
Oh Messi's had a very tough half of a carousel right here. A single kill that comes from a
Molotov after he had already died so really important role defending this
A-site has been a strong piece to this at all. Let's see if you can change that
coming into the last round of the half. On the remnant left he's glad just
setting us out of the A site, getting ready to go in.
It's gonna be Messi and Flames looking to combine
with two for mass.
Just waiting for these smokes to fade.
I think Twist may be panicking a little bit saying
we don't have enough pressure being applied elsewhere.
This is too readable.
We need to throw a little bit of a fake elsewhere.
We'll talk to Oseet's event, just to look at that position.
Here comes the rest of the utility flashes going through
and now they come charging into us Flames.
Great shot from Froze and Messi finally getting two.
That isn't going to be enough.
A 3v3 with just over 20 seconds
that ball that's about to get planted.
Twist putting it down and Vitality have to go for the retake here.
Yeah, there's no kits either.
This rop's flank is massive.
He's even able to pick anything off,
but FaZe have actually vacated the squeak door area.
So he's going to be happy about that.
It gives Zai Wu some freedom, but now Hut is the point
that he's looking at.
Twist taking first down.
Zai Wu taking the kill.
Broke, he gets one.
There's Waps unleashing.
Zai Wu comes in to clean up.
And it will be Vitality with the lead.
Good comeback from FaZe Clan to stay
Competitive on this first map though a 7-5 scoreline it reads
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Well, Faze surprising everyone and not only sticking in this, but actually looking pretty
damn solid in that opening half, 5-7, running 4 of 5 to put a stamp on that T-side, Twizz
found a way to get it heated up, that offense started cranking, now we switch sides, it's
Faze who's going to defend here on Nuke, up against Vitality as we step into this second
half, and we'll see if an upset is on the cards here in the opening map of this series,
elimination on the lines for these two huge Titan organizations in Counter-Strike.
Gonna be sad to invite either one of them, really.
Yeah, really well, especially coming into this event, Vitality, heavy favors,
but from FaZe Clan, they've got twists on the roster, it would be great to see him play.
In the playoffs, we know the North American fans really love the FaZe Clan organ.
We've got Flames swinging out with Baroque trading.
A quick start to this pistol, but it's all slowed down.
Now, Frozen holding the ramp, that's the ball, Maypex is getting flanked too.
Ah, it's all gonna come crashing down here for vitality in the pistol round unless Mezzi and Zahoud can do something unthinkable.
Well, we could damage on a Jacob. Couldn't take him away, but it's the problem of the bomb, right? So far away.
Yeah, I'm actually surprised that it felt like Faze actually kind of shifted away. Frozen in nature,
just playing far far back over in Ramp Room. If Mezzi can find Jacob on the other side of the smoke.
And he will. 2 on 2.
Zawoo is going to wait patiently to join up with Mezzie, watching both sides of Ramp Room. Eyes on the bomb as well.
No utility for Vitality to use to try and recover this and dip away, so they're going to have to fight for it.
And the bomb just waits right there on the floor, frozen. Eyes on it.
Ranging with Dual Barrettas. Let's see how accurate it can be at long range, and eventually taking Zawoo away.
He's a messier, the clutch in frozen, yeah no problem, but that kind of range with the
Juleys, that's going to be a 4k.
And look at the energy, AKJ bringing to the team as well, firing phase up, they've won
the pistol round, and they've got a chance to go on a run here on the CT side.
Yeah, it's shit, the nature of this game is changing now, all of a sudden phase seemed
to just be able to kind of grab rounds, I will, fatality, it's been quite some time
since they've been able to string two together.
And the pistol round has been a benefit for phase they've been able to rely on throughout
IE in Atlanta so far they've been so solid in pistols getting the second one here on Nuke
and getting to start their CT side campaign with economic advantage.
Everyone getting pumped over there on the phase side of things.
Unarmored pistols for vitality upgraded into a D.G.O. for mezzi- oh what the-
Okay, here's the- oh, god there's a player right there, Metru turning around at-
Luckily, it was just a glock
For a taxi found a little bit of a gap there, but a tight game seven to seven
They're getting interesting isn't it?
Right, so it's this is talking about
Some fakes that I want to throw in and it comes back to what we were talking about with phase yesterday, right?
What we've seen of the last few weeks from them. Why is he mad about that one? I
mean he's he's as always
ready to go. So it feels every emotion so intensely but I think what we've talked
about over the last few weeks from FaZe is the fact that they have had a number
of very slow starts on maps but there just seems to be this ability to switch
it on right and get back into it. Yeah you just you don't expect necessarily to
be able to flip that switch against the best team in the world do you? Right so
it's crazy to see it. It's just a question of is it gonna be the same
story that we talked about with Bat Boom yesterday? Well okay if you've got that
You can't let up right you just got to run it to the finish line if you even hand back the
Toilet of vitality for just a second. It might just be your end
That's the other that's at the side of the coin to is another conversation of where's vitality
Let's see if apex can get these guys, you know waking up on this T side
Four players in lobby apex outside with the smoke wall up as those smokes fade apex just gonna play red box broke
He's playing lockers
Door smoked off again, that's holding vitality back.
Nathieu and Jacob both downstairs in secret.
No one's actually in the upper bomb site at the moment.
Faze kind of just playing retake, playing it very passively,
willing to give it up, twist, considering stepping back in,
but they've heard nothing on the map.
And two players downstairs makes me feel like they think the team
crossed behind the smoke wall, but they're wrong on that.
Under 30 on the clock, flames running over the back of the site here.
Now, plant is going to come through from messy front of the bomb site. 5v5 post plant.
There's one kit. There's no smokes. There's two flashes. I can't imagine you're going for this in any way.
You're setting up to take these guns out of their hands at the end of the day. You're saying you can have this round victory.
We just want to make it so painful. We want to make you lose as much as possible in the process because we know your economy's still not there.
there. Apex just back it away. It's two-phase kind of players making their way off the
secret stairs and now cross behind Red, but they might just spot enough of Apex, but the
timing couldn't be better until now. He is spotted. He's around the corner safely, for
now he goes into the peak. Nature actually got both. Now Twist, on the side, he's got
a kitty sticking all the way, but they run back, and Twist will be caught. The bomb will
be going off, and I think they might have been close on time even with that diffusel,
I like the attempt that from the choice try to be real sneaky with it
Yeah, as the exit kills are going out so you can see like vitality's brain is thinking
We're gonna have to fight to exit away from this bomb twist pulls are even back closer with that late ninja attempt
And that's taken a ton away from vitality. That's that's the exact goal that phase had so well done at least in that regard
Yeah, you've given over a free round not really contesting and fighting to maintain the bomb site
But you buy so much better in this round than what vitality have four galils brought in out of a victory
no money built up for vitality whatsoever.
And on the face side of things, they've gone off for Brokey and they've got everybody on
a rightful, including an AK-47 from Nature that he carried over from the last round.
This is a great opportunity for Faze to bring the hurt to the economy of vitality at the
beginning of the second half.
Yeah, kind of a cool weakness to attack, isn't it?
With that kind of a game plan.
Molotov in towards secret.
Utility, resources, nades are going to be really, really sparse for vitality, so all
of them have got to be efficient and they've got to use these smokes that are currently
up the cross. Frozen got a glimpse, a little bit of chip damage brought down Mezzie and
Twizz will drop down into secret.
on the one minute on the clock twist just jump spotting seeing flames opens the door
now broke he waiting patiently will be flames walking down the stairway into the gates of
AWP, but look at this, Twist makes the same play that Flames made in the last half where
he fakes out the door walk back into the site, but he's going to hear that ladder, he was
going to walk right by the vent, but then Xyro makes noise, so Twist can start to think
about flanking around the secrets and try to come up through this area, but it might
become a little bit too late because his teammates do nothing.
Frozen is Rulai, boys, got utility diving down into the site, stops the plant on Apex
and is buying crucial seconds for the rotation of Twist and now arrived and he goes through
the smoke. Twist gets the kill and it's all on Apex down in the bottom side. Twist again
with heavy impact here for FaZe Clan. A 16-13 performance right now on Twist and that's
another round to throw on top.
This is a monster performance out of Twist. So much impact everywhere he's going. Absolutely
incredible performance. Frozen's right there within 13 kills.
Dude, if it isn't for Frozen, that round is done for FaZe, right? There's no chance for
Twisted activate this flank but both the A-plies die instantly frozen is the one that delays it long enough
But the first kill then the utility to prevent the plant of apex because it was low HP
And then twice can come through and push that smoke and make the play he was setting up. Yeah, this is this is actually perfect for phase
They got everything they wanted and now you get the reward of that setup in the previous round with that late ninja play
Keep everyone from vitality close to the bomb explosion lose all their money even in a victory now. You've got them broken early
Just pistols upgraded, barely even any armor, only Robson Apex bringing armor into this fight.
Faze starting to get a really, really strong grip on this opening map of the Elimination Series.
Unfathomable to think that Vitality would even be in a position like this.
We'll make sure back of the site is gonna be over a while, but he's got Jacob right there right there with three kills in quick succession
The phase are locked in right now a lead has been taken here on nuke
Vitality we'll get back to a buy, but it's not gonna be one with an AWP president
It'll just about be AK 47s and the limited amount of utility
That's you know their team that's not you know, we know it's I really likes to use that AK 47 plenty especially on the T side
He's actually giving it back so we can get some extra utility gone down to the galil
Now, yesterday against Bed Boom on this map, Vitality did end up losing it, and some of the issues that they were having against Bed Boom on it
was the issues taking yard outside, not typically a problem from FaZe,
but really, really struggled to be effective in that part of the map.
Only putting two T rounds against Bed Boom on the board, the pistol round and the final round of the half.
And once again, this outside pressure making it a huge difficulty for Vitality to find any success here.
Where's Netshu handling Zaiwu?
So crazy to see Faze just absolutely destroyed Vitality at the moment.
And Vitality getting pulled into bad fights now.
Vitality desperately trying to find traits, trying to get something back.
And it's the exact fights Faze are looking for.
This power-up happens so quick and Faze have never slowed down again.
Brokey's now gone, and it's only Mezzi remaining.
Brokey's ready for him, misses the shot, sells on Biden and throws it right there.
Faze Clown in full control, moments him easily on their side.
And for Vitality, it's not like they have a good buy to fall back on again here, so
Eleventh and Swearth are most likely outcome of the next two minutes here.
Really, really cool stuff. Look at Nature now outside. Holding his ground, finds Apex, sticks around for the fight even longer, handles the Zai Wu turn.
Teammates cover him as well. Flames trying to pick him off on the retreat. And Broke, he's getting pumped up.
Round 19, and it's only pistols yet again for vitality.
Haven't seen that Vitality round yet, right? We talked about it throughout the event, throughout some of the slow starts, throughout some of the rough round the edges here in Atlanta, back and forth as well.
I haven't seen that moment yet. Often the low buys is when they can crack in for a win that changes the nature. Big time clutches, but you're getting that phase effect now where all those rounds are in the favor of the other team, so vitality is scrambling to get back into this game.
Flames held back. Lovely shot from Zywoo.
This was directly wrecked by Zywoo with another one and you were just mentioning where is that
Fatality round? Where is that low by way? Well, they do have a chance here in 3v3 and
I was going to AWP. Yeah, the Zywoo op is the big one.
Props controlling the bomb as well coming into the lower bomb site. They've got Apex
over and vents only with the pistol. So not a whole lot of resistance, but at least information
gathering and two players flanking through secret and that's going to be up to Zywoo.
All right, this is how we can make the big difference here all the close two players right there, misses the shot
Jake kept over the top of him. You know what's eight packs out of the vent P250 card
Natu considers that maneuver so it has to be rops and he can't do anything about it
Natu looking sharp, FaZe Clan looking sharper and it's 11-8
They do not catch the break vitality you're looking for and FaZe even closer now to rounding out Nuke
Man, this is Natu kids really trying to earn himself a spot in this team, isn't he?
He's trying to carve himself and opening in this roster.
Lovely performance and good shooting today.
These are great shots from Zyber,
but it all goes to waste at the end.
Couldn't find a good angle for the post-plant,
even with the AWP.
They get a little bit too close.
Apex never gathered that information,
but the read for nature to say,
look, frequently this is what people
try and wrap around us.
We've taken control side.
Let's just go check that flank real quick.
Final two kills, secures round 11.
Invitality running out of chances to stick around in nuke.
There's been over a year of top four finishes for team vitality.
Last time they finished outside the top four, January 2025 at the blast bounty spring.
That was what their first event I think with Robs when he hopped in.
Yes.
Yeah, their first event was the rough one and then it was off to the races.
Crazy.
Wow.
Out their face in this situation.
And for all the experience, you could say it's actually one of the few areas of the
game left where they don't have that much experience.
actually feeling like you're about to be eliminated. Vitality doesn't know very
well what that's like. Look at Natu on top of T-Roofe!
He's just killed CyRoo, this is so nuts! So much confidence, he is going to be
pushed, Robs. He can't keep doing that, he says. It's just kind of come up the
roof and make sure that Natu doesn't get away with another one. I don't even care,
that's so frustrating. When the players start styling on you like that to open
up rounds, when the gap is in your offense like that, you're pissed.
And I mean you just mentioned the fact that Vitality not used to thinking about elimination at this stage of the competition
Well, they're not used to that either right place is running at the tier roof on nuke trying to get in your face
And 3v3 thanks to flames at least keeping things even for the time being what's trying to slip out
There's a headshot on Jacob on a minute on the clock now at 3v2 more of that more initiative being taken by Vitality players
That's what's gonna get it back into this broke. He misses the chance frozen slides in big kill for him
Messi in the site gets it done.
A very important kill and now he's got the safety of the bomb site.
They should know Brokey's position.
As Flames wraps around through lobby to play a 2 on 1 and Brokey's got a decision.
12 HP as he wanted to attempt it.
Well he steps up towards having it almost impossible to think he gets this kill on Messi.
And he won.
A little bit of relief for Vitality.
And we'll tour in another round here.
and keeping phase off 12 so you can still fight for a victory in regulation.
Lovely move from Robs. Taking a big risk, taking a gamble. Here's that push from Nathjus.
He sees everything clear and is like, yeah, why the hell not?
You're so confused if you're Sion.
You've just been pushed on the T roof, not ready for that kind of play at all.
The Robs are messy. You want to make sure the round goes in favour of Vitality still.
Baroquee, stepping up into the hut, frozen, might just be activated here by twists.
So, you told to prevent rops from feeling super comfortable, it's going to funnel him
back into the AWP, but you can see rops is very aware of the possibility.
We'll send some shots towards Baroquee and scare him off.
Now Vitality starts to send a couple extra players outside, crossing behind Red.
Okay, well there's a break of the smoke doesn't go all the way through tough to get vision on the other side Jacob just some spam
Twist and Broke he rotated down towards secret. We saw this a few rounds back
They've really wanted to get a jump on this when that smoke wall comes up
They don't want to deal with the pressure towards the lower bomb site
So you've put a lot of extra resources there vitality showing they want to take ramp room and split to that lower bomb site
But meanwhile it looks like it's all a fake gonna turn the corner in towards mini and they have an open avenue into the upper
Bombside vitality now starting to work the map on the T side
My pecs moving out of main, there's Jacob in, he stopped Apex, Masi does get that headshot
on nature, back of the site, twice having a livery edge here again, and it's twice
once more but Simon wins, doesn't bite, goes for the second, Zywu's got both, and so
frozen to Jacob now, left 2v2, Twisted's done enough to keep this competitive for
FaZe and then Zywu the same for Vitality, but it's frozen looking to make the difference
out of height, but the time slows and Masi considers, looks towards height but no
No push coming forward. Now Frozen steps up and Zywoo is the difference in this round.
They know where to get this. Messi's got the head shot. And when you need someone to deliver
a round for you, it is Zywoo for Vitality.
Yeah, they needed that final boss. Here is that last push from Vitality. Back into the
game, starting to heat up. The great play from Rops previously, but now it's Zywoo saving
you. And if he's going to show up in this kind of fashion to close the Vitality out is
going to get so much more difficult. Patiently waits, recognizes the situation
and all the impactful kills down the stretch are Zai Wu. Time and time again,
11-10. Money is gone for FaZe. Outside of this buy they're broken. Huge swing
round for Vitality. The win here could just steal this map away from FaZe who
have been fighting so hard for it. In a way when you look at the money, it could
be the last chance for Fade. See if they're able to pull through here. Get up to map point.
We've got twists. Checking towards silo, no head being shown, no one from vitality offering
up a single chance. Smoke starting to fade though. There's the first one. God, Apex takes
a little bit of damage from the spam.
Twist hears all this, calling out it's just one.
Recognizes the flash as well.
Smoke clears towards Dora, chance for Broke to have impact early in the round.
45 seconds left. No longer is it just one player towards secret flames. We'll join up with Apex.
Rops smoked out. Steps into the open. Broke his patience. Catches Rops. Hands busy. Throwing utility.
And this is going to funnel Vitality to put two players towards ramp. As they already have two down lower.
Frozen will have to drop to address that issue set up with his teammate. And that does free up some space here for Vitality.
Seconds, but yes the time here 20 seconds on the clock is that decont door so it's wide open
Vitality making a final push to try and tie things up again
It's I rule but can it you do anything? No flames finds him on the rifle with a quick flank that door shuts
But it's actually open and so it's moves and flames turns and twist will die
It's ready for the next
He pulled out and take him trying to win this alone, but he's burning a fire
Vitality just about get out of this one by the skin of their teeth
It's gonna be 11 to 11 a closely contested round, but FaZe have to fall away and their money is shattered at a crucial point on the map.
This time it's Flames. This time it's Flames with some impactful kills when it's needed the most.
Absolutely disgusting work. It looked like he wasn't comfortable or ready for any of those fights and still comes out on top.
These last two rounds almost feel like Vitality's playing FaZe Counter-Strike and coming out on top.
It's not pretty. It doesn't look like everything's planned. Not everyone seems on the same page, but the individuals are providing the effort necessary.
And even at the end of the day, all the guns taken out of FaZe's hands, that's a brutal
reset of the economy right at 11-11.
And Kaotic finished that final round.
And now FaZe have run out of cash.
How have they run out of steam?
This one right here, Nates you.
As good as he's been, not able to find impact in a really, really strong position as they
come out of Deacon.
As the pressure cranks up.
Vitality taking the initiative and getting all the big moments
So then KJ trying to get them geared up
It's gonna be all 24 rounds here on nuke tied at 11 and a great opportunity for vitality to take the chance for one
Round to win the map and escape from this nightmare that phase is brought into nuke
Mp9 on Frozen, Deagle on Twist, 5-7s and P250s picked up.
They need a special round.
Twist is being so good on this first map, so reliable for giving face chances.
He tries to challenge Sai Wu.
And the shaw will whiz past.
Now by Tality you gotta have the goal. Obviously you wanna be able to have some information.
Figure out what you're going up against, what the buy is looking like, where people are playing.
But equally you don't just wanna give up cheap kills, you don't wanna give up one kill on the other side of the map that can't be traded.
So Apex taking all the risks. Twisted across the smoke, goes down. Apex ready for that.
Now to play it passive, see what the next reaction is going to be.
Four of his teammates moving towards Ramp Room in a Brokey's position.
I mean, Brokey has a P2000, so...
The fact he's playing alone with that little weapon...
There'll be no challenge for the mighty Vitality in a round like this.
The Vitality's happy to take this so slow as well.
They'll make any mistakes. You could see how they're just maintaining this group presence over towards lobby as well letting apex be the only one in any kind of danger
Otherwise they can recover any situation with the number of players they have here good shot for Jacob
But he's got more he's a massive moment here Jacob out of the 5-7. He can only amount one kill
Vitality put their resources towards the door and out towards the A side apex on the lurk and the lobbies come back in from outside
But he has missed the timing. That's an AK now for parochie
Honestly, it might just be worth saving that at this point.
Yeah, he slips away.
Yeah, low percentage retake that you're going to have here against three Vitality members,
no kit, so yeah, the AK-47 pretty damn valuable considering the money.
Frozen is well good a position to try and find an exit kill up on top of the T roof.
We'll see where Vitality eventually exits off to, but this will be the twelfth round
for Vitality, so they've got one chance.
One chance to seal this away in regulation.
It's not always easy getting that 13th round once you get to 12, we know team struggle with it, but vitality after the slow start to this half.
Second half opened up a 6-1 run in the favor of FaZe.
But what an exclamation point, if you just rattle off that 13th right now, vitality just says we gain control and run 5 straight with no problems.
And it was Zaiwu who was the turning point.
And imagine the effort of Twist that would go to Waste on this map.
He was the producer, the engine, everything for FaZe in the first half on the T side.
Opening kills and impactful kills, calling great strategy, finding ways to make it work.
He's done good work on the CT side as well.
All that gets forgotten about if Vitality steal this round right now.
So one last hurrah here for FaZe in regulation.
they get this one it's over time
Zywul breaks open the door it goes to the early peek they to be peek towards main
But no one stepping in from vitality Zywul taking nades to the face
Down to 8 HP
Really really one of that challenge look how fast this is
Okay caught that's what's ready. That's the kind of play
Tush was making all half-longs he was aware of the possibility. He stopped Apex flames
To an end by nature Rob sending shots back frozen dead damaged onto two vitality players
Robs 5 HP, Zaewoo 8 HP, it's got to be some impact from Mezi.
Well, it's got to be slow this round down and get started getting players in new positions.
See if you can catch someone off guard.
Zaewoo's AWP has moved outside very quickly.
This move from Nechu is huge.
This is great. Look at the wraparound.
Robs never go expected.
Oh, but he goes to the T roof instead.
Wait, this is actually perfect too.
I think he's going to catch Mezi in Zaewoo.
They're still waiting to cross.
It's going to take a little bit of time.
Leg shot.
There goes Robs inside, but now you're up and now you can force O.T.
That's a big step up from nature and a round like that willing to make that play that aggressive wrap around the back
Twist spotting apex just in time if apex gets into main there
It's gonna be a big problem right the fact that there's two players coming into main for that split ready for the A site
And as the change of pacing to it right that happens so fast
That's just like we're just gonna walk the whole way until we get into a fight
So really could grab on the apex otherwise. Yeah upper bombsite really gets weakened over time of course phase
Vitality! Vitality is so good in the overtime though.
This is another uphill battle for FaZe, but let's see if they can fight on.
And SaWu is going to get the opener. Nature tries to get aggressive up into his face, but SaWu is ready for it.
Five on four. Apex going to cross quickly, not waiting around. Flames up on top of the roof.
So Vitality's starting to get a few pieces into place.
Map control towards secret, tons of it, because Apex isn't slowing.
And now he just waits patiently.
Frozen.
It might just walk right into his death.
Do you clear this hard corner?
Oh, don't switch.
Don't do that.
He's got it.
And then he pegs. Extends the advantage here for Vitality.
Oh ho ho ho ho! Three because Brokey's had taken off as well.
Under a minute on the clock, a 5v2 for Team Vitality.
The bomb is on the back of Mezzi, which still needs to get to the site.
It might just win in elimination at this point. Sorry, I'm missing a couple of chances outside,
Five-met flames won't take long to kill twists, and I'm sure you can play towards main.
So 30 seconds, you can now bring that bomb down to the site safely.
Apex just plays Gladiator this round.
He's like, just let me do everything first, let's see how many kills I get, and then you
guys can start playing the game after the fact.
So many just educated risk-taking based off of kill, moving forward, taking so much space
so quickly, so quietly.
The knowledge that you know Frozen, especially because of that smoke wall, especially because
you have a kill already and play on nature, Frozen's going to have to ship down to secret
and Apex just sits there and waits for his timing.
Both IGLs have a big impact for their teams in this game.
Tell you what, that gun switch, that quick switch almost gave me a heart attack for
Apex.
up the timing on it and he gets it out just in time.
That's a beautiful shot on Brokey as well, it just crosses the vision from there, it's an easy mop up for vitality, just waiting for the next phase steps.
13 to 12, double up now switched into Brokey has one outside, Frozen's going to have one over towards wrap room as well.
Apex about to be unleashed through the smokes again just trying to make the other playmaker
a lot of freedom our side rops stop in Jacob just had a people with the back of the side
twist wins the fight against Apex important that it keeps numbers even here.
Well I tell you don't have a player nearby to even attempt the trade at least you've
We've got the information as to where Twizz is playing, so he's kind of locked in there
for the time being.
Oh yeah, he's going to have a tough time getting out for the moment, so just saying
safe, making sure Mini is spotted.
Nothing really vitality can do to flush him out into the open.
Zairu just going to hold the angle in case he tries to get a little bit cheeky, make
a run for it.
Otherwise Vitality is going to spend this time readjusting back towards Lobby.
So Zairu outside for the moment as the solo player.
Rops, Flames, and Mezzi together, and Lobby as Apex watches on.
They still haven't encountered the second AWP. They still don't know that Frozen's got an AWP in ramp room.
Broke, he wastes back in the side, misses the first shot. Utilities got a commemdy. They're already moving off.
One of them to the other wall.
About 15 seconds left, that's all they've got.
15 seconds to try and get past Frozen and down into the B site.
It's the last ditch ever, but by Talty, but they make it through.
Running down to low with our couple of phase players, Brockey tries to get here, tries to deny, great shot on Flames, can he stop it?
No, not yet!
Robs gets that bomb planted, but gonna be so difficult to win it from here.
A 1v4 clutch from Robs.
They're slashing through the smoke, but Robs is gone, but he can't have gone far, and that has to be the conversation for FaZe.
He wins this, man.
No, he can't. Truly he can't.
There's only so far he could have gone, only so many places he could be.
They're gonna break open the smoke and that's gonna be enough, they're grenade to catch him and finally getting rops.
Yeah, he just had no options. Alright, Twists, there's a big win for you.
Nice round from FaZe as they stand strong. Four players surviving, shutting down everything from Vitality, no access.
The double-op works perfectly. Brokey, the up inside the upper bomb site, scares them away, forces them to rotate back and that's where you discover a second op is there.
Frozen gets an easy pick, and with time running down, no options for vitality.
FaZe is doing a really, really good job facing off against the best team in the world in these long, extended, late-round plays as well, not losing their nervous time goes on.
Final round before we switch sides in OT, and it's going to be an upper rush, it's going to be a change of pace, flames coming out inside the smoke, blinded with nature, kills going the way of vitality, and Twices once again going to do everything he can!
Just frozen 1v2 with AWP and it's just a shrub, brawling towards the site.
Vitality on top of it right now, but can frozen pull this off?
He switches out to the rightful for it.
Flanks will fade towards Heaven.
I've always made a noise.
Apex ready.
Frozen knows he has to go in, and he knows exactly where the last player is.
But Zile is caught frozen, and it will be Vitality with a slight edge.
A 14 to 13 lead.
Team Vitality, when they get into overtime,
It can be so difficult to put them away.
They've only lost one time in OT and it is to Falcons this year.
A single time in overtime.
FaZe have done a good job of hanging in, but these are the kind of brawly rounds that Vitality just about edged through.
Well, a member as well, they won four of the last five in regulation.
Now they win two of three here, so six is seven, a little bit of a streak here for Vitality extending back outside of the overtime.
So really, they've caught onto this game and got comfortable.
While FaZe was beating them up early on in that second half,
Vitality's figured it out.
Timeout as they switch sides, a chance for FaZe burning their single overtime timeout to talk things over.
Gonna be interesting to see what they come up with.
Back in the first half of Nuke, we saw them attempting to play outside,
attempting to take yard control when they attacked it head-on.
They got beat up and battered by Vitality.
But when they were able to find an opening pick elsewhere towards Huts,
they were able to open up some avenues outside and actually exploit many a number of times.
So we'll see if FaZe continue with that or if they want to go to something different here to surprise Vitality.
Outside smoke's constructed.
Sai Wu, not spotting anybody, that's not right, but now he will!
And he'll nail his chance, not too far off the second, but Twist again doing a great job at continuing this fight for FaZe.
That's his 30th kill on the map.
That's a big one too, but Apex has stepped up into the garage. Flash has come through with Twist trying to fight out towards Flames.
Apex was also down, so there was no way Twist was getting out of that one alive.
That's actually a huge fight for Flames, just because Apex was completely blind.
blind if twist attention wasn't taken away he'd be looking at his thirty first
kill on the apex. Now 4v3 vitality with a small lead in the play of the department
now but a minute left on the clock. If you're vitality though this is where
your kind of alarm bells are saying this is where we feel those attacks coming
in for towards many that's where twist was able to punish us in regulation. Apex
sliding downstairs as well though just to cover their bases and that's a good
thing because Jacob and nature are here with the bomb as well frozen in alert
position outside. 40 seconds for FaZe to piece together this 3 vs 4. They have to be going
back up the vents.
It goes open.
Headpacks doesn't peek yet. He's getting ready for that fight though. It goes back into his
steps into the open and Froze has got to kill on Flames as well. Now Froze is searching
for his further drive. Mezzie jumps, pointing at the back of the starting nature trying
to close the space, trying to run him down but there's some help and it's Robs
to the relief, helping out Messi who will not give up his life for free. He stands
and he's in cover but frozen eventually hunting him down. Robs that is ridiculous!
Getting away with one again on frozen and Robs BS his push vitality up to map
point. Yeah here's he come from he's really gotten loud inside the server
hasn't he had the 1v3 earlier now he's got 26 kills inside the server and he
He provides the second prawn to this crossfire that wins the round with help from Nezzy inside
the bomb site, not overpeaking, maintaining position, but what a spray.
What a double kill at the end.
And Vitality, two more chances to close out the map.
Well Jacob, a great strong opener at taking Zybu down, without a casualty at all here
on phase.
Looking to increase the pace of this, his twist moving through the smoke, Apex is right
Beside him, Twizz is slipped into his main.
It's a special move.
He loves to make this play, and there's Flames that gets caught this time.
Messi on rafters, spotting the feet, getting rid of Twizz.
Another one for Messi.
So clear.
All map-long, but showing up in the final round on what they hope will be.
But Rob has to clutch it if that is going to be reality, because Brokey gets the kill.
But Rob's to take Brokey down.
For so long, it was Rob's that meant success for Faze.
But now about to be the reikening, Nurend on Nuke, if he can win it against Jacob,
who's in the open and Robb denied, Vitality denied,
and Jacob will keep FaZe in the fight.
Damn, tough clutch for the young kid to win.
Stands tall up against Robb, taking his time, had him out in the open.
And after such a broly round, Brokey goes down, Jacob's far away.
That can be nerve-wracking, but he stands tall.
This is disgusting for Mezzi.
Should never be getting away with three kills in this position.
New where he was the whole time, but all those quiet players we talked about in the first
effort by Talon, these last 10 rounds have shown up.
Jacob winning the clutch gives FaZe an extra lifeline.
One more round to try and force double OT.
31 kills on twist leading the way captain from the front 21 on frozen as his right hand man
Robson Zywoo leading for vitality 27 and 22 respectively round 30
Lots of nades available for Apex to disrupt the outside smokes.
FaZe have their forces gathered outside of the ace site, the only player with presence outside is Toist.
It feels like an upper hit this whole way. Jacob frozen, Brokey, their attention has been on hot this whole time, but Toist is going to be the really strong position wrapping in.
Well they're already through.
already through. Frozen look at this timing! He's already out on the side but Flames is
recovering from Vitality! Oh-ha! Flame on! He's got himself four inside of his sight and
it might just be the bitter end for Faze. They were so competitive but it's Flames
igniting with the ace and a 16-14 Vitality will not be defeated in overtime. So hard
to put away and that is why they are the best.
Absolute champion. Some of that quality coming in. All that talk of vacation they overcame
They came in a little bit of a slow start yet again, but Vitality figured it out, FaZe really challenged them, really tested them, and put that experience up of having this elimination game facing a map 1 loss by telling not too often in that scenario, but they nail it.
They absolutely do. The only team able to defeat Vitality in overtime this year is one single time from Falcons in Rio.
This team, even when they're being pushed to the brink overtime, is where they thrive. Vitality get it done.
And in the darkness it looked like it was going to be another overtime, but it was the human George in flames who was able to step up with a superhero close to keep Vitality going and to close this one out.
It was entertaining to say the very least, closing out is one thing that Vitality did
right there, but obviously with some of that phase B.S. in their own pockets.
Yeah, I mean, listen, the start of this game, it looked like things were going to go according
to plan for Vitality.
Some nice opening starts, great flash plays for Flames, and then it all devolved into chaos.
We had outside control, we had twists popping off in so many moments, but there were just
consistent lethal weapons applied from phase throughout that entire T side half and even
when we'd gone to the overtime. So we've gone to the CT sides, twists and their abilities
to sort of brawl outside on that phase con unit. It really felt cohesive and comprehensive
in a way that most teams wouldn't have expected a phase con to look like, especially for a
vitality. The battle back, they got into 11, 11, they broke phases, money at that point.
And then once that money's broken, you're thinking, okay, this might just be the end
end of this matchup. Vitality might very well close it out right here with some miraculous
upper hand. However, that's just not how it went down, right? When we found OT.
Yeah. I mean, we're still in regulation. There's a moment where it's a four on two,
and it really does look like FaZe is going to take this map and steal it away from Vitality.
And then we get this massive impact from Zywoo. He's able to get kills from Mini, transition
that into the bomb site. And listen, that wasn't the only clutch that ended up happening.
you know, Rops kind of stole the show for the vitality side in the end, but you saw these
massive individual moments for vitality that has kind of been absent from them coming into
this tournament.
I mean, we've seen them against the Beth Boon where they struggle to get that sort of conversion.
We don't get the multi kills like we do, but I mean, even in that last round, Flamesee
getting those four kills and defenses off the top site.
I mean, that's one of those spots where FaZe thought they found the way in only to get
completely the door slammed in their face.
You bring up a great point because a lot of this map in particular came down to those
late round interactions and transactions rather than between the two teams because late rounds
is when things get extra stressful, right, Yumi?
Yeah, and I think that's where you're looking at people like Twist, but she was already doing
so much on the team.
You want Frozen to have more of that limelight as well.
There was actually, I think, a very comprehensive unit behind those two, Twist and Frozen, but
they didn't have the same caliber step up.
We had Mezi on zero kills while all of his teammates were like eight, ten on that CT side.
And when we got further and further into the game, he started to have more of that impact,
especially on that CT side.
So we can shift our conversation just a little bit now at this point, the Vitality has awakened.
We did get an OT right here.
We did have both of these teams vying for a slot just to play again today to then qualify,
right?
So even playing the tournament on harder mode is what you might say, but we shift our attention
to Dust2 and where that goes and what that might mean for Team Vitality.
This is supposed to be the map that Vitality have figured out. No team wants to touch them on this map and when they get the opportunity, they'll absolutely want to pick it in a series, but you have, like you said, found a Vitality that may be awoken in a sense, because that's Star Power we're missing.
It's now here. The team play, it was a little absent at times. You could see Apex looking at Zywoo on the outer holds. They maybe didn't look the most content with each other at times, but this is the map where players can play a little bit more autonomously.
They already know their structure, how they set piece, their units.
And I mean, FaZe also didn't look too haunt on this map earlier in the tournament, so
I'm apprehensive.
But the version of FaZe we got today is very different.
So maybe there's a hope, maybe there's a chance.
Maybe there is a hope.
For FaZe Clan, it's signs of life from individuals rather than a group whole.
What do you think?
I just think FaZe are willing to take more risks.
I mean, we saw Netsu getting onto T roof and pushing behind them.
We saw Twists so willing to continuously challenge into Mini, for example, you know, they applied
pressure into key points on the map that are very exploitative.
So I guess I'm looking forward to seeing if they find similar things that they can utilize
on that dust too, because not many other teams have found something of that nature on this
map.
So if NKJs cooked something up or Twists is feeling the game in a good way, yeah, I mean,
I look forward to seeing what they might have in the locker.
And say how you really feel you me it's phase about to get dumped on right here or what I'm looking forward to some phase BS
Okay, that's all I want to see. I want to see vitality tested. Yeah vitality tested of looking forward to dust, too
I mean if we need a mirage, I would say something went absolutely right for phase obviously
But how could they possibly get it to click as well as they just did?
Well, I'm sure they're they asked the same question
I should ask the same question in terms of how they translate the you know the confidence that they showed against an energy
versus the confidence that they can bring into a game against Vitality. But they actually
did play with that bravado on that first map. So they did. I mean, I have only positive
emotions about a phase clan that are clearly doing some soul searching with the transition
to in-game leader, NetU. Is he staying? Is he going frozen? Is he staying? Is he going?
You know, there's a lot of conversations about this roster and this team as they try to climb
themselves back into contention for that major. It won't be the Cologne major. That's the
major pressure point on this team. But they, I think they have to building blocks in the
right place at the moment. Yeah. Well, with building blocks and being
in Atlanta, it's only appropriate that we tell you use that hashtag IEM on your favorite
social media channels across all of them. I don't even know what's your favorite one.
Which channel or which hashtag? Oh, X. Okay. Well, yeah. So use hashtag IEM over there.
And that's short for the Intel Extreme Masters, which is where we are right now. We do have
a quick break. We can jump back into the action that is phase vitality here sooner rather
than later dust too. As you can see, the guys are getting situated back behind us and getting
ready to go. So we cut to that quick break and we come right back up to this.
Pretty precarious situation with Faze going against Vitality, but in order to get into
the trenches here, we're going to talk to NKJ. Tell everybody what you do over there, man.
What am I doing here? I don't even know, man. No, honestly, I'm here,
joining just especially off of my stint after I'm the head coach now. So,
I guess we're here just to hopefully get an upset against Vitality, but tough task ahead of ourselves.
It's a big ask. Hey, you're gonna come coach phase, right? Like I imagine there's a lot of things you're like, oh shit
Yeah, 100% like when I actually got that stand I was also a bit shocked like in a positive way
I guess you know, but it is a lot more pressure than on the previous things
I did have with either ends or even with big you know, so
Lot more on my shoulders now, but excited about it
Yeah, it's a little different looking phase doesn't mean it's a bad looking phase
But I will ask about a little bit of the looks versus energy
seemed like there's a lot more confidence in the face camp than say the opener versus pain which
obviously went to a loss. Yeah we definitely had a lot more confidence going. We were debriefing
quite extensively after the loss against pain. We did have unfortunately like a couple of off days
coming into the match against pain which we're not like accounted for like we actually wanted to
practice but unfortunately things were canceling on us and we couldn't find something on short
notice so it was a bit messed up for us unfortunately. However we did have really really good confidence
going into it. We were building decent momentum as well, which unfortunately we couldn't really
build against pain. And once you get Brazilian momentum, they'll just roll with it and they
just dumped us. So after the debrief, we just kind of outlined what we need to be focusing on
in terms of our attitude and all these things. And it worked perfectly yesterday. At least I
met one. Met two was a bit of a closer effort, right? A closer result, but that's just new
kind of nutshell. Well, given the state of our faces, it's one thing. But then across the aisle
today, you've got the team vitality. Seems like everybody has a hard time beating them, except
except for the one team yesterday. So, what do you, as FaZe, look at from a loss from them?
I mean, we didn't really pay attention too much to their match in all honesty from yesterday.
We're going into the match just trying to play our game.
We obviously understand that there's no real expectations or no pressure coming into this match
because they're the best team in the world right now.
So, we just go in there, we chill guys, happy to be here trying to have a good time,
trying to show that we are capable of playing good CS.
And who knows, maybe one thing leads to another and we can string some rounds together.
They get maybe a bit nervous doing that back-to-back losses maybe coming like closer to them. So let's see how it goes
Man, I could see the smile on your face. You're talking about back-to-back losses or vitality. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you for having me
WP is getting shot down!
I'm gonna die for you!
Something's got you, something's got you
And that's what's gonna do what happens
We are back!
Let's stay alive for as long as you can, Cuba
Yeah
Okay, hold my back up we good like this
It's fine
Yeah, we're in the fucking goat setup
I'm taking our pesos!
I'm taking one, I'm taking one, I'm taking one.
You want fresh tropic?
No, no, no.
I'm going to fix.
I have to go.
I'm taking it down for you to run. You ready to run?
Yeah, I'm going, I'm going.
I'm going to boost.
Nice.
How long should we be here?
Give it a bonus.
I'm taking it.
I'm low.
He's low.
He's gonna go hunt.
You're all low boys.
Lock it, lock it, lock it, lock it.
I can flash here if you want.
He's mulled.
Flashing on the left careful.
Boom.
I HG.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Oh, minus 93.
Nice.
Alright boys.
What the fuck in there?
Nice boys.
Nice.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
Nice boys.
what the f**k is that?
this is over 10
come on
I push R
3 outside?
yeah I'm going outside
they're working for sure
100% I'm taking lockers
they're not actually kicking you?
yeah
I'm gonna walk ahead
that's close
hold on I'm playing outside
NOOOOOOO
nice
nice one's fine
f**k you think f**k
let's go
Let's walk still
Yeah, I'm searching secret I'm searching secret he's in still sight you cannot be secret what?
Yeah, yeah, it's okay. I'm breaking like bro
I'll have an already doesn't accept you almost for me
I have no idea where you are
Atlanta hotlanta you call it whatever you want what we've actually come here to do today
It's to keep playing and see what happens the great peach state
It is Atlanta, georgia, but mostly a lot of historical
All right man, me either, that's what I was saying, he plays, he's playing video games.
You play Counter Strike.
Deep into the depths of the Ponce City market, hey man, you play video games?
How old do you think I am?
32.
Okay, yeah, that's pretty fair, but I'm 36.
We'll take that.
Not sure, man.
What do you think about two teams or players playing against each other in tournaments and video games?
I mainly play like rainbow apex
Is it something where we can kind of mutually agree that there are games that shouldn't be considered respectable?
Perhaps me like I don't want to just put words in your mouth, but Valorant. I was gonna say the same thing
Yes, there's no anything about video games at all counter strike certain players
Age of Empire
My team right now is number one in the state on Marvel Marvel rival
Yeah, my school.
What school you go to?
Carrollton.
Where can we find some Counter-Strike players?
I mean, Age of Empires is cool, but I'm looking for Counter-Strikeers.
Brother, go to the hamburger place.
Maybe, you know, in the corner.
H&F.
Thanks for the guidance.
You want to say something to them?
What's up, guys?
What's up, guys?
Poverty.
What is it?
Poverty.
Claw.
O-V-E-R-T.
Well, I was about to say, that's the wildest sign off
I think I've ever experienced on the show here is poverty.
to the end of the game.
Welcome back to the Intel
Extreme Masters Atlanta 2026.
It's the last day of the group
stages and it's elimination for
either face clan or vitality.
Right now looking like it might
just be face.
They have a great fight on map
number one of nuke, but in the
end it was vitality to prevail
in overtime and now we move to
vitality's dust too.
This is their home ground, this is their stomping ground, so it has some of the greatest results
on their run as the best team in the world and FaZe have the uphill battle coming back
into the series on it.
Well, I'll tell you this, at least for FaZe, there's going to be a certain level of comfort
if you're the players at the very least of belief because this is a map that you like
to pick as well.
And yeah, we from the outside are all talking about it from the perspective of Vitality's
dominance and the run they've had or how incredible their Dust 2 is.
But FaZe is going to be saying, you know, this is a map that we pick and it's one of
our favorites as well, so let's just kind of test it on it.
And after that performance on Nuke, I mean, you can see some of the pieces and how they
can heat up and how they can play and actually how they can make this work against Vitality.
Let's just see what the two teams come out looking like in the early stages.
Pistol round, and as he goes for a little bit of a peek out.
Long spots two.
Twist and pit.
Jacob as well at the corner.
So that's a little bit of information for Apex to work with early on in the pistol.
Xbox Smoke and a Catwalk Molotov to prevent any peeks, and Twist is going to get aggressive
and make a move 31 kills for twist on nuke the opening map in the series goes
to waste as vitality outlasts them and over time
will someone else from phase be able to match that impact that he was able to
provide to keep them in that map.
Frozen spots, multiple targets used and charged up towards the B site. Now, Neychoo!
Oh my god!
Okay, Neychoo!
Beautiful headshot!
Mezzi has to kill it and make up for it. Both B defenders take it away and this pistol will somehow still on thanks to Mezzi.
Not an easy retake. I know it's a 3 on 2. I know you have a man advantage.
There's no kit. There's no utility. The B bomb site still can be really, really tricky to get back into for the CT side.
Yeah, Mezzi looking for that next fight just underneath the window. They realized the
replier down so they're putting themselves in a position to try and pull that back.
It's going to be Mezzi! And he nearly gets all of them, but just about stealing it away is Brokey.
Uh, FaZe Clan will take the pistol. Nature, though. He does the heavy lifting.
Yeah, that's a freakish pistol round from Nature. Lovely shots from Brokey. Had a couple of misses
on the up, down the stretch of nuke. That could have maybe changed how that map ended,
but drills a couple nice ones with the p2k here
nature defending mid and the p tunnels
absolutely stunning shooting transitioning back and forth
and vitality not able to get it done
good kills from broky nice and quick before he gets back into cover
that was really close for mezzi to pull off the ace
all right well ak47 up from mezzi galil's deagle scout for apex
It's a strong force by here.
Brokey's gonna detect it early on, Apex sending a shot past him, but Brokey's gone all-power
here.
Why don't you get out as quickly as possible and get this ball rolling for base?
Yeah, but it might not even matter, right?
Brokey's over towards the B bomb site, and this is just gonna be Vitality walking off
short.
They're not even gonna wait.
Just messing with the timings a little bit.
This isn't gonna be a slow, drawn-out strategic round.
