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BLAST Fall Final 2024, Quarterfinals: G2 Esports vs Team Spirit, FaZe Clan vs Team Liquid
09-27-2024 · 6h 32m
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the final four finals here in Copenhagen we are live from the forum in Denmark to kick off the last
premiere quarter-finals 16 still in contention of lifting that coveted trophy and today it all goes down
in front of the Danish crowd my name is Friar Spears joins by Steco and Pimp Jacob I've been
missing you these past two days of groups did you expect to hear that and how was the group
stage for you no I did not expect to hear that and I can't really I can't say the same thing
that's my issue I wish I wish I would have missed you but I had a lot of fun with Bobsky I had
I had a lot of fun with Counter-Strike and I've been enjoying the group stage so far, but I'm happy that we're inside the arena
Happy we're getting into the nitty-gritty and they're happy to standing next to this guy who's a I guess a youtuber, you know
Thank you very much likewise and basically it's really nice to have someone like that in front of me bouncing off the idea
So between each other and it's going to be just good ride
Yeah, I would say up here physically on the desk view you're used to being down in those booths playing in front of the crowd
Is it nice to be up there? I mean the feelings a little bit less
emotional I would say I mean there's no much nerves compared to when you're a player
you need to perform you need to put everything that is in your brain into
the server and right now it's you know it's pretty chill environment for me
whereas for us up here we don't really use our brain we don't have to perform so
it's super super easy nice and chill. Tell you what though and we are celebrating an
anniversary today aren't we? Happy birthday slash anniversary to Counter
Strike 2. Isn't that lovely Jacob? I guess it is you know and I guess it
would be nice if we got a big surprise maybe coming in on the one year anniversary. I think
a lot of people out there share the sentiment that we could be in for a treat, but I think
we also have learned from mistakes and learned from experience that we can't really get our
hopes up to high. If you don't have any expectations, you can't be disappointed. That's exactly
what I've learned. I'm going to question you, Jacob. What have we learned from Group
A? That's what you and Bubskie were kind of fixating on for the past two days.
surprises anything out of the ordinary happen there? Not really for my money to be completely
honest it played out the way I was thinking it would Falcons obviously unfortunately for them
eliminated and we'll dive into that later for sure a lot of stuff is happening within their
camp right now. Navi looking like the best team in the world not a big surprise to me either
haven't lost a single map so far been looking very dominant and then face clan still still
struggling a little bit but for Falcons to be eliminated for Falcons to be out of the
tournament not really a surprise. Should we talk about what we discovered about Falcons in there
You know the last few hours we woke up got in the shuttle and oh my lord
There's been some drama going down hasn't that's too good? Yeah, I mean they're obviously looking for replacements and zoning suggested it in their interview
But the rumors are out and confirmed pretty much with simple coming in on loan for at least three months into the comes
And that is the big topic of today. That's a line up the Falcons enter the tournament with going forward
Jacob though quite different because guess who's back. Yeah, let's take the highest rated player
and let's kick that guy put him on the bench some payers to the right all the
out of the question now being put on the bench simple coming in I guess that's
it makes sense in in a way that if you want to bring back in simple please
don't bring him in as a rifle you know given the chance to come back into
Counter-Strike 2 in the positions in the form that we would like to see him
in with the AWP but it is it is controversial it is interesting to
see what's gonna happen within the Falcons camp I'll tell you this
month though for simple to come back into Counter-Strike that makes me
very very excited and I think for all the fans out there they should be
excited too and I'll also promise you this one symbol is not the only player
joining Falcons win the next three months. Oh if you got some insider
information Jacob, how to share? I think it's pretty evident by the rumors by
what we hear by what's circulating that Falcons they want to make moves now to
make sure that they're not wasting another year being mediocre. They're
not wasting another year not qualifying for the majors not getting into the
player of just being there. So for my money I think it's pretty evident and
pretty clear that they're gonna bring in a high-profile player and as per
the rumors as of right now, you're looking at a guy called Nico and I think having Nico
and Symbol play on the same team should excite everyone out there, regardless of what you
may think of.
That would be so mental, of course this is just the rumors that have been circulating,
do you think there's a high likelihood that that is in fact true, Stika?
I mean obviously Falcons are trying to build an international powerhouse when it comes
to budget and everything around it and putting Nico in and Symbol in the wood
kind of just makes sense and also G2R not really performing as probably Nico would
hoped for. There might be some you know mutual agreements, disagreements and you
know in contract nothing really is set in stone and anything can happen
especially during those transfer periods. Do you like that as a move Beniko? They're
like objectively for Falcons that would be amazing if you're able to sign both
those names but Beniko and his kind of courage and dectrary. Makes sense? I'll be
completely honest I think a lot of people right now are having a negative
stigma around that move saying that he's going to retirement home he's going
for the money. I think if you're a Niko and if you're a player of his
caliber you can also look at it from you're going into a project that's been
failing for Falcons and you can now come in and change the direction you can
now come in and be known as the guy who together with simple perhaps changed it
all around so I think it's a good channels for Nico if you were to go
it also depends on who's gonna get caught who's gonna stay it there's a
lot of you know unknowns right now and we're not even sure Nico's gonna
join but for my money I kind of like it and I don't think Nico is the
player with the mentality that he's just gonna go there to retire I think
you want to make a statement with that move. Okay Stiko who's safe then
because in theory some pairs will be being caught. We just saw the announcement from Falcons as well.
Who's going in replacement of Niko? I mean bringing Niko in kind of solves us the puzzle of the roles
as well and you have to assume that matches is probably going to be on the safe end of things
together with Snappy. I don't think Niko is going to Falcons to in-game lead. He's tried it
before but I'm giving you names of Madden and Dupree that are going to be on the lookout
and basically role-wise it could be either of them. I agree. I think if you're looking at
Madden and if you're looking at Dupree I think those two are the most exposed
players within Falcons right now and especially when you consider the roles
as you're speaking about right here. There's one caveat to that and there's
one little thought I just want to put in the minor people is it is the
Magics have been in game leading before when Gleib was out of Astralis
when Sønek was the coach still he was doing a vacancy as an in-game
leader and Magics have entertained the idea before that he can in-game lead
so as much as I agree that on paper it looks like a battle between
Dupree and Madden to to give up that spot I'm not necessarily sure
that Snappy, unless he finds some sort of level or find some sort of trust within the
lineup, is 100% safe just yet.
Would you entertain the idea that Niko might take off the mantle once again?
I mean, he won a trophy in Dallas when he had studio as a stand-in.
Would you like to see that?
He told us during Pro League we interviewed him and I was standing next to him asking him
why he's not in game leading in G2 and he said that from an individual standpoint
he still feels he can deliver a lot more in Counter-Strike 2 so he doesn't want
to go into that role yet.
I suspect nothing has changed for him in the past three months so I would rule that
out and I sincerely don't hope that's the case. Yeah, you're hoping that there's a likelihood to be good?
As well, I want Niko to shoot the headshots and get that clear tabs and you're just able to do that
in an environment where you just have to focus on your cross-enemy instead of micromanaging
or micromanaging the whole team around you. So obviously I'm going to go for a fact that
stuff is safe. Group B, we had our fair share of drama, I think it's fair to say,
over in that group as well. Astralis unfortunately eliminated by the hands of Spirit, that
that was, you know, somewhat of a competitive series when it got into maps 2 and 3, but
the whole Astralis conversation, Jacob, I really want to pick your brains about this
because first game versus Vitality, they were basically asleep at the will.
That was not a series at all.
And then we're going to the Spirit game, Katie and Aftwood saying, you know, it was a series
we could be proud of.
Is that true?
Did you buy that?
I think so.
All things considered, I think Astralis coming into the tournament.
We all know what happened.
We all know the noise around them and kind of the lead up to the tournament for
them wasn't great.
yet they found themselves on the third deciding map versus Spirit.
I believe they were leading 10 to 7, 11 to 8 at some point,
and then they couldn't close out the game.
So I think, yes, in isolation,
Astralis should be somewhat happy pushing Spirit all the way to the line,
where they almost eliminated them and almost booked a spot inside the foam arena.
The fact of the matter is they didn't end up losing,
and Spirit did not look like their old self right now.
So I'm not sure how much stuff I want to put into that.
No, absolutely not.
Any takeaways for you, Cico, from the Astralis camp?
I'm just glad that the recovery kind of happened in the end.
Whereas the spirit match I was hoping that Astralis will not show the most impact on
Media day and not a game day
So I'm really glad that they actually take a map of a spirit and could have gone either way and could have very well
Played right behind me right now just in terms of like the history between you know the old heroic trio
Let's say Jacob um how did you have this on the cards?
Did you have Katie and joining Astralis on any of your bingo cards before this tournament?
I entertained the idea and I thought to myself no probably probably not you know
So you probably would have gone with Hooksy, you probably would have gone somewhere else.
Even Stound, you know, was being brought up as a guy who potentially could in-game lead
with time and make that transition.
For Kaden to come in, obviously there's a role class between him using to be the AWP player
still having the device on.
And we saw throughout this tournament that they were very willing to pull out the double
AWP setup.
And as much as I entertained the idea and would likely, you know, make the argument,
it's possible to do on certain maps, it's not sustainable to have two players who
both want to play the AWP as much as they did throughout this tournament.
Does that make sense to you, Steve-gun?
I felt very much felt the same, that it was kind of a gimmick that they did not have enough time to prepare
and they were trying to just pull some ace out of Steve and this could be one of them and it worked on certain rounds
but it backfired badly on the others.
Yeah, Device making history for all the wrong reasons, I guess, throughout the group stage.
It wasn't a great performance from him from his side. He said, you know, this is the first time ever.
He's never got a round in terms of CSGO and CS2.
I don't know whether that's true but from his side he said, yeah, it felt deflated.
Well you said it wasn't the worst as far as I'm concerned we had some some nerds out there doing the numbers and doing the checkup
And this was the worst ever tournament for device in ten years. I believe so yeah
He was not having a good time. Obviously that's facilitated by losing 13.0 against Vitality only playing five maps of Counter Strike
It's easy to say that statistically speaking. It's the worst tournament for him
But it's not a good start. Let's be honest in terms of like the roles deco does it make sense like
We also saw stair having to take a bit more of an aggressive mantle
Which you like, do you like seeing him getting involved in those openers?
Does it make sense where everybody at the moment is falling in terms of the small sample size that we've seen of Astralis?
We all definitely have to see some kind of fusion when it comes to play styles and the roles.
I like what you said about Starr gaining for those entry frags, especially against the Spirit.
I think that Ancient is solely his reason why it was even competitive and that was a great time to see.
However, he's always going to fall back on the TD side, taking up those more anchor-like positions, more stationary.
And that is always like a shift that you don't really want to see in roles, but someone has to take it and so it wasn't for my money, good enough job.
And I think that's been just a story for me throughout this entire time with Astralis, bringing in Yabi, bringing in Stound, bringing in these new guys.
I feel like Stare is the guy you don't really can expect too much from, he's not being put into prime positions, but every single time they've been playing tournaments,
I feel like he's the only one standing out as doing his job to his capabilities. He's the only one living up to whatever expectations we may have.
You brought in Jabi, you brought in Starr and two of the most expensive players of all time in Denmark.
They were supposed to come in and save Astralis and to be completely honest they've shown absolutely nothing so far.
What's like the Danish scene been saying about this new Jacob? Obviously you speak the language, you're from here.
Anybody gossiping about it? Are people equally as shocked as kind of we are in terms of the international scene?
I think for the Astralis fans it's a tough one to swallow. To swallow a sudden see Katie in an Astralis shirt,
especially considering the history between he rode back in the day where Katie was leading the charts,
going up against Astralis, going up against Glaive, but I think most people are at a point where
Astralis have been underwhelming for such a long time that I think the fans and everyone around them
are willing to swallow that pill right now. So I think for the vast majority of people,
I'm excited, but we need to see some results before we can start getting the hype up.
Well, let's wrap up our day two conversation by moving on to our traded play of the day.
Of course, this is your chance to get involved at home and vote over on the last premiere
Instagram. Jacob, what was crowned the bronze from yesterday?
The bronze is a Brokey with the AWP and I'm not sure how this is only the third best play.
I'm very excited to see Flamesey in wonderful because this clutch was out of the world in overtime.
Double overtime he pulls off a 1v4 immaculate by Brokey.
Seiko we got Flamesey, number two.
Flamesey from Nuke yesterday against Liquid.
This was one of the most tipping points of the second map.
I would say definitely they would have still a second life on this higher pot.
This pretty much set a stone for the rest of the map.
I think Flamesee just delivered as he usually does.
There's an Albi, there was a sick play by Flamesee
and so it is from Wonderful right here
in a 2v5 scenario versus G2.
Navi is on the streak right here, they're coming back from 8-1 down
and Wonderful was leading that shot,
hitting up shots left, right and center.
Albi into Wonderful being great,
but Broke here with a 1v4 and double overtime
is only the third best play.
Speaks of the quality that we got yesterday.
Yeah, there was so many incredible players going down.
Speaking of plays, we've had some movers and shifters
in terms of our GD Bear predictions.
Now let's check in with what was happening yesterday.
because Stiko again I'm really sorry I didn't think calling out on
broadcast would cause Connor, Moe, I think Jacob to go after your head I haven't
done it. It's fine you've got two lives that's totally fine right? I made it to
the third day of the tournament with Summars and that to me is an achievement.
I mean the fact that you have the same amount of points as Anders is
roughly the biggest diss I could possibly give to you so I'll let the
graph speak for itself. Okay so that's what happened yesterday let's
move on to today's schedule because of course we've got two quarterfinals coming your way
these are some absolutely massive ones as well G2 versus Spira up first and it's gonna
be FaZe, Liquid, Jacob I'm so excited for that not least because Twists versus Karrigan.
Do you remember what happened between FaZe and Liquid at Cologne when Broke he was
flipping them off and going crazy in that like crazy crazy comeback I'm so excited
to see that rematch.
I'm also excited to see how our predictions are looking today Anders oh actually I've
Look on the same way as Anders, so I guess maybe he's gone crazy or I've gone crazy, not
that many face pickers.
Ooh, for yeah, we have a little battle right here.
You and I have so far predicted every game correct throughout the tournament.
I want to give you that credit.
Maybe you get a bit lucky.
I don't know, maybe you're copying my work as you used to, but today we're going for
two different teams in that one.
I'm excited to see your face.
Why did you go for face?
I have to kind of break even with something, so I had to start risking to even make
it competitive, and I thought that liquid and face risk could pay off actually.
Isn't it crazy that only one of us believes Spirit can beat you today?
that's actually kind of wild.
Yeah, I mean, from what we've seen from the group stage,
I don't blame them people,
but we do need to head things over to a quick break
before we can get into the action
after this break, G2 versus Spirit.
Going down on the stage, private minus.
It is time for the Samurai's first foray
inside the forum, taking down phase,
but faltering to Navi in the group stage,
lots of men at the quarterfinals at the very least.
And now they turn to take on Spirit.
And I think it is fair to say, Jacob,
Spirit have been having some issues of their own
because it wasn't all plane sailing in that group stage.
Surprisingly, that matchup versus Astralis,
that was a competitive one.
A very competitive, you know,
a couple of rounds going the way of Astralis,
it would have been them taking on the stage today
in front of this home crowd, but it's not.
And it's great to think of how well they were playing
just four, five months ago in Katowice.
We saw some of the best individual counter-strike,
actively of all time coming out of dunk,
looking like a team to beat for the rest of the season.
But right now, Spirit, ranked number four in the world,
they're not playing like it.
And I think that's why our expectations
is so high, Stiko, right? Because we've seen the heights that Spirit are able to hit, and
when they don't, we're always left wanting something more.
Yeah, it definitely feels a little bit flat coming from everyone on the roster, everyone
is kind of pulling their numbers a little bit down compared to the start of the year,
and maybe that was the baseline originally, and that was the overperformance in disguise,
so maybe now this is usual so.
Okay, overperformance, that's an interesting way to put it, are you buying into that,
or do you think that's the level that Spirit should be consistently hitting?
I think so, to some degree.
I think Donk have been masking some of the issues
that has been in the Spirit Cam.
And I think we spoke about that many times.
There's been some blowouts as well.
Last time these two teams were playing against each other
at Cologne, it wasn't even a game.
Elimination at hand G2 was absolutely manhandling Donk
and the boys from Spirit.
So, yes, for my money,
they have been overperforming a little bit,
but I think Donk in particular,
without him playing as exceptionally well as he has,
he's been masking some of those issues.
Four rounds, last time these two teams faced off.
That was the amount that Spirit were able to garner in an Elimination game as well.
Like, it literally can't get much worse than that, right, Sikun?
Absolutely. I mean, that was the tipping point for Spirit in some sense,
because they said after that that Cologne was a failure,
and they need to have five consecutive good events in a row,
and they're failing to deliver.
They barely scraped through here into the arena,
and, well, they're still not favorites in this matchup.
Yeah, let's talk about exactly what has gone down,
but before we do that, we're going to check in with Magix,
first thing I want to ask for about yesterday's game is you got the win
obviously it wasn't easy but was it more like how you guys want to play as a
team I mean I can say that pretty much we as a team was pretty much bipolar it's
so crazy because you know playing the first map it was it was super
depressing the communications were bad the ideas were not coming from
anyone the ability to shoot enemies was not on the server for anyone and you know
going into the second but it was completely different team and this is
kind of kind of not a great sign to have but if I can fight with this disorder
we can get better. I love your honesty here I want to talk to you as well
because I saw like Donk's head in his hands for example there was
frustration on a lot of your faces. Have you spoken as a team about how to deal with this?
Because I didn't see this, if I say go back to Katowice, it didn't exist. I know you're winning
then, but there should be a way even if you're behind to come out of it, right?
Well, yeah, if you're getting these things happening into the game, you can't just let
it happen. You need to have a conversation about it. You need to fix that because it is not
house it is not normally and it doesn't help you to win the games and yeah talking as you
mentioned the catalyst of course the failures has been happening but the amount of emotions
and reactions is currently much more when you have a bad round and you're feeling much
more bad compared to the previous when you when you were like all right shit happens
Let's go next. Maybe in the past few days, it was kind of overreacting.
Is it because of pressure maybe? Because we expect spirit to be a lot better now and be winning trophies?
It's definitely not about the pressures, about the way how you approach the mistakes or, you know, it's just kind of different.
And then we need to work on it to see it in a different way.
so it won't be that hard for them.
In terms of a hard game, G2 have been a hard team for you in the last games you've played against them.
Do you guys understand why that is? Is it maybe their playstyle?
Oh, well, the last time when we played them,
Brzeznik alone, as we all know,
but we are no more in Cologne,
so we may expect the better outcome.
At least we'll win more than four rounds, I do believe, since it's not a cologne, so we'll see.
Okay, that's actually one of the more candid Magic's interviews that I've heard in recent times.
He's at least acknowledging that there were difficulties in Stiko.
That is something that you were really picking up on yesterday.
When we were down by the booths, watching Spirit, there were clear frustrations coming out of basically every single member of that camp, right?
Absolutely. I mean, the frustrations are running high obviously,
and you can even acknowledge it from Magic's interview where they don't really know or don't have recipe how to fix it
and obviously this shows like volatile signs whenever things don't go well
That's when team like that will have eventual problems and they will rise up
Is it okay for your teammates to be reacting like that Jacob?
Like you've obviously been on competitive teams when people are slamming desk
when people are getting tilted over the most minor things because they were winning for that majority of that game, right?
It's usually not a great sign, no.
I mean, you see it time and time again.
I think Hall of Circus is a great example
that we keep putting up.
Some teams can handle it, some players can handle it,
but I think also from your point of view as a player,
it can be frustrating if you have a player,
you know, losing focus or losing grasp of the game
because he's frustrated about something.
But I get it, I understand it from a spirit perspective.
They went from being arguably the team
to beat in the world, the number one team in the world,
to now a team that is struggling
even getting into a quarter-final,
let alone by not the favorites at all against teams.
Okay, if we remove that last foray
of GT vs Spirits from our memory. I want to erase that one forever. We've got some really
exciting heads to heads going down, right Jacob?
I mean one of the heads to heads that you're going to see in the game is Niko taking on
Dunk and we spoke about Dunk being the best player in the world and I think there's a
case to be made that has been the case but whenever he's going up against G2 and in
particular Niko, he's struggling. From the eye test in the game they're facing
each other a lot so they have a lot of internal duels as you can see as well and Niko
is winning the vast majority of those duels and we spoke about it as well, Stiko.
spirit to win games as of right now they rely on gong to outperform their opponents and for some
reason you can't get it done against them. Especially when it's just gong you know sometimes you
have the game plan relying on the guy that is going to get those multiples and if nicole is
shutting it out before he even gets one well that's usually crumbling the whole plan that's
chopper or a hally for that matter is going to prepare for the game. When we talk about some
other head tits that are going to be going down as well I think stylistically the AWPers it's
It's a really interesting discussion to have, right, Jacob?
I mean, Monacy is the guy who constantly seeks duels,
who constantly tries to put himself in the sender.
So I feel if you're looking at that stylistic duel,
sure, a very passive orb or an orb
that sometimes would need a bit more aggression
coming in for it, whereas Monacy,
he's out there in your face all the time.
So I think, statistically speaking,
close to each other,
but in terms of raw impact on the server,
Monacy is a step ahead.
Exactly, and that really shows the beautiful
of Counter-Strike that different kind of play styles
and impacts through orb is actually going
to get you in the potential to apply players of the year,
because for my money, both Mullens and Shiro
deserve to be there.
But stillistically, when you look at the server,
vastly different gameplay.
Yeah, why do you think Shiro is still in that conversation
to be top five, Steakbox?
I'm spoiling a little bit of our conversation
that's going to happen later on,
but it's interesting because I think, obviously,
within the spirit, he's obviously
got very clearly defined roles.
He has been picking up some decent numbers,
but their performance at certain events
still leaves me going,
does he need to be a little bit more consistent?
The consistency needs to be there, but it's also a little bit harder to find when you're not the most aggressive guy on the team, like Monace is in most of the scenarios.
What I would give Monace and Edge here is that his rifleing ability is just a little bit up to par compared to Shiro in my opinion, but open-wise very much the same.
In terms of what we've seen of G2 thus far during groups, where's the temperature at for them at the moment, Jacob?
I think it's lukewarm. You know, it hasn't been great, it hasn't been bad.
There's been certain individuals, Monacea being one of them who's played exceptionally well,
who's had game where he's taken over, he's finding all that impact on the server.
We haven't seen much from Melps, we haven't seen much from Nico, and to me that's an issue.
Usually Nico will step it up during the playoff, and I think today is going to be one of those days
where he will get to showcase that one more, but I just feel that it's been a little bit
lukewarm for G2, they haven't hit their strides just yet, and we all know it.
You know the win condition for this team behind me right here, that is individual firepower.
Yeah, exactly. And in this individual five hour cannot be more roller coaster on G2 performance side because some people are just lights out game after day and some people are just struggling.
How do you feel in terms of this iteration of the G2 roster? Because I think then coming together making it to the Grand Finals of EWC, I think that put our expectations super, super high.
high. Is that kind of, was that an over performance essentially?
Well, those numbers kind of inflate into giving us a little bit too much hope.
Or do you see this realistically being a G2 that we can see it more about?
I think the issue for me is changing snacks to the in-game leader instead
of Hoopsie hasn't changed anything in regard as to the consistency
of how they approach the game. G2 has always been a team that
honor any given day they can win a tournament.
On any given day they can beat any team out there in the world,
let it own spirit. But in terms of finding raw consistency,
finding team play. I haven't seen that evolution would in T2. So again for me
comes down to individual. If Monizy is having a great game, if Negro is having a
great game they'll most likely win. If not they could lose and for me it's
simplifying Counter Strike to a point that if you want to be a consistent
top three team you've got to have more than just that and right now I don't see
that for in T2. Yeah and Snacks individually Stiko obviously were not
relying on him to be the individual star but he hasn't been looking great
in terms of that you know isolated output on the server. No
Definitely not and I think everyone expected more even past bringing him in probably having that Polish connection from previous days
Might have been influential, but on the server statistically wise it's been rough
There's been consecutive games after games where things are just not clicking and the record is kind of impressive
I think that's my issue right you bring in snacks you think to yourself, okay
You bring in a new vision for the game you're naming a player that maybe have slightly more firepower
But nothing has really changed if it's roots you playing snacks playing it could all just be the same
It still relies on Niko still relies on Melts still relies on months and I think that's always going to be a problem when you see the numbers there
You know obviously maybe Niko aside 1.11 ain't too bad, but Malves. I think individually he hasn't been looking
You know like the sharpest tool. No, especially not on the CT side
And when we speak of the roles Melts coming into the lineup that being gifted the role that he's supposed to
She said he's been great CT side nonexistent
You know what that noise mean that means the picks and bands are rolling on in now just to reiterate last time around
round. It was Nuke, it was Mirage. Didn't even need that third-final decider of Dust2 because
G2 absolutely handed it to them. Vertigo Band receiving cheers all round here Jacob. I agree with that.
Yeah me too. We see the first pick coming in Dust2 by Spirit. As you said last time it was the
third deciding map. We didn't get to that point Spirit. Want to bring it into the map pool.
No big surprise right there. G2 picking Mirage which I guess is a fan favorite. At least it's
one of my most enjoyable maps to both watch and pick. Any other thoughts for what you think the
The third decider will be Stiko, do you think we go back to that nuke that was the first last time around?
I think Nuke is a really good child here, honestly, and I think it's going to be again that middle ground for both teams, apart from that performance that we saw at Cologne.
Just to confirm, for the first map Dust2 Spirit will be starting with T-Side of things, G2, T-Side of that second map of Mirage.
Jacob, are you liking this? Is the same set of maps just in a slightly different order with the Spirit choosing to start on the Dust2 side of things?
Make it from an entertainment point of view. You get Dust2, very open map, can be very fast paced, can be fun to watch.
Sane could be set for Mirage, again a map that allows for the individuals to come alive.
Think of Monizian Dust2, I could be the best AWP in the world and that specific map.
Sane could be set for certain of the players from Mirage. And then Nuke is a little bit more tactical affair.
So should we go to a third map, it changes the dynamics.
So a very open map pool to begin with and should we go to a third, it becomes a little bit more tactical.
I also like the fact that we're having rematch on two maps from the Cologne
because it clearly shows that Spirit thinks that that result was an anomaly, right?
They think they still believe in the match-up even though they got four rounds total combined with two maps.
So I love it, I love the confidence, and it's going to be a show.
I would really hope that series was an anomaly, Jacob, because, I mean, Spirit just thinking back to that current performance,
they looked dead in the water, like, there wasn't even frustrations, there was just nothing,
like, no emotion, no feeling in an elimination game. Surely they're going to be, you know, vying for it on stage, isn't it?
I think it's fair to say that expectations for today is it's going to be different right as you said in Cologne
They never really showed up to the tournament was for today
We did see them play against Astralis yesterday as well as for very close getting that victory
But at least there was some frustration some emotions coming out of them
So I believe it's a different spirit today let alone them being the favorites
No, but they can still put up a good fight. Did we all go with G2 in our predictions?
Can we confirm that right now? Yeah any changes in in heart Jacob now that we know the maps
or do you think G2 is going to hand it to them again?
I think it's even worse with this map pool.
I think we've seen Munnesty play exceptionally well on Dust 2 throughout this tournament.
Had the best, I would say, individual performance so far on Dust 2
in one of the group stage games for him.
So no, I don't really see that change anything.
To me, it comes down to Donk.
If he can somehow get over the hurdle of facing Nico,
that can open up the matchup, put it without Donk,
playing well, putting up a 1.4 rating,
which by the way hasn't done so far in this tournament,
I don't see Spirit having many chances to win.
Yeah, I think that was something that we were really noticing
in that group stage side of things, right?
I mean if we look back to the G2 series again there was a map where Donk was bonafragging getting four kills
We also saw that happening in the group stage
So if you're young Donk man, you're going to be wanting to fight back in this one
Absolutely and you need to fight for that spot that you kind of laid over in the first half of the year of being the best player in the world for CS 2
However, you need to put up a performance to confirm it in the second half
And so far we haven't seen that too much to this to the likes of Donk
And that's a game one in the game right?
You have Monizzi right now who is arguably one of the contenders to be considered the best player in the world
I bet you he's motivated to do it against Donk one more time because what happens is every single time Donk is facing Niko
Every single time Donk is facing Monizzi, he's getting it handed to him
Can you argue he's the best player in the world if he can't beat the other best players in the world?
So I think in in terms of the game within the game Monizzi is super motivated to prove a point
Well, we've got the map cemented for G2 versus Spirits, but it's time to get the show on the road
We're always a week and fist clutch.
To many great Counter-Strike events since 2017,
this crowd, these people,
the people watching at home online
have made these fantastic events possible
and we've enjoyed it.
We've seen champions from all over the world.
You can go all the way back when to when SK did it.
You can look to Na'Vi, heroic, vitality, phase,
but now we get to decide it one final time.
Are you guys ready?
This is the celebration of Counter-Strike in Copenhagen.
It's the birthday today.
I wanna see us celebrating, enjoying,
and going absolutely crazy all weekend long.
Can you do that?
Let's get this started.
G2, G2 took their first steps into Copenhagen
with authority. Finding success over faith. But when testing by the team that only seems
to win, they found their downfall. But their arena run has just begun. Team Spirit. Spirit
did not find an easy path to the quarter finals. They were forced to battle for survival.
had to find an answer. One foot in front of the other, they march towards the arena.
Only now will their performances matter. The past is put to bed. The future is for the making.
Tropper senses his pieces, snacks, carrots, and his pawpaws.
Between these two, he's sure to set sparks through conflict hate.
An easy start here at the full finals.
The G2 Samurais were able to hold on and keep control against FaZe in a series that saw Monosy shine.
Then they faced a familiar foe, one they cannot avoid in Na'Vi.
Even with Niko putting his best rifle forward, they were once again overwhelmed.
Look to go three for three against Spirit and grant them a semi-final spot.
This is G2!
an informed donk wasn't enough to stop them and clutch it out. Against the
Charlis it looks like it could all be over as ancients slipped away at lightning
fast speed. That was until they knew their backs were against the wall and the
whole team came to play. Zontics stood proudly at the top of the table with
Shiros all ready at every corner, but now they must do what they've never done before.
A series that was once a whitewash back in Cologne, now a chance for Spirit to be righting
those wrongs.
It's incredible to think, Jacob, both times that they face G2, they have never been
able to take a win.
Do you think that changes today?
I don't think it's going to change today.
However, do think the game is going to be way more competitive this time around.
Obviously four rounds last time around wasn't really enough to get it any excited or having any excitement for watching the game
However today, it's gonna be different. So can't get any worse. And that's my first argument second of all
I do think the dunk have shown glimpses of what he can do
I also do think G2 is not playing up to par with the highest of high level that we saw at times in Cologne
So for my money the matchup should be fairly more equal. I also think that you do
I kind of going to feed of that hunger of audience finally having in front of them
And that's just more experienced team when it comes to this and I'm hoping that they will win because well after all
They're my pick. Yeah dust 2 it's gonna be spirits pick as the first map of this series
T-stides start for them of course when we talk about us to we got to talk about the orpers
It's an all this playground. How do you think shiro and minus you're gonna be tackling this one?
You know in their different stylistic ways of all pin. Well, here's the thing right minus
We know he's gonna be involved in the game because he's charging, you know, he's gonna be boosted up on catwalk
He's gonna be on long
He's gonna be in middle
He's going to be finding duels left, right, and center.
Whereas for Shiro to find impact in the game,
he relies on dunk, he relies on chopper,
he relies on the rest of the team to put him in a position
where he can win a 3v3 afterplan,
where he can come into play.
So it almost feels unfair in a way,
saying that Monizzi starting ahead of Shiro,
he will have a chance of making the impact in the game
where Shiro way more reliant on the turn.
So for my money, look out for that.
Can Shiro just be slightly more aggressive,
find slightly more impact in the beginning?
I think there could be a win condition for Spirit
to at least get the game going.
Absolutely, and for the calls as well,
I'd like to see Team Spirit maybe drag the rounds
a little bit longer.
I noticed it a little bit successful
compared to the pure rushes or heavy executes as well.
RNG gold has to be blessing now
because you have to have those long spawns on Dust2
and those are going to be impactful
when it comes to the whole key side of this game.
Anybody else that we're looking at
for Team Spirit side of equation?
Other than the AWPers,
obviously Donk, we wanna see him showing up.
And I think Dust2 has been a very comfortable map
him to do it on as it lay. Yeah it should be it should be one of those maps and one
of those games where Donk will come alive but as we said Nico had been shutting him down.
I think mainly that's been on a map like Nuke it's been on Inferno. I don't think necessarily
that Donk won't be able to showcase much on a map like Dust2 so I wouldn't be too
worried of him being out of contention of finding impact. For my money more it's
more about the support cast. I'm looking towards Chopper, I'm looking towards SunTix as well.
We know that for this tournament T-Side wise he's been nonexistent CT side though
he's found impact. I think it's a given that Donk and Shiro will have moments in this game where
they're going to find impact, find kills. It's not a given for me, Maddix, Chobba and Sun-Six will.
So for my money, it's the support cast I want to see step it up. Absolutely, perfect spot on
because as well, economy plays a heavy role in Dust2 and I think there's going to be a lot of
back and forth. Some people will have to be stuck with those MP9s and the masses and
those players need to get some multiples especially those anchor positions towards B zone
things and long towards Magix. Right? So you have to have that kind of itch to find another
kill not only one before they hit your side. Well we did just have the live odds going down
on screen for this series versus G2 and Spirit. Tell me a little bit about maybe the mental space
that G2 will be in right now because we know that rumor Mel Jacob has been grinding and the man
right at the end his name has been thrown into the ring as maybe just maybe moving somewhere else.
I mean I think that they would have discussed it internally if there's something to those
rumors maybe the players already know maybe they haven't had the discussion I don't really
know what I do know is when you're sitting on a stage and you only have one thing to focus on what's in the game
All of that goes out of the window. I think the players will be able to abstract from that
They're in the moment
They're in the zone they're ready to go and if there's one player I want to put on the spotlight in regards to that
It is Nico right on a playoff on a stage
He usually shows up more often than not especially considering to the group stage
So look out for Nico look out for money see and look out for the stage Honda because he always plays well on a stage
Well, we are ready to be getting into our first quarter final here in the forum.
