I
You
I'm addicted to the sound,
The feeling that I get when my whole world begins to shake
I'm a star in the night
I still understand it to the dawn
I feel as if it's starting
Yes, and welcome everyone back to PGL Astana, where the PGL Global Tour continues.
It's so good to be back here in 2026.
We were worried we might have come back to the greatest stop on the tour.
I'm your host Richard Lewis.
Joining me today on the desk to open the show, two of the finest analysts you can ask for.
They are from North America.
Don't hold that against them.
It is, of course, the great Maui Snake, the great Desmurais.
So glad you're here joining me.
Yeah, indeed.
It's great to be back here in Estada.
We're on Friday morning.
We haven't even started games yet and this place is already almost back.
Thank you so much for coming out this weekend everyone.
Love having you here guys.
It's really fantastic to be back.
I feel like we've all been eating good.
There's been great counter strike.
I love this city.
I think it's just so futuristic, so unique and I'm so glad that PGL came back for their
second prestige event of the year.
Yeah, well let's talk about that man.
We're building up Astana.
I mean, I remember being here last year.
We wanted to set the history.
talked about how amazing it was to have the likes of K23 set that history way
back when and obviously this is last year this is what happened this is how
we're setting the tempo look at it right like the teams are different okay
we've got the likes of Mongols 3-0 got a huge pop here from the crowd spirit
essentially the favorites the crowd loved them everybody loves Don we'll
We'll talk about that in a moment.
We had Furia, we had NIP, we had Astralis, we had Na'Vi, we had NBBR.
What's hilarious and interesting about this playoffs is it's so different this time around.
I think two teams has the overlap, different rosters, and it really shows how things can
change in 12 months.
And crucially, the recognition of Astana as a prestige event, it's really flipped the
switch in the mind.
the big teams they want to come here. Sure, no vitality this time. We pretty much got every other
big name though. Indeed we do. We have a lot of great teams, but the one thing is constant. That
is last year's serve that's such a magical story for Furion, for Maladoy, debuting in front of
his home crowd here in this stadium, and he had a magical run with Furion. They didn't quite get
the job done for the trophy, but they will look to do that again here in these playoffs. A tough
opponent first, but as you can see, as you've already noted, so many top teams are in this bracket.
I feel like we might get a little bit of continuity. I know that you like to point out the fact that we have four different teams in the playoffs this
time around, but why not get a spirit back to back because they've been looking good in the last Swiss stage obviously winning it all in
Estona last time and then they've been already looking good at this event. So I feel like the the fans might be in for a treat there
and I feel like that the thing is that a lot of them probably want to see things change because like you brought up
Moldova, you know, he's getting his feet wet in tier one CS at that point now
He's got a year under his belt in the organization and a potential for another magical story that could happen today
Speaking of magic, it's because of moon moon obviously an opera also from Kazakhstan
May want to try to follow in Moldova's footsteps coming from obscurity and having a chance to play in front of this
Audience here in Kazakhstan they can mean the world especially gets a 9z team who can be beat so that could be a very interesting game
It was well. Yeah, why don't we take a look at some of the shots from the group stages?
Wow, obviously PGL always raising the game in terms of how we tell stories
So these are the most maps that have played this is very interesting as we go into a change in the map
But we know cash is coming
Okay, so maybe if people don't want to play this type of map this type of map
Maybe that's the map that goes is very interesting. I feel sorry for Aurora. Yes, you saw a new best
down there. Maybe they're going to take it away from you again. Then we have the player
performance. Let's talk about some of the guys. Wow, Donk and Luchov head to head. Everyone
saw that coming, right? Not exactly what you expect, but it's just a testament to why
Ninze got their position into these playoffs with a high-flying fragger such as Luchov
trying to make his mark in his first few months on the team. And look at the aces that have
been scored in this tournament in case you are new account strike no patronization intended and aces when you kill everyone else in the
Round and of course look at this look at the people that have achieved the most aces in this tournament in fact 12
Overall crazy thing is that lucha? I've got two of them in the same half
Whereas everybody else you know they all had one the hunter had two but yeah no impressive stuff nonetheless always fun to watch one of
And then of course, just looking at the group stage overall, we did have a long game.
You can see right at the top there, and I mean, look, most volatile player, that's the one that interests me.
It's a little bit later on. We'll be talking about you, Kindar.
And certainly, Fury are going to need him to activate if they're to beat Falkens, another team that has a lot of support here in Astana.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's a squad that won four titles last season, three in a row.
look like one of the favorites to win the Budapest Major, but they've looked a
lot more mortal this year for a hundred percent honest, but this is a big
opportunity to try to catch back up to where he used to be, to try to give
Maladoy something a little bit extra in his home country. It was probably nice
for him to make it to the playoffs and get the play in front of his home
audience. What do I mean to him? The hoist of trophy on that stage in front of
them instead. So definitely need to keep an eye out for that. I mean and that is
the key thing to remember for all the fans coming in. Maladoy will be here
later. That's going to be the last game of the day. We hope the crowd is obviously going to fill out
and you can see here. This is what the brackets look like. Very soon we're going to turn our
attention to Maus versus Aurora. Aurora, one of the two returning teams for that top eight. Then
we're going to go into Spirit versus G2. Cannot wait to talk about this one. Here's what's interesting.
you at home go I'm gonna have a cup of tea get a sandwich because 9z magic isn't very exciting
wrong you're a fool they are going to be absolutely amazing 9z look the best team of the playoffs in
my opinion and magic the plucky underdogs they are essentially in the shop window for all the
russian teams including pyrovision that might want to pick up some talent and then we go into
the last playoff of the day.
Furia versus Team Falkens, Molodoy versus Muniseev.
You're not excited about that.
I'm going to check your pulse.
I'm impressed that the audience has already packed out
in the way that it has given that the obvious main course
of the day is at the very end.
But thankfully, we're not in Brazil.
Why don't we have a look at some of your predictions
that you're throwing out, Burns?
And are we going to have an opportunity to burn you back?
These are the predictions of who's going to be winning what talk us through what you picked.
Well, I went with the quarterfinal wins for Mao's over Aurora, Spirit there, Ninzee, Falcons,
semi-finalists are going to be for me, Spirit and Falcons.
Those are the teams that I had pinned as my 1A, 1B coming into this event.
And I would say that I'm going to take Spirit to repeat as champions here in Ostana.
Yeah, I have essentially the same thought as far as how this thing is going to conclude.
But for me, I do think the Aurora mouse game that we're going to discuss in a second, it's a bit of a coin flip.
And I am just a little bit concerned about, you know, this new mouse board stepping up to the stage for the first time with this new lineup and how they're going to react to that.
Particularly as Alex, you know, a guy who's coming from an academy team, he's never been in an environment like this before.
So I have my hesitations on them.
So I gave Aurora the slight knob, but again, I think it's very much a 50-50 game.
Well, why don't we start talking about the game?
Because soon the teams are going to be walking out, gentlemen.
So why don't we do it?
mouse versus Aurora. Why is this interesting? Well, okay, let's start with Mouse. They're
entering a new era, a new era in terms of they have swapped their IGL, Brawland's gone,
Zershyn's took up the reins, Jimmy, everyone said he was the star player of the team, even
though he was an anchor, gone by. We're replacing you. We're replacing you with JL, Jeff's notes,
Crazy and yet here they are in the playoffs of prestige event like they haven't skipped the beat
No, they've done really well
I mean I think considering the circumstances that you've just provided to see the results they got it's actually pretty solid
I mean, yeah, they had a shaky first game against gentle mates
There's no offense or butts about that but then they were able to beat G2
They were able to beat Aurora and so they were able to make their way through here
So really really nice to see this new squad already fighting the playoffs and just to set you up Maui the thing
That's impressed me the most. I gels aren't supposed to frag. Just ask Cooke see
Right and yet Zershin's on a 1.34. What is going on, bro? That's extremely impressive
I like that mouse though kind of went back into their playbook of how they want to amend their teams recognizing that they have
One of the best if not the best academy project in all of tier one counter strike or all of really I'd say the history of counter strike
like for mouths in how they have included,
well, they still have the long lasting members here
of exertion, of Taurizzi,
but going back into the well to get Zellix
and for exertion to take the reins,
to take it as a captain here,
he was always extremely vocal.
And I feel like this is a very natural progression
for him in his career,
for him to use all of that mid-rounding experience
that he had before,
but just go through the playbook.
We know that Sikron is one of the big guys
that controls the team in terms of creating the system,
outlining how they wanna stage these rounds,
they want to script their haves. So if he just kind of works through that and then already is the vocal guy in the mid-round
I don't think that he should have lost a step and I'm glad that somehow he's even improved.
Yeah, I think one of the other interesting things about him coming in this Indian leader slot is that Zershin was usually
one of the most aggressive entry rifers in the game since that he went for some of the most opening attempts of any entry
frag or in counter strike. He's reduced that a lot now.
He used to be like a guy going for like over 30% of his teams opening duels. Now it's like 20 and he really has you know
Kind of adopted the role of let me set up zelex as a star player this team
Yeah, and you see him a lot more often now on their executes throwing supportive utility trying to give us the best chance to put a good
Foot forward on their t-sides. He has us has been relegated to a couple of anchor roles on the defensive side
They really do try to feature him on the offense and so I'm curious to see how that plays out on the stage
Yeah
Well someone call Ozzy Osbourne because all of these teams are going through changes and it's no different for Aurora
obviously we've seen Soulfly come in and I don't know also not just a change of
roster but a change of attitude a change of philosophy. Madge we all thought he
was gonna get cut after a disappointing season a disappointing 2025 he's back
now and he's sent to the likes of Waxxin and Santarez actually it's more
structure we need not more personnel. That's what's been so impressive about
watching Aurora this season I mean I talked to him and he knows that I've
been critical about the way that he calls in the server or called in 2025 and prior to that,
but I would say that when you don't have a Turkish scene that actually is producing good
in-game leaders, what you need to do as a leader is reinvent yourselves, not rest on your laurels
and Madras done that. This team uses lurkers much more than they did in the past. Couple maps
still, yeah, you'll still see the death balls, you'll still see the five guys gather up, go for
one explosive play, but he's much more willing now to let Wykadia, to let Xantara's feel out the
extremities of the map, make their own plays, and being able to do that means that they're
more flexible, that they're harder to read, they're harder to predict.
And so this team, they're not getting flanked as much as I saw in the past.
Their T side looks a little bit more, just, it's difficult for teams to get a grasp of
what's going on in the round.
And whereas last year, they had so many bad playoff performances, that's because people
would anti-stratum.
Now they're much more difficult to counterplan.
Yeah, I would say this season has looked sharper than last, if I'm honest.
I mean, you look at the result they had at Crack High,
look at the result they had at Rotterdam,
they're actually making some deeper runs.
They've had a couple of banana peels out there.
I think the Dracula performance obviously
is a bit of a sting, Rio didn't go as well as they wanted it to.
But they haven't been able to, on average,
still get pretty solid results and stay pretty high up
on the ranking order board.
And you mentioned Wakadia.
And I like this a lot because for the longest time,
we just said Santeres is the best player in Turkey.
And he's also just one of the best entry
fraggers in the world, period.
But Wakadia's development as a player
has been so nice over the last few seasons.
I feel like every season this guy levels up a little bit more gets a little bit more reps a little bit more experience and
You know he is
Yeah, that's how I view it. I don't know about you, but I just feel like people forget this Santara's
He might look incredibly smooth and young there 30 years old. That's all the encounters right terms
He's gonna need at some point to transition into the IGL role who's gonna take over as Turkey's top fragger
Why can't he's looking pretty goddamn good? He is and also I'll say about this was and tears really quickly
He's winning over 60% of his opening duels this term.
I mean, this guy is still a very hard entry, despite his age
and what you're referring to.
But yeah, I agree with Katie, he's
really picking up the mantle nicely.
And where Waikati is able to thrive
is in such a complementary position to Xantaras.
He's not really going gung-ho, going for entries all the time.
He picks his spots, and he does so with great discretion.
There was actually a stat that B-Trambs put together
of how many times pro players are getting kills on people that
aren't looking at them or behind them.
And Waikati was topping the charts there.
He's very sneaky, he's able to work through the Aurora system and find ways to pull off flanks.
So he's not even taking 50-50 fights.
Like, at the last, I'm not going to go here and say why Katie's biggest strength or attribute is his aim.
It's actually his intelligence.
And that's something that this team desperately needs, especially given the fact that sometimes they can be a little bit more readable.
So he can be that little X factor in a round.
Well, guys, oh no, I was just going to say put a pin in it because it is time to get the show started.
going over the banks on the stage for the walkouts.
Now last year, PGL brought elite counter-strike to Kazakhstan for the first time ever.
Kazakhstan is a country that lives and breathes this game from hundreds, maybe thousands of
computer clubs and cyber arenas with many young players hoping to become the next star
of the country. Now, there's one star that was born here last year in 2025. It was Molodoy!
The chosen one for Kazakhstan took to this stage at his first ever ST event and he looked
damn good while doing it, talking to all of you and inspiring a generation of players
to come out of Kazakhstan.
Now we are back for 2026.
bigger, better, stronger and I'm sure you guys are gonna be much louder this time
around so let me ask you Astana, are you ready?
let's bring our teams on to the stage and let's start with Maus this is a team
that is going through a rebuild. This is a team who wants to put new players forward,
promoting from the academy team, bringing a major MVP to perform on the big stage.
But we expect them to be on these stages. The question is, what can they do when they get here?
Make some noise! It's Maus!
and their opponent struggling in the group stages and they have continued to
struggle throughout the year not hitting the heights they would have wanted to
achieve. SoulFly has been a positive player this event for Aurora but it is
going to take the extra 10% or more from each and every player to make sure
they can take down this mouse who they already faced in the group stage. Let's hear it for Aurora!
Our teams have taken to the stage, we're ready for our opening games.
Maga, come on up here.
I also want to introduce Crystal May with us here.
He'll be translating for everyone in the arena.
Give it up for Crystal May!
Maga, it was a bit of a struggle in the group stage,
but it does seem like we are getting a better soul fly than ever before.
Why is that? What has changed for this player?
Thank you very much. First of all, yes, hopefully we can have a very good SoulFly today. We will see, yeah.
We will see.
Let's talk about what happened to SoulFly, how well he is performing now.
Major is saying that he is very happy that he can go to the stage and perform at the stage.
a little struggle against Eric, but after that, we just bounced back and played better counter-strike day by day.
And I think against Mongolia this was way better than all the match we played.
So hopefully here we can show good counter-strike. I believe to my teammates, we work for that and hopefully we can win today. Thank you, guys.
Everything went much better and now we are in the best shape we have.
and in my opinion, the best coach in the world.
It makes it easy for me to perform well in my IGL role,
and yeah, we're gonna see how it will go here in the playoffs.
The question is, how does Xershin keep his game form,
while he's now a new captain of the team.
He says that in general it's pretty difficult,
and he still keeps his position up there.
And I also want to ask what your expectations are on the stage.
You have major MVP Jail who knows this, he performs in the big games.
But then you've got a rookie in Zellix as well.
What do you think will change for you?
How do you plan to deal with that?
Well, I plan many things but as we know on stage it's always hard to exactly know what
will come.
I think Aurora is a great team.
Yeah, we rely a lot on our players to perform today and I think that we're going to do our
best as possible and hopefully we'll come out on top as well.
Alright guys, shake hands, get yourselves to your positions, thank you very much.
And with that Astana, we are about to begin the playoffs of PGL Astana 2026.
Make some noise!
Make some noise indeed. It's going to be an amazing opening here and it's only going to get better.
But I have to say, Maus, the thing they're not talking about is the fact that they have resurrected the career of a former major MVP.
That is not to be sneezed at, but JL remains a question mark.
I'll say this I'm grateful to mouse because while he's playing for them. He's not on the desk with me
Well, thank goodness that he is an excellent player
I would even say that jail is probably a thousand times better as an as a player than an analyst problem is you can't multiply by zero
That being said all the birds out the way the roast of jail is over. I mean I was there with Copenhagen
I've said it many times in that moment in time the most clutch player
that has ever existed in Counter Strike. No joke.
I mean, think about how we've characterized
Maus for the last year and a half.
Playoff chokers that is difficult in the big moments.
And that's why bringing in somebody like Jail
is the perfect remedy for that.
You have a guy that in 2024 got better in playoffs
when he was playing for Navi.
He is the definition of a big game player.
When the lights are brightest, that is absolutely
when he shines the most.
That's exactly what Maus needed.
A shot on the arm in the biggest moments.
We all talk about them being group stage boards.
how they can consistently rank in the top five,
how they can consistently make playoffs,
maybe even make semifinals very often,
but they haven't been able to get big wins.
This is the type of guy that you need to be an X factor
to help push you over the edge.
And as you can see, I mean, the ratings speak for themselves.
I think one of the most impressive things about JL back in 2024
is that the numbers would get better,
but he doesn't even die anymore.
He doesn't even make no mistakes.
Purely, his ADR and his kills per round
both improved in those kinds of moments,
and he had some of the best clutches in that year.
like you're saying Rich. Yeah. And look at that. Like my heart is still burning a little bit.
Mouse has orange now. Mouse has orange now. Yeah, exactly. That was what they needed to do. But in all seriousness,
it shows that like he wasn't even the finished article when he was the MVP on Navi. He can still
learn and you heard Zershin say it there. He thinks they've got the best coach in the world.
So he's behind jail. He's developing jail and hopefully this version of miles might go on to be the thing
They've never been which is a trophy lifting team with regularity and I'll say this
They've already looked pretty impressive and just how diverse their playbook has been in such a short amount of time
Overshine calling and it really does go to their coach to help them do that as we get to the pick band
No surprise here. These are the permit bands for both squads. Yeah, and no surprise
This is pretty much the herma pick of Aurora.
I really wanted Aurora to pick Overpass here.
I thought they looked great on it versus the Mongols.
Also, the fact that JL hasn't played an Overpass playoff game
since 2023.
But OK, all right, they'll just go with what we saw last time.
Yeah, then we got the Nuke pick again.
It's the same map that Mouse picked in the last series.
So not too shocking, but it's hard to pin a team that's
brand new on what type of map pool moves they want to make.
I'm surprised they're banning Overpass.
It used to be one of Mouse's big strengths
and they just don't have to ret seem with JL yet.
Well, they're going to get them.
I mean, you can see as well, we're
going to get the final maps coming in.
Inferno is just a great map for Maus in terms of just exertion
and how he's played on that one in general.
I mean, just a bit of map picked for them historically as well.
Exactly.
So looking at the veto, though, Dust,
I'm going to say that Maus to me are the favorites
in this kind of game.
There's a lot of extenuating circumstances.
The fact that this is Zellix's first arena performance.
But the guys played at LAN before.
It's not his first rodeo in terms of playing against this level of opposition,
especially given the fact that they just beat them in the group stage.
Let's throw some attention over to Aurora though. Magus said we are doing things differently now.
He survived the coup attempt that was nearly coming his way, stayed in place as the leader,
and now they're doing this more structured approach. Woxic talked about it, Tantares talked about it,
and I've got to say in 2026 they look better than the end of 2025.
Yeah, I think there are attacks like a bit crisper, even though they do lean into that death ball style of CS still they just kind of gather and go one direction whether that's you know on dust two for example about the play first where they really love their like just heavy cat hits or heavy long a controls.
One of the things that they did against mouseports in the group stage is that they were throwing a lot of mid B and B pops they definitely game planned against this idea of a new mid B defense with zelex and spanks.
So having to turn into an anchor now on the B site when he used to be more of a rotator on, you know, the mouse at XT project
And they were able to get a lot of success out of those mid B splits and B pop
So I'm really curious to see how that's going to play out in the rematch to see if mouse ports can find out some way to
Adjust to make sure they have an easier time on the CT side
They have to get a lot of work done on the attack in the second half to bring the game back
I think they want at least four B hits on their T side against mouse in the losing effort
The only thing that I think is still a crazy mismatch though is JL was eating soul fly for breakfast lunch and dinner in that one
And they even tried moving soul fly out of that lurker position
They tried saying okay
We need a guy that can actually pincer the a bombsite when we go for our cat hits
But JL Torsi they were both stopping what whether it was Wikipedia whether it was soul fly coming late
And so I don't want to see Aurora recognize that they only can do the be hits because I think it's gonna be their first gun round play
But if that's all you can muster then I think now's is gonna make the adaptation
that you will see is you will be you indeed well series absolute frickin
Lutley you will I mean look that's the thing about Aurora sometimes they can
get a little bit one note but that one note works when you got Zanteris leading
the charge because his entry stats are off the charts always in this tournament
is no exception so if they even are going for something simplistic he can
just be the can opener no matter what right meanwhile on the other side you
gotta wonder about zealots because I credit Torsi for letting him be the
star for taking the backseat throw in the support of utility for zealots to
try to give him the best chance to have impact.
But how does that scandal this environment,
having to play such a difficult role to make sure
his mouse sports team can get on the right foot?
I think the other big thing you have to watch out for
in this series is the offing, right?
Because Torsi had his career worst land performances
in Rio and Rotterdam since he's been on mouse sports.
And we've seen a recovery here so far.
Been a different ballpark for him.
He used to be the guy you'd be looking for.
Yeah, exactly.
And he's not what popped off to us.
I mean, the first season of last year,
when Vitaly was starting their errand
and the mouse were second fiddle to them,
Torsi was a high impact player.
He's showing some good shape so far this event.
Meanwhile, for Vox, it's kind of like he's an X factor, right?
You know what you're going to get from Xanteris and Makedia.
Ken Vox had come online to give them an extra punch.
I will say this.
Torji in an arena usually delivers money.
In interviews, he does.
Rich, I can't say that with certainty about all the time.
I mean, I remember a couple really sad moments for him,
especially even back at Austin.
I mean, we came to love Torji for the tears there.
But the reason the tears were there was because it was a failure on the stage.
So the thing about Woxic though is that this guy is also the definition of a lanamo.
He is so adept at playing Dust2, finding opening picks.
I mean, I would put him second to Zywoo practically in finding people that are crossing the mid double doors,
either picking them right through the crack or just getting a wall bang as they're jumping across.
So that's definitely something that Xelix is going to have to worry about.
Spinks is going to have to worry about when they're crossing.
Yeah, again, that mid-B defense was what was exploited.
Even though Mousesports won the game, it was a close one
because of how Aurora were able to manipulate that area.
And then it forced more rotations towards B
to kind of support that weak defense, which opened up
the A attacks later at the half.
So I'm curious to see if a similar game plan will
play out here.
The other interesting factor that we
haven't talked about really quick that I want to mention
is one of the new things for Aurora now.
They've brought in extra support staff.
There's a new sports psychologist who's
been working with Aurora now for the last week or so.
I don't know that she's had that much time
to really get into the degree of the team.
I know that, you know, Spinks said in an interview,
I believe it was actually with either banks or HLTV,
where, you know, he was talking about how she's come in
and she's starting to do one-on-ones
with some of the players and the teams,
because we all know that this squad
could sometimes get a little bit frustrated,
a little bit fiery on the stage
when things aren't going correctly.
I think if you can sort that out,
you have enough talent to make this thing.
They made at least six playoffs in a row
in the first season of last year,
and they didn't win a single playoff game.
So they are, even though people characterize Mous,
because we see it on the bigger stages,
that they don't live up to the billing
that they created for themselves in the group stage.
Aurora was actually, were the kings of crumbling.
And it got to the filmers.
Absolutely, but this is what I mean
about it being a new era.
You know, Madge, as I said, he was on the chopping block.
He knows that.
He said to the players, have faith in me.
I'm gonna get us back,
but we are gonna have, you're gonna have to meet me halfway.
It can't be the way we've done things.
Santaras, Woxic, you're my explosive pieces, but you're gonna have to do some prep and you're gonna have to do these other things
That may be a little bit alien to you than just feeling it out
And I think Aurora in 26 are a different prospect. I agree with you
I think that they look a little bit more posh in the mid rounds again
Sometimes they are a little bit reliant on the death ball situation, but they have added a couple of new plays
I think the other thing that I'm worried about though is Soulfly because I feel like when this guy is on he's on
This guy can have loads of them.
How he can have as well, yeah.
Yeah, this guy can have loads of them.
Yeah, we're talking to make you buddy.
Indeed. And look, his tournament so far is going pretty good.
This is kind of reminiscent of some of the first fights we saw them play.
So if he can keep it up, I mean that gives them just a whole another weapon.
As Molly was talking about earlier, being more of an extremity guy that can create some lurks that create some different times.
I'm going to say this, I think Soulfly has been revelatory since he got picked up because a lot of people felt the natural choice.
choice was ex-flout maybe coming in. That was rumored over and over again when
Soulfly came in. I think a lot of people raised their eyebrow like who is this guy?
This guy is really turned a roll around. And he's also done it without getting
his favorite spots on the Fireflux team that he was on before this one. He had a
couple more of the star positions. Wasn't just relegated to every single anchor
spot across every single map. And I, Madras said himself earlier this year, I
I think it was at Blast Rotterdam.
He said that Soulfly, he's just simply smarter than Jota.
That's a big tool too, to not just kind of give up
those sort of extremity lurks.
That being said, obviously the last time
they played against each other,
he was a liability on the T side,
but he had a great CT side recovery.
So he's kind of a guy where the story
is just sort of one half to the next.
I'm not gonna say that he's always gonna play himself
in the shape either.
He's not the most consistent factor for the Sorora team,
but the fact that he's not always a huge liability
across an entire map, whereas in the beginning,
he was learning all of these new positions.
He has definitely caught up to speed.
Yeah, and I think we should actually
kind of flip the script here a little bit.
We've been talking a lot about how we think Dust2 is going
to open on that first half with how things were playing out.
So let's kind of come back to what
things are going to happen when that half switch sides
and mouse goes on the attack.
Now, I don't know how you'll feel, but to me,
I had low expectations for what mouse's playbook would look
like, considering the limited time of Zershin
being the IGL, bringing in Zellix, bringing in JL.
That's a lot of moving parts and no one's really getting the roles they used to play like jail used to be a B player on Navi
He's playing long a now, you know, there's a lot of little things that are different
But I will say they showed a good gambit of how to play dust to they were really good at the spawn best spawn based pressure plays
They were very good at the back and forth of pressuring mid B
But leaving cat open as an option and trying to keep you guessing they were doing the drops down in the spawn
They were doing basically the full playbook that a dust 2 team would run and they look, you know, right?
I don't I don't I also say this from watching miles throughout this group stage
I don't think they've lost a beat on their T sides
I don't think they lost a single beat the starters are practically all the same as they used to be the mid-rounding is still
Solid the trouble is that exertion wasn't ever pressured to make great mid rounds at least from what I saw I saw a lot of plays
That were basically just being carried out start to finish and maybe on one map
I think that they played last time versus or one round that they played versus or the entire series
Did he actually have to come up with a mid-round?
Usually things would sputter out a little bit if they find themselves in the 4v5.
But if they have map control, they still know how they want to end around.
So I'm not concerned about this IGL swap.
I mean, truthfully, I didn't think Brolin was doing a great job.
I thought Brolin was one of the worst in-game leaders actually in Tier 1.
So I'm so glad that Mao's made this move because they look just as exciting,
but it looks like they've actually been able to upgrade the firepower without losing any of the tactics.
You saw Spider-Man in the crowd there. Everyone gets one.
I need more pictures of him, Rich. I need more pictures of him right now.
The question is, which one of these interachievers is going to get their playoff win?
Because, obviously, historically, we know these guys, they both struggle with that.
I just, I know I got a strong feeling for Miles. I like the direction they're heading in.
Zershin is confident. JL is slowly getting back to what he used to be.
Xalex is exciting.
Just Xalex. It's just Xalex for me. That's the question we're coming into the arena here.
because even though when he was set up on really directed plays,
where he knows how he's running in on an execute,
his pathing looked good, his aim looked sharp,
but there's moments in transition in the mid-round and the late-round
where this guy's crossed there.
I watched this whole POV back versus G2,
and it was his darting between locations.
Like, he does not always know where the next fight is coming from,
but if he gets a sniff, gets a sense,
gets just the trail of where his next opponent is,
he has ferocious first bullet accuracy.
Yeah, he really does, and I think that's why B anchor is kind of nice,
They can just kind of let him focus on tunnels and say hey look just catch him when they're coming out
Right it kind of comes down the sphinx though, and that was really why the mid-b defense kind of fault of them
I think in the first matchup is that this seemed like sphinx and zucks weren't always on the same page
So that has to be corrected in this game in my opinion, and you're right when you talk about when they're gonna go on the attack
Yeah, it's like zealots
This is your first time in a big arena environment with a huge crowd yelling where you're gonna be the guy like zershin's
Passionate the ball like that is one of the things that zershin has done in the IGL slot is you know
be a little bit more selfless because he realizes that he's more important leading rather than being like the star entry fragger
The squad or something like that
So it's about how's up response to those interactions especially going up against you know a guy like land terrace who is very dangerous on this map
And he's gonna be battling him a lot in some of these really key battlegrounds
You're gonna have on dust too
But the other big thing for me that I kind of want to wonder about it
It spinks a little bit because spinks has always been the pillar of mouse sports in my opinion
He's been the most consistent performer
He's often their highest ranked player when you look around and he's had kind of a shaky group stage
He's moved into a lot of Jimmy's old roles in the RF cases and the transition hasn't maybe gone as smoothly as people hope
This is just not the numbers you expect from Spinks, right?
You know, he kind of keeps the same roles though on Dust 2 so that's kind of nice
That's one of the maps he hasn't had to change things up
But they need him to be more of the Spinks we know of to have a chance against the Fireball
I'm gonna throw you a different idea and you can tell me if I'm just talking out of my behind on us
Which I often do post I don't have to know these things
I think it's really good as things actually that he's the one who stepped up and said you know what I'm gonna take those spots
I'm a veteran. It's it's on me. I'm we're not gonna give zelex the
The ass rolls. I'll take him, you know, and I'll get there. I'll do what I need to do
Well to be fair he kind of wanted some of them if I'm gonna be honest like on some of the maps like Inferno
He really wanted the apartment rolls, so it's kind of been given take that like your thought. Thanks very much
Well, we'll talk about it later, but for now guys, it's a PGL event
They would never sell you short so the two commentators bringing you this one
They've crawled walked to the top of their craft from the pages of reddit the pages of yahoo
We are now bringing you scrawny and wonders in the barris arena debut
Thank you, Richard. Always so smooth, though.
We've got Maus, and we've got Aurora, and as the desk has now just beat,
it is going to be one of these teams to take a win on a stage,
and that's going to feel good for either squad.
Yeah, today is like a really stacked quarter-finals day,
and what's really interesting is the amount of debuts,
and the IGL debuts.
Later, we'll have Kerrigan doing that for Falcons,
and this one here is going to be special for Zershin
because of the pressure on stage.
But as they brought up on that great desk just now,
bringing in JL solves so many issues on paper,
but now we're gonna find out if he solves them live.
Yes, let's hope he can tap into that kind
of wealth of experience he has.
We've seen the numbers of Spinks Twindle,
we've seen the struggles of Torsi live,
and now it is time to see which of them
can step it up when it matters most
and the spotlights fall upon them.
So Aurora gaming to the T side,
And your first quarter finalist, Astana, is officially underway.
That's something interesting already.
They've taken long control without any resistance whatsoever,
but it isn't a five-long play.
Tees have smoked this.
There's so much pressure on this side of the map.
But look what's happened in a fantastic call from Aurora
as they easily walk into an open B site.
Damn, eh?
Already one of these.
We go back to that qualification game for the playoffs,
just sprinkling in these perfect calls.
And I'm thinking particularly with Overpass, was Madger and so props to the in-game leadership he's brought to this event.
Oh my goodness, you didn't see that.
You know, he hunts by movement, I hear.
Another chance for the retake.
Shouldn't be, but Woxic, you're right, all of a sudden under pressure.
Scott, three players coming out from tunnels behind him, Soulfly's down to 14 health.
Madger's going to be a late arrival out from middle.
Soulfly dropped him forward.
We were wondering what he could offer.
Three kills in the pistol that should have been Aurora's from the get-go.
Let go. What a tilting loss that would have been had Mal has been able to retake.
It's still costly.
Oh, he got a flying knife.
Cash for your efforts.
And already one round into this game, we got fireworks and sparks from SoulFly.
Oh, not only do they sneak into an open B site, they get a bomb plant for the money,
they get a knife kill at the end, and the flowers go to SoulFly as he gets to kill from
Big box and he doesn't get that frag, it's an instant defuse.
This kill right here is maybe the most impressive one.
I don't know.
It's debatable, they were all pretty amazing.
That instant headshot as well on the plat, swing is clean.
Well, that's a great start because we picked him up.
That's picked him up.
We saw what he did to qualify into playoffs.
It was a massive reason for Aurora.
They spent a lot of time trying to justify
the replacement of Jota, to give him a chance.
And they've done that.
There's an M4 here. There's an M4 and a scout behind it.
That could be lethal. Zershin kind of floating out here as his scout takes damage in the process.
Now at least Aurora know about it, but we're gonna see how they try to adapt to it.
Zershin goes back wide, offshot over top of him.
He's got a Nade if he wants to open this, but instead tries to play the edges of the smoke.
And that's where Soulfly will best them.
We get this activation of the WAP, Kady and Mack 10.
And so they're just going to chew back through it.
And this is already a really good looking Aurora.
Just how much conviction there is in the calls.
The 6-1 start here for Soulflies.
He grabs another two in this following round.
There was a bit of pressure and an investment.
Nothing gets stolen back.
Too many deaths here for Maus.
Only one on Aurora.
They'll make a lot of money.
And their T side on Dust2 starts off correctly.
And this quarterfinals and all the quarterfinals today have so many, you know, the most, maybe the most underrated game could be the 9Z vs. Magic game, really, because, again, 9Z looks like a team that might be the strongest coming into playoff, form-wise.
And Magic earned their way, definitely, into a playoff spot on Mary.
But I'm not sleeping on anybody. I don't feel like there are true favorites right now, especially with the debuts in place.
The quality of gameplay is one thing, but now that we have a full house in the stadium,
and the fact, again, that a team like Vitality isn't here to just say we get a free grand finals at the very minimum,
I think that adds extra pressure to everybody else.
Surely the door feels ajar, and I think that this is a great game for two teams that could
have a surprisingly higher ceiling than you would have expected coming in.
Woxic gonna be fast for that pick.
Now E-Snake gave him his flowers on the desk, discussing how apt he is when it comes to
damaging players on the cross or just picking players through those doors.
A constant threat for Maus wrote that CT side is gonna be Woxic, and we see him just weaponized
towards Long for the opening 5v4.
And we'll see what happens once there's actual guns in his face to try to handle that kind of aggression.
Seems like just a couple of measly weapons can still find kills.
It's going to be that Xelix and Torsi combo, which finds an upgrade, right? MP9 goes over to the AK.
That's a third potential weapon for the retake, and if JL can open the door with a Desert Eagle, all of a sudden things get very sketchy.
But a couple of grenades will find him. That's the first cap player down, the fire fizzles out on bombsite.
And all of a sudden you have to wonder how do you get back into this if you're Maus?
They missed and smoke grenade this round and HE, but they still got it together.
And it's an overall clean entrance.
And even though there was some early damage here for Maus, it's only resulted in the one kill.
Again, we're keeping an eye on the kill count because it's going to result in Aurora just having such a buffed economy minutes into the game.
That's why I think we see them trying to press for damage on the exit.
exit. Aurora remain very worried about exactly that. This AK from outside B site might swing.
Scout is here, but oh no shot in. Just moved off door.
So Xelix hangs on to the AK-47 if Xanterras doesn't come run him down.
This is already such a high level of quality that we're seeing in a very small sample size of
rounds here for Aurora, but it's enough to show us that like they're very comfortable
And they're showing us exactly how good they were in their qualification match.
That's translating very well now to the stage.
We talk about Madger kind of trying to refine Aurora for 2026.
Obviously much easier than Maus, who have to come in with two new pieces
and a new role for the likes of Zershin.
And it's easier in one sense, but there was a lot of doubts about him as a caller.
And I think that individual journey you might have to face.
Oh, I might not be good enough to be a good caller, even if I'm putting in the effort.
Well, he seems to be proving that wrong, because he has absolutely called some fantastic rounds so far.
They're unique to Aurora, they're really effective, and they've been, I mean,
been giving credit to the round based on the calling alone in so many more situations.
See how he calls his way out of this one. We get this cross between Zershin and JL.
He's looking for his first kill.
Flashbinds JL, he will go down with nothing and Zershin can't manage that second one, so effective trade from Acadia.
Third defenders here eats the flashes, never gets a chance to fire back, and now you've got not only multi kills from Soulfly,
but a triple out of Acadia versus Maus's first gun round.
And so the desk set it, not only does Madger have to find and refine his calling and bring that up a notch for 2026,
but also the reliability of some of the individuals from Aurora also has to continue to deliver,
And this is exactly what you look for for a winning formula on Aurora.
It goes beyond Zanterras this year.
It goes beyond Wackadia and Soulfly and Woxix off-presence.
It's that collective consistency that Aurora are hoping to tap into.
And this is the sort of first gun round that might make you believe today is the day to do that.
Always wondered about the talent pool over in Turkey.
And Aurora have managed to find a lot of them.
I mean, from their Academy system as well, there have been impressive prospects.
They developed them well very underrated in that regard and obviously a lot of credit for being a national team and only having that
Smaller pool to pick from but it's working out and again for IGLs. That's probably the hardest part, but that goes for anybody
You just don't find tier one IGLs or IGL prospects all over the place
And I think Madger put it on himself to be that guy
I mean what we have to see here is that everybody's blind
It is perfect on a long hit.
And even though it looks like it's scrappy and fast,
that they have protocols to make sure that everything's
safe as well.
We have the timeout and Zershin in the interview with James
before the game started called Cycron what he believes
is the best coach in the game.
And always everybody has always viewed him as maybe the most underrated pick, you know, but obviously because now's can't lift those trophies is hard for coaches to be given the same level of credit as another who does.
It's kind of a black box that we can't really see into that often. But what we do know when it comes to developing talent, making roster moves, there always seems to be the right amount of thought behind it.
And again with this lineup, as Maui said, it looks like they haven't missed a beat.
Off through tunnels, flashed off the line, soilfly will be happy for the duel and there's nothing at that B site to stop it.
Not to mention you're gonna get this whiff shot from Torsi, who should be lucky that he's still alive, even on 10 health.
Call it quits, this round is done for and Aurora just stomped their way to yet another round.
Incredible how they're picking the place of Lisa resistance every time they go for an exact starting from the pistol,
walking into the B site where it's empty off of fake, and now they have it really fake.
They've just put a little bit of pressure in a default and instantly moved into a choke point
This time as we can see there's only one guy in the B site
There is no connectivity in mid and maybe if Torsi had gotten that shot
Honestly if Torsi gots thought that shot maybe they go for a retake they don't win and lose even more players
It could be a blessing in disguise
To return to your conversation about the coach and how Cyclone kind of gets his credit, but
then also wasn't able to maybe elevate into trophy lifters, I think that's one of those
conversations where we start to look to the supportive elements that other teams have.
We know that Navi always give their psychologist credit.
You know that Vitality speak of mentality outside of the server and you have these extra
pieces.
felt like even since the NXT days, Cyclone's supposed to do it all. I mean, the guy's even a masseuse
for this team to try to bring them out of those dark spots. And so now knowing Maus have this
extra supportive element in 2026, sure, there's the difficulty of the onboarding. But what does that
change for them moving forward? In this gun round, move forward easily by just that one death in the
previous. What I'd like to see is Torsi hit that shot, but he misses his chance. A difficult one
over the suicide box, but it could have been that 5v4 that Maus needs to stop this momentum.
And we are at the point where maybe you do need to hit the difficult shots to find some leverage.
Anything.
So they put what is basically the minimum amount of pressure back
against Aurora. They want to take Long and they get it instantly. JL alone now.
Zershin does not have a flash for him inside the pit.
Optiptoe's onto the line, already held.
Ooh, that's Madger dead towards Catwalk.
Pit player activates, Jail finds a dink, but he doesn't find a kill.
It is Spinks towards that Madger climb up that keeps Maus in this somewhat.
Problem for Maus is there's a second layer in the form of Octadia.
He'll take his duel up Cat, that Spinks down to the half health Zershin.
It's head tucked here towards Kar.
But as they emerge out through that smoke, he's gonna pop up.
Which target does he shoot at first?
He doesn't know which of these players are low,
But it's two backs turn and so ramps with help and that offers now under pressure because the push comes out
And you've got mouse on the brink of the scoreboard, but with Katie is gonna try to
Double straight out from a Katie on the ramp close
But no cigar the story was supposed to be
exertion from the groups good every single match
Finally saves around here for mouse and instead it gets ripped away
away. You finally feel like your game is alive. You finally feel like you've pulled
off the right move and you get stomped on in a 1v2 by Wikipedia. I want to call it a
turning point but it's just Aurora continuing with what's happened. Nothing's changed now.
That clutch could have been massive for Maus. They make one mistake of not clearing car
and they still get away with it.
A trade you absolutely need.
You know what's gut wrenching in that situation?
There was a lot of question around only Zellex today from the desk, right?
He's the least experienced.
And so he is the player that's meant to trade that on ramp.
His teammate loses his head instantly.
He gets that split second to find the frag.
He doesn't. How shook is he now?
They're coming in. Two players on a headshot angle, knowing where he is. You should have died.
Every single time. And yet here we are with the flawless Stars of the Teaside, another fight for Zershin, and he'll collect the multi-kill.
Trying to put that rifle where it works. 5v3 advantage, four mouse, and that bomb's still a bit of a distance from Woxic.
And so being met by a smoke here is going to cause Aurora to slow down. They've got ample time to still try to figure this round out.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that this is the first round that mouse will finally get in this game and
It is you know that 1v2 clutch, but what's interesting?
Well, no, we're not talking enough guys. We're not doing enough. We're not talking enough. We're not planning enough
Okay before the round starts that's where exertion has some words for his team
And I swear that is some of the most important
reminders that you can give. It's the advice that seems the most obvious, but
it's always relevant when you're on stage into your one.
Sometimes you hear something kind of generic like that and you just think like
well anybody could have said it, but the point is somebody has to say it. And if
you don't have that kind of man inside of you, if you're not a captain, well you
can also be a part of the problem, shell up, etc. So it's cool to see Zershin
trying to find that new responsibility.