They just have the opportunity, so they're gonna attack into it, and Brokey's off.
Might have a tough time getting involved.
Can Torsten do anything to keep his head down?
Jacob at least taking the first kill and a twist yet to be revealed.
Messi is very aware of the possibility though and will spot him out and can't get the kill.
It's Zairu and Robs trying to make it happen but twists. How has he got away with another one?
Twist gets over towards Goose. Apex doesn't stop him getting there and broke his off.
Will chime in, putting it all on Apex and Twist stays alive somehow inside of the ramp smoke.
Okay he's still gonna keep some of that magic from Nuke I guess. What a round from
And twist with the impactful kills to prevent vitality from planting the bomb, from being
comfortable inside the site, and buying the time for Brokkies off to be able to come over
and have impacts.
Alright, well that's a high octane start to the map.
Two to nothing for FaZe, and finally little things will settle down, vitality going to
stick to deagles and unarmed pistols.
Yeah, Masi, going for a long pick here with the deagle, but he can't really stick around
too long to the flesh so he's gonna fall away
and that is going to allow
a good start here for FaZe
a little bit of a shoulder shown for Brokey
it's so important to see FaZe come out with a strong start here
well I mean think about this too, had the conversation the quote from frozen
about saying you know VRS points on some level are more important to him than
trophies at the moment to get back into the major contention and get back into the
invite bubble
how many they gain if they're able to upset vitality.
Yeah, they're up to the 19th place.
First map slipping away was an excellent opportunity.
Let's see if they can apply a similar level of pressure to vitality
and force them in a really, really scrappy Dust2 game.
If you get through Dust2, Mirage is up next.
up next. On the last couple of weeks we have seen some weaknesses there for
vitality. It's going to be messy to get taken out by the grenade. Oh, who is domed though by Apex.
Oh he's got one more in him. Okay you can't let this one go. It's going to be
broke. He's setting a shot back up towards Rob. But a bomb plant is in and a 3v3 here.
Flames only has a glock so really shouldn't be getting too much down from
situation but they're not looking at it. Oh, we have a burst fire on.
Uh-oh. Oh, yeah.
Two rifles recovered those. Zywoo has an AK-47 playing it railing. Apex is going to have
the M4 out towards long. Still going to be tough. Utility for the CT side. A kit as well
on frozen.
Yeah, well, it's a chance, especially with Apex getting another one. You put Zywoo in
a clutch, well, you can never count it out of this scenario. And Zywoo out of nowhere,
it's vitality with a round win. It started with Apex, it's Diggs and it closes with Zywoo
on the AK.
And then the captains for both teams have a huge impact.
They're fired up in this hall.
You gotta be after those Deagle shots, so filthy turn in the corner.
Two kills at the A-bomb site, one more with the M4 as the retake begins, and then you
trust your teammate, the best player in the world, to handle the 1v2.
Well, that is a huge disruption to the good start for Faze.
It was looking like three guaranteed, but Apex out of nowhere with the Deagle erupting
with an opportunity, they picked up weapons and then Zairu seized them off with the AK-47.
This is it again, great shot, turns in the flash, gets back to it, that is some stellar
shooting out of Apex.
Yeah, that's how it works in your brain when you're thinking about that round with the
Deagle.
That's what you fantasize, that's what you envision.
And it's just perfect for Apex there in the round, so steal a ton of momentum.
Boon to the economy as well. Zairu gets to pick up a free AWP and save $4,800 in his back pocket.
Investment in this round from FaZe.
Zairu not able to stop them from getting into lower. They've actually fallen back, but it won't be tagged up.
Usually at Zairu, we're doing the tagging through the doors, but he ends up getting one shot to the body.
57 HP left on Zairu. The smoke comes up to shroud the doors.
Base clan needs to have a re-bottle with lower tier weapons themselves.
Well, Neshu and Jacob, hanging on the long, those two combined.
Broke you're gonna be railing at the A-bomb site twist just being a presence in middle with this scout frozen playing outside of the P-bomb site.
Vitality on making their first move to gain some control.
up to block division of twist utility to say they want to pressure them and force them back into
a passive stance. Once again, the avenue up short is wide open. 55 seconds on the clock.
Plenty of utility for vitality to pressure and show whatever they want. They can start pressuring
and giving the utility for a mid to b-split, make that defense really, really nervous.
Letting the clock tick down, 33 seconds, still quiet on the map, and Vitality set to throw
at the initial Saboload utility towards short.
25 seconds, you can't respect the utility, you've just got to go, and that limited time
might just create the perfect amount of chaos for FaZe Clan to thrive.
There's a kill for Brokey, going again!
Brokey with a double on the scout, 10 seconds, and counting!
Nature enters the kill feed, and Vitality will not be able to get this round win.
They have to try and fall away and save the weapons now.
Man, I mean, how often do you see Vitality like this?
This is a very flat round from Vitality where they had all the advantages.
They never really applied any pressure anywhere.
Surveys just have the pieces of utility down the stretch to make that disjointed
as the clock is running low.
That Molotov ruined so much of what Vitality wants to do at that timing.
And surprising to see them almost in this round just kind of defeat themselves
just due to the passive nature of the play.
Well, Brokey doing this obviously helps, assisted by Twizz softening up Zywoo.
Well, because of the free op that Zywoo was able to get and the extra money that he had
in the bank, another op is on the board.
That really helps you get that energy back in the team if you're fazing me.
It's going to be so disappointing having lost to Apex's Deagle.
Yeah, that round can be super deflating, but a win like that one immediately in the back
That kind of makes the team forget about it. Let's them move past it very very quickly.
So lovely for FaZe and for their mental game for the rest of Dust 2.
Vitality populating mid.
You've got Twisters waiting out the doorway, but ends up showing a little bit too much to Zai Wun who will happily take Twist down and open things up here for Team Vitality.
And with the CT smoke already in place, Frozen and H.E.W. are a little bit scared, because
they know that Saeru AWP can peek deep into their bomb site.
Clear lines of sight.
Walk it up towards Frozen.
Steps back into the site, spamming down through the smoke here for J.K.
It's going to be Frozen with two.
Messi and Flay is both dead.
All of a sudden, it's a 4v3 favorite phase again, and you've still got two players in
this B bomb site.
Frozen doing what he can.
Nature revealed apex hunts him for 30 seconds bomb gets picked up and apex has got to win this in a clutch
I don't know how he's gonna do it either. There's a kid on Jacob
There's a flashbang on broke either could be extra utility picked up on their pathing in 3t body strewn across middle
another kit salvaged and
Apex only with 38. I hear the steps. He knows one players in now. He's ready himself
He's got them separate into 1v1s apex looking for a big round of dad and it's apex delivery in the clutch
Huge impact on Dust2 from Apex, two rounds and the locker thanks to him.
Close affair back and forth, every single one of these rounds contested and brawly.
Apex just playing ring around the rosy around the big box inside the site.
FaZe could never get the read on him.
What a round from Frozen, smoke broken open, he finds Zairu as well.
Desperate trading from Vitality just to get into the bomb site, but Apex steps up again.
Back and forth, fast towards Long, M10 from Mezzi activated to turn the corner.
3M4's a scout and a 5-7 for this phase defense.
You're not happy with how that smoke lands in this thing, it leaves another one.
Just to give them more cover if they want to transition players into the pit, that's
exactly what they want to do.
They want to get Apex down in there in a strong position to get early into round 6.
That's exactly the kind of dust two game we wanted to see between these two teams right back and forth clutch moments
Great shots. We're just gonna see I mean eventually someone's gonna win this tug of war
Right both teams are able to fight back because they're scraping together these buys
Replenishing some saved M4s or some M4s. They're the only things they can afford with some pistols upgraded
At some point someone's gonna get broken and lose that back and forth and then we see if a team can crack it wide open
Or just fighting for that opportunity at the moment
Down into the underpass, lower tunnels, there's the double, and Frozen extremely happy to get away with that with the aggressive maneuver because Faze Clan have the weaker weapons in play, but now they've got the two-man advantage, Apex and he caught him a smoke break, no way!
He gets away with two, he won't just get the one. Frozen again with more impact, Naked two dies and that opens up the B site.
Yeah, I don't know if I don't know vitality fully realize how open it actually is
They're gonna test it though frozen the other be defender
He got a triple kill over towards the A site so now they cross and Zairu has the op
He will get tagged on the cross, but they're very quick to rotate and that ball top will do nothing
Thanks for the smoke, but Messi's gonna kill so I will out to the
And it's so back and forth and all that heavy work from frozen at the start of the round
Thing nature's gonna be a little bit red in the face that he dies and opens up that B bomb site
But my god, Zybel on the attack nine!
Three versus five recovery in the rounds.
Oh man, Nathieu is gonna...
I mean, he is such a young player, such an inexperienced player at this level.
He's been great so far, but that little mistake costs FaZe Clan a really important round to kick this off.
And now they're down to weaker weapons.
Yeah, this is actually a vitality.
That's the breaking point that I was just mentioning in the previous round.
It's FaZe can't fight back now.
You just have to save the weapons and wait for the money to come back.
So a chance for Vitality getting a good grip. They're looking for a clean round. Their money is obviously busted as well due to the resistance from FaZe, so building up some cash is quite a priority.
Gonna play this round slow, knowing it's an anti-eco against the low bi, see if there's gonna be anything creative, anything aggressive, anything surprising to open up round 7.
7. Apex. He's jumping up on a PK. Flames is going to get both baseballs. Stalking's
off and Apex no issues hunting down the rest. At least frozen preventing the
clean sheet. And we'll end up being a 4-3 lead here for Team Vitality.
And you were talking about someone's eventually going to win this tug of war
and to not look like it was going to be Vitality in the last round, but they've done it.
Yeah, it's a crazy one to recover.
And FaZe had a couple of those on Nuke as well, rounds that felt like firmly in their control,
in their favor, that kind of slipped up, whether it was a retake, whether it was a man advantage
or a two-man advantage.
A few of those came back to hunt them and punish them, obviously on Nuke and the loss.
Have one here, and you just never know what it's going to do until the game's over.
You never know what kind of consequences it's going to have.
Frozen is going to be given the grace to save this M4. Again, Vitality going to prioritize their own money so that they can build up a buffer, an extra buy behind it so they can sustain a loss.
Don't want to give anything over to Frozen for no good reason.
So a lead for Vitality.
We go into round eight and Faze looking to buy back up into this and get back to challenging.
M4's across the board, Baroky will not have his AWP out quite yet.
For the Vitality side of things, it's mission accomplished.
Plenty of money fills up after that round win.
Apex rops in flames quickly into the B tunnels.
Zairu watching mid with an AWP, allow this scaling, making sure nobody's going to peek
can be aggressive and push. It looks like they want to hit a timing on a mid-to-be
split. Apex just walking out playing contact, but...
He's got it. Yep, he does. Cheats a kill away from twists. They even throw the
door smoke, just the double door smoke, just to like pop and kind of be the
sound cue that it's gonna be mid-control, but no one's even home from
phase to catch that little bit of the fake. So we're still caught not expecting it.
Robs. He's going to punish that purchase and he frozen walks right into him.
Nature to send some shots back through the smoke.
4v3 still doable for Faze thanks to Nature but he's alone on this B site.
It's an easy call for Apex. I just hit the B bomb site now.
40 HP, having to fend off all the vitality coming at him, and he nearly does it.
It's two, and it's now a 2v2, thanks to that performance out of nature.
Yeah, it's doable.
It's how much courage you're broke, and Jacob have to come for this retake.
You have a kit on broke.
I mean, in Zywoo's spot, like, are you ever going to read this?
Zywoo...
Oh, yeah, he clears this.
He's gonna have a look now, but he doesn't spot him, and Zywoo's already looking up.
So it ends up being a kill for Zywoo, leaving Mezzie in the 1v1, and Jacob's gonna race
back now he has picked up the kit he's got plenty of utility and the clutches inside of his b-side
have gone the way of vitality and it looks like it's going to happen again as Messi's got the
headshot off the top of the boxes just stands and fights Jacob knowing exactly where he's coming in
from giving vitality the edge and now extending a lead to two. Oh man I thought broke you with a
scene zaiwu as he jumps up onto the railing didn't get that glimpse fast enough great call from apex
in vitality nothing super strategic just a little trickery to open up the round and hit that timing
to grab Swiss early. You pick him off, you know he's the kind of supportive element that shifts
between the bomb sites, keeps an eye on mid. You find one of the B players as well, and then all
of a sudden you're saying, yeah, we just, we have a four and one. Easiest call of late picks his life.
Five to three, and it's Swiss with the hero M4 in this round.
The bomb is going to be shifting its way into the B bomb site, no resistance here whatsoever
for FaZe.
And as he can apply pressure outlaw, he will die, so that's a kind of weapon available
to frozen.
Yeah, it looks like he's trying to get a jump on boxing them in so they can't save any
weapons or run away with anything, but his teammates over at the B bomb site didn't really
encounter any resistance, just one player of Jacob.
So it might have been a little bit early for Mezzi to move.
CineK-47 passed over to FaZe for free and once again much like Nuke lining up to take some exit kills over towards tunnels.
Apex is going to try and hold onto this escape route, so I wooze a little bit deeper in the tunnels as well.
Yes, I will try to get out and we'll handle it, so P250 to the Hedgehog and Brokey.
Well as I would across safely to safety AWP.
Nice attempt, good idea from FaZe, just trying to snatch a couple away at the end.
Obviously doesn't pan out in their favor, but they do pick up that AK-47, that's dropped to the ground,
all coming back outs.
Double-Op setup coming out for FaZe that they switch into.
It worked on Nuke for one round, Broke's presence in the upper bomb site funneled them towards Frozen's AWP in ramp room.
We'll see if they can get something similar going on Dust2.
They could use a tactic that gives them a little bit of a run here.
And they need an injection of energy back into the team again.
It was a great back and forth winning some rounds.
They shouldn't in that first few, but mentality is stabilized and got into a rhythm on this
T side and you have to disrupt it if you're facing.
Yeah, it can be a little bit dangerous that early back and forth that had had so many close
rounds and close clutches, right?
Because you're getting hyped up when you win them.
You're sinking very, very low when you lose them.
Back and forth, the energy, the emotional roller coaster of it.
you eventually do end up being on the losing end and broken and kind of lose
that ability to take the tug of war flights. They can feel a little bit
deflating for a while so anything that anyone on phase can do someone make a
play. Double up. See if Brokey can ignite this team if that op could have the
influence. I was gonna look for the cross a little bit late they're already
passed.
So Frozen's up looking mid. Brokey's up taking down it long. Yeah you can see the
The frustration head smacks the back of the chair there from Broke, he is Di-Woo.
Takes away any opportunity of Broke delivering impact for FaZe here.
This is going to be a bit of a sinking feeling for the side of FaZe now, they lose Twists
as well.
They picked some unfortunate timing on the quick switch, he isn't fully punished though.
Well, as I would still do in work though, that's both ops now that he's picked off.
Yeah, that's vitality.
full control now the rhythm is here this is the dust to we've seen from them so
many times what you can't even shoot them you can't even get anything to go
your way well I mean look at credits of vitality obviously on this T side
because what they've done is just put phase in a really awkward situation right
you've you've had now around where you see raps in another player just kind of
dry challenge into the B bombsite sure it was an anti-eco but they show they're
willing to go kind of bully you in B tunnels you've seen some fast plays out
towards long you've seen the Zawoo trying to pick the cross now picking long
you have the contact walk from apex out middle that got you a pick on a twist so I mean there's
just been so many variations that vitality is opening up with it's hard for phase to read and
go for the good plan of what they're supposed to do and once that happens players start getting
picked off plan crumbles and the map gets way easier for vitality
The
rops of the Nade Ziquit's meant to do a little bit of chip damage, now he's going to get
aggressed upon and the flashbang could be perfect.
Yep flash goes in, rop, blinded! Still gets one, trade is through from Nade you.
But, I tell you, you're not going to be going towards the B site, they funnel back through short.
flash and two-man push that's three players of information you've got a
four on two at the A bomb site if you're at worse yes they piece that
information together the rate decisive to make the move towards a before face
can really position themselves the flank is here and broke you will win the
all-important engagement against I was who does open up a chance there's
smoked out and blocked away I think I think phase should go for this right
there's one round left after this they're gonna be buying in the next round they
do have a double-op setup but I feel like you might as well test it here
because you're gonna have the money to invest down the road and still chances to save these ops if the fights don't go your way initially
It's just the time they have to waste to get in position and they don't have a kit available
So it's starting to look increasingly unlikely to be able to pull it off, but they're getting closer and closer
Mezzie tap it away with a flashbang assisted its health phase back long enough. It's starting to feel just impossible
If that time is taking on but sometimes the impossible is just improbable
But they've got to find the bomb they get to the defuse, but no time for it
The time will cost them the ultimate enemy
Will be another rounds here for vitality
Yeah, Corey takes put together just a little bit too late in the day
You still get out with an AWP in the hands of twists to AK-47 so not the worst eventuality
But obviously if you're phase you're not finding any positives at the moment looking at a three to eight scoreline
And on top of that, a 7-0 run from Vitality.
So what can they do to scrape together a fourth round, one final before the halftime break?
A 4-1 start with only Natshu alone on this side of the map, Frozen's going to be playing in CT spawn to start.
You're in a phase wanting nothing to do with the early fights.
Just sitting back with vitality with all the real estate they want.
They can walk up short and then take you right around that corner, broke you, would be waiting
for them.
And he is now sitting tight, he told he was going to come in, force to change up his position,
drop off that angle and Vitality get further control across the map.
Now Brocky blinded, the AWP are having to fall away on Ible to chime in with a kill
that could help FaZe clan out here.
Vitality of the time to respect the UTEL, draw out the final pieces of FaZe and then
and begin their execution for the finishing round.
A lot of pressure on Jacob, 1v2 at long.
As Brokey's attention will be kept here at A.
Flicks up, nice shot from Brokey, needs another one.
And connected, Jacob dies at long side.
Brokey burning, feet singed.
Knows another fight, just covered his way at long,
but just eats flashbangs all round long.
It's Messi and Robs now trying to come in to close this one out from long phase
They've done a good job of holding on to the site
This has started with so much promise so back and forth
But it falls to twist just to try to squeeze
And twist does gets a double a fourth round to play with for phase
We'll find out if it's enough to stay alive in Atlanta after the break
Let me give up, let me give up
Hold on, hold on, hold on to some
Well, there's a bully back and forth at fair to start just here, but once
Frightality gained hold of the game, they never let go, a 7 to nothing run in the
middle of that half to take an 8-4 lead as they switch side to defense and it's
very staring at the need for a comeback to stay alive here in Atlanta trying to
cause an extremely unlikely upset close on Nuke on the first map gave them a
little bit of belief and Vitality might have just ripped that out of their hearts
in the first half of Dust2. Yeah well they've got a really deep deep and find
some resolve to get through this one a pistol round coming right up, plenty of
Utah here for Brokey. We're gonna see FaZe populate the tunnels with three players.
I think he's only lost like two pistol rounds in Atlanta so far.
Very, very good at the pistol rounds.
Let's see if they can get another one. It's a great start.
Twist ripping apart Mazzy.
Because I was in the same spot.
And the staff doesn't know a secret about his position,
trying to move forward and play with his teammates,
but again, Faze just so good at pistol rounds.
They've got a great start to this round.
Yeah, Vitality was really, really committed to setting up that trap, right?
The spring off catwalk and through double doors with the flashbang to activate things apex shapes one player off
But still so much you're gonna need an incredibly an incredible amount of just those include
There's all some headshots as one bullet headshots if you want to get back into this
I was got no HP to provide resistance
So he's got a play out towards along where he can be a little bit tricky and reliant some timing
End of the a bombsite we go. It's wide open
Apex shifting over through CT spawn Rob's gonna be following up not enough resources to watch the flank
So, Nature was going to have a chance to have impact.
Apex slipping down below the A-sides, closing with both headshots on the clock.
And they'll say, see you later as Robs.
That's the fight on two fronts, and they just wrap around the back.
It's another pistol for FaZe, a really important one here on Dust2.
We'll see what Vitality decides to do if they go for the four-spy,
or they let FaZe have a great chance of just taking two in a row.
Oh, they're coming in for the four-spy. Apex bought that scout real quick.
We're just picking one up as well, so yeah, we're gonna get them some contention here in this round, too
Yeah, he's kills just come out so fast
Mezzie's just kind of walking into the angle and he's he's gushed and killed before he even sees anybody
Another strong pistol from FaZe
To help them close the gap at the start of this second half, but we're gonna get some aggression an early tag from apex
And he backs off happy with the damage he's caused early. Well, you know what you're up against now
Now, Vitality Force, they've taken some early damage.
Let's see how FaZe respawn.
Oh, we're getting a attempted boost going here,
but in the meantime, if that's failing,
we've got rops kicking out through low-tunnel.
Oh, and Apex just right to the door.
It's twisted.
Vitality with a two-man advantage
and the health advantage because Jake kept down on 29.
I was just saying, it's not even the player
initially tagged, you still have softened up Jacob ready to be taken down. Sick little
peek from lower from Robs as well to just make that a chaotic disjointed situation.
Frozen into us two of the heavy hitters on the face side, knocked out of this fight in
round 14. So with 3v5 they have no map control, they've caused no damage and yet another tag
from Apex who's controlling the map with a scout.
A brutal way to have to open up this second half.
The pistol round victory so strong now all of a sudden put on the back foot and you're
just getting whittled down.
file Hail Mary into the A-bomb site for Brokey, Natu and Jacob.
Okay.
Oh, there's another tag.
Yep, FaZe the walking wounded into the final play of the A-site.
It's gonna be Flames and CyWoo.
With all the shots required, they don't even lose a player in the 4-spy.
I don't even know if FaZe ever even got a clean look back, any kind of a significant fight,
any kind of a decent situation to try and find a kill in return.
and return. That's nasty, just sliding over, hitting through the door, peace, close lines.
And Zairu just style points, jumping up on the railing. Judges give it 10 out of 10,
it's 9 to 5. The Vitality special.
And now it's a little bit of football, so there we go.
That's about the situation we're in. Just sadly head to the park, bring the old football
out get some fresh air is what vitality do outside the server though during their
break it's true this is just their warm-up yeah I was watching outside earlier
just in the break just you know outside juggling the ball yeah keep your piece
that's pretty good yeah they do this in the arena for work yeah they did the
crowd loved it it's nice scene American crowd get into get into the football
Well, the World Cup is coming, Jason.
The World Cup is coming.
How do you think I'm going to do?
We're looking for tickets.
Yeah, I would like some tickets, but I'm not going to pay those prices.
Yeah, absolutely insane.
So I think I'll watch watch this instead.
It's always been a I want to go one, you know, before the end.
I want to get myself to a World Cup.
Well, unfortunately, your price
is out even in your own country.
Yeah, it feels that way, doesn't it?
Well, timed out now a phase. They've got 40 seconds and they start to make their way through the doors.
Three players are packed moving toward Mr. Ray Pax with the Galileo.
He's not the one that's welcoming. He's killed everybody pretty much.
16 minutes don't come in to help out, and that's it.
So, 10-5, Vitality at double figures.
It's not even a great scenario for a phase now. They don't even have enough money to buy now.
No, it's not pretty, is it?
Oh, God, this is horrible.
That's a very, very rough place to be if you're a phase.
And they do not want to order the Vitality Special, that's for sure.
I think that's also part of the reason why it just feels a little bit deflated too,
is I think they kind of know just like, not that it is impossible to come back from,
but like the odds just stacked against them in so many ways.
And again, another round was just pistols, low buy.
Vitality's had two rounds in a row of five players surviving,
so you know if you're phased, their money's building.
You know the task to reset them and break that economy is just going to be so difficult to accomplish.
So trying to get in position to hit a mid to B split at the moment.
Frozen and Jacob out middle.
Smoke towards the double doors of the B bomb site.
We're going to start moving into this split.
Frozen's gotten past.
Oh, rups, taking two, twist and net you both dead, frozen steps out with a little bit of
style points.
Brokey also with the Tag 9, but a 2v3.
Well, let's see what Jacob can do, if he can even open up this possibility of a dream
round.
He's getting flanked through the top middle, Apex wins the engagement, and it's just Brokey,
who's on his own, just on the box at the B-ball side.
They're all coming in from the same side.
This is all about baiting Apex.
You know, just send Apex in, you don't have to go with him.
Just let him, let him figure out exactly where Brokey is for you, those two players follow
it up.
Here's the steps, Apex jumping ahead down, brokeie.
He's spammed down to 19 HP, now trying to wrap her on the box, but too much pressure from Vitality.
Apex shouting to go get the...
It's not like you're saying I'll mid.
11-5 for Vitality. Strong retake, end prime position, complete control this game, not a single disadvantage in for FaZe.
This'll be the strongest buy you have, so if you can't win it...
This game of this series is just going to fizzle away and you're going to be eliminated from IE in Atlanta, so it all falls onto this investment.
Broke you with the AWP, four AK-47s around it, all the nades they could want, just a really tough task of vitality on the other side of the server.
I think he was calling to you, sir. Better life go back, and that's going to be Zywu. Well, well, well, Broke is having a tough time against Zywu, isn't he?
Don't do that, don't do that, Jacob. You just saw what he did.
You really think he's not going to punish you too?
Your teammate's brain is on the wall behind you. Just chill.
Sorry, that was very visceral.
That was a like the bell, it was...
Oh, there we go.
Oh.
Oh.
You do nothing but just kind of go, okay, fair enough that was another round where Zawooz
just owned me before I actually even get to play the round.
I mean, it feels like outside of the pistol, that's been like just the story of this second
half.
Anytime there's been any kind of investment, you know, second round those scouts are picking
you off before you're able to move down the map.
Now Zawooz grabbed the kill before you're able to do anything.
You're just playing these games, these rounds at a disadvantage every time you have a weapon.
Oh, twist stepping through the mid-doors, no one from Vitality home.
This really says a little bit of space to play without here.
And it's going to block the tunnels attempting to block it, at least there.
They come straight through the doors, it's Iowa Robs on the clean-up,
the goalie, all making it look so easy that series point for a team vitality
of a face-clad staring an elimination in Atlanta.
Man, the first five rounds of this game were awesome.
They were fun, close.
Close map as well.
Yeah, back and forth.
FaZe was getting some, putting some pressure on vitality,
forcing them in uncomfortable situations.
But it was that unfortunate scenario where once vitality grabbed control
out of that back and forth, they've just never looked back.
Phases had no stopping power. T-side from Vitality showed so many different looks.
Phases could never get into the rhythm of how Vitality was playing the map.
Could never catch him off guard.
And I think just so deflated over that 7-0 run in the first half,
that Phases haven't been able to get back into the game.
Filtly shot on a paroky as well. None of that helps.
Every time someone hits something like that, it just makes you feel more and more helpless.
And now executing right into a crossfire at the B bomb site that deletes you.
So no AWP, no AK-47s, three Galils, a Deagle, and a Tech 9 to keep FaZe alive at the Intel Extreme Masters in Atlanta.
Vitality about to move on to play against Bait for that last spot.
In the quarterfinals.
And for phase, it'll be a disappointing exit, unless something miraculous can happen.
And gather up at short.
No one from Vitality here to spot it. We're detected early on at all.
So at least you're given some time to put your utility in place and give this your best go.
His base moved forward. It's going to be their final move because Zywu opens up the coffin, throws them in with a collateral.
And who else to close things out but Zywu? Three kills, a tag as well.
Chulbaran is up and Zywu finally put in the ground.
That's a 4k from Zaiwu and now it's on Robson Flames to round it out against N2 and they will Flames Drops him
It is phase down and out here in Atlanta
Vitality fight on to the final game of the group stages
They'll play against B for a spot in the quarterfinals a couple of weeks of entertaining counter strike them phase the recovery mission
For VRS points is that they will fall in group stages here to the world's number one team
Yeah, but I'm with you on the fact that the past couple of weeks of watching them showing
and seeing some of the life, seeing some of the old flashes, and seeing some of these
young guys like Jacob and Nature step up to them.
There's some cool pieces here and it's nice seeing them have some impact and test some
of these top dogs, but Vitality was always going to feel like it was way far out of reach
for this early, early lineup coming in for FaZe and for Vitality.
You look at it and say, Mission accomplished, great rebound from yesterday, felt really
weird casting them in an elimination game.
Not too often we get that, but they stood up to the task like they have so many others.
Yeah, I know favorites to go on as well when they're playing against Bait.
That's a mismatch in terms of the experience and the expectations in that game.
So, Vitality should be making it to the playoffs again,
but we'll have to wait and see how that goes down.
But unfortunately for FaZe, it is an exit and we've got Twiz standing by.
It's one of those unfortunate moments where we are going to be saying goodbye to FaZe,
clan, and graciously enough, Twiz is here to kind of give us some words on that out itself.
Let's talk about this match from the very tip top.
You guys had them on the ropes there a little bit in that first map.
Nuke, what's it mean?
Um, I mean, it was a really good map for us.
I think we put on a good T side display.
We were doing very well on CT side.
I think the Vitality plot armor kind of hit.
They won a lot of key duels and key situations.
Uh, felt like we had an up late on the map, but couldn't convert it.
I'm lucky.
Seems like they got away with some of the phase BS sometimes and some of those
rounds, like they were really pulling out just some non-stop things.
They really tilted the tide there, uh, Russ, and if we just switch it over to a
to a little bit of a 11-11.
Money's ruined there towards the end of the map.
We fast forward even further than that
into the very, we've finished the series itself.
It's late rounds.
I think of this late rounds
that came out a difference bigger today.
Is that right?
I think so.
I mean, we would have like good situations
in three on three and they're a very experienced team
with very experienced players.
So they are taking the right gaps,
taking the right timings
and they're isolating duels really well in the late round.
So yeah, we'll play to them.
One last thing I got for you this,
It's been an exciting couple of weeks watching you guys and I understand there's a lot of
moving parts over here for face.
Is there anything you can tell us on your way out here in Atlanta?
No, just going to do our best in the next event.
I think it was an unfortunate lower bracket meeting.
Not saying that we couldn't beat Vitality because we showed that there was high chances
on Nuke, but I think another opponent today would have gotten rolled.
So I'm lucky.
Thank you very much, Russ.
No problem.
They're coming, they're working on things.
We're looking forward to seeing it.
We're kicking it off in the rise.
A good shot for Liquid to get a good start into the series.
We'll see how this one shakes out the Intel Tree Masters Atlanta 2026
Well, we CT side start for Gabriel Legion liquid on the T side and plenty of you tell into this pistol
Yeah, they were all geared up towards the 8 bombsite and T spawn
So this is just gonna be a set piece and execute called right out of spawn by shoe. Hey
And then ultimate towards the ramp naff mobs in a leash up in Palace
They'll have PR to deal with on the balcony height backs over in the cubby snacks back at ticket
So a very strong defense and actually PR is going to get aggressive if he finds the angle for the first.
Well, HyperX is winning down in the sandwich. It's going to be a nice shot from Snacks.
They are into the site. HyperX won out from Sandwich. Finally traded by Shuey.
But you've got Ultimate and Shuey now in a 2v2. Thanks to those kills, it's doable again for Team Liquid.
There's so much time still on the clock, but trying to get that bomb plant is going to be denied by Taliesin. In fact, he takes two.
Yeah, I mean, there's some of the mistakes that you can't see.
I mean that's just ultimate kind of fall asleep a little bit just picking up the bomb
I think that's going to be clear crosses over sees nobody spawned crosses back with the bomb in his hand and picked off for free
Not ready for that follow-up fight. He had a great shot with the P250 on snacks
Who gets the impactful kill the first player streaming at a palace that really helped secure this pistol round right here?
Right through the edge of the boards if not gets down the Covey player gets discovered a little bit earlier
But that's too easy for Towson in the 2v2
1-0 for GamerLegion.
Yeah, and there's just a deagle here for a leash.
I think that's the player that, I'm sure we have to talk about more.
If it's Team LiquidSquad, we're here playing in America,
and you want to see an American team do well, they haven't necessarily had the best run, Jason.
In American Squads, you just lost twist in the last game to Team Vitality.
Like how you said, it's not been the best run as if I was going to fight you back on that one.
Because if you had to like, you know, you had to like ease me into that, that kind of thing.
that that kind of I'm not just seeing you know I don't want to upset you Jason do
you think there is any hope in Team Liquid doing it though because if you
look at this side of the playouts you're in Atlanta yeah because you look at
this side of the bracket you've got on the other game Astralis sinners the
winner goes on to play the lower final and then game legion here I feel like
this is the best shot if liquid are gonna do it it's on this side of the
bracket yeah I mean like realistically the teams that they're going up against
as you just mentioned game legion sinners and Astralis still alive in that lower
bracket like they're they're up and down in nature right like you're not gonna
think point at any of those teams and be like I know I can rely on the
consistency of this team to deliver in these big games you know when they get
there so yeah like there's a chance I'd say it's it seems a small chance with
just the vibe that it feels like liquid is carrying at the moment and with those
consistent struggles so um you know ask me at the end of the series you know if
they waited and I've gotten a good look at what they're what they're playing
Alright, well, you can trust this yellow, it's going to go once the guns come out here
for Team Liquid.
It's 5 AK-47 in malps.
He's stepping out towards Tetris.
He's going to retreat back into the ramp.
Don't mind that at all.
Cool little challenge as well.
You know it's unlikely to have an AWP on the board, so go for that peek.
Shuei's made his way back to the boxes, but he's taken a ton of damage.
Snax is maintaining some aggression ultimate, and Shuei happy to let them have this and
back away.
Molotov is in.
Smoke coming into defuse, and Shuei will survive.
Oh, there's a leash tapping onto the head of right. So it's a great start to the round here for Team Liquid.
That's the one-two punch. They want to get rolling mobs and a leash.
Yeah, that can get going. Obviously it looks a lot more deadly, but you got snacks coming off of the ladder.
Drop it into the window. Hide back, so he's stolen out of the way. How will Liquid let this happen?
Ultimate 1v2, he's died as well. Oh, that is disastrous. You got the one-two punch going.
Elise mobs get the two openers and you still lose the round. Yeah, just no no patience in that for team liquid
They get the kills and everyone's trying to continue moving on to the next play
And nobody's just taking a moment to kind of speak with each other and get coordinated
Look for some kind of follow-up move and they just walk right into all the traps never let gamer legions sweat the fact that they've
Just put him in a five on three
Straight into a tech pause. So I'll ease turning around with the mic up talking back to the admins
So we'll figure out what that is. It's actually on the game religion side of things
That was nasty, wasn't it?
Yeah, that one hurts Team Liquid for sure.
But they didn't look like it knocked them two off center.
They might just be used to it at this point.
Gamer Legion, getting away with one, still a good round to recover for them.
Still a good job rotating into the correct positions.
But I think Liquid made that recovery a little bit easier than it needed to be.
I haven't got a whole lot to fall back on here, Liquid either.
So best case scenario a couple of upgraded pistols
What happens here working on that the microphone of hypex?
So you kind of kind of you know talked a little bit about the schedule with some more some more games going on today
Obviously gamer legion liquid going on right now Astralis sinners will be played during this time slot as well
And then a little bit later on and we've got the deciding games. We've got that boom pain
main, bait, vitality, Na'Vi legacy.
Yeah, then obviously the two winners on this side of the bracket for that lower final as
well coming up later on as well, either Liquid or Game Religion versus Strahlus or Sinners.
So yeah, we're going to clean up the brackets and get those playoffs started over the weekend,
little day off for media, players and teams get to relax a little bit, record some concept.
Oh yeah, Faber City players love relaxing the idiots.
It's not as intense, you know, but they do have the playoff games of para4 as well.
So when you got the morning shift to do the lobby, Jason, that's like, oh, we got him.
Hey, guys.
That's a nice problem.
That's a, that's everybody.
That's our version of we all hate 10am matches.
Anybody want to talk?
I'm sure no one wants to talk right now on Team Liquid,
disappointing round loss in the previous.
They will have some good epistols to play.
We've got Technides coming out and two Deagles.
And we'll see what Team Liquid can do here.
I kind of like the way I mean, in, in, in fashion, very, very direct
and just to straight to the point, the liquid kind of all five players like really struggling.
I think that, you know, part of the point you could make on what he mentioned is, you
know, you have so many strong players on this team, but it feels like all five of them are
playing poorly compared to what we know they're capable of.
In their roles within this squad, it feels like not everyone is reaching that potential.
Whether you want to point towards Shuhei and new coach Flashy, not able to get a consistent
system where this team looks like it's moving in the right direction, whether you want to
talk about a liege, not having as typical like, you know, pop-off games, playmaking
ability, rackin' up kills, volume fragger.
Yeah, well, I mean, we set that path as well as seem muted in his roles compared to the
past.
I feel like we've been saying that for a long time about Team Liquid though, right?
Like everybody who's gone to the team, who knows you're both players, has necessarily
been able to get the most out of themselves.
I mean, even Nurtz is a great example recently, who's got back into form over at G2, and you
wondered, where was that, Nurtz?
They're one of those teams that's hit that point where it just feels like there hasn't
been anything new to discuss around them for the past few months.
addition of mobs and the departure of nerds kind of be in the biggest point to look at and kind of
have conversations around. Just haven't seen that the progress quite yet for Team Liquid side.
I liked the win over N80 yesterday though. That was good for them recovering from the first map.
Yeah, I mean there's a certain pride in being the best team in North America I suppose Jason.
I mean look there is it means nothing in the context of World Counter-Strike obviously which
which is a little, little joke you're tapping into there.
But yeah, the original pride is a huge, huge thing
within the teams.
Shuei's gonna make his move down the mid-ramp
through the smoke, bypassing Hypex's AWP for the moment.
Yeah, it goes down to the peak,
but he is going to lose it to Ultimate.
So, and at the end he started with Team Liquid.
And Shuei-Mount has just found the perfect timing
to get in behind Ryze, but he has turned.
He's now considering this.
And Shuei still wins the fight.
So a 5v3 for Team Liquid.
We've been here before.
But this one's different, right? There's not as many players grouped up in advanced positions,
so everyone kind of recognizes that there's no play to capitalize on quite yet, so they can still
maintain this patience. As Nath and Malb's move in, start probing into the B-Bomb site.
Towson on short sandwiched. There goes back in, that'll be the round. Team Liquid won't let this
one go, they'll come and get the bomb, they'll shift it over to the site, and Team Liquid will
get their first T-Round on the board. Think another thing that's been great about a game
We heard Jacob talking about Rez, but I think it snacks it and Hypex have been enjoyable
players to watch.
Hypex was talking to me on Media Day saying that when he first came into the team, he
noticed how all the Alpers before were just getting cut brutally and not performing whatsoever.
And so he did feel a little bit nervous coming into the team knowing that that spot was always
under scrutiny and he was kind of in his own head.
He was reading hate comments on HOTV and Reddit and really getting in his own head.
And at a certain point he just switched and said, I don't care what they think, you know, I don't care what they say, even Vitality's getting hate.
So he's definitely started to step up and be a lot more confident. I think we started to see some more flashy plays out of him and really show what he's capable of.
Yeah, tough thing for the new players to step into is the increased scrutiny on the gameplay.
And cool to see game religion as well, like with snacks like a rejoining and at the helm, getting some nice wins and some nice upsets as well.
in the last three months, they've had some very impressive upsets, took a 2-1 series
win over Furia, 2 over Astralis, really close affair with Navi last night where it felt
like they were going to take that series for a while.
So playing well with this new logo as well.
How do you like the new logo?
You into it?
It's got a very medieval vibe.
When I'm far away, I don't even know what it is.
You know, like I can't, if I'm sitting away from the logo, I can't tell what it is, but
I do think it looks quite cool, like it would look cool on a black t-shirt, you know?
Yeah.
Like a sort of metal concert.
Looks like a band logo, Jason.
Looks pretty cool on a black jersey.
Yes, like what they're wearing, I suppose right now.
So yeah.
Works well!
Alright, can snacks.
Could give us a good death metal scream.
Alright, probably good for sure.
Gonna chuck a nade down to the Legion's position.
Chip him down to 86.
Utility in place now for Liquid to start making their initial moves.
Ultimate with the AWP. Top mid.
Smokes in window, smokes in con.
Malph's getting an A in the backpack.
Razor retreating.
Yeah, I mean this is, Liquid's doing a pretty good job.
Slow progression, slowly creeping in. Good trade from the Lees up towards con.
Hypeback skits one more.
A little snap away, now here comes Malm.
So under a minute on the clock that B-Bomb saw under pressure.
Three people here though, you know the sound cue with the Molotov burning away the defenders
but yeah, you're right, there's a lot of defenders here.
Telsen getting the one kill, Naft able to trade it but he's waiting for the next fight
and he wants that angle to his market, he's just not getting it.
So Naft is going to start falling away with the bomb on his back because Ultimates moved
through and he's actually in a good spot here.
Taddy kept the kill though, no, Hypex clocks what's happening, looks back to the murder
ultimate steps into the open and now NAF has to really save that AK there's no
other option. That was always gonna be hard to get that bomb back to the A site
even with even with ultimate up in window room not a lot of time on the
clock ultimate felt like he had to take the aggressive angle once again
liquid stopped cold felt like they made good progress in middle but all the
presence from Gamer Legion and Khan the fights the extra kill from Hypex the
turning point into the round when he gets the kill onto a leash. This round
fades away from liquid one to five Gamer Legion's defense still holding strong
Snacks with nine kill nine kills and hypex with the op has seven frags to his name
Great work from hypex sealing it here making sure there's no escape route no plan B for liquid
Op in the hands of ultimate yet again for AK-47s for team liquid battling it around seven
It's a very regional split from Team Liquid in the way this is organized.
Shuei and Ultimate doing a lot of work together.
A liege mobs and NAF.
Different pairings of two that they work together.
The Americans and the Europeans.
Yep.
Shuei and Ultimate able to communicate.
Polish.
If they want, I'm just going to confuse everybody on the team.
We got a leash looking up on towards short.
And you can see him very passionately communicating right now.
Under a minute on the clock.
Team Liquid spread across the map. No one from Gaming Legion giving any looks and information.
No challenges against this T-side at the moment.
Well, I mean, where's Mermor? There's no pressure being applied by Team Liquid anywhere.
Kind of moving around this map quietly.
Elysian alert position at the bottom of Con.
The defense has been pulled over to the A-bomb site.
They sense this hit coming.
Knapp throwing out utility to really secure the fake.
Elysian's gonna make his move. A kill would do wonders.
And he might have it, but he doesn't know about PR off to the left.
Now he realizes, and he wants that kill. He's got it.
Oh, the sourcute betrays PR completely.
Now, Taliesin, he's been put under quite a bit of pressure multiple times now trying to defend the B bomb site from short.
Once again, not a single kill from Taliesin, and that's the site of the world bomb planted and no other option,
but to save these weapons on the A site for Gamelige, a second round for Team Liquid.
Yeah, really strong. You get that rotation from Gamelige, but just the fake from NAF and the extra kill from Aleige
just really, really secures the fact that Gamelige is going to feel like A is the final play.
play. And this time you get to exploit that B bomb site with the load and
defender instead of dealing with three of them shifting over. So Liquid get a
second on the board. And we're gonna try and take some guns away. Flash in
Perfects res blinded gonna back away the office covering big win
Okay, I think sure just mention he's enjoying he likes the slower rounds
So they were to keep liquid watching them play with this kind of pace
Yeah, he said keep the energy up as well
Good luck, even though it was a slow round, but everything was pretty calm on the server.
He controlled, right?
Aleish was really passionately communicating.
Yeah, well, he's in kind of like the off position away from the action, so he's also
in the position, the middle of the map, where you can gather the most intel.
So he's the one calling out what defense he's encountering, what he's sensing, what he's
seeing, and that information being passed over to Shuhei constantly keeps him confident
in what kind of call he's working with and what he's thinking.
So Aleish is just in that role where, yeah, everything he's passing over to the team is
the valuable intel that they need. He spotted two, he knew there was one right side mid,
one left side mid. You'd probably assume there's going to be one at least somewhere in the
A-bomb site as well. And made that nice and easy for Liquid to continue just moving forward
into B. Timeout comes through a close five to two. GameReligion wanted to talk things
over. Money starting to dwindle. They've got a little bit of cash left in the tank and
depending on what they say, they can still have very strong buys. But Liquid's going
to keep trying to run this together. He'll back to and execute towards the A-bomb site.
Elysia in a bit of trouble jumps up on the boxes,
knee damage and a lead shot down to 4 HP.
Here goes Shu-Ai out into the side, PR's got both.
Okay, delivering on Shu-Ai and Malts,
he goes in again, a third frag ultimate this time,
dead at Tetris and Elysia on 4 HP.
So you come out of this timeout, you're excited,
you've just won another round
and immediately Team Liquid handed a defeat
in a couple of seconds.
Yeah, I mean again, this is too easy.
PR getting his double,
And actually even chiming in with a third kill on Ultimate as the AWP, but man in a round where you can do a lot of economic damage, you get no kills.
How deflating. Big opportunity for Liquid wasted.
And a very easy defense for PR and Gamer Legion, so likely 6-2.
Elysian Nath.
Have a long time to stay alive and just the Nate tickling Elysia takes him down.
Snacks is pushed up, four players defending the bomb, there's no opening for NAF.
Okay, well, I mean we've seen some good rounds out of Team Liquid, the problem is it just
feels like so much up and down that the bad rounds have been really flat, like this.
Yeah dead in a few seconds and then you just kind of have to stall out so you
can get an AK in the next round. And Gamer Legion just keep everybody up.