It's G2 taken on Spirit Dust2 as Mat1.
Yes, indeed. It's finally time, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the playoffs of the last ever four finals live and direct
from the forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.
We've got two ravenous teams looking to reclaim their championship form
and make a deep run here at Blast, introducing your first quarter final.
It's G2 taken on Team Spirit.
Our first map should be an absolute barn-bunner and set the tone for the series.
I'm hoping for a chaotic and messy Dust2 that pushes these two teams at a very limit to their ability.
We've got the World's Best Rifles, the World's Best snipers.
I hope you're ready at home. Anders, take us into the action.
We're not going to delay, Henry. We're not going to slow this down.
The fire is right now. Spirit on the T side and G2.
They're on the CT side ready to fight at long.
almost every single player on the map right at the corner ready to pop off with
those USP's. Here comes the flash and here comes the swing, mounts, big collar kills,
bring it on with the headshot sleeves, magics on his own. It's an absolute slaughter towards the pit.
Well that's more like him Al, he's had a difficult tournament. We haven't seen that star power
for him in a couple of weeks now and now he gets a hat-trick. Normally when a team goes to take long
long at the start of the round you'll see them get full control of all five players looking to smoke the crossover, but they're combative and then some mouths get three beautiful headshots and magics.
There's nothing you can do, Anders. The best you can hope for here in this sort of scenario is get the bomb on. But how does he make that happen? 36 points of health and just running down that clock.
Requires G to make some big mistakes right now. They have to peek him a lot. Little bit of a jump for information. They know it as well. And he knows it.
If they don't peek him, then he's forced to try and find a bomb site and he's going to be very vulnerable in the middle of all of that.
Airplay, he's going to change his position, which could give him a bit of an element of surprise. Doesn't seem like G2 are quite ready for it.
They haven't really considered it yet, but still is very hard to win around like this one.
Now they are starting to rotate and they're actually making enough noise that he's going to be able to hear some of those footsteps here.
He's going to get tagged once again, puts him even lower.
the lower the bomb plan though would be sad looking for it could happen if he
gets a quick kill here realized though it's a strong star for G2 a
comprehensive victory in the pistol courtesy of malts MD the doctor is in
session as he lights them up look at this flashbang that is snacks as well
just devastating isn't it no problem whatsoever no plan
Zuma Lee will see an eco coming to the next round. There is a conversation about tech 9s and arm of it and dust 2. I don't think so
So yeah, just the glocks
Nothing ready to report here chance of farm some cash and a three players in the SMGs and Hunter
Look at his lips of the prospects same story for monosie as well full sense towards top of middle ready to you
Find a couple of glocks on the other side
It's hard to criticize isn't it? You're gonna be making a lot more money
top five teams but in terms of the championship form I don't think we're
seeing yet. The T sides look messy on both sides of the coin and it's going to
come down to individual skill today. Will the star players show up and deliver?
That is the big question. Nico been playing well but definitely not the
best that he can. We all know that much. 40 seconds left and actually not even
have any grenades ready to go from G2. That's normally why you slow this down.
Monizzi having a great time making the money on the MP9 and there's no
No reason for Malus to stick around. It's not really important that he gets these kills
right away. Again, you just don't lose the weapons of the armour. And here comes Modesty
for a final one. So at the end of the day, turns out he's going to make quite a bit
of money leading into round number three, where things get a little bit more interesting
finally. Oh yeah, it's a decent start for G2.
Yeah, couldn't be going better really. A couple of kills given over, that's about
This is the all-important round. Bear in mind, with these SMGs going into the following round, it could be a little bit more complicated.
I think they're going to get the Modesty AWP, and you love to see that.
Let's get it out early. There's no way to round number five and get the money compromised. Let's get this kid online.
Nicely, quickly, Hunter. Straight in towards Lower once again. Donk.
Where are that prospects? Pretty met to Molotov right now to stop the short swing.
Let's get a reset the round. The CTs were considering a bit of aggression there, Hunter.
He'll get some gauge, go back towards middle, same story for Niko,
through his comrades there on the A site.
Magix, actually expecting to get peeked there,
so tries to get a couple of shots off,
but they were quite far away the whole time.
In fact, they're quite far back on the map in general, G2.
They're not really pushed up into upper dark or towards the catwalk.
You see Niko is just holding a grenade on that corner.
He's not trying to do anything more than just, you know, wait for them all the time potentially.
Throw his own super standard stuff,
exchanging a couple of grenades early on, smoke towards CT spawn, suggesting that it could be a B-split.
Doesn't feel like it though. It feels like this is gonna end up at the A bomb site.
And you know what that means, Henry. It means that walking right into Monocene.
This is his domain over on the side right now.
You might not be expecting the AWPer as well, considering something might have stayed alive.
The flashbang this time. Not as effective from Alps.
He goes down, courtesy of Maddox, opening frag and advantage of Spirip.
Are they aware of this little maneuver, Hunter?
Oh, yeah.
He times as well, Anders.
He is already on to something.
He leaps up now.
There's potentially two kills waiting for him.
There is a way to quickly vault up that box,
get quick vision.
We'll see if we can get the timing.
There it is.
And he does a nail it.
What an important kill for Doc to get.
Nico will get one of Return, taking down Chopper.
And he leaves off.
Yes!
He lands that shot.
You have to wake up so early to take him down.
Sheer will be able to land a headshot there
and snacks on a bit of a flanking mission.
Not really the ideal weapon for it either.
That's a pitpatter, but it would have been even more fun, it would have been the AK.
Gonna take the Galileo and try and relocate that position.
I really thought Monosy was gonna end the round right then and there, but nice shooting from Shiro.
His sort of scenario for sure, but two kills with Monosy should be enough, but doesn't seem like it will be.
Snax has recovered the kit in CT spawn, working with that Galileo, our position, our maneuvered,
and it's quite a convincing round there. It all started with a long take with Magix finding Malphs,
and then executing it towards A, training our kills effectively and shutting down Monacy.
Excellent work. Good first gun round and bear in mind we might have some residual cash here,
particularly if they farm so much of those MP9s, but that was the moment when Hunter
at least did one and survive, it follows him and pushes him towards A with a lot of information
garnered. Wasn't meant to be, couldn't quite find the jump. The timing for the turn around
for the long flash there, maybe it was the footsteps that gave it away, but either way
I mean that should have worked for Malibus to get the first kill of the round huge plays from the spirit
They're covering that catwalk position as hunter was about to jump up
I wasn't expecting that I thought for sure. He's gonna get at least the one
They look pretty switched on spirit a lot of moments there that could have easily blown up in their faces
But they were super ready for it
Yeah, the money wasn't a bit of an awkward spot as well snacks
But a drop an orb into the following rounds to decide to take a full eco here
They've got a hero M4, you can't let them have this complete free run of the map so Hunter if you can get a couple of kills of this M4
Just keep them somewhat modest going to the next gun round so their economy doesn't swell
That would be very beneficial now. He might get a bit more than that
He's got the M4 at the back of B and look where they're getting ready to attack
It's going to be the B split Hunter will be responsible for the tunnels and middle though
It's been very difficult the majority of his teammates was long. Let's see if you can step up
Yeah, he's got a bit of a distraction here
But they're coming in for the middle as well. It has to be fast. It's in kill. I don't think it really matters here
Yeah, it's a bit funny, but the real thing is just getting rid of that M4 getting the bomb planted
Sonics going down probably gonna shrug that right off. I mean, he was in the right position
That's kind of what you're hoping for that entrance into B is a bit of a choke point
So sometimes you can get some really great spray downs, but wasn't in the cards this time
It's been a time of the game right away, Henry, we, I mean, this is what we wanted, remember last time everyone's talking about it at Cologne where they absolutely got blown up by G2, you don't want to see that again.
Certainly not. See if they can get anything on this eco. A kill has been found, but it wasn't for them. It was a team kill, that's the only injury and casualty they'll take as Team Spirit arrived to tie things up.
I'm expecting snacks to drop over the AWP for monosy.
There is a conversation right now about snacks.
Using the right pulls of Nikas and the Deagle, for example, this would be a great chance just to get your stars on line quickly.
He had $4,000 should have more than enough to drop.
Looks like we might have a tactical timeout here as we get ready for round number five.
There it is, monosies. Good stuff.
Facing it straight up under there, crossing the middle. That is dangerous.
Certain players very good at hitting those types of shots.
Oh, it's gonna be real fast here.
Mp9 up close, there's actually gonna be a great setup.
Hunter gets two right away.
Oh, and now the smoke is gonna find the head of Magix.
The ball is dropped on the wrong side of the smoke.
Henry, that's the Sastra spirit.
I don't think they can recover this round.
They can try and make it expensive,
but there's a long time to wait.
A minute and 20 seconds.
Look at the rotation of G2, they know.
They have a really nice setup.
Haven't seen that before.
Snacks up high taking the cross end very far away from Hunter. He's been the MP9 gets a sort of hat trick
That's a dream scenario because sure it's SMD getting the kills up to farming money
You have great to the AK-47 as well
It's kind of a sick variation from spirit in some sense to right there walking in towards that bomb site with no utility
Which obviously sounds a bit silly
But the whole point is there's no warning if you're defending sometimes you're waiting for the molotovs and the smokes and the flash
that's your cue to really alert.
There's nothing to the support players focusing on the mid
doors. Yeah, one isolated rifle in there, but G2 read it very well,
and it looks to be a clean sweep. And as I think they're saving
already, Shiraz got the AWP's on to the then for trying to keep
the money healthy. David included the round is over. The pop is
down and probably the worst possible position. And now Shiraz
just holding it towards these for an excellent work from
Hunter and snacks like snacks. Isn't getting the kills or
feel for him because he did the majority of the damage
We've left taking all the aggro delivering the body shots of the hunter to scoop them all up
That's probably the best possible outcome and the upgrade all those SMGs now to rifles
Round confirmed I'll take the lead three to two another AK available there. Now's once if a shot
Yeah, you're right that what a what a giant swing of the economy when you get a couple of kills with an MQ9
You did not break that into an AK for free. You're just gonna be so rich
5,000 in the pockets of Hunter behind that round
Alright. Okay, bouncing back.
Feels like crowds on G2's side here early on.
Yeah, I think you might be onto something there.
It's going to be a Team Spirit timeout as well.
Use them early, shake off the nerves.
A little bit chaotic here, back and forth in the early stages of the first map.
Bear in mind, this is picked by Team Spirits.
Right.
They have Mirage coming up next, so two very brawly maps.
Not much in terms of strategy behind them.
They've kind of been figured out.
These maps, every team plays a very similar way.
And it comes down to your individuals, the skill, and it's been a question mark as to whether Don can carry this team through if they're not delivering.
This is the replay for Hunter. Yeah, they sent snacks, they're softening them up, get Tachiki onto the smoke as well. Nice work.
Invincing rounds, and we'll see what the rebuttal is here from Spirit.
And they go back into the defaults or another set piece, an idea out of spawn, the smoke wall.
Cover the cross. We've seen a lot of damage recently from the top AWPers in this position.
Look at the double doors from Suicide as well.
I kinda like the early time up in Spirit. We saw the frustration in their game yesterday.
Oh dude. Oh yeah, you're right. That's not a smoke that's meant to land there at all.
No, definitely not. That's for the double doors. I guess it doesn't really make a big difference.
There's no one from the CT side on the left side of the map.
So they get away with it I suppose.
Nice. Oh, that grenade could have had it. It could have. That would have been a sick opening for some ticks.
Messing around with the M4A1. All around the middle, nobody should be surprised at such a poor part of the map.
Clearing out the catwalk, going through all the standard protocols for getting a bit of map control here for spirits.
They have some utility, but it's not that much. Smoke towards CT spawn there, another smoke on the other side towards the B bomb site.
As they once again get a bit closer towards the catwalk, walking into Monosy.
Nobody has to be told how powerful he is. Nice timing on the smoke, just to really slow them down, but they might just use it.
Yeah, it's a platform to walk through. Good spray from Nico, but he gets traded almost immediately.
Three versus three here. Chopper's taking a bit of damage, but a headshot on Malves.
might just turn the tide of the battle here a missed flick for monocy jumps up
this immediately executed by shiro and they leave snacks he was low from early
I don't think he needs this one mouse kind of a slow person spirit but it works
really well yeah trying to surprise the defense going through their smoke you
think you've got a good 10 seconds they're gonna respect it but no just
some strong flashbangs and then very nice trade on Nico as well he's in a
power position who stood up on those short boxes you'd think he gets more
than one there. He didn't really get flashed, but great trades and then Shiro hit the showstopper
on monosy. Like he's been relatively contained so far. He's six and three, but only gets
one in that key round. And snacks as you mentioned took a lot of damage at the start. 23 points
of telecom. He'd consider it. And we've got to tie things up once again. So approach
Devon spirit and miss smoke. But the short take was successful. And we've got to tie
game. This is kind of sick because if you're playing a game like G2 and you know
Monacy is going to be over at that A bomb site you could almost feel like you're
being pushed somewhere else right so some of your shots kind of go out the
window. They're actually actively attacking him taking away the AWP. It's going to be a while before they can
rebuy that on the G2 site. That's in itself is like a metric for success.
You're actually taking down Monacy on Dust2 as well. How sick is that?
an iconic position for him as well.
It's looking at a ramp towards the car.
That's where the orb is really thrive.
He has got the weapon once again.
Just pick it up.
That's sick.
All right.
So this time trolling towards middle,
trying to be a little bit more active,
trying to see if he can find the advantages early
on in the round.
No smoke down, but that's quickly
changing this time of the month.
That's got to be the three impenetrails for Hunter,
right?
Yeah, that's got to be all made the difference.
Interesting.
Here we are, round number seven.
Not that many kills really happening on the spirit side necessarily, but on the each individual player, but they're doing fine.
Three to three at the moment.
Not too much activity from G2.
Curious to see them not trying a couple of more things.
They're really far back on the map relying on this default setup.
Yeah, you can see the spirit is trying to bleed out any sort of initial utility.
They tell the aggression at the start. See if there's any reaction on the map.
anyone probing towards short investigating lower B and now once again
You're showing presence towards short, but it looks to be a B split potentially again
Maybe even as to contact into the water side we saw before but look at the setup here from G2
They have three players in towards the bomb site hunter up high
Snacks tucked in
Monosy the turret at the back of the bomb site hoping to take all of the attention
This went so wrong for them before will team spirit making work here. No snacks goes down
Monacee needs to deliver.
It's a bit of a disaster isn't it?
Hunter up on top, it leaves the sniper alone at the back,
and you will get burned out.
They have three people.
That's such a tiny choke point that they're walking through.
I can't believe it.
I can't tell you what Snacks is doing.
No, like...
It was looking so good.
Everything was set up nicely.
You have him in his power position
with Monacee looking down the tunnel,
and he randomly swings, and like,
you get nothing from him.
Yeah, because he has a crossfire with Hunter.
Snacks and Hunter are holding opposite sides
of the opening of the tunnel.
It's a nice setup, it's going so well.
I feel like the lack of information we talked about,
just running their talk down,
just having a very slow round.
There's no aggression, no information.
He hunted, it felt like they needed to do something.
And he just wanted to peek the tunnel,
but as soon as he goes down with nothing,
you've compromised that amazing setup you had.
Monocles overwhelmed,
Hunter can do nothing, some great shots there in mind.
Magics is a hat-trick.
Pulls a rabbit out of the half of that one, but still.
I feel like that the swing towards the tunnels,
I'm not sure the intention was,
but it compromises the rounds and it all falls apart.
This is the moment.
As soon as he goes in, it's like he doesn't even jiggle it.
He just like, bright people around.
It's also a position where,
even if you get a kill,
you have to go back into the corner,
you're gonna get a lot of talk almost immediately.
Oh, that's a real shame.
It was looking so good.
I couldn't see it well,
where Sphere will be able to win that.
No.
So, advantageous setup.
It's rare to have three people
at the bottom side to begin with.
So, nice.
It's only the dualies on the other side, but we're early on with the quarterfinal chopper
with a nice headshot.
That's the rifle.
I picked up, I'm honestly rather quickly, but he can't really easily escape.
He nearly gets the double S.
Not really too bad.
Snacks will get one for the smoke, I believe, from the middle.
The Shiro is trying to do a little cleanup work here.
It's all going to be absolutely fine.
Snacks.
Nothing to do here.
Don't think you do the damage.
You can't save the rifle.
I'm just going to go find him,
shiro.
Oh, is that somewhere in the area?
Oh my God.
All right.
All right, fair play.
I take it back.
He could definitely do something.
I wonder when in the round, but, uh,
see where we can make it uncomfortable.
A little bit of a large smoke there.
Just suggest you might be coming for it.
We do have Chopper taking his way up short now as well.
So, it's not to say this M4.
It's actually pretty nice, all things considered,
I don't think it's gonna happen chopper seems more than ready a strong position one bullet needs to land
Well the timings are interesting to say the least
I don't know how he's gonna get any of these fights to be perfectly honest. It's gonna be all that's
Quite wonderful there. Yeah, he should have been dead easily. He lands a super sick USB headshot and CT spawn
That's fine. We'll give you the credit for that but the spirits
It's a bit of a mistake here, we'll see how much it costs them, you never know.
All things considered, snacks are like that.
That's a good bounce back from the previous round when Rolf had a part in 2-3.
I want to see the shot in TT's box.
From his point of view.
Or the USP?
Yeah, how did you learn that?
He gets the first one there, through the smoke in middle.
Or jumped into it, no issue.
Good night.
Oh, then the snacks, even that orb actually does a lot for them.
That is quite high impact.
sure their exit's back. They probably couldn't afford the open for the next round. That's gonna
alleviate some pressure here. Taz trying to chime in now. Get in there before the wheels
fall off in a couple of uncomfortable rounds to say the least. But still an open game
here. Yeah, not bad at all. Spirits. Maybe saw the frustration with their playing yesterday.
They don't want to repeat that so far. They look like they are in control of
game here. Two round lead for them. Five to three in their favor. And everybody's pitching in. Nobody's
really falling behind on the spirit side. They're all doing a little bit of work. Yeah, I think
Magic's looking very good as well. Don hasn't had to carry though, which is actually quite good news.
If everyone can just do what they have to a couple of kills around,
speaking of which now set up for a double, Nico was taken away, it's going to be that long
take shut down quickly. That should be enough to win the round. At this stage, it's up to G2
to offer it up. You could just enable crossfires on the bomb side, slow them down with the massive
amount of utility you have. It's curious to see Spirit commit that much to the long attack
without throwing the long corner smoke from T spawn. Which is very massive right now.
Every team will be throwing that. I guess maybe also like I said, is that the warning sign
you're coming. Yeah, but it's
prone for a reason. And there was
way too much vision as Monosy looks
like he's destined for this kill.
But I missed that.
Demi for information, just trying to
bait them into the AK-47, a house,
MD, on down, round over. Snacks
found in towards, was he pushing up?
Oh, he must have been. Yeah, he was.
Trying to push with a smoke, I believe.
Maybe that was put up by Hunter
afterwards, but regardless, not a lot
to be done here, unfortunately, for
the rest of spirit the bombs dropped out there towards long and so on section
chopper the rifles are just a little bit more valuable here they don't have a
lot of money in the back a little bit on magics but the rest of them
94 at the moment so slow into the round here as G2 will pick up a fourth don't
necessarily hate it monocly still needing with nine kills we expect
nothing less. You might expect something more that guys very likely will happen on
dust. Yeah, like he's going to have some insane moments. He's been decent so far,
but he hasn't had one of those quintessential superstar clutches or
ridiculous shots. Yeah, it's been pretty popular course, but that's absolutely
fine. Convincing round there from G two. Oh yeah, couple of blunders in the
mix and that's very convincing. What's what you're right at North
the corner smoke real. Bob mentioned run through the standard CT smoke as well.
Yeah.
So that takes like five, six seconds to the CT deployed.
So you get to see that before you even commit.
So when that smokes down, I don't think that's the cool rushing through,
especially with other corner smoke where any real utility deployed,
it's a little bit of a limp round, you don't want to be saying,
from Team Spirit there.
And they'll take the timeouts.
Ali is not happy to see whether we can find the solution going forward here.
Second broadcast we've seen in the audience.
everyone's in a real good mood today, Henry.
It's the kind of attitude I like, you know,
showing up at the carnage right game.
Oh, yeah.
Just here to celebrate.
It's the anniversary as well.
Anniversary of CS2.
One year.
Yeah, there's a lot going on today.
Time does fly.
This is the last ever full final.
It is the last ever.
Imagine that.
We've got no bad games so far.
It's been terrific.
And now we've got a stage as well.
Here we go.
Out long.
No smoke once again.
just a lot of flashes coming over to try and support Don come in he is a
super weapon. Yeah they don't commit as many resources this time G2 and understandably so
you follow your condition long after that great previous round that's very more
than willing to do it again this will be called the Navi approach you get
five players out of long and you slowly scale up you drop layers cross over
smoke so you molotov the car you flash over you don't have to go on the
first smoker trying to debate our reaction see what happened getting so
close and for now they're actually getting themselves close towards the
crossover itself they might just peak this about the smoke going down and that
would be wild this is the new smoke
it's a front is paying dividends they're going all in without the utility and now
stand them honestly defend them all
what a breakdown
Donk and Sontex, they thought they had the upper hand, but he landed that absolutely perfectly.
Cut them down.
Monacee's gonna be the next victim of the round.
Now it's a 2 vs 2.
We get about 40 seconds still.
Bomb plant definitely within their grasp.
All the smoke fades and Malb's finding himself out of the opening.
That's not the snacks now.
To try and clutch it.
They don't even try to plant the bomb.
They know they just need to find the killer.
I mean, it's better to wait.
He's gonna be so careful here.
They're already expecting it.
Chopper and he's dead.
All right, this round all of a sudden it's possible.
A little bit of fortune for the in-game leader, time ticking away, 10 seconds, Shiro.
Here's going for the Kill-Enders. He can't win this. He can't run the bomb.
This won't be won. Who comes out on top? Snaps is ready.
And Shiro comes out on top. A scary moment there.
There was no way to plan. He commits to the fight.
That's a rare sight. He abandoned the mission to look for the kill instead.
and it starts with a bizarre scenario for snacks that the whole half jumping up.
I mean it's a fortunate kill and with the bomb not being planted as well.
You might even give the advantage of the snacks that he tucks in on the left side.
Yeah.
I mean a different story, how is he meant to know though?
Exciting moment, six to four.
Another buy available here but not a strong one.
Snacks on the pistol, the eco with the formats.
I think you get a sense of how much these teams play each other
with the way that they threw the cross smoke and peeked right before it.
Like, I'm sure those timings are changed every other day.
Like, sometimes you wait, sometimes you go a little bit,
sometimes you don't even throw it and you just peek.
Like, there's all these different variations.
This time is a great opening for them.
Yeah, I love that sort of variation of it.
Like I said there, the traditional approach is like, lay in smokes.
You do maybe two of them.
Yeah.
You yourself close base out of utility.
They didn't zero, they barely threw it on the cross.
They wanted to give that first kill and cause pandemonium
You're so conditioned the CT sides like right way for the smoke, hop it open, then we're getting crossing.
So it's a really interesting attack from Team Spirit, one that walks out for them, it's a Dutch C finish, but they come out on top.
This is where they have the advantage as well. Maybe in firepower you can see they don't have the AWP, Shiro certainly does, in any case across the board here.
This could be an 8-4 finish if you lose this round, they have no money.
You can see the from-ass, the pistol there on snacks, they absolutely need this one on the CT side.
Otherwise, Spirit actually gonna have a pretty great first half on their hands.
Opposed towards the middle, but this is fake right now.
They're selling the idea.
They're saying, oh, it's gonna be another B split.
You gotta be ready, but actually the bomb is out long.
You've name-played him honestly now.
So the fact you've killed him, you know there's no author towards that A bomb site.
Yep.
You know they've gone for a B lean.
Oh, they're coming back.
They're taking him towards A.
The flashbang isn't any good.
Not quite, but he comes.
He's delivering the goods here with the Famous.
And unlike the candidate, he gets a triple kill.
Unbelievable.
And it might be enough to save the day here, 3 vs 1.
I don't think you can even get there.
He's gonna have to look for the kills if he wants it, otherwise there's just no time left.
Niko, I think it was a couple of missed shots from Shiro there.
A triple kill with the FAMAS.
Enough to win the round, they had to stay in this first half.
That's absolutely huge.
Alright, not the work on you expect to find that sort of impact.
I've got to be honest with scenario.
When they come back like this to check Long,
because they realize it's not a B split anymore,
That is, in a way, kind of a sloppy way to check long, right?
You're not smashing your way in.
You're just double wide swinging.
You could have got moat down easily.
Risky.
I like the Sanders now as we get it becoming a bit of a brawl.
Oh yeah.
This is exactly what we wanted.
Have you got a B rush to close this one down?
Why not?
I think we might.
Ladies and gentlemen, snap yourselves in.
Here comes the Molotovs right for the Flames,
and it snacks on the other side.
He's been feeling a bit hungry.
There's no doubt about that.
in a tough game that gets a couple of kills here and absolutely shuts it down.
Dong and Sontics they know once again the bomb dropped on the other side.
For a quarter-finals for the last fall final
yeah we want an even game we want a closer pair and it looks like it's going
to be a six-six time game at the beginning.
Touchdown! The B rush!
Completely pushed back on and now
it's just Sontics.
doesn't have a whole lot to work with here. I think you might be under something
and as it looks like it will be a 6-6 game. Anything's on things to do with this thing.
You win these rounds with the help of your enemy. They have to make some mistakes.
I repeat it over and over again. They're very disciplined. You can tell. Nice
crouching. That's a beautiful shot. Do that one more time and we'll pick up
the conversation once again. But the next target is Monocled. It doesn't
is a lot game is tied right down the middle at six to six here we go we're
back once again the playoffs are live we've got spirit versus g2 wearing the
hearts of Copenhagen but so coming home I hope you guys are ready for the second
half now we've set the time
hi guys
let's go let's go let's go let's f**k this round
Well then, that sets the mood, that sets the tone.
We're ready to get into the second half here. G2 now on the T side.
Have we got another B rush? Surely not.
The flashes are good. Don't get ready.
Candy mode them down. It's decoys to land it.
Oh, they've painted out.
They wanted to pay it out if they had a molotov or a smoke or anything.
How sick is that? We haven't seen that too often.
The decoys don't really get purchased that much.
I was turning from the flash. I thought it was going to be full blind in the broadcast.
Nice.
But that's the idea, you're right. If you throw those in, you'll get a bait out of the utility, fortunately, I suppose.
Nothing on the other side. An interesting approach. Now, Shiro to be tested here.
Yeah, he's alone.
Got a smoke, but doesn't really want to throw it just yet.
Gonna try and keep himself alive.
He's buying valuable seconds right now in a...
...goosh onto Niko there. It's fun to get the first kill of the second half.
Chopper to take him down. He's the one with the kit as well, so keep an eye on Chopper right now.
His job just became a lot more important as they're trying to get up to the bonus landing itself.
He does go down, a bullet from Malibus will connect, and Modesty eventually wiped out.
The retake is looking good right now for Spirit.
If they win this round, they are well on their way to winning their own map picket.
It wouldn't be too bad with it. Malibus hiding here towards that Gandalf position with the glock ready snacks on the crossfire.
They've taken down Magix and the cock.
It's about to get away, snacks! One more headshot, taking down Shiro.
And now it's Stonk out in the open back turn. He has to just pray.
It's tough to see that. The kit was in play.
And he missed the shots in the back, which can happen.
It would have been an absolute disaster if he holds his nerve.
And wins a very important pistol round there.
I came down to the wire.
It wasn't clear who's going to be taking a dunk alive in those jolies.
Hitting every single shot. Stacks took his time on that one.
Made sure there were no mistakes made. You'd love to see it.
And there was a plant, of course.
Yes, the kills found the spirit means they are going to be fully go
Are you and P now and the coast be making the UMP a thing the last couple of days?
I don't think I've seen a kill many people with it, but he hasn't tried
Okay, sets him apart. You know stand up from the crowd people don't expect it
I kind of like it. It's more for fashion statement. Maybe more than anything else
Yeah, we've got players like no, it's using the MP7 for example, and it leaves likes a UMP as well
Just the D.G.E.G.L. USP's otherwise on the CD side of the spirits.
Catricks with an interesting position here. One that has possibly overlooked.
Snacks is going on a bit of a scouting mission. They're happy to sacrifice one player looks to think here.
You wouldn't have to be a rifle necessarily.
He goes down with nothing here. It could be a bit of an issue, but he does fine.
Magix confirms the B is open and he wins the round. That's dropped down.
A really nice work.
dodging the deagle and the stack that was going on at the A bomb site.
Deco could get overwhelmed but again he could also farm a bit of money with the UMP as well.
John certainly hate this at all if he loses it, it's not so he could be lined up.
Oh ho!
What an absolute slaughter.
Harrison Cales with the UMP. I stand corrected and we'll see whether they can keep this one going.
going. T side now with the public alert and some SMGs in the mix. I sleep here. All for
modesty early. Throwing away the UMP. Smoke him across modesty in absolute demon. I find
these opening kills and damages on the cross. We are going to see Sheridan in front of
the smoke however. It's looking towards top right but now players getting it from lower.
Protocols from G2. Good flash here is making sure there's no danger from short
Known to be more of a defensive sniper shiro very good at holding those angles and positions
Maybe not as flashy. Maybe not as aggressive as some of the other orpas that are currently
topping the charts, but
Put him in the right position very very hard to get past this guy
All the top down flash for the corner
I'm going to have a utility as well. It's still all over a minute on the clock. 86 here in
February of G2. It's an opponent's map pick as well.
Look at the utility on Spirit. They have one HG grenade on Suntix. That's it. So they
can't really slow anything down. Any retakes are going to be very nearly impossible.
He should be anchor as well, so it's going to have to be a hell of a grenade. It's
to be smoke deployed, lurk smoke in towards the side itself. I think Hunter gets caught
He's got no idea. Really nice maneuver for Donk.
That is sick.
Catches him with the utility in hand and now Zontek starts there.
Crazy maneuver through the doors he goes,
but Chopper through the smoke, keeps the dream alive.
Can they get Donk?
Big question. There's always the big question.
They do eventually, but it costs them almost everything.
Two big shots, especially the first one.
He disarmed an entire arm of that attack.
Niko now.
They don't have any head armor.
So, actually the M4 here could do some real damage, but it's going to have to be lightning fast, and it's not good enough here.
Trouble will take him down. Great defense put up by Spirit, especially Dong.
Absolutely true. Really nice from Dong, feeling like they lost control of middle.
So you can't sit in the B bomb side. You feel pressure from upper and from middle.
You can't sit there. You are sitting duck. You'll be flashed off.
Molotovs, Nade it, and shot of course. So as soon as you hear him juggling that utility, especially at the Molotov,
As soon as you draw and pull it, a sound cue is given up, Dongren falls back into the bombsite.
A ton of damage, and Niko cannot come out clutch with 20 points of health.
Very important rounds.
They were helped a little bit, I think, by the fact that Trapper got that one kill for the smoke for CT4.
I did help. You can get vision though. If he was potentially blowing it open, I'm not sure, but it looked like it was a pretty clean kill.
Let's have a look. There's Niko on the deagle again.
Double up, the rifle's there, on the Spirit side, Shiro catching mouths, airborne, trying to get out long.
Snacks has gone down next and they've been absolutely slowed down here.
Our Spirit are looking to make a very, very fast comeback into the second half, which I've got to appreciate.
You invest into that double up setup, you kind of have to keep it alive for a while.
It's not enough to get it and then lose all the Orbs in the next round.
That's just costing you so much money.
So it has to keep blowing. 5 vs 3 and a nice flick monosy. Straight deleted from the round.
Nothing that can be done here, Anders of a Frage and Magic is being very active.
Hoping that Long is clear and it certainly is. He's hunting these last two players.
If I'm one of them right here, it's going to be Hunts up.
Dropped, no problem. Niko to hold onto the AK-47. This is the last they cash as well.
Last bonus will not be established
So you'd assume it's Nico coming up next Nico. I do you'd like to hold on to this video 50 seconds in T4
I double upset I look steadily
The most viable map for it. So I'll see where can you hold on to it?
They don't even know about the other rope yet good point
So if they do I guess there are ways that you could like if you get a really good spawn for the B bomb site
Maybe you think okay, you know what actually
Maybe you can maybe there's just an open a rifle we get the rifle down and we can over on the AWP and the retakes
Get to be real hard with an orb on the other side, so
Possibly you could try and play around that information if you have it
Down now 15 seconds here Nico. It is the only choice
Maybe not the most exciting one, but it is the correct one to try and keep this a ha alive
Presumably gonna be on him as well if you if you had a hero a k you put it on you go every single time
It could get a triple. I mean
most people were g2 might not get up yeah that's true put it on snacks instead
yeah
they'll wrap it a couple of times
it's actually happened more than a couple it's it's a weird talking point
one we won't dwell on as we have the tactical time our g2 will save the AK
47 money is gonna be in a state though interested to see what they can do with
this one I think there'll be a whole bunch of ideas they can't really
invest in much utility that you have one ECO arguably the greatest rifle a
counter strike has ever seen but the AK-47 the pivotal moment of the game he
just needs some cannon fodder he needs some space in front of him created by
the Glocks of P250s we'll see what kind of investment they've made I'm assuming
it's the ECO he's exactly the kind of player that can completely take over
around spirit are aware they know that he saved the AK obviously so that's gonna
be a conversation with them at the time out coming into this one say don't don't
give him any easy fights information be granted by a country just wants to make
sure that no one's running into lower dark at the beginning of the round there
so just to reiterate no cablam on these pistols it is the eco lost bonus at
$1900 so get 2400 into the next round so that will still be a pretty
compromise by but maybe just maybe in what it seems to you Gork and assist they've got a smoke
in the backpack of the tracks and uh yeah just trying to bring that some utility to trying to see
if there's any mistakes made anyone gives anything away here waiting out the smoke there's still
going to be grenades coming in that's going to stay in mouths let's define another game
shiro waits in the corner they've got no way to flash him off and it's just gonna have to
I would say they call it off
though. Smoke too much. Yeah,
and if they use the smoke that
Snacks has, then they don't have
that smoke for the cross later
on towards a right. It's kind of
a bit of a problem if you throw
that just to get out on long.
You don't have anything else
left. All right, there we go.
40 seconds. The spirits. I
think this is going to try and
get a short plan down here.