It looks like JL might find his first frag of the game here.
Yeah, he's on the board.
So four up for Maus.
Would have loved to have added that last round to the board
first, but hey, at this point, you just need to stop the bleeding,
and they'll do that in round seven.
Sometimes when you go quiet in these moments,
it's easy to do it and not even realize that you've
stopped talking.
And I think that, yeah, verbalizing it like Zershin did
It can be really important, even if, again, it might seem so obvious.
Why would you have to?
Because I think that also means that, you know, at your best,
the only thing missing is the comms.
Already shown what kind of dust do they have, what kind of rounds they can play.
But I think they look over to the other side of this stage,
and they see Aurora doing all the things and clearly communicating well,
and they go, yeah, we can obviously do that too.
Just have to find a way to tap into it.
And then beyond that, let's say communication does get online,
we're gonna need some more firepower, four miles as well.
This Torsi JL one kill situation
can't continue through this half.
Not when we've gotten multi-kill potential
from multiple pieces of Aurora.
So if you each found their first, sometimes the hardest.
And I think sometimes we see JL,
He's gotten hard countered, but my real concern is Torsi, because even in their last series,
I think he barely skated by with his performance.
And now he's missing more shots.
They won't win this game without him, and we were worried about Woxic,
but he already quelled our doubts in their last match.
He got it together, he got four clutches in their series.
He looks confident again.
It's having his worst event of the year coming into that 2-2 game.
He found himself, upended those negative expectations.
It's tapped into six kills and seven rounds of play.
We get to 45 seconds with all ten players up.
We get this crawl out through middle.
And Zershin still postured on the CT box.
This could get weird here.
He's lost the timing.
Madger actually pushes through this.
Oh, Zershin able to pick up the frag.
The man advantage is Maus 5v4.
Sit in anticipation.
Walks, it would love to find somebody
over the edge of this smoke, but it's not going to happen.
And now exposed.
Tagged down to 13 healths.
Wikipedia.
And it's crazy because they have long control.
They just haven't actually exited those doors.
All the CTs are here, grouped up on the A site, casually watching towards Long,
but hoping that it's not going to be that take, and time will expire.
Aurora will end up saving with four players alive.
Must be sweat off the brow of Maus, who are just happy to get around to build up their bank accounts.
Whatever's going on with Torzi right now, he just needs to get over it,
because you should be full of motivation.
You know, you can't always pick the days that you are in perfect form.
Whatever cobwebs are around in his mind.
I mean, it's not like he's the one joining a new team.
He knows how to play in this system.
I'm in Zershin.
I've played together for so many years now.
And I'm sure that there's trust
across the table from the both of them.
Some of the calls that Madger has been making, just slicing through these sights like butter.
It's so easy for him.
For some reason, even before the information really comes in to identify the weakness.
But how many times can he do that?
Oh, Surgeoned Transition.
Oh, awkward. Yeah.
Wow, that's so aggressive.
This has been worse by the fact that he just suddenly pulls that Nade out.
So, the Pop of Aurora, cashing him off guard, walks it through the doors.
You come to expect it almost.
Soap Life got a challenge on ramp.
You'll lose that one, but no multi-frag off of JL.
It's a one and done.
And so, the suddenness of that Pop-Up Catwalk.
Talk me through the timing.
I love not even having really a setup phase to that attack,
Just going right into it and how often you see someone dipping in the CT spot
Before you're clear of the long player
Jumping up on the railing to take a fight at Dorothy man
He's got to get some of these kills
That one might have been to save his op and it was definitely possible
Now's they're showing up looking like a shell of themselves
And this is a moment I think, you know, you've got an AWP on Long, you have Zershin up in CT,
he's trying to delay because if those flashes expire then TORZI can take a
repeat and they want to make sure they can go forward with their cap played the whole time,
but I think the special moment for Aurora there is trusting their execs so much that you have
the confidence to jump up on the railing and kill the CT guy first, usually save him for later.
Zershin wins the duel and the AWPer can't pluck JL off that edge of the smoke.
There's lots of bodies here, so the rifle swings and Soulfly done with just one.
Here's Dorsey, rattling off his shot, letting Waxit know there's two players back here.
He's got two players occupied and Zershin's had enough of Pete out of nowhere for Madger.
Saw that.
Would love to try to test this smoke, so he gives himself that underhanded flash,
gets Spinks off the line, Molotov to the back of sight.
Madger's just cranking the pressure here, and as he goes back into cover,
With a bomb carrier suit to arrive, Wikadia will take it down,
it's got a smoke to cross, and they found their opening.
It's the aggression.
They just can't handle it right now.
The fact that he was willing to get that kill
and just take it into his sight hit
had him all tough for the plan.
His teammate was ready to run in after him.
Wikadia, on full HP, is making the golden move.
You've got a low player holding the sight.
It's Wikadia full health.
It's a low player on the flank.
Madge are trying to take his sweet time with this.
Wikipedia just needs to survive, and as they sit outside of the window, there's the flight for Madger, perfectly timed, low HP Zersion.
He sits, he sits, he waits, he knows he has to get through this door, he also has to ace, and with this amount of time, it's not gonna happen.
Aurora, the evolution of that round, on a moment's notice, and the fact that Madger was tucked into that long corner, or tunnel corner,
to catch the push off guard, blindsided by the right side of things, I mean, just ready to evolve, if this goes south.
Yeah, and it, you know, started off not great here.
I mean, great for Zershin with another multi-kill hold.
Three frags in the round and they end up losing.
There's so many fine timings in this round.
Between the tunnel peak, between the move to the B site,
between that mid-flank and the post plant,
and Aurora come out on top of all of those timings.
It's another moment where it's again,
you can clearly see the communication is great.
Because the best time to take those risks, you know, when you're down in numbers, is right
away.
When the structure hasn't been set, to take advantage.
Oh, and a good kill.
You're Torsi.
Smoke behind him.
Try to bait that fight out, and now Gus chicken out, Soulfly, perfect position in front of
that smoke.
Man, one kill back.
Don't give two.
Oh, man.
These are huge errors now.
That's an 11th frag for Soulfly.
Torsi will land a shot up the catwalk.
He's got a multi-frag this round.
I mean, they kind of know that he's alone.
They've taken out two players on A.
He might feel like he's doing it all himself,
and it looks like he might be able to.
His first multi-kill round.
And he's got everything thus far for Maus.
Pushes forward, which will have him dodging Soulfly.
But there's about to be this mid climb up.
And a Woxic, who's carrying the bomb,
is meant to be caught in between the O'Glock.
Just forward, yeah, because he knows
that he's going to get flanked on the A site.
He can't stay there forever.
Nobody winds up climbing the Xbox to clear that close catwalk, so the AWPer gets blindsided.
And we'll see if Corsi's 3k is all in vain.
What a plant here for Woxic, but he doesn't expect that flank out of Xalex.
We'll get one more 4miles at least.
That's a third round by a retake.
Such a clutch kill for Zershin.
I thought, you know, even the repeat, you could have played that 2v2 differently, but...
He was honestly at such a disadvantage after getting spotted.
Had to be a headshot for Zershin.
He's delivering mechanically.
The main reason Maus are getting rounds, and Torsi staying up here to get the kills is
excellent, I mean it's probably great for the confidence, dodging the flashes is also
good.
And when Aurora were coming upcat, they thought eventually he has to leave because they've
lost long control, they've lost their 2A players, and so it's not safe for him.
And eventually, they do put enough pressure to get him killed, but by that point he had
already done his job.
He is such a threat on Dust2.
No kill off this peek.
Of course he wants another round with impact before he has to kick off the T side.
He's kind of missed that timing on stopping Aurora from taking over this portion of the
map.
Flash around the corner so Mao's won't be strangers to this info.
They hear the rumblings of a cat take, but the question is how many bodies actually there?
Of course he remembers saw nothing.
They get some V Presence off the lurk smoke.
Torsi doesn't see anything in mid, so they immediately think it's A.
This is pulled Torsi away.
What's bomb?
Madger has walked the bomb through the mid doors on his own,
and so they have to follow him.
Yeah. They've got to. He's just gonna jump.
The flash is coming, but it won't matter.
Spinks is just good for the one.
Xellaxe out of the window. Time to be the hero.
A ton of pressure on him. He knows that player's still in tunnels,
but it's all about when that timing comes through.
For the time being, he's got a separated duel.
The mid hold goes well thanks to that smoke-fading CT.
And so the timings just get a little weird,
But what Katie it does open up this B site
It's all about getting the bomb back and they're all so ready to swing off contact
So mouse stuffing Madger and the two players that push out through that doors
Does give mouse a chance to double their rounds with the last two of the half
Actually another excellent call with the little bit of a fake towards B
They took advantage of towards the thinking that he had information through the mid double doors
And it really felt like it was going to be a fake with a tunnels lurker to hold off mid and a cat play coming in again, which again, they have to be worried about because it works so well that previous round.
Still a formidable defense versus the mid B that came out.
Overall so much credit to Madger for the calls to be honest. It was a fantastic half from that perspective.
Miles had to struggle and fight to get anything going,
and it was mostly back of just Azirson multi-kills,
who is, right now, their best player, their IGL.
It's Mr. Multi-Frag.
Alright, Astana, I hear you.
Not bad for a 10 a.m. kickoff today.
So much counter-strike.
Y'all are here for the very first rounds,
I think it delivers, if you're an Aurora fan, that's the kind of just aggressive, confident start
that looks to separate yourself from Maus, as you have less fine-tuning coming into 20-26 than this fresh roster.
But as that game goes on, you start to see these multi-kills trickle in, you see Torsies at least off Impact in one.
But immediately, Bomb dropped to a pistol shot from Soulfly, and it's just sat there now, right?
on the end of a hook, like bait for Aurora to really try to come and over stack it, but they still just hang on.
These two players need no assistance. It is lambs to the slaughter on Longdoor's.
Sure, Spinks will bring one back, but he is attempting a 1v5 in this pistol,
and while nobody has actually moved towards Long, it's because they just go for the flank.
Could you have asked for a better Longhole?
No, you definitely couldn't have. They wove in between those two flashbangs.
They hit every first peek, and it's the P2Ks to get four kills in that round.
I can't remember the last time I've seen that.
And it's crazy how we started this game off with a 3K clutch with a knife kill at a soulfly.
He's 14-9. We didn't even really continue to say his name that much,
but he's really quietly had a fantastic map after that round.
the
call a spade a spade this is where it could just get extremely ugly now for
mouse
speaking of players we haven't had to say I don't think I mentioned Santa eras
the world we live in Santa eras can go three and seven and his team can be
leading what's about to be ten and four that's absolutely terrifying this
Sometimes you see Wacadia take the wheel in some matches, but overall, we still have to remember.
He's on for the ace. He's lapping his way through this Wacadia.
I buy JL, of course, but that's the one. The one and only for Maus in this round.
It is all too easy for Aurora's pistol conversion.
You know, we like to talk about who's up next and who's underrated,
and I think that feels like Wacadia, who is improving event after event,
but still, Xanteris is the best player on the team.
He is the guy who has the highest output in some of these biggest moments, and even if that story is changing slowly, we saw.
We saw, but the thing is they don't, they don't need Xanteris right now.
If it becomes, if the round score becomes a problem, then we start to look at his score line as an issue as well.
In fact, they have that extra gear just waiting.
Maybe if this becomes a comeback, there will be a spotlight on him.
The fact is now that we're on CT side, will be easy to get that storyline back up.
Oh, spam down. Good hold by JL.
That's nice.
Stands on the roof of the taxi.
Had to do two headshots through that door to lock the kill down.
Locking tries to pick up the space. We'll find damage in response.
Ooh, dangerous, but there's three now!
If you thought, yeah, you can see his disbelief on the player camera.
He was very confident that there was not going to be an entire pack of mouse players ready for that move.
Santeres will be dropped empty-handed, and so Mauser is sliding perfectly into this bombsite.
Their first gun round, taking damage on four of the five players, but not losing a duel amongst any of them.
Say cheese are hurting a lot, but it doesn't matter how much health they have remaining.
5v2 is huge unless they finish them off.
It's great to get a nice quick response into this half out of mouse.
It's not the hardest round so far, they just went in their default, but that's the first step.
Yeah.
Two players kind of taking that duel to JL certainly helps.
You get the first one in a raw one-to-one, JL picks it up, props to him, his fifth kill of the map.
And then you get all the second push that catches Woxic entirely off guard.
Not sure what he visualized.
It was just a JL 50 HP situation, but couldn't have been more off with three players ready
for him.
Trying to be of one Tarik, speaking of another Turkish player peeked mid and into those five ops.
That's really not a concerning moment here for Aurora just yet.
They're still quite happy, five round gap, everything like that, but they won't be investing
that much behind this 1M4 from Soulfly.
had an op or something like that they might be a serious round threat but
instead you would expect mouse did not drop a situation like this push from
wakania I just fact he has nothing other than this knife so he's just gonna go for
it but shit the flashbang actually hit his body so there was there was no
disguising that moment. He just went into Roomba mode.
Actually pretty nice if there's a lineup for that just to actually physically
clear someone.
Now, Soulfly is one of the guys over here in this position.
Just have to make sure that the bomb doesn't get overcommitted, worst case scenario.
Four players with rifles versus Soulfly.
No utility.
He's actively peaking, so...
This is the one way they could lose.
He does it all, but he's gotta do everything.
He's got a pistol to try to play with. They give him these duels. He's still working with 50 health
JL's low multiple body spot and he is trying to get to perfection
They're gonna forget about this man and the seed right you're starting to rotate over because the m4 takes the first fight
So because it takes the fight now, they're starting to consider it all the lineup there
It's Zershin's full health dead still oh
Think of the value they've got
They've actually stopped it so fly with the m4 they use it on two players spanks
He has no time to win this round way
They set it up to perfection
They like the m4 fight first so that the pistol player who you'd think would try to serve up a distraction
Can come in with the clothes and you know Zershin heard
Excitement in the atmosphere that there was somebody there and pit tried to turn around but his peak got denied and
And they win with no investment a single gun saved from last round
The perfect use of it to be honest
Wonsik lives for the crowds that's Aurora grabbing an 11th
Just now this is a moment where you would get quiet if your mouth start looking around and wondering what's happening right now
but from RPOV, this is so much credit going to Aurora for the fantastic game plan.
I mean, even maximizing the use of pistol and players in a round like this
is something that deserves credit.
It's got straight up outgun by the guy.
Is engagement choices right? The target selection?
Shutout walks it, getting a kill on a fully held Zershin with something
like the six bullets that were left in that gun?
Walkzick will lap that up, and just when it felt like maybe things could shift towards
Maus, he could just get a chance to feel like they've had any footing in this game.
You know, test Aurora somewhat.
At this rate, if they don't win this round, Aurora are going to be lapping them out of
the server, and Maus are walking off that stage, stepping outside and feeling so small.
Like it right now, Aurora have a core of players all having incredible rounds.
Xantharis hasn't even been included in that conversation yet,
but meanwhile, Males have one guy who's cracked 10 kills.
And as great as Xersion has been, as both Caller and a Fraggar so far,
that's just not going to be enough.
That's a lot of damage in one place.
Some foreshadowing for you.
Setup smooth comes to see how good his timings are.
There's one.
Slight chip damage, that's all. He'll go for the smoke next, and another frag grenade.
They jump within it, that nade gets sphinxed down low, another frag that finds nothing,
and so it's not a ton of value, as you'd expect out of three frags.
Six-shot, Zershin's got it!
And Wikadia comes out from CT spawn to at least pull him off of the plate.
Double P, three even over that ledge!
And so they press themselves into the rotation of Aurora to just try to keep them if they
guarantees the plant. Mows find a way to push through what felt like an artillery barrage queued up.
It's not a done situation. It's actually a little bit scary. It's 2v3, so
it'll take any reason to save, but if one mistake, one extra P comes out, they will punish it.
Utility comes out. It's going to announce their approach. There's a head for Soulfly 2 of Poc.
Zelex is going to kind of tap this one in. With that kill, you see Majer deterred from the follow-up
and so mouse go butt number strong up the catwalk
We'll see what the place tag is in the end. Oh, nice shot
So three up here for mouse and this is a moment where you give credit to the setup three
Hs first mistake. Oh, okay the bomb blew up and Torsi lost the off just for the record
Three three nades waiting for this cap late, but honestly they did nothing
But the nades went too high, too far, wrong place, barely got any chip damage, and it was very smart the way that mouse were standing to avoid some of the natural places those nades could land.
But that's something that could have made a difference.
As you said, while that kill was cool, we look at this round, and mouse don't have that gun again.
Luckily for Maus, it's the same time Aurora don't have any of solo M4 in pit to rob you
of your momentum.
It's critical for Maus to have won that one.
We're looking at four rounds back and forth, no consecutive wins.
This should be the difference maker.
Just look at the setup out there, and it's Aurora matching their energy.
This one would be a beyond-report approach if something went wrong, but again, like, how does Madger do it?
When we were on the T side, all the coals that were coming in were perfect to go through the empty site,
and it's been the exact opposite here for Maus.
Most amount of resistance.
Considering how little Aurora have to play with, and you still get down to the 45 seconds,
there we go, that's why the Lills got 35 bullets.
Zershin uses 31 of them to get through that hit back, and on a moment's notice, Maus commit
to keep four players up, close this game to a 7-11 situation.
Aurora on the brink of victory, take one on the chin last round, and already walks it,
gets hands back on an AWP.
It's a one foot in front of the other situation.
For Maus, it's not too steep of a comeback, of course.
Just that the amount of pop off that Aurora
can tap into is, I feel like what Maus
have to be the most scared of.
They're gonna risk it.
Soul fly is ready.
It's not who you want to run into.
Wikipedia doesn't even get a shot off.
It spinks will give you a double entry.
Wow, okay, that's an easy B site take. I mean, you're not going for this one.
That's round one really quickly. No 2K for my other player. I'm surprised when Kadya didn't shoot.
Sometimes, you know, our flashbangs are a little bit muted when we're watching him play,
but it looked like he got vision before he got blind again.
It's nice to win a round like that, because if you lost it, you hit 12, it's a B rush, you kind of feel stupid,
But instead, it's a nice feather in the cap for you.
Calling wise, you get it a quick one out of the way.
You don't have to think too hard in a default.
Where we're going on another round.
Give us another chance at that hole.
We would have held it.
Let's kill a piece for the refiring taps.
of them those bullets. I think at least Mao's get into dignified territory which is really important
for them in this game because it felt like a 13-5 was coming. Yes. And now Aurora at least have
some pressure on them. Mao's have burned through all their pauses but Aurora will take one.
They obviously would love to not have to do this but they've been really creative and honestly
industrious with the low gun buys and I want to say every setup it's hard to
have variety on Dust2 and yet they've shown us that.
They all the big game player for Navi I mean he's he is the reason they won the
Copenhagen Major. Literal MVP? Yeah.
Just a matter of him tapping back into that ability right now, sitting at the bottom of
the board alongside Torji, who's got his chance at punishing a push, but nothing comes out
of it.
So Aurora offered that pause off to go double 5'7", MP9, few extra utilities for the job,
but already you can see the state of their grenades is barren.
So we'll see if Maus make a mistake, because those fast moments is when something like
This goes unchecked, unclear, and Aurora could get away with it.
See this quick shift back towards that A-side?
It's a dangerous move for Xanterrez, who, again,
we haven't really kind of talked about negatively,
but as the game gets closer, you wait for his impact,
because it's been damn near non-existent.
He's got five frags, pops up here to try to make contact on the cat play,
draws Util out of mouse, who at least have map control,
but not to pull that trigger just yet.
This is the moment to watch Xanterrez, somebody that we've said,
Oh, is it really necessary? Well, now it gets close.
Also on the right side of the map.
Woxic has gone head to head with Torgie so many times.
Taking the line as the smoke pops.
Low HP of Torgie spotted.
See one fall back. That's information.
No second flash here.
Xershin presses the smoke.
Whoa, that's risky, but he doesn't get a bullet.
Xanderas gets swarmed from this dropout of Xershin.
It's that cat play that then just keeps pressure on smoke.
But with low HP and soulfly in the pocket found by Spinks.
Late Lurk works out wonderfully, and I have to, I mean, I'm just left scratching my head as to how
Wikipedia doesn't shoot a 5-7 bullet into the back of the player who white swings doors.
I mean, he didn't even need it to be a headshot. That guy had red health. He could have hit it
anywhere. Zershin and Torsi really low. I thought it was kind of a crazy call, honestly,
to burst out mid in that spot, considering they had just seen him jump across the door,
and the op was right behind it. So really banking hard that they had faked properly on Cat,
which they didn't. Woxic was there, had all the information guaranteed, so that was kind of a call.
I think they skate by to get away with it for mouse, but it's much scarier than it looks.
Now I wonder if the pressure of actually closing this game is starting to affect Aurora,
because it feels like in those specific situations, they're far more clutched in previous rounds.
This is the way.
There's the upgrade matcher was looking for it.
And he won M4, is a real threat.
You can already see a little bit of growing pains here for Zershin.
I mean, it's been a path of most resistance, I feel like,
in a lot of these rounds, to winning,
but they are putting that straight together.
They're also doing it on T side.
And now it will be Xanteris to come under question.
He can't help out his team.
AD ahead of that, here's the ox.
Oh man, they just want to keep it so simple.
It doesn't look like anybody for Aurora is going to overstep this.
They'll smoke it off, they'll keep mouths at bay.
We haven't really seen Aurora test the long push either since that one round JL opened up.
Early day is that one.
They're blocking both sides of the map and so this will be more of a question.
What does Urshin think that they want him to do?
And honestly, I have the same question.
All he have the catwalk to feign a bit of presence.
It's not drawing all of Aurora over, but I do fear for this long range B rotation so
the defenders are gonna have to deliver.
Wikipedia from a corner again slips me off.
Oh, that's so good.
Now, we've got to play around both sides,
and JL kills Wikipedia in that smoke.
They just delete the B defense.
Sure, a missed-off shot on Zellix,
a chance that could have been,
as he'll survive with seven health,
and it's another moment for Maus to just squeak by.
I don't know what would have happened
if JL didn't hit that bullet in the smoke.
I feel like Maus still would have been able
to solidify their spot.
They're dying in the back of the site,
didn't get anything.
Now there's just a bit too much repetition in these little moments.
These what could have beens, what should have beens for Aurora?
You let three of these rounds slip through with what feels like very little fight.
Maus are a round away from tying this.
My big concern is there was no actual risk in this ET defense.
There was no lean anywhere. There was no early map control.
They were smoking B tunnels. They smoked long.
And it felt like they were just hoping that someone was going to put together an unbelievable hold.
But instead, they ended up in vanilla positions.
And so I think they were risking it just from the start.
And even though Maus is called as if like some kind of devious level play,
they're going for a late depop and waiting for the right opportunity.
If they're going to get into the site, it's going to be a 2v5.
Aurora were never at any point around seeking to get back information
to find out that they were in a lower tunnel stack.
And so you can see the pressure affecting both of these teams now.
But because Aurora did so well at the beginning of this game,
Even though Maus have made this comeback, their money is still good.
They still have an off-and-play. They still have a one-round lead.
I have another chance to right there wrong.
Psychologically, it feels like you want to start taking less risks towards the end of the game.
We're putting in amazing decent right now, guys. Good job.
Keep it up. Nice one, Rostik. Nice one, Lothan.
trying to win, and not just slightly get it over the line.
Gannet's search and playing off timing.
Santerres is just stomping around.
Stomping around, jumping away.
I mean, this game has had no impact.
Yeah, and there was just no vision on mid,
or anything like that.
Off shot gets missed.
Now they start eating flashes.
Long sick trying to get his line back,
but so many flashes in that sequence.
JL's going to use the space to move through.
It's a 5-3, a back turned over,
and Mousa going to now delete Aurora.
This is such a turnaround.
I mean now Aurora are actually just entirely crumbling. This is just tragic for them
The money has finally been chewed through. I mean in this spot. Nobody had even been watching mid. There was a cat timing available
Yeah, Dershwin was fast up into this position
But they had no credence to the thought that this was not a choke point that they had info on that they had it covered
It was double smoked in mid
So he had to be aware of that and at the same time he's running up from CT
He gives his exact position away.
He had to be aware of that, and he wasn't.
And then as soon as he does get shot at,
he just jumps and tries to spin in the air,
like a Xanteris, I think, would just plant your feet
and at least try to shoot back.
But he's just so caught off by it.
So entirely caught off, so entirely swept under the rug.
Unfortunately for Xanteris, it's been the whole game
hasn't been good.
For the rest of the team, though, the concerning part
is they were fantastic.
Both of your hands bro.
Well it also looks like Aurora is starting to play with only four fingers.
Six rounds in a row out of bounds is a hell of a way to just dig in and give up no further
ground.
This was a 60-row start Aurora.
Aurora, who has picked up both pistols of this map so far,
who were able to win that ridiculous round from Soulfly in the pit.
And this is the moment where you go,
okay, we need to go back to, you know, the team that's playing to win.
But at this point now, you've given over confidence to Maus.
You've given over economy to Maus.
They're allowing Xershin to start to believe in himself more
in this debut playoffs as an IGL.
So while Xanterra still floats over on towards that CT cross, it's going to wind up being
the scout to try to take the wider blindle.
Not a single opening.
Pick it up.
Ten-zero for the CT side.
Giving that space back over to Maus and just waiting in anticipation but a missed chance
with the Scout, Xanterras could be tested yet again.
They have the minimal amount of stuff to defend against.
As soon as he comes over, we saw how good those flashes were. Again, nothing.
Totally outdual. Just has done nothing in terms of stopping this.
It's going to be with Kady instead to try to step up. He's in full flight. Tether caught on that off-peak.
Out of Torzzi, Zershin 20 health. Scout could clear this out.
The B-bomb site's already crumbled and Maus have gone on a 7-round streak.
Street to take a 12th round first. Can you believe that the last round Aurora wins is that Hail Mary moment from soul flight inside long pit and
Nothing since they went from embarrassing it to
Embarrassing mouse to embarrassing themselves here as a mouse will reach 12 first and look at exertion
23 frags on this round another multi kill for him a T side comeback called
He's been able to tap into full focus, and it's not taken the most extraordinary game
plan. I think it's taken calmness and simplicity and trust, and they somehow managed to do
this with Atorzi, you know, really having a B or C game at the moment.
And yet Zershin doing more of what he's done all of that while. He enters playoffs as not
only a new in-game leader, and for the first time today on a stage, but the fifth highest
at this event. Like at what world does this individual level just take off the way it has?
And so under pressure and under scrutiny and under a massive lead from Aurora, Zershin decides
if no one else is going to step up into that gap, I will do this myself.
All while Aurora fall apart here on Dust2.
Someone will be losing sleep tonight, that's for sure.
Another long fight for JL. He will lose that.
Santerrez with his first kill in many rounds.
Finally put something up for Maus to have to handle.
Zerchins gonna take a ton of damage.
Just because Maus have run these seven rounds in a row,
doesn't mean Aurora won't force this to overtime.
Of course not. Now they maybe feel freed out of there.
Finally not in the lead.
As psychological as that may sound,
you find Maus signing up for a long fight
and a world where you come through with man advantage but you look at that radar and you can see there's a heavy lean going down
And we have seen mouths out position themselves in the face of Aurora as this game has gotten closer
And so Torsey looks to take point and Woxic can't immediately get that kill
So Zelex actually clipping magic magic in the background. They just got info on two more players
We get this pullback from Torsey
Slightly, Wacadia leans in
Oh, what is this?
He's falling and he gets that headshot.
Just like that, the man advantage evaporates.
And seemingly their target falls on this A site, Sam Teres.
You've gotten one.
But on 40 health, pressed up against this wall
along the fox, there's nothing further.
Spinks is going to serve as the jackknife
to reopen this round.
And Woxic is only working with 22 health.
But he can make this happen still.
Spinks hangs onto the flank as Soulfly starts stomping in.
It's a triple out of Spinks.
and a masterclass of a comeback called Bizership.
And less with two kills to his name,
Wox it can extend play and give Aurora a chance
to regain respect because they let this game go.
He's gone unnoticed.
But as that bomb continues to take,
he's just sitting here in the way.
He's got another smoke, but he's also got
Phoris right behind him who is here to add this.
What a comeback out of bounds.
This is unbelievable for a D-side debut as an IGL in playoffs.
They bring out JL, but it's really all about Zershin.
She said she loves you, but she can't love me.
But I love you!
I won't play window anymore.
What's going on?
Play your role, one expand.
The human body was built to move, not trapped at test in one singular posture for 12 hours
a day. It's time your chair evolved. This is Secret Lab Titan Ego. Ergonomically
engineered for you. Gamers. Hybrid workers. Artists. And back in your every move.
Well, we wonder what would happen when the resistible force would meet the movable object.
And it happened, Aurora looking good until that mouse come back.
Some say it's Ocean Masterclass, but maybe some on the desk think different.
I don't know, guys.
What do you make it out of?
An awesome way to start the playoffs at Estada, right?
Yeah.
You know, it was looking like it could be a very one-sided affair, which is not really
how you want to kick things off here but it quickly
spiled into a crazy comeback story for mouse sports you know i was fully
prepared to come to this desk and just talk about how uninspired
mouse look on their ct side and they were getting torn to shreds
that was even crazier about it was a terrorist was largely absent in all
of that it was what katey it was so fly dominating long a dominating all the
defensive positions that mouse trying to hold
and jumping up to a massive lead
where mouse only just kind of started recovering at the end of the first half
I mean you could see it in a glass half empty sort of way does. I thought the T side of Aurora was fantastic
I thought they had a lot of different ideas
Myriad opener is a lot of ways where they actually fake mouse out of their shoes
Even going back to the very pistol round between these two teams the way that Aurora fakes long aow is able to
Moonover to the B side walk into an empty bomb side
There were a few instances of that where Aurora completely had mouths off kilter
There were moments also where they had that kind of Joker player and in the pit right there
Which we just saw I thought this game was done
I thought it was completely over and then we saw exertion just putting on a masterclass of calling and individual performance
I agree with you 100% Malli
I mean we kind of talk about how at times Aurora has looked a little bit one note a little bit just kind of focusing on a
Death ball one direction you're right
They made these really huge rerouting movements on their t-side to catch some gaps and put some points on the board
And then even in the second half
it still look bad for miles because you have a situation where they just peek one by one on the pistol round feeding soul flies
P2k you have a round where it's like a hero in four and pit that they don't fully clear and they lose that round and that's very
Embarrassing but what I will say is this man is that when mouse finally got their economy
Settled and they finally got their feet underneath them Zershin was charging for man
We talked pregame about how he was kind of giving zealots the ball and throwing sport now
He took the ball bro. He was going out there. He was tearing shit up
He had some very good timings like catching zanteris the weird rotations and just doing a very fantastic job calling his own number and leading by example
I mean the numbers don't lie you can see them on your screen
You know sometimes when you are the IGL, you know
You might not have the capability to pick up the ball and rumble that like you're talking about
Zershin does new to the role we've been asking ourselves as analysts of the game as students of the game
When is he gonna fall off? When when is the inevitable going to happen and certainly in the stana for the whole tournament?
It hasn't yet well
I think what's exciting about exertion
Slotting into this role performing so well is that I actually think that this has legs because oftentimes when we talk about new
IGLs that are slotting in as teams are going for a firepower upgrade
I'm thinking for example Brolin when he came in at Cluj how he still actually was a fragger
I'm even talking about when electronic came in for the spring finals
We won the tournament with Navi, but then they start to taper off.
That's what happened with Maus as well.
Their T side get a little bit worse.
I don't really see this Maus team as being dependent on what Brolin was doing.
And so I actually think that this is more sustainable than even going to the next tournament.
It would not surprise me if they keep up this level of form for the next five events, six events.
Yeah, I think for us, like we were kind of, you know, easing ourselves into being excited about Maus, right?
I think one of the first things we identified is they haven't lost anything yet, right?
You know sometimes there is that lack of hangover effect where you lose your IGL
You kind of feel like you're just a little bit lost
But I think with their coach being so involved in the system. I think you're right
I think Zershin hasn't skipped a beat in fact
I think their mid-round reactions are better if I'm 100% honest
I think the swings that they're doing are great and you know kind of flip in the script though and all the things that mouse did great
I have to say this it's like you know Aurora really sat back and did not try to be proactive in this rut mouse sports at all
You know they really made it kind of easy on mouse to take map control and set up their plays
I think that was a problem and look Zanteris is not beating the playoff allegations right now
This guy has had a sub one rating and so many playoffs this event
You know throughout this year and that's troubling because he's supposed to be your star guy
And if you can't rely on him in a moment like that, that's a problem
Well to that point us we can actually listen in to what was happening in that round where mouse got it over the line
dead, one more CT, one CT, CT, CT, CT
I thought there is somewhere
you come shortcase
I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming
one CT
you have molly for CT Adam
I'm pushing the bomb, I'm molly CT
don't see him, care site, I'm dead
nice, I have molly
one CT, one CT, one CT
I'm doctor, maybe
no one CT, site
one site, site
CT CT CT CT CT
that's us
that's clear, sound
nice, nice CT
I have the jump, focus on your ramp
He's ramp left side, I have it
He's in the open
He's ramp fighting, he's behind the smoke
They know exactly what they just did
just did in that moment. I mean, I have to say, previous iterations of Maus, are they
that cool, calm, and collected? Are the levels of communication there? Historically, you
would assume no, because I can't believe the last time I saw Maus win a game like that.
Can I point out one thing real quick? I mean, I think what we heard there was fantastic.
Maybe sounds a little bit chaotic to some people, but you gotta be fast and counter-strike
and get the information out as quickly as possible, because this is a game of milliseconds.
So they were very key on picking up on each other despite the speed of talking one of the things
I noticed there though that really impressed me is Alex is dead
He's letting people know hey this guy's got this covered like he's coming in with a third-party perspective as the youngest player on the squad as
A rookie in a state of environment and he's able to kind of come in there make his voice known and help kind of direct traffic a
Little bit. I actually quite enjoyed, you know the spread of responsibility that you saw in that round
Yeah, we definitely saw a great example there
They're also just how everybody's able to contribute that some people, I think, were
probably worried about what do they lose without Brolin.
Well, that's the thing, sphinx, exertion, JL, zealots there, they all step up.
Everybody's able to contribute so much.
I also like how much they are able to talk about utility that should be used in those
kinds of moments.
In that game, even the players that weren't fragging will.
Like Torsi and JL didn't actually pop off the page statistically.
Both of them ended with under a 1.0 rating, but they had four flash assist each.
So that's just that's just crazy that they're still finding ways to contribute and it speaks to speaks volumes about how complete some of these players are even when they're not having a great game in terms of an output they can still find ways to.
Inarculably a team effort and we can really punctuate that take a look at this for the comeback here. This is what it looks like in just raw terms. I mean this I don't even know if you're going to see a better comeback for the rest of the playoffs.
It was really, really well done by mouse force as much as we're critique Aurora in their lack of proactive play and their lack of stars performing.
I think mouse did a fantastic job just showing you a lot of variety.
They were doing very good at threatening that mid beast fleet, but keeping the cat attack open as well and bouncing back and forth.
I mean, you have rounds where, you know, people are going out and making individual plays at times, but also just in those tight three on three, two on two moments.
Moments where I felt like mouse would usually falter in the past, you know, where the mid round reads weren't quite as sharp.
Maybe you know closing and communicating things weren't quite there like they always had the openers
We're not finishing the job that really lacked in this game
It did not like they were really clutching those moments to pull out the comeback victory
And it kind of makes me laugh because I remember hearing you know last year when Brawl
I was the IGL and they were all rolling around and said he's our guy Zershin said he's our guy
Yeah, I journeyed him. He said he's taking a YGL like a took to water. We're all listening to him
We're all invested and like I'm gonna just say it you're doing a better job, bro
I feel like that's what happens though when you have an excellent coach behind you sure that you're gonna be able to
Work through the playbook. I mean we know that a lot of these players tier one teams
They have those papers in front of them that show them essentially how they want to script an entire t-side
And I say this the thing that I say this jury is still out on is that in a lot of those rounds the plan is just working
Whatever kind of fake they're trying to set up whatever kind of split they're trying to set up all of that's going so well to plan
the flashes are catching Aurora off in that fashion. That's still all a testament to Cyclone to me.
I mean, I like that exertion is able to don the mantle or bear the title of in-game leader,
but I don't necessarily think that he's having to actually work extremely hard in those mid rounds,
especially given the fact that he's got so many experienced guys around him that also contribute
with ideas. And just real quick, you know, we had this conversation towards the end of last year,
when we're all giving the awards out and everyone was like, well, you know, X-Taz
kind of has to get coached in a year because they just fucking want everything
Ignorant right, but then it was like well who else is getting them the best parts from the pieces not my vote
Is it Mara? No those people talking about that. And what did we say on social media?
I voted for Cyclone. I ate my my valid for coach of the year was Cyclone
the way he's able to do with with Brolin because the difference is between
between Cycrone and Brolin, that combo versus Apex and Estaz,
is that I know Apex is a great in-game leader.
Yep, despite that.
We saw him win with Zonic.
We saw the calls when Zonic was his in-game leader,
his coach as well.
I feel like with Brolin or really any in-game leader
that's going to sit there in the middle for Maus,
they're going to have this wealth of ideas coming
from the support and from the people around them.
Yeah, and I think another thing to point out there
is even though Zox didn't really leap off the pace,
physically, he had some moments.
I think that's really important to note as well with his first game being on stage there.
But this game he's got to have more responsibility.
He is their guy.
He is their main art player on the T side.
He's going to go to Xanteris, who's a very, very experienced player
who plays this position both ways.
I think Xanteris certainly was off on Dust 2.
That might give us some opportunities if that continues.
But we'll have to see because, look, I think Miles have actually looked pretty decent on Nuke
throughout this tournament, despite having a checkered pass.
Meanwhile, Aurora has really lacked, in my opinion, on Nuke.
And really the last time they played, Miles kind of dominated him on their T side.
And they did tell it really well structured hits.
They were very good at just coordinating.
They, let's take ramp here, let's do these upper executes.
But they also had some good split pressure plays as well.
I was actually impressed with, A, how dynamic it was.
But B, when they were going for the fast pace attacks
to kind of take the mid rounding out of the equation,
their utility and spacing was so good
that they looked like a well oiled machine on their attacks.
It did, but unfortunately, none of that
was really due to Zelex.
Zelex got caught out on yard a lot of times.
I think that it's cool that they're
giving him a couple of positions that he'd
like to play on Malusen XT, but this is unfortunately where you see a little bit of the skill diff,
whereas on almost every single map in the pool at this event, he's been better on the
T side than the CT. This is one of only two where his CT side is much better than his
T. And look, someone coming back. That's last year's pin, I remember. Oh, nice. Very nice.
And talking about comebacks, there he is on your screen. Yeah, absolutely. Give it up
for JL. I'm sure he's too engaged to hear what we're doing on the desk. But no, I agree
really your point, Maui. It's like, the thing that's really stood out to me is the way Maui's have tried to embed this young player, make him comfortable, make sure there's enough ramp.
Maui's been the best team in the world, the best org in the world, how they've handled the Academy players. Let's just call that out.
Yeah, that's absolutely true. The fact that they've had this pipeline, and I think that's great, but you can see that Zellix can get shaky in some of those moments.
But I'm going to say that that's kind of what undid Aurora last time that individuals on the team sometimes just want a little bit
More info pivotal rounds in their matchup last time came down to one guy overextending
Madge are looking for a little bit more information that whereas teams like Mauser ready to just sit on their heels
Trust the setup that they're in and that makes such a big difference instead of giving up a man advantage
You're creating a losing condition which too many Aurora players did too frequently in the last matchup
Yeah, and that's a lot of things have to change if Aurora wants to keep this series going and take this math and force it
They're they're gonna need a lot more out of Xanteris man because again
He's playing yard for you on the T side and the CT side
It's such an important space and while you made a great point that duck says maybe not lived up to that position as well
He needs to quite yet. You know, he's got a lot of support
You know JL's used to kind of being that yard gromer that can add to the mix back from his Navi days
He's get to do that again as that follow-up fraggers
So that's something I'm gonna keep an eye on and really I think the other thing is just like Ken
what he did keep up this form this guy has been incredible so far this event
he's looked like their best player he's been one of the best players in the
event and he has some important responsibilities on this as well he's
kind of like the secondary yard defender you know from that mini garage
position with zanteris and also a really good trader so seeing him bounce you
know into this moment is also going to be important all right then guys we're
about to get nuclear so it's appropriate I throw you over the two
commentators that always bring the energy in a scrawny and launders
Yes, sir ready to react here on nuke as we see a mouse feeling probably like they are
Untouchable the plot armor is thick after that dust to come back
But then I wouldn't want them to remember rather forget how it got there you lose both the pistols
You're down six zero Torsies missing all the shots out of the gate
There was a recovery there for mouse that absolutely deserves credit and you can look at it how you want
Does this mean now that Maus are going to have the confidence to close out on this second map?
Or does it mean that for a team that is fresh on the stage with a new in-game leader and a, you know,
potential start player that hasn't been in the server for quite some time,
can Maus truly hang on to the reins and take advantage of what's got to be a mentally broken Aurora?
We want to really be honest about that last game. Aurora were the better team from the tactics of
the strategy and the individuals, but Maus had the best one player, which was Zershin,
and they didn't choke, so that's essentially what it's going to come down to in this one as well.
And pistols, well that can make it a whole lot easier for Maus.
I didn't have one of these back on half one.
JL doing a great job of serving up distractions.
We've already got Maus downstairs and Zellex wrecking,
as Woxic just gets slammed out of this one.
JL's just still tucked in and Madger doesn't know how the hell does he get out of here.
You want to deal with JL, so eventually he'll just go for the commitment to it.
This is going to take a 2v5, and before Wikipedia gets blindsided, he hears rumblings on the 8th floor,
and all of a sudden there's a lobby lurk, and Madger is just too far gone this round to do anything about it.
So, Maus will continue their winning ways, and I hell of a streak now,
as Dust2 seems to just continue into this T-side nuke pistol.
My expectations for this map for that Zershin has really brought in,
I think, bought his team extra time to get their form together.