We have to say Gamer Legion doing really good job at point of
contact in these first eight rounds as well. Yeah but I mean like you know Gamer
Legion in middle has been able to grab some kills there has been able to keep
that attack in middle back a little bit. Now over towards the A-bomb set a
couple times we've seen Team Liquid challenge the pistol round now this
round they've been able to shut it down also it's really the as Shuie kind of
mentioned the slow rounds that he was enjoying moving around the map and
forcing game religion to make some decisions that's where they've been
able to find their success in those gaps in the defense. Well they lose still have
a good buy in terms of rifles on every player but at least you're gonna have to
play with a Galileo. And also down to the wire you know if they lose this round
their money is gonna be reset and that's where game religion can really start to
pull things away. PR called for it after his previous round 4k he was
aggressive to try and grab the opener. He loses it against Malves, but high-packs
response. So 4v4, minute 30 on the clock and Towson has pushed through the B
apartments. He's in the kitchen and he might go a little further now. He's looking
towards that underpass. He's all the way up. Look at Ultimate though. He's gonna
throw some utility. Where does he go after the fact? Drops down back to T spawn.
Yeah, Towson's found a perfect timing for this. There's still some time before the
strategy comes to fruition for Team Liquid. So he's got plenty of it to close
the gap. Now he has a decision to make here. T spawner mid.
Down the stairway to keep things quiet and he's going T spawn.
He's getting behind ultimate. That's the bomb. He's got it.
Oh, he can just spill it right now. As soon as he sees that bomb
blinking on his back, high-packs here as well.
Shining in with the AWP and the connector. Flashy.
Lans for shot. NAF goes out. Dies to rise.
7-2. Game of Lich and suffocating Liquid.
that Liquid's got nothing going on right now.
Offense not even close to moving.
Not no plays being made, no kills being found,
no pressure being applied.
Just slowly progressing to their death
and they let a huge push from Towson.
Now you're starting to see some confidence spread
throughout game religion to make those kind of moves early.
Those kinds of advantages provide them
to the game religion side.
The information, the early flank.
Liquid and Flash are gonna take a time out
to talk things over.
I had a three round losing bonus so everyone's sitting around 3,500 mobs a little bit above
that but nothing crazy to scrape together rifles into a buy.
I think this has got to be a small investment of armor and pistols and the hero AK on mobs.
But you're having an issue now where Hypex is off and starting to heat up, starting to
punish you every step of the way.
Opening tags, opening damage, now he's wrecking your executes.
Well, three rounds left in the half here. Can Liquid grab any of them? Doesn't look like
him in this round. You know, you've got mobs on an AK, everybody else on a weaker weapon.
Disappointing in this first half from Team Liquid. Even more so in this round for Elise,
who spammed down through that smoke. Snacks takes the opener. Now you're going to funnel
into the A player, which has never really worked. Hypex does miss a shot, but he's got
PR to back him up. Get trade from Mobs. Needed to get that trade, but Snax is looking towards Khan. He's got Shuey.
He's got NAF and Mobs walking their way out. Now Mobs is still fighting. He's doing what he can here for Team Liquid.
He's taking a good amount of damage down to 22 health.
All the ball of the NAF.
Yeah, the smoke clears. The smoke is always going to fade at some point, and that was going to be the real danger point, but not even getting the bomb plants.
So all you can do if your NAF has grabbed one or two more kills on the way out,
Stuck inside the bomb site, the Nade finishes him off 8-2.
Comprehensive dominance for Gamer League on Mirage.
And this is Liquid's map pick.
Yeah, just throw that little stanker in right in there.
Right at the end.
It is indeed.
They have map selection.
See him with the misshaw from the all-port.
He's always there to back him up as the fail-safe.
Also what he can, but ultimately his teammates couldn't get into good enough positions to actually help him.
Eight to two, so two rounds left. Liquid into the AKs, once again a faster play out middle.
This time Elise not getting spammed down through the smoke, he's gone quick.
Res knows now, gets the AK out, but in the meantime Elise has taken the opening kill here for Team Liquid.
I like the change of pace, like the assertiveness, good kill found, but you still have plenty of game-religio members here looking for fights.
For fights, all the lineups break down, Nath and Elise gone, and Snacks can still get away.
Disaster, no rise goes in, ultimate gonna be taken out, mobs gets one headshot right back,
keeping this one competitive, but headshot, and Taliesin takes it. Shuei left 1v2.
Gamer Legion's never letting them execute. So many bodies thrown at the issue in middle,
and Shuei left to pick up the pieces.
Oh, no, no, no.
I mean, it was looking like a couple of rounds early.
Team Liquid might be able to get into this T-side,
but it all just stalled out completely.
It was that slow round win that they had into the A-execute.
That was just all five players.
It was rounds seven and eight.
They just got destroyed.
Yeah, you win the round.
You have the economy a little bit low.
You have it at a really weak point.
And then, Gamer Legion just stuff it.
A hit. All five players survived.
survive and they've never looked back since.
Grouping up and Palace.
You got Team Looker ready to go down into the site.
PR waiting for them all the way back in CT spawn.
We're going to play behind the smokes here for game legion.
not plain disruptive within the site
you're actually steps in front of what we're supposed to be
hasn't been worked out
high-packs and snacks certainly will
game of legend getting three kills in court succession, stalling out this last
round of the half, Team Liquid
are going to leave the first half and we're on to the measly two rounds to play with
unless Elise
can do something about it and it's just the one kill, leaving mobs all the way
back at Tetris
Stepping out with a galeel
Don't give it a go. He'll do what he can much like last round as soon as the smoke fades
He doesn't have any more options. He's got to find a kill before it disappears pure dominance from gamer legion
Almost at least getting Towson. He's got 40 seconds mistake repeat. That's all he needs
But he can't get it. It's a 10 to 2 lead for gamer legion. It's domination on team liquids map page
I
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I
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I'd love to paint a positive picture about Team Liquid going into this second half, but
it's been all gamer legion.
We can just stop talking about it because they haven't even showed up yet in this series.
elimination series at IEM Atlanta.
Gamer Legion has just been straight dominant
since this began.
15 kills on Snacks rolling back the years.
All the focus on Rez, how well he's been playing.
It's Snacks to bring back some of that old level.
Hypex at 14 and three, the AWP has been dominant.
And they're looking to just put this first map
of the series away nice and quick.
Yes, indeed they are.
Gamer Legion, quick to see them back and playing well.
As they get ready to go into the A bomb site,
a pistol round would be the knockout blow
surely too much work to be done for team liquid
and mom's going to be looking down into the ramp now it's shown just yet
it's not the amount of work that needs to be done it's just the ITES oh okay
well that ITES is pretty sweet
yeah
no eyes left and toes on the high back both their heads taken off
we got res coming out of the ramp doing what he can with the glock but it's nothing
a good shot down here coming through for team liquid in the pistol
and that is at least step one
Yeah, I mean, pretty much the very similar tactics for both teams.
Just executes on the T-pistol.
GamerLegion decided to send more bodies up the ramp.
Liquid sent more through Palace, but the result is the same.
Dominant pistol round victory for the defense.
So Liquid get their third, stay alive.
They get at least to start with the advantage and the momentum
to see how much of a comeback they can muster.
Shoei doing his best to get everyone hyped up down the line.
That'll take a little bit more time.
And that's going to take the gap in the score close in just a little bit before you'll see
the rest of Team Liquid kind of activate and tap into that same energy.
Lovely shots from bulbs though.
Basically wins the round before it even begins.
That's the main strength of the attack is that initial thrust to create the space for
the rest of the Glocks following things up.
Yeah, we got really nothing to look forward to in this round for Game of Legion.
for Team Liquid. Let's see if they can just clean it up without losing a plant.
They brush out middle, into the rifles, and yep, that's nice and easy. Get through that one quickly.
Alright, let's see what they can do. Guns are coming out now. AK-47's going to fill up the feed for Gamer Legion.
Utility being invested in. How do they want to start off this T-side campaign? No op yet for Hypex.
Team Liquid's going to love that for the moment because it was brutal in the first half.
the
liquid was very mid-focused
then their opening t-side campaign mirage we know that mid is always gonna
have tons of action but how do game religion want to start things snacks
towards middle
resin talson and halls hypex in support p r's gonna be watching for the eight
push
Snacks. He's continuing the full business.
Start of the second half, he's domino-leash.
Was it PR you mentioned that he hadn't watched any of the old-school Snacks highlights?
Yeah.
So we didn't know he was actually good back in the day?
Yeah, he's like, I didn't watch Counter Shrike back then when Snacks was good.
I've only seen your most recent work and I wasn't impressed.
Snacks was showing him some clips.
Well, now he can get some more modern ones into the highlight reel.
Yeah, definitely. It's been great to see Snacks coming into this.
I mean, obviously had a student in Gamer Legion for a while, then went to G2.
G2 middling success, and sure, sure he's learned a lot, and then gone back to Gamer Legion again.
It's great to see the form of Snacks be solid over the last couple of events here.
Got ultimate waiting inside of Khorne, he's got plenty of players coming his way.
I thought some of that pressure.
Snacks in the right spot, dead. Sponsors good from HyperX, but...
Malps low HP, hiding under the wings, it's in board, and eventually Hypex will take the head shot, but NAF has been sneaky the whole time.
Wait for this moment to peek out and strike. It's a 1v2 for NAF. Now just a 1v1. Telsin on top of the stairs, a dink lands to his head.
49 HP left. Telsin just trying to get that AK to land.
20 seconds, NAF can use the clock. Three boys left in the AK, now two for Telsin.
Going for the reload now.
Naph is using the clock. Telsen is going to have to deal with the pressure of this positional change from Naph. He knows he's down.
He's looking for a tetris and Telsen actually wins it. Naph even got an extra shot off, but Telsen nails that headshot and brings Gamalich up to 11.
It didn't seem like Telsen actually noticed the reposition. I thought he might have with one last poke at the head over the stairs.
Maybe one of his teammates called it out because that realization sank in a little bit late.
Lovely shot from Snaks onto a leash. Ultimate brings this back into an even affair.
Anafta's good work inside the bomb site, but the clutch, the AK-47, even though Salsons brought low, that MP9 just cannot finish the kill.
4-11.
It's gotten a little bit worse for Team Liquid. 7 rounds back now, but they have the AWP in the hands of Ultimate.
And once again, Snaks bringing Gamer Legion over to the AWP bomb site. Another set piece.
Oh, I was able to steal away one and hold on to it for the time being, but Kigali-jin
starts to send their forces out, right?
It's great, sharp shooting out of Palace.
The trade is through from Shuei.
Look at this in snacks.
Flying to the sky, but that pressure is handled here by Team Liquid.
How many can HyperX bring down with it?
That's a great save from Ultimate.
I was able to help Shuei stay alive.
Mac 10 coming in from short ultimate just changes his gaze and picks him off.
Oh baby, now we're talking about it.
Oh, that's clutch music, I was ready for that.
Clutch making time.
We're making clutches.
AK picked up for IPEX as well, he's got a little Molotov down there.
It's not the only thing that's getting hot and heavy in here.
I put my gun, I love leaving with the Molotov light.
Someone hit the wrong button.
All right, high-packs, you know, eventually I think you just try and slide into the bomb site and get the bomb planted.
He's looking for that mistake, right?
Enough time has passed that Ultimate has to be concerned and at least conscious of the B bomb site and the chance for him to have wrapped all the way around the map.
He wants to shave off one player before committing to the plant. Molotov doesn't go nearly as deep as he wanted the two to flush out Shuei's position.
So bomb will get planted safely, extra cash over for Gamer Legion, and it's off clutch.
Well, it's down on default, out in the open, and nothing he could do.
Nothing could really pull off that, so recovery to the round for Team Liquid.
Their fifth round on the board, and importantly, they got to keep the weapons in their hands,
keep buying the rifles, keep moving forward and seeing how far they can take this Mirage map,
see how much they can come alive here, and get ready for the rest of the series.
Map number two is Nuke, picked by Gamer Legion. That's going to be the battlefield where Liquid probably is looking like they'll have to come back in the series four.
But another round, even with the bomb plant, that Gamer Legion sit back on just upgraded pistols so Liquid can close the gap a little bit further.
Deagle, so across the board we call this one the Deco.
I won't say if I'll work out for game religion how much can they do with it.
It's kind of a cool Deagle skin.
It has got a little bit of shine and sparkle to it.
It's got a thing to it.
Glitter.
Glitter always makes things better, Jason.
Yeah.
It's true in my experience.
Well, game religion is going to take this slow around the initial south of the utility.
It's right through the nodes.
Notice game religion prints out pictures on those.
Yeah, they're like a picture playbook.
Yeah, a young team, Jason.
Yeah, I like that.
There's less chance of confusion, I feel.
A picture book.
Oh, PR.
What do you think?
Have you seen the pictures?
Have you seen it close up?
I assume it'd be pictures of utility lineups could be I'd be the most useful picture that I can see on the pager of hypex
When we cut to the player camera, okay, it could go it probably is like a lineup. That's what I think, right?
It's like guys you don't even have to learn the needs anymore
Let's get start from high back since Eagle small to make sure that it's all over though
I could jump from a leash as well springing into action to collapse on middle before anything gets out of control
One death taken so far by Team Liquid, Res won't be able to add another on top of it.
Also, speaking of Res earlier in the competition as well, he was very quick to mention IAMO Clip.
So, yeah, it's how we know back in America where that one event happened.
Oh my God, I love that meme. It's one of my favorite memes. I'm so glad that he's into it too.
I'm so glad actually Pimp hyped him up today, had that tweet earlier.
You know, I feel like it's been a while since we've been able to go back and hype up Res.
Yeah, you know, it's it feels like it's such a cyclical thing. I'm glad we got to do it
You know at the midpoint of 2020 and yanko brought us back to reality. That's he's generally done
Fun for a while to buy his aggression from ultimate you want to hype up ultimate Jason?
Not yet. I'm gonna get there round to do it. Maybe he's getting me there though. He's bringing me close
He's got that big opening kill
Well, let's see, Vance, his team liquid are looking for us.
Trying to close this gap.
PR, flash coming this way.
So it's Malbs, and that is just perfect.
So PR can't do anything about that.
Team Liquid have a two-minute advantage.
Yeah, cool, so you and Liquid take the initiative.
The opening play with the AWP, Malbs following it up.
You probably didn't think the next aggressive stance
was gonna be in Palace after the ultimate push.
And good five from Elise.
Shuei recognized the jump up going on.
Malbs gonna peek.
This is perfect liquid everything's going in their favor. No one from game religion has even fired back until just now a
single kill for hypex
And that's how he's gonna get 11 to 7
Liquid building up into this map it took him a long time to wake up. They were absent the entire first half
But three in a row and five of six so far as they switch sides
Has them looking good on the CT side
I've ultimately taken a look at the top of the corner to the opener and see liquid starting to get some momentum now
Now it's gonna get tested for the first time in this half though. Yeah, it's coming out of he's got the AK out
The golden AK, golden boy of Team Liquid. Let's see if NAF can hold on.
Well that smoke, it feels like dissuaded, the progression from game religion.
There are three people back in Res up, they've all slipped away so it looks like Res might
just turn into a little bit of a lurk trying to find some timing.
Maybe when NAF is reloading to make his move, and NAF is going to get taken down.
He's got to be careful, made in hand. Oh, he's got a second, there we go Res.
Shades of Oakland as he cracks into the B-Bomb site.
Yep, here he is.
Or easy, delivering on the TAC 9.
And that site wide open.
Game religion have a shot at map point,
but Malm's trying to close it.
It's Towson that's gone, numbers again, even.
But the bomb is now joining the rest of the pack
and Shuei, such an important kill to pick up here,
and now they're holding the line, holding the cross.
And IWP's gonna miss though.
Whoa, ultimate, brain switched off,
ran out into the open, PR punishes him,
And they're about to pay the ultimate price for that mistake.
It's Shuei and Malton, a 2v2.
GamerLegion trying to get map point.
It's PR to do it.
Shuei alone, PR.
Hiding his heart in the shadows.
He's got the red and PR punishes.
Shuei's gone.
It's GamerLegion up to map point.
And Liquid let it go.
I don't even know what to say.
You can't...
It's also, I mean, two of the most experienced players
on Team Liquid, Elise and Naph.
And both of them just get body-bagged by Rez.
Like that's how this round is lost is a tech 9 walking into contact at the B bomb site against two rifles
And killing them both out dueling each of them in turn in sequence
The ultimate mistake of trying to come out and just not even kind of considering another player over towards short is its own thing but
That round slipped out of control in a way that should have never happened
Five chances for game religion lovely round from res
And a little bit of a tech issue, so all that intensity is just gonna, we're gonna chill
for a bit.
You get to stew in that though, if you team liquid.
It is the worst time for a tech issue if you're liquid.
Yes, I am.
Now we have to sit in silence and think about that last one.
Now we just have to, we can't even talk, I can't even figure out what went wrong.
And I just have to envision in my head the circumstances that led to a res double entry
with a tec-9.
I have to imagine that in my brain.
And there he is.
Stone Cold Killer.
The Oakland MVP.
The Oakland MVP.
The only one.
Put a veteran now, let's rise.
Not even a bit of a veteran, he just, he just is a veteran.
Man, this is cool from Gamer Legion.
I'm liking what I'm seeing across the board.
19 kills now on Hypex.
Red's having a quiet map, but still finding a way to have huge, huge impact.
One very loud round.
And Gamer Legion has set up very, very nicely to close out this map.
Nuke is next.
That's the second in the series.
And it's looking like Liquid's gonna need to win that to bring us to a third decider,
which would be Inferno if we can make it there.
Oh, it doesn't, I mean, if Liquid lose this,
it feels very difficult to imagine a world
in which we get Inferno.
Yeah, it does, especially, again,
it's why I kind of mentioned, like,
you asked me if I thought Liquid had the, like,
real potential to make the playoffs.
Like, let me get this eye test first.
Let me see how they're playing.
Yeah.
It now looks good, that T-Side is,
there's nothing inspiring that I've seen.
And even, the problem is, it's like,
one of those scenarios too, it's like,
yeah, there's gonna be some good rounds
where it looks like they have some cool ideas and everyone performs well,
but when you have a round like that with the Tech 9, it's just like,
none of those amazing rounds matter if you can just lose this.
Like, you know, in the midst of a comeback, on a bit of a streak,
you have all the advantages in the world and you lose that three-round streak to,
again, a Tech 9. I'm saying it again, just because I can hardly still believe it.
Well, coming into this next round, once we get going,
we'll have a double-op setup for Team Liquid, NAF and Ultimate can be wielding the snipers.
That says back all for high back, so hopefully
Me worry we're gonna get back into the game and just look like a thumbs up flashed in there. Yeah
Well the other stream going on at the moment
Here at I am Atlanta gonna be a strahles taking on sinners
Winner of that game takes on the winner of this game in the lower bracket final of Group B
So spotting the quarterfinals or elimination and the consequences of that one
And this itself is an elimination of game as well.
Losing team goes home without any chance of looking towards the stage.
Well, game religion, with a win here would feel like their chances are pretty high for getting into the playoffs.
My team strollers or sitters in front of them, it feels like a very winnable game.
It's a very open side of the bracket.
As you mentioned earlier, yeah, it feels like any four of these teams might be able to have
a good crack at it.
Alright, here we go.
Yeah, back into the action, round 20, out of the devastating loss.
Just one more time, there's a technical thing that won't just grow.
There's a view in the back of the room.
Yeah.
Snacks and now game religion make their move walking up catwalk
About to turn the corner into the B bomb site Towson and halls and Naphis here
It's a double-up setup shoe sliding over ultimate second off also in position to be here quickly
Good shot from Naph and now needs to follow it up and he will okay. Yep. That's more like it from now
I'll play down in the side. It's gonna burn, but he's got some you tell to help him out
This flame still won't so much present. It's not burning him not taking him down the bullets
Well though, PR spotting the next crossing over, but there's still Shuhei to deal with, still a throat at the bench, they haven't spotted him.
And this play for Shuhei now reveals himself and he will deny Gamelige in the win in this round.
Yeah, really, really good timing on Shuhei to slide over to be that third player at that B bomb site.
Really well done to get into some safety.
NAV gets his couple of kills that secures Shuhei's little sneaky decision hiding behind the smoke.
Good trigger discipline to make sure you secure two and the round.
First kill towards Short, dropping off.
Able to find the second as well. Good recovery for NAF in this situation.
It seems like the chat finally found the cast or mute button, Jason. I lost it there for a second.
I felt that way, yeah.
Yeah, they finally figured it out.
Alright, ultimate straight to the smooth. That's Towson dead.
That's a great start to the round here for Team Liquid, but can they continue it?
They do, they get rid of the money here for Gaming Legion, and then we can start thinking about the realms of possibility
to start coming back into this and talk about overtime in a little bit, but NAF,
He's got that pick PR is gone and now a 3d5 for game religion to try and flip back in their favor
Yeah, cool switch up for naff into the AWP setup as the defender of the B bomb said especially after you get exploited by
Rez the few rounds back in that kind of a loss
You know, they're gonna test you again
You know if Rez can walk in and do that with a pistol they're gonna say let's go back to it because that defense over there's you know
Obviously a little bit weak switch up into the AWP and now whenever anyone challenges him
He's got an easier time of things
Now he's out in the open, a wider angle here, so a missed shot spells his death.
There's no escape from this position.
Well, that is a missed shot.
There is escape from that position, and he escapes.
Haha, the great escape, some might say, but NAV.
Jewel Bolett is coming out, he's getting up for a gunslinging play, he's taking snacks
out, and then Elise helps him out, so much stronger than this B bomb sight now, and they're
not going to let attack 9 get through again.
Yeah, lovely work.
jump from math with his triple kill snaps back into shape so snacks calling for
one eco pistols coming back in diggles across the board for game
religion
and as it'll do least from now could support from a leisure over towards
short so the two of them working in tandem to make sure that that be bombsite
isn't a weakness that game religion can exploit again ultimate in middle with the
The ops you hate chiming it as well a little piece of aggression. There's no
presence whatsoever from game religion at the moment.
Oh, this smoke towards the window.
Sure is just gonna peak because of that. This this T side for game religion
and feeling equally kind of lackluster at the moment.
Oh yeah, very much so.
I feel like both teams have played this T-Side so much
within the strategic system and game plan
that I haven't really seen individuals break out of it
and make some plays and have their own intuition
and their own aggressive move that they want to make.
Everyone happy to contain with how the IGLs
and how the captains want to call tactically.
Malbs and Covey, ultimate back at ticket with an AWP.
Shuhei playing jungle. No presence in middle from Gamer Legion. All the attackers coming from Rampant Palace.
Wall smoked out towards stairs and connected. Gamer Legion trying to get out, but Malm's in a good spot all of a sudden though.
It's attack 9, it's a decal entering the kill feed and that bomb plant now coming through for Gamer Legion.
Is this going to be the round they close out Mirage with?
It's going to be one on loss in the CT retakes.
Shuhei and Aleige re-aligning Naph with an AWP, he's got one flashbang to activate it.
Towson's going to get a wide angle.
Yeah, he's going aggressive towards CT.
Towson now, it's a shot, he's got the other one too.
And it's just Naph, 1v3, it isn't going to be happening for him here.
Towson backs away just to confirm it.
Misses the shot, he's got so many teammates.
Naph throws himself in, but Snacks is the man to find a close thing.
Now a 13-9 win for Gameligian. Such a strong first half. And as Team Liquid's map pick going against them.
Well, can you believe how you lose it as well in that kind of a fashion?
One heartbreaking tech non-lost to Reza's entry into the B-bomb site.
Now you lose a low-econ round to an A-exec. That's a brutal way to lose and Liquid's going to have the bounce back on map 2.
As it ended up being not just one but two low-econ rounds to be closing this one out for Gameligian.
game a legion credit where credit is due liquid really trying to make the comeback of reality but
Jacob you claimed a certain certain time did you feel like this was a cosmetic comeback from liquid
I think it was realistic for them to to come back in this game obviously not when you lose two of
those rounds that's that's one too many at the very least somewhat argue two too many but I think
the CT side they stepped it up a little bit we saw more and more come out from Malphys or more and
more come out from the league I think the way they were contesting middle as well mid-round
was pretty well and pretty good for Team Liquid, so there were definitely signs that CT side-wise
on Mirage, they could play counter-strike. The problem for Liquid was that they had such an
abysmal start to the game with only two T side rounds that the cushion they had to fall back on
was nonexistent. So in that regard, it wasn't really in doubt that the Gamer League were going to win
this game, but I suspect that Liquid would have made it much, much closer with three or four T rounds.
I guess it was the fashion, they did it right. Like you looked decent, Gamer League in the
coming at you with full buys and then those two rounds it's like that's two
out of the three the game elation one. Jason described it as brutal I would
describe it as liquid you know like that that that's what you come to expect
unfortunately at this point in time and they just can't string together you know
a good map like it's always something different this time it was the half
buys in the second half they lost the 5v3 in the first gun round in the first
half in the different situation it would be rounds with advantages it would be
losing both pistols perhaps right from game to game there's a different sort of
breakdown for the for the team and that's why they've been struggling so much
recently. Should we go back to that first half then? Obviously T-side issues apparent
for Liquid. What are you gleaned from Gamer Legion and Rambay? Yeah I think this is
just an example for Gamer Legion right and what they were able to do in the
in the first half you can see that it's a reset round 5-2 for Gamer Legion right
The leash is just drawing attention to himself. They're faking the default and they want to pop A, right?
But the flash is, you know, Pryar is gonna be in the open on A.
Like he isn't hiding behind anything, and there's no flash that blinds him, which is kind of wild because considering how open he is,
he needs to get blind here. One catches him, but they can't scale. You can see the rest that are flying over stairs.
Like none of that blinds him. So he gets an easy
multi-kill,
three kills there. He's gonna get one more and then it's just going to be Naph alone trying to save
Snacks finds him in the end so it's sort of you can't necessarily put it on the
execute too much but it's not coordinated as much with the scaling
he's the lone defender there so the round sort of works right like he's
isolated you're going there with four players and he's just able to mow you
down like that in a really important round. Yeah you know and then they change
the way they approach it instead of going for these more simplistic
executes for one man trying to take attention in the middle in round nine
They tried to play out the mid-round game. They tried to spread out the defense a little bit thin
But even in scenarios like that game, we're able to dismantle them.
Run 9 to me was a great example of Liquid just now having no foothold in this game whatsoever.
Again, at this point, it's 6-2. You need to win rounds now.
You need to get on the board. Melts is so searching by himself down and towards Ramp.
Gets an opening kill, which was a theme in this game.
Liquid won the opening kill department 13-9, so in terms of not converting,
Torsten finds himself with a minute lift.
This is the B anchor.
That's the B anchor by the way, so no presence whatsoever.
Then Hypex catches off a guy in connector, catches another player right here.
Nathline lifts to himself right.
You're just being picked apart one by one by one,
and you're allowing the opposition to be inside your own spawn with a minute lift of the round
without even knowing that's a possibility.
You saw the player on A right there getting ready with grenades,
having no clue whatsoever that there's even the potential of a player flanking him.
flanking him, so in terms of the lack of synergy, in terms of lack of team play that we're describing
Liquid with coming into the game, I think this round was a great example of exactly that.
Yeah, and for Taosan to be there at the one minute mark, I mean he sat in the smoke at 135 and pushed
B-Apps right there and there, I don't know if it's because it was Malibus who died and they
knew NAF was probably also towards A and then he sort of figured, all right, this is their heavy
A default, right, and it's a good timing for me to go for this play, but yeah, definitely
the game religion playing to win, they made a lot of smart decisions. Even in the second
round that they lost on their own CT side, they sort of gambled, they went 4A in the
late round, you know, Liquid went B and they just saved, their money wasn't great in that
round. So if they, let's say lost it, but lost the guns too, they probably had to equal.
So understanding the economy, when it's okay to go for some of these gambles, when you
need to maybe just play default was what allowed them to just have a buy after buy
and be able to win 10 rounds and see. But that's the thing, going to the second half
and even when they don't have an ideal buy. We'll go into the first example of this
Jacob. Round 19, Rez doing work with the Tech9. Yeah it's obviously nice by Rez.
Finds a good timing right here to sneak past him. Again, Nf like gets caught off
guard Tech9 again at this point. Sure you can still stabilize the second kill
on towards Elise. That's great from Rez and then Torsten comes in from
Catwalk, Melkz is trying to even out the round right here, makes it a 3v3,
risk gets caught off guard by Shuhei as well, and then this is what's weird for me.
You know, Ultimate standing here with the AWP, I don't know why he takes an angle,
where he's not hitting the shot, I don't know why he's that scared of having a more open angle
when you're going up against Tech 9s, you're going up against pistols,
he gets shot down by taking the reflight, then Shuhei walks out by himself as well,
gets shot down and they end up losing the round.
To me, it's a classic, liquid way of doing things.
At no point should they be in danger, at no point should this be around going the way of Game of Legion.
credit to PR again having a massive round right here you saw the round Yanko put
out there he had a triple kill on the A bomb side this round he had a triple kill
he finished with 10 kills in the game and he went 2 for 10 in opening duels as
well he didn't have a lot of impact outside of these two rounds where he
single-handedly won them by himself. Yeah and I think first you know it's on
that I feel conscious just as the B you know you can't let that happen and die
in such a poor way but honestly what Ultimate does in the 3v2 is even worse
right and that's the problem you know those lapses in better its judgment or
just some brain fog at the worst possible moment is what keeps happening to
team Liquid and it's causing them to lose games another series where they lose
their own map pick and I'll have to find a way to bounce back yeah 100% I mean
speaking of having shots on the other side of things though, we're gonna roll a
snacks package, why don't we? So often we praise him for his fraginability but oh it's good to see him in the first half you know
Snacks had a field day, found a lot of impact. Great calling as well, the way that he was controlling the team and making sure that he found impact from the beginning of the game as well.
And I think that's another carrier to this Liquid loss. As I said, the 1-13-9 in the openly killed department in this game, PR had a nightmare in that specific department.
He went 2 for 10. Res didn't have too much impact either from an individual output. Yet, game-religion looked like the better team throughout the entire day of the game.
of the game. Snacks stepped up. You have high picks having a great game as well. So it came from a lot
of different directions in game only. But if I were to describe you a way for Liquid to win this
game, I'd say, okay, if Ress is not having a great game, if PR is not successful whatsoever in
Oberlin Kielsten, I'm leading towards Team Liquid winning this game. But that even isn't enough
for them to come close, taking their own mappic. I guess it's hard when, okay, you've got snacks
firing off like that, but then you would have high picks as well right here. A lot of impactful
minutes. Yeah, definitely. In the first half, I had a lot of good rounds, but I just can't
shake this feeling off where, you know, Liquid would have probably come back all the way. You
know, they seemed in full control if it weren't for those two rounds against Pistols. And just,
you can't keep letting those rounds slip really for, you know, Stax did a great job in terms of
the fragging. T-Side was a bit of a struggle in the second half, but they were able to get it done.
and for Hypex we're seeing a couple of series now. He's finally finding some consistency.
The casters talked about coming into the game legion as an offer, seeing as how your predecessors
did. I mean you don't want to be just another name on that list and definitely the pressure was
getting to him. It felt like initially and maybe after the roster changes or after he saw that he
wasn't going to get kicked after two months, he's able to let loose somewhat and have a better
performance. I'm making a little bit of a grimace because I'm just looking at the stats for liquid.
I was looking for silver lining. I'm going to be honest, there really isn't one. This is a
five map lost streak liquid. I was going to say it's against teams
pretty much below Gamer Legion as well. It feels over. It kind of does. Nuke has been a
Storgism map for Team Liquid. Haven't been able to integrate maps into it. Haven't been able to
define any sort of results. And as you said, when I look at the list of teams they're losing to,
Sashi, Haru, Alliance, you know, the beta team called OleBet. I think apart from that, no big
wins whatsoever for Team Liquid. You don't even have a lineup right now.
You don't even have a lineup, you know, and it was a close game as well. So to be completely
honest, no, there's not a big symbol lining for Team Liquid. If anything they showed yesterday,
that they were able to bounce back after losing the map to M80, but I'm grasping for a straw
right here. I have not seen anything from Liquid at this tournament that makes me believe that
they're much better off than they were a couple of weeks ago in Rio, and Rio was bad.
And we also saw GamerLegion with two faces yesterday against Navi to some extent.
So that's the thing. We hear it from players from all tiers of teams say the same thing.
It's like in MR12 and in the current environment, you can lose to anyone pretty much and you can beat
anyone. I think they go wrong so fast if you lose one or two key rounds. And GamerLegion,
it's not a bad team, but I don't consider them a world beater. They can't make mistakes and then
You know things can't go horribly wrong. It sort of started going horribly wrong in the second half of Mirage and
Here they'll have to start on the T side again
So I think there's a way in for liquid
They just keep playing kind of the same way on CT side, but just slightly better discipline and being more concentrated in these rounds against pistols
You know a strong CT side can propel them into a map win
We've got to see exactly how it is going to be going down
But not before we head things to a quick break when we return
it's going to be nuked the map
pick off game of Legion and
potentially last chance to
Street Masters Atlanta 2026.
Double-P to get the shot out.
Double-P to get the shot out.
Bring it on!
Double-P!
Something special to Tlv. is due for the next episode.
We're going to have to take a mix-up.
We are back!
It's Nath with Team Liquid. They got a big one today versus Gamer Legion.
We're just going to start all-encompassing here with Team Liquid.
been on this roster for about 50 years now. So tell me a little about the ups
and downs because currently things are the way they are. Yeah, I mean obviously
the past couple of years have been a lot of ups and downs but you know recently
it's been pretty much been pretty bad for the most part but you know at the
end of the day we're trying our best so you know to get out of whatever that we're
in right now so yeah. So being that you've seen so much counter strike in
your day you know every time you go to rebuild or every time you guys go through
the motions of rebuilding. What does that look like?
I don't know, just mean a lot of cool different people, you know. People just come and go
sometimes, you know. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, played with a lot of different players.
Yeah, so I have no idea how to even say it.
Yeah, it's a variety. It's a variety pack of players that Team Liquid has had over the course of...
I've had a lot of friends.
Yeah, you absolutely have. You've had a lot of successes too in your career, Keith. You guys today aren't coming into this one
necessarily where you want to in terms of stature of team liquid. So let's kind of go over how this
might look in the server with Gamer Legion. Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think Gamer Legion is a pretty
solid team. I would say they're a pretty decent team. But I don't know, we just always seem to come
out showing our best A game because with our current games and how we've been playing, it's
not been good. So we just got to look for the man upstairs, see if he's watching up there,
watching down on us and maybe you can send us some blessings stay blessed Keith
stay blessed stay blessed everybody
Once you're short, I can flash to the side palace
There's one was up over here, wait, I'm in ladder right now
I'm flashing now
I have ramp, I have ramp
Upstead, now side fire, he was flying up, I get around, yes
I'm flying con behind
I'm only under round, I'm in two steps
One under window, I'm nading it
He's dead, he's dead, that's right
I'm soaking out the short
Last guy is Pack player as well.
He's gonna be coming or something.
Under one down.
Come under one.
Nice!
Let's go guys.
Up or short?
One short guys.
It's out.
One BFs.
He's inside Conno.
Just don't worry about him.
I'll kill him soon.
Edward in the car.
I'm going to search for you
I don't know what you're doing
Last thing for planting
Nooooo
I'm second on
Pick it
Pick it up
Take it easy
One more
I think that is a bench one
I'm going to search for you
You should play with me
Yeah, try it
I can't hold it deep
I'm going to switch to Dota
Open my base
I have second half alive
Maybe one is fighting
Nice, that's the Dinkron jungle, maybe one more
Nice, one more flash, chill, 3v1
I'm peeking you
Open it, open it
Yeah, that's fine, I'll let you go
I'll let you go, I'll let you go
I'm peeking you
Peek at me boys, peek at me
Yeah, peek at me
Nice, let's go
Let's go.
Welcome back to the Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta 2026.
It is the last day of the group stages and all the teams today fighting for survival
in the competition.
Team Liquid one map down and obviously they have hopes to get into the arena as a North
American team.
But right now they're looking down and out as we move into new game of legends map pick
the odds are completely stacked against Team Liquid.
Yeah, gonna have to see, I mean,
just an accidentally bigger fight
than what we saw on the Rage,
especially in that first half.
I like the point that Yankee made,
because you and I kind of discussed it briefly
as well with three in the map,
so it felt like Liquid had a comeback brewing.
They had that half, like, you know,
they were feeling like they're starting to gain control
and starting to feel really comfortable,
but again, it's like,
doesn't matter how good you look in those moments
if you're gonna lose to Tech Nines.
If you're gonna lose the map to Deagles
and upgraded pistols instead of against rifles,
just way too many rounds where the ball gets dropped
completely. So Liquid CT side here on Nuke. They need to be just absolutely damn perfect.
Get some belief back within this team. Get some energy and some focus back within this
team because Gamer Legion is coming for you. Coming to knock you out of Atlanta. And Nuke
begins. Two smokes of Flash and a Molotov for the Gamer Legion attack on this pistol.
PR has got a P250 with which to challenge outside. And it's all five players following
him up.
It's real quiet outside.
Now the Util arrives, and you got Elise, waiting in the wings down towards secret.
There's a cap designed to try and fight, and now Elise has to fall away trying to get back.
Guess the jewel is out, his teammate's dropping down, you get that card in the bank, hoping
and your teammate can step up in your stand.
Elise gets the final kill for Tech,
and then the Modal comes in from Malves.
That's exactly what Malves was hoping to do
when he dropped in on that rotation,
and that now looks like the pistol for Team Liquid.
It feels like Elise was taking that fight
like a little bit too early,
standing his ground in a bad position,
but standing his ground there,
getting his one kill buff time for Malves
to be in position for NAF to be down there as well
with the USP.
Those two combined with that crossfire
to set up Malves' quad kill,
and make sure that pistol round goes
Absolutely know where game religion gets stuffed down in secret the one and nothing start for team liquid
Get done with this game religion kind of got themselves start to move forward next but now if involves all the stopping power in the world
No, there's no moments to chill out, you don't get a chill out right now, not after the first
map performance.
Every round has got to feel like a gun round.
I'm talking about game religion.
Oh, I thought you were talking about liquid, okay.
Yeah, I can't chill out.
Game religion can chill.
Yeah.
I'm setting a high-pitched key.
Okay.
He's got a glock on.
My apologies, I was a little...
I know, you were fired up about it.
Came in hot, didn't I?
You're fired up about it, like, I said, how do I get it?
I mean...
It's a lanter.
Sorry, I fired up in anger.
I don't like seeing...
I mean, any team, it's not even just liquid, but I mean, I just hate watching, like, those
rounds be the ones that are lost that prevent you from having a good...
Yeah, right.
You know, like, it's just like, what are we doing here?
Well, we're gonna be alright this time, surely.
And there's a lead coming in to get two, Shuei on the other, and then Ultimate taking that final kill.
Yeah, taking some damage on board, but yeah, that third kill would have been really painful to take.
Would have been very costly in the round. So AK-47's coming in now for Gamer Legion.
Get the first gun round underway. M4 is feeling the feat of Team Liquid.
Gonna be a minute before we see that all-out for Ultimate.
And for Hypex on the other side of things. But Gamer Legion gonna show us their first
look at the game plan on this T side of Nuke. It's Gamer Legion's map pick.
And they're already up by one in this series.
Chief Grenade of Belterland on the patch.
Here for Gavir Legion, they didn't step forward enough for that to be effective, so...
I didn't pause button, but it can't pause for too long, because you've thrown two smokes outside,
no one's gonna play with him, and Elise is gathering information once those fade away.
So here they come, trying to get off the site. Snaks go a little bit earlier ahead of his teammates,
and now they've been blocked at ramp.
I think Snaks, like, took the step, like, wanted to take the risk because he was looking into the bomb site
and saw nothing. Okay, they're gonna challenge on the other side of the smoke,
now, with one, traded immediately.
Good trip from PR at least keeps this round alive for a game of League and isn't the greatest round so far on their T side
You've got a rotation down the little bomb site. Yep. Shuei waiting at the back of the site
He's gonna peek out on a good time and to catch high pegs as two minutes can start to rotate in Shuei's gonna create job here
It's just right tapping tapping and not getting anything so so celebrations would seem liquid. It's a three zero start
They've handled the first gun round as well. I couldn't ask for it to be a more comfortable start as well
I don't think losing one player in that first gun round you lost the two in the second round of the pistols
But you can let that one slide for now because money is going to keep growing if for gamer legion
No access into the bomb site no plants in any of these three rounds
And getting negated here it looks kind of silly watching snacks
I kind of walk out of hot in a 5v5 is the opening play
I think he just really just thought that was that was a good risk to take like maybe he found a gap where nobody was looking for it
Because he saw nobody in the upper bomb site
Punished and then shut down towards the lower site
Well on this American run game legion had played nuke twice. They played it once in forward now
Once here in Atlanta both were wins
Third time playing it and right now having to brawl with tech knives they've gone forward and snacks is taken to
So this round is actually on they've got two rifles to work with all of a sudden for game religion
Shouldn't be too much danger for Team Liquid unless they make some kind of a crazy mistake, maybe over-pushing, overextending to try and regain RAP.
Elysian's tucked himself in. I'm pretty sure REST is off earlier, though. Crouches into the fight. Elysian out, dinged, and they might actually come for this.
They might actually be aggressive on this position, so Elysian bails out before they can spam the smoke.
It feels like Liquid should have all the advantages, right? You know you have them contained in RAP room.
You know that's where they're at at the moment. They're not able to progress into the bomb, so you know it's a low buy as well, so resource is going to be a little bit low.
But that dink from Elysian, look how passive he's forced so far out of the round.
If they don't come and wrap towards heaven, how's he going to get back into a retake?
This is all on Shuhei, essentially a 1v3.
He's on notice, he's getting ready for this.
Rez is walking up Shuhei, had shown Rez taken away, but he took a dink on board, 10HP, cleared
up by the Tech 9, better weapon now available for Towson as they go for the plant, and they've
got the smoke for the cover.
So the plant is through, Snax is holding for anybody who's coming down the ramp,
and in fact both remaining Team Liquid players are coming down ramp.
This is going to be a heads up fight, and Snax will lose it, putting it all on Towson.
But will they expect him to be here, standing right here?
Got a better lead, there's an OHP out first, Towson up against Malps,
sprained away, and Towson's won it!
Gamelitch should not have won this round, but the Tech9 are early from Snax,
and Towson on the close. A heart breaking round to let slide that for Team Liquid.
Yeah, I mean that's gotta be so frustrating. You almost see a little bit on Flashy's face there too
because you'll know that would be a constant conversation. How you play against low buys,
how you play against anti-ecos, how you deal with different situations against pistols.
That's a constant conversation that every team always feels they can improve upon.
So when that's the dagger that caused you to lose and prevent your comeback on the first map,
now that it happens again early on in the second one, it's just real painful.
Well, it's quick here from Talcind.
And the next round, using the AK to devastating effect,
the guy against Team Liquid.
Rez and Talcind with two openers.
It was the pace change here from Game of Legends,
just swinging out and getting into the round wave.
Yeah, it's one of Snatch's favorite ways to call that
intuition, that feeling of the game.
What an uppercut provided.
Liquid not ready at all for the swing out of hot two.
Opening kills provided by Rez and provided by Talcind.
And the game, the round, just over already at that point.
You've got to save the AWP and the right fall, that's where they go.
Backtracking, ultimate stuck in ramp room at the moment.
Second round here for K-Milejian, the T side starts to get going.
Win this next round and you've got some leg room to really grow this T side.
Yeah, it's going to all be about liquid, I mean, you're going to see this up in this
M4 held for ultimate, Aleige, what can they do with it?
I mean, Liquid, they could go for an aggressive decision, although that would risk a lot of economy very early on in this half that could put him in a hole.
You could get some MP9s from Auspass around if you really wanted to challenge a little bit more.
I don't think it's likely. I think they'll be content with the AWP in the M4.
But much like Mirage felt like those first gun rounds on the CT side here on Nucleic, good for Team Liquid.
The first three-round stretch, and all of a sudden, it falls apart.
So how much can Gamer Legion get off that return?
PR, oh look at the vent he goes!
Good position to have early in the round.
Look what's going to boost up over towards Ramprim, that's going to be NAF up on top of the boxes,
so ultimate with his ADP can be very mobile, try and read the map, try and read what's coming.
He might eventually, considering PR has dropped in towards vents, the next idea generally for the T side is find a way to get the other side of that attack to the lower bombsite with a ramp room or secret.
So it might be a little bit of a pump fake with utility towards the upper bombsite, get somebody to cheat, create some chaos for PR to open the door and start moving towards ramp for a backstab.
And no one from Team Liquid even considering it good information provided by Aleige.
But still nobody checking and nobody considering lower and this is going to be really really painful.
OPR the early play to get in the vent.
It's going to be devastating now since first target.
Just trying to see if he can get more but... He wants you to boost actually.
He hasn't seen it. NAV can actually do work here. Oh they're just gonna run in,
Knives out, thinking it's clear and Naph only getting the one.
Good quick reaction, but it slows it down.
It's distracted long enough for Lee to come in and make the difference.
And now it's just PR.
All this left shape for game in leeching.
Now, it's not done, but there's only 25 seconds left.
And Lee's can just hide.
He can cover that bomb.
He can make this very difficult for PR.
He's even got mobs coming to join in.
They're both up together.
PR comes in.