Yeah, why not? Maybe just do
a cross smoke here at Catwalk.
It's still quite a bit of utility, if you understand the spirit side,
so it might be very, very hard to make your way past here.
Click doesn't quite connect, and Shiro, somehow defeated by the Glock.
I just can't even believe it. Chopper, lodging and diving here,
trying to find an angle for a kill, but that short pound at the very least
is going to be successful.
And he goes... Oh ho! The click-sepid gun!
It's not the first one.
It's going to take you down, Chopper.
Haven't quite lost control yet, but his next skill will be absolutely everything.
He's no one help already, but trying to get the headshot,
looking for it, trying to take down Sonic 6,
and he will one versus one.
The pistols have come out as one,
and see to ruin it, and it's a miracle for G2.
That is unreal.
Glocks, a D-Gul, and a Niko A-K.
We said it could be enough, and it certainly is.
Shirou, he misses some crucial shots and board,
CT's gone and that's a real issue and you're that committed towards the corner of the clock.
No Kevlar takes him down.
Niko gets three kills, sets up his star player,
I'm honestly going to close things out and he delivers just what they needed.
G2 are back online and back in the lead.
You're watching Niko save that AK for like 50 seconds.
Yeah, it's a bit boring. It's not really that exciting.
But this is exactly why you do that.
As soon as they found Siro, you knew they were under something there.
I obtained Counter-Strike. One missed shock and cost you a round.
It cost you the tournament.
Siro though.
Back on AWP, bear in mind no helmet here.
Hence the AK shouldn't be a big deal.
The ward shortly come, buys himself some valuable time.
Now it's towards Long. Go turn it so with Magix who's tucked away.
Yeah, both of those players are Long and playing peacefully well, so...
And a long fight can change this round a lot.
Shiro's at the corner too, so for Malves to be kind of rough.
Oh, Shiro, one of the few times to seem a bit aggressive.
Wow, I feel like you should have hit that shot for Malves.
He was already jiggling, he wasn't holding a cold position,
he was ready to take that kill.
Four versus five now at about 40 seconds.
And they're setting up a couple of smokes there,
but I think they might have encountered themselves.
So now they're slowed down and look at Chopper.
He's actually in upper dark. He is on a bit of a mission.
It's unlikely that he can win the round based on this with just the MP9,
but they're getting a lot of valuable information and the clock is running down low.
Malz goes down on the other side.
Son takes it's a real good kill, taking down snacks to begin with.
3 vs 3 in 15 seconds.
It's looking good here. Even better now, Modesty.
Can you find the double? Not quite.
The flank comes in. It's down to Hunter.
Can he deliver the touch this time? Looking towards Shaw. Great, great down.
Damage from the incendiary, but the Augustine recovered, Magix!
Looking for the right forward, now timers of the essence on the back for Hunter and CT spawn.
He's relocated, I don't think Magix is aware. He dropped down way before he could hear it.
Very, very hard to clear this position, and he doesn't really have the kit either.
He's gonna have to be quick, but I think Hunter's found the right solution.
Oh, he's just stuck past, but...
Yeah, you heard the audio there, and the spray is gone.
It's Hunter for the clutch!
Back-to-back, 1v1 is here for G2, but they come out on top.
And this is devastating to the economy of spirit.
What a massive round, you're right.
Back-to-back robberies. It was the Glocks before,
and now a two versus one where Hunter delivers.
You just wouldn't expect him in CT spawn.
The key position there, and he's looking gandalf short.
Maybe behind the B4 box, you could never expect him
down in CT spawn. Now it's a nice idea from Magic,
creeping towards the back wall, but made a sound cue.
Hunter gets it. He's ready for the fight
and delivers the goods.
That is fantastic news with G2, that could be enough.
Propel them in the lead here and find a map when the opponent's pick of Dust2 and Bear in mind is Mirage coming up next.
And no strangers in that environment, they can step up.
Yeah, this is actually super scary for Spirit.
They had such a great little run up here, the double-orbs set up.
They managed to really lock it down on the CT side, but the hero AK and then into this round suddenly it's G2 with a two-round lead.
two-round lead and spirit they need a miracle of their own. Here we go then nothing but USPs
as mentioned is a full eco G2. I've got such a massive advantage now you can't imagine a world
where they give this one up Anders but if ever there was a team they give it a good go it might
be G2. Yeah unfortunately you're not wrong about that every G2 fan knows Miko he's seen them
already it's just an HE doesn't have to be a disaster but hold the phone Henry the
cousins have gone down now they're gonna be proud to get the A bomb site and
obviously there's not gonna be a defuse kit or anything else really to work with
so it should still be a decent round to defend here you're right they're
losing it but still that's the way things are opening up who knows
where this one could go but the right thing to do if it's fair it would be
safe as a case I think so but you've got such an opportunity here
Have another mistake is presented if you can find a quick pick here. You never know
See they're uncomfortable
I think spirit have already decided to lock them in try and take everyone down
I mean you could be more than two eighties, right?
Trying to get close to the USP's son six with a headshot
But again that cock has already run down so long
Modesty absolutely chewing them apart here if you had a kid up there, this would be very interesting round
But he just doesn't so nice shooting overall a tremendous round from Spearing in terms of doing damage
But it's still G2 getting to 11.
It's a hollow victory.
To say the very least, eh, yes, smile.
They laugh.
Yeah, I suppose you don't laugh.
You'll cry in that one.
That was so close to a disaster.
Really nice swing on the grenade as well.
Like, it's a well-played round, Conspiri,
but going into that tight choke on the right ball,
not sure that's the one you want to be going for, boys.
But they win.
The money, though, is compromised.
That does set Spirit up to a comeback here.
They can win one round.
Yeah.
It will shatter the economy of G2.
All five players went down.
They got mouths on a Galileo.
They don't have the oil.
They've won three rounds in a row here.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
Yeah, and that's probably what Spirit are telling themselves
to keep the mood really high.
That round is our ticket back into the game.
So they don't lose the round, but God, they made it
as uncomfortable as possible.
And set yourself up to disaster now.
If you do lose one single round,
They could all fall apart, but Confident asserted it's snacks.
They found a gap towards middle of the wolf pack mentality.
Oh, but no grenades thrown.
Chopper should be dead, and it will be eventually, but again, they didn't throw the grenades.
It's the same thing that Spirit were doing.
Trying to walk in with absolutely no utility, and by all rights,
Chopper should have been dead.
There should have been a straight four and five to begin with.
Yeah. A little bit of a screw up there from G2.
If snacks get that clean kill? Yeah.
It's such a done round. Everyone swings.
And you overwhelm the bombsite, but yeah, the fact he makes it so much more complicated
He actually could finish it. They have no idea. They don't know that he's in here
This could be the round winning play. He gets one and the sars the strikes
Tagged into the round by Nico crisis averted Anders Nico with the godlike play
Cloak and dagger counter strike as he makes his way through the smoke sits in towards CT spawn and waits for his moment of strike
That round really highlights why information is such a key to victory in any counter-strike round.
You had the lack of smoke in CT spawn so Chopper didn't have the information that he was having shot in the back.
And then obviously the fact that they didn't know about Niko in CT spawn, that just ruined the round.
It was a 3 on 3 and Spirit had way better health. They had every one of the 100.
Great call from Snacks there. Just didn't quite stick the lander. You find a rotating player on the 9th out essentially.
Yeah, you're right.
This moment here, you've just thrown a bridge, oh that hurts, that really this pain means to watch that one, but Niko making up for it and the boys delivering the goods here, modesty, pouncing the opportunity, and we've got map points.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an open net for G2.
They should be converting this will have all the advantages you could possibly ask for in the following round. We are averaging $3,000 per player.
I think we'll have enough for a couple of rifles.
Maybe you can get a glass cabinet of EP we'll see.
But four opportunities now to close this one out. G2 do it early.
So two MP9s for mass. There isn't no Pichiro.
Two battle things considered. We'll see what they can make of it.
What is he's got the creep now that is a throwback we're rolling back the years
there yeah you're right really been a long time I look at his little mission
little skirmish coming out from spirits walking up to top mid with two players
gotta be careful they don't make too much noise but G2 whether they know it
or not they are locked into this position they are never escaping this
long fight to the moment and Nico trying to get back into it he was
aware but it doesn't make a difference the FAMAS is gonna beat him this
time this is what we talked about those na'vi takes all five players that you're
reading it well but monocy there it is with the kreek can he really win it with
that weapon it's gonna be shiro he hasn't got any idea they've crossed he has no
idea should be a free kill where snacks delivers finds the kill is it enough to
win the map they were locked in and now they fought their way out somehow the
The bomb being planted, nice today, it's Mounted, he's absolutely burning alive!
No!
Look at that down, Hunter!
How's he done that with the Mactam?
I don't even know, mutiny!
He must have been spraying towards Cowork, but...
Now, Modesty had to exit the pit.
They wanted to leave Modesty in the pit with the scope,
and for the bomb to be planted, now he's out again,
and shut down by DrunkMagic to get it.
They stay alive, Spirit!
They've had some heartbreaking losses.
A lot of 1v1s that Spirit have not managed to win,
But this one this one almost slipped out of their hands. They bring it back a little bit lost in the source
It's gonna be good goes off
Goes down, you know, it's a problem. He's got a key kill on sure though. You couldn't ask much volume before it was a ct
I think
He wasn't slamming the smoke and there's his panic
He's just panics. Yeah fortunate. Well, then
That's not ideal neither is that
Oh, it's gonna be a scout picked up on monocene now forceful as well. They're trying to close it out here
You know what Henry?
How you found that okay up and down tournament so far, but that's a wild class play
Beautiful spray control. Here comes one of the world's best rifles looking to fight back
Ready to take on a four-and-one situation. Can he deliver?
Now they're all gonna be fighting in Malb's crotch, just saying, and I think it was nothing like he wasn't even fighting Donk at long.
Three kills for Malb, said he wants to continue.
Shiro's already low, but he's got the AWP on him, he's gonna be careful.
Oh, right around the corner, and then he do a kill to begin with, and the Grenade will soften him up there.
Very low, that's four for Malb's.
He's fresh into tier one, he hasn't been here for a long time,
But he looks like this is exactly where he belongs on the stage
wrecking spirit
Now chop up. This is should be an impossible clutch
It don't exactly know where he is, but all he has is his trusty M form
He has to do it. It's 12 for G2. There's a kit right there. It's not too bad
But you're running out of time yet chopper. It can't be this slow
You need three kills. You need to be given the bomb
Yeah, he's looking for it. He's thinking
And the second half of the game is back in session!
We're looking up a storm on Spirit's map pick.
It was a map that we didn't make it to last time around,
but today doesn't there any better for Team Spirit?
And what a way for Malph's to end this one, Jakob.
Get in the ace.
Yeah, that was a beautiful sequence for Malph's coming out of this game.
Obviously he had a strong start as well.
I believe he was 6-1 on the scoreboard,
then completely shone out of the game,
couldn't find any impact, wasn't put into any positions.
Come to the T side where we've seen Meltz do his absolute best work within G2,
a beautiful ace on a stage like this and a very important win for G2 as well.
As you said, it's Spirit's map pick.
It was there, I guess, vision and their trying to rattle up the map pool a little bit and it didn't pay off.
And it definitely was at times looking like Spirit actually might prevail.
That was a really competitive game up until a certain point and I'm sure we will dive into those a little bit later.
But point is that the game was competitive and it's a good time.
Yeah, they definitely made that second half expensive at the very least for G2,
but let's go back to that first half because round five CT side for G2.
I mean, if you're a team like Spirit, you are going to want to push the mantle
maybe a bit towards the B bomb site of things
because you've got a couple of players that maybe haven't been on the heat as recently, but they showed up.
Yeah, we saw that obviously.
We knew Snakes coming into the game was a little bit of a weak point.
This time around though, early on in the game G2 is stacking two men on the B bomb site to deal with that.
Hunder of course with a nice triple sequence right here getting all three kills with the MP9 and I bet you that's part of the preparation
G2 is well aware that snacks were struggling a little bit on the beast bombsite
He's been struggling from an individual point of view and even from this moment in round five where they shut it down
There was still a couple of round streak where they kept targeting snacks on the B bomb side where they were successful with it
So for me it was clear to see that it was something they were trying to take advantage of absolutely right after that round five
they have three consecutive rounds back on team spirit and
they actually
Played pretty well and they they targeted the B as we said snacks was there and obviously those probably the main point of the game
Yeah, let's dive into round 17 when we flip on over to G2's T side as we kind of iterated
You know spirit they made the rounds costly for G2 and we see G2 coming in with just a few pistols on an echo
We speak of impact right I said it coming into the game Nico on a stage
He has to show up and he does under getting an entry with a glock that is what it is
But from this point on what's for Nico to win around he's basically alone
Let's be honest, he has two teammates with him, no armor, just a couple of pistols, Niko is down to 32 HP, 15 HP at this point.
He's still going for the duels, he's still winning them and he closes out the round.
From this point and onwards it was D2 dominating and controlling that T-Sat, and I bet you, without this round, I think the game would still be going right now.
And it all started with uncharacteristic mix from Shiro, and he had a couple of those actually throughout the dusting, and it was...
Well, if you're talking about all paradise, you don't want to minimize this as much as possible, and those crucial rounds actually costed him big time.
and this was one of them.
Stiko, tell me from a player's perspective,
what does it like to play against Niko when he's on a big stage?
Because I think we always gas him up from the outside,
saying he's a player that thrives in this kind of environment.
Do you feel him being extra punishing?
Absolutely. This is aura for him.
This is where he thrives.
This is where he's playing a steer counter strike
up from that A tier that he's already known for, basically.
And obviously, if you have rounds like this
and you have set up AK,
you're just going to have that AK handed to him
And it's good to singlehand, we win some of the rounds, it might happen once out of five, six, seven times.
But if it happens to you, the economy troubles, it's sad to.
And I just want to quantify what it is that makes Niko so good on a stage.
You will see good players retain and retract from what they normally do in a group stage game,
what they normally do in practice, be a little less aggressive, being a little less, you know,
I guess trusting yourself a little bit less, not trusting your aim as we like to say in times, right?
Whenever you see Niko play on a stage, it doesn't matter if he's feeling it,
it doesn't matter if he's having a good game or not, he will still do the right thing
and he will still do the thing that he believes is the right in any given scenario.
Obviously, sometimes he's not hitting shots and it is what it is.
It can look a little bit silly, but the best majority of the time,
I would prefer a player that continues to do the so-and-so right thing,
even though the pressure's on and he does that time and time again on a stretch.
Another couple of players that we were putting under the microscope prior,
coming into this particularly when we're considering a map like Dust2,
were, of course, the Opus Monacy versus Shiro.
Two names that we definitely got in the conversation for the top five to end out 2024.
What was the story of this match, Jacob, in terms of the all-being impact from both these guys?
I think if you pause the game after the first 10 rounds, I would argue Shiro had a slightly more impact than Munisey.
They were both having moments in the game, but it felt like Shiro actually had the number of Munisey and had the number of G2 as well.
The beginning on the CT side as well, Shiro had a couple of rounds where he was shutting down G2, shutting down the default game style.
So I would give it to Shiro who found impact, but what usually happens is that Shiro will fade out of the game,
Munisey will take over and you can saw the last 5 or 6 rounds, it was by far Munisey and Munisey.
Absolutely. And if hit the scales, probably that 8-8 round we already saw before with Shiro,
got that miss, eventually lost them the round, might have impacted him a little bit too much
from my liking, we will never know, but obviously it is the thing you have to deal with kind of as
an offer. You're going to not hit all of the shots and once you don't, you have some
way to fall back and in that specific round he had it. And I think there's a fair point
to make that sometimes Shiro is a little bit fragile. I mean we've seen in history before
that he can get affected on big stages. He sometimes falls out of the game, can't really find the impact.
And I'm not sure whether or not that one round or that one miss is the turning point for him,
but I think it's a characteristic that we can put on towards Shiro that when you compare him to Monizy,
it seems like he's a little bit easier to get rattled out of the game as compared to Monizy.
It stacks up, and we also saw that the player webgames where they were losing the round,
and it was clear that Monizy was not showing any kind of emotion while Shiro was a little
a little bit vocal, he was space bombing, he was punching the desk at some point, it
happens and it should happen less.
Yeah, definitely want it to be happening less.
Overall take-aways from Spirit for this particular map, Jacob, was indeed their map pick, unable,
once again to take it off of G2.
What do you expect going into the second?
I'm worried, I'm worried for Team Spirit, I thought getting into this series with them
picking Dust2, I thought it's a nice way of changing up the pace a little bit, changing
up the map pool, but they had to win Dust2 to make this game competitive.
I'm afraid that we're looking at a 2-0 now for G2 and especially considering once more that we had Niko showing up.
Dunk had a decent game, but not to the standard that we want to see Dunk.
And I think the way I praised it coming into the game, saying without Dunk playing at a 1.4 rating level,
Spirit is not going to win and we haven't seen that Dunk so far.
Yeah, and maybe the game plan is going to again revolve around finding weakness around Snacks performance.
We won't see, I guess, but for my liking, I would like to see something more tactical, something more in-depth.
And again, those rounds, as I said pre-game, those rounds they were kind of tracked for longer periods of time,
those were when Spirit was actually successful, so I would like to see that slow-paced counter-strike coming out of them.
I think that's the thing, you know, even when we talk about Snaks and his lackluster individual form,
didn't all of them matter in this map, right?
Like, how much is it gonna matter in terms of the longevity of the series, Jacob? What do you think?
I mean, it could be an issue on a map like Miraz's world that we have coming up,
especially considering his role on the CT side, but I think Miraz is one of the few maps,
and I believe you've been playing in that position as well under B-bombside where you can get an awful lot of help from your teammates
and with your setups from the beginning of the round.
So there's a way to master effective snacks is perhaps not the most strong individual on the suit.
We will dive into more thoughts about the upcoming Mirage after this break.
The pick of G2 coming up very soon.
Just touch on snacks is confidence right now because he's been very honest and kind of hard on himself.
How are you guys trying to pull him up and make sure the confidence is flowing, especially in a game like this?
Yeah, I mean, I think he has shown improvements throughout this event, I think he has been
playing better individually as well at some point, so it's been tough for him, I would
say ever since he joined, I think we all know that this is not a level that he should
be playing on, I think we all know that he's a much better player individually and
we all know that he can get us some good space, some good entries, make room for everyone to
feel comfortable. So I think it's a matter of confidence for him. I think his confidence has been
pretty low. I think first, when he joined, he started laughing because of it, and he was like,
yeah, I don't need to do anything. They can just kill everyone. But I think now it's
So it's hard to get to him, so I think he just needs to find a way how to pull through.
And I think he has been improving this event, as I said, and we all tried to help him.
We all believe in him and his calls are good, and that is the most important thing.
We tend to struggle more and decide this event.
So that's something that we have been discussing after each game at this event.
and yeah I'm proud of how he has improved this event.
Yeah the calling evidently good on Dust2B, the individual form certainly going to be under the microscope coming onto Mirage
which is where Stiko, we want to pick your brains a little bit
because you've got a bit of history with this man in terms of positioning coming into this map, right?
Oh yeah, and personally in the story as well with my previous team, obviously he replaced me on Master of War.
He was years ago in CSGO but it happened and for a brief period
he was basically playing my positions and I remember that B.A.P's apartment is going to be jumping simulator for the most part
and mouse wheel is going to drop off from the mouse eventually, but there's ways where you can play it a little bit more aggressive.
I remember when Snacks replaced me, he was vastly different player than I was, a little bit more aggressive and more initiative.
And as well he was taking that space in B.A.P's apartment, he was pushing up, he was trying to disrupt the economy
and the whole default of the terrorists coming into that B.A.P apartment.
So, you know, we will see how his confidence begs, because if you are not confident,
you're obviously going to fall back into those more passive and stationary positions.
And, well, it might be the fate of Snacks and G2 right now.
As Niko said in the interview, the confidence is not that great.
And that's why I'm really interested how he's going to attempt to play Mirage here.
That's why I want to continue to pick your brain a little bit,
from that standpoint of playing the B anchor position.
How reliant are you on your teammates to help you out?
Because we do see certain teams placing accurately individually the worst player in that position
and then you have certain players surrounding him, Honda in this case, you know, can help them out.
Sometimes you boost your AWP play towards BFs.
From a point of view where you're playing at BFs and you've been doing that for the vast majority of your career,
how reliant are you on teammates coming in to sometimes help you?
And how reliant are you on just staying alive?
Yeah, this is the thing. Like you're not necessarily going to make an ace on coming on B.
All your job is to really kind of like survive, get a kill, survive a little bit more, enable those rotations coming in from kitchen or short.
It really is kind of a game within the game itself, and you have to use your utility to the maximum advantage,
and especially now in CS2 where you can kind of break the smokes, you're nowhere safe.
Would you say it reminds you a little bit of playing ramp on Nuke as well,
where it's not all about getting the kills, but more so about getting information and staying alive?
much so but ramp is a little bit more forgiving because once you give it up
you're not giving up the side which terrorists can win the round off of
obviously Mirage beside very hard to retake in general so once you once you
die once you once you keep up that you have to pretty much sell the round well
we can check in with the live or see exactly whether series is stacking I
don't blame them to be fair because last time around it was a 13-1 in G2
Sphere of a Butter chance for spirits we bouncing back in this one it's gonna
be a tough mountain to summit though Mirage coming up after this very
much guys yes indeed the quarterfinals continue we move on to Mirage now looking
at the bats landers we had Donk versus Nico it's safe to say that Nico came out
on top Chira had some moments of glory but it wasn't quite enough he thought they
can actually take us to a third map I think it's gonna be something truly
special if they do this will not be easy G2 look fired up right now Nico is
here I think it's gonna be one hell of a second map coming up a Mirage I
I hope you're ready, ladies and gentlemen, the quarterfinals is live!
Make some noise!
In the action!
At T-Side, Starboard G2.
Looking to find themselves in the semi, it was a messy game on Dust2,
but the individuals that you want to see popping off delivered.
We saw an ace from Malus.
Monosy and Niko both posting 20 frags,
and the battle continues in towards middle.
It's on to the bench shorts.
The pressure is relentless.
They're not slowing down.
They want to hunt them while he's reloading.
truck in the corner he can't get out and flashed absolutely slain his son
takes how does he do it straight headshot to bring him down now a five
versus three final boss though donk waiting it towards the kitchen
Joe mayn game leader chopper as well they do have a kid under this is not a
foregone conclusion this is not guaranteed nothing it's and a smoke
Well, you're right, but it doesn't even matter, they can't get out of the match.
It's just absolutely savaged them four kills in that round.
He's been the missing piece of this G2 puzzle.
Yeah, you're right.
We know how powerful he is, but this tournament, he hasn't turned up.
What a time to peek against one of the world's best in the quarterfinals.
A big game player, and that's a very convincing pistol here on Mirage.
Spirits don't even get a look in.
They don't even get any bullets off before they're eviscerated
across the bombsite floor, and it's a full eco, 2-0 locked in.
And they throw those smokes towards top connector, towards window,
so that they can pass the way all the way to catwalk into the B bombsite
without getting shot in the back.
So they have a lot of map control before they even reach Sontics,
and he's along with the USPs. Never gonna be easy.
I think they even had a flash for that corner that Hunter Manager throw in there.
It was just a really sick round from G2.
Well structured and well executed USBs now on the side of Spirit.
As we've already seen you can do some damage with those. It doesn't mean you can't do anything.
Yeah, you get five kills before. And there's the first ink. They kick off proceedings here to make things uncomfortable.
It will come down to the wire at this stage. It feels like zero promising position as Hunter will claim the connector.
Transitions towards the steps, our smokes are to dissipate though, our Hunts are ready for this.
Searching common position and 1 E3 fires. That should be enough.
Takes care of business.
Double kill.
And at this point, might as well hunt for a bit more. Back 10s.
They're the guns we want to be farming here.
And there's nothing but SMG kills in the feed.
Donk, last player remaining, nothing to say about the rounds.
Yeah, that was so well played.
That connected position once Hunter is there and you're going to see this in the rightful rounds as well
So many t rounds are set up if you can get a t player in there you are
Almost winning the round already. It's just a question turn in the corner and getting one good energy on the A bomb site
And you might be good to go
Sure spirit are gonna be aware that that could be happening obviously in this round
They didn't have a lot to really fight back with but
Some teams are just very very good at finding that particular part of the map
Wow. Interesting scenario. Next,
G2 have had their problems on
the right heavily on a set pieces.
And the defaults as with a little
bit underwhelming and you've got
an important round here. It's the
first gun round and you're going
to be suffering from success.
You've got those galils, those
massive amounts of Mac 10s as
well here. So a set piece would
actually be a pretty decent
call at this point. Just
depends where you're going to
be finishing off. We'll see
what they've got up their
sleeve. But yeah, Hunter
and snacks on the SMGs
No one really has a helmet, so this is a very interesting one.
They're focused on the utility, knowing there's so many SMGs in the mix,
and I think they've made a bit of a bad call here.
I think you probably wanted to focus on the helmets
and take some concessions on the firepower potentially.
You could be proven right in the next 30 seconds because...
Yeah, at range normally...
Now does Mach 10 become a lot more potent?
They absolutely do, and the Galeel, deadly, right?
So many bullets, spray is pretty good.
I think everyone's enjoying that.
Only dunk with the helmet.
Everyone else are really looking quite as fun at the moment.
Utility also, struggle for spirit, nobody's surprised, but they are already dropping quite low on that front.
I don't think it'll be easy to hold on to any bomb site, or maybe retake there if it gets that far.
No kit in play either.
Bombs dropped back towards T spawns always a sign that the T side is waiting and looking for information.
Expecting spirit to go a bit aggressive, which is another way to deal with the fact that you don't have all the utility
Here we go. This is quite layered
Same smokes go down again connector and window
Polatoff not actually landing the connectors being quite a messy game for the utility. Yeah
I've already finished up towards B 35 seconds is on take seems ready
Listen the desk just talked about it right your job as a be anchor is to get a kill and stay alive
If you can do that the job is pretty much done. We'll see what some things to do for us here
We're down to 23 seconds so far so good
Fucked in the corner and just enough time for sure to get there as well. It's absolutely perfect. It's on stage
You don't need more than this. You don't need to give them a little plant. Just be happy. You're winning the round
Yeah, you can see why G2 may rely on the set pieces here on the rods that that was pretty underwhelming one by one
No one really jumping out to get the trade. It was just quite simple for Zontics in the air. He barely takes any damage
They did very well at bleeding out of utility getting an open-beast bomb site essentially just one player there
Yeah, but yeah, Zontics no flash at all and some of the easiest practice they're gonna find
Johnson a flash
You can see like this
It's just no pacing behind this. Shira was there as well
And what could have been a glorious round in the bonus situation falls a little bit flat
So, they will have money of course, fair of mind, but we said there's some Gs.
Calm in that cash out of the army with the monocie all his bars, that's looking pretty good!
Even better now, Shirou's removed early, so is Kong.
The hardest hitting players on the spirit roster removed in the blink of an eye.
Not lacking in confidence, those two, Monocie and Niko, exploding onto the middle
and wiping out any CTs waiting there. 5 versus 3.
Hunter.
Just making sure no one's slipping past.
Reasonable, because that's probably one of the few ways that Spirit could get back into this round,
is if they managed to sneak a player behind them.
Magix is actually thinking about it.
Getting a bit close now. Hunter should be ready.
That was his whole job there, and what he was waiting for the whole time.
But he does go down, and that opens it up.
He's chop over the kill onto Nico, but right back in the round.
G2 it doesn't get any better than this. They had the two opening kills. You're supposed to win these rounds
It is one doing anything. They were holding for those bushes and yep, and then still was no as the game plan
Let's wait for the reaction to come for me. I've lost all the jewels
You didn't be better off just choosing somewhere to go and taking the man advantage and now this round becomes very uncomfortable
They're gonna go in towards B
But the 42nd remaining snacks has found a gap does it get spotted? Oh, he has been it's actually the worst possible outcome here
But this could be really bad info from Agix
Is he gonna go back and not even surely will check short anyway up in the hallway
Yeah, he is aware that they could be there the boost really doesn't do anything for them at the moment
Seconds what a shot from Malves you said it already is the missing piece and yeah
If you could do that again might be on 15 seconds here two versus two the bomb
Right at the edge of the flames
The ball is all the way down to 18 and now blown up!
It's disastrous! It's a classic G2 round!
We haven't really had one yet, but this is one of them.
Just caught in the headlights. You get these huge advantage.
You take down Donk and Shiro in the first 10 seconds.
You pump the brakes, it's absolutely fine, but you can push both fights across the map
and then you have to go for the backstab one that's actually found out very early on.
If you strip the park and all the f***ing names and ask that any random audience member who plays this round, they're gonna know it's G2.
Oh, that's such a gut punch. You're such a locked-in situation for G2. A 5 on 3, and they completely collapse. They can't hold on.
It'd be much better off to say, you know what, let's just get into the bomb site here. Let's have a 5 on X situation wherever we go.
Yeah, I think you're right.
slowing it down like that holding for the pushes but then not actually being quite
ready. Oh you had one player watching towards the round but then of course you
haven't got pallets covered so you're not really holding anything. Yeah and Niko
getting shot at the back over there. Hunter maybe a little bit more alarming
because he actually was just holding his whole way. He would have been looking for a T-Sport
and maybe watching for a potential flank in that sense. Oh yeah that's really not a good look.
Listen, if this goes to a third map, these early rounds are going to be a big reason why V2,
I'm sure they lose the bonus round with this last one, double opening in the middle.
And like you said, you're taking down Shiro and Donk, so you've come a long way already,
a little bit of a jump up for Shiro.
He's not a slow player himself, gets the flick on the monosie.
Niko's picked up the AWP in the meantime and the rest have got Tec-9.
The bomb's still real far back, so not expecting them to commit to too much at the moment.
He spots it out, he knows that they're there, good kill, jumps right over, he's not afraid of anybody.
Chopper's gone down, 4 vs 4, and look at this play.
Here we go again. Couldn't thread the needle before, spotted by the time he got it towards the kitchen.
Yiko starts to pick up the bomb.
This is a classic snacks play, look what there's no info back in the day, finding space, finding these gaps.
They have no idea or they seem to be somewhat aware some takes looking towards the
Apartments right now, and I think snacks will die here. He'll go and check the van and be dropped potentially
Well the time is pretty good
They fall away smoke is going to cover absolutely everything
So the minimum a bomb should be going down here
The retake is definitely going to be attempted so on six is the one with the kids
They're also taking with the AWP which always is a bit nerve-wracking
They might say the money's so low
Now that's a drop the orphan Niko they know that they'll give it a look him
I don't think so, but like the time is just running low already and they know when they decided self
So yeah, I think it's gonna be pulled off. I thought the double position towards T spawn meant they were having a much quicker flank
But I guess they slowed it down at the end of it. That's all that's one kill for Niko with the AWP and snacks sneaking through the window
What a bizarre way to win a round like that's the round you win instead of the one where you get the double opening
Uh-oh, and well, handled from Snacks.
Had to have a rifle.
Presumably gonna lose a couple of players here,
but Niko continues to frag.
They hold onto the AWP,
at least for now Hunter's got the M4
and a return to form.
They needed that, winning with the pistols.
They lost the first pick that time as well.
Monastery goes down early,
but Niko picking up the slack,
finds a pick towards A.
A back stab once again from Snacks.
Well played to him, didn't find any kills,
but he gets that information.
It's safe to come in towards B,
smokes up short, and he does win them the rounds.
with that fight.
Meiko, that's very well done on the AWP as well.
So, how did they needed that?
The morale would have been lower after giving it that 5 on 3
in a pretty disastrous fashion.
But, uh, force 5 response from Spirit.
They do have the MP9s.
And the Opushera.
It's pretty rough for the Spirit, right?
They lose a fair few players after having already conceded the round.
I think that's one of the worst feelings when you say,
okay, we comment around, save the rifles,
and you can't do that either.
Never really a full time.
Just like on Dust2 though, it's pretty competitive at the beginning of this one.
Yeah, no much separate in these two teams.
I mean our mantra so far has been that we've really had no bad matchups in the previous four finals here, so...
Yeah, true.
...continues to be true, a little bit of a dink coming in there, not too much damage, Malv's gonna try out a kill, and I think that's worth it.
Donk goes down, it splits the map wide open.
Zontix, holding towards D-Lock in now to the jewel, has a dodge to flashbang, and they've got no idea.
here. It's going to be a big play here. Oh my God. It's so well done. I think it's well
towards Mal. Xonthic saves the day. Mal's gonna fly back here but it looks like that's
the play that wins the rounds. Playing in front of the utility and they have no idea.
Palms down as well. He's gonna have ice in his veins so not take the shot when he
turns to the flashbang. Normally that means you're gonna get peaked and fought
straight away but that flash just set them up to go check the ladder room instead. 35 seconds here
as the bomb is. Just got to go for it like yeah do what you can it's very unlikely that when this
round amount is low. I mean Magic has the MP9 I guess the counter fights him first they can they can
sort of get into your 2v2. It has to be some crazy free fire here yeah. Magic's playing this very
well you're gonna get at least one. Yeah you're right. Time is moment find the kill there's the
the pill. Fantastic. Even the double. Disappointing. Resolver G2, but very nice.
Especially didn't panic. Waited for the moment to win the round. Not just get a
single frag. That's very it seems like it's nothing but
the temptation to take the fight right away is huge. Taking out two veterans as
well. Nico, a monocie. Oh, it's a real shame. Should be forced by territory now.
Now, now to have the AK and a beautiful ace to close out dust two.
See if he can replicate that form.
Three to three.
So we are some open run with a spirit that if you have a ton of rounds,
if they convert this one cleanly,
if you're fully e-codes, they'll be compromised by is going forward
and Zontik's looking to get stuck in again.
Careful now, Zontik.
Still want to give up your life for nothing here.
The sparing down is absolutely fantastic though.
Try to get back around the corner,
but it doesn't matter.
Mission accomplished as far as he's concerned.
That's so scary, so risky to do that.
It could have opened up the entire B side of the map, but...
Well done, Hunter now.
Just the P250, best to get to do a little bit more damage, I think.
A scrappy game of Counter-Strike, this is, to begin with.
I feel like both teams have made some pretty critical mistakes,
really, especially the first map, but also on this one,
we've seen a couple of them already.
It does make for entertaining Counter-Strike.
Nobody's running away with anything.
score wise, they're staying close to each other here.