I don't expect Tours you to have two rough maps in a row. I think JL as well is going to be way more comfortable here
And I also expect Zershin to be constant when it comes to his impact
Really no reason to see that fall off now. He's already proven inside of playoffs consistently back-to-back days in groups
It's sort of incredible to watch
And you just wonder now where the ceiling is where it's nice tag there for Woxic
That a scout damage can go a long way as they expose the crossovers, scout hits the same
target twice and that'll be towards you out of this round.
And the insertion's like, alright, I gotta go because I'm carrying the bomb in this position.
What's gonna meet them lower is a Magier MP9.
Three players in front of him.
They're trying to moam down but it's Zellex to survive the SMG duel with a Mach 10 of
his own.
Game-changing kill here because they've got lower control, they have...
That was the one guy that was holding it.
Stuzz immediately allowed them to plant the bomb.
Interesting spot, they have Deacon.
Zershin tries to press the Galil into that retake, but he takes damage.
That pistol cues up a potential retake push.
Now, Wikipedia strikes down Zellex.
Remember, Zershin made lower, but now he's trying to deal with the players up in the Raptors.
2v2 turned into a man advantage here for mouse the guns are meant to prevail
But the MP9 is just gonna stick this defuse, but there's no kid on the play
Bombs down to five seconds sping starts to run out now to force him off of it
There would have been just enough time to jump back on but unfortunately there for Aurora
They're gonna lose this near force by victory. I think I think it was done. It was 10 seconds stick wasn't it?
Yeah, it's 12 seconds still on that bomb
Okay
Well mp9 I guess maybe it doesn't need a nerf
Really down I can't be yeah, we we don't know
Though fear and doubt could start to creep in here for Aurora
Might feel like their best chance is behind them. It's not the right mentality to have but they obviously
don't have the right mentality today and those problems are just not problems
that get fixed quickly. We've seen that happen and unfortunately for them, they
have the team to get a sports psychologist to address those issues so
this is sort of a bad day view from what they've learned or have tried to
implement but obviously it's just so tough because your only chance is to
actually prove that it's all working is right here in this setting. In a quarter
finals in front of a crowd.
Zeus through the hot holds.
Yep, battle work.
Mac 10 for your efforts, and gets one.
Oh, no way!
No, they don't have anything coming into this.
There was an M4 on Wikipedia that's supposed to do the heavy lifting.
It does nothing because a Zeus into Mac 10 headshot out of nager.
Okay.
Sure.
I mean, this is the one CT around that they won back on Dust2 as well.
One gun investment
It'll still feel nice to pick that up and again on quality of play and the
Creativity in these setups when they have the low by the terms of the preparation from the tactical and strategic side of this game
You were nothing but impressed by what Aurora brought
Finally, a sigh of relief. They haven't had anything to be proud of since that very early Dust 2 M4 pit play, the one you just alluded to.
That was the last, that's actually the last round they won. Yeah, until now. And funnily enough, it happens again off of one of these awkward Hail Mary weirdo buys.
But you take what you can get for your Aurora right now the fact that they're smiling and laughing through that victory
I think hang on to that energy. It's nice that the back ten. I mean also, can I just say that was a great flick
Sure, that was a real split. That was almost like when JW off-screen flicked that guy on cash. I mean
that was
Would have been impossible for an offer to be honest, so
So, uh, man, Aurora, like, they can't, and they have kept a good mood when they're winning,
so, at least there's that.
Number strong towards Woxic on the ramp.
He doesn't have any assistance here, so he's on the fallback.
It's here towards control panel, but, and they do still peel two players off this.
Aurora rocks solid.
They lose the spacing, but they only lose Xenteras once the last man up for Maus is entirely
enveloped by that double ramp flank.
So Aurora, very quick to respond, it props to Wauksic, missing the shot, but not wasting any time on the retreat.
His movement is so good that he can take his shot, turn around, fall back so quickly.
They don't even get those couple of extra bullets they need to catch him falling back or turning a corner.
And also, Santeres has a better round, and he was by far the most disappointing part of Dust2.
It was willing to give him so much grace about the entire map, even as long as they were able to close it as a team,
But we really saw in those final few rounds, he could have been the entire difference maker.
The spotlight was on him, he hit every flash, he just did not deliver on his duels.
He made a lot of noise, got himself killed.
He has to make up for all of that.
Now, this is a team that's built largely upon him, and the super team is built around him.
You know, he brings everyone together as the biggest name in Turkey, and so he has to deliver.
It has to be criticized if you can't.
It's like that weird duality with Xanteris sometimes.
Sorry, 30 kills or five.
And it's not often five kills back to back,
but this would be a horrible moment for exactly that to happen to him.
Unfortunately, it's that, though, the last tournament that he won
to kill the Lanteris meme was a sort of perpetual group stage
with no crowd inside of Booper Restaurant.
This is going to be an even a much bigger win.
Soon they can get there, but they will make it easy with the five players up.
Xanterra is of course three of those versus the pistols that just get churned through.
So wait a moment for Maus to come back with guns.
This is a Zeus into Mach 10 kill from Madger that sets up an Aurora three round streak.
It's a wonderful recovery considering you lost the pistol to now actually have a defense to work with.
It's always really interesting what can happen.
Break it sometimes you watch like a team blog and you'll see in between games
Like what kind of conversations take place and small revelations that get made
I think just like the break and people just individually taking time to think like that can actually have an
astounding impact on your performance 15 minutes later
Oh my goodness what a peak
Oh, he's got more.
Looking for a chance to shine on stage.
Look to enjoy the moment.
The 2K kickoff like that will do it exactly the way he wants.
That was the pop-off map, I think, for Zelex for sure.
Some big rounds on Nuke. We've seen them.
Not someone we've talked about that much,
but also not somebody who they're all really banking on,
like, please save us, right?
This is a team that has Spinks, who was their best player last year.
He's not even doing that much so far.
It's being pretty good.
There's no denying that they're surrounded by top 20 players, essentially, so...
Maus are supposed to be in this transitional phase, a new in-game leader.
Two new pieces. What is just a stand-in and a trial time here for JL?
And a fresh face in ZLX with no stage experience.
So, you could find excuses all you want if you're Maus,
whether they want to take those, whether they're fans do, whether they're critics.
But to find more success than you'd expect this early on.
I'll give both these teams credit.
They've actually done a great job scouting and like their signings and...
I think that the JL move is kind of a magical one for mouse overall
because like the personality that he brings being an extra aggressive player
I think is kind of nice for Zershin who again probably wants somebody else
who's like on the same page and it reminds me of like with Kadeon with with sound
and sounds like he plays just like me.
I really like, you know, calling under that system. I can totally see that working for JL
It's also allowed for Zershin himself to get away from that super hard entry
I believe does brought up the stats his entry attempts are down like 10% since JL's been on this team and
And then his performance is still just rock skyrocketing
Well, that's the thing you definitely die less and you entry less as well and
Even when he was playing some of his best CS
I think versions improved in many ways year over year, but I'd say a couple years back
He was more he was more outstanding because he was he was really innovating in a role and a lot of people were looking at his play like
Oh, okay, you could be a hard entry and you know don't didn't exist yet
So he was the one who had a lot of attention as a young rookie
But he died tons like he would he would end games like 24 and 28 and have tons of impact
But it was just too many entry and he's not the same quality of scar player as some of those other guys
But now if you can put somebody in front of him you see he's an excellent trade fragger so many malty
Fast push, hot play, Spinks holds with the double and look at the ramp play at the same time
It's gonna get caught by the offer
Okay, Aurora you wait you buy your time and then you think you could just go swinging for the fences and it costs you severely
A site taking over, bomb and bound. There is damage here on Spinks and Zellex.
You're not going for this. They need to save these guns.
That's an absolute tragedy because sometimes when you overcrowd the lobby,
it is actually good for the CTs to go for a crunch.
It's awkward sometimes depending on how that first kill goes, but they just fold so strong.
You know a team is going to lobby crunch, do you put everyone in lobby?
and mobby no you'll sit one guy on that hut roof or sorry inside of lobby
waiting for some kind of push you can get one or two kills then you can squeeze
for outside or something like that so not necessarily a terrible sadistic call
here for Aurora but a risk that just runs their pockets dry
of
I'm gonna say I'm not against what they tried right there with the what they have left over the full bike coming out here
There's sometimes you see around like that when you have almost nothing. It's like, oh, I don't know
But they could afford that risk if this dead end work
Terras finds an opening fight out there to try to deal with Zellex and the Nades will end that, so good job Zoning
What was previously a very effective entry frag in Zellex
Zershin's just gonna surpass him here as the test is outside
And he'll find Madger's head jumping around the corner to avoid with Katie
Oh, he'll come back from JL. And those are those two.
Explosiveness right between those two players and that's not even the first at bat Zellex dies and then the two
Two capable entry players themselves just surpass him and bring this back for a man advantage.
But it is very thin, right?
10 health and 5 for JL.
Will this work for JL?
It's so sudden.
Making a move.
Oh my god.
It's going to get punished.
JL all of a sudden in with a second and a 4v2 looking comfortable as Maus just kind of
pumped the brakes for a second.
Crazy risk here for Wapsing.
My goodness.
But he feels like he has to make some kind of move.
Now he's made noise on the ladder.
This is too much information back for JL.
go ahead and take Heaven, and already this round is coming to a close. Now the only thing
they have to do is securely get this bomb into the open site.
It's a fine margin this round with how much HP is left on both Zershin and JL, but they
win those duels convincingly.
Damn, they just fanned outside so quickly. That's a massive threat. I think Madger's
standing there behind the breakable like, wait, why aren't you guys using their wall
smokes and trying to lurk around. Now they've got two guys running out in the open, not
worried about an off-up in heaven for some reason and happy to take those engagements.
They knew exactly what they could get away with.
more cost effective, but it doesn't mean they get to save.
Okay, that's the kill that'll secure it.
Find Zershin on the hunt.
The last two Maus members on the hard save,
so that's a 5-3 T-side lead.
That's gonna be three rounds strung together now,
and J.L.'s having fun.
Yeah, this is already getting out of hand here for Aurora.
I mean, I'm still thinking about Dust, too.
I can only imagine that's popping back into their minds sometimes,
but now it's not even that super hot start that they had back then.
There's no pistol to kick off, and now it's the hard side first for Maus,
and they're already passing with flying colors with three rounds back-to-back.
So the investment comes in again, and because of the saves,
you have Woxic, who still has 9K left over.
This one will come down to ideas, and I really wonder how they're going to deal with Mouses Confidence, whether it's, well, the ramp brush, that didn't work, but outside, that's going to be the meat of the game plan in most of these T rounds.
Are they going to want to start secret, big garage, or are they going to try magic or floating around, credit card, and break a ball?
Looking for this ramp aggression again, Wox.
It's the tip of the spear firing spanks.
Good pick off.
And you'll see him quickly try to move this.
We saw what confident mouths look like out there when they rode off the threat of an
AWP.
Well, now they know it's on the field, do they expect it to have rotated over?
They should.
They'll try to deny him a line, but it's a smoke for main instead.
It's a hell of an ask for Zelex to stick around here.
These were the opening dual attempts and tactics to go for pick plays that are what we're not
doing towards the end of Dust 2, so it's a lovely change.
Feels very welcome.
Oh, what a fine man, Xanteris in the back of Big Garage.
Now they know he's not secret.
Xanterra is just peek check main then check main wall this time tries to go
further to the silo boxes and there's an off-sitting and waiting the issue
obviously playing back big rush is getting locked into position and
realizing you can't do anything exact stop a mini lurk but they weren't worried
about that threat now mouse aren't worried about them trying to hold it
got the nades to flush out with katia but they decided to just walk out unannounced
and so with the flash coming from back site and the head of the team from
This fence going unnoticed, it activates, and it's good for the double kill.
Now, Torsi's got you locked in, but Rokadia, what a sequence of headshots!
That's a great round from Rokadia. It's a little bit light from mouse, considering how much utility they have.
I think, Sycron watching this round is like, okay, well, are we pressing all of our advantages in this position?
We just got the kill back outside. There's actually enough time left on the round.
We're not needing to go for a late-sweet, you play low numbers or anything like that.
Even round self-line aren't we falling in opposite that one could be free
But instead they set up a cadet to look like a star here and give Aurora back around
More off its hinges as a double-up and ramp occurs again out of the start of Aurora
But it doesn't feature the off like it did last round
Xantera's moved from outer to free.
Woxic up for longer lines outside, but they will put up that smoke.
They both will walk around before it's ready, so Xelix caught unprepared.
And Woxic's trying to give himself a bit of ambiguity to work with here.
His own smoke in front of him as he tries to cheat around it.
Woxic just over the side of him.
And these folks are coming up now.
Pagadia takes quick vision towards the squeaky door, but spots nothing.
It is pretty quickly then occupied as we get this walk out from mouse
They're gonna try to put a picture to the A site unprepared for assertion inside of the high now
He's gonna start to drop utility they've yet to activate elsewhere
But there is still this player top hot to be found out watching deep angle from the garage insertion clears that high
He's gonna go for that backside plan. No push out through heaven ops slowly
But surely looking to squeeze from main is it's gonna be Aurora to double up in heaven the smoke is huge
And the bomb plant means they could actually get it to fight the flash off that flash
It's full blind they hurt him swap guns and then they're gonna come back from it right
They're not able to capitalize with a kill sphinx knows better
But now it's a late Molotov towards heaven because he went for that fight and made any misses it this opens the door
They also can't drop that easily wide for Aurora kill open for Zershin and now space press from main will collect his but remember
Bomb is on the other side. I think and so soul flies given a chance to just fully stick this
Zershin worried about mains, Spinks unable to give that Molotov could have burned off
more time, but it's Aurora to come through tying the game at 5 with two survivors.
A lot of that came down to Zershin planted on the front of the site, well obviously they
have a better post plant, but that smoke had it come up, they wanted to get the bomb down
quickly and if you get, you know, they're in a 2v3 situation, so you're not necessarily
going to have everything perfect. They wanted to try to win some of their duels, all he
gets missed up and having to slow things down. It did make things awkward where they couldn't
just easily drop into the site, which can be kind of unnerving, but they still land
on their feet. So you could say Quota has been met here for mouse on the T side at the
very least, but still chance for Aurora to have a very dignified half if they continue
forward. Just like this. Excellent round out of box six. I mean, it goes unnoticed a little
but he's been dodging flashes so insanely well.
He makes a lot of these opportunities look easy with his reposition,
but there are some risks involved, and he knows when to take up.
And he keeps flowing from Maus at least, a silver lining in terms of equipment.
Off repositioning for Aurora, putting Woxic outside, worked out to their favor.
So they try to tap right back into it.
It's a deep line of smokes for Maus.
Third one to really create some uncertainty.
There goes Woxix.
Frag grenade to try to pop it open, but sees nobody within it.
There's no one inside of me right now.
Tries to take time and his JL just suddenly pops out on ramp. He wasn't ready for that second player
Now insertion through main has also opened the door for zelex to try to climb up
And if he heads this way zanteras is stomping around again giving this info over they do not anticipate this position
Zanteras is sitting down and zelex could try to open up this A site
Wikipedia's gotten value from this position before you think they'd keep their guard up. Torsi's thinking about it lets his guard down
Okay, react fast enough, Zellax gets the trade, walks it comes back from Squeaky in between the two tees, and he tries to mill.
No!
The spray isn't good, that's two weird ones, one from each side, and that was a chance to make it a 1v1.
Well, maybe we won't see that dignified finish in this first half for Aurora.
I love that coupling between Zershin and Zellax. You can see Zanterrez not expecting a player up close outside because Zershin thought that he'll reach through main just moments earlier.
Feel bad about that one. He even tried to line up a perfect headshot. Didn't shoot too quick or anything like that, but the spray was just off.
It's going to cause a few limitations here for Aurora's last CT round attempt, MP9 on
Soulfly, scout for Woxxit, low utility.
Hell, not even a kit in case that bomb goes down.
Spinks finds first, Blood, Zersh, Eclipse, Zanterres, and Wikipedia, and that lobby crunch
ends up losing bodies on both sides.
He's the door for everybody else from Maus who are ready outdoors to cross lower, go down to the B site, they'll find no resistance barring Woxic.
But how much does he want to risk before his teammate has any trade potential?
He'll hold off the single door, finds two, that's all three bodies confirmed, so Madger knows he's got open space, but by the time he gets over to Secret, you'd think this round is nothing but a foregone conclusion.
didn't even need a smoke or a Molly towards the ramp that did such a great job of bouncing
up across of bouncing off each other with those duals. And now it's manager in a one
on three. Try to save the day.
Going to get popped by JLs around this corner. It gets it down and back and on it, but it
will be nows with two for the road. So first two rounds of the half of pack of three in
the middle and the closing couple as well. A very comfortable T side for a mouse that
looks to lock down this quarterfinal here on Nuke.
Nice playing ability.
Test for Zelex, who is impressing so far, I think,
on stage.
A plot not like overperforming from his groups,
not underperforming either.
He's kind of just been right down the middle,
and that's kind of all that mouse need at the moment.
And again, they're doing a great job of just, you know,
Torsi's been just not having a great series,
or honestly, I don't know, a great few maps
to check his overall stats from the whole tournament.
But team so strong on so many other players,
clearly might not matter.
Nice to see Zellex find his moments here throughout this T-side as well.
This is somebody who, if Maus, are truly
going to make a deep run here in Astana,
or even just try to evolve while they're here,
you'd want the young gun with the non-existent experience
to get a chance to shine, to find that comfort zone.
And I think this half is a bit more of that.
Resertion, being able to IGL on stage here,
and kind of prove everybody wrong in terms of his confidence
and what he believed Maus could always
do to start off with a comeback versus Aurora.
Of course, that's at the expense of Aurora's confidence.
He's going to have some new swagger in a step.
The whole team is.
the
side game plan for Aurora on Dust 2 was beyond impressive and not even just Dust 2. All the maps in the pool we've seen from Aurora, they came to this tournament incredibly well prepared. We
that they do the same here on Nuke by the way.
Save you a look close.
First blood towards him, finds his LX as well.
It's just a seed of kills out of Maus.
Everybody putting in their work,
and the upper hit that just gets completely trounced.
I mean, Maus won the last map without a single pistol.
Now they have two and a lead to kick off.
No comeback necessary.
CT side to look forward to here on Nuke.
This has almost become a layup.
Jail, the only mouse player to not have a kill here in this pistol, so it just goes to show the tethering between the mouse pieces and reaction to Aurora trying to take that up her sight.
Sir should go one better, get himself a double, and truly set up mouse for a convincing close.
No kidding, man. I mean, they're having a lot of fun now, I think, and for good reason. It's sort of a well-earned...
No mints, those are going to need all the support, there's still a long road ahead even beyond
this series.
And let's say they win a quarter and lose in Zeffy's again, it won't matter how amazing
this was.
I'm just glad the desk brought up again, inclusion of bokeh, previously, first event after Mao's cut
Shuhei, they show up, you're kind of scratching your head,
Roland's first in-game leadership, you know, full roster, and what do you know,
the mutiny that pays off.
Didn't win anything after that, but hey, it's a little more with Shuhei, but yeah,
Being always competitive and even having a serviceable level of gameplay with Wood Brolin as the IGL definitely showed that there are more than any one piece.
One of the most fond ways that you can describe the team, you know, better than any one piece, I think that speaks to the jersey in a way that I feel like not every team has.
now it's time for answers Aurora
can't say I'm not concerned
No one is standing out a ton besides 1 or 2 pop rounds of impact.
Soulfly is not here yet.
Your brother is still on Dust 2.
One kill so far on Nuke.
is the X factor for Aurora when success was coming together.
Now suddenly, looking real thin, and Xanterras tries to give chase over towards Secret.
Wands to find an opening kill, but instead it'll be Madger just thinking he could take over the vents to find it for Yoccupy.
They thought that the Secret push was the vent drop. They had that covered entirely. That's a huge bait out of mouse.
MP9 towards Ramp vs. 3, but because the first guy gets through 3, oh!
And does he know? He's thinking about that somebody else had snuck out, eventually he dies.
He's figured this out, Wikipedia will crawl forward. There is a supportive element here for JL, but that's gonna be a quick fallback instead.
They're like, how many players are downstairs? They're ready for every single thing we wanted to try this round.
Zershin's garage position could definitely catch Santera as off. Wikipedia starts to draw attention back downstairs.
And with Zershin revealing himself, he's got a fair fight.
But he peeks within that flashbang, being thrown out, and so with Katia with a Hail Mary 1v3,
Torsi's already breathing down his neck from above, but his gun's back up, on for the ace.
And so as he finds positioning on the other side of Double Doors, it's gonna be a tap on that bomb.
And still so much time, 30 seconds, tries to peel them in one by one, but he gets whittled down to half health,
they'll shut the door in his face, and now two sets of eyes to try to keep this diffuser off.
He gets it, but off the reload is to expect, XLX just goes all in,
says enough's enough to help with your valley of deffern.
And so they shut that down and mounts just right back to winning ways, take their double digits.
Had a smoke there on Zershin, but they didn't want to use it because it could have been a couple of spam kills
to where that bomb plant was and everything goes wrong.
Another fantastic kill from Zershin to really show off how good his rifling is, and JL Grampold obviously helped out a lot.
But it's really the first tactic to actually go to Madger into dropping down the vents while they had a player there, even though they had one inside a secret to start.
Multiple bodies outer Aurora trying to pace Zershin, he's going to get the better of Santeris, again long range duel from JL to him.
to him, and so Madras Galil looks for the trade, but it's a reposition out of JL,
a dangerous move as Spinks collects one, and we go 4v2 Maus on the brink of
victory in his quarterfinal. Double Hawkshot for Borgie, and a rock solid CT side that
is still he gets to give up a round over to Aurora. Yeah, they're getting completely
smoked now. It's just a walkover. Aurora aren't showing us the same level of finesse
that they showed us a map ago. I think the hope is just at an all-time low. If they had one dust two,
we definitely see a different version of Nuke. We see a way more prepared Nuke where they just
have a lot more belief in themselves and that just doesn't seem to be apparent. Two Mac 10s here
to hold off against Siri's point to support these three AKs. They're the only ones with real utility.
You wonder if they want to hand that over so that they can be the entries or how this is going to go.
I guess Woxic can get a whole kit for himself as well, but it doesn't really match up to the op on the other side.
The op that you know that Woxic wants.
Six rounds back to back here for Maus.
We almost call it the op that Aurora needs.
Something to pick off what is now becoming these more and more confident rifle duels out of Maus.
We see them pressing into their enemy outside, and we just see them winning each and every one of these duels.
So Aurora now limited with the double Mach 10.
You're kind of staring at this, trying to picture a way to get back in.
And so maybe that is to just try to charge down this ramp room.
We'll see what Torsi's op can hold back if they decide to just bust through.
They've got the SMGs for the mobility flight.
You'll find one.
It's JL instead who's wounded, but he'll shave Soulfly off the play.
That's both of the SMGs down.
And Xenterra is still working solo outside.
Him and two other AKs out here on the field face a 3v5 for Maus'
12th round.
They haven't really made any inroads.
You can't plant that ramp.
You've taken two deaths to just get control of it.
I think the CTs are all that worried.
One might be end up being like a late squeaky plate
to an upstairs head.
And now Xanteris is wondering, is Xershan looking for me
or am I looking for him?
Two bodies on this upper site.
Freeze you up to really commit to watching
to main if Santerras comes this way eventually.
For now, he remains preoccupied with the secret stairs.
Three different choke points right now, so it's all or nothing.
We've got one singular flashback here for Wikipedia.
Got a molly that could block off a Heaven Rotate,
but again with two hard anchors and spinks down there
towards the vents.
At some point, he's going to jump up.
You'd think Zershin should be free to watch main,
but he turns.
Oh, and it's as he turns back that he does still
find Santerras.
Hunt player breaks through each of the members of Aurora
to try to keep this round alive, to try
to keep this quarterfinal in their hands.
Spinks on the fence, emerges, and gets sent right back down
the way he came.
A second layer, and that's meant to catch you off.
Torsi down to 46, low health KL with a second kill
in the round.
And as he knows that Torsi just keeps going up and down
the ladder, it is Woxic to try to lock this in.
Low HP duel in a one versus one.
A single shot either way, and this time, it's Aurora.
Yeah, it's another clutch here for Woxic so far
at this event, he's put up a lot for Aurora.
This one is imperative if it ends up being
some kind of ridiculous comeback.
It'd be more impressive than Dust2's in my books,
but it becomes a five round game now.
They get the entries off and they go for three different
choke points and try to attack the upper site.
They were kind of unlucky at Dylan,
was Ershen's timing to look behind him into Mini,
and you can try to Ershen for the game sense.
It was definitely that way to look at it,
but for a long time,
their Xanteris could have turned the corner,
It's been an easy kill to get Zershin that would have just taken over up or no problem.
It's almost a curse more than anything. You win a 2 vs 5 with one player left, barely standing,
and you are right back to the same limited double SMG buy versus all of Maus's money.
The only difference, at least for Woxic, is he gets his up.
It's on the T side, so it just is already neutered.
Take the rounds you can get, you try not to think about how you're still just hands tied halfway behind your back.
Limited U-Till, but still enough to put pressure on this A-Floor,
Sphinx in the corner, at least not stuck in the vents this time around.
The SFG collects, but Wakadia already had a gun in the back of the brain.
Nice trade.
Walks in with the AWP of all things, reopens this, and so Torgine JL, shoulder to shoulder,
standing up in the heavens, have Madgeur down beneath them.
And he's gonna spot this. Yeah, easy pick up.
Aurora's starting to fight a little life on this T-side with the back-to-back round wins.
Yeah, that's solid. I don't know what happened there outside of Squeaky, but that lurk works out perfectly for Aurora.
Calls great executions, even better.
Now, it's back to the drawing board, actually, for Mao. It's like, if they don't save this one gun from JL,
I don't know if they're going to buy another.
Oh, and he'll miss that opportunity.
Aurora, get a good one.
Slowly chipping away at the cashier for now as they've got something to think about.
You see pistols trickle through a couple grenades to play with.
We talked up so fly a lot, and still not really into this game.
One kill.
Yeah, but at least my teammates are giving me more chances to get involved.
like this.
I just don't get too lurkies and
terrace and wakadier somehow
both already low
Pistols in the rafters.
I'm gonna turn this into a ramp.
Yeah.
With the utility to block off vent, it should be easy
to take over that lower bomb site, but they don't stop Zelex from at least getting some footwork downstairs.
Okay, that's just so little to work with.
We sit here and expect Aurora to witness every day of the week, but now Soulfly's dead.
Executed and a Mach 10 offered over, like you mentioned, with Cady and Xantera's awkwardly low HP.
And they don't have that control side they wanted but they still get the plant off.
They've also still got Wikipedia upstairs with that AWP.
It's going to be a slow burn and you'd think the round is still a guarantee.
But there's a cost-effective close here for Maus that may be still fine, right?
More than kills, they just want to get guns.
And any damage that could happen downstairs.
So that's a free AWP at least, great prize for Zershin off the Deagle.
And we'll see the Zellax here threatening this lower bomb site.
If anybody from Aurora dies to the explosion.
They've opened up space to exit now with that one frag back.
And so Aurora make this a three round gap, 11 mouths, 8 to Aurora.
Ah, for what it's worth.
But again, working hard to make this happen.
Normally you see one team that make a huge comeback,
but the other doesn't get a chance to respond.
Aurora have to put themselves in that headspace that this is entirely possible.
The CT side's not coming easy.
Exertion, another 180R performance. It's uncanny.
Funny how this is now Aurora who haven't won a pistol in a map.
Half the stage to come back.
Now put a few together.
That's an amazing couple of grenades down to three health then terrorists making a lot of noise running outside
Clearly not worried about this position just yet. Oh what an interesting risk here for exertion
He's gonna see this will he find then terrorists again
There's the confirmation
Finds an UZ Gank. The kill matrix is ridiculous between these two.
He changed his mind on the push. Couldn't get hunted down. Madger nearly saw him, but didn't.
Surtian collecting Soulfly in the middle of it all so they will transition downstairs instead and Woxic sprints that bomb lower
Manager trying to catch rotates will die empty-handed and we are looking at Maus's 12th round secured unless
From 50 health Woxic pulls off this clutch
Shaves JL off the rampside now the double up up from the CTs that's clean
so clean
But not enough and Zelex would go clutch and the three kick it has to be one more clutch for Woxic
But he can't get that one too much of a guaranteed position with the way they space the flash having full efficacy
To push that's what Woxic back and now the game is four rounds mouths have series point
And as soon as they get back on their feet with money
They look great again, and it's I think the big one is the fact that Zershin can hunt down Zanteris
In the first half and the second outside. He's been winning in yard. That's got to be the most important kill in the defaults
And he's made it look insanely easy
We're gonna be looking at back-to-back maps here resursion is the top performing player for miles in dust 2 he had to dig
them out of a trench
to somehow survive that test.
And so heading into that semis, assuming they can close this,
will be celebrating him not only as finding his groove as an in-game leader on the stage for the first time,
but also in an individual form that makes him a top five player here in Astana.
Now we'll have guns in front of them and a slight change up as it will be Taurusy to
go hunting here as Woxic, his counterpart, is also outside.
Leaves his Nade and double back to the Ramp Room which was left unattended momentarily.
There are layers to this outside play, originally the AWP was here, he's already departed.
We've got this eventuality of a secret positioning from JL.
We'll see what kind of fight he decides to take
Dropping a smoke towards unbreakable surgeons trying to be the distraction JL emergency
Oh, he missed that shot. We gotta take that one. Could have had that 4v4 back
They'll slide off with the rooftops mouse trying to solidify themselves in semi-finals with man advantage here in round 21
JL goes back for second servings and Majors stuffs him on the approach
Bomb gets spotted just under a minute won't mean too much threatening the heaven wrap now exertion was thinking about this earlier
And this push could be everything
Oh, is that like Claire's head busted up
falling apart piece by piece untradable situation and
And a mouse that will just lean back on their new in-game leader to just keep things cool
piece by piece.
It begins to fall into position.
And we have had to say Zelex's name in some critical moments and so with a kill to his name,
16 frags on the board, putting himself amongst some of mouse's best.
He's not going to kill him one more time, surely not from this position.
He creeps out through that hut and walks it's off soon to be pressed up close.
A difficult shot for Woxic, but he lands it.
And with that, we go back even keel.
Xerchen carefully trying to hunt this one down.
Aurora have found a way back in.
Go away, he's leaving himself open here.
He survives it.
Missed shots from Xerchen.
You'll look to join up with Torsi,
who should have attention turned upstairs.
Xanterres gives him what he wants,
but we've got missed shots
from both of the players now out of mouse.
Retail's on.
Bomb, 12 seconds.
Xanterres from up above's got all the cover,
but he could be sticking.
Xanterres checks and he'll get back
on that with time to spare. Who else than Zershin? It is a great cloud here in Astana.
No Aurora in sight. Mound to the semi-finals with Zershin at that help.
Zershin does it. He gets the last word in the end. The clutch, the final head to head versus
Zanteris and he has crowned the champion of this match standing up against it all versus Aurora.
That's about it.
And they'll shake hands here to celebrate this moment.
I can't wait to hear the words from Xersion at the end of this game.
Obviously, he's the guy you want to know from.
Like as the IGL, the captain to witness matchup is so impressive.
He got Zellex up on the stage, the new guy,
he's graciated by the audience after his massive win today.
And now we have to hear from him down on the stage with James.
Miles fighting themselves under some new players and new leadership,
but they still secure the semifinals. Give it up for Miles!
Zellex is a super tough first game, but it's also you're 17 years old, stepping onto your
first big arena. What was the feelings like? What was the emotions like? Did you notice
some difference? Did it take some time to get adjusted?
Yeah, I mean, it is pretty weird to get used to a lot of people around me and everything,
but I feel like he did a pretty good job. On Dust2, it was a little bit sloppy on the
first half so we had to lock him I would say but but yeah I'm very happy that we
managed to close it out and I stepped up on you so I'm I'm over I'm happy
in fact it's quite strange to perform for all this audience when you get used to
playing at home or at bootcamp but despite the weak start from us on
Dastya I'm very glad that we turned the whole situation into a game like all
series and it was amazing.
Now I have to ask you already touched on the fact that it was very hard on Dastya
You're 11-5 down. You've lost both pistols. You're trying to come back into the game
Whose voice was it? Whose calls? Who enabled such a
Impressive comeback for the team. I mean Dori has absolutely insane course to be honest
You know in every mid-round he had very good course and we just managed to do it, right?
We had good spacing everything was good, but Dori had a crazy good course
So that helped a lot, you know, I just run they trade me leave in the wrong. You know, that's fine for me
So yeah, that was it
Jay asked who was the person who came back to Dust2 for his team, because the guys lost both pistols and it was a tough game.
And he said that Xershun gave perfect calls every moment and we were able to turn the game around with the help of his calls.
but we wanted to just keep up the performance that we managed to do on the second half of the bus too,
and I think we did it good, and the team was super happy, so I mean, yeah, I just did my job, everybody did his job, so we managed to win.
They helped us a lot, and I'm very happy that we were able to perform.
You just won a game, especially with the towering presence of the great team in local attire,
but he just absolutely nailed it.
I've got to say, this is the best version of Maus I've seen in a while.
Zelex looks like he has so much poise coming into this team.
Obviously, we just saw it on the stage, but in the server as well.
I was so impressed in some of the situations when I feel like a rookie is more liable to go for an overpeak,
he holds his nerve waits for his teammates. His instincts are just great in terms of not trying to find losing conditions in the round for the team. Even at times looking for ways back in like trying to slink in in that late round retake situation.
All this credit goes to Zellis, but even more for me for exertion. Like I don't know what possessed this guy or what freed him from just being a normal player and to become an IGL.
the IGL that sometimes that happens. Sometimes you see players that only seem like they can
play as IGLs, not usually the first time though that they become one.
Yes, it reminds me a lot of when they first got their other five back and they won that
event in Cluj and they just looked so hot out of the gate and you're kind of seeing
that similarities as far as tempo and you're absolutely right. The exertion showed through
a lot of those rounds his ability to mid round read and make little pivots and adjustments
on both sides of the map and getting back to this Alex thing. I mean, this is the guy
who went from playing on an academy team not so long ago to now all of a sudden being in front of a giant arena with a
Roaring crowd against a team that is a playoff contending squad and he has to play do positions
You know on nuke for example this guy used to be the guy and you already had to play a little bit more upper bomb site on
The CT side this game and he did a fantastic job
The one round that got news when he pushed lobby and kills the guy up the ladder
Yeah, but just being able to kind of have those things in money at a couple of really clutch moments a couple of big opening moments
I think that was a great debut for him.
Well, I mean, we have a winners interview.
We have to have a losers interview, and we're going to hear from Madge on the stage right now.
Thank you very much, Richard, and thank you, Madge, for joining us in this one.
I want to just look at this for Dust2 straight away.
There's a lot of questions that need to be asked here, because you were up, you win both pistols,
you have them completely on the ropes.
Why was it possible for them to come back into it?
was the adjustment from you guys to fight back and take the map that was in your hands?
Yeah, like you say, I think we're starting very well on the 2, T side also,
8-4 I think, and then we win the pistol on CT side, and we also win a very difficult run on
CT side like Echo, and then we try to adapt about what we saw, like sometimes 4AA, sometimes 3B
with CT boost, but I don't know what happened, like I'm uncaring long, so didn't have a lot of
information, but I think it's a deception to lose the studio to be honest as a team.
And not so much to say about Nuke. We have a since a long time city side problem, like
yeah, very sad about our performance today, because I feel, I will speak for myself, that we had
really high chance to win, but no, not today again.
some great rounds after the pistol shots.
The main character says that they have problems with the CT side for a long time.
Secondly, he doesn't know why it all happened on the CT side.
Although they tried to adapt,
they used different strategies,
they strengthened B-Plane and Short.
But we'll have to collect all the information after the game and analyze it.
On the other hand, the main character says that the chances were high,
Aurora was in shape, and it's a pity that it's not so good.
happening with the players or what is happening when even the timeouts are called and you
can't find the answers like do you notice the dip down or the exact change that enables
this to happen?
No, we are like the solution.
We call 4A in the ground when they walk short, but we say we go to the 4A and give it three
smokes to SoulFly on B, but doing that, it takes maybe 20 seconds to give the three smokes
And everyone, like we say, 4A, but we was only too long
and no one was watching short.
But the initial call was 4A, you know?
So it took so much time to execute the plan
that we had in the beginning of the run.
And I think this is the main issue.
I think we are too slow to execute or taking reaction on Nuke
because Nuke is a reaction map and our reaction
individual is very, very not good.
So it's about the reaction inside the game.
And lastly, you might have not heard of yourself, but there were a rora chance in the crowd.
There was a lot of support and love for you.
You got the Turkish fans and your family back home. Final words before leaving?
Yeah, thank you very much guys. Thank you very much. Salam Astaghfirullah. Thank you for the support, we really feel it.
I'm very sorry for all the fans because we really wanted this here, but it's a beautiful city and always like my kids, Jerem Defne Astaghfirullah, my lovely babies.
Nice to meet you.
Richard, let's get back to you.
Thanks a lot.
Always sad to hear from Madge in a losing situation.
Had the pleasure of traveling out here to Astana with him.
I didn't want to disturb him too much,
because Lord knows he's a bit of a celebrity
when he flies Turkish Airlines.
But I'll say this, in the playoffs,
a different beast to how they looked in the groups,
unfortunately.
A little bit flat today.
There is no getting around that. He himself says that.
I hope they're able to course correct because we got big tournaments around the corner
and I still think this roster can do something.
Yeah, it is a tough one because, you know, they're a team that's always been very good at playing a very aggressive death ball style of CS
and Xanterra still continues to be one of the best entry fraggers in the world throughout the course this year
and for many years at that point, with Kadia has developed very nicely as a player over the last couple of years.
one of their best players now.
Woxic can do that X factor with the op,
maybe not as consistent as you want,
but has the ability to have impact.
And really the squad has the firepower necessary.
And there's nothing wrong with playing that aggressive play
style, but sometimes it is a little bit one note.
And I do think that there's still some things to iron out
in the mid-rounding, which is what he said in the interview.
He said that we're not reacting quick enough.
We're not making the moves fast enough
that we need to be able to adjust to what
the opposition's throwing at us.
And so those are very alarming things
that have to be addressed, because you're right,
this team should be able to do something.
I don't think the mid-rounding is that good.
I mean, that's my take.
I mean, what do they do when they lose an opening pick?
They stand in lobby for 45 seconds.
That's not good mid-rounding.
That's no plan.
You have to have an idea.
You have to have a contingency plan.
And that's kind of been Aurora's kind of weakness
for quite some time.
If the death ball doesn't work out, if they lose picks,
I mean, that's kind of been the story of them on Nuke
for the entire time that Madger's been their IGL.
It's been like two years of this.
I mean, to give you his credit,
he did say they have a Nuke problem.
Yeah, they've had a nuke problem almost.
I think the last time I liked their nuke was probably 2024.
That's the last time I think I ever remember them having some good moments
when they were actually wearing the Eternal Fire jersey.
Since then, they just get picked apart in default way too often on this map.
So, yeah, they could go for some more set pieces, simplify the playbook.
I think if I was an Aurora fan, I think the thing that would upset me in this series, most of all,
is you've seen both ends of the spectrum.
You've seen them be ahead and then lose to a great comeback
from Miles, old credit to there.
But you've also seen them kind of not be in a game
and not leave themselves in a fun way to even get into it.
I mean, I hate to do it, but it has to be said.
You know, there is an issue right now with SoulFly
being hot or cold.
And there is an issue with Xantara some playoffs.
It's just the facts.
Meanwhile, you look at the other side.
You want to Xantara stat, Gus?
Yeah, go on.
OK.
Since he started wearing the Aurora jersey,
they've been in 14 playoffs.
Do you want to guess how many he's had above a 1.0 rating?
14 playoffs.
I'm going to guess probably less than half.
Six.
Only six of 14.
No, but good game.
There's only six of the 14 tournaments
that they've made to the playoffs under the Aurora flag.
Has he actually even really been positive?
Meanwhile, the other aggressor, Freifler, who's in-game leading,
is outperforming you.
The entire game, I mean, Zershin's impact
was felt not only on the mic, but also on the server
with the gun.
I mean, the guy was incredible.
He's incredible at the group stage as well.
He's like trying to have an MVP race here
on top of getting this team into a big, you know, playoff run.
Yeah, I want to talk about that.
I mean, there's no getting around.
If you want to talk about Maus's success today,
it's predicated on Zershin, right?
I mean, you are calling a great game.
You have called a comeback game.
You have called some fantastic T sides,
but you are the tip of the spear as well.
And we don't really see this a lot.
I mean, you know, I guess we have kind of a low threshold
about what's been acceptable as we transition from CSGO
CS2 in terms of fracking I gels, you know people put apex at the top of that if sushi keeps this up
And I have no doubt that he will keep it up
I'm actually feeling like he said in an interview. I am ushering in an error of fracking I gels
I'm a believer. I mean from the first couple games. I thought okay a little bit of fool's gold here
But if you can out do look at this the opposing entry factor a guy that's supposed to be a bonafide star
It's crazy. No, it's legit. I mean, eight to one is ridiculous. It is actually absurd. You know, I mean, again, it was really neat about
desertion transition. The end game leading is what the fact that he has that willingness to actually back off the pedal and be a little bit more supportive
and set his Alex up in a couple of situations. But as you saw in that game, you can also flip that entry fragger switch back on whenever he feels like it's necessary.
I think it's nice because that allows him to be more reactionary, allows him to call around himself and call his own number sometimes when he feels like he's got an OP.
He's just going to go ahead and take it.
He gets to use that natural intuition
that entry fragger would use.
And that's why a lot of times the aggressor fly first
can transition to calling very effectively,
because they're getting put in situations
where they have to make millisecond reactions.
And he's able to do that very effectively.
And he's dragging at a high level,
because one of the big things we used to critique Zershin
for is the fact that he was a little hotter cold.
When he was on top of his game, he
could have massive impact.
But at times, you would really struggle
to perform consistently.
But so far, this tournament, you'd
have to really nitpick to get something on him.
I mean, the thing that was always a problem for exertion,
when I went into some of those demos of watching his playoff fails,
it just looked like he would swing until he would just run into a fight.