I mean, it's line up! Why?!
The only way to win in PR gets them on the line up!
Liquid, let him have it!
Mental mistakes from Team Liquid.
Time and time again in this series so far, preventing them from even getting started.
Oh, that is just one of those mental shattering rounds.
Did they think that he picked up the... how they couldn't have found that he sent the bomb?
He's looking at the bomb.
I'm just thinking maybe he thought it might have dropped onto the ramp and he'd picked it up inside the smoke
I'm trying to think of a reason to replay with players kind of go through the narrowest choke point possible lined up as well
What a disaster and you get a look you get so many things going your way
He doesn't even get it see naf never clears them
Now goes one for one here. This is lovely from a lesion the rotation over
But with the time running down, you don't need to be the aggressor.
He's got to pick up the bomb.
He's got to run back to the bomb site.
Oh, they could know the round they've just lost.
Do they have it in them to bounce back mentally from that?
And they're just going to try and bring the hurt here, Gamelizian, some speed in towards the side, PR.
This time going to be handled by Shuei, trade from Taliesin, stacks in again, layer upon layer of attack.
The defense has matched up against it at least for now, but Taliesin's coming in, it's all on now.
And 1v2, he must win.
And now they fight him together and he's close to it, but Taliesin edges it out.
A quick round from Gamelizian, rushing into the upper bomb site, trading back and forth and eventually coming out on top.
Yeah, I know that round is close. It ends up getting into a 1v1 and it's a little bit brawly and probably a couple different times
It could have gone either way
But I like that snacks is keeping up this kind of like chaotic pressure, right?
Never letting liquid settle down never letting them feel like they're comfortable
I kind of opening around slow with the sense that they know what's coming and how to handle it
Changing paces giving you fast looks giving you fakes
Just maintaining the sense for team liquid that they're always going to be uncomfortable
Well, he's outside MP7, smoke slightly broken, he's going to hear those steps to the right
cross, down towards secret, and he's trying to cash them, versus good, getting anything
else is going to be too difficult for Elise, he does a lot of damage onto another player,
but eventually taken down by Taliesin, he's also spawning and upgrading into an AK.
I mean, you feel now like this liquid, even with this lower body, you have to feel like
this is kind of a must win position, considering the way some of these recent rounds have played
down four on three Malph says recovered in AK-47 you've got three players
downstairs gonna start pushing towards secret so they'll either meet here on
the stairs or they'll be able to have a nice fast flank
oh hi pecs let's bomb
yeah bomb dropped with a clean up the rest and they pick up the bomb so just
Malbs left. It's a winnable clutch for Malbs.
Guys, a little bit too far behind is the problem,
and he can't really pick up the pace whatsoever.
They'll hear him coming.
If they go up the vents as well,
they've just completely negated his position.
But indeed, they stick around.
Hypex is ready the whole time.
Two round lead now for Gamer Legion.
Even when the rounds get messy,
they're able to pull it through here, Gamer Legion.
I think now it's an interesting conversation for Game of Legion.
That round, I think with the Chaotic Nature, might have gotten a little bit away from them.
Now you're starting to see some individuals push through some smokes, do some aggressive
stances, even though they come out on top and put them in a difficult spot.
So it might be time during this time out to kind of rein them in a little bit in this
conversation.
You like the aggressive calling from Snacks, the pace changes, the variety of looks he's
giving this team liquid defense. Maybe reign it in before it gets too disorganized.
Ali is able to do great damage after this. This is the play I'm speaking of coming through
the smoke from Rez challenging like that. A little bit too much freedom in that scenario,
but it's Hypex to save the day at the end. Recovering the bomb, eliminating liquid on
the secret stairs, and we go into round nine. Five rounds so far on the T side of Nupri,
where you don't win the pistol. Shuhei is able to do damage to Snax who ends up dying to his own Molotov
so an advantage for Liquid.
One G.
And now we've got Ultimate making the most of it, so that's PR and Rize both going down and we got Team Liquid a lot stronger this time.
And Lee is holding back some of that aggressive nature.
And yeah, there we go. A bit of despair down there.
Ah, it's good to see ultimates have got a couple of kills like that with the AWP, obviously
going to make Liquid feel much more comfortable if the AWP can start ringing out.
Another round it looks like on the CT side, they can have a pretty clean victory.
As Thalcine and Hypex back off for the moment, it would be a very long save, they've got
a ton of cash.
And you know Team Liquid's just kind of bought back up into this MSU beat him, so you could
kind of go work the map and see if you can grab one or two kills during this minute and
find a way to do it safely, but more than happy to just take the round lost 5-4 and
keep the AK-47s in the money in a healthy place.
So, 5-4, I don't know, it's kind of, just due to the nature of how this is all played
out, it's like, it's hard to start getting that confidence, like when you see rounds
like this, you're like, oh, and like it happened on Mirage too, like Liquid's defense snapping
into place, but you know there's another heartbreak coming.
That's the motto of the game.
You know there's one other stupid round loss that's coming around the corner, you just
can't get comfy yet.
Oh, there's a couple of liquid games, Jason, huh?
Well, it changed you as a human.
Well, I can be happy for now.
Another round picked up.
Already five T-Rounds though for game elite you.
Oh yeah, they're in a sick place.
They've done this very, very well.
they get from here is just kind of bonus. Just a little bit extra on top.
Three more rounds remaining in this half. So Team Liquid taking no losses, replenish the utility,
pick up some kits. Both teams should be okay with the economic situation the way it is.
We're starting getting down to some weaker situations. Round 10,
AWP in the hands of Ultimates, AWP in the hands of Hypex as well. So we'll take that on top,
offside or outside, ultimate in big garage.
Oh my lord.
Oh, get on there!
OK, he made it away.
Just about, he made it away.
It is fun, isn't it?
Rolling with the wrist.
We've got Lige playing secret.
Decent position to have early in the round.
What can he hope to do with it?
Snacks finds his time waiting for those smokes to erupt outside
He's not gonna move forward just yet
Setting red Brawl and Rez has been spotted tapped away by leash
Advantage now siding with team liquid. All right, we're gonna head over to NAF's position three players heading in off to keep them pinned down
Utility heading his direction and after just decides to give it up man advantage doesn't need to stand in flight whatsoever
And a very proactive move by Shuhei to take a risk through the smoke.
Malves takes the bullet, probably meant for Shuhei, but it sells Shuhei's position.
Snacks thinks he's stopped the door-pushing aggression, and Shuhei gets a lie in wait.
A lie in where he is.
There they come.
Right in towards him.
Had a chance for a multi-kill just the one, so Game of Legends survived.
They slip out onto the A site.
There's no one here, no one home, no one watching.
Yeah, they've shifted two to the lower bomb site, so there's no one to actually recover
the scenario. Well, uh-oh. Retake required and a long way off getting into position with that
looks possible. You've got three kits to work with. You've got two smokes and flashbangs as well
if your team liquid. Biggest problem is going to be ultimate. It won't be too motivated to get
into the fight unless you can open up this flank. Good kill from Elise. Now ultimate can step forward.
Hypeback stepping into the lobby misses the shots and at least gets some information because back
into ultimate who's winning so it's Towson again tasked with a clutch. He can't win it.
And Team Liquid do come back in on that retake.
Gaming Legion, you don't want to play that post plant again, if they can.
And that's going to be a five to five.
Team Liquid tying things up.
Yeah, that looked real clean from Team Liquid on the retake, powered by Elish.
Nice opening kill to allow everyone to activate.
Ultimate slides into position to punish the fallback from Hutt.
Lovely place for him to be.
Picks off Hypex, and Towson can't do anything in a 1v3.
But this was the must kill from Elish to actually activate this
and make this retake possible for Team Liquid.
Everybody gets one in the three on three and we're tied at five
Remember as well there's a deeper bigger goal for team liquid made it somehow miraculously into the major
They purchased mobs or they
I was gonna try and be nice about it, but yeah, they're in the major and
and clearly a lot of improvements that need to be made and not a whole lot of time in which to get them.
They're breaking the smoke as they try to cross over. It's Shuey with one, but then the response is swift from Taliesin.
Swifter still from ultimate.
Alright, but they're going to turn in towards Mini it looks like, and Shuey's just dropped down vents. Malps is in trouble.
Malps has no idea if this is coming, an easy kill for Taliesin, and once again, no one in the upper bomb site. The rotation just occurred.
actually waiting for the heaven peak they're at their part of the waiting
talson is trying to stop ultimate from even putting his head over the top and
ultimate realizes how important his life is at this point so you can't repeat so
you do now you're so pressured towards heaven that you're locked out of that
spot and you want someone else to step in and take some of the contact to free
up that heaven play a little bit later in the round she way uncomfortable
climbing up the vent talson is waiting spotting for the cross and this time in
The post plant on the A site, it is much stronger in the 3v3 from Gamer Legion, it's 6-5 on
this T site, it's already fantastic.
Yeah, back to back rounds, Team Liquid has incorrectly read that the finishing move for
Gamer Legion was going to be to the lower bomb site and they just keep moving on in
towards upper.
Back to back rounds, it's been kind of free in the mid-round 3v3.
Some lovely kills outside, but I mean just because of the cross, because of the spam,
As of the spam coming back, Liquid just assumed all three players went down secret instead
of turning, making the audible to Mini into the upper bomb site, completely caught off
guard.
Final round of the first half, Liquid looking to tie things up at six.
Oh, Willie. He's up first. This time, Rez is not going to fall for that. Lee's got him
earlier from secret. He's going to send snacks in to try and deal with him, but Lee's wins
that gunfight. So, opening kill in favor of Team Liquid. Just look like they're going
to come quicker again. Here's the Amalige towards the A site.
I might just sol it out because of the smoke. PR's going to walk.
Yep, steps through.
He goes out.
Spotted by Sholey.
Gets away with both.
They surely know where you dropped this one.
It's just Ryze now.
1v5.
Team Liquid will pick up an extra round to play with in the first half
and leave at a tied scoreline.
Well, that's at least what they're going to be able to get.
I mean, it's another one of those halves where it feels like there's been
bends and glimpses that this defense could have been much stronger,
but some just very silly rounds dropped that prevent Liquid from having a stronger CT side.
So, Game Religion, in the other side of the coin, a great half for the offensive Game
Religion without the pistol, still putting six rounds on the board, breaking liquid early
on in the half and being able to take advantage of that situation.
A stretch of five rounds in a row for Game Religion, some important clutches won during
that stretch as well.
We'll make a very tough second half for both teams going into the break, six to six.
The team is eliminated and it's liquid with the backs against the wall.
I
One last chance for survival. Team Liquid have mapped down and now they switch over to the
team side of Nuke. A tie game 6-6. In classic Liquid fashion, that first half littered with
heartbreaking moments. Head scratchers, but they've got to pull it all together and somehow
come back into this game, get their heads into the fight and stay alive here in Atlanta.
The bummer for Team Liquid is on the other side of the server, you've got a team progressing
at improving at a rate that you wish you could pull off.
Snax been in the game religion squad for five months
since his return, hypex, seven months.
And in that time, they've racked up some very,
very impressive upsets, some nice scalps on the resume
of their recent tournament runs.
And looking to add another one of Team Liquid
under the mix and move on to see if they can make
the playoffs one step closer to the playoffs of IEM Atlanta
if they can close out this nuke on the CT side.
Lurksmoke over towards Squeakdoor.
Liquid is gonna progress behind it.
Molotov towards top, hut.
Get out, bomb drops into the vans here for Team Liquid.
Multiple players now populating the lowest site,
and no one on the CT side is rotated here to deal with it yet.
And two lurkers in place, one outside, that's Naph.
Okay, he's been spotted, takes that engagement,
ice gush under res, one more lurk over towards Sweetdoor, that's Suhei.
Hulmes moving up, step gonna be heard,
and he looks out to the right side, PR puts one between the eyes,
One pressure on the lead, but high-packed same result as he steps in here for Gaming Legion.
A 5v3 on the retake, coming down the vent to hear that tap on the defuse.
It's not going to be the full stake, but it is going to create the pressure for Team Liquid as though it's there.
But they're going to swing open the double-towel, it's going to try and deny a shoe, but that stake is being held halfway.
Go on, can't get to it. Naph's stuck behind the door.
Snacks is just trolling him, and that's exactly what Snacks does best.
Denies access to the site and see if it could have to look as that diffuse happens
That's the coolest thing snacks could have done in that situation. That is just no coolest thing
He could have done. I love everything about it. It is a snacks place. What a legend. I mean this this
Yeah, this is one of those pistol rounds were like it's an interesting tactic don't leaving tooth. Yeah, just door stuck door stuck
Just too many players downstairs after the bomb plant dive for Team Liquid before the
lurkers are meant to, like there's a period where those lurkers, despite the bomb being
planted, are meant to have the impact of kills as the CTs rotate into for the retake.
But everyone dies in the site before the lurkers have a chance to pounce.
Now, you know, looking at that conversation, is it lurkers playing too slow?
Is it just silly dust being taken downstairs?
But when that happens, that kind of a strategy just completely falls apart and looks a little
little bit silly.
Oh, Snacks on the back.
Leesh has the right reed. He turns around to try and fight him, but
Snacks has just got the better weapon, faster to react.
I mean, it's a long time for Elysia to sit there with nowhere to really go.
Not, he can't go forward, can't go backwards.
Liquid now going to pull the trigger now that he's done,
but Elysia would have loved to have had that distraction a little bit earlier
to give him some space to make a play.
Double spray down from Towson.
Rez still on top of the hut, so the trade not that big of a deal.
No access to the bomb site still, and it'll be nice and easy.
Can't under two hours to win.
We'll spend the part of the pre-game talking about how Rez is being stepping up
some decent performance system rise, quiet map here. I'm sure he'll start to come into his own on the CT side.
Yeah, I mean they also have that luxury like I just kind of touched on with some of those upsets and some of the nice wins
they've had in like isolated series, you know over Furia over Astralis over, you know close close against
Naveed the other night now they're beating up on Liquid.
You have some of those wins that give you some of the confidence that you're starting to figure out how the team plays and how everyone's
playing it's becoming becoming more automatic and more intuition. And that was a point
Janko brought up, you know, about Team Liquid before the series began, of saying they need
to win. They just need confidence because you can see it in their play. Like, it's palpable
that this team just doesn't have confidence that they're actually going to be able to
take the win. And that's why you need to start getting some of those under your belt, so that
belief actually clicks and sticks into the team from game to game in series to series.
And I think that just draws the parallel to what you mentioned earlier about the fact
that Team Liquid wished they could get on track with the progression that we're seeing
from Gaming Legion where it's the opposite right for them they are getting
confidence because they are starting to get some of those wins under the belt
some unexpected victories and we're talking about Hypex as the
AWPer and the team starting to just get more of an attitude more confidence and
we're starting to see him really start to show the flare he showed in his
previous teams. The timeout for Liquid. Second being Burn. Flashy get on the
mic. He's gonna try and save this mission otherwise Team Liquid are
eliminated. Yeah I mean I think too it's just probably important for the just the
atmosphere within the team we just had a conversation about belief and about
trust and in thinking you can actually come back and take this map and force
the third you come out here and have a flat round out of this time out and just
get deleted see there's no way that faith is getting built up so I mean I
know there's still time for Liquid to come back if there were to lose this but
this one feels very very critical that Liquid have an effective round up in the
hands of Hypex plenty of utility only one kid on the CT side I could they
They have to cash to buy a few more. Kits are nice to have.
I'm not going to let that bomb go down, Jason. That's the thing.
That's the mentality.
Plan works great until it doesn't.
Rez stepping towards NAF. Clears him out.
Yep, aggression pays off. NAF is going to be frustrated, but it's game of legion.
Happy to take lobby control and it's not just stepping into the lobby. It's the rest of the squad have it coming for the party as well
Shui wins the Polish battle against next, but lobby still held very well very very well by gamer legion
This is weird both teams have changed places lobby controlled by the CTs
Outside yard and now the wraparound to heaven controlled by the T side
PR is down in secret making sure that the lower bomb site isn't going to be the point of attack
30 seconds steps being made inside of the site now res knows what's up
Oh, throwing the utility in to make things uncomfortable.
Malves could be planting, but tanking the damage, tanking it and dying.
So, he gives his life for the bomb plant.
Elysia is sure to be left in A2 before it just can't happen for them.
Oh, Malves decides to burn to a crisp, and that's a 10th round here for Gamer Legion.
Yeah, that's, I think that's the one.
I think that's actually unfortunate.
I think that's where Liquid just kind of, this one just fades away from here.
Look at the fashion in which they lose this round.
Nath watching for pushes.
Rez is still able to get the advantage on him.
Hath is body showing.
Nath never saw him come through.
Fortunate to get away with this kill.
Probably nine out of ten times that goes the other direction.
But then burning in the Molotov during the plant to get that down
makes the retake very, very simple from there.
Four round lead, three away from eliminating Team Liquid in Atlanta.
Oh. Oh. Uh, Malphs, that is a rough start to the round, getting double-naded off the
top of Silo. Game release and advantage picked up within seconds. Breakage of the smoke,
Hypex. Gonna change up his spot, and let Snacks play in and around all of the smokes. He's
up Rez out secret with him. Rez is going to win the engagement against Elise, drop the
utility and fall back himself. He's ready for the next fight. NAF chases him down.
Bombs gone as well. Team Liquid, stalling out so quickly here. Rez is a beast right
now. Look how many kills he's racked up since the start of the second half. Yes, he's done
very well. Good pick from Hypex off Shueh's position. In ultimate, the last one left,
1v3. Rez waiting at the off angle. Going to slide into the deeper angle, goes down.
And ultimate now is the information on PR.
Got the ball picked up again.
He's got some time, 50 seconds to work with here for ultimate.
That's the health.
That's the issue.
Isn't it 23 HP?
Probably unconfirmed.
So if he can find a clean shot on the PR,
it puts the AWP at a disadvantage.
PR to pick ultimate up.
Yeah, mulp's falling down the back of the silo there.
They can't get anything liquid.
Timeout taken out of desperation, their final.
Final for the tournament, perhaps.
Five rounds back, yet supposed to round in this second half.
Five straight for GamerLegend to open this up.
They've been steps ahead of Team Liquid
since the start of the first map.
Snacks calling some very good T sides,
especially here on Nuke,
without a pistol, unable to put six on the board,
and that's a hole that Liquid hasn't been able to overcome.
And now just a matter of closing things out on the CT side of Nuke, Taliesin delivering
you 16 kills, PR at 13.
Cheeky little Nade, good catch from the observing team.
And Reza's just piecing what he's needed, which hasn't been too often in this series
in this game, but what he's been called upon? Sequences like that. Looks like they want
to turn in towards Mini more than anything.
They're going to give it a go. Getting past the defending players though is going to prove
very difficult we've got rise at CT van hypex to beat the alarm system letting you know what to expect
yeah but this pulls pr back from ramp room i mean liquid go know that and have no one actually
to pressure ramp but pr's actually abdicated that part of the map so that he can help protect this
wraparound because the all just too unwieldy for it oh it's a little bit awkward there for pr but
he still manages to get himself out of the situation nafnilish both dead within a couple of seconds
of each other. And then you've left Shuei Ultimate and Malps in a 3v5.
Really good protocols from Game Religion as well, leaving no gaps. PR shifts here from
Ramper and Snack shifts from the lower bomb site to Ramper to cover that. Good kill from
Ultimate. Siliv's Snack's over, well he's gone back down to the lower bomb site so he's
going to chill here which lets Towson, Hypex and Rez just play their position safely.
And Talcid just waiting below.
Flash is the only thing you've got, Talcid turns from it.
Hypex has the first kill, Talcid in the second, bomb spills to the ground and ultimate, marching
in will slowly.
With this Deagle they know exactly where he is, Rez collects him and at his series point
for Game of Legion, but Team Liquid's staring down the barrel of defeat and elimination.
Yeah, it's the fashion, the fashion of the elimination, frustrating, I would imagine more than anything.
Lots of lose, both maps without getting the double figures.
Oh, I'm just losing Mirage the way you did to the low buys as well.
So Team Liquid not even gonna get close to the playoffs here in Atlanta.
Blanked in the second half on Nuke, T-side never got running, two rounds on their T-side of Mirage.
Unfortunately, Liquid never showed up to play, but for Gamer Legion, it's another step forward.
A potential playoff berth, they'll be fighting for the next game later on today.
Have another good accomplishment to put on the resume as this team continues to improve,
and we see cool things continuing to show from the individuals of this team.
Raz with the start to the year he's had.
Hypex getting comfortable in his role as the AWPer of this squad.
PR and Taliesin just being strong, reliable, rifling pieces.
Good kill from HyperX. Coming off the nose scope.
Rez has got the follow-off kill with you.
Team Liquid, it's just Shuei and Mobs. It's a disappointing day for Team Liquid and NA.
We'll not go down without a fight in this round.
At least Shuei, at least pick it up ahead. Shot for Rez.
But PR's that, and now down to 1v1. Snacks against Mobs.
Mobs hurt some kind of a sound cue, some kind of a footstep.
With snacks, could close this for GamerLegion.
He's comfortable in clutches.
That's one of the most elusive players we've ever had.
And he's disappeared. Nothing but a shadow.
You thought you heard a sound, but now you've got to find him.
Snacks has caught the perfect timing.
Malphook in the wrong way.
What a day for GamerLegion.
They've got through the first win they need on their path to the playoffs.
It's still yet to be seen.
And you know, looking at Team Liquid, it's disappointing.
It's the result though that's not shocking.
Shocking. Team Liquid are being really struggling over recent months in Counter-Strike, but today eliminating without getting double figures on either map, it's such a disappointing way to go. It's extra bitter, Jason.
Yeah, it really is. It's going to be another round of painful conversations for Team Liquid, but I want to focus more on the game religion side of things, because I mean, if you come into this knowing the state Liquid's in, you're going to be saying, let's never let them get started, and that's kind of pretty much exactly what game religion did.
really strong performances in the first half. T-side never done anything going.
Shilane, Flashy, unable to go with a game plan that could penetrate Gamer Legion's defense.
I mean, that's just the hurt inflicted from Round 1 and Mirage all the way to the end of Nuke.
And Gamer Legion continued to impress.
Yeah, first to the wins required here for Gamer Legion. They'll move on to the long final
where they'll play against the winner of the Stroll as soon as you're still going on.
But Gamer Legion were a great shot with the way they're playing to make it into the playoffs.
another playoffs for game religion it could be here in the USA but for Atlanta
there will not be a North American player present in the playoffs at all
Jason that's it that was the last one. They all been taken down. Liquid took the other ones out yesterday in MAD
and today. So a disappointing day for NA but for game religion happy
starts getting through Team Liquid comfortably and really showing that
their level is definitely increasing. Yeah well I mean yeah the game religion the
level is increasing for liquid they've got one last grind one last deep breath
and take the plunge into the major we've got trace standing by after the
series concluded yeah thank you very much gentlemen thank you very much
indeed obviously for team liquid this is their way out of Atlanta I'm here with
Shuhei sitting right in the middle watching this one play out talk to me
about this game for you where do I start well first of all we we've been
have an issue of winning our own map pick. So we're starting off the game very slow
every time and it's difficult to get back into it. It feels like we start to get
warmed up towards the second half of the first map, but that's just not enough.
Going into Nuke, I think they had a really good game plan against our T-side, so
they countered us here and there. Yeah, overall we didn't perform like we
should and I don't really know what else to say. Losing the low buys, those got to hurt, right? Oh yeah, on Mirage twice. I don't remember on Nuke. I remember on Mirage twice we lost, for sure. I guess it begs the question, you know, not to just kind of harsh at you right now. I'm just curious, where are Team Liquid's T sides?
We're struggling on both sides, T side it feels like we have what it takes to play a
good T side in terms of team play and strategy, but I feel like we are failing to execute
it properly, especially with confidence.
I mean it's not easy when we haven't won a game in a long time, yesterday obviously
we won but that's slowly getting back into it but the counter strike is all
about confidence as well and you can have the best trackbook in the world
but if you if you can't play out the round is that the round is useless so yeah
and as confidence goes you know it's for Team Liquid this isn't necessarily
gonna be that pinnacle of the hey let's inspire it but I do want to ask you to
say something about Team Liquid out of the fence I've said it before but is it
disappointing time for Liquid, and definitely the fans deserve a lot more and better results
than what we're showing. This team also, we worked a lot in the last couple of weeks,
and we were hoping that this tournament was going to be a breakthrough for us. Coming here,
winning one game is not enough. So yeah, sorry.
Thank you very much.
And now one of them is going to win and one of them is going to lose.
We've only got two spots left in the playoffs. One of them up for grabs right here, right
Now, we'll get into the records on the line for Vitality as we go.
Sure.
Now, young man Sizi was far on his face,
gonna need some of his all-ping best up against Zywood today.
And bait pick of Mirage to start.
He starts and looking like it might be quite correct.
Or they may have heard Zywood there.
Debatable.
Hey, because he's got that flash held, he's ready to react to the call,
Flamesian Zywood standing by.
And here they come, perfectly possession, Flamesy.
As I would just start to unload, Kents is on with the one claw back,
but Flamesy is catching the clean clicks.
What a comfortable way to start off your pistol campaign.
And Yank on the desk was talking about slower starts.
Vitality, they were the second worst pistol team in the tournament.
Which is rare.
Yeah, that's 35.7% as far as pistol wins are concerned,
whereas Bait, they're middle of the pack at 50%.
So that one is going to be going a long way for Vitality.
But what else is concerning for Vitality, obviously,
We know who these expectations from the team with the lack of practice,
but there's the expectation from the community for them to keep on winning.
Their second round conversions have actually been quite poor as well.
They only have 40% in second round conversions, so we'll make sure we keep the focus here.
But because Bay didn't get the plant, it's unlikely to see a full spot.
So what would you say are the contributing factors to them starting, you know,
so perfectly for the anti-bear?
Is that something that you just, you know, you do what you do.
I see you preparing for a cast and you watch like you know all of the rounds layered on top of each other
And you try and identify trends
Presumably that's something that vitality will do for every opponent as well when it comes to how with how they're going to be playing
Their CT pistol you and I could do this right now for an example, right?
So I'm on skybox. Yeah the same program that all these proteins would use I've looked at bait mirage T side
They're last five matches and pistol rounds on okay now now
I've layered them all over the top of each other and I know that people at home can't see this
But your reactions can tell the pitch. Yeah, take a look at this, right?
So these are you can't tell right you'd have to go through each individual round
But I've just laid these over the top of each other and by the looks of things here in the majority of their pistol rounds
Are the last five it's been in a play if you wanted to we could go into each individual
Okay, so the last person they played this is that that was a two three three palace
It's busy again, right? And if you go into the one before that, let's take a look
Pretty similar pistol is just looking towards middle. It's three through ground one through palace the one before that
again another a play right so their last four their last okay so their last four
pistols have all been a now obviously you're taking a gamble then I have to
play into a right but you're at least using history to inform the decision
that you're gonna make and there was that they hadn't played I guess another
tell from this is they don't play through middle right so they play very
sight-centric there by telling you three towards a two towards B and shut them
down and just everyone's aware.
It's just a coach might issue there.
So we've got the thumbs up from
extra so we can get back into the
second round of play.
But yeah, understandably, you're
going to kind of gamble leaning
away from middle.
It's an educated guess.
Yes, that's the perfect way.
That's that.
That's the thing with the
preparation.
You can take a look.
You can definitely find gaps and
that's going to be more with how
players are approaching things in
their default or how they're
scaling for rounds.
But with just general calling
gets a little bit more difficult.
Is that a whole desk pad?
MPO is a desk pad game.
He's a desk pad game.
Okay.
Uh, Kenzie's all.
He's here to have some fun.
He's a bit of a troll.
I don't know if everyone saw him during the desk segment with Freya, Y and K, and Pimp
there, but he was standing behind just looking into the void, showing, uh, that he's here
to play.
I want to know what Ghost is pulling that hammer back, you know, like, I thought AnimGraph
2.
Why is the thumb not pulling that back?
Valve?
Fix, please.
Just saying.
I'm going to go with you being right.
I don't really know how to work.
I don't know how to work either.
Like, does that just normally happen if you would pull the trigger anyway?
That would just happen if you thought trigger like I don't I'm not a firearms expert
No, but I would expect something you know a thumb to be evolved. It's a high probability that we're wrong
Yeah, yeah, definitely. In fact, there are about four firearm experts firing up X to trace on the line
I know he would know trace would know as I would essentially ecode there. So he's gonna bring out the all immediately
Oh, just to know as well. They don't have their coach maddened with them, right?
They're manager, but their manager actually has counter strike experience. Okay. It's not like he's just another Tom dick or Harry
I know it's right on a harry.
We know a couple of those.
Tombez, just harry.
No any dicks.
There's a couple.
Restarting for Endler, walk to middle.
Yeah, and ascentheal's also just started back after showing himself on A, so they want to
fight for mid-space.
They're ready for-
Oh, that's very well timed incendiary from Robbs.
bounces off of the head of Sizi.
Separate the pack. Is it a window boost?
Looks like they were flirting with the idea,
but also you've got to get past Rob's Utah.
Here's another maid. Some chip damage, Delta 3.
So I resolve his primed and ready on the connector side.
As Apex is going to have to tend to this boost,
he's spammed a little late there,
and they might actually change to return fire.
NPL, that is brave. Just starts to spam back,
trying to track the tracers.
Rob's trying to tend to this, a clean headshot on Tarkens.
as he averts his gaze, and in unison as well, Zaiwu managed a dispatch of NPL.
Ah, that's fallen apart at the stage right there.
When I'm retooling, regathering Alex and Ascentiel back towards A, Sizi is on the lurk
in middle. Apex to borrow into sight, flames you over towards connector, and then Zaiwu
over jungle. They're in strong position to shut this down, and A-Ramp has just been blocked
at the 42nd mark.
Sizi knows the AWP towards the window position, heard the step, heard the scope.
It makes it a little bit easier for you coming out of ramp, not having to worry about ticket.
So there's a positive for Asentio, but I think they're saving.
They lose all like a save.
Yeah, that's a save.
What an underwhelming first gun for the Bait Boys.
Yeah, 3-0.
Alright, so a couple of things fall by Tardy last time.
They had to play two vs. the three's in a day, it was IEM Chumdoo that was in November of
last year.
They did go on to play in the grand final against Furia, ended up losing that one.
The best of five, but they were dropped down into the lower bracket by Maus.
This time they were knocked down to the lower bracket by BetBoon, which I think is surprising,
but again with the context of the lack of practice.
Some people might say it's not an excuse to lose to a team like BetBoon, but it just shows
that maybe there are some witnesses of Vitality that haven't been picked into a lot, like
the Anubisers were seeing some witnesses on the Nuke T side, neither featuring today.
Last time Vitality didn't make top four in an event was Blast Bounty to start off 2025,
so well over a year ago.
Last time Vitaliy as an organization did not make the playoffs was Katowice at 2024.
So I can't let go.
Yeah, and to me I come into this thing and this would be a pedestrian game, but considering
some of the struggles we've seen, like even against FaZe earlier today, it might not be
the case.
So let's see what they can bring.
10s around each saved AKs, but very limited utility. This one looks tough.
Well, so I suspect once Vitality kind of have that wake up call of a lost
about boom, you are going to get just a little bit more diligence in
comms, a little bit more in the individuals, you know, a couple of
extra hours of DM just to kind of shake that off. I imagine you are going
get a different vitality after having that kind of cold water on the face of
being thrust to the lower bracket for the first time. And like you said, since
China. Yeah, it's more about how much can you get done in terms of getting your
mechanics back online, right? Your attitude, sure, will get a kick up the
pants, but it's about like, nobody who plays Counter-Strike all the time, if you
take a week off and you come back, it's you're a little bit rusty to begin with,
right? And it takes a couple of days just to get back into that flow state.
That's essentially what we're looking with vitality. So then warming into the
tournament no doubt but everybody else is coming here to win right these are the
only guys who are coming in like yeah it's alright we're kicking our feet up
forever and else well not forever but most this is their super bowl yes 30
seconds into a perfect peaks on in catches Alex advancing wrap that's
gonna activate flamesy attention drawn kentus are looking the wrong way trade
from the same feels good but Rob's catching the lurk on mid leave silly in a
centipede with nothing I'm gonna save again have to I mean what else are you
supposed to do you're not winning this round it's a two versus four you've got a
back away keep hold of those collage and kev you are gonna have to start going for
some rounds so we're only four deep at the moment but if this continues not
expect a bit of over the fence from apex and boys you gotta get one of these
crack but that is four rounds where the opening kills have fallen in the favor
of vitality but area distinct lack of kills Alex I would say for bait four
rounds in they have one frag percent you and one for kenzie's or scissi Alex and
MPL yet to get off the starting blocks. Do also have the B stream underway. That is the
other series concluding Group A for I am Atlanta, that been taking on pain. Two teams who could
have been in the conversation before the event of maybe taking that third spot. I think people
would have been expecting the likes of foot as well as Vitaly, but foot also came in compromise
not on the best foot. Ha, ha. Obviously, Longs was not with them when they're in Fort Worth.
And we had the, I don't want to say illness, but I guess it was. It's a health issues.
He was public about them. People can go and find that if they need to. But he's was with
the team. They're eliminated earlier today by Bay in two O fashion. So that one leaves
a little bit of a mark. All right, well, saving the guns like this, unless you start getting
some plants boys you you're really gonna be in strife not everybody getting the
loss bonus round off the round it is gonna have a cascading effect well
looks like it's not like they're gonna try and get towards a bomb site in a
coordinated fashion for this one so limited utility out now I know it's
essentially an eco behind two safe guns but still how much he meant to get done
a perfect pop flash sissy water ball towards bench as he's been spotted so
One of the rifles has been noted towards the B apartments. Maybe that's enough.
You force the block smoke, you're going to try and drain through Vitality's defensive utile.
Yeah, good spot here from Rushly, right? So Zywoo has this cat crawl.
So that's why Robson and Mezzie are both able to focus fire over towards B.
Right.
And if you look at the radar, you can see, I told you they're not worried about A at all.
Oh, look at that double peek. Synergized.
Zywoo even making it a triple peek from the windowside.
And then they quickly dart back to A to account for any lurks.
It lurks, makes sense, and again, we're at, well, the tail end of the clock, 45 seconds
as they go back to B. No flash, no smokes, no mollies, you've got to deal with the bodies.
And so we peeks on in for another clean headshot, it's all too easy isn't it, we're just raking
them up, it's so leisurely.
Just something for the scoreboard, it'd be nice now MPL, there you go, on the board,
can you make it another?
Xayu is going to make it another.
This is out, a chance on the headshot, finding Robbs.
Okay, so he has started to get a couple of kills flowing.
Xayu put a pistol out, actually another from MPL.
So good to see a woman into things. His first three frags.
All for naught. No plant, sure.
But I mean, considering what they brought into that round,
he's done very well for himself individually.
This was that Xayu underhand flash that he comes swinging at.
Look at that. It's coordinated mid-player.
Satisfying I'm sure
For vitality and their fans they do not baits fans though
That's gonna be quite the frustrating one for the fifth
I want to say get an opening kill but at this point let's just get some kills
Yes kills yeah, but opening kill would go a long way is gonna apply a lot more pressure on vitality because you leisurely is a great word for this
So essentially dry running right now from vitality
Reaction testing yes, yeah
So I want you to be keeping your eyes on, you know, what the next test is.
As an opening kill.
Nice from Sizi, he's caught raps on the short side.
With the pack, the standard pack, Kensi's ult, Alex and Sizi all have this huge control
MPL.
Obscinate over towards the B-Live, the cent-deal traditionally.
The A-Piece is now joined in back over towards middle, Apex sponsored the up-out top mid-steel
staunch and they really want to stall this out with a minute so just floating
around do they want to try and just delay the choke or do they want to fight in
it no they're going to start to pull us back to the sites now they're really
gonna go like cat to be with MPL absent seems like it's the perfect part of
least resistance there's only messy in market how much is he meant to do from
here very little especially with the double triple swing from different
elevations never mind goes market I don't have a timing him very well have
the timing. Yeah, two targets, all too easy. Both go down to Messi's M4. It's a three on
three post plan. Kenseth all gets it down. Apex spotted one towards the best position.
He even gets the info on the Orbs as well. Sizi's gonna need a reload. He's got one bullet
left. All that connects, but the Molly's gonna make life difficult for Sizi. Fines cover,
still has the pillar providing some help. Apex low gonna look to be traded by Flamesee
and there it is. All the info though. Sizos down, nice from Sizi on the jump across. Flamesee
he goes down and so I will win the clutch.
This MPL closes it down at Sizi.
He starts and he finishes with MPL's help.
Three kills from their sniper, they on the board.
Sizi's been obviously under scrutiny coming into this team
and not in like a heavy way,
but you see after an event he doesn't perform
and I'm like, oh, why did they get this guy?
You know, should have stayed with Headtrick.
The next event he does all right,
the next way not so good again, but he's so young.
He's 16 years of age, right?
And to be given this opportunity in bait,
Look, this is a team that also is very young, right?
They're only getting their experience
in front of our very eyes now.
So he's one for the future.
That's for sure.
It must have been very fun to play against
simple earlier in the day.
Oh, for sure.
Well, earlier in the tournament, excuse me.
Earlier in the day it was against Fort.
You know, Sizi, a Ukrainian with a one in his name
and starting with an S.
I wonder where his inspiration is.
Let's see, can they make it consecutive?
So I was all will be noted towards connector.
Don't want to brave through that smoke.
And Siwu doesn't have such a ring to it either.
Oh my god, he's not far off on the smoke flash.
Smoke bang with the AWP.
It whistles, it passed the ear of a sentiel.
And now he's actually posted for the angle on ramp.
Sizi's there. Alex is bringing the bomb as well.
Flash, could catch them.
Flames is gonna swing on that.
Miss shot from the AWPer. Sizi goes down.
Oh, did he spit in?
Oh, he's got a senty on the mark!
Alex goes down!
This is so comfortable.
I'm going to recycle the word, leisurely, for Vitality.
And there's a nice one to finish.
I will nine frags deep, three in the round
and quickly back to winning ways.
It looks like Flames is finally started to warm into things.
He's looking sharp here with a couple of shots, seven and three.
The lowest rate of player for Vitality coming into this series today
and where he for me has been one of their standouts throughout 2026.
So again, right, the time away, I'm happy to give Vitality with everything that they've achieved.
The good graces of this.
I think expectation from themselves, from the community, you have to find yourself somewhere in the middle, right?
And this is the thing.
There's the reality of the scenario and there's the one that everyone thinks exists.
But right now, six to one, five rounds to the good.
You know, you're going up against a likely partial now, just because of the flow of the rounds,
the lack of frags, the sheer lack of bomb plants,
but mauling them at the moment, this is,
the pace is making this quite easy to handle.
You're not really feeling pressured.
You haven't really gone up against that many gun rounds either,
so it's gonna be, play a tech nine to dig on an AK
and swiftly over to what's B, all five start to march.
So weird mid-snow that's been thrown out of us.
Well be sure for this if Messi needs help, Siwoo's called mid-player.
Yeah, I don't know if it was meant to be for window or counter, wherever it didn't land, wherever it was meant to.
Another nage? Hello?
Yeah, looking good. Apex in support as well. This is going to be horrible.
Oh, they just shred it, aren't they?
MPL peaked him perfectly by Messi. Catches that timing.
Just as MPL was trying to advance.
I mean, these are the kind of rounds that just to kind of kill what little energy you may have had.
I was just saying, it's being very slow and they finally tried something a little bit more pouncy and they just still get stunted.
So, 2v4, another dent or two, continue to try and keep the money low for vitality.
Oh, they're boosting up. All right, well, silently, Roms has been able to garner this control.
Controls. Oh has the way back flingy has the way out through underpass. You're locked in or the box isn't tight
But there's still nowhere back
And then Rob's back
Beautiful team play on display. I mean you just have to sit back and enjoy the show
Vitality I'll put the gun for us all. Yeah, I think the people at home
Obviously is something to get fed up with vitality just winning everything and one of the message I'm putting out
There is well, this is only gonna happen once in a lifetime enjoy it, but that doesn't get received very well
I'm gonna try a new angle. Okay, right when you watch vitality play they're doing everything
I don't say perfectly. There's no such thing as perfect counter strike
But everything makes sense right and and obviously when you're winning and you're looking so dominant
Yeah, you can say that but you compare it to other teams where sometimes it's messy or they're not connecting in the same way
Vitality, you know show you the beauty of of how good counter strike can look when a team is this dominant when everyone is on the same page
We need another open kill. Oh
Oh, I think they're gonna find it looks like it's gonna be flames. He actually that
Manufactures a nice find it's down a cent fuel and his teammate was forced away
Look at his house poor guy got hit by an orphan and made
Hey, that a nine opening kills so far
If I was gonna throw a name into the ringers to someone from Bay that can provide an opening it's Kansas
Oh, yeah, I like watching you on Mirage like him an MP. Hello a lot of fun
Yep. Oh, it's too much fun for Zybu though. Catches MPL on a swing. Says he's good for
one. Does put Zybu down, but at what cost? He is alone. Top mid with the bomb and 1 HP.
It's just, can Kenses or Solo take this site? As he doesn't seem to think so, with a very
good angled cost. Just beautiful. Write that one down if you're a Mirage Bianca. And condolences.
if you are a Mirage B angle, someone's going to do something about it, you know, actually shout out to you, you know, you're doing it for the team, if anything, you deserve an award for it.
oh
When are we when are we going the full beans where are you going?
Actually clip that we'll play that later. Yeah, let's use that later. Let's raise grab that play that later when the game ends
Alright, give it a go, light by, A execute.
Bonk.
So, when did Vitality play in the quarterfinal?
Well, we got to wait for these seeding games to come to their conclusion, don't we?
We've got Navi Legacy up a little bit later.
I'm curious to see how Legacy play in that one.
I beat them online last time, I think.
That's the NAVE with Centre's name on it.
Catches it.
And MPL's Tech 9 versus 4, fully armoured and equipped.
Now there's a fight out here. 5-7 finishes it off.
Yeah, this was during EPL.
Obviously, we had the online Stage 1 Stage 2 before the LAN playoffs.
Legacy did beat NAVI 2-0 in an online game.
I also believe Emma made reference to this in an interview about it would be nice to play against
Legacy to get revenge. So it's the seeding game sure, but I also think it's a clash of styles legacy
Quite the firecrackers and then you got this other Na'Vi who the structure punch. So it's a fun stylistic clash
Fire versus ice
So they started Xayah with the apartments, gives Mezzie a little bit more freedom to
hang out on the short side.
Robs is taking the secondary orb to the palace aggressive line.
And the sentiel's got the unenviable task of having to tussle with Flamesee on the
rampside.
I say that, it's actually Flamesee Depart, he's going for a walk.
got the info there's nothing palace so why not have a stretch of the legs speaking of
essential house starting to probe mezzy on that short side's gonna have his work cut out for him
audible now to sissy up on the cap and the headshot flight not easy nice from sissy removes
mezzy opens up some avenues with the opening kill that's his third opener and baits third
opener so sissy's been delivering in that department at least cat's really got some palace
That's Clio, there he goes.
Catches Apex as well.
Can they convert this?
You kind of have to.
Robs onto MPL, hitting a nice shot,
but it's Encentio down to the swing.
That's rough.
Okay.
You've got to convert.
Sizi set you up.
Flamesy on this ramp.
Flankalix has been spotted.
Robs from Palace and Zywoo on Cat
with Sizi staring at him.
Tag from Robs is all nice again from Sizi,
but Flamesy, he still wants to take this one.
He wants the double digits right here and now.
smoke the bomb. You could. Robs has it. Smoking a kit on Flamesy. That's exactly their plan.
There's still plenty of time. It's not he's on for the smoke. And a nice spray from Kansas
on the new drops. Not the lethal kill. Flamesy in the 1v1. Sissy versus Flamesy. He knows
he's got the ball. He's just going to try and sit it, but Sissy finds it through the smoke.
High impact quad kill from Sissy. Gets bait. Their second. Yeah, he's found a watch. Nice
round from the kid. Two, it's far from enough. It's far from par for the course, but when
you up against the best team in the world that anything will do at this point
I says he's just such a thorn in the side there you think a centio should have
ropes here dead to right but it's very noisy on that just rocks enough time to
adjust so it turned out being alright thank you very much okay well I won't
that's just taken down Alex Paul guys had a rough off he's at a very rough off
Don't do him like you guys did a zoo we'll on now
Brother, please be nice. This is you again. There we go. He got us is like equalizer. He got that cheesy bread
Such a significant this is
And it has to be given to you by an Australian so well done
Look at mezzy borrows in the apartments all theirs
I'm not sure if he's going to
get it. I think he's going to
get it. He says he's been
with you up again. Work once
just go to you don't see it too
often, but why not? Fancy is
trying to find that angle over
the top of the window smoke
hoping says he does. Go
searching. Oh, if they were a
group for a beef finish, messy
is. Even if he's not good for
one, the info comes in so early
that the rotation should be
have together and just
fleshing this. He is getting
Yeah, sure, but I don't fancy his chances.
One and done.
Ascential trading, accelerating,
E-Penks, weird angle.
This one gets a very weird angle.
He nails the headshot as well onto Ascential on the cross,
springs together a second as well, so...
Hello, Scissi!
This is Harry!
Come on, springs it down to the 1v1!
Sixteen-year-old sniper!
Gotta get the bomb.
You can do it, he's got the time.
Nice parkour as well from Cy.
We'll get him onto the short side,
but he's already made it across.
