Virtus.pro on EPICENTER 2016: how it was
First Counter-Strike: Global Offensive EPICENTER was remembered for its spectacular opening ceremony, comfortable conditions for players and an unexpected finale. Virtus.pro – ELEAGUE's first season champions – were fazed by Team Dignitas in the best-of-3 grand-finals. Let's reminisce the way one of our team's best tournaments of 2016 played out.
Virtus.pro – one of EPICENTER: Moscow favorites
Polish players were showing optimal form and great performance long before the Moscow tournament, as demonstrated by the following major events:
1 place — StarLadder i-League Invitational #1
3-4 place — ESL One: Cologne 2016
1 place — ELEAGUE Season 1
1 place — DreamHack Bucharest 2016
2 place — ESL One: New York 2016
Filip “NEO” Kubski shared some insight on the team's way of dealing with slumps in his Moscow interview: “We cooperated quite well and became much more consistent. Yes, sometimes some defeats against weaker teams may slip through. For example, we lost to .Russia in WESG 2016 qualifiers and to VG.CyberZen in StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2. We still have work to do.
Right now we abandoned any global team changes and concentrated on things we can work out. We have found a good system and are just following it now.”
First place in Groups
Virtus.pro ended up in a same group with SK Gaming, Fnatic and HellRaisers. Interestingly, exactly Brazilian and Swedish players were considered VP's "kryptonite" in LAN-series for quite a long time – an unscalable wall for our guys.
SK were VP's first opponents – but didn't stand much chance against them. Virtus.pro took two wins in a row: 16:9 on Mirage and 16:12 on Cobblestone.
The loss to HellRaisers on a Cbble (14:16) in the next tour was a strange sight to behold after such a convincing start from VP. But a sensation was not to be as VP decisively took the second map (16:7 on Nuke).
The group stage ended with a back-to-back battle against Fnatic and Virtus.pro. The Swedish team lost Cobblestone (11:16) but tied the score on Mirage (16:13).
The outcome of Group Stage placed the Polish line-up first, advancing them into semifinals and giving them a day to rest.
VP vs SK: the rematch
A throwback to ESL One New York 2016 – the Polish Five's path to the grand-finals was through SK Gaming once again. Even when not going several overtimes deep*, the match still lasted 3 maps.
The finals were started with VP's crushing defeat (1:16) on Train – one of the best maps for the Brazilian team. SK only dropped a single round in defense and secured a quick victory.
Despite such an upset, Virtus.pro held their ground on an ambiguous Nuke. SK Gaming grabbed the lead during the first half of the map (9:6), but Polish defense came out stronger than Brazilian – VP won with a score 16:13.
The match ending was thundering: Virtus.pro outplayed their opponents on Cobblestone (16:4) without breaking a sweat. Brazilian players claimed three times fewer rounds than in their group stage match.
*Overpass ended 25:21 in favor of Virtus.pro
Northern winds of Denmark
EPICENTER: Moscow 2016's grand-finals took place the same day as the semifinals. Polish players went on to face Team Dignitas under the VTB Ice Palace dome after an exhausting struggle against SK Gaming combined with a suspenseful anticipation of their opponents.
Nuke became the first challenge ground for the finalists. Interestingly, the Danish team themselves picked it. VP demonstrated a solid game in offense (11:4) before out-edging Dignitas in defense – 16:11.
Everybody expected a match-finish on Cobblestone after Virtus.pro's confident victory on opponent's pick, but the Danish team proved them wrong.
Team Dignitas showed a brilliant play on the offense on Cbble (11:4) and consequently crushed the Polish team 16:5. The Danish aim brought them this victory: Magisk and RUBINO both brought 44 frags in total.
The champion was decided on Mirage – another rather safe pick for VP. Virtus.pro started on offense and only grabbed 2 rounds – Team Dignitas outaimed VP once again. The difference in scores left Polish players no chance to come back, leaving them in the second place.
The victory over Virtus.pro in the EPICENTER: Moscow 2016 grand-finals granted F.C. Copenhagen sponsorship to Team Dignitas and renamed them North.
Second place in Moscow didn't faze VP – Polish players claimed third place in WESG 2016: Finals, second place in ELEAGUE Major 2017 and reached the first place in DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017.
Author: Anton Kozlov