For Spirit though, it is really about the money
and the economy on that CT side.
They just have to keep this going.
So what's on here?
The last round, now again, unbelievable impact for him.
Flashback from Donk as well on the other side.
Beautiful couple of rounds here from Zontics.
Solid work, as I mentioned.
That round, have them on the line there for G2.
It's going to cost them a couple.
Nothing they can do here has to be the full eco.
Blocks.
Don't care if LARP, no Nades.
When those round urges do nothing,
where they'll get 2,400 into the next round.
So yeah, get comfy.
Yeah, I'm sure Shira remembers the Glock
from the last two matches.
Doesn't want to touch that again.
So you can use this like a bit of a timeout as well.
You can see everyone is repositioning the chairs,
getting comfortable, letting some of the tilt drain away.
Yeah, a bit of a while since we've seen one of these, but it's a practical CT side gets to throw a couple of grenades here and there.
It all costs money at the end of the day would be surprising if they were allowed to get one plant down.
But I guess it is possible and make this because alone back here.
It'd be smoking that one up and doesn't have another grenade behind him either.
Just a flash.
So yeah, 45 seconds.
I'm expecting a huge spray down here.
I think as well, just uh, to leave that as its utility and everything has a price
here we go essentially we've got a little bit of a B collapse and that's meant to
have big spray down expected that's exactly what we'll get we'll get our kill so not a completely
waste adventure but uh very convincing in the end gotta be another difficult one going forward
over g2 they will not have the luxury of the monocle or potessions to be made with some
and they definitely can afford AKs across the board, but I might want to take a little sacrifice here to get all the utility.
So there it is, the little four snacks.
Like I said, we haven't seen a ton of pieces yet.
Like, where are they?
Probably they were almost doing too many of them.
I'm surprised.
Definitely a different flavor to begin the game with here for G2.
Very slow.
And while it's worked a couple of times, it's definitely also backfired in some critical rounds.
Niko's up at the palace, working a solo mission.
Wallace is slowly being carried on over, so you can start to see that it is taking shape a little bit more like one of those plain AX2 that we're used to seeing.
used to seeing. They can at least snack at top mid. Doesn't look like Spirit have anyone
in the forward position either. That's going to be able to find out what's going on. So
they're going to be a little bit blind to what's coming. Only two smokes though. And
actually maybe only one for the actual site itself.
Here we go. Smokes. Flash is delivered towards connector. All players ready. At
They're now for the bombsite here.
CTs ready and waiting.
They have Shirro AWP locked in towards the round.
Gonna find an absolute set-up now.
Now what do they do?
Do they commit?
Do they wait for the U-Till?
What's the next move, Anders?
There isn't a lot more U-Till ready to come.
There's one more smoke that they just managed
to throw out, and now they get two Molotovs left to right.
So Molotov on top of the stairs here,
a chopper inside of the bombsite.
This is looking very flat, very uninspired for G2.
Snacks trying to get it back open again,
And Monosy maybe helping out down to 22 seconds.
I can't actually believe it.
G2 should not be in this position right now.
He did not have the utility.
He did not have the speed behind this one,
but it's working anyway.
Niko will take down Magix, and now Shiro finds himself alone.
I don't know how this 8 defense collapsed, but it did.
It wasn't looking good for G2 at all.
It was messy.
It was uninspired, as you said.
The timings looked off.
They'd limp in towards the bomb site.
then out of nowhere they start hitting some shots.
Nothing too crazy, just a couple of opportunities,
present themselves, and they convert them.
Shirou.
He's got to keep up, but they're still close by.
I'm honestly still gonna connect.
It's a cool idea, it's a really cool idea,
but I don't think he would have been able to do it.
Yeah, Niko shaking his head, say,
absolutely no way, buddy.
Okay, that's a bizarre finish.
And look at that, nothing left.
And Shirou getting the first kill, no further utility.
Bet by the Snacks as well.
That's one on one, Geordie's one against Donk with a kill on him.
You can take that all day long if you watched the snacks that we saw last time they played.
He wouldn't have been winning any of these fights, but he's winning some critical ones right here.
Yeah, that was, gotta say tactically, not a fan of that round for G2, but if it works,
who can criticize it? Who cares? They're happy to have the round. Spirit.
Bit of a timeout. Bit of a timeout indeed.
We'll have a look at their resources and see what they've got in mind here.
It was Niko that picks up three kills in the previous.
He had a stunning performance on Dust2 with 20 kills to his name.
He's on tip to the top of the board right now with 11 kills.
Fantastic rounds to give spirit his lead.
Now, Mani's still pretty decent.
And aggressive is Donk.
Yeah, he's actually hiding inside the smoke right now. They don't really know yet.
Sontics didn't even need Bunk to get activated.
He's been flying great in the middle. Sontics got 13 kills. He's one of the big reasons why
Spirit have got some of these early rounds. I think he's 1-2 on his own essentially.
Maybe this one to add to it. Chopper's going to get the catch up on Hunter.
And Monosy not much to be done here.
Chiro taking him down. It's actually the flawless round from Spirit.
It's a very bizarre first half,
Henry. I'm confused. It's strange,
isn't it? It's not the most
beautiful canister, right? But the
whole team spirit will certainly be
enjoying that one. Half face towards
middle. Everyone looks the overlooks.
Listen to the explain and put a smoke.
It doesn't have to be beautiful.
Be entertaining, right?
Queen sweep knocked out G2.
Again, these T sides of Mirage looking a little lackluster,
but still in the fights, six to four couple rounds ago,
they have got around $3,000 per player here.
So there's like half-buy options available.
And then you can have a nice full purchase
for the last round.
That's one of the options available.
We'll see whether they want to go with it or go all in.
Time will tell as we get to the closing stages
of this second map.
Looks like Team Spirit are alive and well.
I always wonder when the team has been playing very slowly if there is going to be one of those faster rounds coming
And I guess if you were going to force up with tech times or something else that that was one of the rounds
Maybe do it doesn't look like that's quite a couple. There's one tech time and the hero a paper monocle
We're in round number 11. So if they steal around right now
That would be pretty disgusting spirit. I'm sure be a hard broken if that was the case
Sheerow down in the underpass. He's been spotted
We can't necessarily do anything about it because it's got don'ts with him actually death
They want to catch him, look at how fast they move G2 to close the gap behind him.
The smokers were getting a little bit tricky, a nice work from Donk.
Alright.
Donk didn't get much done on Dust2, but slowly coming to life here on Mirage.
Great shots from the Deagle, minus you will find Donk.
And they've got the man advantage, this hero AK could live up to its name.
As they fall back, disengage from middle, looking to reset the situation.
Back towards P we go.
So, Zontics has been a real problem for them so far though.
He's got 13 kills to his name.
He's nowhere to be seen.
It's Magix towards Short.
As they go right now, they've got an open bomb site.
Magix slowly but surely starts to creep back in.
They have no utility.
I think it's just a straight up contact play.
Send in the low HP Glock first.
Get the intel, then collapse on the bomb site.
The lack of armor here is making that 1-8 she as well
on Magix.
A little bit scary.
We'll see if he's going to be able to land it on anybody.
Yeah, look at the damage he does in the back.
Monacee absolutely blown up behind it.
Magic's doing excellent work at the moment.
He's finally taken down by Monacee.
He's got three kills, and it does leave
the best performing player on Spirit right now,
alone versus two.
Their old nemesis.
The man is stolen so many rounds away here on Mirage.
He's certainly capable and certainly fancy this one.
Probably gonna find Nico.
They have no idea where he is.
He's got nades for days as well.
Monacee dead.
Nico, left in the 1 vs 1, the incendiary thrown in towards the van.
Nico has no Kevlar.
He's just gonna try and run that clock down as low as possible.
The naive could hurt him.
It lands behind the bench, they get a lot of noise now.
Nico needs to reposition.
Danny, hold on, he cannot!
And I think there's enough time as the defuse comes in.
Zontics wins out another 2 vs 1, and it's...
Felt like there was more than enough to work with there, the sound cues, but...
...gets caught out.
I think we could easily assign SonTix to at least four of these rounds that they've got so far, that he's won.
He had the hiding in the corner to get the double kill, he had the spray down on Catwalk, he opened up at least one ball around and I was clutching this one.
SonTix is having a crazy resurgence game right now.
Someone that's been criticised a bit of the past as well.
G2 had no business getting that close to winning the round, but it felt like it was in the bag though.
It did.
Just by virtue of the bomb running that top downly just didn't consider sure to be an option
And now we get into the final round of the first half seven to four fire would be nice
All things considered they deserve a lot more than that suddenly winning situations positions
That's falling apart for them can mouth save the day here from the underpass
There was so careful
the ball. That's all there.
pushing him back and holding him
a little bit at bay. I don't
know. He's a fool. He's two
days. They're still competitive.
Even if they only get the four
rounds here, but I don't think
it feels great. But if an
aggressive move here, Niko,
is he going to get caught
sleeping? I can't believe
how close he got. Really
showing the tip of that M four.
But. Nobody's there to save
in holding a smoke in his hand if Nico slips down from the earn and just goes
forward he's gonna find a free kill on chopper and that will unleash this attack
onto the bomb site here we'd all realize that that interaction at the moment
40 seconds here and it's been going on for so long chopper I still don't think
he realizes the rifle back out he's still gonna go down Nico with the
opening and that might solve almost everything for the model dog is trying
to change that fact. It's a good kill and a 3 versus 3.
He actually gets the headshot. Takes down Hunter as well.
It looks like they've done enough and it's been some frustrating rounds for G2.
That's spirit to dominate the first half.
Looking to take us for a third map, they go 8-4 on the CT campaign.
Each player has a chance to ask questions to another player.
Whoever gets a question has to think about a new question for someone else.
How often do you change your in-game settings in a regular time?
What is that type of man? I don't change my things man.
I think I swapped when CS2 came out. I went from Blackbars to Full HD.
I think it's more of like the visual thing, you know, maybe I changed your hot color.
So my question to Monacea is, if you started to watch other open demos.
No, I don't. I used to watch before, when S1mple was playing CS,
but if we do it as a team, you know, or we talk as a team about a game, I like to do it.
I have a question for you. How did you come up with the opening style?
I don't know. What is this question?
I think the style of opening from every open is coming from his personality.
His playstyle, no one can copy it actually.
Hey, Saewoo, my question for you is like, how did it come from being a rifler to all of a sudden be an open?
So first of all, I have a friend called Wannick.
Like, I used to play with him a long time ago, even before joining the team or whatever.
And he needed an AWPer player.
He asked me if I wanted to play AWPer a bit because I used to play FACET
just because of him, because he needed an AWPer, so I joined for that.
Hello, Yakinda. I have one question for you. Why you tried to be a game leader?
Thank you, Zabu, for the question.
I think throughout my career I was really involved and local in team structure,
spending extra time on theory or macro of the game felt like specifically in that moment.
There was no IGLs that the team wanted in the market, so it was kind of like a good opportunity
for me to try. Don't I have a question for you? Your playstyle, this over-aggressive,
re-peaking, not reloading with two bullets left and whatever, does it come from your character
and personality or do you think it's just something that suits you in the game?
I don't think it fits with my personality, so it's only in the game.
Ema, I have a question for you, when will you change your crosshair?
I only did change my crosshair, and I went with size 2 instead of 3 and colour 4.
I had the same crosshair for a long time.
Thank you for the question, I didn't know you know that or it was just random, but
it was a very good question.
How is it that I have a really good question for you?
How does it feel to play black bars on top and on the sides?
How it feels to play with the box as we call it in our team?
I'm not really sure, it feels like more responsive, you know?
I change so much settings all the time that I just need to try something else sometimes
and one day I just saw that I could do the box, I tried it, felt good, played with
it and played well and I haven't played with it probably in a year so maybe it's time
to bring it back.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the second half of Mirage.
The quarterfinal continues here and it was G2 with so many promising scenarios
but this young man, Donk, stepped up when he already mattered, Anders.
Yous are disconnected from your channel.
Yeah, he wasn't happy about that one.
It was a sick kill from Donk and they needed him.
They needed him to step up right now.
They've lost the opening map, Henry.
This is map number two.
If Spirit can't get it together, if they can't come alive right now,
They are going to get knocked out. They will not make the semi-finals. It is all on the line for the MIA.
It's looking good though.
So many favorable positions for G2. Unable to convert them. So many clutches for Spirit. We go 8 and 4.
A CT pistol though, as we all know in CS2, MR12, can make all the difference. They find a 3-0 conversion here.
Wow.
They'll go 8 and 7, but that's not the way they wanted to kick things off. Mabs is down early, courtesy of a Shiro pistol.
the power of the P250 on the T side closing that gap against the USP and the
bombers on the other side if he gets one more kill here he's done more than
enough already I don't think one of you realize as he does go to check but Shiro
absolutely besting him in that battle snacks here inside of the bomb side
he finds himself alone the bombers kind of wards him and so is the rest of
teams spirit here at Sontics he has been a superstar on this map 18 and 5
the scoreline and might have just won the pistol round for his fantastic flick from Niko but you need more of that.
You know he can. He's had some touches his career but this is asking so much.
It's asking too much. Doesn't have the kids. Three players to find. The bomb's about halfway gone.
You would take a series of errors here until we even get close.
Yeah, they're really not doing it. The call has already come out in spirit. Do not engage. Leave him alone.
And Magic's the one to take him down after he's brazenly already given up the round.
Well done! Super important couple of kills there for Shiro. That obviously commits the 8 defense, even though he killed half of it.
But it means there's not going to be a lot going on on the B bomb site.
That's incredibly well played from Shiro, the one-man army makes his way up the
air-ground overlooked by Monosie here. Pretty much over in the 5 on 3 Niko
hits a blinder in towards the A side-side but a clinical finish from
Magics and an Eko Navigee too. They've had a lot of these double digits in
round number two. It's looking very likely to clear it now.
Steve, there's any more twists and turns.
I thought for the A-stack, it doesn't bode well.
Spirit to nowhere to be seen.
They've actually got a B-split looking likely here.
Super curious where Nico wants to put down that smoke.
Assuming that they have to execute onto the A-bomb side.
Okay. We've got the answer right away.
Wasn't as exciting as I was hoping for,
but it also looks like Spirit are going to be
Bodging the majority of the staff at home in the end
Magic's position sort of suggesting that they're gonna end up with the bomb sites and equal here in the footsteps gonna be able to confirm that fact right now, so
Even if you run to the US fees, I'm gonna be fine anyway
But now they definitely will be 10 to 4 is gonna be the score here Henry. We could have a third map. I think we do
On nuke to decide it
I'm not complaining about that certainly not
Those like to get stir at the edge there though.
Starting to come to life here.
That first half, they still looked a little bit down and out.
Azontics with so many amazing moments, huge highlights.
As they were waiting in kills.
That 2-0 is locked in, double digits around number 2.
That's a bit of a death sentence.
See where there's anything to be said in the follow-up gun round.
There's gonna have to be a perfect defensive half here from G2.
Yeah, he's typically not there that we're going to be highlighting on spirit, right?
It hasn't really been the case for a while, but it feels like he just was determined to
win this map, continue their run here at the four finals.
It's done a remarkable job.
And losing the pistol as well here for G2.
I mean, they're in hot water right now.
Yeah, the room is shrinking around them.
You could feel Mirage slipping away.
They took their opponents' ticket dust too.
You thought they would send this one home on Mirage, but they've looked out of their
depth, caught off guard more often than not.
Unable to close out two of ones.
And Niko stays to fight in the molly.
There's no AWP available on either side.
It's good news for G2.
Smoke's being deployed down as well.
so far. It's all pretty textbook stuff coming up from Spirit in this round. I don't hate
it. Only one helmet here on G2. Similar situation, I mean there were two Mac 10s for G2, only
the one here on Shiro but they got quite a few Galeels. So the leg up head armor there
on G2, absolutely a factor in this round. Here come the utility towards the catwalk
position. It's going to be Shiro to take down Malm. So the start of it here, 4 vs
right off the bat as Nico's trying to save his team once again gets a spray down the
one but comedy catch the rest of that a lot of damage on the dog he should be dead
the bomb is right in front there no reload coming in yet from Snaggis magics he's gonna
be able to flank and that's not a bad bit of help there suddenly it's a two versus two and I think
did he almost die that must have been monosy from the kitchen to try and do that damage
the bomb is still stuck in that corner and it's only 30 seconds left so they're not out of the
the woods yet and with the low health here somebody has to go and pick it up I
think he's the eyes on him he's so sharp he's trying to run better time
Niko notes he's probably dead might say we'll find him around they desperately
needed and one that they will convert money was tight finding the kills
required the bomb goes down a bit of a backstab there from the bee
apartment's manage had a chance to bring it in their favor but beautiful
work here from Niko especially like this from Niko jumping out the window then
repositioning out towards Delban to get himself a couple of beautiful kills
monosy from the window as well confirms the round the bomb was never
retrieved and I think you saw the replay there they managed to rush that
catwalk position just before the smoke pop at the top of connector and that's
how Niko got the first kill right so just a tiny miss timing it was off by
less than a second, but it means Nico has a free shot there. Cost them maybe more than they were expecting.
Well, well, well, a bit of a technical issue here. Yeah, it is joining us. You are watching the
quarter finals here at the last ever four finals in Copenhagen. We're coming to you live and
direct from the forum. First half has concluded, it was 39 in favour of G2. Very back and forth,
some high flying moments, ace from Malus to win out the map and round it looked impossible as well.
And for G2, that was the pick up spirit as well.
You thought that'd be enough to set them up for some open runway in map number two,
but it's been a bit of a struggle.
They only got four rounds in that first half at T side campaign.
They've struggled on this map as of late, but they did pick it.
So you think that CT side will have something to say?
And the first come round goes in their favor.
I mean, five more to tie things up and we still will attend five score line.
Well, and you know, if you are just getting settled into your Friday here,
enjoying some counter strike,
We do have a hold of the best of three as well.
The other quarterfinal between FaZe and Liquid,
that's going to be coming up a little bit later on.
So you are in for a bit of a treat on that one as well.
I'm excited for that game.
I hope that I think this one is going to be going to Nuke as well.
So could we just unpack the day of Counter-Strike,
which is exactly what we wanted.
For the people deserved.
On the anniversary as well.
One year of CS2, where did all the time go?
Nobody knows what happens when we're having too much of a good time, really.
Major round the corner as well.
That is looming with all the roster changes, everything else that's going on.
I mean, it's going to be a spectacle beyond belief.
Alright.
I ending out some of the last bit of tech issues, presumably, and before we get back into it,
but what does it take for G2 to get back right now?
I mean, it feels like they've kind of run out of energy
a little bit.
Where is their Sontex to step it up?
Well, exactly.
That was Malves and Dust2.
It was.
Nico and Monizzi, you know, they're going to be reliable.
They're going to be safe.
They're going to give you what you need.
We need one of the players to join them.
Now, Malves certainly delivered on Dust2.
Hunter has been quiet this quarter final.
Would like to see him have some strong contributions.
Snacks, at this stage, we just want
it to be just proactive, just staying alive,
getting a kill, delaying.
It's going to be playing that B bomb site.
So, yeah, we expect him just to
just present it as a traditional game.
Nothing too crazy.
He likes to push and find space,
but I don't think that's required right now.
Him just staying alive
and providing valuable information I think is enough.
If you can set up some of the stars on your team
and your snack like that's enough.
You don't actually have to go out and have the kind
of output just, you know, leave it to Monosin,
leave it to Nico, try and create some of those skills.
And as long as you're alive
and you can guard that bomb site,
probably going to be fine. You're right. Wow. So far. It's been very even game. I mean,
even on even on dust, too, right? It was back and forth the whole way through. It was proper
Rockham Sockham Counter Strike. I mean, it wasn't too pretty. It wasn't too beautiful
in terms of the strategy. Yeah, but it delivered the hype. So many heartbreaking moments,
a few missed shots in the mix from both teams and some really high flying antics
that with the last few rounds, like we said the maps ace to close things down kind of
was significant showed that he could hang at this level he's had a rough run of form
the last time like he exploded onto the scene and when he first joined G2 it looks so powerful
but had a cool down kind of simmered off but we'll see if he can bring it back in
their favor on the CT side here in Mirage is currently Niko in the public scoreboard
13 kills. Honestly just beneath their mouths is there with nine as well. Hunter and snacks
can pick up a slap a little bit. It could be onto something, but it is zontics. I would
say it's been the MVP of Mirage so far. Some fantastic individual plays when he's being
tested like he's been locked in by Molotovs showing trigger discipline and finding multiple
kills was every single round. Yeah, I think it was really crazy because I'm trying to
see a player that has a really high scoreline. Some of those kills just come at the end
of like a round you're farming some you hook kills so many other kills from
Sontics I actually round winning opening kills gets a double gets a triple
somewhere yeah I think he basically was responsible for
winning about four or five rounds in the first half which is absolutely
tremendous now while we have this tech issue we're just going to check over
the desk to see if they have some comments on what's going on
thank you very much gentlemen yes not sure how long this tech issue is going
to be in tune for but we're here to bring you a heart-tank analysis at
this very moment I totally agree with Henry and Anna's tape
Zontek's my god complete 180 what a performance on the second map definitely and you can see it in the
role as well he's given different role for Mirage CT side compared to any other roles this is not
pure anchor role he's playing short that aggressive active position I would say and he's getting a lot
of kills a lot of multi kills a lot of impact into the whole CT side I racked up eight multi
kills according to the stats so far in that CT side itself 16 kills out of those zero
Headshots obviously something we touch upon even even in the group stage the buddy shot and merchant
You know is what we call him and you said was it eight rounds with a multi kill thing coming into today for the tournament
He had only had a multi kill in 15% of the rounds played so far in the tournament
So he's delivering at a very high level compared to ways been at so far in this version
Tell me your opinion on him sort of style in terms of just not bothering to go for those headshots
Do you like it like objectively this isn't harping on him?
and this isn't pouncing on him, you know?
Do you like that style?
I don't know if I like it or dislike it.
I always like when there's someone doing something
different than the vast majority.
So in that sense, I think it's a refreshing thing to do.
I will say, I guess, from an individual point of view,
it does have limitations to it.
I think there's a certain skill ceiling
you hit with that kind of style where,
if you're not going for the headshot,
you know, whenever you're facing an eco,
whenever you're facing a dunk,
whenever you're facing a great aimer,
there'll be certain duels you just can't win.
But for the vast majority, it works out for him.
And it's good to see, because let's be honest,
One of the few players who have not been delivering within Spirit, one of the few reasons why they are at a point where we are starting to discuss whether or not maybe they should change the roster, has been Zontex not delivering.
So for him to have a match like this right now at a very important moment to keep them alive in the tournament, it's massive for him and massive for Spirit.
Do you think Zontex is just on him in terms of those conversations about maybe a roster change is needed? Are there other things that you're also looking at within Spirit?
I'm going back to this role thing. For Mirage he's obviously put in a different shoes, and
if that kind of translates maybe on all the other maps, maybe we're looking at a little
star in the making, I'm not sure, and it comes to the dynamics of the whole team obviously.
He's a little bit more reserved, I would say, more quiet. It's hard to see from the
webcams if he's woken up. I think it's just a rock solid, but clearly he's been
rotating a lot for this Mirage. I've seen him in Connector, in Short and Ladder,
He was clutching, he was entering. He was doing everything.
Any thoughts, Jacob, before I believe we can dive back into it?
Yeah, I think right now it looks like Spirit are going to take this and put it into a third.
G2 just won the round before we went into a break.
If they win the follow-up round right here, I think we'll have a game on our end.
Yes, three more rounds needed for Spirit to be seen in this one.
I'm pushing us to a third. It's time for us to dive back into the action on Mirage.
Thank you very much, guys. It looks like we are good to go here on Mirage.
on Mirage, 10-5 at the score, in favor of Team Spirit.
Hopefully everything is resolved.
The players are back in their seats.
The headsets are on Anders, which is a good start.
That is always where you know it's soon time to play a little bit
more Counter-Strike.
Glad to check in the desk.
I've been enjoying Stiko at the desk.
I think it's a great addition.
Obviously he does a lot of cool stuff in general.
So yeah, nice to get a little bit of a temperature check
with the guys.
Now, if they win the next round, Henry G2 here,
and maybe we should have a game on our hands,
but otherwise Spirit, they might run away with it.
We're back in the server.
It is the second map here, the quarter finals,
the last four finals, and G2, they need to wake up.
They need to find a way to stop Spirit, stop Sontics,
or they'll be forced to play that third map on Nuke,
and who knows what happens there?
Very important round here.
For multiple reasons, G2 can't let them
get that close to map points.
The money's pretty low here.
We've got three Galils a couple of smokes and five players on the B side of the map here
So early on the round and bear in mind the desk talked about it. It's snagged to that anchor
Should be paying for that one kill
He's actually got some nice back a bit from Hunter. It's a good powerful smoke. They were two pounds. He should have the advantage
That's himself in they might be calling this one off
Meco a little bit too keen to get stuck in there meets his maker in the form of magics and
And snacks to be tested next. I think he has free fighters soon as the smoke goes down. They'll be ready for it
He should have no business. Maybe you get one kill not both. He sees the gun barrel. He knows that someone's there sons
It's already down, but well handled by donkey. There's absolutely nobody else there
I think I'm already rotated towards the middle because of Nico going down
So this is a free and open bomb side with magics still holding at top mid position
He's just looking for rotations calling it out. They're not going for it. No, they're not.
Wow. That is a bit of a industry to wait a minute around.
Kind of like the opposite, like what Sticker was describing when he played those roles.
Like they're looking to stay alive as long as possible.
He's in a very committed one and done position there.
True, yes.
No one's had to back him up.
I felt like just ducking and weaving, being a nuisance.
That might have been a more viable approach.
approach you can see as soon as he goes down with one and there's another player there and they have
to sacrifice around it it's already over they cannot throw these remaining rifles into the mix
it was looking promising nika did go down early as well i don't think he had a helmet and the
glill gets to there madrid to the nice shot but he didn't have the resources towards b and that's
going to be 11 on the board it's matt picker of mirages starting to spiral on aval g2 but they
They will hold on to three rifles to the very least.
11 to five, a couple more will do of a team spirit.
Nuke is the chosen battlefield to close this one out.
This is a shot always completely blinded as well.
That is unfortunate.
And we're going there.
Yeah.
Well, you know what?
For spirit, there's more on the line
than just getting a third map right.
They were put to shame in Cologne.
I think losing this map 13 to one.
Yeah.
have a score to settle. They want more than just obviously to to be in the
semi-final to beat G2 today. They need to correct their reputation a little bit
here and get that something back that they lost in Cologne. Now in Copenhagen
and G2 struggling spirits looking very very fresh here after losing the first
map again it can be that one of the hardest jobs is losing the opening
in the best of three and then having the whole team come back together
again but one player like Sontick's popping off it does go a long way 11
to 5 ladies and gentlemen we're going in a round of 17 here they managed to save
some guns and I am seeing a mag 7 on snacks now that is a throwback I don't
hate it chopper's gone down at the start of it here long spray but it's
Malbs stolen Galeel to take down Donka. Here we go. Mag 7 it's a classic this guy
helped popularize this particular shotgun he's gonna get a chance here
Oh, the pellets! The second one will do it!
But that is a little bit scary.
We had a wall bang to take down nearly magics.
I mean, yeah.
The shotgun, I guess, it works. You can say that.
He probably was the shotgun.
Listen, I'm in it for the Nostalgia.
Remember, the hot on Nuke is where snacks
would play with that particular gun.
Piment J.W. was for players that were good at that stuff.
But he was just enjoying the show.
His teammates were fighting the key frags.
I think that engagement highlights a lot of what the counter-shock has been like in terms of what's been going on.
We've seen a couple of misses, a little bit of a failure in there, but it keeps the entertainment at an all-time high.
11-6. G2 are not out of it yet. They look a little bit defeated.
I feel like there's a lot of energy happening on the CT side right now, but I'd like to change quickly.
Flash from Niko, could enable a swing from Windo.
Certainly does, and Manasee is starting again through his final form here.
The alley-oop from Niko.
Sets up a beautiful double spray down, Chopa and Shira are removed early.
Bear in mind this is a 4-5 in spirit as well.
A few drowned, and they've given up a few 5-on-3s today.
Can't afford that other happen again.
It has to be a G2 round.
It's very bad news, Spirit.
You get the telegram and you open up and it says that monesties on the battlefield.
It's not what you want to hear if you're a general on the Spirit side.
That set up so clean in the spray.
Delicious to watch. Five versus three.
We already said it, but they have to win this one.
They gave up a couple of big leaves from their own T side, which really ended up
a bit. They've got four rounds in total on the first half. It has to be a lot better here.
Smoked up, but immediately the build-up went by the HG, was it down to 35 seconds. So they're
really running out of time. Niko getting a little bit in there before he is double-teamed.
I don't think Sontis, even at the very end of the day, can actually win this round.
All right.
Very clean shot.
Needed that G2, clean and convincing. Haven't been many of them. That one is quite
special four players survive shut down the economy now of team spirits all
started here the alley-oop flashbang the pop smoke the monosie AK-47 you couldn't
ask for a much better sequence mouths as well pretty nice clean with it on the
m4 yeah that'll ruin your day and that's gonna be never ever G2 we go 11
the seven should be the full eco now spirit with just a gloss well they know
snacks in towards me they were trying to punish that part of it out from dust to
mixed effects varied results me hey if you feel like snacks is a potential weak
link why not why not try and hammer it all-round gap assuming this becomes an
811 scoreline is it still on Henry is there a chance for you to get back into
definitely still a chance it all starts here it won't be the resources for a
shiro AWP I can tell you that much going to the next unless they get a plant here
which should be impossible but I said that were baited breath one flashbang
how good can one flashbang would be?
It's Nax's position he can get very
flashed okay I don't think it will be a huge problem well let's see we're still
waiting. Still some good seconds left before they have to pop it. Wow, yeah, that's really
going to slow them down. Well, I'll chop it if I can join them, I suppose. And it's magic
to the flash. He's got it in position, but I'll wait the chopper to arrive. They might
as well. Oh, snacks. Keep your knees out. We'll have to do the best flashbang of all
time. Another smoke off. It's a pretty good flashbang. I'm not going to lie. The
deluxe actually defeated him and a headshot coming through after, goes down the modus.
So you must stay alive brah!
If he dies the round could be over.
Revenge blocks, the flashbang works.
The magnesium powder burning out, snacks, you couldn't see a damn thing.
Now it's a three on three.
And that bomb ticking now, son takes, that's a glock at range.
I don't know how he does that much damage.
Niko defeated.
And now towards the bench here.
Oh! The mouse!
Can I have another one please?
It's Magic's up here and again it's just blocks.
They didn't have it off to begin with here, but the bomb is already so far ticked here one good kill could make the difference
He's been spotted making him again
Goodness gracious me boys
I'm not sure what that setup is, but I hate it. I hate every part of it
Like you know you're up against the pistols here
You've got the smokes down available and you've some reason going for this weird
Nades in the hand flashbang play we've got a 180 from your own flash
Say yourself up for whatever the spray down was and you've given them three kills in a bomb fight
You almost lost a glocks across the board there. How many times I could have happened to G2 today
Yeah, it's unacceptable isn't it?
And they get away with it. I suppose Sanders they win the round. Yeah fair enough for me. You're right
It's a slow build up to it. You can see it coming
position though, like you're against Estals you need to be behind the bench,
boost it on the side, give it by the back, they don't have utility, anything!
There's literally no cover, you're on top of a truck, persuading.
Oh wow, they get through it.
Yep, it doesn't maybe inspire a lot of confidence but see how it goes.
And this window smoke helps out.
Very defensive spirit, start of the round here.
I'm not quite sure if there's gonna be some shenanigans thrown in by G2, it doesn't look
like it from our point of view, but it's worth it to wade around like this G2, very similar
approach that they had for the majority of the rounds really on their own T side, seems
Spirit can put it to better use than the G2.
I'm committing that smoke, this one though, looks like it's finished, I'm assuming
Magics is gonna join them through the underpass and they're gonna go for the bomb sign chopper there at top mid
So every now but you get the gun out son six, which is a lot faster this time
That's the opening that sets it up. Eiko was here and
She wanted to take some heads as well gonna be deleting don't get the start of the round down to 40 seconds now
It is on if you want to stay in this map again every single round here has to be theirs
Hunters already confirmed it. They're in the palace. They're definitely coming.
Shearer's got the bomb on his back, trying to get a bit closer, but down to 20 seconds.
They're coming up through the connector as well with a little two-man force trying to push their way in.
But Niko, hard to take down in the moment.
Hunters are swinging their corner while the flashers in the air.
Hunts are gonna try and pick up where he left off, but it's Magix.
I can't believe it, but he gets the double kill instead.
And now it's Monizian Snacks to hold on to this one for G2 if they can.
I'm trying to say Hunter had to step up there, that was his kill to take and I think that's
going to be map points here, Monacy doesn't have the health, Snacks doesn't have the form,
waiting to retake it, Monacy he gets the shot, Snacks really needs to step up, needs to
hold on against Shopper, the defusing needs to come in, the kits on both of them, they
fake it out, no one's defusing and I think they have it, Monacy has to do everything
But he does get the deep use and they do win the round.
They tap the bomb and both just stood in the angle and waited.
That is ridiculous.
Damn, Nico and Monosy are having to do so much.
The last round, regaining two on five essentially.
And Nico is taking matters into his own hands.
On a 20 HP Monosy, he has to hit every single shot and defuse the bomb.
He was hanging out. It was 11 to 9. Oh no. It's it's back on now. Yeah Hunter you can see he's struggling here as well like he gets 10 kills in the first mother dust too but some uncharacteristic misses from him but either way we've got 11 to 9.
Monossey keeping that dream alive he's fucked up he knows it's a kill-it-back-on-the-ball
Flags chopper that's more like it right now can he kill chopper five kills as
well hard way to go start of a round you're getting to what's the end of the
map here you can't even do anything with it if they lose this round spirit
then G2 tie up the game they just don't have the money here on the T side
Funtics ready for a second and he'll take both of them down that
probably could have been set up a little bit better there for G2 but it really
feels like whenever Spirit need to win a round it's just it's on Tixie he is the
answer at the moment for them now looks like they might want to track back to the
map and onto the B bombsite where Snax is holding we haven't really been big
fans of how this B bombsite has been defended so far this is a good time to
some redemption for him and Hunter both needed good crossfire here play
off each other not two 1v1s it's looking good in that regards it's
looking perfect and see if they can pull it off here.