Could we get back-to-back quad kill?
says he's trying to find some impact looking for Zywoo towards the market side doesn't know he's
made the jump across and now closing the gap with the 5-7. He isn't absolutely none the wiser
that Zywoo's right behind him rounding the corner with that 5-7 back. Stop undenied! Zywoo finds the
10th for right alley. Sissy's trying his hardest but they are getting torn to shreds on their map pick.
I'm standing on the roof of this city
Oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
Turn to loose and walk on steel
Come on, get together
Tonight's the night
And even if you're feeling blue
It won't be alright
Leave your troubles behind
And have no doubt
Don't you worry about the pain
Leave it all behind
Oh, what a bad feeling
Stay in the groove for a little bit
A friend and gate
Everything will be brighter
And so kind of way
Oh, tonight
Forget
Of that time
Tonight we are all to be fine
I think you can feel it, that this is a man.
to play two best of threes in
a day. That's what happens when
you lose to Beppu. Yeah, that's
the way she's going to go
sometimes. Sometimes like that.
It's not seeming like the end of
the world, but let's see. They
might have something to say about
side of their map. Let's go Alex. This is it. A nice
Gilberratus armor. He's got your name or he represents the
devil. Which one is it? Um probably a name thing. Yeah.
I'm going to rename him to Alex zero eleven three though. If
you don't know, no, no, no. Come on. Let's go. Oh, there's a
famous switch set set up. Ken's is okay. Ken's is all has
found that immediate head shot but a seven feels good for
Flamesy. I was like, can't see. Oh, I shot. Anymore. Yes, he
He can't!
I love AFP!
It's a sequence from a sentiel.
It could still be all for naught.
Come on, Alex.
This is it.
Oh, they're faking.
Yep.
Well, good fight.
It's just a bit of deathmatch for Sizi.
Can he come up?
Clutch and get the pie.
He's died!
Yes, he can!
That's impact again.
Sizi smile on the face.
Clutch you go up against by Talay.
That's always going to be a feather in your cap.
Arch is happy with that one.
Okay, that was...
He was given a thousand-yard stare for a while there in the first half with Arch, but off
the back of that you can only enjoy it right you see it's so hard right to when
you're a boomer like me but I'm trying my best you put yourself in the shoes of
a 16 year old kid yes he's getting to travel around the world he's in America
right he's out here playing against Vitality and he's putting on a bit of a
show so that's that's nice
okay so Vitality will take the economical, a couple of Ds, a couple of Glocks
and annoying decoy.
Ah, they should be shredded here.
Vitality have taken the conservative option
to bring the guns out quickly into the next.
So that one is done, they haven't wasted too much of anybody's time
and now the investment will come through.
They will have established the fact that was the eco,
so they know that those AKs will be equipped in their face in a moment
and how many rounds could they string together.
We know the T sides, at least on...
and if I knew it has been a little bit worrisome
for Vitality, again, I will continue to bring the context of
the context of yes they haven't been practicing for the last week or so but they are warming into
things. Flames E, insta window, top cat in play as well. Sisi up and into the van, he's got his AWP
and he's looking for the fight. Oh and fight he shall, onto Zywin with a nice opener, aim, movement
and some productivity on display.
other than kensies are getting an
army kill against the eco just there
the only man who's delivered them has
been sissy yeah I was his fourth so he's
gonna make it more difficult robs well
aware of that sandwich by the looks of
things but how is that one out he has
he saw the knee when he crouched
I might be a little knee over extension of the knee
hey skips the info still Alex gets a
kill yes you're on about that one
Pretty cool actually.
Kents is all down after one.
Finding Rops is big but mostly quick to the trade.
Ooh, he's quick to a sentiel two.
1v1.
1v1.
Has he got another one in him?
Sissi's been clutching, he's been closing.
16 frags, and it's Vitality and a flick up.
He can't be stopped.
Yeah, good stuff.
He's having his game.
17 frags.
He's at the top of the table in the server.
Yeah, he's the opener and the closer right now.
That's his third 1vx situation.
How can you not be G'ing him up?
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
And as you said as well, you know,
You have to you have to kind of put yourself in his shoes and realize just how special this is
Strong individual performance look at this move, but look at this kill as well
As I would put the trigger first as he just had the AWP and it catches up with a nice flick
You win the next gun round and you're gonna start pissing by telling you off. Yeah, so
They're working towards it
Interesting to see a couple of pks in the mix on this one
So knowing that bait had been softened up financially
They want to continue to apply that pressure that max loss bonus going into the next with this type of investment
I would love to see if I tell you get the planet to keep the buys flowing at least in the full department
Hey, thanks already a lot of space under window. Wow, he's used it well as well. It's a knee
Okay, fine. It's the first blood MPL might be in trouble. Yeah, it's kind of committed
You can jump into the ladder through him if you need to get out
Never mind. Yeah, it was always gonna be tough, right?
They get down a man. So you're trying to draw back the fight to good shot there from Kenzie's or to
Still just take it a one man. Now
Sizi's just made it a 3v3 so back in it great catch
Removing Rob's when he's on his active lurk. That's another impressive feat
Going through that
That's the invitation a look at Sizi's in the flow stay right now
Yeah, he is pushes up ramp and is solo responsible for the A site
You're not gonna expect him to have taken ramp control you assume he's ticket or maybe he floated back to jungle so
Sissy may have won the round with his positioning alone. Let's see
Yes, he can catch is another apex goes down trade from Zywoo lethal
Now we are gonna see the plant go down and it looks like we're gonna hear about
The rotations through he's got the jungle rotate completely car
Also, it is going to be Chalter and CT, which is why Flamesee has staranced his Zorpe and puts himself on the line.
Well, but staying on this line now he's going to be committed if they cross-ticket side, so he needs to hit the shot.
Backing his aim, fully concentrated, Ketzeljokas leisurely walk into the crosshairs of that sniper rifle.
I don't think Ascentiel's going to have too much to say about this one.
No kidding, though.
I said, shot onto Flamesee, it's not planted for Zilu, but he has you on the cross and you didn't have the kit.
fight RT 11, bait 5. Maybe a little bit of disagreement there, but maybe
misunderstanding, I wouldn't say disagreement, but Apex just make a
show me as he understood what the situation was. The game is essentially
won in this next round of play. I know people might be remembering the game
Allegiant vs. Na'Vi craziness that we had yesterday, but right now with two
Famous is at one and four and two MP nines and the lost bonus in the bottom of the barrel
There you lose this one and the game goes with it
Curious to see why he picks this call when he knows there's so many ramifications to winning it
He's feeling himself as well apex. Would you see some of the moves that he's making?
He's playing some odd angles too and
Hidden some big shots. I'm with
18 frags for him
No scissi AWP
Yeah, I can't help but feel like that might be costly. So much impact. The only real impact
from Bait has been with that scissi sniper.
Yeah, you can attribute at least three of these five rounds to scissi alone.
Right.
Well, not alone, all right, to scissi. Let me stay in the realms of reality for a moment.
All right, well, they were expecting some type of immediate aggression. They didn't get
At least what they had prepped for and now they head back towards A to set up an execute.
Just take a look at the sheer amount of utility that Vitality have, right?
All the smokes will be in play. They're going to have the Molly for under balcony.
They can use one to stop the bench crawl. You can Molly ticket as well.
And this is quite a luxury.
Oh, it's a coordinated execute.
Khaliq's going to try and pick his moment after the flash.
Flanky parving.
Tannas can't hit it.
Can't hack it. MPLE is towards the stairs. The molotov limits his parving.
Kensizor trapped a ticket behind the flame, still no plant though, flames you go from jumping up to clear Kensizor.
Sizzied, good for a trade and a nice flick up to the head, finding Rob, 16 seconds Zywoo finds the necessary kill that will enable a plant.
Good from MPL, finds Zywoo, but the bomb does go down, it's Mezzi and Apex, and a 2-1-2 versus MPL, and essential.
Upon the stairs, MPL trying to close the gap, Mezzi's holding for this though.
He's gonna have the master win, Apex clutching!
Yeah, that's the denial. It does get close. You can't deny comes down just to the 1v1, but Apex able to pick up the 12th and also
Condemn bait to a very ugly force by out of the game. Yeah, no money here. Gonna be famous as an MP9 again
Maybe 5-7 is gonna be the choice for some but the binds to start to take shape
This you you think that Alice has to win this fight
I understand he didn't necessarily have to jump on flame today
But flames he was worrying about a lot stairs wasn't actually smoked or mollied off either until later in the piece
So it did look a little bit difficult and I just don't want messy wants to tell it because one play is going to keep apex
Contained as he just has to win that one be one and then it should be round
So did apply a little bit of extra pressure apex, but he is having a good map
a ramp aggression
Nobody home so from an a execute now into a B execute is MP on the balcony. Sizi trying to get over there in time
time. NPR is going to have a lot of work. He's done more nades and he's playing committed.
He's tucked in. I've been doing the ultimate to clear it. Mezzie with a halving. Flames
he runs at Sizi. Mach 10 just shredding heads. And that should be the end of our first map
of this series. Now we're back at Final Four Group Eight. Looks like two best of threes
in the day. Looks good for Vitality. Yeah, that woman interpinks nicely. How that is
a dominant one. 13 to 5. Sizi a stand up. He is at the top of the tables in a 35 loss.
This young 16 year old one for the future, but will it be the future of this series?
That's a discussion for others. It's Dust2Upnex and that's Vitality's pick.
Yeah, and we know how dominant they have been on this map throughout this year. Last three
months 93% win rate. We'll give you all the numbers after that, but it's hard to be able
to sit here and go, oh yeah, they had this chance. They were never really in that map
bait were they? Just a couple of highlights as you outlined from Sizi, but let's throw
This one to the desk
When are we when are we going the full veins when are we going?
Actually clip that we'll play that later
Thanks so much Chad for the entertainment and thank you so much vitality for making this a quick and easy game
I think that's exactly what we expect to come into this matchup versus bait a couple of moments in this game
Janko where bait maybe had an opportunity to make it slightly closer. We saw impact coming in from CC
We saw a couple of classes going their way
But at the end of the day at no point did you really think they might tell you we're not going to win?
No, Jacob you're absolutely wrong. Like this game was over after I saw the first gun round
And then the round right after that, which I don't know how to call
Then I saw them save three AKs in the first gun round and then two AKs in the following round
I'm like this is over like there's nothing worse
I don't know how teams keep doing this like yeah guns are cool
You know like you're more likely to get a kill with an AK armor than you are with a p250 no armor
But it's also like money is even cooler trust me right and then when you end up saving those guns
Obviously don't get money bonus and then you have a mixed buy in the next round and then you're gonna lose that right because they have
Everything like just take the hell just go die try to get a couple of kills try to keep some pressure on their economy
Then half buy do a hero AK right like the economy matters in the in the bigger picture and more in the long term because this way
In the first four or five rounds. I didn't have anything. It was just mixed buys
They didn't know what to do butality was owning them got all the momentum and that was it
It's a huge risk not to to go for the money instead of the guns to me
Yeah
I mean that was one of the things is that you know like Jagger saying that you know you're limiting yourself in resources by saving and I
I think the problem with Bay unfortunately is that they actually don't need extra encouragement to not buy resources
They're a team that I've seen multiple times in previous demos and on the Mirage specifically where they either use a lot of their utility
On the mid-fight focusing on trying to force an entry that way or it just don't buy the utility that they need to breach into bomb sites
And you know you're against the best team in the world here if you're thinking that you could just simply run out and out aim them
I just I don't I think they need a reality check in that sense speaking of utility
You mean round six was one that you wanted to find out because the simplistic style of bait is not going to cut it against Vitellum?
It's just absurd to me that they come in with so I think they have two nadesets in this round
Since he gets an opening pick he padded insane game to be quite honest for bait and they have a smoke coming into this B bombsite
But Mezzy sliding gets two kills and even though this ends up being bait's first round win
So to speak within that T side you could just tell the that they don't prioritize that as a means to entry
Yeah, I think it's just been tough.
The problematic thing is as well, like it's simple when to save on the T side.
You save on the T side when you're buying the next round anyway, right?
And you don't want to expend the money that you have.
Rokshik, say you me, we run it one more time.
Yeah, so I mean, you can see the Nades on the side there.
They have two sets of Nades.
The Rops is going to swing from short, so he gets this entry and this is Rops maybe
overplaying his hands.
you know, typically if they're going to approach for middle vitality like to breach that together.
But Messi plays a really conservative angle and they just don't use their smoke. They're
so fixated on the idea that Messi will play in the site because they lost mid control.
And there you can just you can see that there's there's no interplay between these players
that Sizi is on an island. They're trying to play crossfires around the smoke that they
later deployed into market. And if not for the fact that that Sizi is able to sort of
continuously draw the attention of all these vitality players, I just think they lose this
after plot. Yeah I like the fact that we get an example of a round you know where you're not
necessarily happy with the way they approach it they win it regardless but that was one of the
few rounds they they won in this game you know the following round Janko another one not going
the way of of Bates which was at the time very much needed. Yeah and I was also disappointed
with how timid they are you know you're going up against Vitality and just playing some slow
defaults trying to you know get some space and you're doing that when you had saved guns right
and not all utility so it just looked horrible so once we do get into this round we'll see a
bit of an example how potentially they tried to switch it up just a little bit but in the grand
scheme of things right now Vitality were just super on point and we're doing much better because
at the start here this is the reset round they run out for a faster mid texture so okay cool
they're doing something a little bit more aggressive at the very least but once they
to establish this mid control, that's where things start falling apart yet again, right?
Zywu is going to play connector with his AWP, he's going to just punish
Kensi's orc spamming here through the smoke, immediately going to a flash play for Flamzy,
he gets one kill, doesn't even see the second guy really, but Zywu finds one more, Flamzy and it's
just a clinic from these two all single-handedly sort of dismantling baiting that from.
And that's what's part of the you know these two rounds back-to-back it kind of shows and the comparison between how the teams prioritise their resources
Vitality we see all the interplay that they do we see all the flashes the apex sets up whether it's I would the eight cheese that they use
They make their lives so much easier in that way where I feel like bait almost try to win by hard mode
And you're just not gonna out aim these guys
I know that the opposition in this game
You know is is not the highest quality when you compare vitality as an opponent obviously
they're used to playing against the best team in the world, but there was a time where we
argued, if you were to find one loophole in the map pool, it could potentially be Mirage.
As of late, we've seen them play in more and more Mirage, and we've seen them be a bit
more successful on it.
Would you make the case here and could that Mirage as a loophole, or maybe as a weakness
in Matelius' map pool, is no longer the conversation, and that conversation is maybe now staying
towards Nuke?
Well, perhaps to some extent, the problem is, you just look at their map pool and everything
looks so good.
Mirage was the only one that stood out for a little bit, and perhaps teams fall into that trap,
but they just look at the stats. You know, what's their inferno like at the moment?
No one knows really, because they haven't played it in ages, so maybe we see some teams
become creative and start testing them out, but definitely it's always the case if a team is weak
on a map and gets targeted a lot, well then they play it a ton, and they get more reps,
and they get better on it, and they understand how teams are sort of abusing them, and we see that
with a lot of teams, a lot of different maps, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's
happening here with Vitality as well. And I do think a lot of teams just simply aren't confident
enough in their Anubis to really pick it into Vitality because they've actually punished teams
that historically have been very good on that map. And so, you know, you enter this sort of black
box where they don't play Anubis a ton, and then you're forced to play the maps that are
typically seen in their best of threes. They'll veto that out if they want and sometimes just
float the ancient and see if they can anti-strat a team that they maybe spot a vulnerability or
Now, it wasn't all bad for Bate. If you were to find a positive, then Sissy, you know, with his individual performance right here in Mirage,
even though that it didn't culminate in a lot of rounds one, you know, he was capable of winning a few clutches and making sure that they got a few rounds on the board.
But to see him play better and better for Bate, I guess that's also a good thing for them, you know, in terms of them recalibrating and getting back into contention at these tier one tournaments.
Definitely wasn't the passive one in this game, right? Like, he woke up a little bit later, but established some dominance.
some dominance on this map. And I think that's the recipe for Bait, like what he was doing,
letting it loose a bit, being just aggressive, trying to use his individual skill. I don't
think Bait is at the position where they can play these slow paced games against Vitality.
They'll just be one step ahead. So play with some more pace, take more risks for you that can be
the only way to win. I just want to see them throw some grenades for each other. I do think that
I think that there's a role issue here where almost there's this confidence, this bravado
from all the players, where on good teams as you rise to the ranks, people do have to
play support roles.
That just simply has to be something that someone slots into eventually, and I just
don't think that that's actually properly ironed out for the bait system.
Well let's bring that into the conversation in the context of the next map.
Dust2 is coming up.
We know Vitality's strength on that map.
We know the track history.
We know that that's one of the maps that they almost seem unbeatable on to some extent.
You want more grenades.
You want more utility.
a key to reach for you? Well, I mean, so long as they're not just throwing them all over the
longhouse, then I do think that there's a possibility here. I mean, this is the type
of map where you can brute force into bombsites a little bit, because CTs are actually expending
a lot of their HEs to blow up in smokes. They will maybe have to flash into the upper tunnels
just to get information, same for the long fight as well. So they can feel quite restrained in that
sense. And I think for bait, it's all about simplification. Like you said, you know what,
you want to see them take a few risks. Vitality will respect the map to a certain extent, but if
you start playing this timid, passive style, then they're the ones that are going to get away with
some of this risk-taking. I'm not going to try to bait you into giving me a reason as to why
Vitality can lose this game to Bait and why we're going to see a third map. Nothing really points
in that direction. I think just complacency. Complacency? Just complacency. Is that the only
thing? Sorry to get ahead of themselves a little bit and maybe lose some discipline,
But that's where the Apex steps in. One more time, you know, I don't think he's going to allow for
something like that to happen. AXTA is obviously as well standing behind, and this is just their
playground, right? Like every player is just so comfortable on this map that they don't need to
do like crazy stuff to have fun on it. They just have such a great understanding on the map,
like winning is always fun. And I think if they just play their standard game, Vanilla,
for Vitality on Dust2, they have it in the back.
This is going to keep up the performance though. If we want to have any reasonable talk about Bait having a chance at this map, if you can do anything to mitigate Zywoo or at least pick off some of his teammates, then yeah, maybe we can have a conversation, but that seems very, very far away.
I think I shared the sentiment with the two of you. The best we can hope for is a competitive map between Bait and Vitality. There's no doubt that Vitality are the heavy favourites heading into Dust 2. One more win and they will secure a spot in the playoff, where as for Bait, they would have been eliminated from IEM Atlanta.
We're heading to a short break, but once we're back it could be with the culmination of my telly taking on bait
Something special to talk about is D.G.O.
That's it, sir. Do it now, please.
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This season, it's bigger deliveries.
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Bigger personalities.
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And bigger problems.
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Featuring special guests.
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And of course, the team you know.
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The Dispatch.
The all-new season, premieres February.
So I'm stood here with Arch from Bait. First off, I'd like to say thank you so much for
taking the time because I know you guys have a very important game coming up against Vitality.
You guys went through a bit of some struggles for a little bit, finding an AWPer, finding
consistency. I will be honest, I did not rate your team very highly coming into this event,
but you've had some extremely impressive wins. How has the practice and the team play been
developing in your opinion?
I think we're trying our best to develop all the time.
We just try to progress.
Yeah, I understand that some people expected more from us
after the last major run.
But since we had a change, we understand
that we might do two steps back, sorry, one step back
to make two steps forward.
So that's just fine.
Yeah, we're trying to progress event by event.
Basically, we're just doing our best.
You're the CEO of Bait. It's not often that you see CEOs always traveling with the team.
What's it been like from that end, being able to stand with the squad as they make a great run so far this tournament?
The thing is, I myself, a former pro player in both CS and Valorant,
and Valorant, so yeah, it's just insane to keep traveling with the team, because I just
cannot live without these emotions.
That's the first thing, second thing, yeah, I just like traveling, and yeah, that's just
part of my life.
This might feel like a weird question given who you're against, but how confident are
you feeling going up against Vitality, given that you actually played Betboom earlier in
the tournament and pushed them quite hard and they were able to topple vitality and
you were able to take down another one of our favourites in foot. It feels like you
guys are hitting a stride. How does it feel for you?
I think Badminton played really good against us but we also didn't play our A game far
from our best game, that's for sure. So I think if we keep up the same form as against
BC game and today against FOOT. I think we have some chance, even though Vitality is
like the best team in the world, they are too good. But if some teams can beat them from
time to time, then we can get our chance also. So yeah, we will just try and see how it goes.
Well, thank you so much for your words. I wish you the best of luck in the game. We'll
see how bait do against Vitality.
Yeah, best in the world, you heard it there from the, the mouths of Bates and now while
they've got to do something that very few teams in the Counter-Strike world have done
and that's Windows 2 versus Vitality.
Oh, you want the numbers?
I do like numbers.
I do like numbers.
So I usually go of all times, let's start there.
This five-man Vitality roster are 49 wins, five losses of all time.
49 and five.
If you just look at 2026, they're 18 and one,
and the only loss they had to was to foot
with the coach standing in.
Yes, I remember that one.
Which is just so stupid, isn't it?
It's always the way, it's always the way.
Let's go this one under way.
Complacency was the word the desk used to describe
the undoings of vitality in to map number two,
or the potential undoings.
It's hard to see it go down that way,
but let's see, strange of things that happened.
City side start for bait.
They'll get to play all 12 of them on this map.
Speaking of Stranger Things, let's see if Alex can start stronger.
0 and 11 on Mirage.
Oh, nice clean edge shot there from Flamesy.
So, not the ideal start.
Seriously though, we had a great time on Mirage.
You won't be having a start on Dust 2s.
I always put a down long range clock.
Man, that'll be around.
Yeah, we saw them during the warm-up.
warm up. Everyone was kind of doing like a show and tell
the skins on long.
So you're gonna look at his knife and they're dropping each
other the M4s and the AKs. It's quite a nice vibe out for the
lime green set. You know, everything has got that kind of
match to his green gloves.
I don't know about Sam feels combo there.
What's he going for?
It's like leopard print gloves. I like it with the jewelies, but
I feel he was dropped those jewels. They're not his.
Yeah, but it is a lot of clashing pattern.
and so with the knife it was like a caramba this is nice obviously a pink
combo here for kensis like what kensis was doing there
oh well not not the most fond of the whole blue red situation we've got here
it's very contrast which team are you on yeah here we go red and red from yes
and this isn't messing around scale it's a nice quite a nice knife yeah let's get
all ones I was gone very flamboyant wow look at that that's vibrant new gloves
Can we care for that point right? Players will be able to tell who you are by your gloves. I think there should be a rule
Everyone in the team has to use the exact same skin. Yeah, otherwise you have to go red gloves red gloves
Dear okay, come on babe
Just give us a little sun sun. I think Australia's game of the region will be close
I expect a real three map affair with that one
I thought we were gonna get foot versus vitality, but babe owned foot. They did. They two owned him, so
You can't put anybodies at fault other than foot.
Yep.
Oh, missed the Hymnsmoak.
Oh, the scout would actually get a little bit of a sideline if you had it.
Ah, it still worked. Okay, it looked like it was the Hymnsmoak, but either way, it's still puffed up.
Flash to the ready. Fight on shore. Here it comes.
Big bit, fibril.
Yeah, okay. Wow, we've got three players getting flashed in here.
Apex is empty, though.
Oh, they get flashed.
Oh!
Oh!
They're past each other. All right.
Come on, Sizi.
There he goes. Okay, 2-0 start for my Tali.
And so, we were out of the bar and there was this guy, he came up to me.
And they were completely blind?
It's just this puppy dog energy that we're getting right now.
Look at that camera. Well done, production.
Oh dear.
I don't think you're allowed to have that much fun at your job. Come on man.
So what happens when your job's cool?
Yeah, this is always having some fun.
Yeah, I'll come out to North and get a very quick return from my mentality
from the Divinity can still quick on the Mac 10. 6 and 0 start.
I don't know if we have fun at our job all the time, but I reckon more often than not.
not and there's one key reason that we do that these players do not what is that we
don't win or lose that's true we do not no matter what happens we are in a
neutral state yes we will never feel as good as they do sure but we can never
feel as bad as they do exactly and I'll take that that's a heavy day it's a
trade-off but you as a competitor you don't get that adrenaline that's for
Sure that that does suck, but well sucks getting knocked out of a tournament and then having to sit there on a 15 hour flight
Thinking about it. Oh, that's something I'm glad we're going to see a see though. They'll be in CAC
Oh, of course. It's so that's a way from home for another. I don't know if they'll go direct or not
I'll let I'll share the dates, but right now this is he's got his all but that's that is like that
We like to see with you
I'll just go into a short X. Exactly. They've made sure the Susie can't pop holes in those
mid smokes. They are just starting to stand at 2-3. Kenzo, I sent you doing this in vogue
up-down setups to deal with anybody probing P, getting ready for those pops. But this
cluster of vitality, the buzzing to execute, those flashes are going to be great for Anzai
with a deal with Susie as he heads back. So can they stall them out?
I'm going to catch MPL as well.
Force attack in.
Oh, flying flames, he finds the opening.
Apex on to MPL and the A site is theirs.
Very little you can do.
I guess the main objective now is don't die to Robbs if you can avoid it.
Because he is in such perfectly timed pursuit.
You've just vacated the B ramp.
You've been spotted in the window and Robbs can just have your heads with a clean click.
Gorgeous easy
Yeah, yeah
Alright might be a quick one might be a quick one
We've got the clip ready though, so it's fine. Yeah, we can play that again play that again again
Well, I think the figure that I saw on the on the little lower third was
33
consecutive playoff appearances for vitality as an org right that's not with rocks
that with that, with that sphinx as well. But just to take people back in time, it was kind of it's a 2024
with the last time they didn't make playoffs. So there would have been some history being made today
if, well, the score was going the other way. And then they would have had their top four streak
broken as well. That could still happen, right? Their top four streak can still be because they
can only be in the quarter final, right? They don't get the order birth into the semis.
That for this group is being battled on between Bet, Boom and Payne right now, who I think
are going to be heading into their second map shortly.
CT setup, just so everyone's aware, we did get it in the last rifle round, and you got
it very plainly, but it was Kensethar and Senthia level towards B. Alex, the in-game
little bit anchoring down long, MPL will be the rotating A rifle, and then of course,
is the on the AWP apex.
Can you take these away?
Oh no, not shot from Kensethar.
I like that one.
Right between the eyes.
Zawoo going to try and stall them out from picking up the AK.
I've already got past this.
Oh, they were past, so I was dodging ducking and trying to get out of the way.
Okay, well at least you get the AK for MPL.
Yeah, that's nice.
Well, they are going to be buying into the next round regardless, but at least I prefer
this than the T-Side Start where they had those saves, which just put them in a pit.
I think Alex wants to go down anyway.
I really want to retain a scout, so he will be able to full equip himself.
I also want Alex to go kill a little bit earlier on than he did last time.
Right now we have Kenseth with three and everybody else on nil.
Oh.
Very reminiscent of the first map.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Sissi's got the sniper though.
Second time we've seen the orb in his hands.
Let's see if he can find the similar impact we did on Mirage.
Oh.
Perfect.
No.
I wanted to go for the fight too.
It wasn't just to have monitored a lower tunnels push.
The fact that they've flunked out whenever Slay is not going to cost them anything, but we know how good Zahra can be.
Here are those tags on the cross.
In-spoke lands this time, and Flamesy Romp's paired up. We'll be going through the lower tunnels.
So they feel the assistance of Apex required to throw the molly into lower dark to clear this one out.
What do they feel like they can do it on their own?
This couldn't be any more of just a standard Dust2 Sutter right now. Just a 2-1-2.
This is so classically Dust2.
bait aren't doing anything out of the box, maybe mid rounds, they might want to start grouping up and see if they can find that this setup
I like right where you have one player on the ramp with
He's actually gonna play goose never mind all the way as well
CNPL's attention drawn by the flash through the doors
Vitality to 60 seconds to try and access a site
Starting with their more advanced
Short control up cat. I wonder if it's yeah, okay, so it's gonna be late back through long
This will actually be tough because this is on the line. So apex better be a damn good flash
Oh smoke's good. Yeah, he's gonna play around the edge of it though
That's nail it onto flames. He's not there as he couldn't find the frag he looked like
Oh, he just dips back in for a second now. It has to be a mid to be but you don't have a smoke for CT
It's not looking good. Is it tunnels have just been 30 seconds. Yeah, maybe you're safe safe
Yeah, look, I have a lot of money, but I grow up from Sizi.
He found the answer.
Okay, well, the return to late long, and Sizi just lingers around.
It's good to see that confidence.
That's also highlighted.
Hey, this could be, you know, win condition, having to throw.
I don't want to say the strap book out the window, but he didn't even take any crazy risks there.
He just took his chance that was presented to him in that situation.
So well done from Sizi.
Arch, gives out the fives, and 5-1 is the score.
So there you go, they're on the board, and we just need a whole lot more of that.
So really, from our position, we're looking for consecutive.
Here it is again.
Flash comes over, using that smoke against them, peers out, Flamesy goes down, and got
the stubbornness to stick around.
Doesn't want to back off as he removed from the equation.
I mean that's what good counter-strike looks like. Looks easy.
Okay, this time starting with a little bit of a short presence from MPL.
But more of the same from Vitality with Aerobnus. Is he?
Is he in the middle? Has himself a hatred of break? All comes down to the timing on this.
They're not going to catch anybody.
Oh no! Get off the cross!
I'm sorry. Apex, that's... I think that's unacceptable.
Uh, you expect a formal apology?
Get off the grass.
I'm trying to really embrace my age.
I mean, yeah, you're going to see me walking around with one of those like bowl-a-caps soon or whatever.
I was behind his back.
I do that all the time.
Legitimately.
Make sure I get my fiber in for breakfast.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Have some prune juice.
This doesn't feel like a match for the spot in the quarterfinals, does it?
Alright, mid to B. Centiel, is he clear?
No, he's not.
Flamesy.
Little distracted.
And now Apex has got a lot of work to do.
There was another one.
He actually nearly killed MPL through the smoke.
Kind of confirmed, but he gets away with one point of health.
And there's nothing more for these two to do other than save.
It's the best bet.
off the grass. Okay, distinct lack of
frags. We've got one, two, three, two
eggs. Good we could count. Yeah.
Base level mathematics around here.
So CAC. Anyway, that's a tournament.
There's seven teams who are in Atlanta
who are going to be going to see a
serious going to be happening in
Shanghai. So we will get to see more
Bay before the major.
There's so many events on the lead up
to the main. I feel like the majors
tomorrow and there's still it's two weeks away yeah there's so many of that
still yeah June 2nd stage one kick a star is still kicking yeah I'm just
not happening we've got CAC and then then at the main course main course we've
all been waiting for yeah look at that that's yeah get off you're upset about
that well well I'm upset about that time out call from bait
That should be Sissy's route.
That should be Sissy.
Sissy's route, yeah.
Yeah.
And it's gonna happen.
It's counter shot really, isn't it?
Apex is literally twice Sissy's age.
Crazy actually, yeah.
We've got Hootsie coming up next.
He's been molding a lot on Cam.
Considering some of the frustrations, I don't mind the mould.
Justifiable mould at times.
He's been letting loose though. That one from yesterday.
If I can get my hands on that tape.
Right. The full like 60 second rant.
Okay, double ops. Let's go, babe. That's the change up. That's off the time.
And that's what we're looking for right now. Zygoth drops down suicide, rattles off a shot and...
It's probably going to be a late long pop.
Okay, but there's no Sizi to worry about this time. It's going to be on the last second.
Flashes come in, Alex just gonna spam the smoke, does some significant damage to two of them. Flamesy and Mersy catching bullets.
Barrel spotted.
Oh, spotted the jump up. Oh, still!
Gets the headshot onto Sizz, he couldn't react in time. Xayah would go through middle and essential.
Caught in a transition, was just making his move.
Wow, I'm...
Unable to keep up with how quickly Vitality are winning.
What do we say?
Save him for the Vod review!
Like, what are we doing?
No, we're doing...
Honestly, you can go out for dinner, you know?
Skip Vod review.
10 round.
Alright, that's 7 to 1.
So, I haven't killed anyone on the cross though, so if you're looking for 7 to celebrate...
Get MCZ.
Aggressive AWPing from SZ, he's gonna be looking towards the lower tunnels, it's Robson Flamesey on the default parthing.
Look at him, Molly, don't even get down on Molly.
Oh, yeah.
Nothing from top mid yet.
So Alan's synchronised perfectly, SZ is in trouble, still hits a nice shot onto Apex, Gens' is all trapped.
And goes down to Flamesey.
I appreciate the gear shift, trying to ring the fire, initiate some of the 4v4.
Yeah, it's a nice try.
Need someone to work with.
Flash to the smoke.
That's a little pop flash, Robs was actually gonna push on that, but then Pelt has to catch him.
The ropes get lost. I don't know. It was the flash. Yeah, I'm not sure what the
The hold up was oh just in time Alex is across
There's a enzyme we're gonna arrive. He's got the perfect pregame. It's just gonna be messy
Back turned and Alex comfortable
For bait in pursuit of this two on four should be easy to close down less
Yeah, you didn't want that Alex. I was done indeed. I can actually be around
Do you see the flames ace against?
phase to end the game. It was a bit of a lineup tour but it's like they're in OT and you get an ace
and that's actually wins the game. It's pretty cool. One of the best ways to end it is they were
doing a top play our heart. A lot of them lined up there in the side. It was not the sickest thing
in the world but I say that. I don't know how many professional aces I got. I think zero. So.
Because reader the situation. What? Not even like an anti-eco ace. I guess Aussies for sure but I
guess like actual opponents. No. Don't even have that many officials. So this is it. Let's throw
chaos into the mix. That needs to be the recipe for success for Bay. It doesn't have to just
always be the first timing, but try and make it a bit clunky and for vitality. Don't allow them
to be able to get the map control they're looking for and then erupt on their timings.
Do it on your own terms and you may as well start swinging for defense. Again, this is a
home term for vitality. Absolutely the best us two team. No doubt about that. Ascent heel
tagged on the cross and he emotes on that one. Oh, we're going to try it again.
Oh, they faked the molly behind him, I like it.
Yeah, still hits his headshot as well.
Removes Flamesy and while Sizi is still committed to lower tons right now, he'll have to smoke
himself out or, I suppose, commit, hang out.
Apex's I were actually heading back over towards Bid, Messi's foregoing this long fight with
Alex.
So they know one of the B defenders, Kensizor, is dead and maybe they have a good idea that
sent to get tagged, maybe Zara sent hi, I hit him. So he's very low. You don't love
this for a sentheal. If he gets one, props to him.
Turns the flashbangs will have a chance in the fight, but it doesn't fit. Hit that first
bullet head shot he so desperately needed. Oh, Messi's got Sissi's crawl here. You think
he's got the element of surprise? He's even looking towards spawn, but Zara is the one
to move it. Keep him at the post there. MPL and Alex, you've only got one option in this one. Friends,
get on out of there. There's still so many molotovs right now for Vitality. If they want to, they just keep
lobbing the window indoors. Bomb will get planted. 40 seconds begin and the question becomes, will
they be the hunt? Are they allowed to save? The score will read 8-2.
So, if Vitality win their quarterfinal game, they will have 22 consecutive top four finishes.
I know it's just accolade counting and I think they don't even really care about that, but
the history books remember and it's how we mark their greatness.
I think the other point of that as well is when they are on form and they are playing
their best CS. I guess this is a good series of that as an example. How much you want to
say that's the quality of bait? How much you want to say that's vitality starting to warm
into things? I'll let you at home's the side. But you really get a good idea for just how
cohesive this unit is and the level of output from everybody.
Well, especially when, you know, looking at that foot result earlier today, bait kind
of...
They rumbled them.
Yeah, they rumbled them comfortably.
It was always going to be a map pull for me that was the problem for bait today. But
against vitality.
Right, because they remove a new burst, which is a map that we've seen a little bit of weakness for Vitality on.
And then Nuke's not high up in their map either.
So, Amaraj does two map, Paulie got the best he can get.
Yeah, and Vitaly remove Angel.
Alex, again, called upon on Long. Gotta get out of there.
They started 3B.
And now Alex is calling for backup since he is posted.
At least it's MP1, MP1, Foul Break.
Nice. They're pushing up the tunnels as well.
So, map getting smaller for Vitality, they should be aware of this reaction,
they might want to get a wriggle on
ahead of this
lock smoke
just running across oh
oh sissy's attention was drawn
he looks away
bombs throwed across Alex
catches him on retrieval trade from robs
he's lined up
kenshizort
how's he gonna get in and plant right now
it's gonna be difficult
I don't lose bomb doesn't though and so that plant seems like a guarantee kens is all going to be battling on that
Molly to do it wait. Yeah, that man goes down
Good by MPL messy on the spray from rops. I will throw the bomb to a one versus three. They can smoke bomb diffuse
Everything says there should be third four bait as I was mad now
What's he supposed to do here?
MPL down Wow quick flick up, but it looks like it's found that safe even good angle
is going to be a third round wise. He started to use again.
Just wanted to make sure he was tucked away. There you go.
Number three, four at the half. You'll take it.
One. Obviously, you lose the opener or you gain the open again.
Thanks to Sizi, who is he's not doing the same hydrants to be
saw in the garage, but he is still kicking up a little bit of a fuss.
Funky turn of events as well during that one, the bomb thrown across and a little bit of
a...
I'm petty put up.
Not too bad.
I'm feeling how comfortable you are.
Yeah, I think the thing is you just want to get this done and put this group stage behind
you.
Then you're going to get tomorrow's opportunity to really prep for your quarterfinal where
no matter who they go up against, they are the favourites.
Funny that.
Alright, B-Pop to finish.
And the three players here, this looks good.
Well positioned for it.
Oh, they're gonna cancel now.
So they're fortunate they have the ripcord that is Zywoo.
So well with him controlling Midland,
nobody trying to stuff him in that choke point.
He does actually allow his teammates to start moving.
He's talking a lot, Sizzy. You can have to play behind this.
behind this.
Still, if it is a mid to B, Kensi's or Senpil and MPL still on that site, that three man
stack could still come in.
Ooh, Rob's catching some flag from Denpito.
Molly hasn't landed back flat.
He's still gonna have to save Haven as Senpil up on that boost.
Oh no.
Wow, doesn't get the kill he needed.
MPL's the one that's racking him up though.
The only man that could put up any sort of resistance on the B site.
So dips away just in time to avoid kicking up at advantage with a bit of TV T
Instead vitality now sitting comfortably. There's I mean you've got to have to try it. So last round of this half
Alex into a tumble feels half-hearted doesn't it? Yeah. Well, give it a go
Good flash very good flash forces out to pull the trigger
While blind on the repeat as well
Here we go.
Alex does remove Apex.
See, as he can finish off Sidewool track from Robson, V1, you need this, you need it,
and you'll take it.
Does he have the kit just in time?
Alex with a 5-7 gives Bay something to work with.
Four rounds versus Vitality's 8.
It's looking like it's going one way, but Bay delaying the inevitable.
Three of the last four going their way.
I
I'm a low open blue light Keep me up at night I'm gonna follow this park
There was too much of a cat to leave behind before
I'm not gonna rush from home, home, home
I'm so close to my mom, home
When I swung in your arms
And now we lose
All of our lives
Don't even think of showing it to my head
Don't even think of showing it to my head
I know what to do
I know what to do
I know what to do
loaded
in front
and loaded
in front
in front
in front
inside
in front
we have to be careful
Be right there, player.
I have a kill on the smoke, I think.
Up smoke, let's be ready to go.
Let's be ready to go.
Can you hold the guy?
I'm on the guy.
I'm on the guy.
Hit it, hit it.
Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Nice!
It was 7-1, but they have managed to wrestle 4.
As we swap sides, second map of this one.
Loser goes home, winner.
Off to the playoffs, and they're running straight up middle.
This is so aggressive. He's going to be punished. Is he an opportunity for more unable to do so?
Kensis all puts two on the floor.
Oh, let's not going to split pistols again unless Zywa and Apex can win it too before.
It's not out of the realms of possibility, is it?
The bomb's been picked up now by Kensis, or has he got a full belt?
This surely lines up for a nice finish.
The only way I see you lose this, if you allow it to be picked off one at a time,
if you just group up and trade out, you win.
So MPL, make sure nobody can push short. Alex has the mid-door rotation.
So when apex are both over towards a so gambling incorrectly in this one
And they will group up so
And if they don't Alex is lining it sorry tensors lining up the doors smoke does the vitality approach on this pistol
We'd like it overconfidence to you like a team that just wants to get it done. Yeah. Yeah, which I think is fine
Of course, it just means that by operating in the way they did the game is going to be extended
Mm-hmm. So it will be a to five
Zawoo and apex if they can hold on to the Kevlar they can turn this into famuses in the next round
Earlier today against phase they both bought scouts in one of their force by rounds and and they honestly
Managed to have a flawless force. It was it was quite wild. Oh, you don't see that every day the week don't
especially the scouts
All right. Well, we're splitting the pistols again. This time it's the T sides that picked
up those. Unfortunately for Bay in the last map, it was Sizi who clutched one hour. He
had a great performance. If you are just joining us, you missed a quick mirage, but one that
I think if you're going to go watch, watch it from Sizi's perspective, it's just a lot
of fun to see the kid having some impact. Sure, it didn't really account for a lot of
rounds, but it was still fun to watch. I feel like, you know, for every Bay game we've
cast, often there's a mirage and often Sizi's at the top of the tables on that map.
the one that stands out is I think why you referenced Kendi's or he was just very
Explosive around like jumping from Tetris over towards the stairs and playing up through connector and getting multi kills
Okay, so Zahua has gone the Famous apex has decided to upgrade into head armor 5-7 with you till
But mess is the one on the scout this time
So what they are pressuring along with a corner smoke of flashes but flames he's played ahead of this
So they know they have the long control. This is actually huge
So to be able to grab that early your next thing you worry about in this is a pop through and
As you till starts to don the rest of the map they can start to signify. Okay, it's not gonna be a long pop
It's gonna be this default spread
Mezzie an opportunity to hit a tag
If I have short control just yet they're about to work on our bait
So they can only back short flames you a park behind it
Zawoo's dead to set him up with a flash.
Flames do be forced off by the deep Molotov.
So now four of them congregate over the ward short and, well, Vitality have gambled for a B-play.
The biggest issue I see right now is Flames in Zawoo not having any smokes to stall this.
I don't know how they're meant to defend against this A-executive or five.
One more high.
I mean, Cywoo's fair mass.
He's finally looking for one coming down out of the head.
See if he finds him.
Thanks for the look.
If he's fine, I stubble kill from him before MPL does trade.
Well now you can give it a look.
Right, I think at this point you can definitely jump up and try and contest.
Maybe you catch somebody sleeping and you can still give it a go,
but 40 seconds on the clock now.
Yeah, but no kit, you're gonna have to go quickly.
Just running off, gunning.
Oh dear, it all comes down to MPL.
He's two kills deep, but he's got no health.
19 points of health, a single bullet from the Mk10 finds his head and vitality. No pistol.
No problem. And they don't give a fuck. Yeah, I think the fact that they've just run out there
and put those 5-7s on display like that, instant death. Is that the name of the water they sell?
Instant death, liquid death. That's the one. That'll be a good sponsor. I think that's the
a new name of liquid. Um, all right, we'll be, I'm going to force by back.
I mean, a very frustrating one to lose for bait. When you feel like you kind of done the hard part, you breach the site, you walked into the less stacked site.
And you still end up getting run out by five sevens and shredded.
Now they're going long. This time they're committing. Okay.
We've got the flashes ready, primed and ready. Oh, and the head shots to, she's got a little bit down. Yeah. Yeah. Vision.
Sissi sticking out there burns down to half
So you know that there was a third one in door and that somebody was flashing so you know where two of the last three players are
You're not taking that one flames
Little to be denied quick rerout though. It is quick. You're right. Apex is gonna have his work cut out from here
He's got a head-to-head duel, but with Sissi already on 40 HP. He had to hit that head shot
He's provided it. Now, Robson and Mezzi are both on B.
Does make it feel rather inevitable that they're going to collide.
You'd love to go together.
I'll fight on your terms. Instead, it's Robs peeking out window, removing Kenshiz, or make showing off some parkour.
I like it.
And, spots for toes and sirens. Still costs him his life, though.
Can't find Sizi. He's disappeared.
Just borrows into CT and he's only got himself a P250. Where does AK go?
This one would be a special one, wouldn't it?
I can't see one this round.
How?
I can't either.
Um, yeah, unless it was a one-sided power cut.
He's doing hide and seek right now.
Okay, yeah, prop punk.
And...
I think it is AKG.
Did he give it to Alex?
I think it's just there, maybe...
Yeah, maybe he gave it to Alex as he flowed.
Good point, well made.
Yeah.
Chad...
I was looking at the start time of our next game and everything while that was going on.
After the first two kills came in I went okay round over so I was I was starting to
get us busy with something else. Flash was late though you were absolutely bang on.
I did like this move. Yeah, and you got a kill with it so cool way to play around that CT smoke.
Alright now there he go this would be 11.
What can you say about this round? Oh we can say that was a great digglehead shot.
That's what you can say. Give us another one.
legs leg shot through the door got a gun now at least no armor though
flames he's hearing this he's hearing this flames very low yeah but jumping up
would feel like it would be a bit of an over extension
imagine the vitality eco loss it could like an improper eco loss really really
good I was struggling the whole magazine
I never seen this everything's fine everything's fine
Mezzy catches Alex alongside MPL, however, with his M4 Pivot, they can run B.