But I think now that he's calling his own number, he's a lot more directed,
he's a lot more focused, he's envisioning what's going to be happening next,
a little bit more.
And that sort of foresight that he's forced to have as an endgame leader
somehow is translating to him as a player.
You don't see that very often.
I'll ask you a question, Maui, based on what you're saying, right?
How many IGLs have we seen down the years
I think they can just throw their life away because I'm the IGL I'll play entry
I'll go first then I'll micro the four guys while they're alive
You know, I won't name names, but we know we know who they are and yet zershin
It seems to have actually tightened his game
I feel before to me when I was watching exertion in those fails
It just felt like he thought I'm a soldier as long as I do my job as long as I follow that entry route
Going with the flashes in utility days that then everybody's gonna clean up behind me
But now I feel like he just has a greater connection to the plan that's at hand because he's the one that's calling it
And that that to me is just I think that sometimes when you have entry fraggers that are just kind of
Just following it what their leader says without really thinking about it
They're not really cognizant of all the like the ways that it can work against them or anything
And they just they're just reacting and it's almost like but I almost feel like in a weird way
You got smarter like he's actually it looks like a smarter entry fragger that takes his time
works around utility and understands what the planet at hand is yeah and then again like you know
We're talking about him as the primary star again
I want to kick back to the fact that he's selfless as well as far as setting up Zellax
One of the cool things that really I think helped apex would buy tallies the fact that he had the entry fragger DNA
And so he knew exactly what flames he needed to be able to be successful as far as supportive utility putting him in the right spots
At the right times and being able to pounce on things you're kind of seeing that from Zershin in some of these games too where you know
He is you know an entry fragger by nature
but now he's the leader of the squad.
But he also realizes that Zellix is the up and coming kid
that he used to be.
Remember, this mouse team, they all
used to be Academy players for the most part.
And so they've gone through this same level of progression
from the tier two Academy systems of being in tier one
stadiums.
And so I think that he was really well suited to then
bring up someone like Zellix.
It's like, hey, the guy that I've been in the past myself.
And it's been really nice to see him
find that balance of calling his own number
and going for those plays that we refer to.
But also realizing, hey, let me suit this guy
up and see if I can get him to be a star for us.
And it's been working so far.
I mean, another part of being an in-game leader
is being able to pass on that experience, that wisdom,
to help micromanage people outside of the server
as well as in.
And I mean, Xersion is passing all of the tests right now.
He is.
I think another huge feather in the cap for the organization,
too, is just the fact that the NXT Project, again,
continues to get results for them.
the fact that again exertion is from that academy roster to work with cyclone back then
been on the roster for three four four years now I think at this point you've got to say it's not
even just value for money which it is it's but but it's like it's bolstering your own team and
you're also selling off players like chrisen to orgs as well I mean like you're double dippin on
the benefits that you're reaping and I would say that if anything this playoff win today
is further testament to the idea that if you're a tier one org that's serious about the CS ecosystem
and you have a couple of good minds around you, you should be investing into an academy team.
Just one final thought from you, just about Aurora, obviously not going to be in the tournament
anymore. Where do you think they go from here? I don't know. It's tough because I mean, they've
had a couple of good runs this year, right? We know each think about the Rotterdam finish,
the EPL finish. They've had some big moments a lot better than what we saw last season,
if I'm honest, but there's still some of those lingering errors and problems that we've been
been talking about for a long time now.
And I'm not sure what the solution is.
You know, they just picked up a new eSports psychologist,
hasn't been there long, maybe more time with that,
can help them get through some of these mental struggles.
But for right now, I feel like they're
just idling in the same spot, where sometimes they might flash,
but sometimes they're just going to sit back and hang out
in the top eight.
All right.
Well, thanks for your thoughts, gentlemen.
For now, we take a slightly extended break about 15 minutes.
But when we come back, we're going
to be talking about our reigning champions team spirit.
We'll see you in a moment.
Don't op me
Close site, site I have it
Maybe clear is on site
I think I'm coming
Look at the command Adam
I'm not clear
Deep from planting
And op and they came in
Don't kill, don't kill
Should be heaven, should be heaven guys
Close site
Yes
Are you pushing now? I'm pushing camera
You have it
Site, site, site, site
I'm calling heaven
Deep from heaven
I don't see heaven
Yeah
Maybe even 2 defaults, you are not sure
I'm coming man, I'm coming
One may have it, wait, I kill him and I go mid
He's heaven, he's heaven
I'm running man, I have it
We have kit
Wait, he jumps moving
Heaven, he spotted me
Heaven
I'm pressing cover. Hold him.
I have it.
I'm tapping. Hit, keep on me.
I have him.
NOOOOOO!
Let's go boys, easy.
She said she loves you, but she can't love me.
But I love you!
I won't play window anymore.
What's going on?
Play your role when it's bad.
The human body was built to moonwalk.
Trapped to death in one singular posture for 12 hours a day.
It's time your chair evolved.
This is Secret Lab Titan Evo.
Ergonomically engineering for youth, gamers, hybrid workers, artists.
Back in your every move.
Oh
Very masterful shut up so blind everyone's been blind
Oh, come on again!
Sellex with a swing!
And he's on for the ace!
Sellex just gets mopped up straight away as he rounds the corner.
This is an Aurora round.
Deepview's attempting jail with a cover!
They line up right on!
Jail scrapping and Torsche looking down the barrel of the sword.
Oh, that's a lovely play! Torshee, why stop there?
Sumpias is living on borrowed time and that time's expired, another 4k from Torshee.
That looked like that worse.
Oh.
As it will.
Now, Modesty looking for the refrike, back sight has just enough time.
Bomb plants?
Oh.
that he's there, he's going to sit on this position and end it through the round.
Four kills to his name.
Niko runs through that molly and does find the cave player.
Niko able to shut him down.
V-Mas dead, climbing up through heaven.
You've been able to claw this one back.
There's 2v4 into a 2v2 and you've got the bomb planted.
Niko low on health, doesn't care.
Absolute mission!
Ugly spray, contestants! One more where that came from, but is it too late? Apparently not!
Yasuke's kept the dream alive and now a chance for that plant.
Yasuke just staying gun-on to lay plant for Monosy.
Easily done, the double or post-planned 2v5. 4k from Yasuke.
Come on, cancel it!
Oh!
Come on!
There's still time for it!
Oh, you can just cancel it!
Oh, he hit!
Oh!
It'll have to be Yuri to try to clutch out 1v2, X-Flight with his hands busy, Yuri opts not to jump out through the window immediately.
But this is 52 health for Vylo, and he is sitting back by bench now.
Yuri's got to figure out where he's at.
Oh, oh, he's lined up!
You're in!
Time is a big problem. 10 seconds left, one kill in the right.
Oh, that's it!
And you can win this!
Doc is just out in the open, looking for duels as he does, and that is why.
The bomb has been picked back up, but we can see the damage that's been done on all the Fury of players.
Clean up on the bomb site.
The way he's just out in your swing, in case Rado could still deal with this, if not for Dawg!
Ah, nice distraction. Offers up the Molodoy blindside.
Nice shot.
Shiro's got the recovery under Waze. Drops down pistol in hand.
Giving more and more time for your kid, Dawg.
Shiro!
Oh, you got to get the kill?
Blindside it!
Oh, you messed it up!
Oh, no!
And there we go again.
It's what multiple players coming up on banana map.
He really wants to lure them into this position from the chopper, and he's gonna come out swinging! He did get monotone!
And that's it, it's gonna be putting a bit of a wrinkle in this round.
We've got to try and get closer. Flashbang is good for each of us, also position!
Third player coming in, it's now one-ever perivision. If you want a chance to get in here, but Luchov is decimating them.
Another headshot, looking for another ace in this first half. He is 17 and 2, hunting for the ace, and he gets another one in the first half.
Max might be able to find a kill here on Cicello, who's playing up by the church position.
Very deep towards the edge as well. Oh, but it's a bit of a sloppy fight at the moment. Runs out of bullets, knife is out,
And on the other side too, it's all around the eyes!
Okay!
While a double-forced bay day out at the very least, now he's open and no man's flying.
If I could have caught up on him, I've got a second AWP thing all over!
He goes for four, and it's all over the stone as a knight in his AWP!
So it'll be sort of an execute, but a counter smoke is coming out, they're bumping into
each other.
Mattniston, the smoker, Moon, is he gonna be able to find anything?
He's joined the T side somehow, but now he's dead inside, Tensy, with three kills.
Oh, and a headshot, straight through, how has he done that?
He can be the insurance policy, Tensy's faded, kills the piece, it's out all on Tensy.
Time is ticking here, though.
Five seconds, you gotta get this kill, and take it back in two!
Oh my god, heroic!
They're rolling, how do you let that flip?
Steps heard by G2 and you're not mistaking the sound of Nernst picked up with every kill
and it's chased with JL, finds Hunter back in the spawn, Matt is playing through the slope
He's his hero moment, wrestles with the L
Matt is knocked them down!
I'm gonna get away with the multi-kill but the bomb was dropped there on that spam out
of a target.
Oh, it's close!
He won't follow up on a belcher knock and now the duel leaves fire in back!
No way!
AHHHHH!
KARDIA!
Oh, they just got there!
Oh no!
We're KARDIA!
Soulfly attempted the clutch, but with the AWP here, it should be a safe round for Power of the Shriek.
I was not plotting for long, yes, here's Belchenok.
Soulfly knows, on that defense, Belchenok!
Can't do it!
What a weird round!
Crazy!
Some of the other maps, well that's a nice forward party.
We are playing spot the difference with the Mongols cover 0.
I got G2's Maddie's with me here. I've got Aurora's newest member with me, Soulfly.
We're gonna be looking at Anubis. So three things are not correct on this image. What could it be?
Is it from the fountain, like missing the right side fully or what, is it the... or not really?
No, we just can't see it.
Okay, okay.
That's fine.
It felt like the pool is not really there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's just the still.
I like what you're saying there.
It was close, but it's not there.
It's a small thing, you think?
It's a big position on the map in terms of how much it is used, but it looks so good
on this edit that I can understand why you can't see it.
It's not just move though, it's changed in how you would get somewhere.
Oh, stairs?
The right side, there is no way, I mean it's okay.
Even if the drop is a bit weird, this one on the right.
The way to have it?
Yeah, it's not full stairs, it's a 100% door.
Oh, okay, I see now, it's heaven, you're supposed to jump normally,
and then there is a stage, mini-stage there, right?
Da-da-dum, let's have a look.
Yes.
See, it's a ramp, not the stairs.
Yeah, yeah.
I think there's supposed to be something under the box, no?
There is something under the box, but what is...
You're in the right location.
What looks different?
I don't know if the side of the left is there to be honest I can't imagine and I play on the left side, you know, but yeah
There's like and of what what do you call it?
There's there must be something under that not something under something we've it's only to be removed removed
Yeah, so we added something what should not be there?
Hey
It looks so normal right now. I don't know.
They added a new box and under there is an A.
Yeah, the sign, right?
The sign has to be...
Let's have a look.
Yeah, it's not there.
Okay, one more to find, my man.
Almost to find. Okay.
I don't see anything.
No?
What site are we on?
It's... Oh, I see the B. Okay.
I didn't see the lighter so far.
Okay, A instead of B, of course.
This is the B, it's wrong. Because it's A-side.
Chick.
The B.
Because we're not in B, bro. Where are they?
The science A and B.
We're trying to really confuse you.
You did good.
I think you did good, bro.
It's very noticeable.
Yeah, see? You get it. You get it.
Well, thank you very much for playing Cup of Zero.
Thank you.
Playing spot the difference.
I've got G2's Maddie's with me here.
I've got Donk with me here from Team Spirit.
The Mongols cover zero.
You like new?
It's completely different map.
I'm clicked here to be honest.
Why?
It's a new one, but yeah.
Okay, Heaven.
Heaven is missing.
Heaven? Yeah.
Yeah, it's not over.
We closed it.
And...
This is really missing.
One silo is missing, of course.
This barrel, and there's missed one.
There's missed one, yeah.
Oh, they missed the silo, yeah?
What is the difference?
I play on Nuke.
On A.
Bro!
Yeah, I play on A.
Something that I'm missing.
One more.
Maybe some heads on the wall maybe.
Which part?
Which part of the wall?
On the right side.
It goes too hard.
Ah, no.
Ah, the third thing on the left where you can drop, pick up the most, the biggest piece
He's actually on the map, I'd be pleased to have him.
Can I be like on the left wall, close to A side or no A?
Yes, on the left wall?
Yeah.
You're a little rammed to jump down and slide into the side?
Yeah, I'm not that bad.
That's a good excuse, that's a good issue.
But you've rotated in from Heaven sometimes?
I'm between like 100 games.
Okay.
Ah, the Heaven, like...
The bell?
Yeah.
Okay, see yeah, okay
I'm like yeah, like looking at the weird detail things. Yeah, I don't know you you want like will be small little yeah
I'm like I'm looking at the heaven that
this phone
Welcome at the PGL Astana. We're already off to a great start and now the reigning champions
are coming in. Team Spirit going up against G2, always one for the ages. And we're going
to have an extended panel here. We've got lots of stories to tell about these two teams.
But let's start with the one everyone wants us to talk about. Obviously Team Spirit. They
They went through so much, changed IGL.
I was going to make a graphic actually, then I thought,
I'm not going to bother, because it's so crazy and complicated.
It's like, we took Chopper out, we replaced him with Magix,
but Magix was already over here.
And then he brought some things back, and we go into this guy.
It's an air came in, and I went, I'm not
going to get anyone at PGL to draw that nonsense.
I mean, ultimately, that is just kind of how crazy Team Spirit
are.
They went from being a structured team to the vibes team.
Yeah.
I mean, you're absolutely right.
They are your reigning, defending, Astana
champions from last year, but that wasn't it.
They also won both bounties last year,
and they won a prestige trophy at IM Cologne.
They finished with the top four finish at Budapest Major,
and that wasn't good enough.
And so they did take this drastic measure
where they brought Magix back off the bench
to become the new in-game leader,
and they brought Zomtik's back off of a break.
They've also been trying to still implement Tanir
as one of the newer guys to the team,
and so far, it's been a bit of a bumpy road.
They've had a couple of nice finishes.
I think the Rio final run was one definitely to be proud of,
is their most recent event before this one, but there's also been, if we're honest, a couple of hiccups.
They're having a couple.
I mean, yeah, the ESL early finish.
They should be sponsored by Pep de Bismol, mate. Who are you talking about?
That's the pressure that Spirit are on, obviously. I mean, the indigestion when you have the best player in the world,
and then you're having a quarter-final finish losing to an Astral team that doesn't even win EPL.
Yeah, that's going to leave you with a pretty upset tummy.
Yeah, that's what you need there, that proton pump inhibitor.
But one guy obviously that needs more than Pepto Bismol to keep it back on track is obviously
Holly.
He's not here.
He was taking away on a medical leave.
Sotvic actually is now in his stead.
But that's when Spirit actually looks like they're getting a new lease on life.
You're seeing Taneer have an uptick in performance.
You're seeing their Strapbook just look a little bit more relaxed.
And it's a spirit that I'm actually enjoying more from the eye test because I just feel
like everybody's more willing to call their own number without Daddy Holly looking over
their shoulder scrutinizing every move they make.
They said as such, because when they went 3-0 in the groups,
Zontick's did an interview, always stoic and keeping it down.
I hope that's the chair for Zontick.
He is here.
You'll see him in a moment.
He said, well, now that Holly's not here looking over our shoulder,
we're just feeling it.
We're just trying to play off each other, do our own little thing.
And we were kind of sad that we were a little bit perplexed on the desk,
because we were like, you have to remember what your coach tells you
when he's not here, but they said they have a totally different style when he isn't.
Yeah, it's kind of weird that they somehow memory hole everything about Halley when he's not around.
That is an odd one, but I do think that there is something to be said about,
you know, finding a balance between allowing your individuals to express themselves and
have more freedom and try to have impact to star players, but also make sure that everyone's on
the same page with the bigger picture, you know, staying on the same umbrella, so to speak. And
hopefully they're going to find a middle ground there because when you have a guy like Doc,
you need to let him call his own number. I mean, the guy's one of the greatest we've ever seen.
And then a guy like Tamir, obviously, when he came over from Heroic, where he probably did have a little bit more, you know,
star rolls and able to feel a bit more comfortable, he had the transition to a tougher system over here at Spirit.
But the one thing that remains constant is this, thought is the best entry rifler period ever, period to do it, period.
Oh. I mean, look at these numbers. He is one of the few guys that you'll ever see routinely over a three-year span of time,
when way more than half of his opening goals on the T side while taking a huge amount of them.
No one else in CS has done that.
face of an angel, skills of the devil.
That's what his mom says.
I think that when it comes to Donk,
I mean, it's the greatest rightful of all time.
I mean, for me, I don't even,
even if his career stopped today,
greatest of all time, achievements, individual peak,
and now he's getting back to that.
That's what's scary for everybody else here in Astana,
that he is performing as he did, just the lights out numbers.
It rivals his Katavica when he hit the scene running in 2024.
So the fact that he's getting back to that means that you're not only gonna have to deal with him
But all the fact that everybody else on spirit is just totally on board that you're getting nice little pockets of performances from
Shiro and from tenure as well
So we know donkeys box and the question is who is this wingman on this team and I'm of the opinion it remains
Shiro. Yes, I mean, there's no question about that
I will say shiro has been a little bit shaky, you know this season if I'm honest
But what we have noticed this event is that he is in recovery mode,
and that's including playing some of the tougher teams you could play in groups
and mobs was inferior.
So I think that's a pretty good accounting of kind of where he's at.
And he really balances.
Don't well, because don't is the aggressive playmaker.
This is your back line guy.
This is the guy who's going to hold, you know, important angles.
You can come into the clutch.
You also had a pretty solid life flow, if I might add in those mid to late round
situations, so you're never going to feel burdened if he doesn't have the AWP in his hands.
And you know that has been his wingman the entire time and remains so I also think now
Yeah, I think you know some of the criticism about me a bit too passive and not coming forward
I think it was actually valid for a time. Sure. I don't think that's true anymore
I I think while he might not be as aggressive as saying someone like the woxic or whatever
He still will take those shots in those crucial moments where it's like if I make a play here
It's going to totally change the round.
Right. We're not necessarily seeing Shiro start around and say,
I want to run up mid with an AWP and just see if I can get something.
It's just that he's finding his moments a little bit more.
Whereas before, I would say, even back to 2024,
even during the Shanghai Major that they won,
sometimes he was more of just a pillar that he would just hold the line,
hit a tripwire shot in case anybody tries to progress onto the rest of his teammates.
Sometimes he'll actually change the setup.
He'll move forward a little bit, get a little bit closer,
go for a little bit more of a battle off.
And I love that his clutching has come back to.
That's another big thing for me with Shiro,
that I feel like in 2025, there was a couple lapses
in his late round ability.
But at this tournament and at the last couple,
I feel like I'm seeing a bit more just flare from him.
And I'm part of that's because he's a little bit more forward.
He's not just saving when a couple of his teammates die.
He's already in the action so then he can close better.
Yeah, I think the gap that is being bridged
is being done by Tamir.
We talk about the complementary impact
Donk and Shiro have on the opposite ends of the spectrum of aggression. I feel like 10 years right there somewhere in the middle
Where you're hoping that this guy is going to be the third star on this team
That's what you're going to need if you're ever gonna chase down the belt that is vitality
And I will say slowly, but surely he's getting a little bit more comfortable
I'm starting to notice him be able to get into the pack a little bit more and trade frag off the back of Donk and company
I've seen him do some of these anchor positions on the CT side more effectively
You know, it's not quite where he was when he was on heroic and looked like a superstar and looked like a guy
Who could be like a rookie of the year type guy. Yeah, it doesn't need exactly as long as he can just kind of get you know
More to that like 1.1 range 1 1.5
You know that that'll get him to the point where he can be a consistent contributor and you're seeing signs of it these last few tournaments
Yeah, look at the results. Oh, man. We do make your point. I'm sure it'll tag on but you know spirit didn't necessarily
necessarily 3-0 it sounds clean it sounds amazing it wasn't clean or amazing
I mean some of the maps definitely got close with the Mongols of course both
Both of those maps going the full distance against fury
They had a very difficult time with overpass and then obviously down to the third map on mirage nail biter of a series
I mean the only thing that they clearly did dispatch ever clean
They did was the Huns but the thing is that they got the job done for me rich and also the fact that they're building off of a
Rio where they got to the grand final only losing to Vitality at the very end.
Like this team means business and to me that's why they're the favorite of this
tournament. It's not always pretty. They're not head and shoulders above
everybody else like Vitality is to the rest of the Counter Strike field but in
this kind of tournament with these kinds of teams around them they should be
looking to be the top dog and solidify their place. You're absolutely right. This
is a turn about the best of the rest. Vitality's not here. The GOAT you cannot
conquer them in this moment but what you can do is set yourself up to be the
number one contender. Right? And some of these spots have already had their
opportunities at Vitality and weren't able to hit the mark, but all of them were going through something to that point.
Now this is about improving upon where you were at last time.
Take this trophy home if you can and set yourself up for attacking them at the major.
And I think for someone like Spirit, the reps are so important because of
Magix being a new in-game leader, because they're having to learn how to handle when their coach isn't there.
Like these are growing things they must get through if they want to remain an elite team,
and if they actually want to be a title contender.
Meanwhile, over on G2, their opponents are trying to find out how best to use the pieces they've got.
Obviously, Team Liquid decided, hey, we'll trade away arguably our best player.
We don't mind because it means we get to go and compete in a major.
They did that. Malbs goes out, now we've got these kind of anchor-like pieces.
They don't necessarily have a tip of the spear, but they have an unbelievably strong shaft.
I mean, they've reunited Nerds with his former teammates in Sun Pius and saw the coach and it's actually been extremely beneficial to them.
I just feel like this G2 team now gets a new lease on life. They get to have an entry fragger that understands the system a bit better as before where
where bulbs I feel like a lot of their results kind of
we're hinging on whether he's able to get it together for the singular game.
And so now you see them when they got nerds,
they went through three local lands.
One to make sure that he gets onto their major roster
through the VRS restrictions.
But two, I think the reps actually were extremely beneficial.
It's a bit of a shot on the leg because at Rio,
they weren't able to actually have their IGL in tow.
But I think they might even look better for it
because now you have Hunter understanding a little bit more
more about the hierarchy in terms of communication
flowing through the team.
Yeah, now they have another space taker in a different way.
Not a true slight entry, but a guy that you can take space.
And when you get him out into the open,
and you can kind of feel things out and call his timings,
he's very good at it.
But the other big thing I like about openings
is the fact that Heavy God has really
clicked on as like a secondary explosive entry
on the extremities.
You know, this guy is more known for being a side anchor,
more known for being a lurker in those regards.
But G2 has really started to gain
Heavy God being more in the pack and being a traitor sometimes you will see him go out first for example
And then be split on dust too and he's been able to be very effective at that
He is the rock of this team and he's very good at just being reliable and letting them build off of his foundation
I was gonna ask you about that Maui so heavy gods
Not quite a star
But kind of their best play it's just it's almost similar to what robs was doing back on some of his early teams
It's a role that isn't sexy. It's a role that's obviously relegated to the corners of the map that you're not usually going to be a
focal point for building an attack, but he's a closer and also the fact that he's calling his own number more
It actually is reminiscent more of what Navi was doing in 2024 with bit where he would be on the extremity
He would pick his time to strike from positions like palace or just lurking towards aim in or something like that on ancient and finding those
times to strike understanding the system a little bit better part of that is
actually due to the fact that nerds is getting a little bit more done in the
space taking positions so there's a little bit more chaos that ensues
because when the initial attack is so flat when mobs just instantly dies
taken out of the round then it's almost just a desperation attempt but now
heavy god he could pick his timing so much more based off of rotations that
he's hearing are necessary from oncoming CTs like as opposed to when if they just
5v4 v5 initially with with mom said there's no real reason that any anchor would ever leave yeah
These adjustments are pivotal because this is a team that really does have on paper a roster that you feel should have some potential
They realized some of it when they won blast London last year one of the only teams to beat by touting the best of five grand
I was then in fury the only two that have ever done it
It's so many that have been played but if we're honest the rest of that year was very lackluster and this year their crack
I'll debut solid but past that again not really excelling to the same level of being an actual title contender
So, you know, these moves that they have made bringing in nerds activating heavy got a little bit more
All these moves are to try to get them into a position where they actually can beat these elite teams
Now I'll be honest with you. I am really happy with heavy guys performance, but I do think some of the things are still shaky
I don't think nerds is still fully embedded yet. I think he has pop-off moments, but he hasn't been consistent
I think some pious is a little bit hot or cold with the AWP if I'm honest
I think in Fort Worth we saw him have some big moments, but we've also seen him have some stinkers
So I think they're really just having to find a way to kind of just iron out their ankles
I'll jump on that point this will take a look at their results. This is their journey to being here in the Paris arena
And you can see a lot more scenic
They got to take in the sights sounds not literally of course they had to play every day
But I'll say this to your point. I think the bottleneck in this G2 team
It ain't anyone with a rifle in their hands, bro. It is about that guy. It is about some pious
I don't have any more chances he's gonna get but that's him
I don't get away with that and see us do any more my friends. Well, that's the benefit you get when your coach is somebody that
Entrusts a lot to you to just make sure that the structure runs better reminder that at Rio
He did substitute in as the in-game leader because he understands the saw system and yeah
The numbers don't pop off the page whatsoever, but the what's all of that is
Enemies blind a while. I mean the fact that the enemy's flash number is so high is why Saul really loves this guy doesn't really miss nades
But and he just kind of hits the good the shots that are simple another aspect about Sun Pious is that?
Unfortunately his rifle has been bad actually that that's what really been hurting him in terms of overall rating where you have people like
Monosy and shiro who have excellent AK's in tow Sun Pious is one of the worst in fact
I think if you look at what his ratings are on T side per the gun
He has in his hand his tech 9 is better than his AK that is not acceptable the funny way
I always talked about his athletes you're referring to it's like their son poppy with the opposite hands and their son
No poppy where do you ain't got nothing going on like it is a really tough, you know disparity because like you said most
Elite operators in the world at least have some level of impact with the rifle
Some of them would even be world-class rifles that they never touched or not
And so for some pious to lack that much in that regard is definitely a weak point on the team
I think the other thing that we haven't mentioned yet is just the continued development of hunter as an IGL
I think it's fracking at a pretty high level
I'll give them that but I do think that there's still some things that have to be ironed out in some of these mid-round moments
I think he's a guy who already had a lot of responsibility
You know calling CT sides calling pistols that was even back when they had snacks and Nico on the team
But now he's having to be the guy and I'm just hoping that as they get more games has saw gets more time
You're hoping that he's going to be able to figure it out
But he actually does have a head start against the guy that he's facing today
My big worry with Hunter is that I think he cares a little bit too much about that number at the top right there
I don't think he should worry about his rating. He does play a bit selfishly
He does actually sometimes shy away from the pack in the middle of the round
Whereas people like magic people like care again. They're gonna stick with the pack make sure everything runs as flawlessly as possible
I think hunter still has those instincts of where he needs to strike next
Can he find a further gap when sometimes just staying with the group and trading things out is already gonna net you the victory?
But I think that that's just kind of his player instinct
So he's got to me just completely drop the idea that you're gonna be a star player or difference maker
Don't worry about your individual score when you press tab at the end
Just worry about the score at the top of your screen.
Well, we've got a few minutes, so let's do it.
Let's do the grading of these relatively new IGLs.
Obviously, Hunter has gone from kind of light star, secondary star,
to four-best player transitions into that IGL role.
Magic's obviously recently picking it up from Chopper.
I won't lie, I don't think they've done an amazing job either of them,
but what are you guys, the experts, then?
That's a great question.
I mean, I think that Hunter, we already talked about the fragging aspect.
He does play some Star City roles to a high level, so I think that's good, you know,
if you're going to be stuck in those roles.
And I do think that the team does have some pretty nice, like, poppy execute plays
with heavy utility usage and things that nature.
But I do think that once they get into slow rounds, the mid-rounding isn't quite where it needs to be.
And so I think that kind of puts them at an average level.
And if I'm looking at Magix, I actually think their T-Sights are better than I expected in a lot of ways.
But again, they are pretty heavily reliant upon fast, faster plays in their own right.
And when you do have Donk, that's kind of a cheat code.
So it makes it very hard to bray whatever.
You just have that type of weapon that no one else has
that you can just call, hey, Donk, go kill.
And that's a legit thing that can actually work.
So for me, I think it's kind of like a C level for me
at this point in time.
It's hard to distinguish them in terms of calling.
They both have similar playbook, just poppy,
take map control into the second phase.
I feel like sometimes with Hunter,
even kind of touching back upon how he plays as an individual,
I think that's a little infectious.
I think a lot of people on the team just like to spread out a little bit too frequently,
whereas I think Magix has a much more directed focus.
I will say to Magix's credit, he's also improved pretty tremendously for me,
whereas in the first tournaments with him, I felt like there weren't really clear finishers.
I think the Holly, when working with him, has definitely whipped him into shape in recognizing,
you need to outline clearly, even with an opening pick, how are you going to end this one?
So I think his mid-rounding has actually improved,
and that's not always something I can say about Hunter,
because I feel like the team that I saw nine months ago
is not much different tactically than a team today.
I mean, I've got to say, before we get onto the stage,
about a minute left, for me,
I think this tournament is super important to Spirit.
I think they might play it down.
You know, they're on their blogs,
all acting casual chill vibes, like I said.
I think if you don't win a big tournament like this
from Vitality on here,
I don't know how many more looks you're going to get
in the rest of the year,
because I thought they were a bit flaky
coming through the group.
If you talk about the stakes, Spirit needs this.
They need to prove that they are still
one of the best teams in the world,
that even though they've made these changes,
they are still a team to look out for hunting for a trophy
every single tournament.
For G2, this is a massive opportunity
to get back on the right track of yourself
getting into title contender status,
to prove that you can beat one of the big dogs,
to prove that these moos have bore fruit
and that you're on the right path.
So the stakes are very heavy in this game.
I would also say for G2,
it's about trying to re-establish your brand presence
in a way.
I mean, they were such a dominant team through the 2024.
In fact, going into the Shanghai Major,
I think a lot of people have had G2 as the favorites in that one the way they were rolling with Nico and monocy. And so I still of the M of the opinion that the best roster move in the middle of 2024 during that player break was soft for G2.
But he needs to actually start putting some more trophies in the cabinet because that one tournament win in London that just still feels like it's so distant from now. It feels like it's almost like a lifetime ago.
And it feels they just haven't been able to recapture any of that sort of energy because as soon as teams got a
Finger on the pulse of how G2 on a call then it things got just so much easier to game plan against well
Those are the stakes and now we go over to the stage
Oh, it's good to see you guys filling out and I hope to hear you roar throughout this game
For our first team stepping onto the stage, they're the reigning champions of PGL Astana,
looking to claim this trophy one more time.
A slightly different look to them, a change in coach as a stand-in,
a different dynamic for the team, but a dominant donk, a stable shiro,
but it's the rest of the players that we have question marks around.
So please, Astana, give it up for Team Spirit!
That is the roar and applause I expected for Spirit, but on the other side we have G2.
They've been shifting focus, they've been changing their identity and though they did
struggle in this group stage. They still took it to the limits and pushed
themselves to get here. The question marks around this team is still how far
they can go once they reach the quarter finals, but they have the caliber, they
have the experience to go further than before, but now they have to take on
their ultimate test. A team that they have struggled with many times before.
Please make some noise for G2!
G2 and Spirit on the stage tonight, come join us up here, heavy good, on the other side
as well heavy god personally for you throughout this tournament you've been
looking individually good G2 still had its struggles though what did you take
away from this what did you see that you needed to fix in order to be better
today on the stage I think it comes to a lot of communication and small details
and like how we help each other in the rounds and how we can adapt as well and just support each other and be like supportive teammates and be a unit in the server.
James asked that the most important thing for you to perform successfully on this LAN is that they should play as a team, as a unit, as a whole and support each other constantly, then you will have success.
We did the spare.
As I said, it's the only time we need to push forward and give our best.
Let's get to the question. Why can't J2 go through the quarter-finals? What do they stop?
Heavy God says that, of course, they are very small things, because on a high level, the game is one minute, one second, and that's it.
That's why they don't let them go further.
And in order to get the win against Spirit today, what's going to be the difference maker for you and G2?
Kresdem.
Oh, Nistaan!
Tenev, back in Rio, you had a great individual level.
It was like the best performance you've had in that spirit jersey.
This event, it is slowing down once again.
What's been happening? Why the change?
For real, I'm not sure it's like a vendor going down about if it looks like.
Yeah, maybe. But if we are looking about my...
If we're looking about situations, what we've had on this tournament,
I really want some important situation for my team being around and beat economic enemy teams.
I don't care about stats for real. I want to be very important for my team.
And that's it.
The question is about why there was no great statistics here in Rio.
The situation is not so happy.
The most important thing is when the team wins.
What's the difference? What statistics do I make?
So my team wins.
Now, on the other side, he said he's going to crush you guys, but you guys have not lost
to G2.
What gives you the advantage in this game?
What makes them a comfortable team for you to fight against?
I'm more friendly than Nikita right now.
Maybe if Don't be here, he said he doesn't care and he fucks them.
But right now I want to say just good luck for them and I think it will be a very interesting game.
If there was a donk here, I would have known that it would be an easy cut.
Yes, let's say I won't translate it directly.
But the world says that these guys are at least comfortable.
I just wish you good luck and I think it will be interesting.
Thank you very much.
Alright, shake hands guys, go and take your seats.
Good luck in the game.
But we need to find out, and I'm pretty sure I already understand how this is going to go.
But maybe there is some supporters for G2 in the house, so...
Any G2 fans?
All right, all right.
Okay, okay, let's see how many of us have come here to cheer for Spirit!
All right, all right. So that was a good pop for Spirit, but I need you to get up and give it for everyone right now.
for this next game we're going to see in the quarterfinals.
MAKES A MISE!
Man, that wasn't very good, guys. You were louder for spirit.
Astana, let me hear you!
Yeah, no doubt who the home crowd heroes are,
But I gotta say, I love coming to Astana because they cheer for every team, they cheer for
Great Counter-Strike, a lot of love and respect shown to G2, even from Tenere on the stage,
but Shelf all of that.
Let's talk about this beat though, Dust, where's it going?
I think the bands are going to be pretty straight for.
I think what will be interesting is where the picks are going to lie.
I do anticipate Spirit want to just go to Dust 2 as they always do, but G2 on the other
hand has some options.
They're a team that likes to pick Mirage a lot, but there's an option to maybe go after
You know a vulnerability in spirits map pool lately like an ancient or something along those lines
So I'm curious to see what G2 will actually finalize on I would personally just prefer for G2 to go with the tried and tested ancient
It's a map that spirit have also looked vulnerable at in high pressure games
I mean back when they lost at EPL in the quarterfinals part of that was due to the fact that the game plan that a straws had
Again stonk was so effective that it's actually pretty easy to neutralize somebody who's gonna swing out mid every single time
and so that's that's my biggest concern but the thing is that so impressive about spirit at this tournament and why
They're the clear favorites for me is that their flashes have gotten better
Their utility has gotten better in 2025 rich
They were the worst team of all of the top 20 at flashes at this tournament. They are number one
So something has changed for this team tactically. We'll see if it pans out as the veto rolls on in remembers
Well, that's happening. No coach present. He's taking a break
I gotta say for me the problem you have with every spirit game
It's just the dunk factor if you think they're beat. It doesn't matter. They have what does called the cheat code. Oh
Yeah, I mean the guy just doesn't miss a beat when it comes to being the engine of the team opening up things as an entry
Rifler, but also playing a lot of the stars if you rotate the positions at such a high level and yeah, we are gonna get that handshake
I think for for Mirage on the third map. Yeah. And so yeah, the battlefield has been selected and it's what we expected
But it's gonna provide a lot of fun
I feel like this video is actually great for g2 given that they probably wanted to pick either mirage as the second or
Ancient as their number one so they got those two maps and dust two
I mean it has been the bread and butter of spirit with magics as the in-game leader
He's just such a powerful caller in terms of just making sure that they get the map control space towards middle
Their mid to B's are ferocious, their cat plays are also electric.
Yeah, I mean both these teams feel comfortable on Dust2, but Spirit has a better resume against a higher level of competition.
They're 13 and 2 with this 5, and one of those losses is their vitality.
So, I mean really really strong on Dust2.
They're obviously very well known for how they're gathering go play style that's driven by Dawkin as entry fragging.
But their hits that are well calculated, they have really good utility usage as, you know,
I was already talking about their flash assisted proving but also just how they cover sites with nades and mods awesome
Put people on awkward space to help don't get entries
But I think the other big thing about this map that I want to key in on about spirit is this is one of the maps where they've
Been able to get to near more involved. You know, they don't leave him working at long a very often or either taking long a with him
Or they're letting him trade frag behind rest of his teammates
Well, we're about to find out because we are going to the game now some of my favorite words beginning with the letter H
You've got hilarity, you've got heroics, you've got hype, and it just so happens that the two
casters that embody all of those are about to call this game. It's Harry and Hugo.
Yes, thank you very much Richard and Astana. It's fantastic to be back, right? Coming here last
year, weren't really sure what to expect. What we found was a nation that loved Counter-Strike,
new and old. You had the Mollidoy storyline. He's got on to become a national celebrity out
here in Kazakhstan, and a couple more echoes of the past. The reigning champs of a team spirit
about to play in this quarterfinal. They're facing off against G2. Yeah, no question on who those
hometown heroes are, right? And on this side of the bracket, you have every expectation
of spirit to sweep into that grand final. When you consider as well the uptick in form,
Maui mentioned, the improvement spirit have made, and all doing this without a coach as well. So,
not any advantage is here for G2 in this must win playoff match. A team that has struggled,
That has maybe regressed. Coming into this year, are facing their biggest challenge yet.
A starter, we're ready to go!
Team spirit, G2 and Dust2, a go-to for this Russian roster.
And we might not have to wait long to get some serious action.
It's a long pop out of spirit, trying to bring the pace to this pistol.
Just had to near up on the stage.
Broken by the nerves, he comes through with the opener.
On the long side, it's all Spirit with the Openers.
Yeah, to near wish G2 good luck.
They're gonna need it. 2v4 for Heavy God of Nerds.
Heavy God, tricky guy to deal with.
This is way out under the short side.
He's got Nerds in tow out behind him,
and that's a big blow to Team Spirit.
Chaos all across the pistol.
As this one comes down to the 1v1,
it's Rip Roaring from the word go.
Oh, Kiro!
Delivering some salvation of Spirit there in a round that was rapidly getting away from them.
B250 Beast here, Team Spirit. That's such an important pistol, right?
Of all the teams here in the playoff, G2 are the most successful in these pistol rounds
coming into the playoff matches.
Team Spirit are right down here at the bottom.
That is a huge recovery from G2, but not enough to close out the clutch.
You want to talk second round spirit don't lose these every day of the week any day of the week
learning every single one from the group stage as well so just to expecting more the same G2
force up as a sign of confidence though wanting that full by round to have everything including
at AWP on some pious for now spirit very focused on rifles taking their time
Dom controlling tunnels as he does best
I have this wrestle to control over the early game with this force of a G2.
G2 really gambling on the bid to be right now.
They're all set up here waiting for the door push.
Spirigard catwalks, a dead round walking.
Pressure onto the captain, takes one of the dome and straight away.
It's on their way over, but they need some real dislodged hunter.
More damage put down Rage from Mattis, there's a lot of low players here.
Mattis, but if the headhunter looks for his second,
learns about the long player in Taneer as well, they can't flush him out!
Mattis is ripping heads off, there's 5-7 doing a lot of work.
Some pious joins the fray.
If you're still looking, that is to be a difference maker
on for the ace in this four-spy.
Five-seven's drinking him well.
On that swing, let's get down.
But it comes some pious to make sure it's not in vain.
All right, I said we don't see Spirit lose those rounds,
so that is away from the mean, away from the expectation.
G2 break through with a crazy four-spy.
Five-seven just tearing through to the spirit.
And they get a little bit strong out there, not expecting G2 to put up so much of a fight.
Later Catwalk, late too long.
Mattis punishes 4, that was on for his second ace of the tournament.
Not quite, but it's enough.
No chance to take a breather at the start of this one with the force by Wars.
It's like to continue spirit, couple of tech nines, good chunky U-Tel there for magics.
They got out their sleeve.
and it's not a good thing.
Magic is a fan of these
sneaks up through the short
side. Can't believe some
crisis pulled the open to this
round right waiting for this
suit getting it soon as he
physically can, but you know,
technology on the other side,
so this is still dangerous.
You try to initiate in tunnels
a spot spirit with control.
They give it up quickly.
I mean your heart pressed to
go anywhere but be in a round
The Nitsby Donk leads the charge, lock in the doorway, out through the window, it's the
Donk D-Ball striking for a double, B-Site falls.
Wouldn't you know it?
We have a bit more left in them here, that double entry from Donk more than enough with
that open play.
G2 can't attempt this in position alone, they want to keep these guns.
How are you feeling about that AWP now, some pious? Locked out of this bonsai completely. G2 can't risk it.
They walk away. That's Spirit with technines and deagles picking up this force by round.
The cheat code of Team Spirit strikes double.
G2 probably knew it was coming, but can't do anything about it.
Surprised to see them honestly lead with a triple A in that round.
They fall right forward and the Spirit with limited guns salutes may as well hunt a little
bit.
No rifles taken out of this for Spirit, they're not quite out of the woods so still G2's
chance to bite back.
I mean we've been getting a phenomenal tournament out of Don.
and the number's in clear, right? This is his second highest rated event ever below Katavica 2024 on his debut.
But you've got to keep in mind that's a group stage, right? That's a 3-0, Spirits, messy games, it's, you know, we've seen this before from Dogg.
It's the question of how far did they go with the playoffs? Can he keep that number up? And if Spirits get eliminated, it might not matter.
That can disappear quickly.
The numbers are there, Donk is performing, there is no doubt about that.
And with the Arctic we've seen from Spirit recently, you have reason to believe that they could be on for a run here again in Astana.