It's where G2 need them to shine.
Monasi's not here to save the day.
Great, pretty decent at the start here.
Trade comes in, that's the power of what you said.
Set up a bit of a trade.
Yeah!
Nice catch off for Snacks.
You'll take down Suntakes, it's all on Shiro.
And he's running out of time, swiftly.
15 seconds.
You really want to find Snacks in there but you can't.
He's still hiding in a bomb.
One, don't move, just stay close.
There's only eight seconds left.
Oh, no!
He's lost and there's Smokey.
Can't find him at all and the round is done!
Snaps for like you boys!
Holding on for dear life and the B-bombsite.
The two players that have been struggling, working in tandem
and making the round win a reality, the in-game leader.
Ducking and weaving, this is what we wanted to see before.
Yeah.
Staying tenacious, staying alive and winning the round.
This one is back on.
Double Dinnis has been found!
And an Echo presents it, a partial buy, an Echo for DK for Donk.
I mean, for those of you who weren't even born at the time, Snacks made his brand as an enigma playing around the smokes.
Been a minute here, but hiding inside of it, you could see Shiro just unable to find him at all and running out of time.
We're going to be again, Anders!
Yeah, they want to test that E.B.A.D.
Come on, Snacks! Can you do it again?
Oh, the flashes are good and Matt Tenville defeating him, but Hunter having a bit of a resurgence himself now.
A couple of kills here, ready for another one. Oh, it's looking like a spray!
Sonsics will take him down and they spot out Niko.
He's going to relocate three versus three and look inside.
Shiro's got control of the A-bombside, so he's calling it insane.
We've got a minute more, he's just...wait.
So, if you can get away.
The AK of Zontexes is looking to get one more if possible.
Steven get a really cheeky kill and I think he might have done it
Looks away at the worst possible time. There was a freebie there. Do they detect this position?
No, I'm so thinking about it. You considered the play
And now they're getting pulled across the map. This is a map point as well
You might have shero the timing is absolutely absurd. All right. There we go the whole round on a nice edge
And he'll peek and made the difference.
He could have realized there's someone already to watch the picture.
He might have a chance still.
Monosy coming in all the way at CT spawn.
He's quite far away.
Nico might have to almost solve this round on his own before Monosy,
even if he get here.
He's running for a nice shot from Magix.
And it leaves him alone.
One versus two.
Grenade instantly making it a one on one.
Jumping out the window.
And Magix on the other side.
Half health.
Bit of an advance in here for Monosy,
but he is running out of time very quickly.
Oh, and look at his ducking, diving and weaving their magic.
He doesn't want to show himself. He doesn't want to fight.
He wants to play for the time and stab,
and he shoots him in the back.
And he's expertly played for magics.
It comes down to a one versus one.
They were doing so well. They were holding on there.
But as soon as they pump the brakes, they slow things down.
They find that Deagle kill or maps in towards the murder
hole, and it just pulls the defensive part.
and he goes admirable wherever he's working in this round
but it wasn't quite enough.
Tech nine and Hunter as well.
Monacy looked like he'd do it with the first kill of an aide
but now a round that should have been theirs is given over
and we've got map point for spirits.
Money, still pretty strong here.
Monacy taking matters into his own hands
what a big that is.
Okay then, they're fighting for all the time.
G2, they can absolutely do it.
get a couple here again it's really no money on the spirit side so
it's possible
huge scalp to take at the start of the round to shero
he was ready you he was aware
knew the timing
never miss window smoke
someone's missing the jump lines
that is not ideal
no especially in the round we don't have any more smokes or they have one on donk i think but
They can't keep smoking that window forever.
I don't...
You have one slow glaft.
Yeah.
I'm getting kinda close to that connector though.
It's a bit scary, dunk.
Leg...
And...
Instantly taking down there.
Reaver's 5.
Scary, but you know what it's working.
Okay.
They can still take us to overtime here.
Let's hope it's between his finish.
G2...
After a disastrous previous round for the Tech 9s.
one AK. I do have the advantage going to run up to 24. One round will do it.
Take us to overtime. It'll be a pretty weak setup with no bomb plant there and miss window smoke.
Bit of scrappy quarter final handers. Oh yeah, absolutely has. We're not lacking for entertainment
though, so it's been real funny. Do they have the, are they brutal enough to go for snacks
Do they feel like they can take him if one of the clocks I think they're known for their set piece gameplay team spirit
Looks away to see one of those towards the end final round of regulation 12 to 11 one round in the game
Huge advantage of a G2 they've opted for firepower though spirit rather than utility
They do have enough for a very basic approach and toward the a site couple of smokes couple of flashes a molotov or two
Bonds in T spawn for now. They have no control of middle no control of B
Hunter and Snacks hold their positions on that side of the map here.
Malbs, our positioner, usually gets Molotov on these sort of executions.
They do have a Molotov for it, and here we go, Anders, bit of a contact play.
We're going in.
Yeah, and he can't do much.
If he gets Molotov, he just has to sit in his fight.
And Snape, off up, going down on the equal, landing next to it.
Anders will be going for the oil of a time, and that is so aggressive.
Maybe a little bit too much, so, show, taking out Malbs as well.
suddenly it is a two versus three. Nico he wanted it maybe too much. 40 seconds. This is where Spirit
seemed to shine bright. He got Donk and Shiro. The strongest members have teamed Spirit and Monosie
as low. This comes down to Snaps and Hunter. Hunter not looking as usual self. Just need to
work together here. No solo won't be once. It's the Galilla Shiro. He's got the bomb
in towards the palace as well.
Monacee's here, sure.
AWP in hand, but Donk getting closer and closer,
scaring him nicely.
Agro taken from palace.
There they go.
One missed shot there, five seconds left.
Bomb being attempted here, and that's all that's left.
Nobody else beat it!
It was real close, Henry.
We're in it.
They lost their brains, but it's all the time.
Can you imagine that?
How they lose the map with three seconds on the clock.
Everyone wide swinging, Donk.
It almost happened.
It almost did.
There was a world parallel universe out there somewhere,
where he does land that shot, Nico.
Beautiful opening, but they almost give it away.
Look at how quick he is.
He just sees it.
There was a chance.
He could have done it.
Can you imagine?
That would have been the most G2 round of them all.
There's no way they can win.
And he will swing in for a shooting gallery
against the World's Best Rifler.
They're doing their best to find the one way
to lose the round like they're actually actually searching.
Guys, we've won it, but there is one way to lose it.
Let's see.
Well, they keep the hedge above the proverbial water
here, ladies and gentlemen.
It's their map pick.
Still on with the 2-0.
Still possible.
It's Niko and Monacy, both at 22 kills a piece.
That's what it took to stop Sontek.
That's what it took.
Sontek's gets at the 24,
For those two names, carrying right now, finding the gaps, dragging the game back in their favor
for Shiro, some redemption now.
We'll find the opening pick.
Five and four, good start here for Spirit.
Seved to have the mental resolve to be very hard when you feel like you've already won
the map and then you have to play overtime instead.
And we've seen the frustration out of the Spirit cap.
Overtime in effect.
team to get to 16 here. Chopper, just solo guarding that top of position. The other four
are going to be attacking the bomb side and you know what? This looks like it's a very
reasonable approach. I think Malv sparring some laser shots coming through. He's going
to get overwhelmed and they should be able to take the bomb side here. Modesty, he's
going to take chopper with that was at top. The rest of the forces already on
the site. They're so close to Malv's right now. Trying to get flashed in and do
really anything at this point in time. 50 seconds back up has been called for it
towards CT spawn. I don't know how but Modesty got the kill and now he's not able to compete.
He's one of the sickest flicks yet. Taking down Donk.
That's all Hunter needed. Just one kill in the round and now Zon takes your right. Hunter and Snacks
have to try and fend him off and he's got the hot hand right now. You know he's gonna
be feeling himself. He's gonna be taking some audacious maneuvers. The fake plan comes through
and they don't budge. He's got no time to go towards V. He commits to another fake
and snacks or find him overwhelmed in the end and they recover a 4-5 deficit
courtesy of some monosy magic. They flick from hell up on the T-steps there.
Fantastic work. He got the opener as well. Brought it back to the 4-4 and
just getting hit in banger after banger. This one especially an absolute show
stop that even in even in the slow motion replay even then it's fast okay as I
mentioned that there's a known for these set pieces
spirit lean into them a lot when they're going it's tough I mean it it should
have worked last time it was a great call now this was the only one of the
bombsite monster running what is he in here this is actually an ideal call it
It comes down to Malb, struggled in the previous.
Can he find any sort of impact here, Niko with him,
edging the smoke, Molotov delivered.
It's very nice, it comes into the execution.
There's no rebuttal at all.
They've got full control of the A-style.
He can make the way towards spawn,
re-smoking the bomb site,
but Modesty continues to find impact here.
Hopping open, smoke.
The bomb is planted and the round is still on.
Hiding there.
Oh, he misses the shot finally.
And Shear will take him down and he finds Niko.
I think there should be enough to win the round
and to try to get back into it here, but it shouldn't be possible.
Balke and Sontics to close it out,
and they knew how close they were with the previous execute.
They say, let's just do it again.
We'll do it one more time, and it's going to work this time.
The smokes, but then the layering of the flashbangs on top.
I don't think they just got pushed back.
Really nice execution.
No problem with it whatsoever.
Shiro gets himself in a prime spot.
Nice little pre-fire towards Niko as well.
Adding completely booked to go 1-1 final round here at the CT campaign.
They'll leave a secondary AWP.
Give it a snacks.
See what he can do with it. He's going to take both weapons over to this side of the map.
Yeah, why not though? He's late to the bomb site.
He's on takes.
Could try, come hunting for it. They're going to actually test him here.
Flashbang goes up.
Gets himself a strong position.
Just need one and survive, but let's see what he's got for us.
The problem is right if you miss this kill and they run you down you're in panic mode
You're running back while getting flashed. It's just not a fun time, but it does get it
Sontex not ready guys played it. Well
It's all we needed Anders yeah
Opening kill fullback stay alive
Well, we're peak shiro. I mean he's lucky to be alive. You should have been dead by all rights
Nice reposition for hunter don't think you're expecting this at all
might be trying to check it here, but Shiro, yeah,
walking right out, shot in the back.
This is looking brilliant at the moment here.
Five versus three, Mikul chiming in as well.
He's on the ball side.
Oh no, he put it out.
He's got the kill.
Oh no!
He's shooting and dunk.
Well, take down Snatch, I think he thought
he already had the kill.
He definitely did.
He stopped shooting.
He had that one.
There was a freebie, and now they've given a hatch.
He'll go over to Magic to this monosy
with the closed-range AWP.
The HP not a factor.
Neath the pistol, he was out of jewelies.
It's the first.
Don't watch your, we'll find that kill.
And where is Mal, there's no way to be seen, he's towards the apartment right now.
He doesn't seem to have any idea.
Crisis averted for G2, it almost happens again Anders.
A guaranteed round, a dumb deal.
And it almost falls apart.
There's been so many of them, there's quarterfinals.
And you get that freebie, Hunter also gets a freebie.
And then all of a sudden Niko, he thought he got this kind of magic,
But he didn't, he started firing.
Yeah.
Oh, that would have been a disaster.
Call a Gigi if they get that one up.
I agree.
And I don't think they would have been able to handle that.
There's been so many of these kind of rounds in the game.
It's just like nothing is settled.
It's always open.
There's always a chance to win or lose some of these rounds.
The headline reads G2, 2.
Spirit's 1 versus 16 here.
Yeah.
Recovering an 8-4 deficit.
Again another scrappy affair here in the quarterfinal. Dust2 was fun.
The Mirage has been intense.
Honestly, on the AWP, of course.
First round of the T-side campaign, what have they got to store for us?
They haven't presented any set pieces today.
That was a problem of pro league for them, running too many executes over and over again.
And this might be one of them. We'll see.
Snacks working towards the end of past.
Smokes look decent.
And a boost up for snacks as well another oh wow sneaky play he's been here so many times
He did find a lot of states in regulation. Yeah, this is an incredible position to be in
Open up it stomps down
So some ticks
How do you recover this one?
spirits
Running out of fairs now on the CT side and the game
as well
Lays the focus there on Nico ready to avenge the kill
It wasn't just the the boost in he was actually flashed for the first one to like just he's got peaked by my snacks
That's great coordination
That's a beautiful rounds
Snacks and he gets the one back the fact he's so confident with that gets behind them
Just as the execution is coming in as well. They're fully focused towards the a bomb site
He has to nail that shot and he finds donk over one tap
I think how slow they were in regulation on the T side like never mind the lack of set pieces
He was so slow in the round when they had five on threes for example. They didn't have enough assertion
They weren't able to decide where they're going. They're waiting for pushes losing the jewels leaving it to a three on three
Then fumbling in towards the side
Yeah, this is looking much sharper. I think that's the way to close this one out
Let your start off the leash set them up some space in the bomb site and you'll hit your shots
Right now if you go power panel tons of individuals
G2 are looking much sharper mountains a brutal shot towards on takes that he's dropped off
off. Modesty continues to provide impact of the AWP. Oh yeah. Ananda's there one round
away from the semi-finals here. What a way to get there. It's been a real struggle on
this map. Nobody expected that it was going to be like this. It looked like G2 coming out
of the first map. We're going to crush Spirit but they've been very, very strong. Now let's
see how this one plays out. Spirit now hunting for double all the time instead. They
need to win two at a row here. A bit of a sketchy start as Nico. All those hat.
That one, Molotov H, she around the corner, but Shiro will stand his ground.
Yeah, very nice play there from Shiro.
He finds a lot from a little.
And then towards B we go, it doesn't look great, they have a G2, they are all off-loundering,
but Monosy is alive and well.
If he finds this next kill, it's a massive one.
And it's all of a sudden, it's a three on three, maybe even their advantage to get
the bomb down.
Monosy patrolling the kitchen, disallowing entry to the bombsite.
It's the shot, but can't find a kill.
He's taking the whole bombsite by himself right now.
He's doing all the work!
They're gonna be bombsites.
Once again, G2 all-best team spirit.
It wasn't the most beautiful game.
It wasn't the most had-to-core.
A lot of missed slopes.
A lot of thrown advantages, but it was damn entertaining.
Monossey and Niko working in tandem,
carrying G2 over the finish line.
It took great effort from Saks towards the end as well.
And there's got to be a gut punch there
Spirio is looking so good in 8-4 first half-handers and one they can't convert
Yeah, they wanted to revenge from what happened in Cologne and know what they did a lot better today
But it just wasn't quite enough and when you put Monosy and Nico together when they're both having their a game
Who can stop them?
And it wasn't a good story today. It was about Zontek. He stepped up a barrage
He gave them that fantastic first half, but it wasn't quite enough
It didn't have the superstar firepower behind it this time and G2 certainly did
Nico playing like a man possessed monosy with the most ridiculous
Dope shots you ever get to see another huge performance from him on the big stage and on that opening map on dust to melts
He finally returning to the form that we saw when he joined the team. It's been really really fun
Yeah, they need to carry this on there in the semi-final now, but it's not gonna get any easier
It'll be harder games from here on out.
They've got to play against Vitality.
Oh, God.
And now it's semi-final, Andrew.
So, yeah, that's going to get tough.
Delicious.
But if Monosian Nico can play at that level,
there's always a fighting chance,
because that was some damn good shooting towards the end.
We'll see if we can keep it up
and keep the dream alive for G2.
As we get ready,
we're going to be throwing it down
to James Banks and Malves down on the stage.
G2 make one hell of a comeback there on Mirage and you get the job done, but you had to sweat a little bit through that one, right?
Yeah, it got a little bit hard, but like, I know we have Elia, we have Nico, it gets a little bit easier, you know? So like, yeah, it was a good match, honestly.
It definitely was a good match. I want to come on to your dust too, right?
It looked like there might be a chance they could fight their way back in and then you turned around, brushed down long, opened up the kills and went on for an ace.
You just said, it's not happening, I'm ending this here.
Yeah, it was good. Like I had enough money for a hero and I was like guys gonna get a hero here a big one
And they were like, okay, let's force around you. And then yeah, it happened. Well, it happened and looked real good as well
How was this feeling for you though? Are you enjoying this moment of your career and sitting here and seeing all this in front of you?
Yeah, of course, it feels amazing like playing in front of a crowd and like I see myself one year ago
I like feels amazing honestly and like I feel super happy to be here. Thank you guys for watching
In terms of that though, right, when we look at the whole event for G2 right now, do you
believe, do you have this confidence that you guys can hit this peak and hit this level,
just to our spirit, you take him down once again?
Do you feel like you can go further now if you've got vitality tomorrow?
Yeah, honestly, if we just work on these little things that we're missing sometimes
or that we're just messing up, I think we can be a really, really, really good
team.
And if we just work on these, I think we're going to be really good and not only
for this event we can be really good for the next event so now I like it I like
what I'm hearing on other confidence Gigi well played some mouths and G2
Copenhagen given up for him oh yes G2 securing the hat trick and once again
proving the kryptonite of team spirit eliminated in the quarterfinals here in
Copenhagen with the crowd right behind them for the side of G2 I just want
to echo what Mark said in the interview as well because by no means was
this the cleanest counter strike Jacob to be closing this one out but
props to Monty, the huge stepping up, Niko in some moments as well, and really coming together
as a team unit to kind of quell some of the chaos that we saw in this map, right?
I don't think anyone will argue it wasn't the cleanest brand of Counter-Strike for neither team,
but it was hella fun to watch. It's very exciting. There were so many rounds where your
onion chose, your thinking to yourself, oh, is he spotting him? Is he not? Is he getting
the kill? Is he not? It came down to single duels, every single round that would change
the dynamic of the round. So yes, I agree. Not the most beautiful Counter-Strike,
not the most clean Counter-Strike, but I think it would be one of the best games we had in a long time.
100%. And back and forward action is just proving to be not only in terms of rounds, but also trade
frags within those routes. And it's just you never know how a thing's going to end up in the end.
And that's just beautiful for counter-strike. And everything is, you know, kind of on the
toes. Obviously, it's going to be heartbreaking for Team Spirit. We just saw some pictures of them
exiting the arena there, but probably extra heartbreaking for Sontix. 40 kills, man. That's
crazy over the series. And the fact that he had so much impact on the second map of Mirage,
He was hoping I'll be keeping spirit in it at the moment, right?
But it also does speak a story because I agree with you.
Sontex had a fantastic showing and awful lot of impact,
especially in the first half of that CT side,
where time and time again was the spearhead for spirit.
But when you look at win conditions,
if you have Sontex, your player who's been struggling as of late,
coming up with an MVP-like performance on a map like Mirage,
and you still end up losing, you still lose the grasp of the map,
you're looking to watch your shiro, you're looking to watch your dunk,
they didn't deliver at the insane high level that we used to.
So it's for me. It's a warning sign for spirit
There's different ways of losing obviously last time around in Cologne
They only got four rounds and two maps that sucks for everyone involved today
They still lose two out despite being slightly more competitive
But I'm still standing with a bad feeling and a bad fight around spirit right now
And obviously as well shows that well
Maybe G2 are putting a lot of resources to counter dongan especially with well with Niko and then monos in shiro is another head to head
But Xhontex is kind of like slipping past and actually showing that he's able to pick up the pieces whenever needed.
But as we said again, on the technical pause, he's not able to do that from positions he's playing on some other maps on Mirage.
However, he's showing his back then. You can see it right down on the screen as well, where impact for all the other maps is just significantly lower compared to that Mirage.
Well, unfortunately, the end of the line here in Copenhagen for Team Spirit.
So let's get a few closing thoughts courtesy of Xhontex.
Certainly not the result the Spirit would have wanted here is it's another struggle coming up against G2 here.
I want to get just your perspective on the Dust2 pick for you guys coming in there
because you hadn't played against them yet. Was there some weakness you spotted in?
Was there just confidence in your own game for this?
They're not that good in communication right now because of the form the team has and the player have.
So, we thought it's better to play a map that is less, you know,
if you play this side, you already have space, so you just have like rounds,
and you just like, we do round 4, we do round 3s and whatever.
And we thought this is gonna work, and actually I think it worked,
but we lost Auto Plashes and we lost NtEco,
And the team and players are just not in their shape, it's just terrible.
And besides that, I believe we have mental models that are just not working if you want to win championships right now.
This is because I think the players are not feeling confident at the moment.
But then what happens, right? We see you on Mirage, you come back into this game, right?
there is fight within the whole team.
Is it when the pressure's off a bit,
where you say, okay, we've got nothing to lose,
that you can fight back in?
Cause you told me that before,
do you notice the mental difference there?
After we lost the stool, we felt like,
we just have to chill more.
Like, we just have to play, that's it.
And those rounds that we lost in dust
wouldn't even happen, and it would be our map.
So I think that my team has understood that
we just have to play.
just chill a bit and we'll play better and it's going to be enough to win.
Actually, we had a very good score, but as I said,
individual form and I believe mental models
is just not compatible with the championship winners.
And in terms of being championship winners and just looking overall here
for the future, what do you feel like is the biggest change
you guys need to make before so getting into the Major is only just a few months away.
Is it more of the mental side?
Yeah, I think it's not even about Counter-Strike to be honest.
It's about how players perceive the team,
like what they need in order to win.
And I think people sometimes forget what they have to do,
what they have to say, what they have to don't say in order to win.
and what they have to feel about playing, what they have to feel about their teammates.
And I think this is the main thing, it's not even about how we play Counter-Strike, it's not about macro.
Thank you for all the info, mate, and hopefully you can fix a mental going into the next game, into the next board.
Yeah, unfortunately another quarter-finals access to Spirit, a hell of a lot to be unpacking from the NT,
particularly from the mental side of things. But let's stick with the Counter-Strike theme for now,
because I think we need to revisit just how this map unravels for Team Spirit,
because let's not forget, they had a clear round advantage coming into that second half.
We've got round 20. This was an incredible set of heroics. I'm going to say from Snacks, our
monosie was mostly monosie doing the work. Snacks was just kind of present witness in the action,
but yeah, let's dive into this one. What happened? I think you got monosie kickstarted
into the game. We see Niko charging in, getting a nice kill right here. Monosie is
already down to 7 HP. You think he's going to be out of the round? Magix is getting a
blind kill, turns around, finding Honda as well, who kind of drops the ball and at this point,
Snacks give up his position. For some reason Shira doesn't realize maybe the silence M4 who knows and then Munnesty's coming in.
As you said, finding the first kill, he's defusing, he's fake defusing, he's getting the kill and then he ends up defusing at the very late stage of the round as well.
You saw the impact Munnesty had, not only in this round but from every single moment for the rest of the game.
This man could do absolutely no wrong when we were coming into the tail end of this.
And then we come into round 24, the last round of regulation. What was happening here, Steve?
Yeah, Team Spirit decided to go for a set B's execute towards this A-Side, and well, the utility wasn't really even happening,
so it all turned out to be kind of like try pipping into Monacea, well-positioned Monace, by the way, on picket.
Niko getting a bunch of kills, and this, I honestly thought this round is over right here,
we're kind of already looking at overtime, but they brought it back with the individual heroics,
trying to fake back to B and getting back to that A-Side.
What could have been if she actually put that one down?
And don't, yeah, well, like, it was just a couple of seconds left.
Look at Snacks right here, you know, look at Snacks how close he is taking that duel he made and then he gets away in the very last second
Snacks could have died before time ran out, they could have been spared, would have won the map and that would have been a disaster
It has absolutely preying to whoever's up there, thank god we managed to pull that one over the line
I don't know how you felt about like the aggro towards Rampus World from G2, seemed a little bit unnecessary
Yeah, I just wanted to close it out
Niko in the flow, you know, I can somehow sympathize with him jumping into the action and then maps for some reason wants to join him
You know, it was two poor decisions, but they got caught in the moment and they had done the damage already
He was already having that Falcons moment with the wings up
I guess the last round of the game here for Monizzi as well to come in look how shone in his every single
Nate he's growing is perfection everything angle. He's holding perfection this time around
He's hitting the shot not getting the kill putting in a support flash again holding the left side right here telling his teammate that they're coming
close and finishing off with a kill. Manasseh did no wrong from the very last stage of this
game and when he's in the zone, when he's digging the game, when he's in that flow state
almost, there's few players out there who look as beautiful as Manasseh when he's doing
it.
Look at the impact that he had over this series as well. I mean Manasseh, he's just such
a reliable piece of the puzzle but the fact that he can keep so cool in such chaotic
situations like that, I mean give this man a medal already, he's doing God's work.
Absolutely and he had a lot of head to head with Shiro himself as well so in those
of duels, but he was present in those rounds that were actually necessary.
In the beginning I remember, Sheer was getting a lot of impact on him,
but Monacek kind of turned it around towards the end of the game.
One thing I love about Monacek playing well against Spirit once more
is also this whole conversation we're having with regards to who's the best player.
Because we have it every single tournament, and I guess minds are changing all the time.
It's a don, it's a side who is in Monacek.
Back to the matter is, as of late,
Donk had not been able to get it done against Vitality,
he's not been able to get it done against Niko or Monacek, that matters.
So this whole conversation is reopening as we enter the later stages of the year.
So for Manus to play well, for him to put it into Donk, put it into spirit, the way he's doing it,
it reopens that conversation as well.
It's kind of mental, isn't it? When we think about in this server alone,
we had four out of the five names that we most frequently put up for,
probably going to be the top five players at the end of 2024.
Does anything change from your perspective, looking at Shiraz before?
It didn't change anything from my perspective,
but I'm curious to hear the man next to me.
Did this change anything for you?
I will have to say that definitely, Monasi was the best player on the server today and I won't say
by big of a margin in front of Niko but he was definitely ahead of Dunk and Shiro which,
well, they belong in the top 5. Shiro had moments right, we saw it on Dust2 as well, got us to a
good start but I think my problem with Shiro is even in the pistol round right he's getting a
nice entry and a nice double kill. Sometimes he's just gonna have three, four, five rounds
in the game where he's nonexistent, where he doesn't find anything at all where I feel
feel like monesties. Every round he has an op on AK and his anti will find some sort of
impact or go for some sort of duel where I often feel shiro is just fading out of the
games and to me that's the biggest issue with highlighting him as one of the best players.
We're obviously also contextualizing this match of you have in the upper hand more often
than not versus spirit. This will now mark three in a row. But for Niko versus Donk
as well. The curse just continues. My God. Donk is I mean there was just no room
for him to move. It's called your dude you know but to be completely honest Niko
Niko is dunking on dunk every single time they're playing.
Coming into today, I think we had Esho out there, you know, bringing up the stats that
Niko and Head to Head duels versus Dunk had 44 kills against his 20.
After today, it's even more in favor of Niko, especially on Mirage.
It felt like every time Niko was getting a kill, the first kill he would get on,
it would be dunked, so he shut him down once more.
And we have the variability from Niko here on the high, as you see.
A lot of AK kills, a lot of OP kills as well.
You know, present across the map and this is how it should be on Roshri, if you're a star
AWPer or a star Rifler you need to move around and this is the factor that we were talking
about here as well, where he just doesn't have that X-Factor, he's not going for it
to many crazy openings, but Niko on the other hand he's looking for them and he's going
for these multiples here.
Even in this high knight wheel, I think I counted four times where he's just destroying
Donk from the server, just removing him, you know, I don't know what it is but
I said it coming into the game, they share a lot of the same positions, when Niko
was playing on the T side he will often face dunk on the T side we see time and
time again when they're playing nuke on Yard as an example and every single time
Nico is facing dunk as of right now in Counter Strike 2 despite Nico have had a
period where he didn't really find his form to begin with he's been dunking on
dunk so I love that storyline it's getting crazier and crazier every single
time they play.
Stiko maybe I'm putting you under the microscope a bit too hard here but we
sometimes we talk about these curses that some players have versus other
players some players have in different situations I think you know the
Lexi be kind of best of five debacle. We were talking about just before EPL
Do you feel that in the server when you've got a player that you know?
Consistently has your number is that weighing on your mind or is that something that you really can't let like enter your periphery?
You can let it ever enter, but it will always kind of happen on the surface at least and well
This is maybe one of the things that's all things was mentioning that after match interview where like kind of he said
Mental models are not compatible with championship. I believe that's weird the sentence I've ever said
It came from zone takes and basically he said maybe something's called on that
Maybe don't has some internal struggles mental struggles when it comes to facing someone like Niko
Obviously, we're looking at top five performance when it comes to rifles
These two guys are only rifles in that top five for my money. So
Well, one needs to be the other in order to be the best and that's where I want to set the record straight as well
I know we're keeping Dong up to a very high bar because he said that bar for himself
He's still young, it's still his rookie year coming into a full season of Counter-Strike,
so for him to show some weakness, for him to show that maybe for the duration of an entire
season, for him to show that maybe mentally he's not quite matured enough, that's normal,
that's to be expected.
He's just so good that he's been hiding away all those things that we couldn't really
speak about it.
So I want to set the record straight, maybe we can find certain moments right now where
Dunk is not delivering, but that was what we expected coming into the season.
He's only 17 years of age, 18 years of age.
Yeah, I think sometimes we forget that when we're putting this much pressure
on such a young star. I think we should check in with a playoffs bracket though because that
G2 victory does indeed mean they're going to be facing none other than Vitality. That is such
an exciting prospect when we're thinking about Monosy versus Zairu. Again another battle for
you know what could potentially be two of the best players in the world to end that year.
Yeah and we've seen Vitality showing up really really good construct so far in this tournament.
G2 however we even said it right now it was really scrappy, laggy, choppy. I don't know
I don't know how to really put it into words, but I don't think it's enough for Vitality right now.
We have to come up with something new, something more creative, something more sharp for tomorrow's semi-final.
It also makes it super legit, right? There's no bad team, there's no easy way to the final, there's no easy quarter-final,
there's no easy games at all. If you're G2, you've got to be Spirit, you've got to be Vitality,
outside you probably have to beat Navi, Face or Liquid in that final as well.
There's no easy way of winning the Blastfall finals and I love that.
I love that. No, it's absolutely stacked as a bracket. And as a playoffs do proceed will be getting into our second quarter final very shortly
Indeed that's going to be faced taken on liquid, which we'll get ever closer to after this break
Liquid versus stays second quarter final coming at you very shortly indeed
But not before we have a bit of a debate up here on the desk because we've been talking about it all day long
At least so even yesterday and the day before with you stiko the conversation about the top players
This year because I think we can separate this into two camps, right?
There's the clear top three, it's just kind of the order in which you're putting them in, and then there's a top five.
And I think that's where the dispute really starts. Obviously, top three is these three names.
Stiko, I'm going to give you the floor, Selmy, as to why you think the man on the left is the best player in the world.
I'm going to be honest with you, we probably didn't see the best player in the world right now at the server, just against G2.
But I will still give it credit to him, because, well, he's been a new guy on the book.
I would say he kind of reinvented the way that rifles are approaching the game with a donk pig donk slide
Whatever you want to call it
He is kind of like setting a trend so to speak when you want to be aggressive rifle and impactful rifle
Obviously 1-6 to impact from start of 2020 for is ridiculous. He's been falling off lately though
But he's still for my money the top one here and the well if he continues the form that he's showing here at the
Blast I'm not sure he's going to sustain that throughout the end of year
It's interesting whenever I spoke into players. They've always mentioned like oh because he's so new that makes it extra impressive
Does that like is that a metric for your money Jacob in terms of giving him maybe an edge to get closer to one because I
Don't know whether I buy into that. No in a sense. It makes it more impressive
I don't know and it's consistently throughout the year up until this point where well
Maybe he's starting to struggle a little bit
It makes it more impressive
But we can't forget that cyberwood did the exact same thing when he came into the scene the very first year of him
being a professional Counter-Strike player, he was the best player in the world and he didn't
have to do it against Monizzi or Donk, he did it against Symbiote of the game. So in that regard,
I don't think Donk is doing something we haven't seen before, but just the fact that he's able
to replicate what Saivou did in his first year of Counter-Strike is in itself crazy.
Okay, Jacob, time to fight because you don't believe it's Donk, do you? Oh no, please.
I think there's an argument to be made for Donk, but I do think Saivou right now,
if I had to choose one player, I would crown the best player of 24. It would be Saivou
still and I think it's incredible, incredible close. You can even make an argument for Moniz as well.
I think Saivou's consistency, I think Saivou winning trophies, I think Saivou winning Cologne,
being the MVP. I think there's certain accolades to what he's doing right now throughout the year
and the fact that he's been able to be so consistent for now five and a half, maybe even
six years in a row. Never has he ever been not just the second best player in the world.
His worst ever waiting in HLTV Top 20 is second best in the world. So for my money Saivou
Right now, first player and you can see that backed up by the stats and
impact rating of 1.47, not too shabby.
That is so disgusting and I think you're totally right.
The consistency aspect is something that I would put above like, you know, the youth,
the newness, you know, the debut onto the scene.
I don't know about you, Siko, because obviously you have to experience it in the server, but
being consistent on that level, which I would argue Tau has for the majority of 2024,
sure maybe not as many trophies as he would have liked, but Cologne was a big one to
to be putting in his cabinet. Despite that, a lot of playoff appearances and very consistent
form in that. Are we selling you yet?
I mean, I have to say as well that the role kind of plays a big part here because I'm
going to say that Zybu is primarily the okra and if something goes wrong with the knob
and let's say he's not feeling it, such as it was again with rifle against liquid
on Anubis, he was failing to deliver it, he was not getting entries, but he is that
flexible man where he's kind of taking certain areas of the map which is AK and he's
playing on Platinum for no or Nubis just with AK. Until something goes wrong, he can
bring it up. Dong does not have this luxury to pull back to completely different weapon
and style to play around him.
Yes, a fair point.
It is a fair point. I also do think that it's a very interesting fact about Saiboo. He's
probably the best AWP I ever to play in a game that doesn't play the AWP that much.
We see the stats and how much he's using the rifles and how much he's picking
up the AK. And sometimes when he's playing Nuke on the C2 side, he prefers to have
a rifle as well. So I think he just adds more to his versatility. I agree with
You don't can't do it because don't is not an offer but why not your 17 years of age just pick up the op once in a while
Be the second they're up if you want to okay, so you think I was number one. You're putting donkeys number one
Where does money see go on your list then like who follows don't is it donks? I will see I would say donk
Monacy yeah, I'm close to saying money sees off there's the second best
But I think donk for now still I think what you didn't care of it's a the performance
He hadn't get a bit so you know where he was doing arguably the best event
I've ever seen an individual Counter-Strike player ever pull off gives that slight edge right now
But you can also make the game and it's easy to subtract and add etc
But I don't not had that event at Katowice
You would have been great throughout the year for sure
But then you would have been third place that kind of bits of performance is what still keeps him in the race for my mind
He literally did that in terms of the debut performance at 1.7 match
1.7 for in terms of a playoffs debut
That's just insane for a player of that level of that age
Sorry to be showing that level in Saturday monestee though. Why is he that why?