They sent him MPL of running into what's the B bomb site.
And a smoke for Daws.
And look at the health of Flamesy and Mezzy.
There's a smoke for Daws. They can get in. The bomb will get planted.
They have a very good shot at winning this.
The eco inverse by Tali would be an incredible achievement.
Are they going to try and milk as much out of the smoke as they can?
Okay, whoa.
Put a deathly being thrown deep up.
But, are they saving?
Are they saving?
He's been out of the hole.
I think they're saving.
I think he won.
I'm sure it has happened,
but I can't remember when I've seen vitality lose
like a proper eco.
A proper eco.
That was just one deagle.
Yes.
All right, sign of the times.
Any ramifications?
We'll see.
We'll see.
My bag's gonna be pissed.
That is one guaranteed ramification, good point.
He is the one who gave way to the opening kill.
I'm looking at the minute now, damn it.
So if you're gonna be remiss, maybe at yourself, I can't believe they just want to...
A flippin' acre!
Alright, well they're gonna manage this one, as long as we get back to the orb.
What?
Yeah, but, you know...
Yeah, no, I mean, it's just, you know, we were, uh, spec'ing it and that's all, so...
Dutton's gonna love that one.
Double orbs!
So still pretty heavy on the investment, I can't believe I lost that.
Woohoo!
This goes!
This is one of the orbs!
On the cross!
Get back in it, let's go.
That's cheeky.
Oh!
Only tagged him.
Yeah, it doesn't find the kill he needed.
Okay, so Sizi sure is the walking wounded, his biggest enemy is going to be a Nade.
It's rare to see Apex on the orb, you know, is he scout?
Sure.
can use the scope rifle, but rare he gets the opportunity on the AWP only when
Rops is given up an opening death, which as you can imagine is quite a rarity.
Another one of those well placed.
Conk 35 for Kensy's or Alex Chipped away as well, softened up for the M4 headshot
potential of Mezzi. They're selling A essentially, like Zaru just watches long
and they're giving them short control. Flames is thinking he's gonna get some
sound cues before they make it into A and they also know Nameplot counter
So there's a likelihood that bait want to hit what they believe should be the under fortified site
Such a half-mild one exactly and there's nobody there to actually catching that flames. You've been mollied out of position here
Well, they missed the molly completely still though. You just give up the sound cue backs away
Chris cross
Hey pegs trying to catch them
HG explodes, it's going to get caught, yes, clunky indeed, overlooked his flames, he needs
a multi, he's going to need more than a multi, he's going to need the whole squad, double
from Messi, sprays down for two, Flamesy arrives in time for the third, his sentiel
traded out and now says he doesn't have the health for this clutch, he's got 20 seconds,
flash lands, Flamesy playing in the clock, he knows it's in their favor, just wait for
he starts to plan, run him down, that's exactly what they're going to do, goes for it, sent
He's safe for it, but backs up into Zywoo.
So Vitality will take it.
Messi does very well considering the absence of Robs.
He had to do extra heavy lifting.
Yeah, now silly Apex looked there as well.
Just getting stuck on the corner of the wall,
and then parving through the smoke and going down.
But great job for Messi, right?
This is a smoke and a choke point, really.
There's nothing any chance they had.
So you win an eco.
You don't break Vitality.
And then you drop that one. So immediately reset, but we'll buy it again
MPL is gonna use the AWP to go for a long pick. So this is one way to try and manufacture an opening
You can have company
Apex on that corner
And down, MPL while fully blind he actually gets a collateral. You're right Flamie. He catches one through the
shot onto Apex
I've been in kill as far as the checklist goes for posting a seventh. That's exactly what the doctor ordered
They've started down a man in almost every single round in this half have vitality
There's only one round. They've actually been able to find the opening
Otherwise, it's still managed to win three. Yeah
So it's not always the win condition for bait or the loss condition for vitality
Once again, they have to put Zywoo on an island.
So you haven't actually got your expectation of frags this game, so we're going to let you 1v5.
Yeah, essentially.
Here they come.
You'll get them in time to at least take a shot or two.
Tire squad from bait versus Zywoo.
Turn to flash, he's got it.
The shot, Alex can.
So that's round.
It's just tedious, I think, from Vitality now.
And those frustrations, they're not there.
at the moment but again if they continue to make dents in the game extends longer than it should do
that eco loss and he's opening deaths for apex yeah he's uh giving away five opening deaths so far
50% of his deaths been in the op department here's one of them collateral damage as well very well
played by npl flames having what i i would think just based on his stats has been the best map
I'm going to go back to the
back of the tournament so far.
I think it's here all five alive.
They now have double ups on the
T side. They've been able to
scavenging in four. So all in all,
they keep on cooking. That's
you're right, though. That's
where the frustrations will
start to bubble to the surface
is when. You know, we've all
been there when you kind of
already considered the game over.
You already start thinking
about like, Oh, what we're going
to do next? We're playing
I played against this was just a Perth team and we had such a huge lead
So I just kept calling fast tops on Nuke and we ended up
I think we lost an overtime. Yeah, cuz it's starting any start in that conversation. I okay
Maybe we should use it right now. Okay. Okay, just we take seriously guys lucky and suddenly you're an OT
Well, the realms of possibility I do find that I've gone guard double warp picking up a sign of that
Yeah, that's the thing right you pick it up. You're gonna have to use it. So let's see how are you gonna utilize it?
Look at this setup as well, this is a little unusual.
Flames the forward position with Zywoo.
Mezzie trying to keep attention.
Drawn on the jump up, Alex gets a jump scare.
Hey, you don't just want to swing into that either.
That line that we've really seen come through,
it's quite popular now playing 2-plies.
I think Valve was one of the first teams to start doing that.
That little cubby where the shutter door is.
I see a Niko there.
So this time they do get the opening kill.
Now it's about putting it in,
So, Robson and Mezzie have a very up-close and personal beat on a crossfire.
They're not really worried about the mid-to-be at the moment at all.
You look at how that smoke is a real risk.
And as it fades, Robs will tuck in.
Mezzie can be spotting within a grenade in his hands.
We did see it? No, we didn't.
Doesn't matter if Robs can clean house.
I cleaned his shell.
Yeah, Sizi was meant to hold the rotation.
Now it's the last man standing.
Flames deals with him and there's 12.
So, this one has been casual.
There's been some entertaining moments draw, but my talent will not be ending their playoff streak here today.
The top four, that's up for conversation once we do get to Friday.
And another Dust 2 into the tally. It looks like XTAS's mic is not working.
Does he even, is that some trouble with his mic? Yeah, that wouldn't be the first time. Does he even
really matter too much. probably not. Maybe just a principle of wanting to have his 30s.
Yeah, and the teams be like, why is it why is not the boss man not saying anything? Oh, yeah,
okay. I see the angle. We all like validation. Yeah, like tell us we're about to win. All right,
one Galil, three AKs and a scout, a smattering of utile and Bates run here. I am Atlanta.
Coming to a close. Yeah, both these teams remember when we started off today,
had something in common, both lost to Betpoo.
two and it does get you to see the scout connect so far.
He's out so brutal.
The fact he gets away, they fully committed to long.
Mezzie's been summoned.
So I was going to look at that's over extension.
God damn.
OK, just trying to close it.
I really want it done, don't they?
Mezzie.
Oh, it's just juggling his own at double HE.
I guess he was thinking maybe.
Oh, OK, I thought he's giving it to Robs.
But yeah, he might be able to stop the plan with this.
That's exactly his plan, Mr. Birchell.
And it's all about the timing of this and the policemen of this HG.
Is that Jill?
Nah, he's planning single, which is no good for Alex.
What do they say? What do they give it a go?
I think they might just give it another go here. Third HG.
And Rob starts to make his move using that smoke jumping up his messy mantles in.
Kens is all puts it down. This is winnable.
Ascential hits it.
Necessary headshot found and bait survive for the first of many.
And to the enjoyment of Sizi, they were able to pick up his AWP, or at least
Zawooz, to give to Sizi. So they have that to wield.
It's going to be a botched buy for Vitality as this one extends.
Alex getting Zawoo down with the scout there.
But yeah, the long corner swipe misses. Alex gets the open out onto Flames. He then...
Apex, I can't remember the last time you had a kill. He's having a lot of deaths at the moment.
He flops his lines too and rops has been tagged on the cross. This is not the death at least, but uh brought down to 26. So this game
Could have some more twists and turns if bait win this they can get to double digitize. We're we're in the hot water now
We're in the deep end. We're at the business point
Little bit of a sweet HE actually connecting to two
I think that one of these stray bullets through the smoke to connect his message spamming away on that scout.
It's over with Apex to receive on the A side.
And they know they have longs, so that does make things a little bit more comfortable.
The bombs outside B though Chad, so is this just posturing?
Yeah, maybe they want to do one of those rounds so you drop Kenzo into CT spawn.
It's hard to know what type of weaponry is really available to Vitality considering the loss bonus and these stringer rounds.
Flamie pushes into long doors, he secures that more so.
Also, Zawid cheats over to try and catch somebody in transition.
Well, yeah, let's get the fight. It doesn't hit the shot and peel.
Now the bombs joined and they are heading towards Short.
Ooh, yeah, Flamesy pushing long on what could be the most perfect of timings.
They just looked away.
Is that... Okay, they must know now with the Short you take calming in.
It has to be this A-Play. Look at all the flashes lined up.
Everyone with them in the hands.
Gonna be chucking them in. Apex inside.
We're gonna be on the receiving end of that, Scow.
Counter flash, Apex onto Kenzo.
Turn the M4. Here comes that D-Go.
Contraco good headshot back need the rifles I would pick up the M4 try to put it to good use and puts it to one
Alex goes down, but still loses messy. He needs to do it all here another one to a sentiel
Swaps out to the
Another one gun game indeed it comes down to a one-on-one and don't forget Sizi
He's been able to clutch up on the first map now jumps up
Rob's gonna call the bluff on CT just calls his to plan out now starts his crawl
Can he mental up and tell him? Sizi spots him.
Oh!
Not the jump in 5-7 for the conclusion.
Vitality not missing this playoff.
They had a slip up, but they do recover.
It's baked, sent home at the hands of Vitality.
That's an unfortunate one there for Bade.
In the opening round, they took on Betburn.
They ended up losing 2-1 in that one with an overtime.
There were some close maps.
They trundled through the lower bracket,
eliminating Simple in BCG.
They took on Foot earlier today,
They sent them packing to 0, but the final boss Vitality, a team they wouldn't have been
expecting to meet down here, there's too much to handle.
It was a casual day at the Office for Vitality, sure a bit of a struggle against FaZe on map
number one, but from that point onwards it did look like a waltz in the Centennial Park,
here in Atlanta.
They are going to book themselves a spot in the quarterfinals.
We've got a seeding match raging on now between Betboum and Payne and coming up later on the
B stream, Nami vs Legacy for more of the same, but we'll be bringing Astralis vs Gamer
legion at 7 p.m. Sharp local for that final spot in the playoffs but for bait up next to CAC
And look it's great to see more of sissy. I'm gonna throw this one to the desk
And now one of them is gonna win and one of them's gonna lose
We've only got two spots left in the playoffs run up for grabs right here right now
We'll get into all the records on the line for vitality as we go
Sure young man sissy smile on his face gonna need some of his all-ping best up against I would today
And bait pick of Mirage to start.
Start and it looking like it might be quite correct.
Or they may have heard Zyra there.
Debatable.
Hey, because he's got that flash held, he's ready to react to the call Flamesian Zyra is standing by.
And here they come, perfectly positioned. Flamesian Zyra just starts to unload, kenses on with the one claw back,
the flames he's catching that
clicks
What a comfortable way to start off your pistol campaign and yank on the desk was talking about slower starts vitality
They were the second worst pistol team in the tournament, which is rare
Yeah, that's a thirty five point seven percent as far as pistol wins are concerned
Whereas bait they're middle of the packet fifty percent
So that one is going to be going a long way for vitality
But what else is concerning for vitality obviously we know with these expectations
from the team with the lack of practice,
but there's the expectation from the community
for them to keep on winning.
Their second round conversions
have actually been quite poor as well.
They only have 40% in second round conversions,
so we'll make sure we keep the focus here,
but because Bay didn't get the plan,
it's unlikely to see a four-spy.
So what would you say are the contributing factors
to them starting so perfectly for the anti-bearers?
That's something that you've just,
you do what you do.
I see you preparing for a cast,
and you watch all of the rounds
on top of each other, and you try and identify trends, presumably that's something that Vitality
will do for every opponent as well, when it comes to how they're going to be playing the CT pistol.
Well, you and I could do this right now, for an example, right? So I'm on Skybox,
and this is the same program that all these pro teams would use. I've looked at Bait, Mirage,
T-Side, their last five matches, and pistol rounds on them. Okay, now I've layered them all over the
top of each other, and I know that people at home can't see this, but your reactions can tell the
the picture. Take a look at this. You can't tell, right? You'd have to go through each
individual round, but I've just layered these over the top of each other. And by the looks
of things here, in the majority of their pistol rounds, the last five has been in 8-play.
So if we wanted to, we could go into each individual. Okay, so the last pistol they played, this
is the one they did against BC game, right? And if you go into the one before that, let's
take a look. Pretty similar pistol, just looking towards middle, it's 3-0 round, 1-0 palace.
The one before that, another A-play.
So they're last four, they're last four pistols have all been A.
Now, obviously you're taking a gamble,
they don't have to play into A, right?
But you're at least using history to inform the decision that you're going to make.
And there was, they hadn't played, I guess another tell from this is,
they don't play through middle, right?
So they play very sight-centric there by telling you three towards A,
two towards B, and shut them down.
And just as everyone's aware, it's just a coach mic issue there.
So we've got the thumbs up from X-Tars so we can get back into the second round of play.
But yeah, understandably, you're going to kind of gamble leaning away from middle.
It's an educated guess.
Yes, that's the perfect way.
That's the thing with the preparation.
You can take a look.
You can definitely find gaps.
And that's going to be more with how players are approaching things in their default
or how they're scaling for rounds.
But with just general calling gets a little bit more difficult.
Is that a whole desk pad?
MPO is a desk pad game?
He's a desk pad game.
Okay.
Uh, Kenzie's all.
He's here to have some fun.
He's a bit of a troll.
I don't know if everyone saw him during the desk segment with Freya, Y and K, and Pimp
there, but he was standing behind just looking into the void, showing, uh, that he's here
to play.
I want to know what Ghost is pulling that hammer back, you know, like I thought AnimGraph
2.
Oh.
Why is the thumb not pulling that back?
Valve, fix, please.
Just saying.
I'm going to go with you being right.
I don't really know how to dance work.
I don't know how to dance work either.
Like, is that just normally happening if you would have pulled the trigger anyway?
That would just happen if you put trigger like I don't I'm not a firearms expert. No, but I would expect something
You know a fun to be evolved. It's a high probability that we're wrong. Yeah
Yeah, though definitely in fact there are about four firearm experts firing up X to trace on the line
I know he would know trace would know as I would essentially ecode there
So he's gonna bring out the all immediately just to know as well
They don't have their coach maddened with them right their manager, but their manager actually has counter strike experience
Okay, it's not like he's just another Tom Dick or Harry.
Alright, I'm gonna try for the Harry.
We know, yeah, we know a couple of those.
Tom is just Harry.
How many dicks?
There's a couple.
Restarting for a little walk to middle.
Yeah, and Ascentville's also just started back after showing himself on A.
So, they want a five foot mid-space hit.
They're ready for...
Oh, that's a very well-timed incendiary from Robbs. Bounces off of the head of Sizzy.
Separate the pack. Is it a window boost?
Looks like they were flirting with the idea, but also you've got to get past Robbs' U-Till.
Here's another maid. Some chip damage, Delta III.
Tyre will absorb his primed and ready on the connector side, as Apex is going to have to tend to this boost.
He's spammed a little late there, and they might actually change to return fire. NPL, that is brave!
Just starts to spam back, trying to track the tracers.
Rob's trying to tend to this, a clean head shot onto Kenseth, or just as he averts his gaze, and in unison as well, Zywou managed to dispatch a VNPL.
Ah, that's fallen apart at the scenes right there.
When I retooling, regathering Alex and Ascentiel back towards A, Sizi is on the lurk in middle. Apex to burrow into site, flames you over towards connector, and then Zywou over jungle.
They're in strong position to shut this down, and A-Ramp has just been blocked at the 42nd mark.
It makes it a little bit easier for you coming out of ramp, not having to worry about ticket.
So there's a positive for Asentio, but I think they're saving.
What an underwhelming first gun for the Bait Boys.
Yeah, 3-0.
Alright, so a couple of things for Vitality.
Last time they had to play two Vesta 3s in a day was IEM Chungdu that was in November
of last year.
They did go on to play in the Grand Final against Furia, ended up losing that one,
the best of five, but they were dropped down into the lower bracket by Maus. This time they were
knocked down to the lower bracket by Betbun, which I think is surprising, but again with the context
of the lack of practice. Look, some people might say not an excuse to lose to a team like Betbun,
but it just shows that maybe there are some witnesses of vitality that haven't been picked
into a lot. Like the Anubis, we're seeing some witnesses on the Nuke T side, neither featuring
today. Last time Vitality didn't make top four in an event was Blast Bounty to start off 2025,
so well over a year ago. Last time Vitaliy as an organization did not make the playoffs was
Katowice at 2024. And to me, I come into this thing and this would be a pedestrian game,
but considering some of the struggles we've seen, even against FaZe earlier today,
it might not be the case. So let's see what they can bring.
Matt ends around each saved AKs, but very limited utility. This one looks tough.
Well, so I suspect once Vitality kind of have that wake-up call of a lost Tibet boom,
you are going to get just a little bit more diligence in comms, a little bit more in the
the individuals, you know, a couple of extra hours of DM just to kind of shake
that off. I imagine you are going to get a different vitality after having that
kind of cold water on the face of a big thrust to the lower bracket for the
first time in, like you said, since China. Yeah, it's more about how much can
you get done in terms of getting your mechanics back online, right? Your
attitude, sure. We'll get a kick up the pants, but it's about like, nobody who
plays counter strike all the time. If you take a week off and you come back, it's
you're a little bit rusty to begin with, right? And it takes a couple of days just
to get back into that flow state.
That's essentially what we're looking with vitality.
So then warming into the tournament, no doubt.
But everybody else is coming here to win, right?
These are the only guys who are coming in like,
yeah, that's all right.
We're kicking our feet up for everyone else.
Well, not for everybody, but most.
This is their Super Bowl.
Yes.
30 seconds into A.
And so, perfect.
Peaks on in, catches Alex, advancing ramp.
That's gonna activate Flamesy.
Attempts to draw.
Kenters are looking the wrong way.
Trained from a Senthiel's good,
but Robs catching the lurk on mid,
leaves Sezion a Senthiel with nothing.
They're gonna save again.
They have to.
I mean, what else are you supposed to do?
round to two versus four. You've got a back away. Keep hold of those collage and Kev.
You are going to have to start going for some rounds. So we're only four deep at the moment.
But if this continues, I'm not expecting a bit of over the fence from Apex Sam Boys.
You got to get one of these crack. But that is four rounds where the opening kills have fallen
in the favor of vitality. But a distinct lack of kills, Alex. I would say for Bait. Four rounds
They have one frag for Ascentio and one for Kenzis or Sizi, Alex and MPL yet to get off the starting blocks.
Do also have the B-Stream underway, that is.
The other series concluding Group A for I am Atlanta, Betboom taking on Payne.
Two teams who could have been in the conversation before the event of maybe taking that third spot.
I think people would have been expecting the likes of Foot as well as Vitaly, but Foot also came in...
I've compromised not on the best foot.
Obviously, Longs was not with them when they were in Fort Worth.
I don't want to say illness, but I guess it was.
It's health issues. He was public about them.
People can go and find that if they need to.
But he was with the team. They were eliminated earlier today by Bay in 2-0 fashion.
So that one leaves a little bit of a mark.
All right, well, saving the guns like this, let's just start getting some plants, boys.
You're really gonna be in strife.
Not everybody getting the loss bonus round after round, it is gonna have a cascading
effect.
Oh, looks like...
Let's look like they're gonna try and get towards a bomb site in a coordinated fashion
for this one.
It's just so limited utility, and I know it's essentially an eco behind two set guns,
but still, how much are you meant to get done?
Oh, perfect.
is he audible towards Bench?
Mezzie, oh, he's been spotted.
So one of the rifles has been noted towards the B
apartments.
Maybe that's enough.
Enforce the block smoke.
You're going to try and drain through Vitality's defensive
utile.
Yeah, good spot here from Rushly, right?
So Zaru has this cat crawl.
So that's why Robson and Mezzie are both
able to focus fire over towards B.
Right.
And if you look at the radar, you can see
that Tidy then are worried about A at all.
Oh, look at that double peek.
Synergized, which I would even make it a triple peek from the window side.
And then they quickly die back to age or count for any lurks.
Makes sense.
And again, we're at, well, the tail end of the clock, 45 seconds as they go back to B.
No flash, no smokes, no mollies, you've got to deal with the bodies.
And so I will peeks on in for another clean headshot.
It's all too easy, isn't it?
So we'll just rank in the map. It's so leisurely.
Just something for a scoreboard would be nice now, MPL. There you go. On the board. Can you make it another?
Xy was going to make it another. Ooh, misses out. Chance on the headshot, finding Robbs.
Okay, so he has started to get a couple of kills flow. Xy, we've got a pistol out, actually another from MPL.
So good to see him warming into things. His first three frags. All for naught. No plant, sure.
But I mean, considering what they brought into that round, he's done very well for himself individually.
This was that Zawoo underhand flash that he comes swinging at. Look at that, it's coordinated
mid-clear. Satisfying, I'm sure. Full Vitality and their hands. Maybe not Bates fans though,
that's going to be quite the frustrating one for the fifth.
I want to say get an opening kill, but at this point let's just get some kills.
Let's get kills, yeah.
But opening kill would go a long way, it's going to apply a lot more pressure on Vitality
because Leisurely is a great word for this.
essentially dry running right now from vitality reaction testing yes yeah so I
want you to be keeping your eyes on you know what the what the next test area
as an opening kill okay from Sizi he's caught raps on the short side
with a pack the standard pack Kenzie's or Alex and Sizi all have this mid control
MPL. Opsonade over towards the B-Lurk, and a centipede traditionally. The A-Piece is now
joining them back over towards middle. Apex sponsored the all-round top mid-steel staunch,
and they really want to stall this out with a minute. So just floating around,
do they want to try and just delay the choke, or do they want to fight in it? No, they're going to
start to path back to the sites now. They're really going to go like cat to bee, but MPL absent. Seems
like it's the perfect path of least resistance. There's only Mezzi in market. How much is he
meant to do from here. Very little, especially with the double triple swing from different elevations.
Never mind, goes Marky. I'd have a timing here. Good, very well had the timing. Yeah,
two targets, all too easy. Both go down to Mezze's M4. It's a three on three post,
Plarkensis all gets it down. Apex spotted one towards the best position. He even gets the
info on the orbs as well. Sizi's gonna need a reload, he's got one bullet left. All that connects,
but the Molly's gonna make life difficult for Sizi. Finds cover, still has the pillar,
Providing some help, Apex Logo gonna look to be traded by Flamesy, and there it is.
All the info though.
Cizzol's down, nice from Cizzy on the jump,
Kroos Flamesy goes down, as I will win the clutch.
There he is!
This!
NPL closes it down at Cizzy.
He starts, and he finishes with NPL's help.
Three kills from their Sniper, they on the board.
Cizzy's been obviously under scrutiny coming into this team, and not in like heavy way,
but you see after an event he doesn't perform on, like,
ah, why did they get this guy, you know, should have stayed with Hedtrig.
The next event he does all right, and the next one he's not so good again, but he's so young, he's 16 years of age, right?
And to be given this opportunity in bait, look, this is a team that also is very young, right?
They're only getting their experience in front of our very eyes now, so he's one for the future, that's for sure.
It must have been very fun to play against Simpaw earlier in the day.
Oh, for sure.
Or earlier in the tournament, excuse me, earlier in the day it was against Fort.
You know, Sizi, a Ukrainian, with a one in his name and a son with an S.
I wonder, I wonder where his inspiration is.
Let's see, can they make it consecutive?
As I was all will be noted towards connector.
You don't want to pray through that smoke.
And Siwu doesn't have such a ring to it, either.
Oh my god, he's not far off on the smoke flash.
Smoke bang with the AWP, it whistles, it passed the ear of a sentiel.
And now he's actually posted for the angle on ramp. Sizi's there. Alex is bringing the bomb as well.
Flash could catch them. Flames is gonna swing on that.
Miss shot from the AWPer. Sizi goes down.
Oh, didn't shoot him. Oh, and he's got a senty on the mark. Alex goes down. This is so comfortable.
Gonna recycle the word leisurely for vitality.
And there's a nice one to finish. Sidewoo nine. Fragg's deep three in the round.
and quickly back to winning ways.
It looks like Flames is finally started to warm into things.
He's looking sharp here with a couple of shots, seven and three.
The lowest rate of player for Vitality coming into this series today.
And where he, for me, has been one of their standouts throughout 2026.
So again, right, the time away, I'm happy to give Vitality with everything
that they've achieved the good graces of this.
I think expectation from themselves, from the community.
You have to find yourself somewhere in the middle, right?
And this is the thing.
There's the reality of the scenario, and there's the one that everyone thinks exists.
But right now, 6 to 1, 5 rounds to the good.
You know you're going up against a likely partial now, just because of the flow of the
rounds, the lack of frags, the sheer lack of bomb plants.
But mauling them at the moment, this is...
The pace is making this quite easy to handle.
You're not really feeling pressured.
You haven't really gone up against that many gun rounds either, so...
It's going to be, uh, play a tech nine to dig land in AK, and swiftly over towards B,
all five start to march.
It's a weird mid-snow that's been thrown out of our...
Rocks will be short for this if Masi needs help.
Sairu's called mid-player.
Yeah, that...
I don't know if it was meant to be for window or counter, whatever, it didn't land, wherever
it was meant to.
Another nage?
Hello?
Yeah, looking good.
Apex in support as well.
This is going to be horrible.
Oh, Bager shredded, aren't they?
The BL peaked in perfectly by Nancy catches that timing.
Just as MPL was trying to advance, I mean, these are the kind of rounds that just kind
of kill what little energy you may have had.
I was just saying it's being very slow and they've finally tried to look a little bit
more pouncy and they just still get stunted, so 2v4, another dent or two, continue to try
and keep the money low for vitality.
All the boosting up. All right. Well,
silently roms has been able to go
into this controls. I was the
way back flames. He has the way out
through underpass. You're locked in
or the box isn't tight, but there's
still no way back. And then roms
back. Beautiful team play on
display. I mean, you just have to sit
back and enjoy the show
vitality. I'll put it on for us
all. Yeah, I think the people at
home, uh, obviously starting to get
fed up with Vitani just winning
One of the messages I'm putting out there is well, this is only gonna happen once in a lifetime enjoy it, but
That doesn't get received very well. I'm gonna try a new angle. Okay, right when you watch Vitality play they're doing everything
I don't say perfectly. There's no such thing as perfect counter strike, but everything makes sense, right?
And obviously when you're winning and you're looking so dominant, yeah
You can say that but you compare it to other teams where sometimes it's messy or they're not connecting in the same way
Vitality, you know show you the beauty of of how good counter strike can look when a team is this dominant when everyone is on the same
page. We need another opening kill.
Oh, I don't think they're going to find it.
Looks like it's going to be flamesy, actually, that
manufactures a nice find. Thanks to Anacentheal and his teammate was forced away. Look at his health.
Poor guy got hit by an orphan and made eight out of nine opening kills so far.
If I was going to throw a name into the ringers to someone from Bader can provide an opening,
it's Ken's is all. Yeah, I like watching him on Mirage. I hit an MPL a lot of fun,
Yeah. Oh, too much fun for Zywie though. Catches MPL on a swing. Says he's good for one.
Does put Zywie down, but at what cost? He is alone. Top mid with the bomb and one HP.
It's just, can Kenses or solo take this site? As he doesn't seem to think so with a very good
angle. That's just beautiful. Write that one down if you're a Mirage Bianca.
And Cadolences. If you are a Mirage Bianca. Sorry about that. Someone's going to do it.
You know, actually shout out to you, you know, you're doing it for the team, if anything, you deserve an award.
When are we going the full bends? When are we going?
Actually clip that we'll play that way. Yeah, we'll just use that layer. Let's raise grab that play that later when the game ends
All right
All right, give it a go live by a execute
Bonk
How do I tell you playing the quarterfinal?
We got away for these seeding games to come to the conclusion don't we get to Navi legacy up a little bit later
I'm curious to see how legacy they have in that one.
Like even online last time I think.
That's the NAVE with Centiel's name on it, thatches it, and MPL's Tech 9 vs 4 fully armoured
and equipped.
Now this is a fine time, let's see if I have 7 finishes it off.
Yeah, this was during EPL, obviously we had the online stage 1 stage 2 before the LAN playoffs.
Legacy did beat NAVI 2-0 in an online game.
I also believe Emma made reference to this in an interview about it. It would be nice to play against
Legacy to get revenge. So it's a seeding game, sure
But I also think it's a clash of styles legacy
Quite the firecrackers and then you got the sudden RV or the the structured punch. So it's a fun stylistic clash
Fire versus ice
So they've started, Zion would be apartments, gives Mezzie a little bit more freedom to hang
out on the short side.
Robs is taking the secondary orb to the palace aggressive line.
And the sentiel's got the unenviable task of having to tussle with Flamesee on the ramp
side.
I say that, it's actually Flamesee departs, he's going for a walk, Robs has got the info
There's nothing palace. So why not have a stretch of the legs speaking of essential has started to probe
As he on that short side is gonna have his work cut out for him audible now to sissy up on the cap
And a headshot fight not easy nice from sissy removes messy opens up some avenues with the opening kill
That's his third opener and baits third opener. So sissy's been delivering in that department at least
Gets pulled, Robson pallets, and he goes, catches Apex as well, can they convert this?
You kind of have to. Robs onto NPL, hitting a nice shot, but it's
and sent the old down onto the swing, that's rough. Okay, you've got to convert.
Sizi set you up, Flamesee on this ramp flank, Alex has been spotted.
Robs from pallets and Zybel on Cat with Sizi staring at him.
Tag from Robs is off, nice again from Sizi, but Flamesee, he still wants to take this one.
He was the double digits right here and now it's not the bomb you could rops has it smoking a kit on flames
He that's exactly their plan is still plenty of time
The smoke and a nice spray from kens is all of these rops
For kill flames in the 1v1 scissi versus flames. He knows he's going to be just gonna try and sit it
But scissi finds it through the smoke high impact quad kill from scissi gets bait their second
Yeah, he's fun to watch nice round from the kid
two. It's far from enough. It's far from far from the course. But when you up against
the best team in the world, anything will do at this point.
It says he just such a thorn in the side there. You think it sent you should have ropes here
dead to right, but it's very noisy on that. It gives ropes enough time to adjust smoke
turned out being all right. Crazy. Thank you very much. Okay. Well, I would have just taken
down Alex. Poor guy's had a rough off. He's had a very rough off. Don't do him like you
guys did a zoo we'll on that.
Right up please. Cool. Be nice. This is he again. There we go. Be gone. This is him.
Equalizer. He got that cheesy bread. Such a significant thing. This is him. And it has
to be given to you by an Australian so well done.
look at mezzie borrows in the apartments all there's
since he then with the all forget what work once it's go to you don't see it
too often but why not
flames he is uh... try to find that angle over the top of the window smoke
coping says he does
go searching or if they were a group for a beef in issue messy is it
even if he's not good for one the info comes in so early that the rotation
should be a bit of a less than flashing this he is getting what look at this
angle
I don't know, do I feel... it'll surely amp your heart, please.
Yeah, sure, but I mean, I don't fancy his chances.
What a duck.
Sential trading.
Accelerating.
E-Penks.
Weird angle.
This one.
That's a very weird angle.
He nails the headshots, but wants to send you on the cross.
Well done!
Springs together a second as well, so...
Hello, Shizgy!
This is Harry!
He's gonna run Springs it down to the 1v1!
16-year-old sniper!
Gotta get the bomb.
You can do it. He's got the time.
Nice parkour as well from Cy.
We'll get some onto the short side, but he's already made it across.
Could we get back to that quad kill? Sissi trying to find some impact. Looking for Zaiwu towards the market side.
Doesn't know he's made the jump across and now closing the gap with the 5-7.
He isn't absolutely none the wiser than Zaiwu. He's right behind him, rounding the corner with that 5-7 back.
Stop and deny! Zaiwu finds the 10th for Vitality. Sissi's trying his hardest, but they are getting torn to shreds on their map pick.
Oh, what a feeling.
And who's taking the fruit from this?
I'm feeling it.
Oh, what a feeling.
Turn it loose.
And walk on secret.
Come on, get together.
Who's tonight's the night?
And even if you're feeling blue,
It will be alright
Leave your troubles behind
And have no doubt
Don't give a word about a thing
Lay it on the ground
Oh, what a feeling
At the break of dawn, a brand new day Everything will be brighter in some kind of way
But the love forgets the thought that ties
Tonight the bill is locked in the night
No clouds in the night
Oh, oh, oh, oh, feeling
I'm saying the proof of this
I'm feeling
We're back for the Intel Extreme Masters and it's comfortable for Vitality Mouth 1.
Looking to throw the knockout blow to bait and secure himself to spot the playoffs forced to play two best of threes in a day
That's what happens when you lose to Beppu. You know, that's the way she's gonna go sometimes
Sometimes it's like that. It's not seeming like the end of the world
But let's see they might have something to say about that. They're now on the CT side of their map
Let's go Alex. This is it a nice cuba retas
Mama got your name or he represents the devil. Which one is it? Um, probably a name thing. Yeah
I'm gonna rename him to Alex zero eleven three though if you know no no no come on. Let's go
Oh, there's a damn switch set up
Cancels off cancels or has to find out an immediate headshot, but a sentiel is good for flamesy. That's why I can't see sore
Oh my shots anymore. Yes. He can slow a sequence from a sentiel. It could still be all for naught
Come on Alex. This is it. Oh, they're faking. Yeah
a 16 year old kid who's getting to travel around the world, he's in America.
He's out here playing against Vitality and he's putting on a bit of a show, so that's nice.
Okay, so Vitality will take the economical, complete deeds, a couple of glocks,
and annoying decoy.
Alright, they should be shredded here.
But Vitality has taken the conservative option to bring the guns out quickly into the next.
So that one is done. They haven't wasted too much of anybody's time. And now the investment will come through.
They will have established the fact that was the eco. So they know that those AKs will be equipped in their face in a moment.
And how many rounds could they string together? We know the T sides, at least on the fight. Nuke has been a little bit worrisome for vitality.
Again, I will continue to bring the context of, yes, they haven't been practicing for the last week or so, but they are warming into things.
Flamesy. Insta window. Top cat in play as well.
Sissy, up and into the van, he's got his AWP, and he's looking for the fight.
Oh, and fight he shall, onto Zyber with a nice opener.
Aim, movement, and some productivity on display.
Other than Kendi's not getting an enemy kill against the Eco just there, the only man who's delivered them has been Sissy.
Yeah.
I was his fourth, so he's gonna make it more difficult.
Rob's well aware of the sandwich by the looks of things.
But how he's got power now if he has.
He saw the knee when he crouched.
Oh, it might have been a little knee.
Over extension of the knee.
If X gets the info, still Alex gets a kill.
You're spewing about that one.
Pretty good, let's leave it.
Censors all down after one.
Finding Rops is big, but now he's quick to the trade.
Woo, he's quick to a sentiel two.
1v1.
1v1, has he got another one in him?
Sissie's been clutched in, he's been closed in.
16 frags against Vitality and a flick up.
He can't be stopped.
Good stuff.
He's having his game.
17 frags.
He's at the top of the table in the server.
Yeah, he's the opener and the closer right now.
That's his third 1vx situation.
How can you not be G'd him up?
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
And as you said as well, you know, you have to kind of put yourself in his shoes
and realize just how special this is.
Strong individual performance.
Look at this move, but look at this kill as well.
As I would put the trigger first, as he just had the AWP and he catches up with a nice flick.
You win the next gun round and you're going to start pissing Vitality off.
Yes.
So they're working towards it.
Interesting to see a couple of AKs in the mix on this one, so knowing that Bait had been softened up financially, they want to continue to apply that pressure.
Now MaxLossBurn is going into the next. With this type of investment, I would love to see Vitality get the plant to keep the buys flowing, at least in a full department.
Apex already a lot of space under window. Wow, he's taking this in me.
AK finds the first blood.
MPL might be in trouble here.
It's kind of commited. You can jump into the ladders room if you need to get out.
Never mind.
Yeah, it was always going to be tough, right? They could get down a man, so you're trying
to draw back the fight too.
Good shot there from Kenzie's or to still just make it a one man.
And now, Sissy's just made it a 3v3, so back in it.
That's a great catch. Removing Robbs when he's on his active lurk, that's another impressive
feat.
That's the invitation. Look at Sizi's in the flow state right now. Yeah, he is. Pushes
up ramp and is solo responsible for the A site. You're not going to expect him to have
taken ramp control. You assume he's ticket or maybe he floated back to jungle. So Sizi
may have won the round with his positioning alone. Let's see.
Continue this life game. Yes, he can. Catches another.
Apex goes down. Trade from Zybu, lethal.
Now, we are going to see the plant go down.
And it looks like Zybu's going to hear that.
The rotation's through.
He's got the jungle rotate completely cast.
So it is going to be channeled through CT,
which is why Flamzee has balanced his AWP
and puts himself on the line.
Oh, but staying on this line now,
he's going to be committed if they cross-ticket side.
So he needs to hit the shot.
Hacking his aim. Fully concentrated.
Kassar Zybu goes leisurely.
Walk into the crosshairs of that sniper rifle.
I don't think a sentiel is going to have too much to say about this one.
No kid either.
Nice headshot onto Flamesy, he's not planted for Zywoo, but he has you on the cross and you didn't have the kid.
Fight RT 11, bait 5.
Maybe a little bit of disagreement there, but...
Or maybe misunderstanding, I wouldn't say disagreement.
But Apex just made a show of mezzier to support the situation while I was just...
All right, well the game is essentially one in this next round of play
I know people might be remembering the game a legion versus naffy craziness that we had yesterday
But right now with two famuses at one and four and two MP 9s and the lost bonus in the bottom of the barrel
But you lose this one and the game goes with it
Curious to see why he makes this call when he knows there's so many ramifications to it winning it
He's feeling himself as well apex with you seen some of the moves that he's making
He's playing some odd angles too and hidden some big shots I with 18 frags for him
No, CZ AWP
Yeah, I can't help but feel like a
That might be costly so much impact the only real impact from bait has been with that CZ sniper
Yeah, you can attribute at least three of these five rounds to CZ alone
not alone all right this is let me let me stay in the realms of reality for a
moment while they were expecting some type of a mid aggression they didn't get
at least what they had prepped for and now they head back towards a to set up
an execute just take a look at the sheer amount of utility the vitality have
right that all the smokes will be in play they're gonna have the molly for
under balcony they can use one to stop the bench crawl you can molly ticket as
Well, this is quite a luxury.
does go down. It's Mezzi and Apex. They're 2-1-2 versus NPL and essential.
Up on the stairs, NPL trying to close the gap. Mezzi's holding for this though.
He's going to have to win. Apex clutching. Yeah, that's the denial. It does get close. You can't
deny. Comes down just to the 1v1, but Apex able to pick up the 12 and also condemn bait to a very
ugly force by out of the game. Yeah, no money here. Going to be famous as an MP9 again. Maybe 5-7.
It's going to be the choice for some, but the binds are starting to take shape this you think that Alice has to win this fight
I understand he didn't necessarily have to jump on flames there
But flames he was worrying about a lot stairs wasn't actually smoked or mullied off either until later in the piece
So it did look a little bit difficult and I don't know why Messi wants to tell that because one play is gonna
Keep a face contained as he just has to win that one be one and then it should be round
So did that play a little bit of extra pressure apex, but he is having a good map a ramp aggression
And nobody home so from an A execute now into a B execute as MP on the balcony.
Sizi trying to get over there in time.
MPR's gonna have a lot of work.
He's been with Nades and he's playing committed.
He's tucked in.
Hoped he had the role to make it clear and Messi with a par then.
Flames he runs at Sizi, Mac 10 just shredding heads.
And that should be the end of our first map of this series.
Now a bracket final for Group 8.
looks like two bans and three is in the day. Looks good for Vitality.
And they're warming into things nicely.
How that is a dominant one. 13 to 5.
Sizi a standout. He is at the top of the tables in the 35 loss.
This young 16 year old one for the future, but will it be the future of this series?
That, well that's a discussion for others. It's Dust2 up next and that's Vitality's big.
Yeah, and we don't have Dominic. They've been on this map throughout this year.
Last three months 93% win rate. We'll give you all the numbers after that, but
it's hard to be able to sit here and go, oh yeah, they had this chance.
They were never really in that map bait were they? Just a couple of highlights as you outlined from Sizi, but let's throw this one to the desk
When are we when are we going to full bangs?
Actually clip that we'll play that later
round and then the round right after that which I don't know how to call then I saw them save
three AKs in the first gun round and then two AKs in the following round I'm like this is over
like there's nothing worse I know how teams keep doing this like yeah guns are cool you know like
you're more likely to get a kill with an AK armor than you are with a P250 no armor but it's also
like money is even cooler trust me right and then when you end up saving those guns obviously
get money bonus and then you have a mixed buy in the next round and then you're going to lose that
right because they have everything like just take the hell just go die try to get a couple of kills
try to keep some pressure on their economy then half buy do a hero ak right like the economy matters
in the in the bigger picture and in more in the long term because this way in the first four or
five rounds like they didn't have anything it was just mixed buys they didn't know what to do
Vitality was owning them, got all the momentum and that was it.
It's a huge risk not to go for the money instead of the guns, you mean?
Yeah, I mean, that was one of the things is that, you know, like Shank is saying,
that you know, you're limiting yourself in resources by saving.
And I think the problem with Bay unfortunately is that they actually don't need extra encouragement
to not buy resources. They're a team that I've seen multiple times in previous demos
and on the Mirage specifically, where they either use a lot of their utility on the mid-fight,
Focusing on trying to force an entry that way or they just don't buy the utility that they need to breach into bomb sites
And you know you're against the best team in the world here
If you're thinking that you can just simply run out and out aim them
I just I don't I think they need a reality check in that sense speaking of utility
You may have round six was one that you wanted to find out because the simplistic style of bait is not gonna cut it against that
It's just absurd to me that they come in with so I think they had two nadesets in this round since he gets an opening
Pecky had an insane game to be quite honest for bait and they have a smoke coming into this B bombsite
but Messi sliding gets two kills and
Even though this ends up being baits first round win
So to speak within that T side it you could just tell the that they don't prioritize that as a means to entry
Yeah, I think it's just been tough
The problem the problematic thing is as well like it's simple when to save on the T side
you save on the T side when
and you're buying the next round anyway, right?
And you don't want to expend the money that you have.
Round six, you mean we run it one more time?
Yeah, so, I mean, you can see the Nades on the side there.
They have two sets of Nades.
The Rops is going to swing from short.
Sizi gets this entry, and this is Rops
maybe overplaying his hand.
Typically, if they're going to approach for middle,
Vitality like to breach that together.
But Messi plays a really conservative angle,
and they just don't use their smoke.
They're so fixated on the idea
Messi will play in the site because they lost mid control and there you can just you can see that there's there's no interplay between these players the
Sizi's on an island
They're trying to play crossfires around the spot smoke that they later deployed into market and if not for the fact that that Sizi is able to
Sort of continuously draw the attention of all these vitality players. I just think they lose this after plot
Yeah, I like the fact that we we get an example of around you know where well
You're not necessarily happy with the way they approach it the winning regardless
But there was one of the few rounds they they wanted this game
You know the following round Yankee and other one not going the way of Bates, which was at the time very much needed
Yeah, and I was also disappointed with how timid they are
You know you're going up against vitality and just playing some slow default trying to you know get some space
And you're doing that when you had saved guns, right and not all utility. So it just looked horrible
So once we do get into this round, we'll see a bit of an example how
potentially they tried to switch it up just a little bit but in the grand
scheme of things right now Vitality were just super on point and we're doing
much better because at the start here this is the resets round they run out
for a faster mid texture so okay cool they're doing something a little bit
more aggressive at the very least but once they do establish this mid control
that's where things start falling apart yet again right Zaewoo is going to play
connector with his AWP, he's going to just punish Kensi's or spamming here through the smoke, immediately
go into a flash play for Flamzy, he gets one kill, doesn't even see the second guy really, but
Zywoo finds one more Flamzy and it's just a clinic from these two all single-handedly
sort of dismantling bait in that round. And that's what's part of the, you know, these two rounds back to back
it kind of shows in the comparison between how the teams prioritized their resources.
Vitality, we see all the interplay that they do. We see all the flashes that Apex sets up, whether it's Lai Wu or the HEs that they use.
They make their lives so much easier in that way, where I feel like bait almost try to win by hard mode.
And you're just not going to out-aim these guys.
I know the opposition in this game is not the highest quality when you compare Vitality as an opponent.