Ski cross over your bias yet to reveal position if he does they might just jump
the gun and head up catwalk a bit of spam here for shiro some pies wants
commitment
careful shiro
they can't speed up spirit have bomb up cat maybe they go quickly but now they're
blocked both sides of the map and bomb late to pick up g2 5v4 great position and hunter still on the site
It's gonna open up someone takes the lure. Oh, yeah now he's gonna go back long side
This is actually giving it a new avenue for spirit on this split
First man down there to see if he hunters not aware of this. Here's the footsteps hunter
and he's back down. It's long player. It's meant to catch them by supplies. Hunter
keeps his wins about him. The instinct of the captain. It doesn't let down at G2.
Back and forth we go at the start of dust. A shocking result in that round.
The fact that Xontics goes back is the perfect play. There's no one there.
He knifes out the entire way to long. He gets Hunter looking at site and he
completely misses his shot. Hunter gets to flick back, finds a triple kill,
Shots down that entire round. That is disastrous from Zontex.
13 seconds, he had to get that kill.
And without it, Team Spirited just left to a measly AK, at least in the hands of Donk.
But surrounded by pistols, I said they weren't out of the woods. That forest is deep.
Spirited poise.
We hit on this B bomb site.
So the G2 though, they got burned by it once already in these low econ rounds.
Replayers with a lean over towards B, got fast rotates available on nerfs and some pyres,
so it won't be as easy or so you'd like to think for spirit this time around.
This is where you're looking at Donk entrusted with the hero gun.
I find them a way in.
in. He's actually moved away.
Yes, that heavy god is playing full battle, he's got no utility, he's just crouched down
back of the platform and Nerts is going to draw in attention from default. You would
expect sight and car, you wouldn't expect sight and plat from these two rifles, so if
you spirit, deal with it.
Getting a lot of ground out through the tunnels, HeavyDog with a late peek lines up the double
and Dong's a part of that.
They're near with an important trade, now they've got a sniff out Nernst, they've located
it, Spam's good, Magix will move past him on the tech 9.
Oh, Giro gives away that kill though, walking up through short.
This is going to keep G2 more than interested in the retake.
Very smart hold for some players to expect that so late in the round, but it's enough
for G2 to consider this fast.
Wait a moment.
Well, three players over towards those doors.
Oh, no. To make that first incision,
it's Magix to open things up,
and he has got his back to play through the door tonight.
And Team Spirit now cross by.
Just established there's no going back in the lap for G2.
I mean, that's, you know, great, a read from some players,
but to not expect that boost position back the bombsite,
That's a position that Albs and Niko even made kind of better inside of this team previously, so
this even not expected, bit off of the G2, free kill for Spirit, and in any advantage,
you're still hard pressed to retake this B-bomb site.
Right now, Spirit, two of their three rounds coming off of a B-hit,
and that is enough to fully break G2.
G2 actually just can see back and forth nature of dust they play for a full eco here
they're going to bring out guns in the next one of these CT force rounds it is a tricky prospect
Context is where he's waiting for two full set in tunnels and we put on like they still have
have to make a move, they have to go further. Clearing B is only so helpful.
That B isn't clear as it turns out, so once it walks in late, he heard them run away.
It's gonna walk right through. Pressure spirit going up long, there's no flash to get G2 through this smoke, that's a big fear.
Donk is playing anti as they walk up, but I don't see a world that this can go wrong
It shouldn't be much of a threat in this round for spirit big goal is just avoid taking too much damage
Already our position G2 you've done enough to win this
So at this point it's just a matter of keeping five alive finally
14 spirit
G2 could get an AWP out of this, they wouldn't say no to it.
Spirit know that, they'll bring extra bodies over long side to help Shearow out.
Hugs we're getting a little bit deleted here, right? WSP headshot, the line up on the B push.
None of that seemed to matter so far for Team Spirit, up four rounds.
G2, fall by, and even gonna have that AWP if they want it on some pious.
Only timeout for G2.
And maybe the concession taken in the last of this rifle round is very important.
You take this early game back and forth, right?
Finally, Spirit able to break through that.
And this decision to take the eco play with the guns here, not without risks,
you could still be on the back foot very early.
I think I think it's important to know is the hot start out of Taneer,
he was kind of the very important piece in their breakthrough round over towards B.
A promising start from a player who was struggling in the spirit jersey.
Yeah, I mean, just came off his breakthrough through tournament in Rio as well.
Showed up hard when Spirit needed him even in the playoffs.
Spirit just looking to punish early in this round. Are they going to go full commits?
You won the best out of having got a nurse here.
Great flash.
Rashbang has teed them up.
And it will get overwhelmed.
Zontics with the breakthrough.
That gets you out through the tunnels.
And now heavy guard, more important than ever.
Shot for Shiro.
How many more chances will he get?
Second one is all he needs.
And still very much alive.
It's a late learn from Magix.
Through Shaw, backs up in and buys his time.
With that picked up on some pious.
Mattage, does he get the trade quickly? He'll be locked out of this.
Ooh, okay. Pocket behind the molly, but great grenades coming in here for Mattage to block him entirely.
Mattage, they don't want to throw in a towel considering the bomb just went down, but he has to run quickly tunnels.
Try and fake that out. Mattage is not moving.
So, good luck getting through this one.
Kid available, he needs the kill.
What a cheeky move with Magix, right? So dependent on his team-finding success. Sure, you've got four players coming into B, but G2, some of their hottest rifleers on that bombsite, Hudson Hebigon.
Hebigon, not the type of guy you want to give all these chances to to get rolling early, or so you might think, but right now, Spirit making his bombsite feel like a problem.
You can definitely see the familiarity, right? Maybe the prep-paying off of G2, knowing that, you know,
Magic is going to be lucky on Cat, they don't want a player doing that earlier in this game to send them into a V-retake.
G2 may know what they're up against.
But once again, back down to Pistols, and to Neymar's defeat.
And that made it across pit-side. They don't know...
Oh, my heavy guard jumped from in the pack!
Oh, that's not evil!
He'll make him pay.
They overlook this position and it's a decision they'll go on to regret.
How much more can Heavy God do?
Crush him out.
It's been sharp. They get closer.
Two left in the eagle and Heavy God's put down.
It's like his efforts be in vain.
We're gonna slow down here.
time to work with, the pressure is on G2.
It's not going to overdo it here. He knows that what a way for spirit to commit also
means that there's going to be a gun back at long. Spirit should absolutely play this
one together, not split up in this two versus one. Nertz can get armed. He suddenly gets
dangerous and Spirit are the ones with the time pressure. They can't sit here forever.
pause ahead of the rifle round just how important it was right with the back and
forth nature of the first five rounds it was kind of staking the entire early
game on that one rifle
in a bit of a vulnerable position here promising star out of spirit
this one's just been relentless from the word go yeah I mean this is spirits go
to right 14 and two on this map this year alone one loss to vitality in there
as well, surprised and lost to Astralis, but all this time with Donk 3 and 7, shows
to the improvement spirit that have made as a roster in the last couple of months.
I think as well, you know, you think about Astana last year and the kind of muted celebrations
from guys like Donk, he took magics, put a smile on his face there even if they just
won the trophy.
And I think it's because, you know, as good as Donk played across that entire final, he knew the team as a whole
Wasn't he great enough for him to go on a fine success at the Major? Kind of a prediction, he was corrected
But here, Donk, bottom of the board for his team, Spirit still running away with this
A lot for this Spirit squad and just in Counter-Strike as a whole with the rise of Vitality
So a spirit right now where it's the strength of the team not the strength of one individual that's making the difference
It's to be set up here smokes go out
We got nerds on the other side of them trying to hold on Hunter has no assisting utility
Patrick's is walking through though. And so this will be the a play here for team spirit
I'm suspicious
Makes it past it check the close corner. That's exactly what Hunter was waiting for now. They go into the sub-pires or
Wait, wait, wait, man, some ticks needed to double.
With that now coming through, it's Shiro, it's Tanea,
left in an unlikely two-on-four.
Got 15 seconds left to work with as the round stalls out.
We say, well, do we die here for Spirit?
It's a hard decision to make,
but 10 seconds are going to choose to plant their feet,
defend their positions.
And Happy God knows he can really punish the money right now
with a well-timed peek after the clock.
Falling in Team Spirit will survive it seems.
Oh no!
All could punish him. Money lost.
Team Spirit in the dirt.
G2, well aware of what they're up against, not just because it's experienced most prolific
map, the map they picked every series of a group stage, but this is a team that's gonna
Beat up on G2 three times this year.
Haven't lost to them since London.
The event where G2 broke out of one against the odds.
The spirit with a comfortable matchup is today to day that changes.
That was Donk Shrye into the orb last round. Some players hit his shot when required.
I'll say this, you know, for G2, considering how kind of
the eye of this felt with Spirit winning out those back-and-forth forces at the start,
if you go on to recover this half, six-all, you are very, very happy with that.
Then put in the super vulnerable position on the CT side every round hitting like a two-for-one.
Yes, needed a bit from him, up on that boost to tell the Intel rings out long side, suppliers will already reclaim that man advantage.
They come to smoke, spam connects, now forced out by the Molly, still can't catch him, suppliers come back, AWPing!
He'll want heavygods backstabbed, might open up a late-book B-play, 14-spirit.
It's in the option to go back.
The clock, 25 seconds, if you want to run B, you've got to count in.
They decided they'd better go forward.
And if the time to go back with the bomb out long,
it's time to piece this one together.
Saw the bomb on the minimap.
No, the magic's in here.
Still can't deal with the double peek.
To the new man in the G2 jersey,
earns convincing catch.
Bomb will make it across.
Time to plant is low.
So fix takes the fight straight up.
Terrifying 1v1.
He had the bomb in.
and a split second to make that decision to go for the fight or go for the part.
Fortunately for him, NERVs commits.
And so that is a trade that will get Spirit back on the board,
dealing with a chaotic, hectic, late-round situation.
Magic almost overcooks on the Rotay.
Someone calls it off.
Couldn't have been a better call there for Spirit to recommit, even into the stack.
G2 with a timeout.
Spirit yet to need one.
Seven rounds, despite the back and forth that this game displayed early
with G2 breaking their money.
a chance to reset G2 here and now and now we just sealed the deal on a fantastic T side
in one way you just never let off the pressure.
Back ten for Magix.
Still on his top mid-lug, Team Spirit start 4B.
In the game this was the obsession of Team Spirit.
There's only one man home.
Have you got Steve already giving us a highlight,
but conducive to the round win here.
Spirit, the smoke scares him off, makes him reset.
How little do they know the opportunity that was right there?
One thing that's reassuring right now for G2 is Sumpias is performing on the stage.
We know him to have had some incredible moments in arenas.
More historically than recent, but it's his pick up as of late that's given you hope for G2.
Even despite falling out of group stages time after time,
for the last four events G2 unable to make it into the playoffs.
Sumpias was not the problem there, but here he goes down first.
Going into the stacked bomb site.
They played heavy guns solo B from the get go.
Mattis long swing gets punished, gets a little limitation there.
Looking for the info and Hunter's getting surrounded.
No road left to run at this A bomb site.
His spirit owned all the avenues.
Shiro even comes hunting.
Heavy guns won't get to save.
And it has just been a maximum punishment on this T side from Team Spirit.
All these swing rounds, all the ones that opened up the chance for a streak
going the way of Team Spirit.
Chiro is just playing so much more aggressively in these games as well.
You know, we came into this saying, hey, Doc's looking to still have a top-rated event of his career
relying on whether Spirit make a run in playoffs.
I didn't think it would rely on whether Doc shows up in the playoffs.
He has not really been a factor individually in this map and that has not held spirit back in the slightest
Eight rounds on their T side, Donk with four frags
Shiro
Top of the server
The old spirit adage used to be if Donk goes missing they can't win
Definitely not the case today. Sure Donk is still the forefront of these opening fights
He's running into dry orb sometimes, but he's still positive on his opening jewels, 3-2-2.
But when you set the bar that high, there are always expectations.
Maybe this is his round. Into the A site, some weaker weapons hunter up close.
I mean, all throughout this CTR, G2 have just been playing cash up.
But early on slow, it would have been causing a lot of problems for G2.
Every minute, solid brass, on where Spirit is going, it's another one of these A-plays,
and Donk will break through, double opener.
And it's going to try and throw in some chaos, scaling up.
He's done so quietly.
Donk's got his eyes on him, and he's been waiting for that big Donk round.
Well, how's the triple entry sound?
That'll do me nicely. G2 no hope, no room, no kits, no shots. It's a nice thing, but
Donk is still here. Zontik's from the cross and heavy guard, Tic Toc.
Shiro's got it. That's a team spirit masterclass on the T side of Dust 2.
Every round of consequence going their way, and they level a very punishing T side against G2.
Yeah, I love that they put the threat in this B side early, right?
We have this back and forth for the first five rounds, Team Spirit constantly abusing them, going in with tech nines.
Once the guns came out, that was just perfect.
Cat splits every single time.
The long players timed well.
G2, even though they had some players in the right place, often picking up still a string of gun rounds at the end there for Team Spirit.
I mentioned coming into this game G2's success in pistol rounds at the group stage is right.
It's not just pistols, it's conversions as well.
Using only one out of the 15 second rounds.
G2, they need that pistol now.
I think as well, the Spirit have done a really good job of nullifying Mattis in that entire first half, right?
The long player for the G2 squad often very good at finding his timings out through the long doors,
hitting back stabs, usually very proactive. They had him mostly bogged down and unable to do anything.
Yeah, all good. Yes, exactly. Exactly. We did it against Paris Vision, we can come back here.
If we win the pistol, we win this map. Trust me, boys.
G2 with a belief in the comeback.
Could all just be shut out with this one round.
I'm willing to renege on the space and just give back to G2.
He's got a block smoke to slow them down.
The rest of the play is coming up short.
Right here.
The dog stalker retters.
Now 3K reminded him what he's capable of and now it's a multi-kill for Donk but more is required.
Job's not done. Four team spirit is the A site falls.
Highest P2 from afar. Two to the dome. He's bored down low.
That P2 50 is going to be a bit more considered now. You've got Mattis tucked in taking next contact.
Spirit still closing the gap on this and it's Donk with all the kills in this pistol round.
And there's the fourth. Is it really going to be a Donkage?
Oh!
That is well-replayed!
Out of nowhere, four frags for Donk.
Madis matches it, excels and picks up a pistol clutch here for G2.
Donk does everything, and it's still not enough.
That's more of history repeating itself,
but a damn good shot from Madis to close this one out.
G2 a necessary round victory to keep themselves on this stage in this first map.
And that a stays calm spirit come in with a force
G2 like I said 14 out of 15 of these rounds they played in the group stage they picked up
Spirit surprise
Double down here in lower.
You might overlook one of these two.
It's certainly not overlooking the domped eagle.
Mattis Backstab required, but this is where Zontics' position makes things interesting.
Okay, the back turn, gives it all the way.
So the bait and switch in at lower is not rewarded.
Important pickup for Mattis.
When there's opening up the A-play, you'd like to think this is a safe round for
safe round for G2.
I'm picked up there in mid, and today I will hear this,
but it's already made it past them on short.
Oh no, it's up in Gandalf right now.
They're not walking through that door.
Great awareness from Mattis in this round
to go back and still check for a second player.
No reason to believe Zontec's was in position.
So, Nox Teagle is all that strikes here
for Team Spirit in this fourth by round.
Gonna try safe, give it another go.
This is the closest thing you've had
to a bit of a breather all game long,
your G2, Streaker Browns going their way, winning out against the Force.
Some time to breathe, some time to plan ahead.
Ultas coming back from a position like this, but as pointed out, they've done it
once already in those group stages.
Gives them a bit of faith, a feeling that they've done this before.
I can't believe I'm in the last game.
Calm before the storm for G2.
One more round to collect themselves
before spirits come in with a full buy.
Has a surprising amount of money put into this round for spirit.
They're trying to remain competitive around these
saved pistol armors, saved scout and shiro.
Shiro, they essentially have another partial buy again.
They're obsessed with the lower tunnels to open up this game,
but not in this round.
It's a more standard 3-2 setup to open things up.
Dunk long with HG, they've got one more on B,
but G2 could just punch the ticket in this hit.
HG goes both ways, though.
That's false.
Shiro wants to extend the advantage.
There's a bit of aggression.
As it goes down, and that feels important,
Spirit get to maintain this advantage.
Cheryl even hangs on this angle.
Now the scour shot connects.
He's getting a lot of value out of this saved gun.
Why am I getting a little bit nervous here for G2?
Stuck in the tunnels right now, no map control across the board.
Some pyres, if he walks out and gives up a 1v1,
this is going to go very wrong.
It's only a USP on magics right now, though.
Donk back in the bomb site.
Some pyres make steps, but then he walks away,
and that's drawn Donk closer to the fake.
Wow, G2.
Even meant to be as dangerous.
Long-Steagall waits.
I really afford to finish A here. Not only do you not have info, you just have two players crossing in a CT.
Do you likely anticipate this is a heavy A side lead? G2, it's the right read, are they ready for the foods?
Sartic's throwing up there and heavy gods got eyes on it.
The Shiro scout, they did so much at the top of the round, but won't be able to stop this B play.
That hurts, doesn't it? Two scout tags, right? You set up pistols perfectly, but just out position in this round.
G2 leaves some doubts for Spirit at fake step on long.
A bit of a lull in the action after Bomb is spotted in B and Spirit aren't certain.
It's that uncertainty that puts G2 back on the board converting after a pistol win.
And this is where the game gets tough.
First gun round is integral, right?
Even though SPIRITAR are getting the majority of their rounds on the T side of this map and
They have done so in this game already.
This is still their go-to.
This is still Spirit's home ground.
This would be G2 leveling up to a degree
we haven't seen in 2026.
Spirit, their whole story has been
improvements across the board.
So let's see them put to work.
I'll get in play for Team Spirit.
That's kind of the one downside of them putting a bit of extra money in in that last round.
So if this comes down to a retake, you've got less time to work with and it's certainly
with Zontik's full blind and alone over a B.
It's a good chance to bail. They know they don't have door smoke, so Shiro on the line is a possibility.
G2 won't overplay this. I like the opening move. Using Matts is to get a kill, and that's with an important trade.
And so G2, in a viable position, burning a lot of utility and resources here for Team Spirit.
I'm going to panic. Still two players remain today.
Spirit with their best pieces on that B-bombside right now. G2, let's see if they can avoid them.
Right into the belly of the beast.
Fuck on the tunnels, there's a bit of a problem.
Gipsdom can angle the play with here up close.
Ready for someone to try and backstab, and they're able to flick back and fight mid if Shirin.
Oh, the help! There he is, head on and swivel!
And that's what you were worried about.
Yeah, you had your opportunity when Donk was quiet in this game,
but that has disappeared now.
More and more impact coming into this second half,
a 4K pistol to remind us who he is,
and G2 left to the save.
Or not, Spirit denied everything.
APPLAUSE
Donk is back in the building,
and G2 getting shown the door on Dust2.
And when you take away the early rounds of this map and you look at pure rightful rounds
for G2, they've only won one in this entire game.
Suddenly a close scoreline tells a different story.
Spirits start to edge ahead.
I think even just shutting down one of those B splits as well always feels good.
What'd I do?
Like that.
Is it all by design?
Yeah.
I do like that.
The lower players saw it, right?
Either way, some players primed on the angle.
Spirit offer up nothing.
That all an enigma right now.
I can't default A.
Magic's with the block, and he's read them immediately.
Look at this reposition for magic.
Blocks of smoke goes right back to sport.
Chiro doubles up on long, and oh dear, Spirit know what's coming.
As in-game leaders do, they're stacked on shorts to make life uncomfortable.
They come along, not even working.
Magic station first contact, not about that, all incentives to ride for the Ultra Theatre
play back up.
I don't know who's in that winning position.
I fall around.
Stats for G2 becomes more damning by the second failure to launch and this one leaves them
with nothing.
guns all they're gonna have to work with up against a surge from Team Spirit
since the rifles have made an appearance a flawless round now only extends the
pressure you're not breaking these spirit bank accounts easily you struggle
in the gun rounds you got some pious and heavy god here to fall back on but
that's all you've got to work with up against this horrible 11-6 scoreline
yeah sure it's more weapons in play here for G2 but letting them survive
also just makes things uncomfortable they've got a cooler time out they've
got to figure out the money whether they want to go all in to actually allow
an orb to keep them in the game they probably will at this kind of scoreline
11 to 6 G2 have not hit anything since the guns of spirit have come out so
spirit just like them sit in it something hasn't even had to stand up just
yet it's all going to plan everybody's thinking about falcons versus
superior later, but the discount spirit, defending champions, there is all the expectation to
see this team in the final. Hard to doubt right now, Donk recovery, Shiro from the word
go and across the board a team effort here from the Spirit.
I think at all levels of this game Spirit have been throwing problems the way of Hunter
from that. T side early, the abuse over towards B to kind of cool into question
where they should be placed in these early stacks. Now on the CT side, they shut down
the B split convincingly, right? No issue for spirit. That kind of removes your
confidence to throw one in and around like this. And the follow-up, anticipating
it wouldn't be the B play, they were more than ready for the Cat-Exec. Magic has done
a fantastic job of just kind of directing traffic on both sides of the map.
He's been the guy in charge
G2 just gonna try and punch a ticket in this B bomb site
Don't is gonna be quick rotation door smoke is integral if don't is gonna remain on the ramp as magics has moved back to a
There is a brief window of opportunity here for G2 and they have to grab it
Cardo smokes in now towards middle and spirit
They can see that B bomb site down to play retake here. They're gonna focus fire on the mid-take.
It opens up and someone else threw down flashbangs so they know there's more out through middle.
Now, Silent Stomp makes his way over.
Can't follow up on a Sumpius. The ult gives G2 something as they get out into B.
Next up to Bat, it's Mattis out towards the window.
As the barrel knows they're right here.
Oh, no.
This is nearly done a lot of damage.
Won't be enough.
Suppliers, no scope lands, but still.
Oh, what a new nail-biter of a round.
But it won't be enough.
Spirit don't need the luck of no scopes.
They come in with raw numbers.
That is two dinks down middle, no conversion of the A1S.
What a disaster for G2.
What an opportunity to get back in this game.
and spirit snuff it out like that.
Shiro clutched just the boots.
He's had one hell of a game here on Dust2,
and G2 just failure to launch.
Passo's pistol rounds, Passo's force buys.
We have seen nothing from this squad.
They have been capped.
I've seen so much comfortability from Spirit, and it goes without saying, right?
It's Dust2, it's the home app, it's the one they've always looked to play here in Astana
at every opportunity, and you are seeing that comfort in the server breaking apart, that
mid to be just in two entirely separate fights.
much of a clear eye density. Look at G2, right? In group stages, they pick four different maps.
Sure, somewhat punish. They'd be based off their opponent. There is a... We know where G2
are comfortable. It is maps like Ancient, 3D, and Siege of Mirage. Ancient, which will be the second
map of the series, but Spirits just say, look, you can prep for us. You can know what's coming.
We don't care. We will still beat you. Right now, holding true to that, 12 to 6.
Ready to just shut this game up.
And no reason to doubt Team Spirit.
Dust 2 feeling like a walk in the park.
And undoubtedly, you know, when you kind of zoom out and look at the whole landscape of CS,
hopefully Vitality domination at the top,
there's this idea that the map pools are kind of being created in their image, right?
You're having to get good at these maps, the Vitality of insane streaks on it.
You think about streaks and Vitality, you look at Dust 2,
and what they've been able to accomplish here.
Spirit having it as their go-to makes that a very interesting idea.
G2 have the man in position for once.
Yeah, finally going to get past the stack.
One man over the wards B.
Is it a man?
Or is it the main character?
Donk strapped in, a tricky task ahead of him,
and his teammates causing problems in the backline,
but Donk will get overran.
Do they make it in cleanly?
No, that's the bomb dropped out of the window.
Very little time left.
That's not a man.
Dash able to grab it.
And down in this post plot. So let's see Spirit on it.
I'll EG2, and I'm gonna get them out of position. Still hasn't been enough to seize that advantage. Flash in over the top for this retake, and it's coming in quickly.
Already out through the window. Sight starts to shrink up. Nerd's feeling the pressure. He can't hit a thing. Spirit decimate on the retake.
And Dust2, you're gonna struggle to make it any cleaner than that, a statement made from Spirit to open this quarter-final.
G2 gonna have to reset hard on Ancient, while this was a bit of a ballet dance for Team Spirit.
That second map is bound to be a brawl.
She said she loves you, but she can't love me.
But I love you!
I
Won't play window anymore
The human body was built to move, not trapped at the desk in one singular posture for 12 hours a day.
It's time your chain evolved. This is Secret Lab Titan Eva.
Ergonomically engineered for you, gamers, hybrid workers, artists, and that in your every move.
Well, there you have it. You just saw Spirit absolutely maul G2 on Dust2. We have to try
and make something of it on the desk, but guys, it would have been a lot more to talk
about if G2 had bothered to fight back.
They got their ass kicked. I mean, I don't really know what else we're supposed to say
in a situation like that one.
And it was funny because Donk had a slow start
and was never really even required in that first half.
I mean, the rest of the squad was absolutely
ripping it apart.
And some of the secondary stars, the team,
that we always kind of say need to come online
to make spirit competitive against elite level opposition,
they did show up in this game.
I think we saw a great performance out of pretty much
everyone with the spirit jersey on today.
I mean, the fact that Donk could just have a good game,
not an exceptional world beating game,
And yet the other supporting cast is able to deliver.
We saw great moments from Shiro.
In general, I even think that the game plans
in most of these rounds for Spirit were completely reasonable.
I mean, that's why they picked us too.
It's why they've had so much comfort with it
that in essence, the map is just so
up-graged in terms of from start to finish,
you're getting your map control relatively cleanly,
and then you could just get right down to business.
And when it came down to business and site fights,
Spirit were by far and away the better.
It's one of those situations where
it felt like whenever you were going up against Spirit
on the map, you were never facing one guy.
You know, there was always someone following up.
There was always someone supporting them.
There was always, you know, a contingency plan
if the first guy fell.
Meanwhile, G2, you see them streaming through smokes,
one by one, you know, on the second half,
you know, not being on the same page all the time,
and really struggling to find performances.
I mean, again, Nertz is the guy that they brought in
to be a star for this team.
They need him to be able to engage middle,
to battle some of these guys,
to give them some openings and give them something
to work with.
That was largely absent in this one.
And yeah, again, this is the round I'm talking about.
There's just such a lack of cohesion in an execute like that when you're so far behind and they just don't seem to have the answers
Here's the thing though. I mean g2 had opportunities, you know first off you bounce back from the pistol
Second half you win the pistol you heard hunter on the listen in he's talking super confident
I know we're gonna win the pistol so what do you do next guys and I
Just had no points on this map that I believe g2 were it
No, no, no, not even for a split second, really.
I feel like Spirit were kind of just carried.
I mean, this whole game was just start to finish,
pretty much a slaughter.
I didn't really even find too many silver linings here.
I even think that the CT defenses from G2
were relatively lacking.
I feel like we weren't really getting any kind of,
as many mix-ups as I would have wanted.
They were sure going through the motions
of contesting for space, but so often,
I felt like they fell into a more default spread.
And you can't really do that against Spirit
when you have a guy that's just going to find a ridiculous amount of entries. Obviously,
we're highlighting Shiro. Late round, this guy was fantastic on the flash assist. He
was also excellent once again, like topping the charts. Think of three flash assists,
at least in this one. A lot of those on the executes, but even if they don't get the kills,
he cleaned up here.
I think Spirit have been on the phone secret lab because they've got a hybrid Alper.
They really do. I mean, that's one of the things that we kind of talk about all the
time with offers is can they also rifle and Shiro definitely showed you a lot of that.
Seven enemies blind. Yeah, I mean on cue. Thank you production. Yeah, you really did just live up to the hype of the flash assist
That you were kind of setting up before the game
And that's really been the evolution of spirit this year again
You know while they came up the gate swinging at crack how are like alright
They still pack a punch they did kind of cool off after that if we're honest
But at Rio and so far throughout this tournament you have seen you know despite Hallie not being here them look a little bit
Sharper and how they're taking things again. There's a lot more cohesion
There's a lot better scaling and then the utility usage is just a lot better
They were the superior team in every aspect this game just to offer him from that thought
I mean if they win the whole tournament
Without him. I know right that's worrying right? It's a it's a question that actually needs to be pondered upon
I know that people might think that oh no like Holly should come back the system has been good and everything like that
I haven't seen proof that the system has actually been great since really
2024 okay, and the fact that Zontics in an interview himself says that they're trying new things out that Holly usually is the
the game. They're going to
be the best team in the
game. They're going to be
the best team in the
architect, but now they're
going with some different
ideas, and they've looked the
successful and the flash
assist have been so good. Once
again, I'm going to reiterate
the fact 2025 Wars flash assist
team in the top 20 at this
event. They're blowing people
out of the water after this
one. I'm pretty sure the
number even got higher because
they I think they had five
flash assists or six in this
one, and that's that's really
on track to be just the best
year. This is like the best
season of flash assist we've
of what Astralis did when they got the edge and everyone back at the start of the Astralis era.
The thing we were all talking about back then is like, yeah, their aim's pretty good,
yeah, they got some good players, but you know what? They kill you with the utility. When you
sides them up against all of their opponents, you were blind along there. More damage from
H.E. Nades. They really had this incredible understanding of the game, and it's so important.
And if spirit, if that's the edge they need to maybe topple Vitality, great.
Here's the thing, you always had that right-hand haymaker with thought.
Now you got a jab to follow it up with, you know, to get him out there,
to giving him more support is what is required.
And so, yeah, whatever it is that's allowing them to do this is key
because now it's not like you're just serving him up on a platter.
You're giving him good support and you're giving him good trade potential.
I think those are so pivotal.
It's also, you know, opening up their ability to be more proactive on the CT side.
This gets heroes off into forward angles.
This gets people being able to make bigger plays
and play off of each other.
And this is what they need, right?
Because they were always a team that predicated themselves
on death ball CS.
And that's fine, as long as you have the right support,
as long as you're on the same page,
and that's what we got to see today,
and really just throughout this entire tournament
in Rio as well.
Yeah, meanwhile, over on G2, I mean, yeah.
There's so much to pick apart.
Like, it just was so flat and kind of like, I know.
Like, yeah, you've got to be able to call it just two games.
I mean, I feel like initial site defenses were the main problem for us to figure out this one.
I mean, sometimes they would even get entry kills as Spirit was trying to execute into bombsites,
but then the follow-up was so strong. That's obviously why we highlighted Shiro there as the player of the matches,
that he had some great late-round moments, especially towards the B bombsite,
just kind of having to hunker down in man-deficit situations.
I mean, in already so many of those rounds, Spirit were getting the entry.
Donk was seven and two for entry kills in that game.
On top of that, a handful of his teammates
found entries as well.
But even when G2 got the entry kills,
Spirit was able to fight back at somebody though.
So I kind of put it down more to the players,
also just the lack of great reactions and mix ups
on their defense.
And just spare a thought for Heavy God, man.
Like, I don't know.
We highlighted him in the pre-show
before we went into the game.
We were talking about how like he's the star player that
isn't.
He just so much like, you know, no pun intended,
heavy lifting for this team.
And ultimately, I don't know, man, like, help him out.
All I can say about that, my bro.
That's tough, I think he's playing those anchor positions
for you, and he's doing his job kind of getting this kill here.
And there, the issue is, is Nurch is supposed
to be a support system.
He's supposed to be helping with the mid-b defense
or being kind of an assistant in the side itself.
And you really saw that really lack.
And I mean, yeah, he's getting a couple of kills
right at the back of the B bomb side,
but he's not really able to get anybody else involved
in the mix, which really just kind of exposed
the whole half of the map and you know on T side they never really got rolling.
So it is certainly you know concerning that you got a guy like that who's playing his
role very effectively but you know no one else is really pitching in the same way.
I mean there's really only two exciting moments I can even remember that weren't heavy.
Matt has had one multi-frag round and then the double nose set is on Pius did and those
didn't really lead to any success anyway.
So even the heavy god triple-deagle kill didn't even win them round.
Yeah, they didn't win that round.
I mean that's pretty much the tale of a tape so look much like G2 need to do.
put this to the bed just write that one off spirit too good on that map g2 had
nothing going ancient in theory should be a different prospect but it will be it
will be I do think that the opening utility sets from g2 are much more
polished on this map I find nerds has a lot more comfort when he's taking space
on this one it's a map where also where donk has been humbled has he's been
game-planned against the way I think that Astral escaped the blueprint back at
that if you use a variety of
different utility sets and
timings, you can catch off this guy.
And it's a reason I'd say that spirit
went away from ancient, even though in
2024 when they hit the ground running
with Donk, it was really in their
back pocket. But later on, you saw it
less and less because this mid fight
can just be really claustrophobic
for this guy. Donk has had
some better success on it lately,
yes, but still there's always the
chance that teams are just able to
throw up all of their utility. The
kitchen sink at him and then he's just blind and there's nothing you can do if
you're even if you're the best gamer in the world best movement in the world
not much you can do with a white screen. Yeah I think the big thing about G2 on
this attacking size is not just Merch that middle it's also heavy God being
that second guy there you know this is a talk of discussion plug that we've had
is that heavy God's been allowed to be a little bit more activated and be a little
bit more aggressive he's gonna be right there next to Merch trading maybe even
entering in front of Merch at times and I think he's also really key being their
be anchor on a site that's spirit like they hit a whole hell of a lot so I
I think he'll play an important role here, no doubt about it.
It's also G2 just have like these really unorthodox fast plays out of spawn.
And so if they temper a team to expect a heavy mid control,
then all of a sudden they throw five people running into the B bomb site
with a minute and 45 seconds left on the clock.
You're not ready for that.
So I think they can be a little bit unorthodox.
And for Spirit, for me, I think this is a big test for them
because Ancient used to be their next best map for Dust 2 for a very long time.
It was very much their bread and butter.
Now they become very vulnerable.
Their record this year, not great.
The teams that they've lost to, you just don't anticipate.
And really, I think what it comes down to is that they just need to be a little bit more efficient with how they're utilizing Donk in middle.
You know, we've hyped up their utility usage. We do see some better support here for him to go up against a G-15 that's very, very proficient in dealing with that area of the map.
Yeah, and look, one thing I will also add, you know, a lot of talk about some pious. I think he's very good on Ancient. I will give that to him.
I think he can get in your face and do that combat style of all being that you need to do on this map
If you want to hold bomb sites now one of the reasons that Sunpai has just hit the ground running back at Bovistar
His big arena debut in 2022 was his ability to call his own number on this map
He has so many different ideas for openers. The problem rich is that to see T side
I think the T side for Sunpai has really been eluding him
I don't feel like his rifles nearly as strong as it once was and so what I need is for g2 and the rest of the
Guys to buy some pious enough buffer room so that he can get the op up and running once they swap to the defense because
That's when he can have real impact. Yeah, then on the opposing side again
This is another map where I want to see to near come alive for spirit
You know, this is a guy who is going to help address middle from the shelf side to kind of give some assistance to don't
He's also going to be holding be against a lot of g2's fast executes
You know, it's kind of a newer role for him having to make room for Zontics.
He used to be kind of playing mid with thought now he has to be more of an anchor and again
I want to see spirit get this map back online
This is a great opportunity to do so because look if you ever want to be a
Challenger to the go you're gonna have to have enough of a map pool to be able to handle a best-of-five situation
And so being able to find other maps that are gonna help you get to vitality and big playoff runs and help you get trophies
It is pivotal and while they have dust who are already kind of in their locker
They need to figure out a way to getting chip back in the rotation to me
It's also just getting it so that you know the next time you play Navi
That's what you're trying to do here because Vitality's not going to play them on ancient
They can start proving that they can beat every team in this kind of caliber of competition
Then you can start taking a toe-to-toe
Because now he's going to pick this every time against me. Yeah. Well, I also think it's a test of them
I mean, you know, we've talked about this for a long time now, you know, he's been IGL and it's been the best part of the year
We are constantly watching and waiting when GT is going to evolve when he's going to take that next step
And so far it hasn't really happened and I think he's still good enough to go back to being a right flier
You know like they could just maybe pick up another I gel new ideas
There's plenty gonna be on the market after the major so I don't know but for me
I've never really been sold on this
I think we're starting to see the limitations and the ceiling of this G2 team because even with the nerds change
If I mean we haven't really seen it come together quite yet getting a win here though with your second tier one event with your whole new
five might man line up that would be a big feather in their cap. It's still a huge uphill battle.
It's one where you would want if you're saw to just start bringing in all of your guys. You got nerds
You got some pies if this hunter thing doesn't work out kickstands on the market
So that's something you got to start thinking about if you see the a ceiling being hit from your current captain
Yeah, my biggest fear is this though is that you know nerds has played his best counter strike under saw
Remember this was a guy who won the 2023 rookie of the year when he was playing on it and saw on his coach
and sometimes it was his offer next to him, right?
Then you see him in 2024 be an absolute pivotal piece
of the heroic team that had that crazy run
at the Shanghai Major where they knocked Navi
the defending major champions out of the tournament
to get a quarter-final spot for themselves.
And they had a lot of buildup to that point, too,
where they looked really good. And Nurtz was a key factor in that.
You know, a lot of times I feel like I gave, you know,
Nurtz a little bit of a pass on his time on Liquid
because it felt like it was just a horrible environment.
But now you're in a favorable one.
You got your old head coach back.
You have some familiar faces playing around you.
And I just have not seen him really step into a consistent star role just yet
Yes, I know that they had a deal with the stand-in at Rio and all these other little
Complicated factors, but at some point if you're gonna be the guy you gotta be the guy
And this is a perfect map as we've already kind of been building up where he's gonna feel at home playing a spot
He's played pretty much his entire career, you know both plays defensively
I couldn't agree more with you. I absolutely think this is though. This is where you start to build on that reputation
You've got the players, theoretically, this is the roster you're going to be happy with at G2, so you have to call rings around Team Spirit on a map that is your pick in an arena.
If you can't do that, you're never going to win a trophy.
That's a fear, obviously, for this G2 team that even though they made that swap, they didn't even really hit the ground completely running to go to a couple of tier two lands, especially not even make waves at those.
waves at those they took one trophy out of three attempts and those are supposed to be a cakewalk for them so to even show
That they're a contender they need some kind of win like this to just embolden them because all I'm seeing right now from this G2 team
Is the team that I expect them to make a little bit of a run in the group stage
But to usually sputter out against the true elite competition which spirit has proven
Yeah, London's looking more and more like a fluke every month that passes and you don't give yourself another shot at a title
I'm just being honest. I mean again that was such a huge achievement
So to beat Vitality, the BO5 Grand Final, that team has played, you know, I think somewhere around like 12 to 13 BO5 Grand Final.
I've only lost two of them and G2 is one of them.
So you clearly have shown that you have the talent to do great things, but now it's about implementing nerds back into the squad.
You know, Hunter developing more as an IGL, figuring out a way to be a little bit more consistent.
Because right now the only consistent thing I can rely upon is Heavy God.
They need more that they want to try to keep the series going.
I also would like to see more from Mattis too.
I feel like he's been taking the short end of the stick here in terms of just being getting
relegated to all these kind of extremity anchor positions
He's a guy that wants to brawl too and I wish that he could unleash himself a little bit more in a series like this because yeah
I mean the dust to rating it looks great, but that's mostly carried off of a really great T side rating rating 3.0 can be weird
I'm not gonna lie. That's yeah, that's kind of insane
But I think one thing that helps him on ancient though is like unlike dust to where he's kind of just like a beat tunnels lurker
He's not really necessarily involved in the pack.
This is a map where he can get more involved in those B executes and attacking BK.
So maybe he can be activated.
Well, we're going to see for now.
We're going to activate our commentators back over to Harry and Hugo.
Yeah, this has been a one-sided quarter-final thus far.
It was Spirit running rings around G2 on Dust2.
But now we go to a home map of the G2 squad.
And we want to see the same thing out of Hunter being able to call rings around Magix.
If you can't do it now, you're going to do it never.
That's the situation for G2, staring death in the face here in this quarterfinal.
Team Spirit, an ex-home map.
G2, a current home map.
Yeah, and you don't want to find yourself relegated to be one of these gatekeeper squads.
If G2 actually want to stand the chance of vying for trophies challenging the elite, this
would be the time to show it.
It's now or never, Team Spirit on a path to defend their title here in Astana.
Their side of the bracket looking hot to trot. Team Spirits hate to dust too. They dominate. Now we go to ancient. It's G2 fast out middle in this pistol.
Already set up to exploit the empty bomb site. This one's going to come down to a retake. You've got a nade on Donk. You've got flashes as well.
This was an eventuality spirit we're prepared for.
G2 punchy pace, but it's going to get mad as they all flood together through temple.
He got up close.
It's a clean way to get this one rolling.
Supplies lens a helping hand.
It's a G2 uppercut in this pistol round with these openers going their way.
They should shut the retake down before it ever gets scary.
A nice triple for some players and G2 on the board,
but I'm never going to get ahead of myself on these pistol rounds
with all those numbers we saw from group stage.
We may have the best pistol player in the world in Donk,
but Spirit struggled massively in those first rounds in groups,
and G2 quite the antithesis.
They were the go-to team.
They were the best team here in the playoffs in those opening rounds.
It's all about four buys here,
where Spirit shredded G2 on Dust.
So I like the pace from G2,
bringing a bit of energy to this second map.
They're going to need it.
Match in middle.
This is going to be a lot of fun.
Don't be nervous.
But the pistols come up for Team Spirit.
Poor training for G2.
Ready, and kind of dire straits here.
3 on 5.
You get Hunter out through middle.
Sure.
That's info that Spirit now have.
Now towards the red room, he's sort of playing cross back.
Any area of the map you can try and hang around in, either, right?
If this is a 5 on 5, getting that red room control,
you can suddenly cut, rotates, very powerful position.
3v5 like this, it's more important to have Hunter in with the pack.
So, space that's instantly conceded.
Go back over towards this B site.
It's pretty aggressive all the way through main,
And so no reason to make concessions for A.
It's only mid that's open, and that's about to get cleared by Tenir on this backstab.
At that point, you're patting out the B site.
Magic's even going to try and get aggressive, and P9 won't find a thing.
Some pyres with the entry, but there's a lot more to follow for G2.
Three players in the site, Swing Wide.