Why not? I think the lack of the deep runs with a few two and the lack of trophies
I would say I think it's definitely one of the reasons and it's just they're been in turmoil. I sure they go trophy
I am Dallas, but I'm going to come that is a really big anomaly with Stuart up coming in and it's just
You're basically playing like glorified FPL at the stage and you're managing to win
And that's one of the interesting things about Monosy, because I think that's an argument you can use for him as well.
If you were to put Saivou into G2 in their current iteration, do we believe that Saivou would perform to the same level as Monosy is doing in G2?
I think not. I think Saivou is a player that needs a system behind him.
I think Saivou is, you know, lucrating on the fact that he has apics to set him all up.
So in that regard, you can play the game of arguing that maybe Monosy wouldn't, by telling you, would have done better or as good as Saivou.
But it's an impossible way to quantify it. It's impossible to know for sure.
but it's an argument you can't put in the favor of Muncie.
OK, Stiko, so you're saying Donk, Zairu, Muncie.
Is that correct? You are saying Zairu, Muncie, Donk?
I'm probably saying Zairu, Donk, Muncie,
but Muncie with another good performance in the semi-final
or the final here, he probably overtakes Donk.
And that's the beauty of it.
We've got a hell of a lot more events in 2021
to kind of hopefully make that decision for us.
But there is a wider conversation to be having here.
It's when we look at the top 10
and when we add the kind of two players on the tail end
of this top three for four and five
because there's so many names in there that we could put forward as a case for discussing this.
I mean, let's begin with Nico, because I think that's one of the names that's most frequently
come up to Nico when he speaks to other pro players. They probably put him as number four.
Do you buy into that? I do, generally, yes. He's definitely in the top five. I can already
be in the 25, top four, top five for myself, but Nico is definitely one of them. And again,
reasons that kind of putting that don't into the pocket most of the time and think that
rifle and bring the impact and making impressive individual performances despite a lot of struggle
within G2 lineup so far this year. I have to give it to him, I think he's one of the most impactful
rifles right now in the world. It's better with Sergean, GF for Niko we know how it started with
him in Counter-Strike 2, he couldn't get it going and people even forget that the first
three four months of Counter-Strike 2 and 24 he wasn't on par, he wasn't playing to that
high level so I'd argue that Niko right now it's a very close call whether he's fourth,
fifth, maybe even six, but if he continues down the 20 we've seen the last three four months,
he's definitely going to be the fourth best player of the year.
All right, okay, Stiko, this is the moment you've been waiting for.
Sell us on the vision as to why Shiro is in your top five, maybe, maybe even fourth.
I can't wait.
It's going to be really hard to sell something.
We're one hour ago, we just saw that kind of performance, and obviously,
I will have to try my best, but I will still say that the amount of just
raw impact that he's bringing and he's fitting into the role of defensive
over and he is still finding to put those numbers up
and putting those round-winning or I'd say match winning clutches
he's still this clutch player he's not going for too much of an openings
compared to any other opera but still the impact the ADR the KD that we're
seeing on the screen those are the whole stats from 2024 and again I would
say latter part of the 24 24 they're still struggling and he's still able
to put some kind of a show on the server and you know in tandem with Donk fits nicely.
My counter argument to that because I agree with you, Shiro of course is a fantastic Counter
Strike player but I think when we bring up all the stats of all these different players
you have a rating and then you have an impact rating and I think the only player within
top 10 I'm willing to guess, I haven't checked it up, that has a lower impact rating
that is actually rating in the game would be Shiro.
He's at a 1.22 rating for the year but his impact rating is 115.
I bet you every other player right there on that scoreboard have a higher impact rating than the rating itself for my money
He's failed to innovate himself
He's the same defensive all player that we've seen year after year after year back in cloud nine as well
And he's not involving at all. He's never getting better. You know, he's a great player
Obviously a fantastic player, but he's stagnated and for my money. It's a little bit sad to see because there's more in him
We might have a few people, you know screaming at their monitors right now because of course
We're missing out on the major winners Navi because it's an interesting case when you look at Navi
They don't have that kind of traditional superstar,
I guess at the helm that you're always going to be relying on,
like you're Donk, you might not see Yuzai Wu,
but JL is the name that we have to put into the ring,
obviously MVP of the Copenhagen Major,
and I think coming out of the player break as well,
like he's a damn consistent.
He is damn consistent,
and I think what makes his case
is the fact that he's been able to beat twice.
We saw that the Major in Copenhagen,
you know, coming out on the way, getting the MVP,
winning the Major, that was fantastic.
Then at Pro League, we saw an awful lot of impact
coming in for JL as well.
So I guess the argument for him is that he's had two tournaments where he was the MVP as you see right here as well.
The rating 116, but the impact rating is even higher for my money though.
I don't think he can be argued to be the fourth or the fifth best player because there's too many tournaments where he's just a just a top 10 player,
just a top 15 player where he doesn't really make that much of a difference compared to wonderful to bid etc.
You mentioned wonderful. We're going to round off with him. Sorry, Siko.
Do you think he has what it takes to be in the top five of this year?
They all play from Navi?
So this is like a, I don't know, it's really hard to say for Navi because I think they're
kind of struggling, I mean they're winning championships, but they're struggling to put
up that performance because they do not have that pure star and they're kind of set up
between each other, between everyone.
So no one kind of like shines above head and shoulders, anyone else.
And Wonderful may be like posing a little bit of deflated numbers because of this,
because well, once he's on, he's one of the great, but it's nowhere near.
I wouldn't ever put him above Saibou Monassi and Shiro when it comes to opening.
Okay, so we've agreed to disagree on basically everything, the order, the play.
Yeah, well, I'm glad that we don't work page on TV.
Somebody has the hard job out there, but we do need to head things through a quick break.
Because guess what?
Is a weight in on the other side for us.
It stays versus liquid.
The student versus the professor.
A new in-game leader in twists versus a man who he has touted himself to be one of the
the greatest leaders of all time.
It's Twist versus Carrigan.
It is Liquid versus Faze.
Jacob, we are in for an absolute treat
when you're looking at the storylines,
when you're looking at the firepower in this game alone.
I'm very excited to see what Twist
and what Liquid can do against Faze Clan
in this matchup.
As you said, if anyone knows Carrigan,
the best under server right now, it would be Twist.
They were together for many years in Faze Clan
and one of the underrated facts around Twist
being in Liquid right now is that he opted
to lead himself.
As far as I'm aware, he could have stayed
He wanted the new adventure. He wanted to turn into an in-game leader and now he finds himself on the stage versus Kerrigan in a quarter-final.
So that whole storyline is just involving game by game by game.
Very much so and you have to think about it that he left probably the best team at the beginning of the CS2 and he decided to do so himself to take on completely new journey.
And so far it's been a rocky start but I think shiny days ahead.
Yeah, I think we're looking at Liquid as you know on the upward trajectory but just talking about the history.
history, you know, the Karrigan and Twist share together. We're talking about a major,
an Intel Grand Slam, a Cologne trophy, a Katavids trophy, basically any accolade that you wanted
to get in Counter-Strike into Counter-Strike 2, they got it together and they have such
a bond as a team as well.
Yeah, they've experienced so much together and obviously they've been in so many scenarios
with the whole face clan coming back into every tournament where you just couldn't put
them down. That whole mentality that they built up together as teammates in face is
obviously something good that Twist can now take on and hopefully reinstall within
Team Liquid.
If you speak from a competitive standpoint,
Twist knows a lot about Kerrigan the way he's calling right now,
the way he should prepare for him.
Whereas Kerrigan doesn't really know how Twist likes to call it.
It's a new thing, he's still evolving.
So from a competitive standpoint, I think Twist and Liquid have a slight advantage in that regard.
Sorry, I think it's pretty clear that Twist must be inspired by Kerrigan.
It's something in a lot of ways.
But we have to say that he was under leadership of Nitro as well.
So they won't grant from there.
There it might be like he's picking up something out of everything given it
That's why it's making him a little bit more versatile in general
Yeah
No
He's been under the likes of Sean Gehrs as well like the fact that twiz says that Karaghan is the leader that he aspires to be
The leader he aspires to take after how easy is that as a player though?
Stiko if you know you're looking up to somebody you've never been in that role before
It's probably not as easy as like copy and pasting the strategies that you had in phase with
Literally a completely different lineup and liquid that by the way twiz built himself
Yes, and you have to understand that every team has its own weaknesses, its own strengths,
and I'm pretty sure Twizz is very well aware, especially with Mitter standing behind him,
which was my coach a long ago. And I know that these guys are absolutely like one unit,
they agree pretty much on everything they're saying, and they're clearly on the same page.
To build a team like that, a game plan around it, and playbook around that,
it just makes so much more easier.
Well, you mentioned Mitter, let's check in with him, courtesy of James Spice.
For the first thing I want to start with, what's the vitality game, a tough loss for you guys to take?
Yeah, it was. That one definitely stung. But it comes from us being so close to winning.
And I feel like that we have been doing a lot of progress. As Nath said in his interview recently,
we've been quite challenged against the top five teams and we can see that we're starting to close the gap.
Of course, when you're so close and yet so far, then it's things a little bit more,
but for me, in a coaching position, it just shows that I have players that really want to win.
Is it important to ask about your kinders health right now?
Obviously, we saw he wasn't feeling too well.
How is he doing out of today's game, especially at Stave's game?
He's doing better. He's still having a little bit of a fever.
And unfortunately, it started to spread a bit to some of the other players on the team.
But we are like those high spirits, there's a lot of positive energy in the group right now.
So we are definitely sickness or no sickness as Ross also said in his tweet yesterday.
Like we have to be ready for this and I feel like we are.
Do you feel like you guys are putting more weight in this game because of what happened in Cologne
and it being phase and a chance to get revenge at all?
Definitely. I mean there's a reason why we chose to pick Mirage today.
We want to have redemption on that map, we know that we are good on that map, we feel very comfortable on it.
And we don't think that we need to just face our demons and face has been one of them, they have beaten us twice.
So hopefully we will be able to win this time.
Thoughts on the V-Test, any surprises?
Yeah, we actually were planning on picking Inferno against them and they picked it against us.
So we expected them to pick between Dust2 or Nuke and they picked Inferno and then they banned Nuke in their second wave
So it left a lot of options open for us
Which is always good when you're the higher seed and you can pick the second map
So yeah, no, we're definitely very comfortable with today's video an ultimate
It's a big day for him right first stage that he gets to go and take to what does you talk with him?
Because for me he seems like a person that would not be bothered by this. I don't think that he's bothered at all
I think that he's very excited and he told me today Roland and I it's actually a big
stage for both of us but obviously for him as a player it's a very very different.
So no we went for a 45 minute walk this morning Ultimate and I and we spoke a bit about what
we're about to see and I mean he told me that he's going to cook today so we'll see.
Okay I like what I'm hearing with that and for you are you going to cook behind the
boys trying to get the Danish crowd on your side more than Karagun?
I think it's going to be difficult to win over the Danish crowd despite the
they have a carry-on on their side but I mean I got a lot of friends and I'm
my girlfriend in the stand so like I'm I have all the support I need but
obviously the I hope that that everybody likes to see the team liquid that
we're gonna show today. Okay interesting a lot of ends like coming there from
Mitha but Stiko I want to continue to pick your brain because as you said
you have experience playing with Mitha as your coach what do you think is
like his best attribute where do you think he's really helping liquid in
it's Ryan, so we've seen coming from that.
I'm going to be honest, he's a very, very flexible coach.
Like he can do pretty much everything that you ask him to do.
Either this mental side is really great,
he's making sure that you're always in your comfort zone,
he's trying to enable the players,
trying to come, you know, to the kind of agreement most of the time.
And, you know, he is also a vocal part of the team,
so he's trying to push his narratives.
And if people challenge him, he's actually pretty bummed
because he's seeking those arguments
trying to keep the team growing and it comes to usually constructive discussions we can.
Now we determined during that interview, touch upon the last time these two teams faced.
Oh my lord, Jacob, this was an insane battle and we just have to go to the third map to see exactly why.
Because Liquid 11-1 up, then what happens when we go to that CT side for face?
One of the craziest game of Counter-Strike that we probably have ever had,
especially in Counter-Strike 2, you know, having that cologne, as you said,
Liquid going up, Elimination game at hand,
game at hand, you're playing for a spot at the playoff. You go up 11 to 1 in that first half,
third deciding that. You think the game is over. I think at some point they got to 12-3 or 12-4,
so they had eight, nine matchpoint rounds in that one, and Faze just kept coming back,
kept coming back, forced it into overtime, Broke standing up, flipping off Team Liquid,
and somehow, someway, Faze ended up winning that game. That was a beautiful game of Counter
Strike, and I bet you something that is in the back of the mind right now for Team Liquid,
they want revenge for that, because that's going to stink, that's going to hurt. It was a
As a cologne, a bigger arena they missed out on because they couldn't close down the line.
That's what I wanted to say as well. The map itself was deciding factor whether the team is going to play in front of the crowd.
And well Liquid kind of fumbled it, so let's see how it goes out.
Let's talk about some of the players that we're going to be seeing in terms of the head to head duels in the server.
Of course, AWP is a very easy way to start off, particularly when we're looking at the style of these two AWPs.
How does Ultimate and Rookie kind of differ for your money?
So we see some kind of stylistic changes here, obviously Ultimate coming from a little bit more aggressive side from things.
He's looking actively for those openings and trying to give early advantages towards Team Liquid.
However, Broke is more like this X-Factor. You see him in Clutches a lot, you see him in these mid rounds,
and he's trying to be also very vocal during the rounds.
So you can see the stylistic changes similar to what we have between Shearer and Modesty.
When you look at the opening kills per round throughout the event,
Ultimate is by far the most influential, I would say.
Yeah, he's been doing a lot of success, right?
Yeah, very aggressive, you know, and I guess a player that we're still learning a lot about.
I like what you brought up with the opening kill department.
To come in as a new, young, inexperienced AWP player and just take charts of the game, be out there, you know.
Seek the opening kills, dictate the game.
You played with many AWPs out there. There's nothing better than when you're on the CT side
and the first thing you hear when the round is beginning is your AWP having an idea.
I want to go peak B, I want to go peak A-Aps, I want to go peak middle.
You know that there's a plane behind that and ultimate is that player right now for Likert.
Absolutely, but I have to say give it credits to Brokey because he's more successful.
Looking at the stats when he's going for the peak, he's actually landing more of those shots.
So ultimate is kind of falling, tracing back.
It's just a case of Brokey maybe not going for that as many times, right?
We know that he's not necessarily going to always be in that pack getting down and dirty.
But when we're looking at FaZe as a whole roster, right?
I think it's been a tricky year for them to say the least, Jacob.
I think we obviously have high expectations for them.
Who are you maybe pointing your finger at at the moment?
Because as Stiko said, you know, Broke,
he's not been looking half bad, right?
No, Broke has had a good tournament so far.
He's been a little bit shaky, a little bit inconsistent,
same could be said for the entirety of face game.
I think the only player you can single out,
and I hate to do that,
I hate to point fingers at one guy and say,
he's the issue.
Because I don't think that's the case,
but it is Robs.
It is Robs that is still performing
some part to what we expect from him.
He's a great player, he has an awful lot of impact when he's feeling it, when he gets through with his lurch,
but it feels like he's stagnated a lot. When he came into Counter-Strike 2, he was innovating himself,
he was finding an awful lot of impact on the server, but he's been lackluster as of late.
A few rain is doing what he's supposed to do, I think Kerrigan may be a little bit on the little,
but it's alright, Frosten is playing like a star player, Broke is having tournaments.
The only player we haven't seen pop off so far this year is Robbs.
Yeah, ever since that Porsche, man. Ever since that Porsche.
I think I might be thrown into Danish jail though if we didn't address the only day that's going to be in the server here at the Four Finals, of course, Karrigan.
Just for you guys at home, probably you didn't see, there were literally crowds up by the booth, waiting for Karrigan to come out as soon as our first quarterfinal had ended.
Where do you put Karrigan right now, Stuart?
Obviously, IGL-wise is going to be still one of the greats in the game, but we have to say, we have to also say that individually it's been a little bit of a struggle.
We have a crazy stat line again like last 23 maps. He hasn't gone positive
Only three times on that suit which is not in the pool today
So that might be a comfort pick but in the end didn't go for it. We'll see how it pass out
I can guarantee you one thing and I know people in there probably wouldn't like to hear that
Kerrigan is gonna be at the bottom of this scoreboard, but it doesn't matter for him. It's about how he's calling
It's about how he's conducting himself and it's about how he's using this crowd as well to fuel energy in towards face
One of the things that we always speak about when it comes to phases is that they live up on the stage.
They play better under pressure. They play better in this environment.
And I bet you this crowd in here can help Kerrigan and Kerrigan can help the crowd to have a good night.
Let's talk about the maps that we saw last time around.
It was Inferno, New Courage, which was just an epic decider obviously going in the where phase.
We can bring them up on the beautiful screen behind us to see if it's going to change, if it's going to be the same.
Jacob do you expect things to be shifting up there?
Maybe a little bit in terms of Team Liquid, they still haven't set their map pool completely in stone, same to be said for FaZe Clan.
I think there's no big surprise that Anubis is going out of the way right here.
I know FaZe and Kerrigan have flirted with the idea of playing 7 maps in their map pool, but Anubis is not one they want to play tonight.
Got to go, being gone out by Liquid totally makes sense, but the picks though, the picks, where are these going guys?
That's a good question, first and foremost we get a bit of inferno and I think that's
a good map for FaZe Clan, it used to be a good map for them, they've been a little
bit inconsistent when it comes to delivering on the certain map Mirage, our wave of the
team liquid.
Let's not forget what happened in Cologne, that was the one map where they were leading
11-1 and then they couldn't close out the game, so for them to pick that map
is a sign of confidence and a sign of them believing that what happened back
in Cologne at Mirage is not going to happen again.
And maybe this is kind of going to point out into this other of the student I mentioned, we will see how it goes potentially
Let's see no engine blind out. Yes. You are indeed
Okay, so that's who is actually in the pool. So that is that carrying against my ground. Hopefully very very interesting
Indeed, we're gonna be starting on that same the first one
But we saw a lot of time around of inferno any particular things you like an artful considering that, you know face
They brought this into the pool. Yeah, I feel like we we already located what could be a weakness within faceband rubs
and his lurks on Inferno haven't been as impactful as we would like to see.
Kerrigan sometimes individually stroking.
A player from Team Liquid that's stroking massively.
There used to be an Inferno guard Ishe kinder.
We spoke about him as being the best entry frag in the game.
We spoke about him as being one of the most fun players to watch out there.
He has not found his level.
And especially on a map like Inferno, he used to be the merchant of banana.
He used to always be able to find openings, T side, C T side.
We haven't seen that consistency from your kinder.
So for my money, if he's having a great game,
Liquid can definitely win this one.
If your kinder is still continuing to struggle,
I still have a face as Faye, which is one of the problems.
And we're also looking at the open.
Obviously, Infrared is not all the heavy map,
and you have to pick up those rifles sometimes.
Ultimate is known for these openings, but only with AWP so far.
Let's see where he's going to find them,
because there's limited options for both deep and city side.
When you talk about openers, I want to look on the flip side
and talk about the closes.
As you were saying, obviously, rocks,
we're looking at him for his luck potential,
but something that really impressed me
throughout the group stage.
I mean, JKS, we can leave him to the side for a moment,
but NAF, with the clutch factor,
my boots here to play.
I mean if you look through NAF statistics, pretty much you've got the entire year.
He's severely underrated. I know Aprilik didn't have the best tournament from that point on almost though.
He was playing absolutely insane up until Aprilik at this tournament so far.
He's back to his best. So for my money, NAF is a guarantee, you know.
I know what I get when I get NAF. You know, you're going to McDonald's,
you buy a cheeseburger, you know exactly what you get. It's the same thing with NAF.
No, he's like a big man. Like a big man.
A big man. Yeah, he's like cheeseburger.
Mike has been like, I mean, that was instrumental in terms of the victory versus spirit, right?
Obviously, we're not going to see Nuke this time around, but that Nuke clutch like seal out the map,
that was crazy from there.
The creativity for that clutch, I think it's still a little bit of a clutch of the tournament so far.
Hard to say, but definitely up there.
What about JKS? Because I think when he was, you know, added into this team liquid equation,
it was one of Twist's must-hows. It was one of the size players that he wanted to go to,
which makes sense when we look back at Phase's run in Kevvisa with JKS standing in.
How hot do you feel like he's been at the moment, Jacob?
He's been OK, but a little bit underwhelming for my money.
And I think the reason why is I think
JKS is slightly better than he's showing right now.
I think, obviously, having a break, coming late into Counter-Strike 2,
it must have been hard for him to catch up.
One thing I do love about JKS, though, I love about Mithra as well.
He's always showcasing how hard working he is.
Whenever he's playing a game, he's always analyzing himself.
He's always on the deathmatch after the game.
So it does feel like JKS right now is catching up, you know,
in order to get back at that level we saw in CSGO two, three years ago.
So I haven't lost faith in JKS but there's still something to be decided in that.
Yeah, and also you have to say that he's being put in a little bit more aggressive for active positions.
He's still learning those obviously depending on the map but he's been doing okay I would say.
He's loop warm, he's alright but he's not hot yet.
Okay, what's Rob's got to do to get back in your good books, so Jacob?
Kills the more people I guess, you know, and gets the more freks.
I think his lurk needs to be more impactful and we'd like to see him activated just slightly more.
Well, we do have the maps, but we are missing two crucial things, and that is our teams.
It's time to welcome FaZe and LycRyb to the stage of the forum.
FaZe, Clown.
FaZe were shook in their opening tests.
Frustration and defeat after a lengthy clash.
They clipped the wings of the Falcons and ascended in their place.
Liquid. Liquid looks solid in their debut performance.
Crashing over their opponents, they were sailing towards victory.
Of course and stranded, the young captain must take on his old tutor.
FaZe a liquid thrown into battle
Whose ship will sink?
And who will be left in the depths of the fall fight?
Isn't it a twist in the tale that Frozen must now face the man he replaced?
For FaZe a liquid, this one is personal.
As they face their friend who jumped ship and became a phone, while Faze understand they
are not at their best, you can never underestimate this championship team, especially when they're
on a stage.
Who challenged as their rookie ultimate, who is impressed so far, takes to his first stage,
have his back and this spot is full of experience full of trophies that stand by
their name and here they have their sights on another. Twists proving himself
as a fragging in-game leader looking to get revenge on FaZe for what they did
to him in Cologne. Now is their time to strike. Right behind Carrigan we will
beginning on Fraser's map pick of Inferno. That means Liquid will be starting on the CT side of
things and the thing that we should keep our eye out for Jacob. I already said it and I heavily
will say it again. It comes down to your kinder for my money. He's been put in position where he's
supposed to find impact, where he's supposed to fight, where he's supposed to win those
entry duels and we've seen him done it time and time again. As of late though, the past year,
the past two years, he hasn't been at that same high level and I guess it's just a romantic
enemy hoping that he's coming back and we get to see the best of your kinder but he's
He's often more liable and he's the guy making the difference right now and to me that's going to be an issue for Team Liquid if he can't get it done.
I think we saw glimpses of that in the Spirit series though, right? I'm not saying it was across all three maps but there were instances where your kinder was really making the difference for Team Liquid to come out on top of that series.
Absolutely and I think I'm going to contrast you, I will probably keep an eye out for the anchor roles especially for the stationary things, KKS and for example for Team Liquid.
For my side, it's going to be a lot of mind games going into this, so a lot of fakes, a lot of double fakes probably, and Inferno is a perfect map for it, which is utility heavy, and Karrigan might be cooking something up, so we'll see how those stationary guys are going to react to certain things, because you can never count it out.
Karrigan is always cooking, particularly on this big stage, I think Banks couldn't have put it better. We never know what phase they're going to deliver when they're in front of a crowd, particularly a home crowd, when you're the only day in, there's actually playing in the server.
And there's a lot of expectations also attached towards Kerrigan.
Obviously it would be a huge promise for him to lose.
It would be a huge promise for the crowd out here.
Kerrigan would have to go out of the tournament, but one thing is for sure.
Whenever Kerrigan is playing in front of a crowd, he's using that energy.
He's using the master source to fuel his teammates.
We've seen it time and time again with FaceClan.
They've been struggling in group stage.
We saw it as a major encode in his role, but they couldn't fight him down the scene.
Before the game begins, Kerrigan is playing into the crowd.
And trust me, his teammates around him is also affecting them in a positive way.
The more energized you are, the more amp you are for the game, the more animated you are, the better you'll play.
And I think Kerrigan has done that correctly with FaZe Clan, especially in front of the Danish crowd, time and time.
Yeah, I mean a legendary leader and an iconic showman to say the least when he gets in front of the crowd.
If you're going up against a team like FaZe, that you know, they're thriving off of this energy in a crowd situation.
What should Liquid be doing right now?
Oh, this is always a hard question, but I'm going to suggest getting up to the face,
making sure that the game plan that I'm trying to build is not going to be put in place.
It might be one of those things that could be tipping the scales into the favour of Team Liquid,
which I think are a little bit in a disadvantage.
Well, we can check in with the Ligos going into the first map of this series.
This is going to be such an interesting one, particularly one where,
looking at the history of these two teams clashing together, Jacob,
and you set it up there on a super stage,
that's surely going to be playing in the back of your mind,
Particularly if you're Twist, they could have, some say, should have had that much up back in Cologne for the stage.
Yeah, and even more so for Faze as well. If they were to get off to a bad start, they've shown already that they can fight their way back.
We know that comeback potential of Karrigan's teams are always at an all-time high.
One player, I want to bring into the conversation there. One player, we haven't even mentioned at any point so far, is the best player on the server,
the most consistent player on the server, and I'm looking at him right now. He's called Frozen. He's a superstar.
He was brought in instead of Twist. He was replacing Twist coming into the lineup, and he's lived up to those expectations.
I know FaZe as a team haven't looked as great ever since Trist left, haven't been as consistent,
haven't won as much, but it's not down to Frozone.
If anything, he's delivering and he's needed today as well.
I cannot provide any unbiased analysis for this.
My countrymen, obviously, I'm going to speak only hardly about him.
I think for Frozone as well, it's obviously been a story of the hunger for those trophies,
because as you at least said, Jacob, like, yeah, FaZe, they reach exponential heights
in the end of CSGO at the beginning of CS2 even.
But ever since the shift and this isn't you know to be dunking down on frozen at all
He clearly hasn't been a problem, but those trophies they've been there. They've been a bit absent, right?
Yeah, they've been escaping him
He was almost like a Harry Kane of Counter-Strike in a sense that he doesn't matter where frozen is going
He's gonna be great. He's gonna score his goal. He's gonna get his fetch
But he can't win in truth. I feel sorry for him because he's definitely getting up for it
We are ready to be getting this show on the road that stays versus team liquid going down on Inferno
Thank you so much for your thank you desk
Thank you for for being here
We got a banger of a match here as the last game liquid versus phase and a match that could be a rivalry
Depending on whether or not liquid win. Yes depending on whether or not that you know new piece in ultimate
It's able to put forth here on the stage first arena game
That's quite something special for someone who's proven he is special. So let's make it special
Let's go what made difference between the last series is no new so no new
Is there any gift, you know, I think on these maps that we've got so far these are up like 5-0
It's a boomer ass maps launder. Yeah, that's true. It's a boomer map pool a classic map pool
And inferno is and it's not an issue of the series not being able to be close
We don't look like close, but we cast it at cologne 11-1 come back. Oh, I remember it
Well, yeah, and there's no doubt in my mind that liquid due to yeah
Of course last time they met up on Inferno
That was just world-class performance from frozen somebody that pimp Jacob just went in and said is the best player most consistent piece inside the server
I think math wants something to say about that, but we'll get there when we get there right now
It's your kinder solo b-hole this teammates not even moving a muscle
That's how this starts that's the site opened up and the auto the retake go way down just on that one kill alone
Let's see if they even
Have a chance at all
Trying to piece together something of a retake. Let's see. Naph's got the kit if needed. Time could get low
He's also got the smoke if he wants to cut off banana where at the moment rop's continues to hang on
It's really this deep church presence though. They could just scare them into not even trying. Yeah
If you're scared go to church, that's what they say. A liquid won't
Get over this way. Four rings. Can't even get close. It just comes down to that one
frag
From rain one jumping headshot all you need. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I can't come down to sometimes counter-strike simple it is
And sometimes it's just simply pain
phase
The first round here on inferno
Flames go up. They've got to be happy for them. It's just about who they are on the day
We're talking about phase that haven't been a top five team since May. Yeah, and brookie just in that interview said
That's what he wants right screw beating Falcons. It's it's a top five scout he wants. Yeah
And it's sort of weird to characterize it like this, but beating Liquid will feel just as good as that right now because
We've seen Liquid take some big wins. They beat Spirit at this event. They beat Navi twice to start off the year
They aren't a top five lineup at the moment, but when they're on form, they definitely can't beat
Quick glance down middle
That'd be a pop-up, but he pulls back before rain has a chance to climb up from underground
It's the mole people
He keeps tapping back
Starting to look over towards B, which is far more bolstered than it was in the pistol from one defender to now three players in position on this majority mp9 by
I slain a whole hell. That is pure quality
Square between three people and that's a buck fifty
Tons of what could be substantial damage when you consider again SMG is in the mix here
So smokes come over top commitment's coming
Yeah, you know, this is a big pack of face players ready to pounce the kid is trying to prime the flash
Twitch trying to dodge them, and he does a good job of healing off that first player.
Two kills out, Nade getting three.
A headshot through Smoke, and Yaginder almost getting crazy enough to go through it.
Talk about a stuff there, and there's no doubt in my mind that Nade queued this up so well.
It's three of the players that got tagged by that Nade that end up going down.
Nade's got absolutely dusted here trying to get into the B site they wanted to commit.
They were very stubborn to try to come through the smoke.
They ate the Nade, continued forward.
They thought that liquid we're going to be playing here with one player behind the smoke in a 4a set up playing passive
And talked but they were wrong now
I think that a big part of this game is the fact that in
Terms of IGLs Twistler and everything from Kerrigan, right?
You know is in this last line that he played in and so much like we didn't get in the first half of the year
With shuhei and Kerrigan, which was no matter how good knows, but they never were able to beat
days in a pet playoffs. That could also happen to Liquid right now. Last three
series days have won them all and even though the last one was so close you're
not gonna tell me that's because they weren't good enough it's because they
weren't mentally ready for that. No doubt. You know you think back to that
Cologne mishap that massive comeback a classic phase endeavor what kind of a
what kind of a start is that leave on twists calling and just see Liquid as a
true. Yeah, many players in this game live in Karrigan Shadow. This prowess is an IGL.
His consistency is longevity. And this is a low point for face. And there have been many
similar to this, where they feel relevant, but they aren't actually picking up wins
or tournaments. After Antwerp, it felt similar. In 2020, it felt similar. They always
balance back and eventually they won't but do you want to bet on that happening now that's the question
that's on ultimate and whether he can perform under the big lights doesn't decide to stick around
with that scout not even rattling or shot off just falls back nice grenade on oh that's that's a
teammate's name but it was still nice and was on the money that's for damn sure 47
7 damage off the teammate, thrown by Ultimate I believe.
And so he's not making his job any easier for himself, but he is lucky he's got teammates
all around him at the moment, Liquid are in the right spot to kinda hold this back.
We'll see if things get a little zany here, that's the teammate.
Plus of course the pistol dink onto Twists now, certainly not ideal.
First kill comes out to the favor of Liquid, instantly traded right back, made possible
by Ultimate.
And still they're stagnant for 30 seconds, they could just pause outside site.
starts to come in and a weird position here because now ultimate's been relegated to play with the sidearm
Right, you've got that rifle you wish it was over towards pit
But it's like can they make it to be your kinder? Yeah all the pressure's on him 20 seconds
And he's gonna talk but he's got a great gun right that's stolen a k if they get to if they get here
It's all of this this cotton fight what you just shuts down in an instant means eight seconds. They do clear him
They've got the plant, and the 16 health left on Twist is all that remains here for Liquid.
He's going to save.
I can't believe that they actually found the route.
They actually found the route.
Liquid were so convinced that A hits coming.
That was a call and a matter of the circumstance.
They really wanted to wrap Arch.
They came in with a medium buy here, and Liquid, I think, did everything correctly.
Like they left one gap, obviously, towards CT, but at the 25 second timing, that
is a very unlikely play to happen.
So you can't be surprised about that.
But at the end of the day, FaZe were staring at a rap smoke.
And normally, they might have gone to the CQ spawn
then went library and tried to hit A that way.
But to be a professional means to understand the rules,
but also the exceptions.
And right there, FaZe find the exception.
Exceptional calling is not something
we ever doubt Karrigan for.
And so much presence on brackets.
preoccupied twist he's even lucky to get out with that saved AK but again we're
gonna go back and forth at the start of this game so be it it's a solid buy
nonetheless for liquid regardless of losing two of these three careful your
teammates this round liquid one could come back to haunt ultimate certainly
didn't make Jks this job any easier he's got to let it go single kid on
ultimate if bomb goes down and a rambunctious looking at your kinder
towards banana currently deep smoke of course face stuck outside of it
cautious that there could be this close push and I feel like made it even more
possible by the lesser weapons you anticipate maybe a 5-7 in your face
but deep-nade shapes a quarter of Brody's health off as he just looks to
support the close smoke play of his teammate. Everyone understands no
matter what happens at A it's the B players in the B site in banana that is
the most important part of the map for most of this game.
The kinder and now forking together will be everything and right now you
Kinders performances are a little parabolic. You can have impact sometimes not that's having a great tournament overall
They're gonna be pivotal here on CT
It's an entire face clan ahead of him
Oh, they can beat him to the end of falls actually try to turn him around I think they're running by
Great damage balls gets flipped off
and yes the best round yet from Ultimate on the big stage.
