The second semifinal at IEM Katowice was a complete masterclass of how to play perfect Counter-Strike, featuring Virtus.pro in the leading role and the North Americans playing the secondaries roles. As Liquid didn’t manage to find their footing at the start of the match, VP easily plowed through the Liquid side with a confident 2-0 victory.
The match began on Virtus.pro’s map pick of Dust2. A map, which has developed into a strong and powerful fortress for the Russian side, as they present a staggering 82%-win percentage on the iconic map (Last 3 months).
And it was quickly proven that Liquid wasn’t the team to defeat the VP on their stronghold map. Owing to an outstanding performance by Dzhami “Jame” Ali who led his team by example, Virtus.pro could seal the 1-0 map lead with a crushing 16-9 win.
After the defeat on Dust2, Liquid had their backs to the wall going into Mirage, with a win as the only things that matt for the NA team.
However, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and the rest of Liquid couldn’t move past VP on their own map pick, even though the fight were much closer than on Dust2. The two highlight players were once again the powerful AWPer in Jame and the clinical rifler Mareks ‘YEKINDAR‘ Gaļinskistime who time after time displayed his robotic aim.
Virtus.pro – Liquid (2-0) | IEM Katowice
16-9 (Dust2) | Jame – 1.54 Rating / 22-11 K-D / 85.8 ADR
16-12 (Mirage) | Jame – 1.64 Rating / 28-12 K-D / 95.5 ADR
Highlight of the match
FalleN ace on Dust2
MVP
Dzhami “Jame” Ali | 1.59 Rating / 50-23 K-D / 91.0 ADR
Virtus.pro and Gambit will meet in a star-studded Grand Final tomorrow at 15:00 (CET), which will decided who’s taking home the prestigious trophy.