Obviously, they're used to playing against the best team in the world, but there was a time where we argued if you were to find one loophole in the map pool,
it could potentially be Mirage. As of late, we've seen them playing more and more Mirage and we see
them be a bit more successful on it. Would you make the case Yankees that Mirage as a loophole or
maybe as a weakness in Matelius's map pool is no longer the conversation and that conversation is
maybe now Steven towards Nuke? Well, perhaps to some extent the problem is you just look at their
map pool and everything looks so good. Mirage was the only one that stood out for a little bit
and perhaps teams fall into that trap but they just look at the stats. You know, what's their
inferno-like at the moment. No one knows really because they haven't played it in ages. So maybe
we see some teams become creative and start testing them out, but definitely it's always the case
if a team is weak on a map and gets targeted a lot. Well then they play it a ton and they get
more reps and they get better on it and they understand how teams are sort of abusing them.
And we see that with a lot of teams, a lot of different maps and I wouldn't be surprised if
that's what's happening here with Vitality as well. And I do think there are a lot of teams
just simply aren't confident enough in their Anubis to really pick it into Vitality because they've actually punished teams that
Historically have been very good on that map. And so, you know, you enter this sort of black box
But they don't play Anubis a ton and then you're forced to play the maps that are typically seen in their best of threes
They'll they'll veto that out if they want and sometimes just float the ancient and see if they can anti-strat a team that they maybe
Spot a vulnerability or two now
It wasn't all bad for for bait if you were to find a positive then city, you know
with his individual performance right here in Mirage,
even though that it didn't culminate in a lot of rounds one,
you know, he was capable of winning a few clutches
and making sure that they got a few rounds on the board.
But to see him play better and better for Bate,
I guess that's also a good thing for them, you know,
in terms of them recalibrating and getting back into contention
at these tier one tournaments.
Definitely wasn't the passive one in this game, right?
Like he woke up a little bit later,
but established some dominance on this map.
And I think that's the recipe for Bate,
like what he was doing, sort of letting it loose a bit, being just aggressive, trying
to use his individual skill, right? I don't think bait is the position where they can
play these slow-paced games against Vitality. They'll just be one step ahead, right? So
play with some more pace, take more risks for you that can be the only way sort of to
victory.
I just want to see them throw some grenades for each other. I do think that there's a
role issue here, where almost there's this confidence, this bravado from all the players
where, you know, on good teams as you rise to the ranks, people do have to play support
roles. That just simply has to be something that someone slots into eventually. And I
just don't think that that's actually properly ironed out for the bait system.
Well, let's bring that into the commentation in the context of the next map. Dust2 is coming
up. We know Vitality's strength on that map. We know the track history. We know that
that's one of the maps that they almost seem unbeatable on, to some extent. You want more
grenades, you want more utility? Is that a key territory for you?
Well, I mean, so long as they're not just throwing them all over the longhouse, then
I do think that there's a possibility here. I mean, this is the type of map where you
can brute force into bombsites a little bit, because CTs are actually expending a lot of
their HEs to blow up in smokes. They will maybe have to flash into the upper tunnels
just to get information, same for the long fight as well. So they can feel quite restrained
in that sense. And I think for bait, it's all about simplification. Like you said, you
you want to see them take a few risks. Vitality will respect the map to a certain extent, but if you
start playing this timid, passive style, then they're the ones that are going to get away with some of
this risk-taking. I'm not going to try to bait you into giving me a reason as to why Vitality can
lose this game to Bait and why we're going to see a third map. Nothing really points in that
direction. I think just complacency. Complacency? Just complacency? Sorry if they get ahead of
themselves a little bit and maybe lose some discipline, but that's where the Apex steps in.
one more time, you know, I don't think he's gonna allow for something like that to happen.
Xtas obviously as well standing behind and this is just their playground, right? Like every player
is just so comfortable on this map that they don't need to do like crazy stuff to have fun on it.
They just have such a great understanding on the map, like winning is always fun.
And I think if they just play their standard game, Vanilla, for Vitality on Dust2, they have it in
the back. Sissi's gonna keep up the performance though. If we want to have any reasonable talk
about bait having a chance at this map. If you can do anything to mitigate Zywoo or at least pick
off some of his teammates then yeah maybe we can have a conversation but that seems very very far away.
I think I shared the same sentiment with the two of you. The best we can hope for is a competitive
map between bait and Vitality. There's no doubt that Vitality are the heavy favorites heading
into dust 2. One more win and they will secure a spot in the playoff. Where's for bait they would
have been eliminated from IEM Atlanta. We're heading to a short break but once we're back it
could be with the culmination of a telly taking on babe.
We are back!
We are back!
We are back!
We are back!
Alex, what the hell is happening?
And of course, the team you know are hard.
Is this really necessary?
There it is!
I'm not gonna do it now!
I'm not gonna do it!
I'm not gonna do it!
I'm not gonna do it!
You!
The Dispatch, the all-new season, premieres February.
So I'm stood here with arch from
Bates. First off, I'd like to
say thank you so much for taking
the time because I know you guys
have a very important game coming
up against Vitality. You guys
went through a bit of some
struggles for a little bit
finding an orper finding
consistency. I will be honest,
I did not rate your team very
highly coming into this event,
but you've had some extremely
impressive wins. How has the
practice and the team play been
team play been developing in your opinion?
I think we're trying our best to develop all the time.
We just try to progress.
Yeah, I understand that some people expected more from us
after the last major run,
but since we had a change,
we understand that we might do two steps back,
sorry, one step back to make two steps forward.
So that's just fine.
Yeah, we're trying to progress event by event, and basically we're just doing our best, yeah.
You're the CEO of Bait, it's not often that you see CEOs always travelling with the team,
what's it been like from that end and being able to stand with the squad as they make
a great run so far this tournament?
The thing is, I myself, a former pro player in both CS and Valorant, so yeah, it's just
insane to keep traveling with the team because I just cannot live without these emotions.
That's the first thing, second thing, yeah, I just like traveling and yeah, that's just
a part of my life.
This might feel like a weird question given who you're against, but how confident are you
feeling going up against the Vitality given that you actually played Betboom earlier in
the tournament and pushed them quite hard and they were able to topple Vitality and
you were able to take down another one of our favourites in foot. It feels like you guys
are hitting a stride. How does it feel for you?
I think... But BOOM played really good against us, but we also didn't play our A game far
from our best game, that's for sure. So I think if we keep up the same form as against
BC game and today against FOOT, I think we have some chance, even though Vitality is
like the best team in the world, they are too good, but if some teams can beat them from
time to time, then we can get our chance also. So yeah, we will just try and see how it goes.
Well, thank you so much for your words. I wish you the best of luck in the game.
We'll see how bait do against Vitality.
Yeah, best in the world. You heard it there from the, uh, the mouths of baits. And now
while they've got to do something that very few teams in the counter strike world have
done, and that's wind us to versus my time. Are you on the numbers? I like numbers. I
do like numbers. I usually go of all times. Let's start there. This five man vitality
roster are 49 wins, five losses of all time. 49 and five. If you just look at 2026, they're
18 and one and the only loss they had to Mr. Ford fit the coach standing in. Yes, I remember that one.
Which is just so stupid, isn't it? Anyway. It's always the way. It's always the way. Let's go this
one underway. Complacency was the word the desk used to describe the undoings of vitality in
to map number two or the potential undoings. It's hard to see it go down that way, but let's see.
Hey, stranger things have happened.
City side start for Bate.
They'll get to play all 12 of them on this map.
Speaking of stranger things,
let's see if Alex can start stronger.
Zero and 11 on Mirage.
Oh, nice clean shot there from Flamesee,
so not the ideal start.
Sissy though, you had a great time on Mirage,
you won't be having a start on Dust2,
so I always put it down long range clock.
Yeah, we saw them during the warm-up. Everyone was kind of doing like a show in tell. It's
getting on long. So you're going to look at his knife and they're dropping each other
the M4s and the AKs. It's quite a nice vibe out there.
So it's going for the lime green set. You know, everything has got that kind of a match
to his green gloves. I don't know about Senthiel's combo there.
What's he going for? He's like, it's like leopard print gloves. I like it with the
and Julie's, but I feel he was dropped those Julie's.
They're not his.
Yeah, but it is a lot of clashing pattern.
Yeah, and same with the knife.
It was like a caramba.
This is nice.
Obviously a pink combo here for Kenseth.
I like what Kenseth was doing there.
Yeah.
Well, not the most fond of the whole blue-red situation
we've got here.
That's very contrast.
Which team are you on?
Yeah.
There we go.
Red and red from yes.
And this is a nice thing around.
Scale's a knife, quite a nice knife.
Yeah, it's good.
Oh, and Zai was gone very fun, boy.
Wow, look at that.
That's vibrant.
New gloves.
Gonna be careful though, right?
Players will be able to tell who you are by your gloves.
I think there should be a rule.
Every one of the team has to use the exact same skin.
Yeah, otherwise you'll have quests to go,
red gloves, red gloves, is it Earthy?
Oh dear, okay, come on, babe.
Just give us a little sun-sum.
I think Australia's game region will be close.
I expect a real free map affair with that one.
I thought we were gonna get foot versus vitality,
but bait owned foot.
They did.
They two owned him.
So, you can't put anybody's fault other than foot.
Yeah.
Oh, missed the Hymn smoke.
Oh, the scout would actually get a little bit
of a sideline if you had it.
Yeah, it still worked, okay.
It looked like it was the Hymn smoke,
but either way, it's still puffed up.
Flash to the ready, fight on shore.
Here it comes.
Big biff, it brawl.
Yeah, okay, wow, we've got three players
getting flashed in here.
Apex is empty though.
Oh, they get flashed.
Oh, oh, they're bastard each other.
All right, come on, Sizi.
There he goes.
Okay, two zero start for my Tali.
And so, we were out of the bar and there was this guy.
He came up to me.
And they were completely blind.
it's just the puppy dog energy that we're getting right now
welcome to that camera, well done for that shit
oh dear
I don't think you're allowed to have that much fun at your job, come on now
so that was when your job was full
oh, this is always having some fun
the old perhaps not
and a very quick return from vitality from the Divine
It can still quick on the map, 6-0 start.
I don't think we, I don't know if we have fun at our job all the time,
but I reckon more often than not.
And there's one key reason that we do, that these players do not.
What is that?
We don't win or lose.
That's true.
We do not, no matter what happens, we are in a neutral state.
Yes.
We will never feel as good as they do.
Sure.
But we can never feel as bad as they do.
Exactly.
And I'll take that.
I'll say that any day of the week.
It's a trade-off
But you as a as a competitor you don't get that adrenaline
That's for sure that that does suck but you know how it sucks getting knocked out of a tournament and then having to sit there on a
15-hour flight
Thinking about it. Oh, that's something out and glad we're going to see a see though that they'll be in CAC
Oh, gosh, so so that's a way from home for another I don't know if they'll go direct or not
I'll let I'll show the dates, but right now. This is got his all but that's like that. We like scissi with the all
I just go into a short exit. Exactly. They've made sure the Sizi can't pop holes in those
mid smokes. They are just starting to standard 2-3. Kenzoa sent you're doing this in vogue
up-down setup to deal with anybody probing P, getting ready for those pops. But this
cluster of vitality, the buzzing to execute. Those flashes are going to be great for Anzai
with Sizi as he heads back. So can they stall them out?
We're going to catch MPL as well. Force attack in. Oh, flying. Flame C5 is the opening. Apex
Ops to MPL and the A site is theirs. Very little you can do. I guess the main objective
now is don't die to Robs if you can avoid it because he is in such perfectly timed pursuit.
just vacated the B ramp. You've been spotted in the window and Robs can just tap your heads
with a clean click. That's gorgeous. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I'd be a quick one. I'd be
a quick one. We've got the clip ready though. So it's fine. Yeah, we can play that again.
Play that again. Well, I think the figure that I saw on the little lower third was 30
33 consecutive playoff appearances for vitality as an orc, right? That's not with rocks
Yeah, that's the best things as well, but just to take people back in time. It was kind of it's a 2024 was the last time
They didn't make
playoffs
so
There would have been some history being made today if
Well, the score was going the other way and then they would have had their top four streak broken as well
That could still happen right there top four streak can still be because they can only be in the quarter five
They don't get the auto berth into the semis
That for this group is being battled on between bet boom and pain right now who I think are going to be heading into their second map shortly
CT setup just so everyone's aware we did get it in the last rifle round and you go very plainly
But it was Kenzo and a senthe level towards being Alex the in game little be anchoring down long
NPL will be the rotating a rifle and then of course is the on the AWP apex. Can you take these away?
No shot from Kansas all I like that one right between the eyes
I was gonna try and stall them out from picking up the AK. I've already got past this. Oh
They were past so I was dodging duck thing and
Try get out of the way
Okay, well at least you get the AK for MPL. Yeah, that's nice
Well, they are gonna be buying into the next round regardless
But at least I prefer this than the T side start where they had those saves which just put them in a pit
I think Alex wants to go down anyway. I really want to retain his scout
So he will be able to a full equip himself
I also want Alex to get a kill a little bit earlier on the knee than he did last time right now
We have kensel with three and everybody else on nil
Oh
Very reminiscent of the first map. Hmm
Sissy's got the sniper though second time we've seen the AWP in his hands. Let's see if he can that
Find the similar impact we did on mirage
Oh, two sub-perfects. No. And wanted to go for the fight too, it wasn't just to have
wanted a lower tunnels bush. So the fact that they've fluffed out whenever it slides
doesn't cost them anything, but we know how good Zara can be.
He knows tags on the cross.
In-smoke lands this time and claims he roms paired up, will be getting through the lower
tunnels. So they feel the assistance of Apex required to throw the molly into lower dark
to put this one out.
What do they feel like they can do it on their own?
This couldn't be any more of just a standard Dust2 setup right now, just a 2-1-2.
This is so classically Dust2, they aren't doing anything out of the box, maybe mid-round,
they might want to start grouping up and see if they can find this setup I like, right,
where you have one player on the round with...
Oh, he's actually going to play Goose, never mind.
He's going to pull the way as well.
Yeah.
CNPL's attention drawn by the flash through the doors.
Vitality, just 60 seconds to try and access his site.
with their more advanced short control up, Cat.
I wonder if it's, yeah, okay,
so it's gonna be laid back through long.
This will actually be tough
because this is on the line,
so Apex better be a damn good flash.
Oh, smoke's good.
Yeah, he's gonna play around the edge of it, though.
Gotta snail it onto flames, he betrays not that.
As he couldn't find the frag, he looked flat.
Oh, he just dips back in for a second.
Now it has to be a mid to B,
but you don't even have a smoke for CT.
It's not looking good, is it?
Tunnels have just been pretty slow for 30 seconds.
Yeah, maybe you're safe.
Safe?
Yeah, wait, look.
Wow, I have a lot of money, but great work from Sizi.
He found the answer.
Yeah, okay, well, I'm gonna return to it later on,
and Sizi just lingers around.
It's good to see that confidence.
The Desmond also highlighted, hey, this could be,
you know, win condition, having to throw,
I don't wanna say the strap book out the window,
but he didn't even take any crazy risks there.
He just took his chance that was presented to him
in that situation.
So well done from Sizi.
Arch gives out the fives and five to one is the score.
So there you go, they're on the board and we just need a whole lot more of that.
So really from our position, we're looking for consecutive.
Here it is again.
Flash comes over using their smoke against them, peers out, flames he goes down
and got the stubbornness to stick around.
Doesn't want to back off as he removed from the equation.
I mean, that's what good counter strike looks like.
Looks easy.
Okay, this time starting with a little bit of a short presence from MPL.
But more of the same from Vitality with their Obna, Sizi, starting the orb middle.
Has himself a HE to break, so he comes down to the timing on this.
They're not gonna catch anybody.
Oh no!
Oh, get off the grass!
I'm sorry. Apex, that's... I think that's unacceptable.
Uh, expect a formal apology.
get off the grass I'm trying to really embrace my age you're gonna see me
walking around with one of those like bowl of caps for whatever I do that all
the time legitimately make sure I get my fire room for breakfast because I have
some prune juice this doesn't feel like a match for the spot it doesn't the
quarterfinals does it all right mid to B sential is he cleared no he's not
flamesy little distracted and now apex has got a lot of work to do there is
another one he actually nearly killed MPL through the smoke unconfirmed but he
gets away with one point of health and there's nothing more for these two to do
other than save it's the best bet. Get off the grass. Okay, distinct lack of
frags. We've got one, two, three, two eggs. Good we could count. Yeah. Base level
mathematics around here. So, CAC, anyway. That's a tournament. There's seven teams
who are in Atlanta who are going to be going to CAC. That's going to be happening
Shanghai so we'll get to see more bait before the major. There's so many events on the lead-up to
the major. I feel like the major's like tomorrow and there's still... It's two weeks away. Yeah,
there's so many events still. June 2nd stage one click. Like a star is still kicking. Yeah,
a star is still kicking. A land's happening. We've got CAC and then... Then. At the main course.
Main course. What we've all been waiting for. Yeah. Look at that. Yeah, get off. You're upset
about that. Well, I'm upset about that. It's like a timeout call from bait.
That should be Sizzys, right?
Yeah, where's Sizzys?
That should be Sizzys, probably, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's gonna happen.
I don't know.
It's camera shot, really, isn't it?
Apex is literally twice Sizzys age.
Crazy, actually, yeah.
We've got Hootsie coming up next.
He's been molding a lot.
On cam.
Considering some of the frustrations, I don't mind the mould.
Justifiable mould at times.
He's been letting loose though. That one from yesterday.
If I can get my hands on that tape.
Right. The full like 60 second rant.
Okay, double ops. Let's go, babe. That's the change up. That's off the time.
And that's what we're looking for right now.
So I will drop down suicide, rattles off a shot and...
It's probably going to be a late long pop.
Okay, but there's no Sizi to worry about this time.
It's going to be on the last second. Flash has come in.
Just gonna spam the smoke, does some significant damage to two of them. Flamesy and Mersy catching bullets.
Barrel spotted.
Oh, spotting a jump up.
Oh, still!
Gets the headshot onto Sizz, he couldn't react in time.
Xyro go through middle and essential.
Caught in a transition was just making his move.
Wow, I'm...
Unable to keep up with how quickly Vitality are winning.
Guys, what are we doing?
Save him for the Vod review!
Like, what are we doing?
No, we're doing...
Look at it!
I'll say you can go out for dinner, you know?
Okay.
Skip Vod review, review, review.
Hit match.
10 rounds.
Alright, that's 7 to 1.
So, I hasn't killed anyone on the cross though, so if you're looking for someone to celebrate...
MCZ.
Progressive AWPing from the MCZ, he's gonna be looking towards the lower tunnels,
it's Robson Flamesy on their default parthing.
Well they're gonna get Molly, they're gonna get down on Molly.
Oh yeah.
Nothing from top mid yet.
So that hasn't synchronized perfectly since he is in trouble.
Still hits a nice shot onto Apex, Gens' or Trapped.
And goes down to Flamesy.
I appreciate the gear shift trying to ring the fire.
I appreciate something 4v4.
Yeah, it's a nice try.
Can you use someone to work with?
Flash in the smoke.
This little pop flash, Robson was actually gonna push on that,
but then Pialtas, catch him.
What happened? Did Robson get lost?
I don't know, it was a delay.
Yeah, I'm not sure what the the hold up was. Oh just in time. Alex is across
There's a zone we're gonna arrive. He's got the perfect pre-game. It's just gonna be messy
Turned and Alex comfortable
For bait in pursuit of this two on four. It should be easy to close down less
Yeah, you didn't want that Alex done indeed. Okay, that should be round
Do you see the flames ace against?
phase to end the game. I didn't. It was a bit of a lineup tour, but it's like they're
in OT and you get an ace and that's actually wins the game. It's pretty cool. One of the
best ways to end it is they were doing a top play our heart. A lot of them line up there
in the sun. It was not the sickest thing in the world, but I say that. I don't know how
many professional aces I got. I think zero. So because we did the situation. What? Not
even like an anti eco ace. I guess Aussies for sure, but against like actual opponents.
I don't even have that many officials so this is it let's throw chaos into the mix. Yes that needs to be the recipe for success
for bait doesn't have to just always be off the first timing
But try and make it a bit clunky of a vitality don't allow them to be able to get the map control
They're looking for and then erupt on their timings do it on your own terms and you may as well start swinging for the fence again
This is a home turf vitality. Absolutely best us two team no doubt about that sent the old tagged on the cross and
Emotes on that one. Oh, we're gonna try it again
Kenzizor is going to push through up at the...
Oh, they faked the molly behind him, I like it.
Yeah, that still hits his headshot as well, removes Flamesy, and while Sizi is still committed to lower tons right now,
he'll have to smoke himself out, or, I suppose, commit. Hang out.
Apex's I were actually heading back over towards B, and Mezzy's foregoing this long fight with Alex.
So they know one of the B defenders, Kenzizor, is dead, and maybe they have a good idea that Senpil got tagged.
He's very low. You don't love this for a centio. If he gets one, props to him.
Turns the flashbangs. We'll have a chance at the fight, but doesn't hit that first bullet headshot.
He's so desperately needed. Oh, Messi's got Sissi's crawl here. You think he's got the element of
surprise? He's even looking towards spawn, but as I was the one to move in.
Keep him at the post there MPO and Alex you've only got one option in this one friends get on out of there
There's still so many Molotovs right now for vitality if they wanted they just keep lobbing the window indoors
But we'll get planted 40 seconds begin and the question becomes will there be the hunt are they allowed to save?
The school read 8 to 2
So if vitality win their quarterfinal game they will have 22 consecutive top four finishes
I know it's just accolade counting and I think they don't even really care about that, but
it does history books, remember?
And it's how we mark their greatness.
I think the other point of that as well is when they are on form and they are playing
their best CS, I guess this is a good series of that as an example, how much you want to
say that's the quality of bait, how much you want to say that's vitality, starting to warm
into things, I'll let you at home decide, but you really get a good idea for just how
cohesive this unit is the level of output from everybody well especially when
you know looking at that foot result earlier today bait kind of they rumbled
them yeah they rumbled them comfortably it was always gonna be the map pull for
me there was a problem for bait today but it's vitality that's right because
they remove a new bus which is a map that we've seen a little bit of weakness
for vitality on route and then then nukes not happen they're not believe that
So, Amaraj does two map paulers, that's your gonna get.
Yeah, and Vitality remove, ain't you?
Alex, again, called upon on Long, gotta get out of there.
They started 3B.
Yeah, now Alex is calling for backup as he is posted.
At least this MPL on MPL is downbreak.
Nice. They're pushing up the tunnels as well.
So, map getting smaller for Vitality.
They should be aware of this reaction, so they might want to get a rig along.
They're headed this...
Long smoke.
Just running across. Oh, oh, Sissy's attention was drawn. He
has lost the way. Bones thrown across Alex catches him on retrieval trade from Rob's
line up.
This is all from now is you took could have caught mezzie given the low HP.
How's he gonna get in a plant right now? It's gonna be difficult.
Hey, gee, if it hits mezzie, I don't lose bomb. Doesn't though. And so that plant seems
like a guarantee. Kansas is all going to be battling up that
Molly can do it.
Wait, yeah, it goes down.
Look by MPL, messy on the spray from Robs.
Zywoo drops to a one versus three.
They can smoke bomb, diffuse.
Everything says there should be third, four bait.
Zywoo is mad now.
What's he supposed to do here?
MPL down, wow, quick flick up,
but it looks like it's found that safe haven,
good angle, that is gonna be a third round.
Why is he starting to fuse again?
No matter.
Just wanted to make sure he was tucked away.
There you go, number three.
four at the half, you'll take it.
One, obviously you lose the opener,
or you gain the opener again, thanks to Sizi.
Who is, he's not doing the same hygiene as we saw in Mirage, but he is still kicking up a little bit of a fuss.
Funky turn of events as well during that one, the bomb thrown across and a little bit of a,
a petty puttile.
Not too bad.
No.
How comfortable you are. Yeah, I think the thing is you just want to get this done and put this group stage behind you
Then you're gonna get tomorrow's opportunity to really prep for your quarterfinal
Where no matter who they go up against they are the favorites
Funny that
All right be popped to finish and there's three players here. This looks good
Well positioned for it
Oh, they're gonna cancel now, so they they're fortunate they have the ripcord that is I woo
So well with him controlling Midland and nobody trying to stuff him in that choke point
He does actually allow his teammates to start moving
Lady talk it a lot Sizzy you can have to play behind this
Still if it is a mid to be
Kensi's or sent to an MPL still on that site but that three-man stack could still come in
Ooh, Rob's catching some flak from Kessler.
He hasn't landed back flap.
He's still gonna have to save Haven.
He's sent you up on that roost.
Oh, no.
Wow, doesn't get the kill he needed.
NPL's the one that's racking him up, though.
The only man that could put up at any sort of resistance on the beast's site.
So he dips away just in time to avoid kicking up a advantage.
Would have been a 2v2.
Instead, Vitality now sitting comfortably.
There's, ah, but you gotta have to try.
It's the last round of this half.
Alex, it's your tunnel.
It feels half-hearted, doesn't it?
Yeah, well, give it a go.
Good flash.
Very good flash.
Forces out to put the trigger up.
While blind, on the re-peek as well.
Sine won the re-peeks.
Alex does remove Apex.
Says he can finish off Sine will track from Robs 1v1.
You need this.
You need it and you'll take it.
Does he have the kit just in time?
Alex with a 5-7 gives Bates something to work with.
Four rounds versus Vitality's 8th.
It's looking like it's going one way but they delaying the inevitable three of the last four going their way
I'm no older than the blue lights, keep me up at night, follow you to the dark
I'm no older than the blue lights, keep me up at night, I'm gonna follow this park
There was too much of a path to leave behind before
I know we must go on, go on
I know there's so much more to this world than I thought we would find
I know we must go on, go on
I
For now
Be right Asian player
I have a kill on the short I think
Let's be ready to go
Let's be ready to go
I'm in the car
I'm in the car
Stop, man!
Um, they take it, they take it, they take it.
And so, goose, goose, goose, goose, peek it.
Nice!
Nice!
It was 7-1, but they have managed to wrestle four
as we've swapped sides.
Second map of this one, loser goes home.
Winner, off to the playoffs,
and they're running straight up middle.
Yeah.
Look at this, man, he's so aggressive.
He's gonna be punished.
Is he an opportunity for more,
unable to do so?
Ken Zaw puts two on the floor.
Oh, let's not gonna split pistols again
unless Zaw and Apex can win a two before.
It's not out of the realm of possibility, is it?
The bomb's been picked up now by Ken Zaw.
This surely lines up for a nice finish your the only way I see you losing this if you allow to be picked off one at a time
If you just group up and trade out you win
So MPL make sure nobody can push sure Alex has the mid-door rotation
So when apex are both over towards ace a gambling incorrectly in this one
and they will group up so
They don't Alex is lining it. Sorry. Ken's there is lining up the door smoke does the vitality approach on this pistol
read like a overconfidence to you like a team that just wants to get it done yeah
yeah yeah which I think is fine of course it just means that by operating in
the way they did the game is going to be extended mm-hmm so it will be a to five
Zaywu and Apex if they can hold on to the Kevlar they can turn this into Famous's
in the next round earlier today against FaZe they both bought scouts in one of
their force by ransom and they honestly managed to have a flawless force.
It was, it was quite wild.
You don't see that every day of the week.
You don't, especially with the scouts.
All right.
Well, we're splitting the pistols again this time.
It's the tea science that picked up those.
And fortunately for Bade in the last map, it was Sizi who clutched one hour.
He had a great performance.
If you are just joining us, you missed a quick mirage, but one that I think if
you're going to go and watch, watch it from Sizi's perspective, it's just a
lot of fun to see the kid having some impact. Sure, it didn't really account for a lot of
rounds, but it was still fun to watch. I feel like, you know, for every bait game we've
cast, often there's a mirage and often sizzies at the top of the tables on that map.
Yeah. Or the one that stands out is, I think, why you referenced Kendi's or he was just
very explosive around like jumping from Tetris over towards the stairs and playing up through
Connector and getting multi-kills. Okay, so Zahua has gone the Famous. Apex has decided
to upgrade into head armor 5'7 with Util. But Mesa's the one on the scout this time.
So they are pressuring along with the corner-spoken flashes, but Flamesy's played ahead of this.
So they know they have the long control. This is actually huge.
So to be able to grab that early, your next thing you worry about in this is a pop-through.
And as U2 starts to don the rest of the map, they can start to signify, okay, it's not
going to be a long pop.
It's just going to be this default spread.
Oh, mezzy.
And I'm shooting a B to hit a tag.
They don't have short control just yet, they're about to work on an armbate, so they can only
back short, Flames you a park behind it, so I was there to set him up with a flash.
Flames you a reforester from the deep molotov.
So now four of them congregate over the wood short, and, well, Vitality have gambled for
a B-play.
The biggest issue I see right now is Flames since I'm not having any smokes to stall this.
I don't know how they're meant to defend against this AXE-Q at all five.
One one high. I mean, Simon was far less.
Simon is far less.
Well, can't be doing that.
Sissie finds him. Flames the overlock on the piece. Fine. I stubble kill from him before MPL does trade.
Well, now you can give it a look, right? I think at this point you can definitely jump up and try and contest.
Maybe you catch somebody sleeping and you can still give it a go, but 40 seconds on the clock now.
Yeah, and no, Kate, you're gonna have to go quickly.
It's a running off, gunning.
Oh, dear! It all comes down to NPL.
He's two kills deep, but he's got no health.
19 points of health.
A single bullet from the Mk10 finds his head and vitality.
No pistol.
I'll give a fuck!
No problem.
And they don't give a fuck.
Yeah, I think the fact that they've just run out there
and put those five-sevenths on display like that,
instant death.
Oh. Is that the name of the water they sell?
I think that's the new name of liquid. Um. All right, we'll be able to force by back.
I mean, a very frustrating one to lose for bait when you feel like you kind of done
the hard part. You breach the site. You walked into the less stacked site. And you still
end up getting run out by five seven and shredded it.
Now they're going long. This time they're committing. Okay. We've got the flashes ready,
So you know that there was a third one in door and that somebody was flashing so you know where two of the last three players are
You're not taking that one flames
To be denied quick reroute though. It is quick. You're right apex is gonna have his work cut out from here
He's got a head-to-head duel, but with Sizi already on 40 HP, he had to hit that headshot.
He's provided it. Now, Robson and Mezzi are both on B.
Does make it feel rather inevitable that they're going to collide.
You'd love to be able to get...
Oh, I'll fight on your terms. Instead, it's Robs peeking out window, removing Kens's AWP.
Oh, like showing off some parkour.
I like it!
And spot the toes of Sairou. Still costs him his life, though.
Can't find Sizi. He's disappeared.
Just borrows into CT and he's only got himself a p250. Where does 8k go?
This one would be a special one, wouldn't it? I can't see one this round how I can't either
Yeah, unless it was like a one-sided power cut he's doing hide-and-seek right now. Okay. Yeah prop hunt
Did his 8k go
Did he give it to Alex? I think it's just there. Maybe yeah, maybe gave it to Alex as low good point. Well made. Yep
I was I was looking at the start some of our next game and everything while I was going on after the first two kills came in
I went, okay round over so I was I was starting to get busy with something else. Flash was late though
You were absolutely bang on I did like this move. Yeah, and you got to kill with it
So cool way to play around that CT smoke. All right now there you go. This would be 11
What can you say about this round?
Oh, you can say that was a great digglehead shot.
That's what you can say.
Give us another one.
Like, leg shot through the door.
Got a gun now at least.
No armor though.
Spied him there on the flashbang.
Flames, he's hearing this.
He's hearing this.
Flames, very low.
Jumping up would feel like it would be a bit of an over experience.
Imagine the Vitality E-Care loss.
It could.
Like an appropriate E-Care loss.
Really, really good.
So struggling.
A whole magazine.
Oh no, that's locked out.
He has locked out!
It's a Rob's voice.
I don't think I've ever seen this.
Everything's fine.
Everything's fine.
Mezzy catches Alex on the long side.
NPL, however, with his M4 Pivot.
They can run B.
It's sent to the NPL of running in towards the B bomb site.
And a smoke for Daws.
And look at the health on Flamesy and Mezzy.
There's a smoke for Daws.
They can get in. The bomb will get planted.
They have a very good shot at winning this.
The eco-inverse Vitality would be an incredible achievement.
Are they going to try and milk as much under smoke as they can?
Okay, well...
Could have definitely been thrown deeper.
Are they saving?
Are they saving? He's been out of the hole. I think they're saving.
I think you're right.
I'm sure it has happened.
But I can't remember when I've seen Vitality lose like a proper eco.
A propery.
That was just one deagle.
Yes.
I'm on the side of the times.
Any ramifications? We'll see.
We'll see.
My peck's gonna be pissed.
That is one guaranteed ramification, good point.
He is the one who gave away the opening kill.
I'm looking at that meaning, man.
God.
So if you're gonna be remiss, maybe at yourself,
I can't believe they just want to...
A flippin' acre.
All right, well they're gonna manage this one so we get back the orp.
Yeah, but, you know, yeah, no, it's just, you know, we were spec in it and that's all.
So, you're just gonna love that one.
Double orps.
So still pretty heavy on the investment. I can't believe it.
Oh, that's one of the orps on the cross.
They're back in it. Let's go.
That's cheeky.
Oh, only tagged him.
Yeah, doesn't find the kill he needed.
Okay, so Sizi, sure he's the walking wounded, his biggest enemy's gonna be a Nade.
It's rare to see Apex on the AWP, you know, he's a scout, sure.
Guy can use the scope rifle, but rare he gets the opportunity on the AWP,
only when Robs is given up an opening death, which, as you can imagine, is quite a rarity.
Another one of those, well placed.
Conk, 35, for Kensis or Alex, chipped away as well,
softened up for the M4 headshot potential of Mezzi.
They're selling A essentially, like, so I would just watch as long and they're giving them short control.
Flames is thinking he's going to get some sound cues before they make it into A
and they also know nameplate counter-trot rops is dead so there's a
likelihood that bait want to hit what they believe should be the under
fortified site.
Such a half-eyed one.
Exactly and there's nobody there to actually catching that. Flames would be
Molly down to position here.
Well they missed the Molly completely.
Still though you could just give up the sound cue back some way.
Chris Cross.
Hey, Pax, trying to catch him.
He actually explodes.
He's gonna get caught.
Yeah, it's clunky indeed.
Overlooked his flames.
He needs a multi.
He's gonna need more than a multi.
He's gonna get the whole squad.
Double for Messi.
Sprays down for two.
Flames, he arrives in time for that third.
Ascent, you'll trade it out.
And now Sizzie doesn't have the health for this clutch.
He's got 20 seconds.
Flash lands.
Flames, you're playing the clock.
you playing the clock he knows it's in their favor. Just wait till he starts to plan and run him down.
That's exactly what they're going to do. Goes for it. Send the early throne, he's safe for it,
but backs up into Zywoo. So Vitality will take it. Messi does very well considering the
absence of ropes. He had to do extra heavy lifting. Yeah, now silly Apex looked there as well.
Getting stuck on the corner of the wall and then parthing through the smoke and going down.
But, uh, great job from Bessie, right? This is, uh, smoking a choke point, really,
stuffing any chance they had. So, you win an eco. You don't break vitality.
And then you drop that one. So, immediately reset. They will buy in again.
MPO's gonna use the AWP to go for a long pick. So, this is one way to try and manufacture an opening.
You can have company. Any picks on that corner? And now, MPO, while fully blind,
He actually gets a collateral. You're right flames. He catches one three with the shot onto apex
Opening kill as far as the checklist goes for posting a seventh
That's exactly what the doctor ordered. They've started down a man in almost every single round in this half have vitality
There's only one round. They've actually been able to find the opening
otherwise it's still managed to win three yeah so it's not always the win
condition for bait or the loss condition for vitality once again they
have to put someone on a island so you haven't actually got your expectation
of frags this game so we're gonna let you 1v5 yeah essentially here they come
We'll get there in time to at least take a shot or two.
Tire squad from bait versus Iwo.
Turns the flashes, got hit.
The shot, Alex can't save.
That's round.
It's just tedious, I think, for Vitality now.
And those frustrations, they're not there at the moment.
But again, if they continue to make dents,
and the game extends longer than it should do,
that eco loss.
And he's opening deaths for Apex.
Yeah.
He's given away five opening deaths so far.
50% of his death spinning the open department is one of them
Collateral damage as well very well played by MPL
Plains having what I would think just based on his stats has been the best map of the tournament so far
And they get to hear all five alive they now have double ops on the T side they've been able to scavenge an M4 so all in all
They keep on cooking and that's what you're right though. That's where the frustrations will start to bubble to the surface is when
You know, we've all been there when you kind of already considered the game over you already started thinking about like oh
What we're gonna do next we'll play another one. Yeah, I could do one more. I've done it before there's a match
I played against
This is just a perth team. Yeah, and we had such a huge lead. So I just kept calling fast tops on new can ended up
I think we lost an overtime. Yeah, cuz it's starting then he started that conversation. I okay, maybe we should use it
I'm like, oh, okay, we should take seriously guys, not dealing.
And suddenly you're in OT.
Not another realm as a possibility.
I do find that I've on guard double warp, kicking up a sinew corpse.
Yeah, that's the thing, right? You pick it up, you're gonna have to use it, so let's see.
How are you gonna utilize it? Look at this setup as well. This is a little unusual.
Flamesy forward position with Zywoo.
Mezzie trying to keep attention.
Drawn on the jump up, Alex gets a jump scare.
Yeah, you don't just wanna swing into that either.
That line, whether we've really seen coming, it's quite popular now playing two players.
I think Favre is one of the first teams to start doing that.
And that little cubby where the shutter door is, I see a Nico there.
So this time they do get the opening kill.
Now it's about putting it in.
So Robson, Mezzi have a very up close and personal beat on a crossfire.
They're not really worried about the mid to be at the moment at all.
You look at that smoke at your own risk.
And as it fades, Robson will tuck in.
Mezzi going to be spotting within a grenade in his hands.
We didn't see it? No, we didn't.
Doesn't matter if Robson can clean house.
I clean his shell.
SZ was meant to hold the rotation. Now it's the last man standing.
Flames gives with him and there's 12.
So this one has been casual.
There's been some entertaining moments draw,
but Vitality will not be ending their playoff streak here today.
The top four, that's up for conversation once we do get to Friday.
Alright, one Galil, three AKs and a Scout, a smattering of U-Till and Bates run here at IMA Lanter.
Going to a close.
Yeah, both these teams remember when we started off today had something in common, both lost to Betboom.
Nice tank, very scissi to start, Nezzy, Limpik. Long out.
BL straight out, Flames you on the corner, missed a long corner, smoke, Flames you to swing in and Alex tracks his head perfectly.
Opening kill, Apex down as well, couldn't find the response.
I was committed to the car position as well here.
An opportunity for Sizi to just pluck his head on the uncrouch with that scout.
He's actually been equipped now with the AK-47 out on the low HP.
Sizi down.
Zaru strings together too and it does...
Can you see the scout connect?
Zaru 4HP's out.
That's so brutal.
The fact he gets away.
They're fully committed to long.
Mezzi's been summoned.
Zaru's going, look.
That's an overextension.
God damn.
Okay, just trying to close it.
They really want it done.
That's an overextension! God damn!
Okay, just trying to close it.
They really want it done, don't they?
Uh, Mezzie.
Oh, he's just juggling his own at double HE.
I guess he was thinking maybe, oh, okay.
I thought he was giving it to Robs, but...
Yeah, he might be able to stop the plant with this.
I think that's exactly his plan, Mr. Birchell.
And... it's all about the timing of this and the placement of this HE.
Is that Jill?
Nah, he's planning single, which is no good for Alex.
What do they say? What did they give it a go?
I think they might just give it another go here. Third HE.
And Rob starts to make his move using that smoke, jumping up his messy mantles in.
Kenses all puts it down. This is winnable.
Ascentil hits it.
Necessary headshot found and bait survived for the first of many.
And to the enjoyment of Sizi, they were able to pick up his AWP, or at least,
Zawooz, to give to Sizi. So they have that to wield.
It's gonna be a botched by for vitality is this one extends
Alex getting zahewe down with the scout there, but yeah the long corner. So I missed Alice gets the Ope now onto flames
He then apex I can't remember the last time you had a kill. He's having a lot of deaths at the moment
He floods his lines to and rops has been tagged on the cross. This is some of the death at least but
brought down to 26 at this game
Could have some more twists and turns if they win this they can get to double digitize
We're we're in the hot water now. We're in the deep end. We're at the business point
Sweet AG actually connecting to two
One of these straight bullets through the smoke to connect his message spamming away on that scout
He's only when they text to receive on the A side and they know they have long so that does make things a little bit more
comfortable. The bomb sounds like B though Chad, so is this just posturing? Yeah, maybe they want to
do one of those rounds so you drop Kenzo into CT spawn. It's hard to know, you know, what type of
weaponry is really available to Vitality considering the loss bonus and these string of rounds. Flamzie
pushes into long doors, he secures that more so. Zawoo cheats over to try and catch somebody in
transition. Well he does get the fight, he doesn't hit the shot and PL. Now the bomb's joined and
they are heading towards short. Oh yeah, Flamzie pushing long on what could be the most perfect of
timings it just looked away is that okay they must know now with the short you
take calming in it has to be this a play look at all the flashes lined up
everyone with them in the hands
Apex inside we're gonna be on the receiving end of that scowl counter flash Apex onto Kenseth
Here comes that Digo from Tracker and good headshot back
need the rifles I will pick up the M4 try to put it to good use and puts it to
one Alex goes down but still loses Mersi he needs to do it all here another one
to Ascentfield swaps out to the scout another one gun game indeed it comes
down to a one-on-one and don't forget Sizi he's been able to clutch up on the
first map now jumps up Rob's gonna call the bluff on CT just calls the plan
out now starts his crawl Kenny Mantell open time Sizi spots it
jump in 5-7 for the conclusion Vitality not missing this playoff they had a
slip up but they do recover it's bait sent home at the hands of Vitality that's
an unfortunate one that for paid in the opening round they took on that boom
ended up losing it two to one in that one with an overtime there was some close maps they trundle
through the lower bracket eliminating simple in bcg they took on foot earlier today sent them
packing 2-0 but the final boss vitality at team they wouldn't have been expecting to meet down here
is too much to handle it was a casual day at the office for vitality sure a bit of a struggle
against phase on map number one but from that point onwards it did look like a waltz in the
the Sataniel Park here in Atlanta. They are going to book themselves a spot in the quarter
finals. We've got a seeding match raging on now between Betbub and Payne and coming out
later on the B Stream. Now, it'll be versus Legacy for more of the same, but we'll be
bringing Astralis versus GamerLegion at 7pm sharp local for that final spot in the playoffs,
but for Bate, up next is CAC. And look, it's great to see Morris Izzy. We're going to throw
this one to the desk. They're coming. They're working on things. We're looking forward to
We're kicking it off in the rise.
A good shot for Liquid to get a good start into the series.
We'll see how this one shakes out.
The Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta 20-26.
We'll be CT side start for Gabriel Ligian,
Liquid on the T side, and plenty of Utah into this pistol.
Yeah, they were all geared up towards the A bomb site
and T spawn, so this is just gonna be a set piece
and execute called right out of spawn by Shuhei.
And then ultimate towards the ramp,
NAF mobs in a leash up in Palace.
They'll have PR to deal with on the balcony,
High-packs over in the cubby snacks back at ticket so a very strong defense and actually pure
It's gonna get aggressive he finds the angle for the first. Yeah, well high pecs just winning down in the sandwich
It's gonna be a nice shot from snacks
Now they are into the site high-packs one out from sandwich finally traded by shoe eight
But you've got ultimate shoe eight now to 2v2. Thanks to those kills. It's doable again for team liquid
There's so much time still on the clock, but trying to get that ball might be denied by Talus
And in fact he takes two. Yeah, I mean there's some of there's some of the stakes that you can't see
I mean that's his ultimate kind of fall asleep a little bit just picking up the bomb
I think that's gonna be clear crosses over sees nobody spawned crosses back with the bomb in his hand and picked off for free
Not ready for that follow-up fight yet a great shot with the p250 on snacks
Who gets the impactful kill the first player streaming at a palace that really helps secure this pistol round right here?
Right through the edge of the boards if Nav gets down the coming player gets discovered a little bit earlier
But that's too easy for Talcim in the 2v2
One nothing for gamer Legion. Yeah, and it's just a deagle here for a leash
I think that's the player that I'm sure we have to talk about more
It's a team liquid squalber here playing in America and you want to see an American team too
Well, they haven't necessarily had the best run Jason American squads. You just lost twists in the last game to team vitality
Like I you said, it's not been the best run as if I was gonna fight your back on that one
If you had to like, you know, you had to like ease me into that, that kind of
No, I just seen, you know, I didn't want to upset you, I didn't want to upset you, Jayce
Do you think there is any hope in Team Liquid doing it though? Because if you look at this side on the bracket
Playoffs here in Atlanta
Yeah, because if you look at this side of the bracket, you've got on the other game
Astralis Sinners, the winner goes on to play the lower final
And then game of legion here, I feel like this is the best shot if Liquid are gonna do it
It's on this side of the bracket
Yeah, I mean, realistically, the teams that they're going up against, as you just mentioned,
Game Religion Sinners and Astralis still alive in that lower bracket, they're up and down in nature, right?
Like, you're not going to, I think, point at any of those teams and be like,
I know I can rely on the consistency of this team to deliver in these big games when they get there.