That's full trust because I think they literally rock stress to scare him by running down the long haul while Ultimate is stuck there and the smoke is in place.
They all try to commit behind it but Ultimate trusts that the rotation is going to take care of Halls for him and he can focus on his crosshair.
You see that a lot from him.
Full faith in his positioning, understanding he's got a job to do and teammates to trust.
It's gotta be the most impressive part about Ultimate coming into tier one this quickly.
It's a big win. Crazy game so far already, 2-2.
Four great rounds of CS.
Look at anybody doubted that this one could end up being electric, but nice timing.
Even better shot from the only Danish player left inside the server.
However, Crossfire set up from Twist. He gets a third kill on his own right now.
Yes, Short's compromised. He knows it. He's gonna try to run it down,
to run it down, but still stuck on just the pistol.
This ain't ideal.
Twist still fighting.
Oh my God, so many shots go by and sets him up.
Oh, so empty-handed.
Oh, there was no way for him to help.
Twist had to try to stay alive as long as he could,
and it looked like maybe he needed to get the kill.
Kinder's timing could be big.
It's one back turn to him.
Kills rocks, puts him down,
pushes the pressure onto Frozen,
playing behind headshot.
Nate's going to soften up your Kinder.
Oh, didn't see the cross.
Nope, so he's going to lag and go like that.
And B, if not for twists, that looks even easier.
Could have absolutely saved the day,
and Twistnade's got into place just a second too late.
They did take a lot of damage running through the molly,
but it was fine.
That's a rare sight.
An opening kill from the Carrigan Deedle on a round
like this.
Rare, but welcomed.
Great reposition here from Frozen, turned himself into.
NaviTage's spot in Cognito might have to start
We're pre-planning to save up energy from after the L-Rank.
We don't know what's going to happen in this game.
Five rounds back and forth thus far.
We could do this all night long, yes we can.
Absolutely.
Back, we encourage it.
We know who has the bigger fan base in here.
Not yet.
I think they're waiting to see who pulls ahead.
We'll definitely hear it if we could pull out this round.
You can go from small gun to big.
The one and four ready to fight.
and he gets bested by that measly Mac 10 rain almost given a chance to double up
but will they expect a peek from the other side?
No they won't!
No man it pressures both sides!
You're kidding.
And it goes down 1v2 for NAF that's where we're left over.
Tell me how they came out ahead of those trades.
And it is just trade train back and forth the double 5'7 from JKS almost enough to set it all up.
Almost but not quite.
Surely there's some kind of a gun for NAF to grab.
map has been the definition of locked in at this event and walking by that because
he believes in his odds of actually pulling this out and has to remain
silent with no kit at the moment but he has so many grenades it would definitely
help to maybe unroot somebody down and pick that's what he's gonna try to do
peaks in with the Molotov flushes one off now position known to get a better
gonna get out yeah go for the save and there it is first consecutive
round wins of the map it goes to phase and they pull ahead on this
Insane how it took place as well. You run that back ten times. It's probably gonna be 5-5 honestly
There was I don't know who it was 5-7 on arch took a few shots in this. I think I was actually all to me
That was kind of the golden opportunity to lock that down, but I hate to
Clean anybody in this spot. We got the last the final trade is even the mix mode on Lane after JKS does this
Karrigan got a little mechanical impact. We've seen the Deagle entry through middle now this nice snap around to deal with ultimate
I just have a couple good maps
But I'm just like you laughters. I am curious are there team liquid fans in the house tonight
Okay, but what about the FaZe fans?
What did he say?
Karrigan still yet to win an event in Copenhagen
Here he goes, trying to tear it up with Banana, but it's a one and done because that AK is out there on the field.
So it was, gets taken out, is frozen, just rips a couple up.
But Revis from behind the Sandbags cleared as well after one, so it's still Liquid trying to go tip for TAC,
but again, these consecutive round wins starting to build up for FaZe, and this could end up being quite the T side.
They keep the momentum going.
Absolutely. FaZe team that know how to beat pretty much anybody just really comes down to whether or not they're in playoffs.
in playoffs essentially right and
twist knows that too he took the loss
yesterday extremely hard to even though
they were guaranteed playoffs it was a
game where he knew if we get seated in
the quarters there's a much worse
chance of us actually closing out the
tournament and they nearly proved that
they could take down vitality that
would be an amazing run of wins not a
series of amazing runs but taking out
Navi twice taking out spirit taking a
vitality of safety that would be real
progress for Liquid and even though it wasn't close, I mean it simply wasn't a win
but I think they should have still left sort of with their head high coming into
this quarterfinal. Well JKS just put an interview where he said you know for a new team we have
gone through everything you could hope for and I think that that really is testament to it right
these big scalps that you're mentioning where we can't put Liquid in the top five but we can
definitely say that they are a challenger for those rosters that that want to think they're
kind of cut from different claw.
It's not the case.
It's like, it feels like it could all click.
Yeah.
But there was this question, right, again,
around Ultimate on the stage.
It's one of those things that when it happens,
we have to keep a close eye on it.
3 and 5 at the moment.
You can see some of the new team problems.
We'll get into them.
I think one of the issues was T-side Nuke.
That's not in the veto.
As they learn, maybe they'll be rewarded.
Drew a win over Spirit on Nuke 48 hours ago.
Almost beating Vitality 24 hours ago.
They will not get a chance to take a chunk out of FaZe.
We go Inferno, Mirage, and Dust 2 if needed.
But finally, Liquid feeling like they can do something as they get themselves back into the guns.
It is with lesser utility, but still, again, the numbers in the right style.
We go three players on A.
Very quiet approach out of FaZe Clan, but it's met by utility as they throw out one of their own for the blue truck.
Such a heavy lean phase yet to make a decision. Truly haven't seen anything on
bracket and it has been a lot of presence here from liquid on bracket in
these past few rounds. More often a little more forward than their current
hold but it's four defenders at 45 seconds. And I think they actually might
jump into this. You know we'll see because there's all the CTs here but
no one's shown themselves yet. Let's see what the Savage can do. Hold on apps
and it's a one and done where suddenly the smoke grenade allows the
They're cautious about short push too. Two players inside. Oh, but straight up Wolf Bank by Frozen.
That is a deadly entry back here from base. They really taught Liquid a lesson. Oh my god.
The health is barely there, right? Tagged up Frozen, Broke, half health, Robs, but it doesn't matter.
That Wolf Bank to get twists off site is wonderful.
It's pretty incredible. Like, dead center, that box. Had to be a headshot, and it will be.
That's frozen for you ladies gentlemen. Top performer.
I...
Frozen came into phase at a weird time, you know? They took off sort of pretty quickly,
but even though they gained altitude, they still struggled to actually close the events out.
They got one win in there, but that was their championship window mate.
Closed one event out and struggled from there on out.
You assume Frozen's one of the ones with the most vigor on the team.
You know, the youngest, wanting the most wins.
Of course.
Make most excited about the chance to play with this roster.
That's why we talk about two teams.
The, you know, unmotivated group stage, FaZe Clan, and the playoffs, beasts, fangs out, FaZe Clan.
The one that we're kind of looking at right now.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Very comfortable, 6-2 lead now.
And after the five rounds at the start of the half, non-consecutive back and forth,
This has just been nothing but FaZe since another disastrous spot for Liquid to be in here with measly 5-7s
Right now as well. It's just he kindred towards B. So
Smoke goes down behind him. He decides not to really move a muscle hang on just in case there's nothing really there
And there is a point where you can honeypot the A site
But if FaZe feel comfortable with the amount of space they're given as they're have Zach
They're gonna believe it. I've been pretty confident and able to get through these sorts of setup
So let's see if this one, the light up look good, the Deagle comes out and it gets back into the corner as well.
But there's nobody for Ultimate to tether off of, so they play the waiting game, he has to re-engage,
he ultimately goes down and, well, drops, it's just the one and done.
But it did activate your Kinder pretty quickly. They did it here, but they still find the right play.
Yes, sir, they leak through CT spawn again, as they did earlier on in this hack.
The Kinder goes running back up Banana to try to stop it, the flash goes down, the cover is here for Reign.
And he's going to nail that head shot so that FaZe can tip toe their way to a five round lead.
They could visualize that. I mean, JKS still technically has a chance, but oh man, doesn't even want to try walking away from the action.
This is a moment where they know exactly where your kinder is in mid before they see him, and I don't think they heard him.
That feels like 17 out of range, but then, getting it to be, they also knew exactly how fast his rotation would be.
And there was no change in their minds.
And that's also the problem of having set-ups that are that passive.
You can have as many players stacked in as you have and the other team will participate and try to take four down on A.
But you are going to lose on rotations. That's like the number one thing.
I feel like he just had a chance here and turned.
It felt like he had more bullets and maybe a chance to get that next kill.
But you can see, I would say, even with the other half of that A setup that maybe there was this idea to not over-commit to anything, right?
The other two defenders still back in sight and pit nobody over towards the boiler peak
Try to get away and unfortunately for him ultimate that kind of
Puts a bow on his life to smoke down in front of ultimate so the off falls back
This one's got a little vigor on it a little tenacity as they catch the library peek off guard smoke coming down
And KKS makes the most of it they go by B3
But meanwhile phase find that other opening the alternate route up short side. We've got frozen still in the smoke in hands
Can that put that down for moto?
It's cloudy up here at arch
There are still more CT's
Or CT's and more grenades as well for their retake, but they're met by a smoke out of phase the question of who would you rather be?
That's that last piece of utile for the attackers
Sitting atop the bomb frozen
We've got Brokey up in apartments as well so a deep anchor the nade comes over
shapes a little more health off frozen they could be getting up short side if
they were moving faster but team liquid a little hesitant on boiler now that
bombs far gone but JKS connects with four kills he has done everything you've
seen walks from inside down they go on it from JKS as the nap sticks the deep
easy Aussie goes huge it's a test they had to pass they use your utility
perfectly spacing's great and they get their kills it comes down to the
final few seconds, but shout out to JKS. That second kill in this spray transfer was unbelievable.
He sets himself up so well overall. Perfectly timed underhand flash. Sees a smidgen of frozen.
Wow. A sliver of Brokey. This is a free fire map for him. And there's your biggest liquid
X factor yet. But I mean, how similar to the ball play earlier, this spray transfer
to the ace. How many more aces do they have up their sleeve?
Pulls it out late in the half after that five round streak from FaZe.
At least with two left alive liquid able to just refurbish the purchase.
Looking for something a little different with some banana pressure off three.
I mean it's ace they needed but if they don't get any more rounds it'll be in
vain. Pace again here though. Well arch is open. Totally open. Yep he
He cracks it wide, frags in a row from JKS, but then put down by Rops, that split comes
through between him and Reign, and Charlie's done enough.
Yeah, good thing.
You'd hope if you are Team Liquid.
Back to back trade transfers.
This one, three players with an A1S.
Upstakes up position.
You're stuck on graveyard though if you are Reign.
And that half health too.
I've seen a slow workup previously in this retake attempt out of Liquid.
Looks like this one's going to have that similar timing.
I mean at this point ultimate still just starting to peek out from mid
But now that they've got these three points of contact they're gonna start moving it quicker
Rock goes down by half now down to two HP
He has to hide and the rain offers nothing
Rocks dead and they jump on top of the bomb
We're fighting it again. It's close twice in a row. Wow
Wow, that's very impressive liquid. They pulled it off and again
It looks like time is a problem, but they're using every second wisely
They are clearing out angles, taking it slow,
getting into safe positions that are closer to the bomb,
and they finally make it happen.
This unreal, this spray from JKS.
Very rare that you get to exercise a triple spray transfer
back and forth like that.
And every little bit matters as we can see.
I mean, today's really need one kill
in some of these situations,
and they end up winning the round,
but instead, Horrocks from JKS,
like it was four rounds.
Maybe a dignified half ahead of him.
One more in there of business.
Oops.
That mate actually could have done some good damage
with Faze hiding in those corners.
Instead, Kerrigan gets ahead of all of it.
Still got Naph setting up your kinder and twist
coming over to support.
So there's going to be some utility here
for a bit of an aggressive play from the Latvian.
He doesn't see enough.
Balls back to dump.
Util says, set me up again.
I've got this.
We'll see if he does.
He's definitely got his hands full.
Oh, yeah, the flash is not there.
He ends up being in the open.
Yeah, I know.
Going to serve as a trigger for face to keep this moving forward.
Sure, twists did get over closer, but is he close enough to help
that feels so stranded at the moment?
Backsite.
They don't know exactly how scary these are.
Twist makes advantage of a carry down.
At least gets it back for four.
Oh, they're going to miss this all.
It's going to hear him running by rain.
Doesn't see ultimate scope to the floor.
And now it's snap past the hole, two kills all he gets, rain doubles back as he hurt
that one.
What is happening?
Both players missing and his twist hangs on towards Coffin, goes in for half the health
of Robs.
Nate should be good for a little bit more, but a little's not enough.
And Robs finds that pressure off Coffin, surely buying time for a plant as there
is no cover.
It's a slow crawl, inching his way in, the back of the perch, it has to be
JKS.
Again, he has had so much late half impact.
Can he pull off a clutch to boot?
I mean, they did the perfect thing with this wrap around.
JKS has no idea.
Smoke kit flash.
He's coming to look for it.
Doubles back.
Perfectly positioned.
But again, this utility could make things messy, sloppy.
Does he pull out a frag in the middle of it?
Time is of the essence.
He puts that smoke key.
He thinks they're backside.
He could not be more off the mark.
Sure, he'll find rain.
But again, it's time.
And it should be a no down here from Robs, so what more sprinkle to the tally, two desperate
diffuses for Liquid to double their rounds, four is all they'll get.
Calls for Robs to improve, reverberated through the halls, and he has certain-
Oh, so low.
Oh, mola.
Doesn't even notice.
Doesn't even notice.
It's not about him.
It's all about the counter strike.
But back to Robs, Mohan, fifteen and eight across that first half.
impact of 3K to close out 100 plus ADR as phase take to the CT side with an 8-4 lead.
So people called for his head, they wanted to see the step up.
Our analysts touched on it even before the game goes live.
Robs delivers.
Robs delivers 100%.
Man, and outside some amazing individual efforts, especially from JKS Liquid, would
be without a half entirely.
Robs looking to continue to be their nightmare.
What does he know that they don't?
Man, this is a really strange situation because, well, I mean, the push is going to be delayed now on P if no info is taken,
but on this timing, Robs is extremely curious what's going on, but he's going to hear everything.
Don't plant however.
What does he get to do?
Your kidder's going to catch him, Robs. Okay, he had to.
Oh, man, JKS doesn't get that kill. Now, they lose halls. It's a lot scarier.
That would have been way worse.
Now, NAF does go deep, so there are still some lurky moments to be had here in this retake attempt.
Mad advantage, of course, for FaZe.
Well, they clear this.
And Naph's back so exposed, but he just locks in and he's right about it.
Fixates it on Kerrigan, missed chances at Ultimate all before!
Ooh, a couple of must-hit shots weren't...
Jakes, honestly, if he gets the one kill in Halls because Rops has no one else there,
it's the best post-plan position.
Could have lost it and still won if Ultimate gets his one kill on the site.
Maybe, maybe they needed even more though.
Oh, oh, yeah, they needed that one.
They need it to take out Rain expeditiously.
Dang it!
Man, hits a zinger.
And that's going to leave Liquid a little deflated.
We'll see if they can do what they did back in the first half, that back and forth engagement
to five rounds non-consecutive.
They do indeed enter with the force.
It's a strong utility buy with majority tech nines.
And naps Galil the X-Factor.
We are going to get involved right now, man.
They need to wake up.
A lot of grenade usage and really not a lot of damage to show for it.
Bad nade from FaZe.
Rop opens up with the kill deep inside of the apartments.
No stress, no sweat for Rops.
His impact continues to be felt throughout this map.
And you gotta appreciate that he's pushing by himself in rounds like this when he's having such a great game.
Taking full advantage of this form.
Tap back to the early days of CS2 here on Inferno.
I'll yeah, no kidding at the beginning of the year. It felt like we were gonna be in a race
With ross and contention for number one. That's where we were at
I mean just playing inside of the apartments as if he owns this game. That was also a key piece of it
So it's beautiful to see a little aggressive lurker at the start of the round and he goes up 5v4
Against again majority lesser weapons
Nice timing peek here from brokey shapes your kinder off to play
Shubs him down into the four kills 11 deaths Eddie wants second to third
Not a greedy brookie, but it's all yours.
That's the first sign of the confidence spilling over.
The repeat from the MP9 and now all the base players dead, except for one.
It's just twists.
Still trying.
Cautious about the pit player.
He's not wrong to do so, but Graps is ready, locked in.
Again, just no sweat.
Leans back against the wall.
Make sure bomb doesn't go down and takes
phase into the double digits.
Certainly for me in this game it's about finding out
whether or not either of these teams
can beat the rest of the competition here because we talked about Vitality and
Navi it feels like that's almost a given final at this point unless the teams
the other teams and quarters can prove they're good enough and their
respected matchups phase are definitely proving it so far always nice to see
face just kind of crank that dial step it up a notch when they step into the
arena I don't want to live in a world where face clan aren't a world-class
last counter strike team.
Counter strike is better with
phase near the top.
It's not at the top.
Kind of bring the best out of everyone.
So many classic matches obviously when they play.
And I think a lot has to do with care
against very malleable style, thorough, but not strict,
adaptable.
He's never really defined the meta per se,
but he's always kept up through his entire career.
I was a little nervous when we heard about phase doing
a boot camp prior to this event.
and then they came in and had their kind of struggles
in the opening days.
The last of all that preparation starts to come together now
on the stage where they do their best work.
I mean, this one, this isn't even close.
And neither is this by.
Yet again, Tech Nines as the half purchase
comes through, a few tools to work with,
but we see that same confidence from Broke's MP9.
Last round, right out of the gates here in number 15.
Just straight down the T ramp.
His teammate's right behind him.
Kerrigan lost a piece of the action.
And you'll go ahead and take it, long as they're to clean up.
And in mere seconds, at a minute 25,
it's just down to you, Kinder.
Not supposed to be together 250 kills.
So of course, they call in the big guns.
Drops at range.
The heavy hitter.
Rops puts them down as FaZe now stand two rounds
from a win on Inferno.
They want to make it feel like they're in kindergarten
right now.
Pulling them out the steps.
Really, I think, come for them every single round
here on CT side.
I mean, obviously, it gets so suffocating
when you're on T side, your low confidence, your low rounds,
and your low money.
Getting that map control backwards is a very confident team
with the right amount of utility.
It's draining, even just starting at the round knowing
that the other team is going to be at the bottom.
And I'm throwing nades behind at a different timing,
swinging with big guns.
Nothing lethal.
There you go.
See, each nade is not that big, but together.
Substantial.
Together strong try to play into the brackets here a little test comes out from Jks
We saw what Karrigan could do when given the space in brackets
We also saw some excellent calls right great diversions and
Diverting right after green gets smoked out. So here's the option died. Oh
He has the option to shoot him through the smoke sit down
Sit down
Underhands a flashbang and nails him to the cross.
Brokie?
Ah, that was just passing the water there, hoping Brokie was over on B maybe.
No chance either side of brackets, so now poor team Liquid have to just fall back into what
could be this desperate B commitment.
But if they're able to get through with convincing opening kills versus frozen Kerrigan then,
well maybe there's still something in this round.
3B5 attempt coming forward, but with the two players that were softened up by Naves.
No contact with the sprays until Karrigan gets his on the edge.
The kicker just, oh my god.
That's too easy here for Faze.
They actually had a chance when the conference player was reloading.
They could have scaled and maybe traded out one or put pressure on the CT player to hide,
but obviously their problems start here and they get worse here.
Kindergarten peeks.
Yeah, this is a little bit sloppy for sure.
They're gonna peek into the smoke like that. They should maybe try to parry it going off oranges or to scale across
Real but they don't have their own CT smoke. That's a big problem
Early damage, but it could be worse. Brokey still half health nice grenade
Kinder not having a good time tonight
Down there at the bottom of the scoreboard alongside ultimate where we also had questions in terms of taking his
success in early debuts and transferring it onto the stage
And it's not like we have never seen a bad map from him, but it just really sets a tone versus a phase that loves to power up for playoffs
Frozen falls back as liquid are a little ahead of all this utile
So timing wise this could catch phase one done out of frozen. Okay, Eric and dies to the jumping match
Ultimate catches an entry one of the better looking rounds from liquid
And it just comes out of the tempo of the timing. It's the pace ahead of the utile. I see how it's faster, but it works out even better
A lifeline, so to say.
Bit more on the same page right there.
Lincoln, you miss it though. We're at 12-4 going on 12-5 here for Liquid.
Pays aren't exactly pressed right now, and it wasn't Liquid who made the comeback versus them last time.
Damage adds up though. See how many survive, Reign.
Almost. Clear as all four. Wait, it's Twisted, died?
Well, they got to be careful. Oh, that's a bomb.
Oh, no.
Let the bomb finish the job.
Yeah, that's job done for Rain.
He's happy with that.
Hell of a half.
Nearly keeping up that 180R that he came into the second half
with.
That is the first key round win for Liquid.
But all the guns get swept away.
And we'll see if they can even replicate it.
Something of a pure victory to lose everybody
in a situation like that.
But a win is still a win.
Lamentations, though.
I mean, you kindred's just got a tech gun, ain't it, dude?
Two golels, Mac 10.
What a rough position.
You take the smallest sigh of relief after winning a T-Round
and you are right back to a difficult spot.
So let's see if the entry can come forth from you kindred with just the sidearm
or at least elicit a little utility usage.
Empty out the belts of phase so that you can come back for a commitment later on.
Plenty of time at a minute 10.
To a set after their vitality game, he filled us a captain.
We need to do a better job in the leadership front.
I would say so, skipping a post-game interview like that.
If they are going to get it together,
it's going to be under his leadership here in this comeback.
Seven rounds to do it.
He played on FaZe first hand.
He knows that they have put together runs like this themselves.
Rops versus Naph could be a big one considering
it's just the Mac 10 to push out.
Oh, yeah, and Rops now has got a great pocket
to play from as his teammate falls down.
Oh, it's the tech from your kinder.
Bomb goes down, JKS taking up position in the apartments, and he gets a little bit of utility as well.
Grabbing it off the dead bodies. Does FaZe even want to try to take this chance?
No way. One foot in front of the other here, Liquid win another round.
Yup, and doing it with the lesser guns. Sure, NAF doesn't get the entry with the Mach 10, but it sets up the Tec-9 perfectly.
Very softened up rocks and rain down after just the one great cover from your kinder
You see his first teammate almost get cleared out
But one tap at the tech nine gets them in plants the bomb and pushes liquid to a six
Yeah, it's just it you don't believe in the comeback until it's close, but sometimes it does start like this
You know inferno on Jks on this team who has won under Kerrigan as well. It's got his hand in many pies
Jks just a plug-and-play kind of guy. Oh
Oh, you need a trophy? I know a guy. You need an anchor? You need an entry? You need a trophy?
He's your man.
Call his agent.
Remember that, when he first played with VZ1, Kato has an entry.
Yes. Must be nice.
He came back. Oh, eats those nades. We've been talking about how the nades were slowly adding up.
This time it has big impact on both.
And that Tech 9 entry that they relied on one round prior will not be able to come out this time 4v5 or we go Mirage
There are chances on this T side
It's a hard few between
Keep up a bit of B presence here
See if twist ends up over complicating things. See if Kerrigan falls for any kind of a ruse right now Reigns locked in
He gets his clean trade frag back from Nath. It's gonna have to go through
Right into Brokey just so well posted on the angle and ready to scoop up another 30 seconds and desperation
Across team liquid. They're worried about the arch wrap, but they don't even have to be gotta push this in and they're gonna have to deal
With the bro key who ends up going deep the little pit player also a little passive
It's gonna be the flick up if it's gonna be the flick if at all ultimate drops back down miss shot
But there goes wrong care again comes out to help twist knows the offers in the bomb site
And he's gonna have to tear up his ex teammates. Here's the shortpeak, but can do nothing!
A great opening map for the base plan. A level that powers up as they hit playoffs.
Yeah, try as liquid Mike to claw this one back phase simply on fire.
And closing out there, map pig 13 to 6. Jacob, that is a stable way for phase to be starting off this series.
It's a pretty good way for Kerrigan to come into this arena.
it as Arena and a pretty good start for FaceKind. Yes, indeed, their own map pig, where they,
in the beginning, had a little bit of an issue getting control of the game, but from that
point on onwards it was very clear who was the better team. Slightly disappointed in
Team Liquid, not able to put up a better fight. Some of the players we spoke about coming
into it, Ultimate, Yakinda, couldn't really get the job done, and for those reasons
we didn't have a competitive game.
And also, you have to think about it, that Liquid actually put up pretty terrible
city side all together and only really you know you you see the how trading
around in the beginning impacted the whole game and only come back that they
really felt for the city side was that JKS ace in the end not good in my opinion
it took all the way to round six for face clan or any team for that matter to
win two rounds in a row and I want you to showcase this round because you're
right face winning the pistol then liquid fighting back then face fighting
back then liquid fighting back then face fighting back and even in this
round even in a round again where you look at the buy coming in for face
you look at the entries as well for rain they're supposed to win this round
and they're supposed to do it without breaking too much of a sweat all of a
sudden jks would have multiple all of a sudden ultimate comes in actually after
a huge chance of winning the round for them it's around the liquid probably
could have and should have one which would have meant six rounds in a row
where they were trading back and forth back and forth I thought to
myself that's a positive for liquid the uglier the game gets the better
the longer they stay in it but from the moment phase one two in a row it
was game over let's talk a little bit about around ten because you know
In that string of rounds, obviously, they could do manage to bring that to an end.
But what was key for you coming into this round with this fantastic team?
I mean, what I want to really point out here is the fact, the speed, the pace of the T side
that ever since they were stopped trading these rounds, this is the game plan that Faze came into the game.
Here, Rain and Kerrigan both are taking so much space throughout the T side,
they were involved in pretty much all the entry duels that were happening across the map.
And this is only for the reason to put frozen ropes in Brokey into those class situations.
Here, it was very close after converting that initial disadvantage.
However, Jacobs came in huge with an ace, and well, that was it.
There was a guard where I thought ropes was actually going to be closing that one out.
But these are the numbers that you want us to talk about, Stoker.
What are we learning here?
Absolutely. Look at the opening duel's attempt rate.
6 out of 12 on Kerrigan, 4 out of 12 on Rain.
And that leaves only two rounds left where someone else was actually impacting these entry
duels.
And I will tell you, it was frozen and it was not because he was supposed to send in and
do something with entry duels, it was because he was caught off guard while Kerrigan and
Rain was doing already some entry duties elsewhere.
So clearly a plan that Kerrigan and Rain was meant to disrupt the chaos, disrupt
the default to set up the cities we're having and put those three star players into
the clutches.
I love that, you know, it's part of the game plan and it's part of the game plan you can execute on a map like inferno.
If you put Grubbs in grave, if you put Grosin on the bomb side and Broke here on the bomb side,
in a 3v5, in a 3v4, in a 3v3, outside they're going to win the vast majority of those rounds which they did in this game.
So you can afford to sacrifice yourself as long as you create the space for your stop players.
Absolutely, and I think this is exactly the intangible they want to bring as a player in because I would love to have these kind of sacrifices on any team.
And Rain and Kerrigan were putting pretty much the MVP-like performance,
but you look at the scoreboard, it's not showing that.
And it's true-folded, right?
Because if you're Kerrigan and if you're Rain, the only way your mentally is okay with that,
and the same would be for you, Sticky, right?
If you and I were teammates and I'd be like,
listen, buddy, you got to go in, sacrifice for me, I got it.
You wouldn't trust me, I'm not good enough for that, right?
But if you have rubs, if you have groggy, if you have frozen,
if you have three players of that caliber,
it's easier mentally for Kerrigan and for Rain to be like,
listen, we're going to play second-string role,
we're going to run in, we're going to die,
We're going to create the space because they trust in ropes, they trust in clothes and they trust in brookie to close out the rounds
Now Jacob, you're a very demanding man and one of many things that you were demanding for this service to robs to show back up
You were saying it could be a you know a story of two sides
I have those lurks are going very successfully in this partners position or he's having little to no impact
We got the form we got the impact and again
I think it's based off what Stukas said as well care again and rain created enough space for rubs to thrive within those rounds
Of course, individual speaking, he had a great game, great showing, he was showing up,
finding kills that he's been missing as of late, but from an individual standpoint,
as I said, Rob's playing well, that means Faze is a contender to win the entire thing.
And if you were looking at those highlights and paying attention, Rob's was always having crosshair
where the enemy was. This is because of the information that they eventually got from
Rain and Kerrigan, figuring out the setup of CTs, they got the information,
Rob's all he had to do is pretty much find them, and he was never shot in the back,
on the side, on the inferno, CT setups are really debius to deal with, Robbs didn't have to do any of that.
Yeah, it seemed very well synergised for the first time in this first map.
What about on the liquid side of the equation though, Jacob, anything you want to pick out from that setups?
Yeah, I'm a little bit sad that I was unfortunately right when it comes to your kinder. I said coming into the game, he has not been feeling it as of late.
Very inconsistent, I know, again, Spirit, he had a great map on Nuke, but apart from that, again, he's falling out of the games and this was the same scenario.
When you think of how many resources is being put into a kind of banana is being flashed out. He's taking the duals
He's demanding a lot of space and and putting himself in positions where he can make the difference and we get so little
We get so little output out for the kind of right now and and to me
It's a bit of a shame because two years ago you argue is the best in the world in his role
He's far from that right now and I gotta be honest, you know if he continues down this path
He's on the chopping block liquid is a very interesting and exciting project
but if your kinder's not finding form, at some point you will have to go.
I think that's definitely a fair analogy when you're looking at the other people.
There are in the second squad obviously, you know, Twist was putting up some decent numbers in this map,
but when you've got your other players like Nath, like your Jake Nessus,
they're more open to close in those rounds, you know, they're playing those late round situations.
You want someone that's going to really be opening up those sides for you,
and yeah, you kinder wasn't doing a great job of that in the first one.
Power defending wise, JKS was doing, on the other hand, really, really good job,
He was doing it on multiple occasions when it comes to as well. We saw the 57 action in the apps now along
Retaking the whole side eventually making sure that easy grabbing the case as well next round
I'm pretty sure he did open that with 3k. We're gonna see right now. So eight consecutive tracks from the 80s
We're coming from JKS and these were the only rounds where it kind of showed signs of
Life for liquid. I was just about to say the only the only reason why liquid was staying alive after the first time
If you think to 0-8-4, it's possible, it's inferno, it's somewhat decent on both sides,
you can definitely make a comeback here.
Without JKS, with those two rounds, it would have been a white wuss, and unfortunately,
if Liquid ended up being the same in it.
But we do have Liquid's map pick waiting on the other side of this break,
but this is a very interesting one to dive into,
but you're going to have to wait until after this to dissect Marge.
Marge up next between Liquid and FaZe.
And now Jacob, I hope you were doing your research just there,
because there's quite a lot to be diving into in terms of the history
between these two teams on this particular map. You want to tell the viewers a how interesting
case? I just had to look it up one more time what happened last time in Cologne. You have
Liquid playing face clean. They're playing for a spot inside the most legendary arena
we can get into. We have Liquid, you know, being a new team, having the debut at a big
tournament and they go up in an 11-1 lead on Mirage. You think to yourself, all right,
game closed, game sealed. I think face clean wins the pistol. Then a couple of more
rounds. It's now 12-4, sorry, 11-4. You think it's still going to be Liquid's
game. Liquid is winning around. It's now 12-4 and from that point on watch you think it's just
about time for Faze to exit the tournament. They fight their way back into it. They show tenacity,
they show that you can put him down and all of a sudden Faze is at 12-12, Broke he's standing up,
he's flipping off Team Liquid and they end up winning the game. If you haven't watched that
game, if you haven't seen it for some reason, when this game is done for tonight, jump in
on YouTube, jump in wherever you have to watch it because it's one of the best games I've
of Counter-Strike 2, I've never seen.
How do you cope with that?
As a player on the receive, if you're a twist in that situation,
the arena is within touching distance.
You may get the opportunity to play in front of your first crowd
as this new squad.
And then it is absolutely ripped away from you.
But not ripped away from you in a sense of it happening quickly.
This was a long comeback that FaZe had to string together, right?
Absolutely, and the fact that it was one of the first kind
real test for Twizz as an IGL and it was against Kerrigan which we spoke about
that is kind of inspiration of his. It tells a lot, it tells a lot and puts a
lot of pressure for you to coming forward into next matchups eventually and
well we are witnessing one and we're about to witness one on Mirage.
Was there anything you know from rewatching that series Jacob? Was
there anything that really stood out to you as like liquid fumbling the bag or
was it phase you know just knowing exactly how to play the situations
really pressurizing a team that was very new back then in Cologne?
I think Liquid lost to himself. I don't want to take anything away from the comeback of Faze, of course, and they did step up, have some very cool clutch moments, you had Brokey going off a couple of times as well, but overall it was more so Liquid losing Grasp of the game and sort of fighting themselves internally.
And that happens sometimes. I do think that Ultimate in that first half and Liquid's way of controlling the mid area on their CT side was absolutely fantastic.
Fantastic. You spoke about it coming into the game, Ultimate. He loves to go through opening duels in Cologne, on Mirage, and that 11-1.5 he was controlling and owning the mid-area.
So I'm curious to see if Faze have learned anything about it, and if they can shut down Ultimate, because he was being so impactful in that first half.
We definitely need to see different kind of playstyle, as well coming from Liquid. And maybe both Faze trying to adapt to something that is predictable.
We will see, but I'm hopeful that we will have another masterclass from IGLC here.
Well, let's check in with the live also see exactly how they are stacking coming into the second map of mirages
It's liquid pick coming into things and they are quite heavily siding with face
But I think it's time that we get the show back on the road on the road rather. It's mirage with Connor and Matt
Yes, thank you so much panel
It is mirage indeed and liquid need to remember mirage very well
Moham because this this is where the cologne heartbreak happened
Yes heartbreak hotel and it could be the same the case today
will see it was impressive to even see liquid get to the so close on that map at Cologne only to lose in overtime as
The comeback took place
They're hoping to avoid that tragedy. They have already avoided it nuke in this veto
It could be a different setting with the same outcome if they're not careful
That's the question and so I think if you're here in the forum today
It will be about deciding who you're a fan of and making sure you get loud for them
No, we wanted to be a fan of Ultimate, we wanted to cheer for the newcomer, but he didn't really
give us all too much to talk about back on Inferno, he was very much muted alongside
you, Kinder.