They're going to control it.
This is teammates cut down, some pyres left in this all alone.
The spirit can be, there's one player fully unaccounted for, where the hell is Teneir?
Closing it on a back stab, and as some pious takes his time clearing Angle's Income to
Shiro from the back line, this one starts off the way of Dust2, back and forth we go
to begin Ancient.
They're really disappointing so far G2, right, losing to both these four spies after winning,
Opening pistols
Team spirit great hold in middle, but I can't say the G2 looked good in that engagement
Getting very messy on that second spray from heavy guard. No, what you'd expect
It's just what spirit need to kickstart this series a second map two AKs taken G2 back to pistols
It might be an up-tempo round out of G2
They got a lot of UTL in play on their force and they're looking at this B site with keen eyes
It's also games from Spirit on CT side, Angel, where they were just very keen to play Retake B.
Didn't really want to go down with the bomb site.
These double-longly short setups here from Spirit committing magics to the cave
can leave them in very comfortable post-plot positions.
Even if G2 get that bomb down, Spirit don't necessarily need to be worried.
This Nade stack might punish though.
That'd be real nice.
Boom.
Oh, wow, that's magics.
He starts hillaried out of the round by those nades. It takes Taneer to claw back the advantage.
Oh, the Spad connects! That's a huge buffer for Team Spirit. Now a man up in this retake.
He's smoking big for Hunter. By a few seconds, you've got to pick your poison, pick your position.
Very wisely in this post-bond, the smoke will flood them out through short.
and Hunter disappear into the mist. It might be his best move here, Tenir realizes it.
P2 scratching their backs, wondering where our spirit coming from, and then they all move in together.
Nice timing. Shiro through smoke. Heavy God left with just a deagle.
And if they can push him together, this one's done for. Full stick on the bomb.
Heavy God holds on, but Dom's got that debuze and Spirit shut it down.
I see more of this retake tendency out of the Spirit Squad, right?
You highlighted it right before that B-Play.
We saw them do it at Hell of a lot in the groups, whatever this cropped up.
And what a faith in their ability to stick the landing in those retakes.
There's just no hurry, no panic there, which is nice to see from Spirit.
Want to see how the presence of this Donkv nerd's head to head affects the G2 game plan,
Because I think there's a lot of similarities between how these two players look to go about this fit control.
It's very broadly, it's very interface.
Another one of these three plays to contend with.
Once again, I come down to a retake as the site's already been conceded.
Magic's this time over to get one.
They're up through the short side and it comes Sontikz to shut it down.
Excellent spray, but AK picked up and put to use here.
Sontikz no Kevlar, gotta be careful.
That need is a problem.
Watch out on your rotate.
Sontikz cut down.
Some players no clutch today as Team Spirit are hot to trot.
Quick back on that post plant and take a third round on this CT side.
Yeah, you mentioned this head-to-head in the middle.
It's going to be a lot of fun. We see a lot of teams,
you know, when you're up against some of the best elbow players in the world,
I think Donk, I think Mikaze.
A lot of teams try and initially game plan to shut them down.
They have different combos of flashes, different timings.
They swing up, don't know, or they go out red.
And so many games where you've seen this attempt to punish.
Then, after a few rounds of failing, you just fall back to conceding middle.
That's the problem here for G2. They need to stop Donkey Middle.
So far, a lot of B hits coming through to start this game.
That's just the mid spawn, so we're going to get that fight.
Flash is in from Hunter and some players to try and allow this to happen.
The game's very good, early punish, and there's Nerds dead on the crossing.
Howdy, stop it. That's what I'm saying.
There's layers to this mid-defence. It's not a dark one-man show.
Shiro keeps things in Spirit's favour.
You expect the orb coming through the smoke, especially that bait from Zontek,
spamming Red as at the same time G2 run into the triple setup.
They don't jump the gun on B though.
That is his lurking here and looking for an entry kill.
Hunter has rotations cordoned off.
G2 don't really have a safe way in right now,
and if any of their one player die on their own,
This round falls apart, Spirits stay active.
Having a bit of deja vu here, right?
You have Hunter in this 3v4 out towards the red room.
Last time he fell back, felt like he had to go and join the rest of the team.
This tiny stick in and out and hanging around.
Got to play first on this B site, though.
To me, it holds on on an off-angle, letting them in.
And his time...
Success really rides or dies whether or not his team are able to get into B.
Right now they're up the rampside.
It's Tanea, and her cave should cause them problems.
There are Mattis as well. Hunter tries to activate it.
We'll have one, Shiro dead in rotation.
Won't come to matter if the next death is Mattis out towards cave.
Looking for this trade, Tanea will not let him get it.
And with the bomb tumbling away, Hunter heard on his rotation.
And Spirit, two players ready to receive.
Tanea is all that's required.
3 perfectly playing 1 by 1 B1s for Tanir and love how he isolates that fight
letting G2 in which they can come to expect on this T side but still in a
surprising position to catch that first player off guard and G2 don't have the
numbers to trade out. I think the decision for a spirit to play retake and
look so comfortable in doing so over a B poses an interesting kind of question
as you two sure you're getting the space more often than not and that can
always prove tempting enough right all you need is to kind of get into that
post-clad win out one of the fights at the start of the retake and you're in a
really good position but is it just a voice and chalice
our spirit giving you all this room this false sense of security because their
retakes have looked stellar it goes both ways okay I don't want to fight
donk and shiro in middle can we go B and they're gonna try to the cave take
nine to overwhelm the captain and for picked up a g2 with another advantage
Another attempt.
He is going to try and smash it out. Push through the cave smoke.
Will get punished.
3v5, but you know you're only up against pistols.
Wonder if that keeps Spirit interested.
Nade is good. In the open, heavy god disappears.
Back down ramp. G2 not conceding kills right now.
Puts the pressure back on Spirit.
What a weird decision to make.
I know they're not up against March, but it's a numbers game at the end of the day.
They need something sooner or else this one just gets written off.
Conti's trying to find a way back in, doing damage onto Heavy God, he'll respond with one of his own.
So the save called, but it's not getting away, only Shiro surviving on this AWP.
A breakthrough round for G2, right when they needed it, things were starting to look very, very desperate.
Finally with a 5v4, finally an opener going untreated.
So success found over towards B.
That gets very scary though.
I think if T'Ni goes through the front end of the smoke
or right side of the smoke, he probably gets kills there.
They were flashed.
They had native hand getting their plant together.
So 5v3 with no kills offered up in that post-bond.
Makes all the difference with G2.
The B charge is enough.
Is it replicable both or go?
See G2 trying again.
Get nerds out middle.
Docs in for the storm.
Three players here for Team Spirit.
The Shiro assisting.
Late flashback gets Doc in the position.
G2 awaits the strike after the back.
Doc turns back, takes one, but only one.
And it's up to Zontik to spray him down.
Good damage.
But a 3v3, G2 won't say no.
Spirit is so active.
Never sit back.
Re-clear of mid comes from Heaven, so that is big info.
It's going to put Chiru's all back on A.
Magix has a decision to make.
The clear comes in very, very quickly, and he has cleared everything.
I have to beat Tanea for the meantime, though.
Magix doesn't move fast.
Tanea has got another big round ahead of him.
This is all thanks to his magic experience. So quick on these Cliz. Gets the info, doesn't
hear a thing on the reroute through Donut, doesn't hear main players. He's already up
in heaven ready to disrupt this. Captain in a clash and deal with Hunter nice and easily.
No problems there to steal the advantage away. Spirit more than ready for this V-exec.
It doesn't need to over convince us either.
Have you got to get a pressure in the site?
Bomb denied in the open.
Some pious left in the clutch, and he's not getting close.
Magic's bang around, recommits out being.
Blizz the map and frees up Shiro to rotate with Sunear.
It's a perfect mid-round move for the captain of Spirit.
5-2 lead.
G2 may have, in a sense, won that mid-fight,
but fully blind, and Spirit flying high.
G2 desperate, 2 AKs here, still an eco essentially, it's heavy gone out middle but he doesn't
even see a player, double HG with a Molotov!
G2 lose their point now.
even sneak. The cave side goes undetected. So a big problem, made even worse. Now it
does what he can, a steal kills back out here towards mid, but once again clashes with his
counterpart comes up short. Mattis has hit this timing however, and he has got no idea.
No clue. The player's already made it fully through the B site. Still hesitant though.
Teneir's going back into the cave, so I don't know if there's a kill available here for Magix.
You're still going to get this bomb up ramp, don't allow it for now.
Teneir, not to say, but Magix just comes out cave to drop that bomb, so that is position. What can it even do?
There's a number of big problems.
4G2.
You have been shut down in me.
They have that one round where they break out with a three on three.
That's the best they've been able to manage on the back of this mid control
When you start losing these midfights a position that nerds was famed for right goes about it in the same way of dog
And as my cousin is very prolific mid players who are all about the gunfights
Well, don't start shying away from news spirit put a lot of stock in that mid control in the early game
A rush is on T side or of the equivalent to a B hits on dust to right
It's the site that if you get the entry you get the bomb down. You're in a fantastic position
You hope the teams don't start heavy there. It's unlikely to see a gamble off the start of the round on the A site
So I feel like G2 it's a matter of time. They've got to suss it out
They've got to try it. We keep seeing this triple me
I think you know the one player that's kind of an unaccounted for it all of these rounds is shiro on the off
And so you're telling yourself he's there and playing retake over the water inside of the map
Shiro is even able to get one that puts a real issue in the post part for G2
Every round a different look in mid, different spirit, dog gets involved, Shiro is on A but
it's up heaven coming to rifles of G2, looking to meet in the middle and spirit say fine,
have it.
Adric's got to be careful here, going down off his upper way into the round, but dog spotting
this cross, G2 don't know what's up, suddenly they strike.
kill from Donk, Zontics holds his position, and that is the bomb in the red room.
I get used to the U-Tilt to a force of fight and awkward engagement out of Zontics.
Is it getting this bomb back getting easier though?
Like you said, Shiro, unaccounted for, slips back into position.
There's just so many question marks in this round.
You don't know where Spirit have gone to.
There's been a lot of downtime spotting to me and so you're going to go and fight the
enemy you know about here, pushed up down the rampside, Heavy God will claw another
back.
Just how much mileage does Heavy God have?
Finally that Shiro wall plays its hand.
Shiro has been unstoppable in this series.
I'd just be another one, point and click here in middle, dunk, Shiro and Magic's weight.
for G2 there, right? It feels too good to be true, so it probably is. They get all that space in mid,
only to get it ripped away.
And I think this is what's very, very quickly starting to feel scary. You're gonna doubt
yourselves here. Anytime you get space, anytime you have room, you're asking,
have Spirit just allowed us to have this? Because it's happening all over the map.
Now in mid as well, B getting left open with these punchy retakes out of Team Spirit.
Mid left open there, only for the late-round clampdown from Team Spirit.
G2 have no solid ground in this T-side.
And I need some later mid-hits here for G2.
Just the early U-Tilt disrupting them so much.
These double-nades, these mollies, we've seen heavy-gonna nerds get put low,
or even killed before they spot players.
G2 continuing to call timeouts.
Spirit haven't used one in this series yet.
And why would they?
Don't give Saw any extra time.
I think even that's been interesting by watching the differences between Suffolk and Halle
for the Spirit Squad.
Halle was always very proactive, right?
It would always be kind of one round lost.
Time out comes in straight away going over the game plan,
Suffolk putting a bit more faith in maybe the attitude of the team, right?
Feeling like even if they fall, go around if the
communication were there, if everything was flowing,
just put in the faith and magics to...
He's also blasted massively as an in-game leader, right?
Certainly got a better. We've talked about the flash assist, you know being improved at Exotics is a huge part of that as well
He went from bottom six flash player a crack-off to the most effective flashes this entire event
Team spirit changing how they use utility and it certainly made all the difference. I finally a change for hunter
This has been a game focused around mid and B
We haven't seen G2 looking at this a bombsite since the pistol round sure has been waiting all game to play
How about now they know he'll be here the one guy they've never found on any of these sites here
Shirro's orb is not missing a beat and this round's no exception when you get denied entry at the door
You don't get the fun night out. You don't get the party in a
And so this attempt at throwing in something different in the low econ round
Hoping you could catch this all peer alone. That's not happened to players
Spirit one step ahead of this and that just speaks to what's been happening
throughout this entire series which is spirit being one step ahead.
That's cowering. Nothing to show for this A-Hits. Team Spirit no reason to doubt
themselves across the map. Everybody has held their position. I think a lot of
credit also just has to go to its near on the CT side because he's missed
timings, there's been gaps, he's been playing some risky positions, but G2 have yet to be able to
reasonably punish him on that other side of the map. That just frees up so much firepower.
On this A site, Nishiro is there lying in wait, three kills out of the AWP here for Spirit,
and they are just storming forward in this quarterfinal. 8-2 CT side, G2's go-to map picker,
map they have a win streak on, but Team Spirit yet to feel threatened.
You've got to sit up and take note on the kind of uptick in form for Spirit on this very map.
Sure, it's one they've had their struggles on, absolutely no denying it.
But since Rio come up a couple of times, sure, not versus top tier opposition, but still getting the win.
And you know, to me, I think that's even someone exaggerated the idea that Spirit have fallen off on this map, right?
Three losses this year. The only lot, two of the losses being to Paris vision.
We know a team that have had a huge rise in form, countered their opponents very, very well, played a unique style.
So, for the most part, it's still been a pretty successful map across the year for Team Spirit.
Now frustrating is this. G2, couple of gimmicks here to try and go about these usual control steps.
It's a boost over to Wards B, with Sampire saw up getting put in a position for an entry,
and Nerd's boosted in middle. But Bonk didn't go far enough. He seems aware of this potential.
Sampire spotted on the boost, B-sided. Spirit again, wiser up to the star out of G2.
This isn't at least a late-knit take here for G2, they can come through on Heaven, there's no actual threat in this position,
but Cave is where G2 have at least found success and Spirit have a double setup.
This is brutal to get past that bolly, maybe fates the bit, but Spirit's block with a smoke, no entrance at 50 seconds.
G2 have to look elsewhere, Sontics with the block ready, playing it safe, puts that Molotov down, it doesn't allow them entrance into this site.
G2 running out of time.
When the G2 get an opening, they've got to take the room right now, it's Opi's on Tix in front of it.
One man overcame and they'll get in through the donut side.
Shearer walk, posted CT side, they know to expect it here, an important trade for Heavy God.
It takes Nart to arrive, finally some hires, a chance to stretch his legs on this AWP.
They get him in a post-plot, starts to feel real threatening.
and T-flank on the card 14 Spirit.
And so for now, Donk can lend a bit of time to T'Nia.
Nice shot, Donk still trying to stay involved as Sumpires connects it.
His flank shouldn't be reasonable.
I'm half gone.
Element of surprise on Sumpires, but past that point with the donut post plant,
G2 had picked up this round, so there's T'Nia saving.
Trying to remove this all for the end, not a bad gambit.
Some pyres, is a dead man walking?
I don't think even lives the bomb here.
Oh, close, but the deers flashed it out.
No more pick up here for G2, is annoying going into their last round.
Even just the number of casualties, you know, an extra player going down to the bomb,
that's going to cause you problems. This buy is really lacking for G2,
and it's not what you want, as you desperately grasp for four rounds on your T-Huff,
on what is meant to be a home map, what is meant to be the one where you have the edge.
Trying to scrape by with four rounds, you've got to do it with less here.
If you saw those G2 very quickly in this half, it did exactly what I said.
They abandoned the idea of getting out and making control fast, right?
G2 going back for lots of B hits, trying to mid-round.
Spirit of put that fear in them. This B site will get tested again.
Today has been good for it every time.
Give me a 1 and done.
It's a space taken down at the retake now for Spirit but they play a lot of rounds like this.
Shiro Orb hoping to make an incision won't find a thing.
Fastback start available for Magics.
Quite the reset here.
Smoke is a problem. G2 have nothing left in this postplot.
That's waiting back here at the double doors. Will he go overlooked?
He could shut down the flank which is and to be the kind of killing move for spirit in this round
This is taking too long. They know nurses here. That's why they're taking so long, but spirit the bombs all gone
You've got to get it
Tricky retake and edit spirit catching one some pious damage tries to get it
Have you got now for sale not in a position now has to take it
one up and they somehow make it look easy. G2 are getting embarrassed in this quarterfinal right now.
Thus, two is one thing, but messing up a post part like that, a surprise to see. Hunter just walks,
back turned into the crossfire. G2 needed their numbers to play that bomb. The pressure of presence
is enough and G2 just crumble under any pressure from Team Spirits. Ugly first half, a pistol
or unconverted and two singular rounds off of a B rush.
G2, three round half.
Make no mistake, team Spirrah eyeing up that trophy.
This is a team that, while we've seen an uptake this year,
has struggled to lift trophies
since the start of last season.
Spirit with just two titles left to defend. Isn't it lucky that we're seeing them improve right ahead of Astana and Colo
Yeah, the two titles they still possess
And I mean it feels kind of rough here matters both first-tards only having one round with any impact any kills found
Same on dust to right
Performance kind of cobbled together with a bit of impact when he switched over to the T side
He just got to play the T side of ancient gets out with one kill in the entire half
He's an integral firepower piece of this G2 squad and he has been entirely absent in this quarter final
Now we asked for more performance out of matters. We're getting absolutely nothing in this quarter
It's on T side where he is you know picked up some of the slack in these opening killer tests here for G2
We saw none of them come through. Nerds will find the first in the CT pistol. Into Juleys they go. Spirit bring the pace.
It's been the one round instead of held any promise for the G2 squad. And that's got to hold true now more than ever.
If they want to stay alive on Ancient, it's hinging on this.
Here are Magix 2 vs 3. Thought about the bomb hard to be a place for the fights instead, but Magix iced out in the open.
It's far from comfortable, it's still a G2 pistol.
A G2 pistol is to be expected in this series, it's the follow-up I'm worried about.
The relief of not getting the bomb blast should give G2 a bit more room here on this CT side.
And maybe Spirit just roll their eyes and accept it.
Nothing wrong with that at this point in the game. Spirit have such a wealth of rounds.
No point letting G2 get back in and comfortable so they can see warm glocks.
Let's compare how Donk is used on this T-side once we get into the gun rounds, right?
Is he going to be going out elbow at a pace RG2 going to risk the fight in middle to stop
him?
I almost think like while you have the breathing room, just to kind of get in the heads of
G2 more than you have across this entire series.
If you are able to go and do what G2 never could, which is confidently go about winning that mid-fight,
you're putting your best player there to try and do so, Bonk, in his comfort zone.
I think so quickly G2 would just crumble.
Right, they never owned it throughout the entire year, that T-half.
The few times they were able to get players out mid, it was a tremendous cost,
and it never put them in a winning position.
I'm not going to call a Glock round win, but with some players just here, if Don comes in first and gets this entry with the Deagle,
suddenly there's a bomb pod, there's a rifle, there's an opportunity here for the Spirit to make this weird.
Box go in first though, food for the fodder.
Yeah, Hunter arrives. Should be able to keep this one fairly clean.
Don't be put down, nothing done, so G2, no problems there.
This is the round that we've been anticipating.
I do really hope we see Dom try and throw up the ultimate middle finger and get out here.
The best spawn but it's enough.
Now I've paid for Team Spirit.
Who dedicated...
He's taking the half-bates!
Atchixens at the Shiro with the Util!
G2 abandon ship immediately, they go for the B-stack!
Must give it up!
I don't want the smoke!
Can you blame them?
Asko man on the CT side, they decide it's not worth their troubles.
Still active though, G2 making a move, pushing down the ramp,
going to clear out all of this, Tanir is just holding on very passively.
And so, G2 have the option to cycle smokes on the door,
but they just use that last one.
So no more blocking, really available in this round.
They post Heavy God up in the corner.
With the Heaven scale up,
Heavy God's not in a comfortable position.
And Cavesmoke falls and he wants to get back to a safer angle.
They're about to retreat after one.
That's very well handled from Heavy God
What was quickly becoming an uncomfortable position one that spirit could have looked to exploit
Back on the cave side and you do things are going swimmingly right now
That's just a second kill. I didn't expect you just a full white swing there after getting spotted jiggling
So G2 with a bit of a surprise by the 5d3 in this round. They have the back door closed as well
It's all controlled by an off-angle, three towards defaults.
This is a hell of a setup here, we're going to need clean entries for Spirits.
Traits here, something you can't afford, you need multi-killers and thankfully,
Sherrow, to provide that close to finding Heavy God out here in the corner.
Will he get overlooked? No, Magic still comes in with the clear.
For a brief moment, this was a two on five,
And Spirits successfully wrestled it back in a renewable spot.
It now hinges on their captain and clutch up.
They tie in 10 seconds and they pull back.
He's not going to get given a kills bomb part.
It's the right idea, but it's not to the side arm.
Taps it out, keeps G2 in this game
and delivers them a must-win rightful round.
I like the idea though from G2, just putting their eggs in one basket.
They don't get shattered.
Boiled on this b-site.
Handling mid-take here for Q2, up against the pistols.
It's getting up on habit.
Oh here a rifle here for Team Spirit so potentially just popping through this door smoke
It's got to be very careful
High pressure position
It's gonna have all the team spirit bearing down upon him and it's not being the best of games for Mattis
Smoke buys time having God
joins him, nurses up on heaven. This is presumably a bloodbath for G2 here.
Just have the numbers to fully fight.
Let's spirit go for a heaven smoke.
They just keep getting blocked.
At this point you blocked it three times over, you've heard and seen nothing elsewhere on the map,
so maybe it starts to become very, very clear to G2 what the idea is.
He's trying to play anti-flash. Have you gone nearby to support?
Heaven's swing for Nerds, still on the card.
So, one hell of a crossfire here to try and shut down these pistols.
Oh, and Util cuts off the Hevel player.
Kill comes in for Donk on the Beagle, and they get past this two-man hold.
Nerds with an important equalizer as the rotates arrive over at B.
Pressure in, Nerds will hold his own, and a smokeball for Hunter denies that plug.
That's well handled from G2.
Staring into the eye of the storm, everybody there.
I felt like the timing of players swinging on flashes wasn't perfect there for Spirit.
Probably could have gotten out of there cleaner.
The G2 can hear every pin pull from behind the door. They're dodging it.
So just a little pocket strat here for Team Spirit.
Nothing too worrying for G2.
This game closes up all of a sudden.
So in their first rifle round, they were keen to give mid up and focus on the extremities.
Is that cool? They feel comfortable doing multiple times on this CT side.
They know they're gonna get the fights here. They know that Donk is gonna come looking for his real estate flashes meant to throw him off.
But it doesn't. Donk deals damage out through mid. Heavy God replies!
And so this clash of Titans out in middle ends even.
2v2 puts tremendous pressure on the G2 squad.
I'm dropped here, it's the only bit of solace they have.
Sampias is trying to support him, play close towards the red room,
but Heavy got his holding onto this bomb with his life.
Magix on his own, walking through the timing, no way he just does that!
teammate nowhere near, Heavy got turns for a second, and Magix finds out timing.
We know it's an AWPer, we don't know where he is, team spirit, just charge into this site.
Magic's roll of the dice comes up clutch.
With that bomb put down and an orb in Sumpias' hands, how is he supposed to win this?
Spirit, shift away.
No kill offered up, no clutch coming in.
Time has ticked off this clock.
Some players who are hoping for an overextension isn't given one.
That's a team spirit.
They finally get this clash in mid.
Not even able to trade it favorably.
It's a timing walk from Magix.
You wonder if T'Nyr is running back through Spawn there.
Have you got his in the water?
You wonder if that factors into the decision why Magix comes through that elbow smoke.
Realizing, have you got to hear one of these players?
You wouldn't expect the other guy to just walk through the elbow smoke on that timing.
It's pretty ballsy for Magix, but maybe there was more thought behind it.
It's around as well, but there's just so many gaps at that point in the round for G2.
Some pyres was in the red room.
He could have been holding Heaven, right, just to watch and allow Heavy God to focus
on elbow.
But because they're so paranoid, they don't know where the B's been taken.
He's actually watching for a player on a late backstab.
One hell of a round for Spirit to pick up.
Remember, it was punctuated by a double entry from Donk.
So Spirit still with some reliance on their right flank.
Bok's gonna look for it again, edging the smoke behind the Molotov,
trying to get involved, and it's the late flash that gets him in.
G2 want nothing to do with it yet again, staying behind Red Room.
Trying to keep the air of presence alive for Team Spirit to take in this face.
Just compare the mid takes, right here, you get out middle for free,
now you can be the guys trying to set a player up in Red Room,
be in that position to manipulate the rotates.
This was a position that whenever G2 got to it, they had to sacrifice so much for this space.
Yeah, Zontics can just give so much info up here in red.
Spirit go back to surround the B-bombsite and Zontics slots into place.
Hands off the mouse, he's ready and waiting.
No need to play it too early.
He'll hand off to the rest of his team.
Okay, set up.
He smoked from heavy god, he picks one up on long side, so G2 are expecting this B execute.
It's a little common stack, and I almost wonder if having Zontik out towards red is seeing a bit of a pause.
One player over towards A.
And to fake steps, but he's coming in, the fourth man here.
Spiraling and have to trade well.
I still feel like they could go back here right away.
Backdoor open, they're going to go into the Sumpires' AWP, this has got to be his round.
Finally in a position to put this AWP to work and that one kill I think puts the fear in Team Spirit.
Chiro with the turnaround, but you're telling yourselves with 10 seconds, there's no way this gets out of hand.
Bit of hesitation there and trying to trade Sumpires, trying to get that bomb through Donut.
Since G2 have it at Brawl there, dropping the bomb in middle, not committing all five players,
There's no way they can lose that round nice reaction from G2 to get aggressive when spirit decide to pull back
Think yeah, it's on to just gets that info here's Hunter rotating
That's exactly
The trap spirit fall into
20 seconds no time for anything to go wrong and it does
Can't say a be hit would have gone much better right four players in position
It speaks to how much closer this game has gotten, how tested spirit feel on this T-side
the first pause of the entire quarterfinal, cooled in now.
Taking an outline of his game plan, how they break through this CT side.
Every single map in Astana so far has been CT-sided. G2 can hold on to that fact.
Slow but steady comeback finding their first repeated gun rounds of the series.
And one more to break Spirit fully. They force up round these saves.
Three rifles, two pistols.
Spirit go out mid. What do they?
Waiting for having control to me, pushing through the cave smoke.
I have a bait behind me trying to set up nerds, they're closing in.
Oh, a captain and nerds get spotted.
Oh, no, that bait and switch doesn't work.
So Piresaw now has to deliver.
The A site's been called in a question.
Are you up for the task of a retake?
Do you feel like you're in a position
that you can risk it all on this round?
Money broken for G2 at the end of this one.
Some of those little rounds that Spirit have caught in,
that's made them so exciting recently, right?
These little set calls out a spawn.
They don't show Don Caldelbo,
who doesn't commit through the smoke despite no threat.
and then G2 fall back into their setup.
Spirit get to contact all the way and rush through a smoke.
This is a team that has the best trading of the event right now,
and it's rounds like that that show why.
Sure, they don't need trades, but it's the pack play for spirits.
Side by side, running through smokes,
overwhelming G2 in this force by round.
We're remarking about it, heading into it, right?
The very first pause.
And what an answer it was.
Yeah, I think it was Magic's call.
I didn't really see Suffolk speaking too much in that timeout.
It's a perfect time to pull it in.
G2 had a nice set up, but the Flash has absolutely decked them.
It's such an important moment.
Leaves G2 in a position where they have no choice but to save
the longevity of this quarterfinal at stake.
Yeah, the save allows to the full buy, though.
and G2 finally start to piece gun rounds together.
So, at least they have almost everything they need to survive in this series.
But make no mistake, if Spirit Winners follow up round,
they are as good as semi-finalists.
An all-time outburned at 4G2.
They're on their own from here on out.
It's not the only place to be on this stage.
the opening. Eyes now set on this B-play. Donk trying to follow through, playing with momentum.
After that first kill, Nades do great damage. Donk and Teneir honed in on these long fights.
2-2 forced out of position. You saw a lot of retake rounds. Four team spirit,
but now the question's asked, how is G2's B side retake? Are they bailing?
They've been cut down to that because the bomb's having second thoughts.
There's no Nades, which makes this cross very, very dangerous, but Zontics is pushing into
They may not even bail. It might just be the threat of doing so.
The Pulse G2 out from this bomb site. Tamir disappears.
Donk hides in the corner. Zontics makes the next move.
Gonna get a lot of tells just on how loud Zontics is here for now sneaking in,
but if he starts throwing utility to try and pull players away from B.
Spot for some pious. That low is the impact of this lurk.
Somewhat. Heavy gobble hang around. Time to go is now.
Just as Hunter G2 split the defense split the difference look back in awards this B site
How well the spirit think this lurk worked two players, but they could line up he's gained some serious ground
Have you got racing bird shadow advantage in that fight into the air able to open flash there to help him
Can't deal dead on a hot dog don't come next
Shiro long side spray comes up short and so it's don't in the clutch
This round breaks G2, this round puts Spirit right there on the finish line and Gomp gets the 9.
G2 is still in this.
Spirit clawing back for that round.
Hunter puts a team on his back, captain shutting down with another 3K round.
And in the Sumpires, I've been the two performing in this map.
Sumpires, the only head held high on this CT side for G2 right now.
It's a nice try for Spirit to bait them back, but Zontics walks right into the orb.
Spirit make the best of a bad situation, but a bad situation it is still.
One more full buy.
Suddenly you're looking at a potential even game, G2 are hanging on.
They burned all their pauses too, so there's no breathers here unless it's on Spirit Seiso.
Some pious confident display on that AWP, often relegating it out towards the A site,
watching for lurkers.
Well, here he's the first to play.
Shotgun over, the desk talked about right getting involved, right through that T Molotov,
forcing a 5v4.
we've seen these caves set up, Spirit have yet to look at how passive they are. Adding
Spirit into the bomb site. Might see another one of these retake attempts here from G2 as
this Molotov will lock them into position. And we go can't really take fights to stop
them crossing long, not with this gun, so if Spirit realize they can take this space.
Xantik's getting ruined quietly. You're gonna hold off on that U-Till.
Yeah.
Epps now made at least gives the info back to G2, but these rotates are gonna take a long time to fall into place, and Donk's dealt with Matt as early on the cave side.
One more man still back in cave.
Flash.
Flash holds back Heavy God for a moment, denies him that chance to play.
Now it's a waiting game, he needs his teammates to join him. Donk covers low on health from that skirmish.
Cynical.
The G2, they're hoping to boost up on some. Pius can give them a way back in.
Don't suggest it well. Knowing that just being alive here is enough of a problem.
Look at how much time it's wasted. G2 are not in a position to retake.
They're not in a position to do this. Spirit locked them out of B.
And get on to match and series point around away from those semi-finals.
It's not necessarily the brawn in that round, it's the brains, Donk, on that reposition,
just denying the trade, it's such a problem.
But you mentioned it as well, excellent call for Zontik to cancel the plan, not calling
for that, that cave Molotov that lets him into B, he realizes how much room he's been
given, and then the Molly comes in CT instead, G2 just get locked out of their own bombsite,
the one gap in the round exploited by Team Spirit.
That is, that's point with Ease, walked over the line.
G2's hopes on Ancient, their win streak in Jeopardy,
and Spirit want to end it with a rush.
It's been a mid-focus game, been a B-focus game,
full rifles into the Sumpire,
so off in the most dependable piece,
that 3K shuts it all down!
Called in a question, they rush his bombsite at the finish line,
and some pious will not let them in.
He's been the one piece you can't doubt for G2.
I had a monstrous map here.
Didn't really get a chance on Dust2.
Was best in donkey in that first half.
But now here on Ancient, showing up when required.
Laser locks down AMA.
And Spirit are going to have to dig a bit deeper than that.
She's a very vocal in this timeout. She's to get the chance to breathe as Team Spirit,
this will be their best buy of the two. We saw Spirit in a similar position in Group
Stage. They were getting frustrated at trying to close the game against the Mongols. They
got a clean half of overtime and couldn't end it, took double, seen some frustrations there,
Spirit have recent experience in the struggles to close out on this T side.
All in on the mid fight for G2, 3 players start here, A emptied.
One of the most brawly rounds we've seen from G2 in this entire half.
And even that flash gives away position, telling Spirit that G2 are fighting indeed.
There's going to be continual blocks.
Spirit can't get in.
Gonna wait this one entirely out.
Just burn all their blocking utility though in this mid gambit.
There's a lot of time left on the clock.
For a bit of a cash-strapped round that Spirit are currently dealing with,
the idea that G2 don't have any real ability to block here is a big deal.
It is a big deal. That's their final smoke lobbed out now at the minute mark.
Sumpias' read is very important where he puts out AWP right now
because we could still see this A punished late for Team Spirit.
It's Sumpias who is forcing this fight.
Shiro, does he pre-A? No, he shifts in.
And so Sumpias orb strikes one right back.
They over there, a gratitude to Sumpias for this performance, man.
Twenty four kills deep.
Oh, no. Oh, no.
Won't get away! Just barely.
Punish won't come in for Don, so Sumpias is still a threat.
He's going back for even more.
This is mad. One step too far for Sumpias.
Big kill, and it opens up that opportunity on the A side.
Spirit no with no open position.
Smokes will do the hard work for them.
Baralic move attempted for heavy guard on that flash swing.
Set up by Hunter.
He's now set up by another back at the spawn.
They're both trapped in here on default.
No, no, no, the bomb pulls, Paulie, time still, his teammates make up for it, time's low.
He can drop the bomb.
At the point of time, Rout's gonna ride.
This is so close, but it's G2 on the clock, keeping the game going.
Dom saw the smoke, he thought he got given the room, pulls that bomb instead of the trigger,
runs right into the G2, clutch it out with the clock.
to lose. Disasterous round to
lose. Tilt of around to lose an
insta tie now here for team
spirit. Use them or lose them.
That was an opportunity gifted
back by magics. And donks
entries into a full on death is
as he's the one to make
G2, lucky to be here.
You see him for G2, there's no celebrations.
It's laser focus all the way into overtime.
How close, man, to getting that bomb back, but look how far away it is.
This is a brittle bite.
Donk on a Galil, Shirou with his AWP.
G2 with opportunity presented.
Top-heavy scoreboard.
It might have been the big what if, but not in this round as Nertz swings it wide,
deals with Donk, a huge blow to Team Spirit.
A ballsy move to make at 12-11 up against the World's Best.
But absolutely worth it.
Move the time and looms.
Ticks with the smoke walk all the way through red.
No one's watching this yet.
Nertz just turns around to get eyes on.
Oh, but he's nervous still about players out through donor.
And that gives Zontik's room.
They're trading places right now on this ramp push. This was a low econ round one where G2 opened 5v4
He starts to call everything in a question this timing on the cave split
Couldn't have come at a better moment for team spirit. That's where I saw for shiro. He gets them on in time
And the advantage dissipates
G2 pull it all the way back and this is what they're left with
So the push for some pyres puts him in position to try to be the difference maker again.
Block smoke on B, 20 seconds.
I've got to go through that. You don't really have a choice.
Heavy got aggressive on the rampside, missed shot now, and this site starts to feel very claustrophobic.
Both defenders side by side, Heavy got dead.
True test, 400, as it all comes down to him, he's dead with nothing.
Spirit find the plant at the 11th hour, right as it was getting out of hand.
And Sumpias who has played a fantastic game all series long, left as an outsider looking
in on this retake.
Try as he might, there should be no winning this for Sumpias.
All game long even asking, where does the limit lie?
Just how good can this guy be?
And some pious is coming up short.
Team spirit to Nassay Eshowen.
Timings hit, they do it together,
not as the strength of just one man.
This is a team effort from start to finish
and now in to those semifinals.
Just like Dust2, they do it without Donka at the beginning.
Four versus five in our final round
and Zontics makes the perfect moves.
Team Spirit, improvements are clear.
Donk is still here, and they are going to those semi-finals.
An admirable attempt here for G2, but two slow to starts.
Two week to finish.
Team Spirit, what a game.
Yeah, it's a heartbreaking one for some pious man.
He absolutely showed up across the entire series.
No doubt about it.
That was the G2 AWPer firing on all cylinders.
You were getting a great game from Shiro on the other side.
He matched that every step of the way,
but it's Spirit when all is said and done,
finding the gaps, exploiting G2
on what is meant to be the G2 home map,
and Magic's throughout the entire thing
felt like he had his finger to the pulse
to shut down Hunter and that G2 squad.
Spirit find themselves making it through
to the semi-finals with a great win over G2.
I want to start by talking to Shiro about how close this got on ancient towards the end
There was a moment when the timeout was called and we could see Shiro talking so much even on the T side having input
What is he saying in those moments and how much input is he having?
That's it. I can't say anything more.
Another team, another playstyle in this tournament. What changed? What changed you the most?
I think we've become a team, we're improving every tournament and we're playing our game.
We've been playing in Washington and Dice and showing our high-skill.
The situations that seem difficult to our opponents and easy to us.
We even think about ourselves a little bit, but in general, it's very difficult to play against us.
I understand that. And of course, we're just fucked up.
So he says that it's really disgusting to play against us right now.
We're improving from the tournament to the tournament being better and better team.
And we understand that we just overthink in ourselves.
We're not losing to another team.
It was so easy on ancient industry which is performing so high level skill that, well, it was easy.
We can see it as well. So that's certainly a good sign for spirit.
And lastly, on those improvements, in 2025 it was one of the worst teams in the top 20, the utility for flashes, but we see that has changed.
So it is a focus now on that team play element for Spirit and them to find success.
I think we did a lot of work after the statistics we saw.
We did a lot of work with flashes, HEs, grenades in general,
and all the people in our team try to understand where to throw the grenades.
That's why our performance improved this year.
Who could it be? Who brought you all this?
I think we understood it as a team.
and Sothic on the coach's position, he tried to bring us thoughts about how we should use grenades better.
In general, we listen to him and try to improve everything with him again and again.
But with no vitality here, how important is it for spirit to lift that trophy and make a statement here?
Last time you were champions, how important is it for you to win this tournament right now?
I think that we treat this tournament as more preparation as a major.
Ah, okay.
As a preparation as a major, so we don't expect anything.
I would like to go to the finals and show a beautiful game, but how it will be?
We wanted to go and forget to the grand finals for sure
But for us is mostly practice before the major yes in the morning, but so lovely. Thank you very much. She wrote a starter
Make some noise your next team through to the semi-finals
Yeah, great response there from the crowd
G2 we knew it was gonna be more competitive on ancient but at the end of the day
Only gonna be one winner the margins so fine and spirit just have the edge right now like we talked about
Yeah, very impressive first half defensively really looked like that was gonna be another dominant game
Just as D2 was look very very crisp and clean across the bat T side
Certainly some struggles that you know still plagued them a bit
You know this is a map that used to be a powerhouse for them
And now it's become a little more dicey
But at the end of the day they dug deep and found a way to get the job done
I think was kind of fitting that in the final round off wasn't even present to help close the game
It was his teammates showing that here we're able to find some ways to have impact as well as optics made a huge play
And they were able to close because of that. So really cool to see the support system around doc actually show up
support system
crowd a
Lot of it going the way of spirit in this one
No, I still look I mean
I think that also the amount of looks that G2 had in this were great
I feel like the second half comeback was spurred on the off the fact that they had so many great utility sets
which we highlighted in the pregame and
It definitely continued here. I'd say that for spirit on the other hand great late round composure
I mean some of the rounds that even g2 were advantage as we see this round 12 right here kind of playing back
Those kind of moments just all went the way of spirit so much late round composure from a couple of players
I guess we did have the one kind of fumble on the a bomb site
that was a little curious when Donk pulled the bomb out. I thought, okay, this has overtime
written all over it when those kind of cracks begin to show, but then the resolve at the
very end of the late round play from Spirit ended up giving them the edge.
I mean, for sure, definitely, you're about to see it, you know, when Donk makes a...
I don't want to say it was a mistake. You probably thought it was clear and he was pushed for
time, but then you were right. I thought, like, oh, this is it. We are going to go to
overtime. Donk dies immediately as well at the start of the next round. Okay, this is
your opportunity G2 that really is the tail of this G2 team I mean it's just
not taking those opportunities when presented. Yeah I mean obviously back
up against the wall to the first half and after a tough first map definitely
you know we're trying to make that comeback not cosmetic one that actually
had impact and then he forced an overtime or forced a map 3 in regulation
and you definitely saw them I think they did a great job giving different
defensive fronts like sometimes it's very unorthodox with the AWP this
we told you to watch out for my mismatch. Yeah you did a great job with this
like pushing down B ramp or even pushing into elbow mid like you hardly ever see an opera in that position
So we was definitely trying to throw some curveballs
I thought they did a very good job varying when they wanted to play aggressively middle and actually commit a lot of resources to it
They deny spirit space, but then also at times realize. Hey, it's not worth it
Let's just play back and you know tried to address an extremity
So I thought they were doing a lot of good things in the CT side to get spirit a hard time to close
But unfortunately this was not quite enough as they finished this thing off 1311 in spirits favor
Yeah, and what I liked about the interview from Shiro there as well was he highlighted what we've noticed
Statistically that they are working on these things. They are working on utility that when they lose games
It's generally because they beat themselves. They're making mistakes. I mean that's really been the tale of Astana and yet they're in the
Senate I
Have to pick on what are you saying there the fact that James Banks directly asked about the utility usage how it is improved for
spirit and for Shiro to attribute that to everybody on the team being cognizant of using utility, but to Sothic
I'm gonna say like if you're Holly right now watching on and spirit is playing differently
They're finding success like this making the grand finals of Rio a semi-finals as well
Then you got to watch out. We'll pick up on that point. We talk about one coach
So we're going over to another coach on the stage with banks
Thank you very much, Richard. I do have saw with me here and it's kind of the same story
we're seeing with G2 right now of getting through to these quarters and then struggling
or maybe not even making it through struggles and group stages. What do you see? What are
you noticing that the difference is for G2 right now and having the ability to go farther?
Because obviously if we look back to London, which seems miles ago, right? That was where
our expectations changed, but a lot has changed since then.