So yeah, there's a chance, I'd say, it seems a small chance with just the vibe that it feels like
Liquid is carrying at the moment and with those consistent struggles. So, ask me at the end of the series,
You know, if they win, and they've gotten a good look at what they're playing.
They're holding out for a game. They're holding out for a game.
Alright, well...
Interested to see how it's going to go once the guns come out here for Team Liquid.
It's 5 AK-47 in malps.
Snapping out towards Tetris.
Gonna retreat back into the ramp.
Don't mind that at all. Cool little challenge as well.
You know it's unlikely to have an AWP on the board, so go for that, Pete.
Shuei's made his way back to the boxes, but he's taken a ton of damage.
Snax is maintaining some aggression ultimate,
And Shuei happy to let them have this and back away. Molotov is in, smoke coming into defuse and Shuei will survive.
Well, there's Alish, tapping onto the head of Red, so it's a great start to the round here for Team Liquid.
That's the one-two punch they want to get rolling. Molotov's in Alish.
Yeah, if that can get going, obviously it looks a lot more deadly, but you got snacks coming off of the ladder.
They're dropping into the window, I bagged, so he's going out of the way. How will Liquid let this happen?
Ultimate 1v2, he's died as well. Oh, that is disastrous. You got the 1-2 punch going,
Elise mobs, get the 2 openers and you still lose the round.
Yeah, just no patience in that for Team Liquid. They get the kills and everyone's trying to continue moving on to the next play.
Nobody's just taking a moment to kind of speak with each other and get coordinated, look for some kind of follow-up move.
And they just walk right into all the traps. Never let Gamer Legion sweat the fact that they've just put him in a 5 on 3.
Straight into a tech pause. So Ali's turned around with the mic up talking back to the admins. So we'll figure out what that is
It's actually on the game religion side of things
Well
That round nasty isn't it? Yeah, that one that one that one hurts team liquid for sure
But you know, they didn't look like it knocked them to off-center. They might just be used to it at this point game religion
You know getting away with one still a good round to recover for them still a good job rotating into the correct positions
But I think Liquid made that recovery a little bit easier than it needed to be.
I haven't got a whole lot to fall back on here, Liquid either.
So, best case scenario, a couple of upgraded pistols.
What happens here working on the microphone of Hypex?
So, we kind of talked a little bit about the schedule.
Some more games going on today.
Obviously, Gamer Legion, Liquid going on right now.
Astralis Sinners will be played during this time slot as well.
And then a little bit later on we've got the deciding games. We've got that boom pain
Babe vitality, Navi legacy. Yeah, then obviously the two winners on this side of the bracket for that lower final as well coming up later on as well
Either liquid liquid or gamer legion versus Strahlus or sinners
So yeah, we're gonna clean up the brackets and get those playoffs started over the weekend little day off for media
Players and teams get to relax a little bit. Oh, yeah
Famously, Famously players love to act like idiots.
It's not as intense, you know, but they do have the playoff games to play for as well.
Say, when you got the morning shift to do with the lobby, Jason, that's like, oh, we got him.
Hey, guys. That's a nice problem. That's a...
What's up, everybody?
That's our version of, we all hate 10AM matches.
Anybody want to talk?
I'm sure no one wants to talk right now. It's even liquid. Disappointing round lost in the previous.
They all have some good epistles to play. We've got Tech9's coming out and two Deagles.
And we'll see what Team Liquid can do here.
I kind of like the way, I mean, in Pimp fashion, very, very direct and just straight to the point,
the Liquid kind of all five players I'm really struggling.
I think, you know, part of the point you can make on what he mentioned is, you know,
you have so many strong players on this team, but it feels like all five of them are playing poorly
compared to what we know they're capable of.
In their roles within this squad, it feels like not everyone is reaching that potential.
Whether you want to point towards Shuhei and New Coach Blashe, not able to get a consistent system
system where this team looks like it's moving in the right direction whether you want to talk about a leash not having his typical like
You pop off games playmaking ability racking up kills volume fraggler
Yeah, well, I mean we set that as well as seem muted in his roles compared to the past
I feel like we've been saying that for a long time about seem like yes, right?
Like everybody who's gone to the team who you know as a player
Necessarily been able to get the most out of themselves mean nurse is a great example recently who's got back into form over a G2
Yeah, you wonder where where was that nerds there one of those teams that's at that point where it just feels like there
Hasn't been anything new to discuss around them for the past few months them the addition of mobs and the departure of nerds
Kind of be in the biggest point to look at and kind of have conversations around
Just haven't seen that the progress quite yet for team liquid side. I liked the win over m80 yesterday though
That was good for them recovering from the first map
I mean, there's a certain pride in being the best team in North America, I suppose, Jason.
I mean, look, there is. It means nothing in the context of World Counter-Strike, obviously,
which is a little joke you're tapping into there. But yeah, the regional pride is a huge, huge thing within the teams.
Shuei's going to make his move down the mid-ramp through the smoke by passing Hypex's AWP for the moment.
the moment. Yeah, it goes down to the peak, but he is going to lose it to Ultimate. So,
an advance, he started with Team Liquid. And Shuei Mosh just found the perfect timing to
get in behind Rez, but he has turned. He's now considering this. And Shuei still wins the fight.
So, a 5v3 for Team Liquid. We've been here before. No, but this one's different, right? There's not
as many players grouped up in advanced positions, so everyone kind of recognizes that there's no
play to capitalize on quite yet, so they can still maintain this patience.
As Nath and Malb's move in, start probing into the B bomb site, Towson on short sandwiched.
Yeah, it goes back in, that'll be the round.
Team Liquid won't let this one go, they'll go and get the bomb, they'll shift it over to the site.
And Team Liquid will get their first T round on the board.
I think another thing that's been great about a game of Legion recently, we heard Jacob talking about Rose,
but I think it snacks and Hypex have been enjoyable.
players to watch the Hypex was talking to me on media day saying that when he
first came into the team he noticed how all the Alpers before were just getting
cut brutally and not performing whatsoever and so he did feel a little bit
nervous coming into him knowing that that spot was always under scrutiny and
he was kind of in his own head he was reading hate comments, financial TV and
Reddit and really getting in his own head and at a certain point he just
switched and said I don't care what they think you know I don't care what they
say even Vitality's getting hate so he's he's definitely starting to step up
be a lot more confident and I think we started to see some more flashy plays out of him and
really show what he's capable of.
Yeah, tough thing for the new players to step into is the increased scrutiny on the gameplay.
And cool to see Gamer Legion as well, like with snacks like a rejoining and at the helm,
getting some nice wins and some nice upsets as well.
In the last three months, they've had some very impressive upsets.
Took a 2-1 series win over Furia, 2 over Astralis, really close affair with Nobby last night
where it felt like they were going to take that series for a while so playing
well with this new logo as well how do you like the new logo you into it it's
got a very many I'm not far away I don't even know what it is you know like I
can't I function away from the logo I can't tell what it is but I do think it
looks quite cool I give it look cool on a black t-shirt you know yeah I got so
metal concert it looks like a band logo Jason look pretty cool in a black
jersey yes like what they were exposed right now so yeah it works well all right
and snacks could give us a good death metal scream
gonna chuck a day down to a legion's position ship them down to 86 utility in
place now for liquid to start making their initial moves ultimate with the
up top mid smokes and window smokes and cong
mobs getting a nade in the backpack
rise retreating yeah I mean this is looking pretty good job slow progression
slowly creeping in good trade from a leash up towards cong height backs gets
one more a little snap away now here comes mobs under a minute on the clock
that people on site under pressure three people here though you're in the
south queue with the Molotov burning away the defenders but yeah you're right
There's a lot of defenders here, Telsing getting the one kill, Naph able to trade it, but he's waiting for the next fight
and he wants that angle to his market. He's just not getting it, so Naph is gonna start falling away
with the ball on his back because Ultimates move through and he's actually a good spot here.
Catty took the kill though, no.
Hypex clocks what's happening, looks back to the murder hole, Ultimates steps into the open and now Naph has to really save that AK.
There's no other option.
That was always gonna be hard to get that bomb back to the A site, even with, even with Ultimate up in window room.
Not a lot of time on the clock. Ultimate felt like he had to take the aggressive angle. Once again, Liquid stopped cold.
Felt like they made good progress in middle, but all the presence from Gamer Legion and Khan, the fights, the extra kill from Hypex, the turning point into the round when he gets the kill onto Aleige.
This round fades away from Liquid 1 to 5. Gamer Legion's defense still holding strong. Snacks with 9 kills.
9 kills and Hypex with the AWP has 7 frags to his name.
Great work from Hypex, sealing it here, making sure there's no escape route, no plan B for Liquid.
Off in the hands of Ultimate, yet again, 4 AK-47s for Team Liquid, battling it around 7.
It's a very regional split from Team Liquid and the way this is organized.
HUA Ultimate doing a lot of work together.
a leash mobs and naf
different pairings of two that they work together the americans in the europeans
now
sure and ultimately
able to communicate in polish
if they want
just kind of confuse everybody on the team
we got a leash looking up
on towards short
You can see him very passionately communicating right now.
Under a minute on the clock.
Team Liquid spread across the map.
No one from Game of Legion giving any looks, any information.
No challenges against this T-Side at the moment.
That's a worry. Well, I mean, where's Mermorz?
There's no pressure being applied by Team Liquid anywhere.
Kind of moving around this map quietly.
Allegiant alert position at the bottom of Conn.
The defense has been pulled over to the A-Bomb site.
They sense this hit coming, Nap throwing out utility to really secure the fake.
Elysia is going to make his move a kill with two Wonders, and he might have it,
but he doesn't know about PR off to the left.
Now he realizes, and he wants that kill, he's got it.
Oh, the sourcute betrays PR completely.
Now, Talcin, he's been put under cladified pressure multiple times now,
trying to defend the B-Bomb site from short.
Once again, not a single kill from Talcin,
and that's the site of the world, bomb planted, and no other option,
but to save these weapons on the A site for game allegiance,
A second round for Team Liquid.
Yeah, really strong.
I mean, you get that rotation from Gamer Legion,
but just the fake from NAF and the extra kill from Aleige
just really, really secures the fact
that Gamer Legion is gonna feel like A is the final play.
And this time, you get to exploit that B bomb site
with the load and defender instead of dealing
with three of them shifting over.
So Liquid get a second on the board.
He's gonna try and take some guns away.
Flash in, profits.
Res blinded, gonna back away.
The AWP is covering, big win.
Okay, I think Sherwood just mentioned he's enjoying it, he likes the slower rounds, so
they were to keep Liquid watching them play with this kind of pace.
Yeah, he said keep the energy up as well.
It did look even though it was a slow round and everything was pretty calm on the server.
He controlled, right?
Aleige was really passionately communicating.
Yeah well he's in the he's in kind of like the the off position away from the
action so he's also in the position the middle of the map where you can gather
the most intel so he's the one calling out what defense he's encountering what
he's sensing what he's seeing and that information being passed over to Shuhei
constantly keeps him confident in what kind of call he's working with and what
he's thinking so Alicia's in in that role where yeah everything he's passing over
the team is the valuable intel that they need. He spotted two he knew there was one
right side mid one left side mid you probably assume there's gonna be one
at least somewhere in the A-bomb site as well, and made that nice and easy for
Liquid to continue just moving forward into B. Timeout comes through a close
five to two, game religion wanted to talk things over, money starting to dwindle
they've got a little bit cash left in the tank and depending on what they say
they can still have very strong buys, but Liquid's gonna keep trying to run this
together. Go back to and execute towards the A-bomb site, Elysia in a bit of
trouble jumps up on the boxes, nade damage and a light shot down to 4 HP.
Here goes Shu Wei out into the side. PR's got both.
Okay, delivering on Shu Wei and Malmse goes in again. A third frag ultimate this time.
Dead at Tetris and a leash of 4 HP. So you come out of this timeout, you're excited,
you've just won another round and immediately Team Liquid handed a defeat in a couple of seconds.
Yeah, I mean again, this is too easy. PR getting his double and actually even trying to begin with a third kill
kill on ultimate as the AWP but man in a round where you can do a lot of economic damage
you get no kills.
How deflating.
Big opportunity for liquid wasted and a very easy defense for PR and gamer legion so likely
6-2.
Elysian naff.
Have a long time to stay alive and just the nade tickling Elysia takes him down.
the bomb, there's no opening for NAF. Okay, well, I mean, we've seen some good rounds
out of Team Liquid, the problem is it just feels like so so much up and down
that the bad rounds have been really flat like this. Yeah, dead in a few seconds
and then you just kind of to stall out so you can get an AK into the next round.
And Gamer Legion just keep everybody up. We have to say Gamer Legion doing
really good job at point of contact. They lose now as well. Yeah, but I mean like you
know Gamer Legion in middle has been able to grab some kills there has been able
to keep that attack in middle back a little bit.
Now over towards the A-bomb set a couple times,
we've seen Team Liquid challenge the pistol round.
Now this round, they've been able to shut it down also.
It's really, as Shui kind of mentioned,
the slow rounds that he was enjoying moving around the map
and forcing Gamer League to make some decisions,
that's where they've been able to find their success
and those gaps in the defense.
Well, they still have a good buy in terms of rifles
on every player, but at least they're gonna have to play
with a Galeel.
And also down to the wire, you know,
If they lose this round, their money is going to be reset, and that's where GameLegend can really start to pull things away.
PR called for it after his previous round 4K. He goes aggressive to try and grab the opener.
He loses it against Malbs, but Hype packs response.
So 4v4, minute 30 on the clock, and Towson has pushed through the B apartments. He's in the kitchen,
and he might go a little further now as he's looking towards that underpass. He's all the way up.
Look at Ultimate though. He's going to throw some utility. Where does he go after the fact?
Drops down back to T spawn. Yeah, Towson's found a perfect timing for this.
There's still some time before the strategy comes to fruition for Team Liquid.
So he's got plenty of it to close the gap.
Now he has a decision to make here. T spawner mid.
Down the stairway to keep things quiet and he's going T spawn.
He's getting behind ultimate. That's the bomb. He's got it.
Oh, if you just spill it right now, as soon as you see that bomb blinking on his back,
High-packs here as well.
Shining in with the AWP and the connector, flashy.
Lans the shot.
Naft goes out, dies to Ryze.
7-2, game religion suffocating Liquid.
Yeah, Liquid's got nothing going on right now.
The offense not even close to moving.
No plays being made, no kills being found, no pressure being applied.
Just slowly progressing to their death and what a huge push from Towson.
Now you're starting to see some confidence spread throughout game religion to make those kind of moves early.
Those kinds of advantages provide them to the gamer legion side.
The information, the early flank, liquid and flash, you're going to take a time out to
talk things over.
At a three round losing bonus, so everyone's sitting around 3,000, 3,500 mobs a little
bit above that, but nothing crazy to scrape together rifles into a buy.
I think this has got to be a small investment of armor and pistols.
You have the hero AKM mobs.
But you're having an issue now where Hypex is off and starting to heat up, starting to punish you every step of the way.
Opening tags, opening damage, now he's wrecking your executes.
Well, three rounds left in the half here. Can Liquid grab any of them? Doesn't look like him in this round.
You know, you've got mobs on an AK, everybody else on a weaker weapon.
Disappointing in this first half from Team Liquid.
Even more so in this round for Elise who is spammed down through that smoke.
Snacks takes the opener and now you're going to funnel him into the A-Play which has never really worked.
Hypex does miss his shot but he's got PR to back him up.
He's got trade from Malph. He needed to get that trade.
Snacks is looking towards Khan. He's got Shuay.
And he's just got NAF and Malph's walking their way out.
Now Malph's is still fighting. He's doing what he can here for Team Liquid.
He's taking a good amount of damage down to 22 health.
Oh, the ball is...
Yeah, the smoke clears. The smoke is always going to fade at some point
And that was going to be the real danger point, but not even getting the bomb plants
So all you can do if your naff is grab one or two more kills on the way out
Stuck inside the bomb site the Nade finishes him off 8 to 2
comprehensive dominance for gamer legion on Mirage
And this is liquids map pick
Just throw that little stanker in right in there right at the end
It is indeed their map selection
See him with the misshaw from the AWPer.
He's always there to back him up as the fail safe.
I'm just doing what he can, but ultimately his teammates couldn't get into good enough
positions to actually help him.
8-2, so two rounds left.
Liquid into the AKs.
Once again a faster play out middle.
This time a leash not getting spammed down through the smoke.
He's gone quick.
Rez knows now.
Gets the AK out, but in the meantime a leash has taken the opening kill here for Team Liquid.
I like the change of pace, like the assertiveness could kill found, but he's still plenty of Gamerleague members here looking for fights!
Oh, I know!
Line up, spray down, Nath and Elise gone, and Snaps could still get away!
Disaster, no rise goes in, ultimate gonna be taken out, Mobs gets one headshot right back, keeping this one competitive, but headshot, and Kelsen takes it!
Shuei left 1v2!
Gamerleague is never letting them execute.
So many bodies thrown at the issue in middle.
And Shuhei left to pick up the pieces.
Oh, no, no, no.
I mean, it was looking like a couple of rounds early.
Team Liquid might be able to get into this T-side, but it all just stalled out completely.
It's the, it's the, it was those like slow, it was that slow round win that they had into the A-execute.
That was just all five players, it was like rounds seven and eight.
They just got destroyed.
Yeah, you win the round, you have the economy like a little bit, a little bit low.
a little bit low, you have it at a really weak point, and then Gamer Legion just stuff
and they hit all five players survive and they've never looked back since.
I'll group it up in Palace, you got Team Blok, we're ready to go down into the site,
PR waiting for them all the way back at CT spawn.
We're going to play behind the smokes here for Gamelige.
Not playing disruptive within the site.
PR actually steps in front of where the smokes would be.
He hasn't made it work though.
Hypex and Snacks certainly will.
Gamelige getting three kills in quick succession.
Stalling out this last guard on the half, Team Liquid.
We're going to leave the first half of Mirage with a measly two rounds to play with.
Unless the Rige can do something about it and it's just the one kill, leaving mobs all
the way back at Tetris. Stepping out with a galeel, looking for a go. He'll do what
he can. Much like last round, as soon as the smoke fades, he doesn't have any more options.
He's got to find a kill before it disappears. Pure dominance from Gameligion.
Well, he's at least getting Towson. He's got 40 seconds. Mistake, a peek. That's all he
needs, but he can't get it. It's a 10-2 lead for Gameligion. It's domination on Team Liquid's
It's map pick.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I'd love to paint a positive picture of you, I'd love to paint a positive picture of you,
I'd love to paint a positive picture about Team Liquid going into this second half, but it's been all gamer Legion
We can just stop talking about it because they haven't even showed up yet in this series
It's elimination series at IEM Atlanta
Game religion has just been straight dominant since this began 15 kills on snacks rolling back to years all the focus on res
How well he's been playing it snacks to bring back some of that old level height back set 14 and 3 the off has been dominant and
They're looking to just put this first map of the series away nice and quick
Yes, indeed they are. Game of the Legion. Quick to see them back and play them well.
As they get ready to go into the A-Bomb site, a Pistoron would be the knockout blow.
Surely too much work to be done for Team Liquid?
And Malm's gonna be looking down into the ramp. Now no one has shown just yet.
It's not the amount of work that needs to be done, it's just the eye test.
Oh, okay, well that eye test is pretty sweet.
Yeah, no eyes left and tiles on the high-packs, both their heads taken off.
They got Reis coming out of the ramp, doing what he can with the glock, but it's nothing.
A good shot down here, coming through for Team Liquid in the pistol.
And that is at least step one.
Yeah, I mean, pretty much the very similar tactics for both teams.
Just executes on the T-pistol.
Gamer Legion decided to send more bodies up the ramp.
Liquid sent more through Palace, but the result is the same.
Dominant pistol round victory for the defense.
So Liquid get their third, stay alive.
They get at least to start with the advantage and the momentum to see how much of a comeback
they can muster. So what he's doing is best to get everyone hyped up down the line. That'll
take a little bit more time. That's going to take the gap in the score closing just a little
bit before you'll see the rest of Team Liquid kind of activate and tap into that same energy.
Lovely shots from Malves though. Basically wins the round before it even begins.
That's the main strength of the attack is that initial thrust to create the space for the rest
rest of the glocks following things up.
Yeah, we got really nothing to look forward to in this round for Game Relegion, but for
Team Liquid, let's see if they can just clean it up without losing a player.
They rush out middle, into the right false and yep, that's nice and easy, get through
that one quickly.
All right, let's see what they can do, guns are coming out now, AK-47 is going to fill
up the feed for Game Relegion, utility being invested in, how do they want to start off
this T side campaign no op yet for hypex team liquid's gonna love that for the
moment because it was brutal in the first half
liquid was very mid focused and they're opening T side campaign Mirage we know
that mid is always gonna have tons of action but how do game religion want to
start things snacks towards middle resin talson and halls hypex in support PR is
going to be watching for the A push snacks continuing the full business start
of the second half he's doing a leash was a PR you mentioned said he hadn't
watched any of the old-school snacks highlights yeah so we didn't know he was
actually good back in the day it's like I didn't watch kind of strikes back then
was that she's good I've only seen your most recent work and wasn't impressed
Snacks was showing him some clips.
Well, now he can get some more modern ones into the Highlight Reel.
Yeah, definitely. It's been great to see snacks coming into this.
I mean, obviously how to stay into game religion for a while then went to G2.
G2, middling success, I'm sure.
I'm sure he's learned a lot and then gone back to game religion again. Great to see the form of snacks
be solid over the last couple of events here.
He's got ultimate waiting inside of Colony, he's got plenty of players coming his way.
Got some of that pressure.
He's got some of that both dead.
Sponsors good from Hypex, but Malp's low HP hiding under the wood is a thin board,
and eventually Hypex will take the head shot, but NAF has been sneaky the whole time,
waiting for this moment to peek out and strike.
It's a 1v2 for NAF, now just a 1v1.
Towson on top of the stairs, a dink plants to his head.
49 HP left.
Telsen's just trying to get that AK to land.
20 seconds, Naph can use the clock.
Three boys left in the AK, now two for Telsen.
Going for the reload now.
Naph is using the clock.
Telsen is going to have to deal with the pressure of this positional change from Naph.
He knows he's there.
He's looking towards Tetris and Telsen actually wins it.
Naph even got an extra shot off, but Telsen nails that headshot
and brings Gamelitch up to 11.
It didn't seem like Telsen actually noticed the reposition.
I thought he might have with one last poke of the head over the stairs.
Maybe one of his teammates called it out because that realization sank in a little bit late.
Lovely shot from Snacks onto Elish. Ultimate brings this back into an even affair.
Anafta's good work inside the bomb site, but the clutch, the AK-47, even though Salsons brought
low, that MP9 just cannot finish the kill. 4-11. It's gotten a little bit worse for Team Liquid.
7 rounds back now, but they have the AWP in the hands of Ultimate.
And once again, Snack's bringing Gamer Legion over to the A-Bomb site. Another set piece.
Gamer Legion's able to steal away one and hold on to it for the time being, but...
Gamer Legion starts to send their forces out. Right, it's great, sharp shooting out of Palace, but the trade is through from Shoei. Look at this, and Snack's!
flying to the sky but that pressure is handled here by Team Liquid. How many
can Hypex bring down with it? That's a great save from Ultimate.
It helps Shuei stay alive. The Mac 10 coming in from short Ultimate just
changes his gaze and picks him off. Oh baby now we're time. Oh it was clutch music.
I was ready for that. Clutch making time. We're making clutches. AK picked up for
Hypex as well. It's got a little Molotov down there.
So the human thing is getting hot and heavy in here.
Not putting like a low-level evening with the Molotov light.
Someone hit the wrong button.
Alright, high-packs.
You know, eventually I think you just try and slide into the bomb site and get the bomb planted.
He's looking for that mistake, right?
Enough time has passed that Ultimate has to be concerned and at least conscious of the B bomb site
and the chance for him to have wrapped all the way around the map.
wants to shave off one player before committing to the plant. Molotov doesn't
go nearly as deep as he wanted the two to flush out Shuhei's position so
bomb will get planted safely, extra cash over for gamer Legion and it's off clutch.
It's down on default out in the open and nothing he could do. Nothing can really
pull off that. Self recovery to the round for Team Liquid.
Their fifth round on the board and importantly they get to keep the weapons
in their hands, keep buying the rifles, keep moving forward and seeing how far they can
take this Mirage map, see how much they can come alive here and get ready for the rest
of the series.
Map number two is Nuke, picked by Gamer Legion, that's going to be the battlefield where
Liquid probably is looking likely they'll have to come back in the series four.
But another round, even with the bomb plant, that Gamer Legion sit back on just upgraded
pistols so liquid can close the gap a little bit further
Deagles across the board we call this one the Deco
I won't say if it will work out for game religion how much can they do with it
It's kind of a cool Deagle skin
It has got a little bit of shine and sparkle to it
It's got a thing to it
Glitter
Glitter always makes things better Jason
it's true in my experience
to take this low around the initial salvo of utility is read through the notes
notice game religion printout pictures on this
yet they're like a picture picture playbook yeah
okay on team jason i really i i like that is less chance of confusion i feel
picture book
won't be a lot
what do you think that you've got a pic have you seen the pictures
have you seen it close up uh... i seem to be pictures of utility lineups
it could be a bit of a most useful picture that i got seen on the page
or of high-pitched
when we come to the player camera
it probably is like a line up that's what i think right
so i guess you don't even have to learn the things anymore
once again start from high-pitched is the eagle
mulps will make sure
that it's all over the
a good job from the lesion's well spring into action to collapse on middle
before anything gets out of control
one death ticket so far by team liquid res won't be able to add another on top
of it
also uh... speaking to rise earlier in the competition as well he was very
quick to mention i am oakland so uh...
uh... tell me you know back in america where that that one event
that oh my god i love that mean is one of my favorite things
all the i'm so glad that he's into it too
i'm so glad actually temp hyped him up today had that tweet earlier you know i
I feel like it's been a while since we've been able to go back and hype up res
Yeah, you know, it's it feels like it's such a cyclical thing. I'm glad we got to do it
You know at the midpoint of 2020 ankle brought us back to reality, but he's generally does
Those fun for a while to buy his aggression from ultimate. You want to hype up ultimate Jason?
Not yet. I'm gonna get there to do it. Maybe he's getting me there though. He's bringing me close. He's got that big opening kill
Well, let's see advanced is Team Liquid are looking for starting to close this gap PR flash coming this way
So smalls and that is just perfect. So PR can't do anything about that Team Liquid have a two-man advantage
Yeah, cool see and liquid take the initiative the opening play with the AWP mobs following it up
You probably didn't think the next aggressive stats was gonna be in Palace after the ultimate push
And good find from Elise Shuei recognize the jump up going on Malph's gonna peak
Okay, this is perfect liquid. Everything's going in their favor. No one from the game of Legion is even fired back until just now a
single kill for Hypex and
That's always gonna get 11 to 7
Liquid building up into this map it took him a long time to wake up. They were absent the entire first half
But three in a row and five of six so far as they switch sides
has them looking good on the CT side.
I'm ultimately taking a look at the top of the corner.
It's Shuei to the open,
and it seems like we're starting to get some momentum now.
Naph's going to get tested for the first time in this half though.
Yeah, he's coming at him, he's got the AK out.
The golden AK and the golden boy of Team Liquid. Let's see if NAF can hold on.
Well that smoke it feels like dissuaded the progression from from game
religion. The three people back in Res up have all slipped away so it looks like
Res might just turn into a little bit of a lurk trying to find some timing.
Maybe when NAF is reloading to make his move and NAF is gonna get taken down.
He's got to be careful made in hands. Oh he's got a second there we go Res.
Shades of Oakland as he cracks into the B-Bomb site.
Yep, here he is.
Or easy, delivering on the TAC 9, and that site wide open.
Game Legion have a shot at map point, but mom's trying to close it.
His TALS in the score, numbers again even.
But the bomb is now joining the rest of the pack,
and Shuwei, such an important kill to pick up here,
and now they're holding the line, holding the cross.
And IWP's gonna miss though.
Whoa, ultimate!
Brains switched off, round out into the open, PR punishes him,
And they're about to pay the ultimate price for that mistake is Shuei and Malph in a 2v2.
Gamer Legion trying to get map point, it's PR to do it. Shuei alone, PR.
Hiding his sword in a shot, he's got the red and PR punishes.
Shuei's gone, it's Gamer Legion up to map point, and Liquid let it go.
I don't even know what to say, you can't, it's also, I mean, two of the most experienced players on Team Liquid,
Elysian Daph, and both of them just get body-bagged by Rez.
Like, that's how this round is lost, is a Tek-9 walking into contact at the B-Bomb site
against two rifles, and killing them both, out-dueling each of them, in turn, in sequence.
The ultimate mistake of trying to come out and just not even kind of considering another
player over towards Short is its own thing, but that round slipped out of control in a
way that should have never happened.
chances for game religion, lovely round from Rez, and a little bit of a tech issue. So all that
intensity is just gonna, we're gonna chill for a bit. You get to stew in that though if you team
Liquid. It is the worst time for a tech issue if you're Liquid. Yes, oh, now we have to sit in
Silence and think about that last one
Now we just have to we can't even talk. I can't even figure out what we're wrong
I just have to envision in my head the circumstances exactly what you just do right now to a res double entry with a tech nine
I have to imagine that in my brain
There he is
Stone Cold killer the Oakland MVP
the
Oakland MVP the only one
What about a veteran now as well as Raz?
Not even a bit of a veteran, he just is a veteran.
Man, this is cool from Gamer Legion, I'm liking what I'm seeing across the board, 19 kills
now on Hypex, Raz having a quiet map but still finding a way to have huge, huge impact, one
very loud rounds. And Gamer Legion has set up very very nicely to close out this map.
Nuke is next as the second in the series. And it's looking like Liquid's gonna need
to win that to bring us to a third decider which would be Inferno if we can make it there.
Ooh, doesn't, I mean if Liquid loses this it feels very difficult to imagine a world
in which we get Inferno.
Yeah, it does. It's especially again, it's why I kind of mentioned like you asked me if I thought liquid had the like real potential to make the plan
It's like let me get this eye test first. Let me see how they're playing. Yeah, I
It's not looks good that T side is there's nothing inspiring that I've seen and even the problem is it's like one of those scenarios, too
It's like yeah, there's gonna be some good rounds or where it looks like they have some cool ideas and everyone performs well
But when you have a round like that with the tech nine, it's just like none of those amazing rounds matter
if like you can just lose this like you know in the midst of a comeback on a bit
of a streak you have all the advantages in the world and you lose that three
round streak to again it's a nine I'm saying it again just I can hardly still
believe it well coming into this next round once we get going we'll have a
double-up setup for team liquid NAF and ultimate gonna be wielding the snipers
headsets back on for high-pack so hopefully I mean we're gonna get back
of the game and just look like a thumbs-up flash didn't it well the other
stream going on at the moment here at I am Atlanta gonna be a stroll is taking
on sinners winner of that game takes on the winner of this game in the lower
bracket final of group B so spotting the quarterfinals or elimination and the
consequences of that one this itself is an elimination in game as well losing
the team goes home without any chance of looking towards the stage.
Well, game of the legion with a win here would feel like their chances are pretty high for getting into the playoffs.
The team strollers or sitters in front of them, it feels like a very winnable game.
It's a very open side of the bracket.
As you absolutely mentioned earlier. Yeah, like it feels like any four of these teams might be able to have a good crack at it
So all right here we go. Yeah back into the action round 20 out of the devastating loss
Just reminded one more time. There's a technical
Those of you in the back of the room
Snacks.
And now game religion make their move, walking up catwalks.
About to turn the corner into the B bombsite.
Towson and Hall's Naphis here.
It's a double up setup.
Shuei sliding over.
Ultimate second AWP also in position to be here quickly. Good shot from NAF and now he needs to follow it up and he will.
Oh, okay. Yep, that's more like it from NAF.
I'll play down on the side, he's gonna burn him and he's got some U-Tile to help him out.
This flame's still somewhat present, but it's not burning him. Not taking him down.
The bullets will, though. PR spotting the next, crossing over, but they're still Shuei to deal with.
Still a threat at the bench, they haven't spotted him and this play for Shuei now reveals himself and he will deny.
Game of the Lich and the win in this round.
Really, really good timing on Shuhei to slide over to be that third player at that B bomb site.
Really well done to get into some safety.
NAF gets his couple of kills that secures Shuhei's little sneaky decision hiding behind the smoke.
Good trigger discipline to make sure you secure two and the round.
First kill towards Short, dropping off.
Able to find the second as well.
Good recovery for NAF in this situation.
It seems like the chat finally found the castor mute button, Jason.
I lost it for a second.
Felt that way, yeah.
They finally figured it out. All right ultimate straight to the smooth. That's Towson dead
That's a great start to the rounds here for Team Liquid
But can they continue it? They do they get rid of the money here for Game of Legion and then we can start thinking about
The realms of possibility to start coming back into this and talk about overtime in a little bit
But NAF he's got that pick PR is gone and now a 3v5 for game of Legion to try and flip back in their favor
Yeah
Cool switch up for NAF into the AWP setup as the defender of the B bombsite
especially after you get exploited by res the few rounds back in that kind of a
loss you know they're gonna test you again you know if res can walk in and
do that with a pistol they're gonna say let's go back to it because that defense
over there is you know obviously a little bit weak switch up into the op and
now whenever anyone challenges him he's got an easier time of things now he's
out in the open a wider angle here so a missed shot spells his death there's no
escape from this position well that is a missed shot there is escape from that
position and he escapes.
A great escape, some might say, but NAF,
Jorba is coming out, he's getting up for a gunslinging point,
he's taking snacks out, and then Elise helps him out,
so much stronger in this B-palm site now,
and they're not going to let attack 9 get through again.
Yeah, lovely work. Good job from NAF with his triple kill.
Snaps back into shape, so, snacks calling for one eco.
Pistol's coming back in, Deagle's across the board for game religion.
and as it'll do least enough good support from a leisure over towards short so the two of them work in in tandem to make sure that that be bombsite isn't a weakness that game religion can exploit again
Ultimate in middle with the op shoehack chiming in as well, little piece of aggression.
There's no presence whatsoever from game religion at the moment.
Ooh!
Miss smoke.
Towards the window.
Shoes just gonna peek because of that.
This T side for game religion feeling equally kind of lackluster at the moment.
Oh yeah, very much so.
I feel like both teams have played this T side so much within the strategic system and game plan
that I haven't really seen individuals kind of break out of it and make some plays
and kind of have their own intuition and their own aggressive move that they want to make.
Everyone happy to kind of just contain with how the IGLs and how the captains want to call tactically.
Malbs and Covey, ultimate back-it ticket with an AWP, Shuhei playing jungle, no presence
in middle from game religion, all the attackers coming from rampant palace.
Wall smoked out towards stairs and connected, game religion trying to get out but Malbs
It's a good spot all of a sudden though.
It's attack nine, it's a deagle entering the kill feed and that bomb plant now coming through for Gamelige.
Is this going to be the round they close out Mirage with?
It's going to be one and loss on the CT retake. Shuhei and Elise realigning NAF with an AWP.
He's got one flashbang to activate it. Towson's going to get a wide angle.
Yeah, he's going aggressive towards CT. Towson nails the shot. He's got the other one too.
And it's just NAF. 1v3. It isn't going to be happening for him here.
and backs away just to confirm it misses the shot he's got so many teammates
NAF throws himself in but snacks is the man to find a close things out a 13-9 win
for game leeching such a strong first half and that's team liquids map they're
going against them well can you believe how you lose it as well in that kind of
a fashion one heartbreaking tech non-lost to resist entries the B bomb site now
you lose a low econ round to an A exact that's a brutal way to lose and liquids
going to have to bounce back on map two.
As it ended up being not just one, but two low econ rounds
to be closing this one out for game of legion.
Credit where credit is due.
Liquid really trying to make the comeback a reality.
But Jacob, you coined a certain term.
Did you feel like this was a cosmetic comeback from Liquid?
I think it was realistic for them to come back in this game.
Obviously, not when you lose two of those rounds.
That's one too many at the very least.
Somewhat like you two too many.
But I think the CT side did step it up a little bit.
We saw more and more come out from Melk, we saw more and more come out from Elise.
I think the way they were contesting Mid as well, Mid round, was pretty well and pretty good for Team Liquid.
So they were definitely signs that CT side wise on Mirage, they could play counter strike.
The problem for Liquid was that they had such an abysmal start to the game with only two T side rounds
that the cushion they had to fall back on was nonexistent.
So in that regard, it wasn't really in doubt that the game leading were going to win this game,
but I suspected Liquid would have made it much, much closer with three or four team rounds.
I guess it was the fashion, right? Like, you looked decent when Game of Legion were coming at you with four buys and then those two rounds.
It's like, that's two out of the three that Game of Legion won.
Yeah, Jason described it as brutal. I would describe it as liquid.
You know, like, that's what you come to expect.
Unfortunately, at this point in time, they just can't string together, you know, a good map.
Like, it's always something different.
This time, it was the half buys in the second half.
lost a 5-0-3 in the first gun round in the first half. In a different situation, it would be rounds
with advantages. It would be losing both pistols, perhaps, right? From game to game, there's a
different sort of breakdown for the team, and that's why they've been struggling so much recently.
Should we go back to that first half then? Obviously, T-side issue is apparent for Liquid.
What did you glean from Gameligion and Rablate? Yeah, I think this is just an example for Gameligion,
and what they were able to do in the first half.
You can see that it's a reset round, 5-2 for gamer Legion.
The Legion is just drawing attention to himself.
They're faking a default and they want to pop A, right?
But the Flash is, PR is going to be in the open on A.
Like he isn't hiding behind anything
and there's no Flash that blinds him,
which is kind of wild because considering how open he is,
he needs to get blind here.
One catches him, but they can't scale.
You can see the rest that are flying over stairs,
Like none of that blinds him. So if he gets an easy multi-kill, three kills there, he's going to get one more and then it's just going to be NAF alone trying to save,
Snacks finds him in the end. So it's sort of, you can't necessarily put it on the execute too much, but it's not coordinated as much with the scaling.
He's the lone defender there. So the round sort of works, right? Like he's isolated, you're going there with four players and he's just able to mow you down like that in a really important round.
Yeah, you know, and then they changed the way they approached it.
Instead of going for these more simplistic executes,
where one man tried to take attention in the middle,
in round nine they tried to play out the mid-round game,
they tried to spread out the defense a little bit thin,
but even in scenarios like that,
game leading were able to dismantle them.
Round nine to me was a great example of Liquid just now
having no foothold in this game whatsoever.
Again, at this point, it's 6-2, you need to win round now.
You need to get on the board.
Melts is so searching by himself down and towards Rand,
gets an opening kill, which was a theme in this game,
Liquid won the opening kill department 13-9, so in terms of not converting, Torsen finds
himself with a minute left, that's the B anchor by the way, so no presence whatsoever.
Then Hypix catches off a guy in connector, catches another player right here, Maffly
left to himself right.
You're just being picked apart one by one by one and you're allowing the opposition to
be inside your own spawn with a minute left of the round without even knowing that's a
possibility.
You saw the player on A right there, getting ready with grenades, having no clue whatsoever
that there's even the potential of a player flanking him, so in terms of the lack of synergy,
in terms of lack of team play that we're describing Liquid with coming into the game,
I think this round was a great example of exactly that.
Yeah, and for 1000 to be there at the one minute mark, I mean, he sat in the smoke at 135 and
pushed B-Apps right there, I don't know if it's because it was Malibus who died, and they knew
Naph was probably also towards A, and then he sort of figured, all right, this is their
heavy a default right and then and it's a good
uh... timing uh... for me to to go for this play but
yeah definitely game religion playing to win
they made a lot of smart decisions and even in the the second round that they
lost
uh... on their own city side
they sort of can't be different for a in the later on you know liquid went to be
and they just saved
their money wasn't great in that round so they let's say lost it but lost the
guns to
that would probably had to equal so understanding the economy
when it's okay to go for some of these gambles, when you need to maybe just play default was
what allowed them to just have a buy after buy and and be able to win 10 rounds and see.
But that's the thing, you're going to the second half and even when they don't have an ideal buy,
we'll go into the first example of this, Jacob. Round 19, Rez doing work with the Tech9.
Yeah, it's obviously nice by Rez. Finds a good timing right here to sneak past him. Again,
Neflike gets caught off guard Tech9 again. At this point, sure, you can still stabilize the second
I can kill on towards Elise, that's great from Rest, and then Torsten comes in from Catwalk.
Melch is trying to even out the round right here, makes it a 3v3.
Rest gets caught off guard by Shueh as well, and then this is what's weird for me, you know.
Ultimates standing here with the AWP, I don't know why he takes an angle, he's not hitting the shot.
I don't know why he's that scared of having an open angle when you're going up against Tech 9's,
you're going up against Pistols, he gets shot down by taking the reflight, then Shueh walks out by himself as well,
gets shot down and they end up losing the round.
To me, it's a classic, liquid way of doing things.
At no point should they be in danger.
At no point should this be around going the way of GameOlegion.
Credit to PR, again, having a massive round right here.
You saw the round Janko put out there.
He had a triple kill on the A-bomb side.
This round he had a triple kill.
He finished with 10 kills in the game
and he went 2 for 10 in opening duels as well.
He didn't have a lot of impact outside of these two rounds
where he single-handedly won them by himself.
Yeah, and I think, first, you know, it's on the A-feet conscious.
Just as the B-A, you know, you can't let that happen
and die in such a poor way.
But honestly, what Ultimate does in the 3v2
is even worse, right? And that's the problem, you know, those lapses in whether it's judgment
or just some brain fog at the worst possible moment is what keeps happening to team Liquid.
And it's causing him to lose games and other series where they lose their own map pick
and now have to find a way to bounce back.
Yeah, 100%. I mean, speaking of home shots on the other side of things, though, we're
going to roll a snacks package. Why don't we? It's not often we praise him for his frag
inability, but it's different now.
It's good to see, in the first half, you know, Snacks had a field day, found a lot of impact, great calling as well, the way that he was controlling the team and making sure that he found impact from the beginning of the game as well.
And I think that's another caveat to this Liquid loss. As I said, the 1-13-9 in the opening kill department in this game, PR had a nightmare in that specific department.
He went 2 for 10. Res didn't have too much impact either from an individual output. The get-game a legion looked like the better team throughout the entire day of the game.
game. Snacks stepped up. You
have high picks having a great
game as well. So it came from a
lot of different directions in
game religion. But if I were to
describe you a way for liquid to
win this game, I'd say, okay, if
the rest is not having a great
game, if PR is not successful
whatsoever in opening kills, then
I'm leading towards team
liquid winning this game. But
that even isn't enough for them
to come close. Taking down my
pick. I guess it's hard when
okay, you've got snacks firing
off like that, but then you
would have high picks as well
right here. A lot of impactful
moments. Yeah, definitely in
the first half had a lot of
had a lot of good rounds, but I just can't shake this feeling off where, you know,
Liquid would have probably come back all the way, you know, they seemed in full control
if it weren't for those two rounds against Pistols, and just you can't keep letting those rounds slip,
really, for you know, Stax did a great job in terms of the fragging, T-Side was a bit of a struggle
in the second half, but they were able to get it done, and for Hypex we're seeing, you know,
a couple of series now he's finally finding some consistency the casters talked about you know coming
into the game religion as an offer seeing as how your predecessors did I mean you don't want to be
just another name on that list and definitely the pressure was getting to him it felt like initially
and maybe after the roster changes or after he saw that he wasn't going to get kicked after two months
you know he's able to let loose somewhat and and have a better performance I'm making a little bit
I'm just looking at the stats for
liquids. I was looking for
silver lining. Um I'm going to be
honest. There really isn't one.
This is a five map lost street
liquid. It's against the names
as well. I was going to say it's
against teams. Private below
game. Allegiant as well. Like,
uh, it feels over. It kind of
does. You know, new has been a
strong is a map for team liquid
haven't been able to integrate
maps into it. Haven't been able
to find any sort of results. And
Havu Alliance, you know, the beta team called OleBet, I think, apart from that, no big
wins whatsoever for Team Liquid.
You don't even have a lineup right now.
You don't even have a lineup at the moment, you know, and it was a close game as well.
So to be completely honest, no, there's not a big silver lining for Team Liquid.
If anything, they showed yesterday that they were able to bounce back after losing the
map to M80, but I'm grasping for a straw right here.
I have not seen anything from Liquid at this tournament that makes me believe that they're
much better off than they were a couple of weeks ago in Rio, and Rio was bad.
And we also saw GamerLegion with two faces yesterday against Navi to some extent.
So that's the thing. We hear it from players from all tiers of teams say the same thing.
It's like in MR12 and in the current environment, you can lose to anyone pretty much and you can beat anyone.
I think they go wrong so fast if you lose one or two key rounds.
And GamerLegion is not a bad team, but I don't consider them a world-beterred.
They can't make mistakes and things can't go horribly wrong.
it sort of started going horribly wrong in the second half of Mirage and here
they'll have to start on the T side again so I think there's a way in for
Liquid they just keep playing kind of the same way on CT side but just slightly
better discipline and then being more concentrated in these rounds against
pistols you know a strong CT side can propel them into a map win. We've got to
see exactly how it is going to be going down but not before we head things to a
quick break. When we return it's going to be Nuke the map pick of Gamer Legion and
potentially last chance to learn here for Team Liquid at the Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta 2026.
What is this, what is this?