And that was one of those scary moments, right?
Sure, JKS, a couple of back-to-back rounds where things go ultra well, but besides that,
can we get louder?
For him!
Can you get round?
Alright, Mirage, Phaser excited to be here.
You know it.
I wonder if Broke flips him the birds again.
Oh, he's starting to.
Oh, for Beretta's mantle.
Oh, they keep coming!
Oh, it's just not the violence.
Two Berettas.
Them Duallys sing, and it is already laughter in the camp of FaZe Clan.
They got turned into a sandwich before they could cross it.
These fights.
More of that, please.
I'm sure this FaZe Clan is sick of losing.
I'm sure this FaZe Clan.
Boreham do you think ultimate will humble broky today?
That is a no.
Take that as a no.
You'll have to earn it. First time on the stage.
That's good to say.
First time on the stage.
You got that pressure on your shoulders.
And then your first map doesn't go well.
Start to doubt yourself if you're not a world class player.
But ultimate, we'll see what you can end up doing.
Right now it is absolute mincemeat of Team Liquid.
Behind a couple stragglers down in the underpass.
It is a clean sweep of the mid-play and nothing off your epistles. Let's get into the next one. Let's keep this thing afloat
You really see yesterday in the new game when they played against Vitality like between Mithra and twists you could really tell
How much they were trying no matter what their lead was you really understand the circumstances the team
They're playing against the maps are playing on I mean
They they I've never seen them fall asleep at the wheel
Right, they still have lost that massive comeback the greatest comeback in zs2 history so far
But that's only because phase just put it there a feat to the fire every single round. They made that so difficult
Better weapon and a very clinical headshot onto carrying it. See ya
As he takes over underpass the kinder starts to get mys and be and look it's a vacant site. Nobody's home
We got a squatter in the B site
I mean, they literally have no idea that this has happened, which is gonna make it this.
I mean, you can still has a job to do because, well, he doesn't know, you know, where the
solo B player is.
There it is.
That's a perfect timing for him.
And that with it goes the round.
I don't think they're going to be coming into the market to try a 3v5 retake.
That would be unlikely.
Job done.
I feel like it's not often you see things kind of get caught by moments like that.
You can there just slips through the crack.
Yeah, that's definitely a rare gap for sure.
I mean, it helps that they lose one player and they're going to get tried to get info back.
Here's JKS to add more pain to punishment.
There's at least one more kill.
That's nice.
Two good guns left over here for face taken in the next rounds.
Oh, the liquid friends are extremely quiet.
I don't know if they ever showed up.
Yeah, they didn't make it.
maybe there are no liquid fans here it's just us
look at the mithra fan i can hear it wow mithra fans
that's it okay so you got to tap into it gonna be a tough road man
again mentioned it earlier i'll say it again that jks interview
we've gone through so much as a new team we've gone through everything you want
to and again that heartbreak back in cologne
you know god it could crush a band but
Talking about twists and myth or like you were saying kind of never asleep with the wheel never really giving up also never getting angry
And I I appreciate that so much about twists
Yeah, mythers got just a big binder and smile. That's it
It's a good hype man. He's got a lot of belief in his in-game leader of russell then dalkin
Damn sure you kinder there
Spam comes out from connector brokey falls back a bit and you saw that ferociousness from brokey after winning pistol
It feels like a nice convincing 2-0 stomp would do FaZe a lot of good if they try to run this from quarters to grand finals.
They got a lot of mirage between them and that.
You get a shuffling of the utility here as you kinder takes over the smoke from mid.
It's a very traditional position for Liquid in this spot. I think FaZe are just not too pressed right now.
They head to kinder down low. They're playing basic CT spots on the map.
They're waiting for a reaction to take place.
You messed up the smoke.
Oh, windows left open.
They see nothing there.
They see the A pressure as well.
And it looks like Napa's rerouting.
Rosen able to peel ultimate off the cross over.
Reigns just going to keep himself tucked in.
No contact for twists.
Top connector smoke will be exploited for the bomb plant.
But it fades and no plant.
They took too long.
Oh, that goes from bad to worse.
I was thinking they failed the scale when you saw that.
Ultimate was running across the site.
No one was really close to him yet.
And they just kind of lost to themselves here and the crowd are happy about it
I was gonna say if there were no liquid fans, there's even less now
Misutility awkward plant timing just exposed and yeah, that one that one's flat sloppy Joe's
The reason we get so many great phase games is because they always play to the level of their opponent
So it's rare especially in a matchup like this where he seemed to play so many times
You would expect liquid to be close, you know expect to be close, but when phase are on point they win
Right now. It's not close
If they're getting involved
Richard damn you till do better need me to press those keys
Don't make me return to pro
That's a little fadeaway shot there as well from frozen and broke in the perfect spot
You can see that next smoke coming down to try and save it right?
They knew that connector smoke was sketchy
But twist just trying to put his team in a post plant so desperately ends up dying hands busy and okay
It's a very comfortable 3-1 start here on liquids pick
Oh, the flash is just perfect, I mean.
Alpen plays it aggressively and made one damage to four.
NAPHANK's off for dear life as teammate goes swinging to try to take that pleasant back.
We do get the two players out from ramp.
They also did retreat just a little bit, allowing Rops to find a position to fight.
He was a madman on map one.
GKS loves that.
Saw how passive Rain went last round, tucking into ticket this time.
He tries to get out.
No one more than 50 health on liquid, despite having four players alive.
Robs doesn't overstep again.
He got his one and he's going to allow his teammates to instead get into position.
Huge moment here for Kerrigan perhaps.
Robs continues to tear players off the front side of this attack.
They're coming at him though and the kinder hunts him down.
Just enough time for Kerrigan to get into position.
They know your kinder's over there.
And it's going to be a tough one as Naph would have to come out from palace.
Your kinder's looking to get active and as you mentioned it sucks them out.
and such constant pressure coming out of FaZe,
but Naph finds timing, so he's back.
Wow.
Kerrigan turns attention back, cleans up shot,
and that is FaZe to continue winning ways.
It looked like Naph was trying to set something up.
By leaving for a seconds, didn't want
to get hard clear from the ramp first.
But before he even got back, you kindred
dives on the stairs as well.
And those HP bars back come back to haunt them.
This is a classic example of, yeah, material advantage
matters.
But when you can compensate with your positioning,
The map control matters just as much.
Full tank is perfect, the timing's perfect.
And they had so much confidence in exactly what kind of hit was on the way.
Basically, win again.
The pistols, and they get out with a flurry.
Oh, that A4 rips them up, but it's still a response from Twist.
Rosen's got a nice angle deep outside of jungle.
Molotov's not going to disturb him.
Carrigan, he even hits that instant headshot, huh?
Stairs player gets splattered, and the Sandwich man...
Yeah, no better absolutely taken back barring twists single kill now get it decimated
Smothered
liquid get the fight back
Top rager has three. Oh
Let's mention some of that missed you till that awkward timing point. You know, it's just kind of rough, right?
This isn't phase just elevating to this whole of your level while we get flawless CS out of liquid
At least it wasn't a full by last time, but
But we're coming up low on chances now.
They've got to make this one count.
Come on, Liquid.
Dig deep.
Got to step it up.
As they start to set more attention
towards the opposite side of the map,
Roki's going to be tested here.
Giving a chance to shine in a moment.
Potential for helping hands not far off.
As Frozen can come back from Cowwalk
as there's zero presence in middle so far in a minute 20.
Kinderkirn make up for the last map.
Look, he's gorilla glued to the computer screen right now.
Roki takes a deeper angle.
Cindiary burns out flash. There he is beautiful flash bang your kinder sets himself up for a clean entry
But there's nobody here to really couple alongside him. We'll see if frozen. Oh, he's so sure that they're off cat
We'll see
Bit too audacious slips down beneath him and Rob's trying to slide back at a connector
But oh that's that's not ideal. That's bomb drop bottom con ultimate trade frags back as we go 3v3
Not too bad for liquid here time is still on their side
Got two defenders in position on the A site. Yeah, hard to read positions, man. A little separated
Consistent in the headshots and liquid in the trades
Position unnoticed he hangs on to the sandwich now flocked in on him catwalk supports about to
Responded back by face a hundred percent everywhere they were going next phase were already there
Karrigan's having a hell of a match. I
I mean, could you play a better 4v5 when the crates look that good?
Ah, you really have to hand it to FaZe right there. They made the most of that situation.
Every single kill, accounted for.
Isn't it nuts that FaZe have not beat a top 5 team since May?
Liquid have beat 3 if you count Novi twice already.
Right?
Since July.
But I don't know, this head to head's got something special.
The gatekeepers in FaZe Land.
How many secrets did he keep when Twist left?
Right. There was more to learn?
You know, he kept that study still the whole playbook.
That last chapter that Vandalkin didn't get to take with him.
And of course, daunting task for Twist.
Looks up to Kerrigan, puts him on that pedestal.
Went on record when he became the in-game leader,
is saying obviously one of my biggest influences is going to be Finn.
Now you've got to best him.
There's no doubt in my mind that there's still a little bit of a bruise from Cologne.
6-1 the score, we get a Yikindar, tech 9 top mid entry, that's weird.
Jeremy's got an AWP, Matt.
Oh, Bearder.
And it doesn't work well.
Rokey's gonna have to push up through smoke.
Oh, lost out.
Sure enough, he cuts down NAF before bomb can get on site.
But we still got two attackers in here.
Half health for all of them.
They're flying.
They're flying.
Yeah, this is a phase worthy of semifinal.
They're jumping to every single opportunity they're covering each other.
They're everywhere that is that like hive mind phase clan that you love to see on the stage
Tennacity as they try to hang on to a bomb site
That was a little awkward because again Karrigan dies first right? This is another 45 win for phase
Sure liquid with lesser weapons, but a good starting position than the less
This might end up being the most one-sided stage match that we've ever casted to be honest at this rate
If they keep this up
What a stark contrast to the two maps of Mirage that we had between these two teams in Cologne
Oh, and Robbs is now off it 24 rounds or more now. This could be a blowout
Opening kill two Robbs
More where that came from
It's honestly the best sign that these are happy when Robbs starts offing
Yeah, true
They overstep
And it was playing it patiently, and that's the name that we haven't been saying much ultimate
Trying to enter the scoreboard
Walk in on Palace though
And JKS doesn't have to get into it just yet
But we see you kinder peeling back slightly 45 to the clock and they got two hops on this cross like bishops in the corners
And which will take one down the up he slides up well enough JKS doesn't he died but twists doubles back
And he catches another player off of cow walk walks in the pocket
Oh wow, he hits on no way!
Shoot the power, turn it up!
When he jumped into that, I was like,
is he throwing this away?
What's he doing? Is he crazy?
Pulling my watch and didn't understand.
That wasn't on the right level.
Sits them down.
Mr. Cool.
Wow, we called for him.
We said it had to be Wetter from Robs.
He goes massive back on Inferno
and now he's pulling out that?
Okay.
To be honest, the stats were there last time,
but the highlight plays like that.
Now popping up makes perfect sense.
He's showing us what's up.
Good trade frags for Ultimate, despite not having AWP.
Broke, he takes one between the eyes
and still strikes down Naph.
Oh, this is dirty, man.
The amount of openings that they're finding
from players dry swinging out, it
makes perfect sense why they bought these ops.
Liquid are just two steps behind.
We saw them last round punish that cat peek.
Twist was able to nab one as they tried to inch closer
towards A. And you could see Kerrigan a little wary
of that again.
He wants to time his attack perfectly.
We've already gotten JKS to get out though.
Timing this here.
Oh, top stairs.
Ranking Tuck back in and just back on Brokie.
Oh, Brokie's right behind him.
But it will maybe need to be the double off retake.
It's not ideal, but that nato...
Oh, that's beautiful.
Just softens him up. Tenderize.
He just alley-ooped himself.
Brokie's blind, missing a chance.
JKS moves forward.
Liquid trying to pull players off before the retake can even happen.
Kerrigan goes down, and Brokie able to nap.
Kick our JKS swapping guns trying his absolute damnedest liquid trying and trying but finding nothing for their effort
They can't catch a break nine one the last few seconds not even like they didn't wrong this had every angle covered
They have nades like this and spams like this
Where are you supposed to go?
No where to run nowhere to hide broken hit what three shots this round
Massive off impact not bad for a secondary offer
Final timeout called by Mithra already. This game is getting wrapped up faster than the first one. We are in a position here.
That's the first defuse needed by FaZe Clan.
Wow man, that's crazy. That's a stat.
There's a round that's lost by time. That doesn't look too great from Liquid.
There's another round where Hazer just getting better in now, even though they're also playing better. They still can't keep up.
This is exactly what happened last time, right? It was 11-1 CT sides in Cologne to push it into OT.
to OT. We could be looking at the identical score line. I'm telling you, there is a
score, a mental block for Team Liquid in this head to head on this map. There's
gotta be. I mean, it's, this is ridiculous because this is what Liquid did to Faze the
last time they played Mirage before the comeback took place. Now they can't even
get the good start. What can you do in the face of a Faze clan that is
powered up on all fronts? Rokey, Frozen, Rob's all going huge. Kerrigan,
inside of the park, but you love to see it.
Since when does space have five stars?
Your kinder cut down from top middle.
Liquid couldn't buy an opening.
They can't manufacture one.
They just can't create these winning chances.
JKS and Ultimate are all alone here.
Up in the halls, eating utility.
Insult the injuries, suck in T side from Liquid.
Absolutely box, man.
Feels like it was the end of the half.
The what they're going to do here.
You're getting teamed up by Kerrigan.
You're trying to push through smokes.
And the IGL just owns you.
Yeah.
And in positions like this, it is about attitude just
as much as it is about game plan.
Of course, they came into Mirage prepared.
They have direct experience with the team
they're playing against.
This isn't a new matchup.
Plenty of reps.
And you know the mood isn't good right now.
I can't blame them.
Yeah.
Just shot out of Brokely, that's an opening.
Liquid doubled their round count now, final hurdle.
Last attempt, and this one goes about as well as all of the other...
Nothing!
This is revenge, man.
I mean, this is a flat line from the Team Liquid T side.
Masterclass from Kerrigan as Port Twist finds himself in his pocket.
The greatest of Dane's remains, and the greatest of Habs had again.
11-1.
11-1 CT side from FaZe, a total shutdown of Team Liquid.
But six weeks ago, I remember standing here at the casting
best looking at you and thinking 11-1, what a blowout.
Only for FaZe to make that magical comeback happen
in Cologne.
So if Liquid want to be considered as some of the best,
they've got to put it forward right here.
Do or die in Copenhagen at the final, fall final.
And they have made some comebacks,
but now they literally have to match the world record here in CS2.
11-1 all the way back versus their arch nemesis.
No big deal.
With the IGL that made theirs,
Twist top fragging with six frags.
There are no heroes here on Liquid.
It has to be a complete change of everything
now that we've flopped over.
And there are no questions about Robson,
the series here on stage between maps one and two.
And between him frozen a brookie, I don't know as far as I'm concerned they're at full strength
Oh, hell he'd be carrying it had a great half 61 odds
Maybe the freest money you've ever made
goes down flashbangs left skill for phase
Ultimate just looking for the contact and info, but let's see if the swing out
He loses that gap on the smoke so you can there you know it's coming you gotta stop it
You gotta do something and it's just the one and done
Rain takes his place twist tries to get into the action now fly ends up picking two
Okay, ultimate bounces back out from the market a pistol win felt mandatory
And this plate rocks his best efforts across the series so far
It looks like the CT side kicks off with a liquid pistol and oh my god, okay?
Careful RTSR setup tries to gun it up into the A site
We've got JKS sat back in there to close it so liquid do indeed give them the best chance to make yet another magical
Mirage comeback happening. Come on. Let's see it
Where were you?
I'm trying to think about what liquid best comeback is so far because I thought a couple like good good games
It's like low rounds where they got back into it, but most recently. It's you know dropping come back to vitality
It's now not having the lead that they started with last time versus phase
It really has done some impressive things so far their short time
I think it's why there are so many people who even if they're not you know huge liquid fans
Do you feel like this roster is undeniably kind of on the brink of something?
Yeah, when it works it works
And it works against big teams
But now it is the challenge of the stage as well
Of course
No, ultimately it doesn't seem like someone you would ever doubt that when it came to the stage because like his
his temperament is just like, doesn't seem to care about anything like he's just always
going to perform, but he's not had the best series so far.
There will be questions afterwards as to how much blame we want to kind of place on
him or considering if it wasn't even close and he's not the only under performer.
Those conversations can happen after.
For now, Twist is going to clean up from a pistol to a conversion, but the job
is only just begun.
Yeah.
They'll be working all day.
They're changing roof tiles in the hot sun.
Sweatin' off their hairy backs.
No one's had an eliminate.
Sun kissed.
You're in the Middle East.
And sinking.
That sinking feeling.
Any time a round gets close.
Any time someone's got to step up to the clutch.
Liquid's stepping on Dev's doorstep
and just trying to get away.
Just trying to seize the day over into A site.
We've got just this JKS set up at the moment.
Fear robs, fear robs.
In the form he showed us in Inferno,
that moment of glory on the CT side.
We'll miss smokes.
No presence out middle, of course.
We get liquid bolstering this AD fence
between ultimate and twist.
They're not far off.
JKS able to slip forward.
He will no longer be found standing on default.
The robs is confirming this presence, right?
Spotting two additional players and no actual anchor yet.
That would leave you to believe 3A.
Yep, and then the Molly lands to try to help them scale JKS in his key position here under the balcony and since Robs has already used his Molly
And there are no others left over. They're gonna have to take a broad duel versus him
This is where JKS has really made a name for himself
Oh, there is one more Molly
He should have forced us to help
He gets the dink with no kill
We get that activation from Karrick at bottom middle
Meanwhile, Trish goes down after one
That's a collapse. They get the info they need
They set themselves up for that ace site. They knew what they wanted. Clear mind and on top of it,
Kerrigan goes big with the double kill. I thought there wasn't any more Mollies left after Robs
through that. There was one left over for the right player when they needed it. And now what
Liquid need is a clutch, a miraculous one. Wouldn't be the first offered here at the
Fall Finals by Nafly. He's trying to cross over and he goes down by Robs. You could feel it
come in the whole time. You could sense that they knew what they wanted in the first
Gun round and they take it by storm and we can sit here and talk about the stars of phase plan
But it's Kerrigan's double kill that really unravels that mid-round. Yeah, and that doesn't inspire hope right pop
Ragger that's performer on phase is the one to get the final kill on this round ends with the most HP
Puts phase onto map point. They win as soon as they get guns. There are just no good signs here
For team liquid now, but glorious signs for a phase plan to try and step forward
The level of phase you want to see is they would head into a match versus Navi a
Copenhagen major
Grand Final rematch poised for tomorrow
Everybody talking about Navi versus Vitality, but there is a new contender with form like this frozen ready and waiting
And able to shut down the little bit of aggression the liquid can offer nap and you kinder with the rifles
They've got to do something. They have to go above and beyond and then some and phase will just lean back for a moment
Why rush this process minute 12 there up material?
They have map control and kinders can't try to counter it at the moment the bomb is on
the other side I mean I
Think because the map so quiet
It's a tenuous position even the CT side even though they're low numbers
They know every little mistake could cost them kinder can't afford to get caught out top mid
But maybe that's the play he needed to make.
Maybe that was the one time that he needed to go for it.
He missed the first player going through,
but there is still a chance to maybe clip Robson.
No, he's going to have to run.
All the rotations are here.
The kid wants to get the flank,
and he's going to have to keep walking.
Now at the same time,
Kerrigan starts to seize the day down in Connector.
And as he's flashing over at the A site,
there could indeed be a flank for each team.
Who strikes first?
I think he's worried.
Nice, on a shot from Naph.
But as he turns around,
Kerrigan activates.
Won't expect a second.
Twist hits the Deagle headshot.
20 seconds and that well it's too much of an ask from twists the flight comes through all they saw yep
Robbs gets that contact you kinder has to start running in this is it faze with the 2v1 to try and close it an
embarrassment for liquid again in 2024 in the face of twists ex teammates
You kinder just trying to find an opening nobody giving him anything to pull on how desperate
how desolate
a win for FaZe. A dismantlement of Team Liquid had a chance to step forward in
fall finals. Man that's uh what can you say about it and as you brought up
earlier this is about FaZe trying to prove that they can get good enough to
take down the other competition here in playoffs. Maybe Karrigan can win in
Denmark. That's the question that they're going to try to answer as this
plays on. I mean it's gonna be a footnote here in this playoff run
watching Liquid play like this of course they're not playing their best
But when you have rops as the one to step up and form that was one of the biggest question marks for phase that question is answered
percent now the
Only thing left is consistency really because if they can do that
They can definitely take that win versus the top five team, which is what we've been missing
You know, it's what they've also been missing broken vocal and that that is what he wants the always elusive
Copenhagen trophy lift for Kerrigan
Can they manage to make this run?
You want one top five team, you're gonna have to go through more than the one,
because it is a long road to the grand finals, a long road to a win,
but a form here versus liquid that could do it.
Of course, still questions to be answered, and that is why we will have to hand
this down to James Banks, ready with Kerrigan at the tip of the stage,
as he steps forward one step further in Denmark.
They have stepped one step further and they've done it in style.
Karagun, you've got a big smile on your face. Is FaZe back?
I can't remember last time we played this good.
The mentality we had on the beginner inferno, we just kept playing even though they won some insane rounds.
We won them back and from there we didn't look back.
I feel like we were in control, we played really good and I can't remember exactly the city side from Cologne.
But I think you can see the difference from Bernkleid T2, the city side to now, that's a different beast.
And in terms of that, what did you say to the guys after that first half went that way?
Because we were all talking about the fact that it was exactly the same in Cologne.
I mean, I said round by round, kill by kill.
We know that it can be hard to play T side, Niko is a great team.
If we can shut them down, they can shut us down, just like they did in Cologne.
But I think we were in different gear today. We were in different mindset and when we play like this
I just love to play with this team. Honestly playing on this stage. It's a smaller arena, but it's still loud
So I'm just happy to to be in semi-final
They can be loud they can definitely be loud, but for you right now
How important for you and the team was this to boost the confidence for you guys right now and to feel like yourselves again?
I feel we're in this point. We have nothing to lose
Liquid is better than us right now
in theory on the ranking and the way they play.
But I just wish we could show up like this.
Sometimes it's been a long time where I feel like
we're in full control of the game.
And yeah, I'm just so happy and proud of my teammates.
I think Robin swinging the double up was insane.
And it was just a pressure to play.
And hopefully we can bring the same tomorrow
when we play the best team in the world.
I think you definitely will be able to perform like that.
Copenhagen, give it up for your next semi-finalist.
It's Karaghan and FaZe Clan!
crowd behind them every single step of the way. We know that Copenhagen home saw
for Carrigan it's always been a ground that has evaded him but man a step
closer a decisive step at that towards that truth. It's not that face clan is
winning in itself that is the surprise right here it's the fashion they do it
in. It's been a very long time since we've seen a face clan firing on all
cylinders. We prefaced it coming into the game. Raps has been absent some of
the individuals in Brokehe and Frosen they have had decent showings and
decent moments, but never at the same time. Tonight they were looking like the old face
clan and trust me, if this is the face that shows up tomorrow, then Navi will have to put
on the right paint, otherwise that's going to be a rough one.
They have not had a single weakness here on Mirage. I mean, they lost that one round
in the first half and ultimately that was just a bonus round after all. They were
just hoping to get some money rolling, but honestly impressive. Double upset up as
well swinging, damn.
I love how Karakin set into banks as well. It was a CT side that was reminiscent
of what they were able to post versus Liquid back in Cologne and that's going to be such
a decisive one obviously. I mean for Kerrigan this must be such a feels good moment because
as we've been saying it's been an up and down road for FaZe thus far and for them to be able
to pull off a performance so convincingly like this great science field. I think not only for
Kerrigan but for FaZe Clan as a whole I think every single member of that organization every
single member of that team have been under a lot of pressure because as of late it had not
been looking great so for them to win the game as I said not necessarily the
biggest surprise but the fashion they do it in let's be completely honest liquid
were never in this game neither on map number one or on map number two so this
is one of the most convincing wins and one of the most convincing version of
face that we've seen in a very long time and I think that relieves a bit of
that pressure that's been mounting on this lineup kind of forget that in
the beginning of CS2 they were in every single final they were the best
team in the world they hadn't been close to that level at all for a
couple of months tonight was the first glimpse of that. Hopefully that continues
to more. Yeah you can just see the sea of CT rounds that were going down in that
first half. Shout out to Robbs as well not only showing up on map number one on
that Amphono that was a much more competitive affair but really sounded
more like a mirage too. Yeah absolutely and again he is being that anchor or
known for those anchor positions. Oh Mirage is a connector player. He's gonna
bring that. Yeah. He's gonna bring that impact straight to the D's. He's
gonna be always part of the action whether it be Mimble, A side, B side,
short B split. Similar to what we said about Zontek's in team spirit then. He's going to be performing much better, especially
and Rops is just delivering. And then he purchased that two Opseta, which we saw actually Astralis pulling out,
device KDN combo, but this one was just out of the world. Look at the ace here.
Yeah, and I think that's an underrated aspect of Rops, you know, abilities.
The fact that he can be a little bit more versatile than we sometimes give him credit for,
I think as a blade he's just gonna lag me a bit of confidence. He hasn't been up to his best game,
but a game like this where it goes 37 to 16, you're almost posting a hundred ADR,
you're dominating your opponent, hopefully that installs a bit of confidence and erupts for the
future as well. I wanted to pose that question to you, Steepo, because obviously as a player,
you know, when you're in one of those scums, when people are always asking you about it,
everybody's always talking about it, what's the most important thing that you need to do
as a player to ensure that that's not getting in your head too much? And you can have these
bounce back moments when it's, you know, in those really crucial games. I think it's
This is not necessarily what's inside of your head, but what other teammates of yours are providing to you.
So we could see that in G2 as well, where Snax is struggling with confidence.
Other teammates are always trying to hype him up in interviews, on social media, everywhere.
Here, it could have been very much the same thing, just not maybe that publicly related,
but obviously Kerrigan is surely putting a lot of stress in the ropes and making him bounce back individually,
especially after Frozen Edition, which took away some of the flexibility I would say,
because Frozen himself is a little bit more passive compared to Twist, which was previously on the roster.
Let's wrap up the conversation about Liquid, because unfortunately, eliminated it's here in the quarterfinals.
I was hoping for a more competitive series coming out of it, particularly because of what we saw in Cologne.
I know we're repeating it time and time again, but I'm really surprised that FaZe were able to see and roll them in this fashion,
because I think something we've been giving props to Twist, especially for us, obviously still fragging out, still posting up those big numbers,
but his adaptability has surprised me
for being a new in-game leader.
I agree, I think overall the story
with the new version of Team Liquid
have been mainly positive.
I think we have seen certain games
and certain moments where we see their limitations
tonight with another one of those
where, especially Ultimatus World,
we've been praising him for a long, long time
saying he's coming in and taking the world by storm
almost, he was nowhere to be found today.
So if anything, it's a bit of a reality check
for Team Liquid.
It is a project that I live with these five players
and I still think there's something to be desired.
I still think it's a team that potentially during the Major in Shanghai can definitely qualify but also do a good job
But there's limitations, right? We're not looking at a team that is establishing themselves as a top five team just yet
I still think they are maybe one or maybe even two roster teams away from that.
Ultimately, definitely having a rough time here. This was I believe someone said that this is first arena game for him in front of the live audience
And he was struggling Mirage big time
You could see the opening duels right there that throughout the event
He was one of the best entries on the tournament.
On Mirage, 0-4, and I think 0-3 within first five rounds,
so he was shut down completely.
He was not even attempting to go for these entry tools anymore.
Up until the last round, I mean, yeah,
actually the last round inside of the pit against Frozen.
Yeah, wrong. It was the first time he was playing on a big stage.
And for any player that can be a frightening moment,
it can be uncomfortable, something you have to learn from,
you have to gain experience,
but for him to have 14 kills over the course of two maps,
that's gonna sting a little bit,
especially because you're ultimate.
You don't know when you get another opportunity.
It's not a given that Liquid are making it into the playoff
or Ultimate gets another shot in 2024 to gain more experience.
So for my money, a sad debut for him,
but hopefully he can shake it off
and continue to be trending upwards as we've seen so far.
Yeah, and an unfortunate reality team look at they are eliminated
here in the quarterfinals in Copenhagen.
So let's get a few closing thoughts
courtesy of NAF and Banks.
The lift where the road at the full finals does end here
and I've got NAF with me.
I want to guess just touch on the emotions through this game
because obviously it was such a special game last time around when you were the newer liquid coming through.
But this time it seemed like even from their Vita when they pick into Inferno, things got a bit crazy.
So how was it for you guys to go through in your heads?
I mean coming out on the stage game we're all super excited to play.
I don't know, we played Inferno, we started off like we're pretty confident at the start.
We were able to equal them I'm pretty sure, but then they equal us back I think.
They won like some four-spy round at long on Inferno and you know, they ended up winning that round and then I don't know.
we had like rounds where like we could have won them but they just kind of like hit their shots it
seemed like and yeah and then after that it just kind of like snowballed and I don't know I think
Aragon and the team just had like a just a good game plan and it just seemed to work out for them.
And what was the adjustments like for you guys especially when we were looking at Mirage where
it went down so badly for you guys? I don't know I don't know I just feel like they're
they're just playing really well they have really good game plan obviously they have more
stage experience they've been a team a lot longer than we have so obviously it's like
really disappointing and yeah I don't know it's tough to look back I don't know we just I don't know
who you I don't know we saw who's gonna say about everybody much right okay so away from the game
then let's look at Liquid as a whole you may exit in this position but you're a new team who's
making it the playoff stages as well are you seeing the development you're seeing that like
this is a possible championship winning team going forward yeah of course when the team was
like first built and the progress that we've made we made a lot of playoffs you know it
seems to be a lot of quarterfinals it's like the quarterfinal curse for us so far I
a lot of these events so um you know I'm super confident in the team you know and yeah uh it's a
shitty way to go out the way we kind of did it with this with this loss you know but in the
day like they played well they're a more experienced team and they got the work.
Talk about a bounce right now thank you very much.
Yeah I can always trust and have to give it to us honestly but uh we've also got to contextualize
just how new just how fresh this team is to us only a couple of months he's been in this
this role of in-game leader in Stiko. That is not an easy thing to be doing, stepping
up, cooling and bringing up a new squad around you.
100% I tried it myself during my career for two months, it didn't go too well, went back
to my comfort zone, off the anchor of positions, but it's been tough. I mean I can only imagine
how much pressure he's going to put on Twist as well because he's not in-game leading
you know a two tier or three tier team, he's in-game leading team Liquid and that
team is aiming for trophies eventually.
Of course, and certain part of this loss is obviously on the shoulders of Tristan and knowing
him he will take that responsibility upon him and be open about it.
But I also can't have to think that when you have ultimate first time on a stage not hitting
a stretch, you have your kinder who's supposed to be your experienced next guy to you.
He's been a caller within Team Liquid, been taking up that job as well.
He's not offering much on the server right now.
So it's limited how much Tristan can get out of this lineup for now.
I still think when you look at Team Liquid for the past four months ever since they
came together, it's still been slightly better than people would have feared.
No need to to ring the alarm bells just yet. They qualify for this tournament that in the south is a quality sample
But it's it's not there at a point where we can expect them to go into semi-final to finals just I know alarms for us
Certainly as we do check in with our traded plays of the day. This is for day number three, and I hear it's the day of aces
Jacob, what have we got coming up as the first option spent a lot of cool plays today and melps is coming in with the
AK-47 in the very last round of map number one versus spirit a nice spray transfer into some nice
entering into him winning the map for G2. He even said in an interview that listen give me the AK, let me get it done and so he did.
Moving on to JK is a little bit bittersweet, but obviously one of the most important place for Inferno trying to get it back with A's here retake.
All beautiful retake scenario with the sequence of AK kills obviously rops unable to finally pick up that kill.
But
Rups unable to pick up that kill, but I bet you who was able to pick up a lot of kills on me Ross with the AWP
Secondary opening for face clan the first two kills are cool. The next three you're gonna see is world-class opening
I'm not sure how he's getting these kills. He's finishing off with a no scope and to see rups play at that level
That's exactly what face clan is needing right now. It's so disgusting
Like that. I'm out of your liquid. I get it. I get why you were just like
Well, I guess this one's done and dusted because those sort of plays don't happen every single day
But what does happen every day? We can guarantee it is checking in with our Gigi bet predictions, right?
I think we've got a new champion
Maybe just maybe because I did put it team liquid you predicted phase shaker, which means I do lose in life
You do lose in life. And you get to steal. Oh, and who should I steal from in this scenario?
Maybe the one would not let's I'll think about that for I'll think about that yesterday
I had a conversation you want to you want you know what no, no, we did nothing steco
You've got a seal who you gonna see it off. Definitely not me because I put it out to you
I'm right with them. Well, it just remembers to cool that I never stole a life from you
I stole from books. Oh
That's what I was say like it's really close between me and Andrews. I don't want to you gotta kill
I have a little bullet in my head
Save that for the group chat or if you're Jacob just do it in a private chat
I guess you really just take this game.
I would never do that.
I would never do that.
I think we should check in with the playoff bracket as well,
because with that phase W, it does mean that we get quite
the semi-final tomorrow.
Look at these four teams, Vitality and Navi,
winging in the wings by winning the group stage games.
And now, Steaker, we get phase versus Navi
as a second semi-final of the day.
Looking forward, phase Navi is going to be probably
the headline for me, but G2, eSports, and Vitality
he's going to probably take a lot of action as well.
I'll just put it like this.
Faceclan versus Navi, that was the major grand final
in Copenhagen last time we were on a big stage,
so Kerrigan gets perhaps the sweet revenge
and then obviously T2 versus Vitality.
You have Saivoo, you have Monizy,
two of the players that we spend an awful lot of time
speaking about as two of the best players
in the world right now.
So if you wanna tune in tomorrow to watch Counter Strike,
if not, just do it.
Yeah, we really, really do.
Two bang-in semi-finals coming up tomorrow.
We're gonna be live with the pre-show.
I'll call to pass three if you're joining us in the central European Times on the scene tomorrow.