Yeah, I mean we made the mid-season roster change and it changed some things and it made it like hard to practice with nurse since
There's so many events major cut-off was there, but I'm coming into this event. Obviously
We knew it's not gonna be perfect yet
We knew we are gonna take the event as a learning but at the same time of course we want to show a good result
The positive thing of course is that we made it to playoffs. We made it to the arena
We learned also from all the group stage games, basically, first playing well-placing,
mouse, mongols, all these teams, and then, well, Monta in the last one also.
We learned from those games, of course, a lot.
Wasn't enough against Spirit today, but I think ancient there could have been
situations that made it our map, made it to O-Team, but wasn't enough on Dust2.
I think on the other hand, they were just a better team, like Cleveland.
In my opinion, the G2 coach says that Spirit was stronger today on both maps, especially on DAS2.
As for the progress of the team, why they can't go further than one-fourth in the playoffs,
it's because there are a lot of tournaments, it's very difficult to stack one team together,
especially considering that you constantly replace some players in the team.
So yes, we got a lot of experience from this tournament, it was a great group stage, not very well received in the playoffs.
looking at where we're at with G2 right now in terms of the vision of the team
the way you see them playing because you're saying not much time to practice
and put things into action is there right now a clash of styles or the way
you want to play is it is it clear throughout? I wouldn't say there's
clashes it's not clear still of course as well like it's it will need some time
some ironing out I would say the balance is right now about calling and
finding the space between like freedom for the players so it's gonna be that but I mean I'm happy
that we have a bootcamp before the major and we can also take the learning from this spirit much
then and from this tournament overall so hopefully then we can show a better version at the major
And lastly, I saw some G2 jerseys in the crowd, there are fans still cheering for you, despite
it being more towards the spirit side, and obviously the G2 army at home.
What do you want to say?
Thanks for all the G2 fans, everyone who supported us here, overall happy to be first
time in Kazakhstan, and it's been great, I mean thanks for everyone.
Thank you very much, Richard, we'll go back to you.
Thanks very much for that, James, yeah, I mean look, I'll give you a little tip everyone
at home knows this is true anyway. When the coach comes up or loses interview, it means
the players are tilted off the face of the earth and don't want to do it. And so I guess
they're feeling a little bit sore, no pun intended about the way that game went down.
Definitely had their opportunity stuff. Yeah, it's a tough one because in Dust 2 they never
really had a shot. It felt like in that game they were showing behind so immediately and
ancient started out that way. But then all of a sudden a spark did kind of start the
fester in that second half and they were starting to add some fuel to that to try to really
build up something, but unfortunately they still got smoke out on the end by by Dawkin and company finding a way to dig
Deep and close out the game in some tight situations. So
Commiserations to G2 obviously they're kind of just idling in the same spot
I do think something like a bootcamp is gonna serve them very well as you mentioned in the interview because they really do need
To try to get everyone up to speeding and on the same page one weird error that I keep seeing rear
It's ugly head for them is anti-ecos second round of this game
It came back to bite them coming into the tournament. I noticed their stats on anti-ecos was weirdly bad
And for a team that has people like nerds and Mattis and heavy god
You think that those guys would clean those up, but for whatever reason they just have a very hard time dealing with pistols
I feel like people are a little
Individualistic like they just want to willingly take a fight and sometimes it plays right into like a decals or a tec-9's hands
I mean we talk this there's an in there's a fundamental imbalance in the GT rust right now that they are gonna have to address
I think any more performances like that Matt is is gonna be Matt was that kind of feels like the
Obvious one and and then you know if some pious
Every time you count him out he gets that big ancient game pop up and see what he can do
But they're still like say it's an imbalance. They need a little a little bit more cooking
I mean, I would just kind of if I want to say in the server what that looks like
It's just weirdly I feel like certain types of communication are not always carried out
Like the way that they crumbled in the post plant where Hunter on the bomb site is not even looking the correct way
I just don't think that people on this team all have the instinct of just grouping up and playing off of each other really nicely
Like even think of nerds as an entry a little bit more of like wants to feel things out a little bit more lurky heavy
Got himself. He's kind of an extremity lurker Hunter. He always kind of was this like second answer in around
He's never really just like working with the pack
Mattis is probably the only guy, but now he actually is sort of the extremity guy, which never really made sense to me either.
So I think they could really change the roles here.
I think Hunter needs to be a bit more of a selfless IGL, just play in the group a little bit more.
Because everybody just kind of, at a moment's notice, or any time there's any adversity, they all kind of peel off from each other.
Yeah, agreed. And look, you can see here, this is how the game went down.
I'll just put some focus on the victors here before we go to break.
of many of our analysts feel Spirit are going to lift the trophy here in the start and retain that crown.
How are you feeling about what you've seen dust?
Yeah, I think we saw a lot of positive things on Dust 2 in general.
Obviously, a great CPC out here on Ancient. Obviously, they free out the group stage.
Yeah, they got a freebie. It gets Huns in the opening match.
But obviously, beat some of the other teams that you would consider top 10 when they beat Moguls and they beat Furious.
So, when you kind of average it all together and you combine that with the Rio Finals performance that they just had before this event,
But they really are trying to see hey are we actually the second best team is it Navi is it us like I think that's really kind of the battle
That's going on right now because you want to be that number one contender to try to get vitality down and getting a trophy like this one against
The field that's here that you put you a long way towards doing that
So I'm seeing a lot of positives, but that's he saw was a little bit shaky
I think ancient in general just has not served them as well as it used to in the past and that's gonna be a key map as you kind of
Talked about if you go up against a Navi for that battle for number one contender
You're gonna have to be able to have that look a lot crisper
So they got the job done, but there's definitely still some things I need to be ironed out
Mm-hmm. I feel like this just kind of furthers my thoughts and the way that I see spirit going into this as the favorites because
Yes, the ancient was always going to be the hardest map in this one
I thought even G2 could could have won that kind of theory crafting the veto before the match even started
So for them to win it already because I thought they're gonna win map 3 no matter what so that kind of was a testament to the fact
That they're expanding things the flashes are just still seared into my brain that I
I saw spirit last year in 25 and 24 have some of the worst flashes barely any set up for Donk is despite what his haters may say online
You really didn't get other than getting guns dropped to him
The utility was never really actually their forte was more just him brute forcing in these situations
But now I'm seeing great setup him getting a lot of entries with that setup and then other other things is that it's a little bit more
Well distributed like he didn't have to have 120 80 are to win this today
He had a more modest I think around 90 80 or 89 or something like that
And everybody else found ways to chime in because it's not just funnelling everything through him
They're finding opportunities like Teneir is getting he's just calling his own number way more which is really refreshing and Holly
I'm sweating maybe a little bit. Do you think I hope it's just an ability to marriage at all, right?
I mean, I think obviously Halley's been a part of this team for a very long time and he's helped them live several trophies
I mean they won a prestige event last year in Cologne
They've won a major they've done a lot with Halley and obviously some of these guys are coming up from their Academy system
And have been developed into tier one players
So maybe there's just a balance to be struck
You know
Maybe there is an idea that there needs to be some type of foundational structure that you can build off of
But that you need to be exploring some of these things that you they have been doing these last few events with Sophic
And just players may be having a little bit individual freedom because the reality is look
The all can be just the the one punch KO guy
Yeah, he can be kind of your ticket to always be a contender and always have a puncher's chance
But you need to be able to facilitate the other players because you're going up against teams like vitality like falcons
Like some of these other squads that have widely distributed talent
And so I think as you said getting to near more activated, you know
Maybe even getting zon'tics to get in the rust off a little bit more though
Those are key to help them be a contender if they win this event and then spirit says we're gonna use soft because our coach for the major
I would not hold that against them at all
I feel like I feel like we have seen a turn around tactically speaking at the fact that zon'tics
directly addressed it in the
winners interview when they made
it to the playoffs. That
things are changing because of
him. Chiro as well saying these
things too. I don't see why not.
I get that you have all this
history with Holly, but I'm
looking towards the future, and
to me, this is the spirit of
the future. Well, the future is
looking very good for spirit
right now into the semifinals
here at Astana. We're going to
be taking a break halfway through
minutes so you can get hydrated and have a rest but then come back because after the break we have
the tale of underdogs it is crazy to think that one of 9z or magic will be going to the semis
we'll find out who in 20 minutes she said she loves you but she can't love me but i love you
I
Won't play window anymore
The human body was built to move, not trapped at a desk in one singular posture.
for 12 hours a day.
It's time your chair evolved.
This is Secret Lab Titan Evo.
Ergonomically engineered for you.
Gamers, hybrid workers, artists,
and back in your every move.
Cash is on his way back to Counter-Strike and I'm talking about it with some of our players
here at PGL Estada, Nico with me from Falcons and I was looking back at the history. You
got a good ratings back in those days. It was the last ones you were playing, you were
FaZe Nico back then, it was 2019, but just give me your initial thoughts when you saw
that it might be coming back.
Yeah, I mean that was a while ago and I used to be one of the best on the server, but
still trying, I'm trying, no but I haven't touched the cache so I have no idea how it's
going to work.
I think they should have done some changes, I think the map should have maybe worked a
little bit differently but I'm still, as you mentioned, I used to be pretty good and I'm
I'm looking forward to see if I can kind of, maybe not rapidly fully, but you know,
just find a good confidence from the get-go, if it comes official of course.
But it's exciting, it's exciting to have such an old map in the map pool.
And just in general with Valve now, you know, changing the map was quite often.
It's pretty exciting.
So I just hope they're going to find a good timing to implement it.
So yeah.
I was playing a lot, Kesha on FaceTime, I'm enjoying a lot.
I think it's a good map with good memory, for example a simple highlight, a lot of these things.
And also we have Dastan and Jem, they were good on Cache, like I know, I was small, so they were playing in Alungar.
I think it's a great map and I'm waiting this so hard.
I think it's good, we definitely need some maps changing on the pool and I think Cache was very competitive in the past.
I liked the fact that they made the older version better, instead of going completely new,
because I didn't really like the new one, the greenish one.
Yeah, that was really cool.
I had a chance to play one time already, and it was fun.
Oh, okay.
Did you experiment when you played on it? Did you test anything out?
Honestly, I was just playing around, I was playing a bug with Molo by a pink.
Okay.
But you remember me a little bit of a couple of strategies we used in the past,
and pretty much the same gameplay, honestly.
I was really liking to play the map as well, and also like a facet and stuff,
like not just officials and also the officials you could be able to do like many different things
because the map was overall was too big and I think it was like a great place like you had
a more opportunity to move like a t-site that you can do boost you can just use a door you can just
go to be that you can break the windows you can throw nays the b side fake and door is opening
going out like this kind of like many opportunities gives you like more kind of creative ideas
for T side and I think that's why I like more and also you can hold with the outfit to some
angle for the rotations because you can make them move you can make them to see to the move.
I think that that map is like must to stay all the time like I wish to come back but now
The only one thing that I don't know how it's gonna work because they remove the sky
So but when you were playing that map that was like you couldn't throw the nades from above too much
Yeah, so now maybe people even can do like many
Tricky things, you know, like we'll see so
To be honest, I didn't play too much on the new cache. I only played one face it game. I think it's okay. I think the
map changed a lot since 2019
So I'm curious if they introduce it to the map, how it will look, but I think there is
still a time for that.
I think they still need to change a little bit because I feel like the map is really
city-side.
I think you can just double open the sides and I don't know, you can lock down instantly
and it will be a tough map if it comes in for the team.
I feel like.
Honestly, I would like to see the map because I don't know, there is too many times that
but I didn't play it. I was looking at some nades just to do the standard thing, just
to remember a few things. And I think that the map is exactly the same that it was back
then in the days. I didn't like it that much, even if we were playing good, but of course
that's going to be like...
319, I would be starved as...
Yeah, that's like more than eight years ago, so it's going to be hard. But I think the
The map is good, let's see how it goes with the time, and if they just make any chance
or whatever, but I think that the map is, I mean, it was fun to play back in the day.
Awesome, thank you very much to your thoughts man, let's see what happens, maybe we will
get cash coming to the map pool, but a lot of positivity around the map coming back to
the game.
Wally is good, smoke coming down, he jumped up in a headshot, and a no absolute destruction, four kills in the blink of an eye.
Oh, so blind.
Very masterful.
Shut up.
So blind, everyone's been blind.
Oh, yeah!
Zelex went a swing!
And he's on for the ace.
Zelex just gets mopped up straight away as he rounds the corner.
This is an aurora round, defuse attempted, jail with the cover!
They line up right!
Jail scrapping and Torsche even looking down the barrel of this orb.
Oh that's a lovely flake and Torsche why stop there?
Pius is living on borrowed time and that time's expired and another 4k from Torsche.
And that might get worse.
Oh.
It will.
Now I'm honestly looking for the refrag.
Backsite has just enough time.
Bomb plants.
Oh.
Burms that he's there is going to sit on this position and end it.
Through the round.
Four kills to his name.
Niko runs through that molly and does find the cave player.
Niko able to shut him down, B-Mass dead, climbing up through heaven.
You've been able to claw this one back, there's 2v4 and it was 2v2 and you've got the bomb
planted.
Niko, low on health, doesn't care, on absolute mission.
Spray for Tessus. One more when that came from. But is it too late? Apparently not.
Kiyosuke's kept the dream alive and now a chance of that plant.
Kiyosuke just staying gun on. It's a late plant for monosy.
Easily done. The double or post plant. 2v5. 4k for Kiyosuke.
Come on, cancel it.
Come on! There's still time for it.
He can just cancel it.
Molo do I dee-
Oh, he hit BALL!
It'll have to be Uri to try to clutch out 1v2.
X-Flight's hands busy. Uri opts not to jump out through the window immediately.
But this is 52 health for Nylo.
And he is sitting back by bench now.
Uri's got to figure out where he's at.
Oh!
Oh, he's lined up!
Uro!
The time is a big problem, 10 seconds left, one kill in the wrong place, and you can win this!
Donk is just out in the open looking for tools as he does, and that is why.
The bomb has been picked back up, and we can see the damage that's been done on all the fury of player to clean up on the bomb site.
The way he's just out here swinging, in case Rado could still deal with this, if not for Donk.
Ah nice distraction offers up the Molodoy blind side.
Shiro's got the recovery underway as he drops down pistol in hand.
Giving more and more time for you, Kiddark.
Shiro.
Oh you get the kill?
Blindsided.
Oh you messed it up.
Oh no.
It's what multiple players coming up on banana map.
He really wants to lure them into this position from the chop and he's going to come out swinging.
He did get Molotov.
And not that he's going to be putting a bit of a wrinkle in this round.
until he goes to fight and get closer.
Flashbang is good, but Leechar falls into a decision.
Third player company, and it's now one-ever per revision.
If you want a chance to get in here,
but Leuchar was detonating them.
Another headshot, looking for another ace in this first half.
He is 17 and 2, hunting for the ace,
and he gets another one in the first half.
Max might be able to find a kill here on Cicelo,
who's playing up by the church position.
Very deep tour stretch as well.
All but it's a bit of a sloppy fight at the moment.
Runs out of bullets, knife is out,
and on the other side too, it's all around eyes.
Okay.
Wallabubble forced Freyja out of the Freyja leaves.
Now he's open and no one's lying.
But they're gonna crawl upon him.
Hang on a second.
AWP's doing an oil load.
He goes for four.
And it's all of the soldiers who mine Tensi's AWP!
So it'll be sort of an execute, but the counter smoke is coming out, they're bumping into each other!
Madness and the smoke moonies, you're gonna be able to find anything!
He's joined the T5 somehow, but now he's dead instead!
Tensi with three kills!
Oh, and a headshot! Three through! How has he done that?
He can be the insurance policy!
Tensi's fader kills the piece, he's out all on Tensi!
Time is ticking here, though!
They're gonna get this kill and take it to the second two!
Oh my god, heroic! How have you let that slip?
One step south by G2, and you're not mistaking the sound of Nerts picked up without a kill
and it's chased with JL, finds Hunter back at the spawn.
Matt is playing through the smoke, he's his hero moment, wrestles with the air.
Oh! Matt is knocked some down!
I'm gonna get away with the multi-kill but the bomb was dropped there on that spare
no matter what car to it or it's close he won't follow up on a belchin on can
have it do least firing back no way
or they just got no what cardiac soul fly attempt in the clutch but with the
orb here it should be a safe round for paravision it's not parking for long
gets his belchinock so far now is on that deep you're belchinock can't do it
what a weird man oh crazy
some of the other maps hello well that's a night for a party
I have Lutrov with me from 9Z.
I've got Gentlemates Martinez with me here.
JL from Malz.
We're going to be looking at Inferno.
So three things are not correct on this image.
What could it be?
Okay, I saw one already.
Okay, this is easier?
Yeah.
I think.
Okay, on pull?
Tell me.
Pull, that sandbox?
Yeah.
Is not good?
In pull, there is something that usually don't...
What is it?
That thing, I don't know.
On the...
Yeah, so we call it like sandbox?
You enter B and the right side.
Yeah, where should it be?
Where it should be somewhere else?
Then different.
The easiest of them all, 100% locked in guest
towards the pool.
There's a sandbag that doesn't belong there.
Move it back, please.
Thank you.
Thank you, big boss.
Oh my God!
It's so easy, I gotta figure it out.
Triple, like, it's not the pillar,
it's like a wall on triple.
The bench of triple, I don't know how to say it, but I think I don't know.
The bench is not supposed to be there, I know, because I've been on that bench.
It's not there, it's supposed to be in, I don't know where it's supposed to be, but that cannot be there.
Move that bench now.
Oh, so that was the change, I thought it was going to be bench there and the triple box missing, so that's true.
Okay, I need one more, right?
One more.
The stairs.
They joined the wall on this side.
Yeah, there's no entrance.
It's like you have, I don't know who to say, but on close to the ball you have to cross to the side.
When you go in to the side.
Yeah.
There you go.
Yeah, they will miss me.
Boom.
This line is easier.
That one's easier?
Yeah.
I've got Falcons, Munisey with me here today, Neela from Heroic, JL from Malz.
We're going to be looking at Ancient.
So three things are not correct on this image.
changes. First of all, the default box is removed. Can you see that it's different on this?
Yeah, there is no box on the side. Okay, hold up. Massive map. First of all, default is gone by the way.
It's not the whole map. It's a crazy picture. Yes, default boxes put them back on. Yeah. Thank you.
The X-Box is green, like the carpet on the big box, I don't think it's green, no?
You're correct, you're correct!
What else is missing?
The tarp on the box, it's supposed to be blue, not green.
Man even said tarp, like the correct word in.
I said yellow though.
Yeah, you got the colors wrong, it doesn't matter, you still knew something was wrong,
but you said tarp, which I'm impressed with, that's good.
Thank you, that's from...
AZ
Okay, that makes perfect sense
One more
And then there is...
Temple is weird, yes? Temple is kind of...
No, temple is the same
Ah, the lamp in the temple maybe
I'm not sure
You mean on this?
to the left in the temple there?
I'm not sure.
Nope.
Okay.
Nope.
The candles are there.
They're supposed to be there, you know what I mean?
Yeah, the candles are there.
Yeah, I mean...
You're gonna concede?
No.
I have no idea.
Can you give me the answer?
No.
I mean, maybe there's a box at the back of like, right side of the main, but...
Nope.
Maybe there's one more box on top of the box.
Is it easy?
Or I'm just...
I think it's hard, personally.
You think?
I think it's hard.
Because it looks so good, the edit right now, that you would believe this is real.
Am I being a little bit delusional here, but I feel like the temple side is a little bit narrower.
No, probably just the angle, I'll say that's not one of them.
Probably, yeah, okay, I see, I see, I see.
Something in main, maybe.
The main is weird, but what?
Yeah. But what?
Look at this small thing in Main, no?
It's very big, I'm going to tell you it's very big.
But Main is very wide, no? The whole Main is just very open.
It looks different, right?
Yes.
That should give you an idea. It's not what you're saying, but that should give you an idea.
You are seeing something right now that you wouldn't normally see if you looked at this angle.
Oh, they're light. There is no light at the back tunnel of me.
There is. What? The confidence he said this way.
It's something I would not see. I said, you said you saw the box, yeah?
You thought it was a new box. Yeah.
It's not a new box, it's always there, but you would never normally see it from this
angle. I'm really trying to help you. Oh my God!
I see it covers. There's like a main cover on top of it. Let's see it. I see
Boy, it's crazy, huh? But you do see it though
Well, you see you don't see the whole box. You see the whole box. You see a small bit
You see the whole box
Still covering something. It does cover. Okay. I gave you help when you got the answer, but this looks weird now
Yeah, no, it doesn't look normal. Yeah, it doesn't look good. This is the future change. You never know
Where do you think there is something?
At the entrance.
At the entrance?
Yes.
Boom, there you go, that's all three.
That's it.
Boss, boss.
I'm watching it from my side.
Oh, yeah, okay.
I should know this.
That's fine to see.
So, you got the default box.
You got the color, that was crazy.
To know the color straight from the beginning.
And then the final one, Alex showed again.
Yeah
And I'm about to introduce two teams who at the start of this event, if you had thought they were going to be in the quarterfinals, one of them guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals.
You would have told me I was drunk on broadcast, but here we are. And I'm stone cold sober 9z going up against magic. Now joining us to break this one down.
We have prof and Blair prof your first time in an arena. Bet you you didn't think it would be these two teams either.
No, not this matchup to be my first didn't expect it, but it's nice. It's a good warm-up, and I think it's gonna be a very exciting game
I'm not gonna pick my favorites yet, but both of these teams are super fiery super exciting
Yeah, absolutely. I think 9z was the initial surprise of tournament, right?
But for for magic, maybe there is some magic in the air here
We'll have to see if that is the case. They have a lot of fans
But and I also actually think just a quick one on the magic third land ever as a lineup together
So that's a little bit mental that you're walking up onto the stage big one for them though
They also have a Kazakhstan player which we had this last year in Astana with Maladoy
And now here we are again another young opera making his debut
Yeah, I guess the universe kind of balances itself out because we lost Astan
You know he was looking to make it to the playoffs, but yeah having moon here
Look, this is uncharted territory for these young guys are they played a couple of local lands?
I mean like international lines with small ones and now suddenly you're in an arena and for moon dude
playing in front of your home crowd that has to be special.
I mean it was a modern breakout last year, Moon, he didn't have a grade at the group stage,
but online he's been playing pretty well, you know, maybe this is his chance
in front of his home crowd to elevate his level and become the new hometown hero.
Also, don't forget the fact both are Alpers.
That's my thing, I was like, there's something kind of special that we've had this situation
in Counter-Strike at the top level where we keep talking about how difficult it is to find good
Opus. Come to Kazakhstan. Apparently there's two of them that can get onto the grand stages for playoffs.
Yeah, I mean the CIS region, right? As the meme goes, I feel like every
season we're going to find a couple of young upcoming Opus. But honestly, God, like you said,
Prof, I'm not going to be deciding any favorites right now. But for me, I'm just super happy,
super excited for the fact that these young five kids, I don't think they even they believe they
had a chance to make it here. So the fact they're here right now, I just wanted to have a good
time. You know, have a good time, soak it in. Yeah, I mean, they've been having a great time so far.
I feel like the way they've been playing on the server, the reactions after that,
the moves that they're making, it just feels like they're here for fun more so than trying hard,
oh, we need to do this exact execute. No, go into Chaos and just come on top,
0-2 to 3-2 for Magic to make it to the playoffs.
And sure, you can even save like, oh, all right, fine, they didn't have to beat such good teams
at the very end, but listen, Sam, quite a few big names have fallen by the wayside.
They haven't, they got the job done.
Do you think that they had an easier run than North Star?
Well, definitely more than Mongols, I'll tell you that.
Yeah, I mean, it is probably the easiest run for many teams in the playoffs, but it doesn't take away too much.
I do think at the end of the day, they're here and they have a chance to improve themselves on the stage.
It's going to be a completely different ballgame, more for them and for 9-Z.
Not super experienced in this kind of environment by not super. I mean, practically not at all.
And also, you've got to also notice the fact that the teams they beat, right, along with the gentlemates and the heroics,
These teams have way more experience than these five young lads playing.
So sure, you might be like they didn't really beat really tough opponents.
But for me, I'm looking at Magic as one of the weakest teams on paper coming into the event.
So for me already, they have surpassed a lot of expectations.
It's the same team though that I think Bang spoke to Moon when they qualified and he said,
like, we didn't actually think, playoffs weren't even in the plan.
We didn't think we were going to make playoffs.
We just wanted to win one or two games.
So they have exceeded expectations.
No pressure from them, right now they're like hey, we're just having a good time.
I mean even in this matchup definitely, I mean they're the underdogs, right?
9z are the team that has more experienced players that have been winning tournaments
at least locally in South America and Brazil and now they come here,
they previously have made some playoffs, they've been on the big stages.
So all of the pressure is definitely on the 9z side,
Magic can just be like okay whatever happens happens, let's just play our own game.
And you can't forget the fact that for Nainzi,
you have to go back a couple of years, Sam,
but they have been in the arena before.
I am Dallas comes to mind when they have that top four finish
and that's when all of us were like, all right,
does Nainzi lineup, they could actually do something.
They have disappointed over the years,
but what I'm really enjoying from this particular line
of ever since, you know, they picked up Luchov,
you know, you had Marin come in as well.
It's how this season has them
been kind of dominating South America.
They've been looking so very good there,
but every time they have an opportunity to come on outside,
they are delivering,
And it's mainly because of these two guys, Luchov and DGT.
Luchov, for me, he's been having an insane tournament so far.
Yeah, I mean, aside from the fact that he looks like
an AI-look-smacking version of my snake,
I think just on the server, he also looks amazing.
The entry is just, he has been so pivotal
in the way they have been winning,
not just helping them clutch out rounds,
but he has been on the forefront,
just leading them to these super dominant halves
against the best opposition that is here.
There'd be Paris, there'd be thousands, there'd be Miles,
some of the best teams that on paper are going into the tournament.
That's what I kind of wanted to focus in on though,
with this 9-Z conversation.
Because, I mean, Richard, before me mentioned,
this is the story of the underdogs.
I said it's here, you wouldn't expect these two teams.
But there has been this steady rise from 9-Z.
And obviously, when we talk about South American talent,
the focus is always on Furia.
It's on the big names.
We focus in on pain, even if they're not doing that.
Well, 9-Z kind of just flies under the radar, right?
But yet, if you take a look at their results coming into this play, they've steadily been improving.
Yeah, I feel like they've kind of played to the level of the opposition, which is a crazy thing considering how still young this particular team is.
I know you look at the results they've had so far against Maus, taking them down short.
Maus, you know, have this entire new two plays coming in and all of that, but still an impressive showing.
Take down Falcons, then take down Paravision, one of the favourites to make it to the playoffs as well.
But I want to actually talk about for Nainzi this entire season so far, right?
They've only played a bunch of South American events where they've won a multitude of them.
But if you look at any single time they've played outside international big events,
we saw it in Blast Raw to them where they lost the vitality, that's okay.
Everyone's losing the vitality.
They knock out...
They're not to lose the vitality, that's the new Canada track rule.
And then you knock out Maus, by the way, which I feel was one of the final nails in the coffin
of that particular Maus lineup, and then you lose a spirit with a competitive map.
And you're looking, this team can look pretty good coming into this.
somehow leveled up as well. So right now I'm looking at this 90 team as kind of the potential breakout team from the region,
discarding Fury of course.
Yeah, I mean just as you were mentioning the results, Betoom Rush winners,
Betoom CircuitX winners, Betoom Rush another one, winners, second place at Fergie Human House.
So like back to back, they are just like either winning or finishing second. Literally the only team they're losing to is Legacy recently and
locally, right? And then they obviously want the qualifier for this and some other qualifiers to go to
Rotterdam, right? They've just been on top of this and you know, when you just watch European
Counter-Strike tier one Counter-Strike, you're like, okay, let's see how these guys perform
when they come over here because like I've seen in the past a team like MIBR dominate locally and
then they come to a book arrest and they are like, okay, this style of Counter-Strike they're playing
is like so off, off where the top teams are. And I think for 9Z, that's not the case. I know, I said
So we saw some tweets. They don't like that. They're not playing proper counter strike
I think they're they understand the basics their trading is good
Their utility is good. Are they making some some risks sometimes playing a bit ahead of a pace a bit explosive?
I would say yes, but I think their basics are really good throughout the board and then the individuals shine as well
Yeah, I think the only caveat here would be for Luchov and DJ especially for Luchov
He's having a lights out tournament right now people are like is this sustainable and we keep asking it
but it keeps delivering time and time again.
Most impressive thing for me is Sam Furluchov and DGT.
If you look at the overall rating across the season
before coming into Astana, it was like a 1.15, 1.2.
So pretty good, but you come in here against the Maldives,
the Falcons and Parivision, and they elevate themselves.
So I think the fact that these two players are popping off,
it's also really helping them
kind of win these games convincingly.
I mean, what a great elevation from DGT as well,
because he was on 9Z, he went to pain,
like 1000 team that was supposed to be the next big thing. He was playing horribly. He barely
averaged a 1.0 rating. Back to Ninzee and now he's a star player again. I think this is my biggest
worry about Ninzee and I wonder if you feel the same though is it changes on a big stage. It changes
in an arena, right? Yes, they were able to to take down the likes of Falcons in the group stages,
but it's a very different environment when you come onto this stage. And like Blair said,
those big teams level up, does 9Z have the ability to level up
when we look at their play style and the pieces that they have on the board?
I mean for me it's more, not even about leveling up, I feel like if they play like
70-80% of what they play in the group stage, that should be enough for this game, but
they've also been like very, very reliant on the game, on the individuals,
but just like some of the basics and on the on the stage when the jitters
get in their hands, I know you've been on the stage last year here,
It's not it's not the same and then everything can fall apart if you're relying on just the trading you know and these these fundamentals
And I think if an INC is here for me like you've done the hard work
Right you've beaten these big names like the Parapetians I get my was in Falcons and all these guys and for you looking at the brackets
I can all the playoff teams. This is the easiest possible matchup
You can have so even if you might have the jitters even if you might feel a little nervous
Listen guys you should have this one in the back
So pressure is there the back of the minds
But the thing is they've got one guy behind them who's a legend bit the original bit the bi
So if you do need experience and a calming voice behind you, they do have them as well
I have just a quick number bits career spends 23 years
That's more years than most of players are gonna be on the server. It's all of them on earth. It's crazy
So the math experience that this guy's has is quite insane. Okay, so here's the thing right 9z
They've beaten all these big names and then play you just say that they were you were like
this should be the easiest matchup. But we've seen in CS and we've often seen in tournaments
like this, that this is where, especially these sort of lesser known teams tend to fall
by the wayside, right? What is magic bringing? Because when you compare these two teams and
you say magic as the lesser team, why do you say that?
Well, mainly it's a lack of experience overall, right? Like, you can't prepare for something
like this being on the arena. You have to go through it. We saw some, you know, a lot
of these young up-and-coming online games, you saw Gambit youngsters back in the day,
for example, when they played the Major for the first time, they crumbled under the pressure.
And I think that's going to be the case here. But one thing magic, if I had to describe
magic's counter strike, well what we've seen from them is thus far, in one word, it is
chaos. Complete adulterated chaos. And what they're going to try and do is going to try
and drag 9Z down into the mud and just play this wrestling game. And that is a trap that
9Z should not fall for, because if they do, then suddenly we might have a game in our
hands.
magic is entertained but not impressed. Like, you watch the game, you're going to have fun,
but is it really good? Maybe it doesn't matter, you know, as a viewer, it doesn't matter.
But in the game, against some of this better opposition, I think where they get outclassed
individually, that's when they can't get, pull the other team into the mod to play these, like,
I don't want to see even off meta. They're not really scared of playing something that
no one else would think of. You know, you have a Molly, you have a Flash, you should be playing
to use that molly and flash with the load. Now they're just going to hold the angle with the rifle.
And sometimes that bites them in the ass because they're going to just headshot you, right?
I think what is necessary for them to win is essentially 9z kind of dropping their level off
and then them rising to the occasion and bringing in this unpredictable style to the stage.
Very gimmicky. Like we saw a lot of cool stuff coming out from that. Listen, if that's what it takes.
If it works, it works. If it works, it works. An overpass map comes to mind where they went
I went for the four-man stack over there, the Inferno game they had against Gentleman,
so I was just like watching it. If I were Gentleman, I'm just tilted off the face of the planet, right?
I feel that is the energy that Magic's going to be bringing into the server.
Yeah, and it's not just the preparation, as you saw. The five-man boost, they lost that round.
They were obviously discovered, and the other team just went to the other side.
And this was an elimination game. It just shows how much these guys kind of don't care.
They're just going to do whatever they want on the server in the moment.
and in the mid-rounds as well, which is just going to make individual moves
that the other team doesn't expect.
Let's talk about the Kazakhstan player. We spoke about him at the start.
I'd love to focus in on him.
What do we think about Moon when he steps on the stage today?
Yeah, I mean, he's not been having a great tournament, but the good thing is...
That's a positive start, right?
Yeah, he's not been having a great tournament,
but online he's been one of their best performers, right?
And I think he was sick towards the last games.
We saw him with the face mask on.
What I did like is, on Mirage, he's been pretty good.
That's been his home ground.
even despite some like tough tough series on Mirage. He just feels like in the in the trading game and finding openings
He feels super comfortable. So that's a that's a positive for me. I'm just into talk about moon here
I also think about his counterpart on the side of 9z. That's mayor, right?
And I feel it's gonna be in a way the tale of how mayor and moon are gonna perform because right now both these two players as
The stuff primary opera of these two teams are the lowest rated players
They're also low rate low rate of players overall so to speak and it's been a struggle city here
but even then we can see Moon has had more impact overall.
What's shocking for me, Prof, I'm looking at Mayran,
he has 8% like, wait, fine, rounded up to 9% opening attempts on CT and T combined.
For an op-ed that is ridiculously low.
Yeah, Broke at his worst had these kind of numbers, right?
Can I just put off, I'm going to throw a little curveball at both of you though.
Is this a fair comparison considering the opposition these two teams have gone against?
on the one side you're facing off against the monies of the world and on the other it's been a
little bit easier for Moon. That's fair but you know let's hype up the calisthenic guy I think
he's voted but not in his opening he says has also been really good. The thing about Marin is
even in locally when they're playing he is their worst player and he only transitioned to the
AWPing like in September last year he was a rifleer famously one for the future. He was one of the
the players that HLT picked to be in the same category as Xayu, Donk.
He was a guy that had so much promise, went into MIBR,
played with Fallen and Fer didn't really hold his own there
and had this journeyman career jumping from team to team to team.
And now he's on the hop and it's not looking the greatest,
despite the fact that team is still winning and reaching new heights.
I feel, again, it's still early,
they're still not the end of the season quite yet for the side of 9C, right?
But I could see if his form continues in this fashion
and if Minesi want to kind of elevate themselves to the next step,
I feel like he's the one player.
I'd be like, yeah, you'd kind of need to find an upgrade for him.
So this event, this particular match up this playoffs right now,
it's a great opportunity for him to be like, no, guys,
I am a pick which really made sense when you guys got it.
So I'm going to be keeping my eyes on him.
We're going to be keeping our eyes now on James Banks
because he is going to be introducing two teams
who for many of these players have never walked onto a big stage.
What a moment that's had to him.
This is certainly going to be one of the moments for these guys.
And also, for everyone who still wears in the arena, Astana, how are we doing?
Now, for these two teams that are going to take to the stage,
it is certainly not easy for them.
This is further than they have been for their careers.
This is the biggest stage than what they have sat on before.
For 9Z, they're one of the most exciting South American teams right now.
They have shown that they can build together play some wild CS and dominate some of the biggest names in the game
They're run here in the group stage
3-0
Taking down Paravision
Falcons and mouths and they do not want to stop at this point. So everyone please give it up for
And their opponents, they truly had a magical run.
They went from zero to all the way through to the playoffs.
We saw them having sleepless nights trying to prepare and improve themselves in every
game across the tournament.
This team looks down and out, but they have bounced back and they do not want their run
to end here.
So give it up for MAGIC!
We'll move it into our third quarter final, Moon come on up here, Max you come join us
as well. Max, it's you, it's you. Come on down this side. Come on!
Moon, your first big arena. You're getting the charm with your name like that. Give me
the feeling how nice is that I'm feeling amazing guys thank you everyone for your
support and I'll just try to show my best
now you told me when you qualified for the playoffs as fade had not been
sleeping he managed to rest is he at full strength for this game yesterday he
He slept like 10 hours, but today he slept only 30 minutes again.
It's a small whisper. He slept for 10 hours, but he slept again for half an hour.
I think changed a lot because we just...
Now we are playing the LAN event and we are just playing our game and getting high from the game.
That's it.
Ben asked how the shape of the team has changed during this tournament.
He said that everything is much better than it was at the beginning.
We become stronger in every match.
Amoon, this is your country, this is your crowd. What do you want to say to everyone here?
Salem Khadar san, Salem Asana!
Lutro, 3-0 all the way for your first playoffs.
The teams you beat, the way you guys did it.
Was it beating the expectations you had set on yourselves,
or did you always see yourselves making it to playoffs?
It was a very difficult group stage, and I think today will be more difficult.
difficult so we are very excited to play and just play in the group stage it was
very difficult and probably here on the stage it will be even harder, so we are
all ready now looking at the grind you guys have been putting in you had a few
more days off than other teams here was it constant practice constant
preparation how did you spend it yeah we take one day off to chill a bit and then
And the others today, we played a lot and prepared the maps, we also seen them and they are really good, so it will be a great match.
And Udan Ziba had a lot of time to rest, they closed the group stage with 3-0.
And one day they took a rest, but the rest of the time they practiced a lot and prepared for their opponent separately and said that there will be a great match.
Now, you put up some great numbers alongside DGT in the group stage.
How confident are you that you can do that on the stage with this crowd in a different environment for yourself?
I expect to do the same or higher, and I wait to shine this red and shoot.
James asked how much they would change in the arena, how much it would be more difficult, and they answered that the team is ready and nothing will change from what they play on LAN or not.
Okay, okay, I expected that. What do you got?
Well, let's see who came here to support the BUNA campaign.
And we even got the drum out here as well.
Alright guys, we need to make this moment so special for these guys.
Being on a stage like this, going through the first moment of your career,
I need every single one of you to make some noise for us.
So let's hear it
The fans are definitely here for their homeboy
But I don't know if the fan cheering will be enough when that video comes up
I think 9z will probably have the upper hand. What do you two think?
Yeah, the thing is for 9z their best map
They're put there always a first pick usually is nuke right and that is the map
That's going to be the promo band coming out from Magic.
So you're thinking now, all right, Magic might have the edge.
But unfortunately, Prof, I'm looking at a second, third, fourth best map for the side of 9Z.
And I still feel they're going to be comfortable no matter which map they go for.
Yeah, I mean, I was looking at it and I wasn't really sure which way 9Z was going to go
because Overpass on paper looks like a great win rate for them.
But when they played in Europe, they didn't really perform that well against the Spirit Vitalities.
They would finish at the side with zero rounds.
And here, the pick of Dust2, I actually didn't have this on my top three of what I said.
I had Ancient, actually. I thought Ancient would be a pick coming in, because recent form looked good.
And Dust2, the thing is they've only played it once so far at the event, but that was a 13-1 dropping of the Falcons.
So a bit of a curveball coming in. Mirage, no surprise there, Prof.
Like, Mirage is their best map for Magic. That's a map where they've always found success.
That's a map, actually, which enabled them to make it here to the playoffs.
And we will be indeed having a bit of a shake, you know, kind of shaking hands and allowing Ancient as the decider.
Dust2, slight curveball, but I can see why they're going for it, because Dust2 was also miserable for Magic.
It does feel like a punishment coming in from Nynzee.
Yeah, I mean, they struggled, I think, against the Mongols earlier in the tournament.
Against Heroic as well, who have been struggling, 13-4 lost against them too.
So, yeah, a bit of a punishment coming in from Nynzee here, Sam.
But Mirage, that's the map. If Magic are going to make it to map number three, that map has to be in their pocket.
We keep talking about the underdogs, but I do feel like in this particular scenario, Magic,
And especially when we now see the Vita is the true underdog of this battle. Yeah
I mean I want to give some shout out to esphade the IGL right of magic who's now we found out that he hasn't been really sleeping that much
You do need some sleep though 30 minutes of sleep going into a stage match. That's that's crazy
I don't I don't know how he can perform but his group stage was actually insane both Max and
The IGL of 9z and esphade the IGL of magic have been overperforming
performing based on what they usually do, which is fantastic when your agent can do that.
But with no sleep, if I had 30 minutes of sleep, I would be falling apart right now.
You're a lot older than him.
That is true.
He's quite young.
He can still do that.
Donk did this.
I remember Donk always used to talk about just not sleeping.
He used to just go and play face-to-face.
That was his vibe.
And that's why I would destroy everyone on the server so you can go back to the hotel
as soon as possible.
But no, it's going to be crazy, but I want to say also, Tenzi, I want to give him a
a little shout out. I think you've been a great this tournament and as a kind of a
star player for this team dropped a 50 bomb on overpass. I think that's the
most kills someone got on a single map in this tournament so far. Yeah for sure.
I'm just looking at how this map is going to play out. The Nines are going to be
starting the T side over here and this is where they went 11 and 1 against the
Falcons, right? They were just absolutely dominating them. So I'm curious to see
what magic is going to be putting up here in Magic. Unfortunately, I feel like
there are certain struggles, right? But we as a Prelude to this Magic Prof, we were
speaking about the AWPers, like Dust2, AWPing, I think it kind of goes hand in hand.
So definitely, for the side of Magic to kind of make his competitive on Dust2,
I feel like Magic has to deliver above and beyond from what he's done so far.
He said, coming in here in Arena, I'm ready to play, I'm ready to really rock and roll.
Can he do it? That's the question.
In someone else that has something to prove, is AW right on Paravision last season,
cut by the Ruthless Dastan.
Now he's here and he's in the Arena and Paravision isn't.
I think he's been performing super well in his positions, just like a more aggressive version of his way.
Maybe not as tempered, not as measured always, but he will go for the double kill,
and more often than not, he was getting them against the opposition that they managed to beat in the group stage.
Also, one of the players who cannot be mentioned or spoken about so much so far is like Massfoul, right?
Kind of like a small B side anchor most of the times, but whenever we saw any attack coming into the bomb site,
you could really see this guy had that multi-fragging ability.
And I think that's going to be pivotal here, starting on the CT side as well, and us too.
Are you expecting quite an aggressive fast-paced game?
Yeah, definitely. I think for the sides of 9z, that's how they like to play.
They like to go on early timings and find contacts in groups as soon as possible,
not to delay the map around too much.
On the side of Magic, they can do both.
I think they like to go for fights because they like to open up the map
and to go into a 4v4, 3v3, where they can do some crazy stuff.
But I think they play a bit slower and they can sometimes get, you know, the clock and run out on them if the opposition uses their utility properly.
I'm expecting mid to be complete chaos. I think it's going to be a little messy. I think it's going to be a lot of fights being taken early on.
But I agree with you. I think Nyanzee's success on the T side is mainly when you just go for these calls from the spawn, right?
Super fast pace, just looking to dump a lot of utility, just group up and get those early fights and then slow it down a notch and decide what they're going to do with that.
But I feel like, yeah, for 9Z picking this map, Sam, also considering how good the T side looked against the Falcons,
they should be feeling pretty comfortable here.
I do think, and maybe you guys can agree or disagree with me, that for 9Z, when they go up against that top tier opposition,
that sort of chaotic playstyle throws the opposition off because we're used to protocols, we're used to set plays,
but this is not that type of team.
In the team of Magic, these are tier 2 merchants.
They're waiting for this. They're used to having everything and the kitchen sink thrown at them.
Exactly. And obviously, Magic has been playing online a lot, and they've been, I would say,
on the outskirts of the major race, K27 was the team that was ahead of them,
but actually Magic beating them at the LAN kind of took that possibility away.
But imagine being like a hundred teams playing against these guys online.
Like, imagine if your device playing against Magic, you have no idea what's going on on the map.
They must be so frustrating to face in an online environment, and if they can bring that here,
That's going to be amazing. One thing that I noticed about them that I dislike is their pistol
pistol conversion. Like the first three rounds of map are never a given. It doesn't matter if they
win the pistol, they're going to lose the second round. If they lose the pistol, they're going to win
the fourth buy. It's always completely unpredictable. Chaos. Chaos. You can't, you know, if they lose
the pistol, don't think, oh, now it's going to be three easy rounds. It's not going to be. It's going to be
a bloodbath. The big question, Marcus, is that chaotic style? Sure, it wrote on land. We saw the
a gentle mate to struggle against it, quite a few other teams to beat as well.
But in an arena set, with the pressure really on, I don't know,
you know, it could kind of fall apart if you ask me.
It's not a sustainable style of Counter-Strike.
And I feel like for 9z, despite the fact that, you know, sure,
they might struggle here and there in between,
I feel like they have solid basic fundamentals
to handle that sort of kind of wild CS of magic
and go and throw their way.
I actually reached out to one of the players that played them,
and I was like, can you describe magic in one sentence or two?
And he replied, you mean the team?
And, yeah, I needed to quantify that.
So I said...
Which player was this?
I can't tell you, it's a secret.
But he said, don't underestimate the strong firepower they're hiding.
So that's, I think that's something that Nines should have in their minds
going into this match.
This is something that I think is a gift that the VIR system brought to us, right?
Was watching a lot of these top teams have to drop down and go to, you know,
the BYOC lands, where they were now facing up against these unknown entities.
And yes, you call it sustainable counter-strike, they had to learn how to not play that,
but it allowed us to see great upsets, how it allowed us to see the crumbling of phase.
Now we get to see that sort of raw talent and unsustainable CS on the big stage.
Yeah, for sure. But I feel like for 9-Z, like I said, right, it comes down to your mental game.
They've had only two opportunities so far this year to play in a big event all together and look
I'm just gonna I know we don't do predictions by expect an ITT
You can win this one pretty comfortably overall
But for me, it's about how deep can they go to how deep do they believe they can do that?
And I feel for a team like this, which who really do excite me
I want them they need to get those reps
They need to get those reps in the arena under the big lights against some more bigger names out there
Right and these are the soda reps you don't get often especially when they come from a far-flung region likes out America
Let's just dive into that though, I mean let's look at the journey whether it's 9-Z or magic from here, right?
So they win the quarterfinals, one of them will be in the semis. If I'm not mistaken,
waiting for you there is, I think it may be...
It is going to be the winner of Furia Falcons. So congratulations guys, you're in the semi-finals, here's Falcons or Furia.
It's not going to be easy at all, but that's the thing with 9-Z, they have it punching so above their weight that I'm starting to slowly believe that they can make things interesting.
So I want to I want to see them play solid CS here today and look convincing and I don't not make it too scrimy
That's when you might start losing faith in yourself as well. Yeah, I mean that they already have been in Faltons, right?
So why not again?
It's gonna be completely different on the on the big tarragon on arena. Yeah
Seeing seeing your opponent. That's not that wouldn't be the same game
But also if it was fury, I why not then a South American matchup that those can always get spice magic could also be there
Let's just be clear. So we could have one of those. I mean, it is the mighty duck story that Blair doesn't like
Well, my deducts is a movie Sam. It's not a real life. I know you guys are romantic
I don't see them making their way to come like magic seeing in the playoffs is kind of a movie
It's magic already, right? Look what I did there
I'm not gonna touch that
But I know just talking about 9z and a mayor and we touched on him very very briefly
I was mentioning, you know, we highlighted them on HLTV thousand
2018, 2019 when she was highlighted as one for the future, right? Not long after that,
he goes to MIBR. And now it's been seven years later, this is his first big arena playoff.
That's crazy.
He's only played four big events in his whole career, right? And he's not taken a long break
or anything. He's been going from one team to another. I think he's played in almost every
tier to, well, I don't even know, MIBR, every team. Imperial legacy, you name it, all of them, right?
he's been there right trying to find his own footing and this is like a big big moment for
not that young player anymore but a young talent from from the region. I still want to see him
be a little bit more active initially with AWP especially. I mean like 0.8, 0.8, 0.8 opening
attempts on CDSATG that combined it just miserable. On a map like Dusty you look at any other
not even tier one operas any other operas they're looking to take this fight you know fighting
towards short going for a long pick dueling out towards mid but it does seem like he's super
passive and I'm not a big fan of that. I don't think especially in the current meta
and we see is to place that as well as sustainable as well and the number speaks for itself.
I mean I think a part of it is how much is it because you know Luchov and DGT are so
aggressive how much they are aggressive because he isn't it's what was first the horse or
the egg? I think it was the egg. Yeah great reference there. But yeah that's a tricky
I think it's more about him not wanting to do this,
but as an operator, you also need to know what kind of plays you want to do to call for them.
You know, be like, okay, boost me over here,
made the smoke so I can go for a pick, asked for what you want to do,
and for someone that's been opting for, like, about a bit more than six months,
he probably doesn't have that much in his wheelhouse.
But it reminds me of Youngster Wright, who was hybrid,
he was a hybrid worker, hybrid operator, picking up the opt for heroic as it was needed.
He goes for a lot more opening duels and having like 8% opening duels on T side maybe would be fine
But on CT it's like you just hold an angle wait for them to come in. How is it not possible to that?
No more is coming your way
We're obviously just waiting one of the players is fixing his in-ears
So we'll get that sorted very quickly out of the three of us. We've been here at the desk
I've been here last year profits here now
But play you've actually been on that stage because you played in the show match last year and and you've any one
Well, how tell I didn't do much. I'll tell you that you have you have been a winning counter strike there on the stage at
PGL Astana, what is that stage like because these are a bunch of rookies right first time ever on a stage
What does it feel like? It's also like even if you're not playing when you just step on a stage
It's a full crowd crowd cheering for you or even against you literally feel the reverberations on the stage right and your calms
It's different sometimes don't hear stuff. That's why we talk about you know why certain teams phase comes to mind
Why do it thrive in the chaos over there running all the audio coming in going for faster place?
It's very different from playing online or even in studio environments so to speak and unfortunately until you do until you play
You really can learn from it
It's a thing where you really can prepare for you can read all you want about it watch all the
Podcasts and videos, but you just are never ready for it. Unfortunately for 9z
Did you have some fans as well clearly in the house a couple of these players have played in an arena a long time ago?
I am Dallas comes to mind but I do believe it was DGT
I think max was there as well also peak so they do have the bit of experience going the way out
Did it was a couple of years ago? How is it going to impact them because this is something we saw in
Includes which is when the home crowd isn't behind you
It can be a little bit off-putting and in the case of 9z
We've already seen when banks was on the stage the fans here in the arena
They're backing their boy moon, which means they're getting behind magic
Do you think that'll impact the South Americans much? I don't think so
I think they'll enjoy being the villains in this one even though the moon chance will be loud and will be kind of funny
They sound kind of funny when they're just
Or people say no, okay moving on
They're trying so hard to land the jokes and they're just missing them off. That's three for three problem
Well, you don't like me, it's fine.
I'm all for that, yes, I 100% agree.
Yeah, let's get cash in, take on Mirage for a while.
I know you're a hater, you want Inferno out.
I think Inferno's been great so far.
Mine actually, Overpass has been barely played,
even since it's been reintroduced.
Anubis actually has been played only once thus far,
and that was by Aurora as well.
I would say take out Anubis if I was to make it.
It just got back in, Sam, you got to let it breathe a bit.
So let's define our choices there,
while we wait to get this game going.
Overpass, it's been in and it's going to be now 12 months, so I think that's fair.
That's kind of the rotation time for Valve, usually.
They gave Train a year and they took it out.
I don't think it's being played that much.
I don't think they really changed anything, unless they want to do some more drastic changes on the map
to make it a bit faster, I don't really see what it's adding to the map in my opinion.
I think Mirage is the only map right now which has not had a single change in CSGO,
right apart from maybe adding the bench towards mid perhaps.
I think CSGO as well.
Yeah, even CSGO, exactly.
And it's not how the visual rehaul that every other map has had so far is like kind of sticks
out like a sore thumb.
Not that I care much about visuals and what not.
I was about to say that I still like watching the raw map.
Yeah, it can come back later on.
I just feel like it's a nice opportunity for a new map coming in and just changing things
up.
So you think it should just be taken out to be made pretty?
And maybe make a few changes here.
I feel overpass for example, if they do make a few changes fitting CS2, they shouldn't
done a map a little bit, it would be way more fun to watch and play as well.
Yeah, yeah, that's kind of my opinion. I just think Mirage, yeah, it deserves a little aesthetic uplift for sure.
But if you take it out, like 30% of the player base will just go away.
It's like, I'm not playing no Mirage. OK.
Dust is also the most played map thus far in this event as well.
So, you know, you have another brown map, a sandy map to enjoy.
Welcome to PGL Astana podcast.
We hope that you're enjoying it.
All three of us have now joined forces, come from HLTV confirmed.
You have a podcast where you talk all about the graphically challenge geographically challenged
I've watched a couple of episodes
But to be honest, I don't watch a lot of Australian or Asian Counter-Strike
That's completely understandable
Also the podcast kind of fallen off because you know Mongols exist so we're not that challenged anymore
Yeah, overall. Um, yeah, like for the side Asian Counter-Strike Mongols bit of a disappointment for me, but they did have a very rough
But I'd say rough run but a very rough
competitions though to speak right they got a couple of good wins but I feel like for them once
again just a lack of preparation not able to close out some very close games against spirit against
falcons those two maps come out to mind so for me personally a bit disappointed not hearing the
playoffs do you think that the drop off for them is coming that's my biggest fear is we saw this
incredible rise from them right and the story was so glorious and we all followed along and now it's
kind of they're starting it's tapering off and I worry that the drop is on its way I don't think
I don't think it drops ever going to happen. I just fear and I feel what's happening right now.
It's just plateauing, right? This is the level they're going to be at.
They're never really going to be a real contender for championships,
but they are always going to be that team who can't take down the big dogs,
who can't make it to the playoffs, who can't make a kind of a deep run,
but not a team who's ever going to kind of win anything.
And that's unfortunately the truth right now for the Mongols.
I mean, I think it's sad. I think it'll last year when you think about it,
reaching the final of a major, winning an SDR tournament, being ranked number one on VRS.
all of these achievements that they've reached as an Asian team and not to build on that.
Actually losing Senzu for every reason, we don't really know fully, then CobraZera come
again and the fact is he's just not that guy.
I'm just hoping Senzu's adventure in BC game comes to a rough end and he's like, you know
what, I like it way better back with the Mongols and it comes back in and they get back to
winning ways.
Well we don't know if it was his choice to leave.
I know they positioned it as that but I'm not a believer.
We'll never know.
We'll never know, Sam.
hat on my head. A lot of things probably happened there. The full story won't come out, but
it doesn't matter if he comes back.
It will come out in like three years when someone does a towel on a podcast and that's
when we'll know. Let's talk a little bit about who we have now seen move into the semifinals,
right? Because we did have two quarterfinals earlier today. And for me, not too surprising
to be fair, I think NewMiles looked great against Aurora right in the beginning, maybe
not, but very quickly we're able to do...
He's been a big fan since from the start, you know?
Of New Mass for sure.
You're backing the inversion move.
But he's been playing it.
He's been playing absolutely lights out, right?
Just eye-gilling for the very first time.
And it's first event is a big event as well.
And the fact that he's able to perform
in the way he's doing right now, I think 1.4 rating
across the entire tournament, including the last matchup.
Just super impressive stuff.
For Aurora, though, Prof, that capitulation industry,
you thought like they got a sports psychologist.
They finally fixed their issues.
But the mental crumble once again, you hate to see it.
You're a psychologist, still crumbled.
I don't know what that says about her or the impact she can have on this team.
She hasn't had enough time. You all give every other player, every time we stand here, you go,
you just have to give them time. Now the psychologist, well, that was unacceptable, no impact for us tournaments.
Maybe there's not a psychologist in this world that can fix the problems that this head of the team has.
I mean, they did show...
It's not gonna be an easy job for her, that's for sure.
They did show great resilience against the Mongols, right?
So you're thinking, all right, maybe the mentality is now rock solid once again,
but looks like it's going to take another event before you find out if you can do anything.
Xantar has had another stinker in the playoffs, and it's killing me.
It's killing me to watch that.
I'm not going to lie.
He's on Dust2City's side.
He is the guy in the position to do the most,
and there's just round after round things would go wrong.
And just contracted to the other side,
exertion, what he was delivering,
you can't win a game like that, unfortunately.
One positive thing from today's early two games was Spirit winning in G2 and Donk not having to hard carry the team.
I think that was a great sign. We saw everyone having a moment here, especially playing absolutely lights out.
So, Greats are from Spirit because they are the frontrunners for this tournament.
They're one team who've been together for quite a while.
They're defending champions as well.
And also, with Falcons coming in the Furia there as well.
These are two teams with Furia being kind of up and down recently, not looking great exactly.
And of course, for the side of Falcons, new IGL, new system all together in a form of
character.
So Spirit are the front runners, and the fact that Donk doesn't have to do much, I think
it's great.
Here's a question for you.
Obviously, we've had this delay on stage.
These are two inexperienced teams.
It's very easy in these moments to start getting nervous and let this get to your head.
Lots of pro players have spoken about it.
Experience players have said, these weights can kind of start eating away at you a little
bit.
You're starting to have an opportunity to look around a bit more than you should.
You're starting to listen to us talking.
hearing all of that. How do you think it's impacting magic or do you think these are,
you know, CIS strong players, they aren't listening to any of this, they're probably just
waiting to get going? I think they're jumping around the server, like shooting each other in
the head in peace bonds, and I think that's all that's going on. I don't think there's a
thought in their minds about getting nervous, but that's just my opinion. And if you look at them in
like in pie times and whatnot, just spinning around and just like just stimming so hard,
But yeah, I don't think they really care. I think it's only when the game gets started and when you know the rounds get interesting
That's what's gonna happen. I remember the interview moon gave after they qualified for the event
And he was asking about as fate is an IGL, you know, apart from the sleep
He's like, I don't know what the hell is calling sometimes. It's just absolute insanity, right? So I'm actually great strategy
It's low key. I'm like, I'm excited to see what he's got in store for us here
Because what we saw in a group stage like you said prop it wasn't pretty, but it was goddamn entertaining
Mongols fans, South for them, Fury fans, they're going to have a good game coming later.
I think that's going to be a banger, a banger.
Just a quick update, because I know you're sitting in chat and you're asking us to stop
speaking.
Oh yeah.
And you're getting a note.
And the stop-talk.
Yeah, we all do it when we're not working as well, so we completely understand.
But right now we are having a small in-ear problem with one player, and they've changed
the in-ears.
He's still not 100% happy, there's still some issues, so we will continue to chat.
I want to pick up again.
My classic first stage experience, but is it Mayeron?
I think it is Mayeron.
I don't know which player it is.
I just know that there is a player with in-ear problems.
So let's talk a bit more about Spirits and where they're sitting.
Because, Blair, you mentioned it there.
It was nice to see them win without relying on Donk.
Because I think my biggest concern about Spirits this year
has been, can you actually do anything
if Donk isn't having a great day?
And he is human.
I know many of you don't believe that when you watch him
in a server, but he is human.
So some days he's not going to be able to perform to the level
we all demand of him.
Yeah, for sure.
And this reminds me of, I think, a very good point
Maui made earlier on the desk.
He put out a tweet as well saying,
they had one of the worst flash assists last year
out of the top 20 teams, or the top 10 teams.
My memory doesn't, I'm not quite able to remember that.
But so far this event, they are, I believe, the top two
or the best flash assist team so far.
So Softix is building a lot of work
with such hero, giving them a lot of praise as well.
And also T'Nier, last time we played, I think it was in Rio,
where he kind of had the best event it had so far.
He did give a lot of praise to Star Fixing,
he's been helping him out a lot.
So yeah, good stuff from him.
Astana, every pro player dreams of making the big stage,
and many dream of Scorni and Launders
commintencing their games.
For I&Z and Magic, today dreams do come true.
Yeah, you're right.
Thank you for your service, Desk,
but those same dreams also come to a crushing end
for one of these two teams.
The desk has put it at play. This is what they fight for.
These sorts of opportunities.
And we haven't seen a big chance like this for 9Z in literal years.
Magic, this is already a bit of a one-off instance.
So enjoy every second that you can because for somebody,
this is going to be a crushing defeat.
Yeah, it's going to be the underrated match of the day.
These two teams, we know it's going to be great CS.
It's just not the name brand value,
some of the other orgs that are here.
But it's a game to be enjoyed nevertheless.
So let's enjoy this one, Astana,
for the most enthusiastic fans in the arena
that are here to watch a great game.
That's exactly what you're going to get.
Last time we saw 9-Z play Dust2, it was world class.
The best Dust2 performance we've seen at the event,
and honestly, one of the best Dust2 maps I've ever seen.
Called by Max.
He was setting that flash over long,
and from there, looking for the dual,
but the crossfire between blue,
and all of a sudden, AW, Tenzi, and Mosville
all find themselves with kills.
So, lo and behold, it falls on Max and Max alone.
Unfortunately for him, that long pop just doesn't end up winding up with enough kills.
In fact, not any kills to the favor of 9Z.
Not at all. Max is gonna try to work for these, but surely he's dead.
5-0 live for Magic as they start their first round on stage, and it looks fantastic.
Now, as Prop said, it doesn't matter if they win the pistol.
Doesn't mean that they're gonna continue on to go 3-0.
It's going to be pure chaos. Obviously if you watched any of the magic games you saw that chaos for all the right reasons though
It was pure entertainment so many fraggers on this team
Kenzie making a prospect list on HLTV back in May
When he was asked about it, he said yeah, I saw my name on there
I thought it was cool didn't think much else of it back to work back to work and that's sort of
of exciting, because it does remind us of all the other times.
It was a team we haven't heard of making a deep run,
taking out a lot of favorites,
or just having some impressive results.
Obviously, no group stage results more impressive
than what Ninesie put together,
taking out Falcons on this map.
So this should be a step up.
Best aid off the cap play wants to make those conversions
from pistol actually happen.
That's a 99 damage M4, Dink.
I didn't even know it would be $399.
It would start with the AWP long push at the same time, so nice and easy.
The conversion point for Magic had to wait to get this game going,
but once they do, they've got their hands all over the 2-0 start.
Now, an oddity here. We've got, of course, the SMGs.
They just held, moving forward into this next round.
Nynze had waited in the second to get these full AKs.
So it's a bit of an edge over to Nynze. We'll see what kind of moves Magic make
to mitigate the weakness that is to SMGs this round.
No kills so far in this game, and that's not just a vanity stat. It is going to be a quick, powerful start for the economy of magic.
Starting on CT matters even more if T's do damage.
I think there are chances on a spam in through those doors.
If no one agreed those bullets for now.
One thing I loved about Nines' T side was, very simple.
If they did a cat exacter wasn't a lot of telegraphing going on
Now of course could have been a bespoke strategy they used for Falcons that worked out very well
But still the two parts of everyone's T side that tends to fall apart or feels like it invites RNG or the full cat exacts
lots of room for counter grenades and
Also long and they avoided those two things
I stayed feeling the need to kind of shell up with the other two B site defenders.
It's kind of a fun read, because all we see is sort of setup utility towards Kat.
He's going to see a push.
So it'll be a little bit scary for Magic.
He started to feel boxed in with that mid presence.
It's why they added one to this bomb site.
Now you know there's somebody over towards tunnels.
AW's got this frag grenade.
He's going to pop open the smoke and when he does so, he's not going to see anything.
Doesn't quite go thick enough.
Tensy off the window, catching a second kill here for the magic tank.
And then Mayern popped from that push forward into the FOMAS, goes to Tunnel's player,
and all that ends up remaining here now is Max.
He's spotted by AW, and that's a rock solid 3-0 start out of Magic,
exceeding beyond the stats and finding that clean start.
Yeah, this is exactly what they hoped for in all the practice, paying off.
And Ninty come onto stage, and they know they had a great week,
and they, you know, cleanly get here into playoffs, and they beat better teams than Magic,
but when we saw Magic play against gentlemates, it was kind of scary to think that we saw Furious
struggle versus a team that Magic put away easily.
No rock, paper, scissors, a hoopy tune.
Yeah, Chain Launching doesn't always pan out, and everybody's wondering how they're going to
I mean, S-Fade, who hasn't slept yet today, is wondering how he's going to play on stage.
Do you know what always deserves respect, regardless?
Is any team at a Swiss Groups event that is able to go from 0-2 to the playoffs?
Oh yeah.
That is something where lesser opposition would tend to crumble, not magic.
They stood up to that test and find themselves here today on stage.
I'm not going to lie, it makes it kind of an awkward draw I feel like for Nynze who
have been playing off to competition and always do that to have to now go to play kind of
a tier two, oh that's a rush.
Look at that, DGT, Tech9, point blank, Osmall's dead, it's gonna be on food, just stop it!
And despite his best efforts with the double kill, Luchov's Tech9 also presses in, and this is a moment where its majority kills thanks to those side arms.
All of a sudden, we've bombed down, we've got this 1v3 underway.
Esfade, what more can you do? It's a low health farm player that's coming!
That guns him down, keeps two players up for 9Z,
and so the Tech 9s bust through,
and we don't quite get to see it
because there's movement out middle at the same time.
But one of the two B site defenders
pressing through a smoke grenade
straight into that pack of Tech 9s.
I don't know if there was a flash for him.
He tried to just be creepy with it,
but that just opens the door wide on that B site.
That's going to be magic for you.
They will make mistakes.
They'll also create chances by taking risks just like that.
They open the door to 9Z to get started, and it was actually really important they won on a half-buy
just because of the quick start for Magic, the low amount of kills that have come out for 9Z.
They've already answered back. They get an op-ed play for Mayer, and that's where the next point of conversation goes,
because honestly, there isn't really that much op-ed impact to be had.
There's a lot left on the table on both sides here for Magic and 9Z.
And if either Mayeron or Moon or Shoal can be the one to take over that can absolutely be the key difference
To swing this match. I can't believe Max played there on such low HP, but it worked
Mayeron straight to the long kick this round, but front runner gets beyond him by the time he posts up
And so nothing you can do
About Tenzi being able to cross to the close corner that starting three long V situation gives Moon a chance to try to open up smoke
and kill one off middle, but no target found for his efforts.
And so Luchov freed up to maybe take a look at this bomb site.
Oh, that doesn't even need to see the site. You'll find Espeyed up on the leg.
There's a bit of a mistake by Moon to take his shot inside of mid.
That's the only reason Luchov even takes a dry swing up Kat. If there was potentially an off on Bricks, that could have been a death for him.
So, sometimes you've got to be careful, even with just your ammo.
Now, this will also pull the goalie over on the left side of the map.
You have 9z gearing up to take it, and they have every right to.
Poking the flash for AW to have to handle. Keeps him there for an extra second.
Again, nobody home on this side.
Now, if it was the case that they had the cap player CT side already pushed up,
ready to flash peek or sitting there on a shoulder swing,
Then maybe it would be fine to let your you know opera feel itself, but that that is something in terms of cards
You should keep close
That you should maintain the mystery of her as long as you can unless of course it's a bait
But there was no way a fool on that okay, there's gonna be some kind of double-op setup this early into the game
At the minimum here magic they lose one player around with it
They still retain a lot of equipment value.
Discuss how that opening gets offered over, but also just kind of not of respect to Luchov.
That was an instant headshot on the player on lead.
He was like, alright, let's just go check this out because I have every right,
and Luchov has shown how smart he is throughout this tournament.
Expect him to be in some regards the strongest player in the server today,
Just on the, you know, right in that Goldilocks zone of really smart CS,
but also really great aim from the 1v clutch that he put together on Mirage to,
just some of the moves that he makes in the mid-round, he's just so solid.
Had an incredible map versus paravision as well on Inferno.
It's so many guys trying to watch and escort everybody up suicide, but didn't see or think
that there could be any cat presence.
And I think maybe with the flash into lower, there was some pressure on Moon to leave,
But he calls their bluff.
It doesn't just boost 10s, it even sticks around and starts dropping the utube.
Perfectly placed grenade on Luchov, followed out of a fire.
That keeps 90 on the other side of the doors for the time being.
And a little investment into S-Fade, as that second belt of utility just gets dumped on him.
Now he's gonna go for the wider angle, tries to pepper the doorway.
Really just trying to keep pressure up on this mid-setup, and 90 seems stubborn.
They don't wanna go anywhere, but sit right there and wait.
And again, they like to cut noise, just go for something like that.
Best way to make sure you don't alarm anyone in this position, you see the map, like they don't want to.
Little frag grenade that actually gets thrown towards Cat.
That was, I believe, one of the apes that Tenzi just gave him.
This box just has to be held.
Timing's missed.
Nice.
Perfect for Tenzi.
That just two kills off that one.
Mayern wants to somehow get this off into play.
If you could scoop up the block, that'd be great.
Oh!
Tenzi actually popping back up and they get the B entry.
Whoa, that's massive.
Two versus five under leg.
And the plant comes in and pops down and this is where Mayern
will be under the spotlight.
He's the one on full HP.
Off goes over to DGT.
And funnily enough, this might be a boon to both of them.
He decides to just put this thing back flat.
All of a sudden, second guessing the position,
he'll use the tall bombs cover once the window pressure comes through.
Flash is over top, that tunnel player about to activate,
and DGT is dead, and Mayer can't deliver anything in that.
So props to them, a 2v5 that at least busts down the B site,
gets that plant in.
But ultimately, it's gonna be magic collecting a fourth round.
He went from no chance of a plant to a small chance of winning the round,
So money made money dropped off from the other side and
At time to think about what went wrong on that mid-b take now, of course
He saw the timing he was being watched for a second and there honestly wasn't spam from CT spawn to try to draw
Anyone's attention away or make it feel like there wasn't anyone boosted up, but for 10z. He just held patient
Use the timing in his head popped up and got two free frags. That's gonna happen sometimes
Match like this made me fancy, can't afford it.
Everything you want to see here for Magic so far.
And again, looking at the map, that's four players on the A side.
They win versus a mid B. That's kind of what's important to remember.
And if, you know, in the Nines, you were doing that for Stalkins,
except they were just cleanly winning rounds.
Max was brilliantly figuring out,
Where's the easier site to take? They take it and then they win.
His magic can win without that information!
Ooh, nice shot, TGT.
Aw, great energy.
It's a whole new set of problems.
Here comes that off again for Moon, but he eats the flash.
Working with the rifle on the other side of Middle tends to be freed up to take a look,
but this is also the solo B player, so if there's any potential threat at B, which is
confirmed by the Molotov, we see DGT just throw out, you can see that on the radar, draw
magic back over to the B site, opens up middle, but they're going to take a look at Long,
oh they win the fight. That was that low health Mazval set up by the DGT wallbang, now Moon
Zop's on the cross, he would love for them to come around this corner, but they're going
to start throwing utility over Top first, Smoke's going to pop on Moon's feed, he doesn't lose
his line, he's not taking a kill for his efforts, and they are trying to activate on Katlok,
All of a sudden, if Ninesy's Opera goes down with nothing, Moon has done his job.
Post that off inside of the site, Nan Advantage Magic, 35 to the clock, and Moon, sliding wide.
He's gonna catch out Lucho.
Max has got the answer back.
His teammate nowhere to be found.
Bomb dropped over towards the cross.
Activation out middle goes down, falls on Max, and Max alone,
and he doesn't know that that smoke's about to get pushed.
But the team flash in the smoke means Max is still alive.
He knows where everybody is.
Despite the damage, it's the game that gets it over the line.
Ashkel scored new at Keith Kainze on only two round wins.
And this is beautiful for Moon.
The exact performance he was hoping to have in front of the home crowd here.
Oh, he stands up and yells at them.
I love that.
And now it's, I mean, we're looking at the buy here.
It's gonna, oh man, you gotta think about it.
5600 on max.
It's going to be a really powered up half-buy or just an outright investment to be honest.
It might be hard to turn down considering you're already missing three rounds.
I've lost the talk about it.
And everything is getting punished here.
That's exactly what you want to see for Moon.
It's like those three-inch blicks that are all landing, those opportunities that look
like small risks, but if they land, then you're a genius and...
No, that's what he wanted to show today.
I'd say especially in an event where he is struggling, we had that graphic that said
just literally sniper struggles and the head-to-head between him and Mayer was very underwhelming.
His impact had been felt lately online prior to this event.
hasn't been able to translate that to the server here in Astana.
And for him to start doing it now on the stage,
I mean, it's a perfect time to arrive as far as magic is concerned.
When he just stood up and got in their faces a little bit,
you can see that he's actually living for the land.
Some players are made for it.
And you never know until you're under the spotlights.
Oh, and they still don't know about that position on the bomb.
So if there was ever a world for 9Z to get into this with their tech nines,
it feels like they're going to be thinking about that op through the mid-doors.
They don't know what is that shot.
Just to get that.
But again, luckily, that's a big hit.
So because he is here tucked in, able to strike down Mayer,
now we're going to get that cat activation.
It's really just hit from all these different angles.
Top Xbox player goes sailing,
and with 45 to the clock, 20 HP, no bomb possession,
you'd call this impossible.
Gonzales pushes down into tunnels, dies,
and doesn't deal any additional damage,
but only 30 seconds left.
Unfortunately, looking like just another round where they're really good at making it expensive,
but with a time left on the clock and where DGT has to go to both get the bomb and get it planted,
you can basically call this a wrap.
He's not going to be able to find the kills either to end this round on elimination,
and so finding a place to save is going to be priority number one.
I'm not worried about dying in this spot.
Why is he taking so many risks here?
He should be grateful to have him say,
yeah, yeah, okay.
Or a CT firebomb.
CT's locking fire, and he'll say that 6-2.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
That is exactly right.
I mean, they got to be proud of themselves.
Like, S-Fade is here, 7 and 2. He must be hallucinating right now, thinking that...
He's coming in with absolutely no sleep, it's just destroying.
Loaned by the Util. Another 2 kill.
If Ninesie thought they were gonna get any kind of early exit, they're not gonna be able to get an inch around that column.
Moon's got your number.
That flash? What's the matter, Paul?
Magic, have your bomb.
Finally, somebody out of the 9Z squad are able to catch any of these aggressions.
It is moon dead and opt to be saved for mayor, but that is idealistic as far as 9Z aren't
concerned because Hwaso knows he's under pressure for this hunt.
Magic trying to come take it away from him and they're going to swarm him out of this
one making sure that there is no save here for 9Z allowed.
That is a 7-2 CT lead for Magic.
We said that this veto was maybe a curveball.
Yes, 9Z, 13-1 over Falcons.
Falcons get dismantled that badly by the very same team
that Magic right now are keeping away from the scoreboard.
They've made one mistake where Luchov got that kickoff of Kat.
But outside of that, it's been a pretty flawless game plan
for Magic, and they've actually stood up to 9Z
and the way in which 9Z took out Falcons,
Dealing with the mid-bees.
...into the cap play, will die to Luchov, but you've got this double lower setup.
And so many times, Ninesie just continued to get caught off guard.
It's a magic that wouldn't play these kinds of audacious openings.
But this is magic. This is how they made their money.
Yeah, they're info-getters.
And so to be completely blindsided by this seems surprising.
Ninesie are gonna have to be that much more cautious moving forward.
And this round right now, down and lower, they've got a tool queued up.
It's a man advantage taken back over by 90.
And despite some limitations with pistols on 2,
there is still a chance they take down this A site.
Moon is under pressure.
The touch awkward in this situation.
Long plate, he's coming out.
Waso doesn't have a great gun though.
Just the tech 9 for it.
You can get away from that pistol, try to hold Kat instead.
No other f***ing help.
There we go.
Second flash finds it.
Moon wants to get into sanctuary, down and spawns on a fast flank.
Of course, it is magic on top of you before you can notice.
Ambitious spam through the top of that smoke, but he's not wrong.
TGT resides on the other side of it.
It's a trade back for AW.
And we know that AW keep doing clutch moments.
Two kills into this round.
Swapping guns.
As Surenup bombs down, money's made.
90, both players towards site.
Magic's retake joins forces here on the catwalk.
It got the gun advantage.
But it's time that's ticking.
20 seconds remain on this bomb.
So here comes that commitment.
There's kids across the board.
You've just got to dodge these pistol shots.
And Hwaso peeking to something to think about.
Damage done to move.
3 HP left.
And he still keeps pressure on.
90, draw the man.
And so those pistols prevailed for 90's third round win.
And it's the pistols that they kind of rely on
to get into this game.
So it's a little awkward when they made open the lower smoke,
but the reveal that two players are there.
I think they had both guys shooting though earlier.
so maybe he didn't feel scared about that.
But it ended up getting someone killed and 9z,
well, they used that to make sure they'd have a smooth move upcat.
The flank was in quickly,
but they were still very efficient about how they moved.
And as they 30 minutes to sleep, 111 ADR so far,
he might never sleep again.
What do you want to change your routine?
That's what I'm saying.
Whatever works.
In three, in the last three months, our magic.
9-Z have got them covered in every stat line on this map specifically.
It's just this.
That 13-1 over Falcons make you overconfident.
Time will tell.
There's a world where 9-Z can still claw their way back into this game.
But again, I think it comes from that presence of mind and realizing that Magic are going
to run some wild risks.
Like that lower tunnel setup we saw one round ago that literally kills two 9-Z players looking
the wrong direction. Do not let your guard down. If you have hopes of bringing back this
half and possibly this map, Nines on the hunt for the 5-7 T-Side.
Patrick tried to bring in some activity into what is otherwise a passive setup because
as they've already been very proactive on so many of these starts.
But it's still not a vanilla position.
And in terms of reading the game,
this is not where 9Z would go if they could see the map.
Bomb carrier to set up grenades for this peek.
Very deep positioning here for magic.
Ooh, a good black player goes down with nothing.
AW has to activate.
Now they know about him,
The Luchoff swings in, waiting for that trade position for Max to at least adjust.
Keeps it even. 3v3, 30 seconds.
Still, third piece of 90, nowhere to be found.
You're going with the corner, and Rude is not missing those kinds of moments.
And they had flashes. They didn't use them.
Mayer's got a full kit of utility.
Dropped this shot.
And three players are up here.
You even want to commit to this because you do not have time to get that bomb over to B.
So Mayer has to second-guess it and forfeit it,
and it will be an 8th round magic off the back of another single kill from Moon.
I mean, what was the plan there for DGT, if he was going to stay in upper tunnels?
If they had a lot of players to make sure that they could take the site, I get it.
But when they started dropping, I think he's needed to start moving.
Maybe if there was a cap play involved in this as well,
they had a small chance of winning on low numbers.
But for now, it's...
Now it's 9-Z actually getting caught off by a great redouble late long.
9-Z haven't really tried it that often.
I'm sure they were surprised to see how ready they were.
Now, obviously, a lot of it comes down to AW, putting together two kills where his teammate couldn't get one.
But those were unique spots to be held from, so I'm not surprised the first one was free.
No resistance for the 9Z pieces working their way through middle, so we keep our eyes on
this long fight just in case Waso gets crazy.
that presence sure enough 9-Z come knocking on the door. This moonop has been rock solid
but right now it's on 44 health so a little limitation for him to have to stomach as we
surpass that minute mark. Majority of magic are over here, he snaps that into the loot
shop, sees a second but there is already a player beyond him, a bomb-maker to find impact.
But Guasso doesn't clear the corner, S-State's able to just still keep an eye on Cat and so
So 9-Z are crew route forward, they will take over the bomb site, long-range dual, and Espey at the base of ramp even survives that test.
We go 4 vs 2 for Magic, hanging on to another bomb site, but allowing the plant to lease this time around.
Mayerin wants to punish that climb up. How long can he stay here staring at it?
The smoke towards Catwalk helps him lock in, but now both dead already.
AW comes through with a headshot, and Magic take a 9-round CT side.
double layering from the pit and the ramp to make sure they were reinforced in case there was a swing
was just classed out of them. I mean they could have tried to rush the retake knowing that they
were up numbers but obviously the thing they understood was that 19 were the ones who needed
to pin it down before they got that plant off because they would eventually lose. So really good
play there by Magic. Excellent half for Moon. I mean this team's got to be proud of themselves
on stage everything went perfectly and they're standing up against so what is
kind of an underrated giant of 9z especially from what we've seen from
them so far. You know what's cool is we can talk about the lack of experience for
magic and how much they would want to kind of hit the ground running here. It's
nice to see AW the one piece who has kind of gone through this experience with
the ParaVision run back in Budapest and then coming in to the next year before
ParaVision decided to kind of put him on the chopping block. Step up tall be that
That supportive piece alongside Moon, right there, tethering over towards that A site
was rock solid.
And so while Moon hits all the shots and gives him that stand-up pop-off moment on stage,
there's any guy here that's meant to kind of smooth out any issues.
AW's got it rolling.
Svade's calls were great, so was his individual level.
It's hard to poke a hole in Magic after securing nine rounds of a CT side on a map that maybe
they didn't have to expect to play today, but truly seemed ready for the challenge.
3, 4, 5, 6, 7 kills. Straight up here for 9Z. No heroes on that side of the server.
And... open lines for DGT through the top of mid.
Here as well, should be able to catch a glimpse out middle, right? That smoke didn't quite hit.
Magic trying to deal with that. We'll see if any issues come through from their C side.
Max in the open, trying to fall back slow.
A low job, Godhead, shot it.
Already considerable damage.
Question of our magic going to overthink this situation.
It's very hard to track 9's ECT side because they're so floaty.
And they're getting so many unique positions where they're constantly making these micro reads on
reads on where they think the T's are going to be approaching from, it's always in an off angle.
They can be stacked, sometimes they're going to be on a fast length.
Go down to 45 seconds. The only issue with that is that the next idea has to be the committed to one.
One of the advantages of Dust 2 is being able to change your mind.
But this starts to become quite risky. It does end up being mid B. Well, then you can't complain.
Okay, they need to go.
Something's gotta happen.
Ninesie just banking on Max by the kills here, but he's allowed for them to swing out mid.
Tunnel player starting to toy with the commitment as well.
That means the black player occupies both dead to the headshots.
Oh, Magix are on the fast track to victory now on Dust2.
Moon's gonna activate late, just confirming that Ninesie were late to the party.
AW's got Masvall to try to bait them through and beyond him here holding it sure enough blindsides may
And 9Z really had nothing to stand on in this pistol
Damn, it's that unbelievable amount of patience
They really run the risk of taking the clock down after they do this full on default and I can't help but feel like that's a little bit of
AW learning from James to make sure everything is perfect before you go
Oh!
That's where the resource...
Time is a resource. It's where you have the least amount of grenades, which is beneficial for the T side coming in.
It runs the biggest risk, but it also adds the most pressure.
And that sometimes can be playing with pressure, but...
You know, considering the teams that 9z regularly play against, this is the playstyle they don't run into.
Nope.
In South America, they don't waste time.
They're looking for Nynzee.
I'll sit here holding our breath, anticipating a solid quarter-final.
Unfortunately for Nynzee, we talk about their most successful event being IEM Dallas, 2024.
They skipped to the semifinals, got blown out of the water, not winning stage games.
It's a bit of a curse.
A queued up quarter today could have been their chance to shine, but things are starting
I'm gonna feel real sketchy.
A little bit for both sides inside of this round.
It's nice to see for 9z that HEs are making the difference.
And the default, even when they have a low bite.
It kinda slipped the net.
His fate looked like he's calling to get comfortable.
Now that he's got this bit of map control.
Mayeron doesn't die holding them, but he does show a scout.
And Mayeron gets a scout kill as well, but he doesn't leaving B because he's dropped the bomb.
I have to take over that B site still with enough time to react.
Start to see Nines, he's circling bomb like shards, but...
They're playing from outside, like inside of CT spawn.
It's very common.
Mosvaw shows presence from inside of the door so they know about him, but they also catapult through that smoke.
Don't know what he did wrong to get clipped there, but now you've got Mainz standing on the bomb,
and a Mosvaw go-lil versus 3, he'll find one, Mayer's very low.
You could consider Mosvaw also on the break of death, he tries to scoop it up, and he finds two potions, kills to that smoke.
Yeah, I mean, maybe he was walking kind of backwards through the smoke
to not show his gun so he could pick the bomb up and go back through the door.
But not spotted, not sure.
Either way, 9-Z, it's a drop in the ocean, but it's also, I mean,
to kick off a CT side somewhere to begin.
Six round deficit for them.
But again, the fact that this is one off of tactics like the double stack and more
with an A to get a trade frag.
And that's overall just a great round for Mayer and after with that shot, huh?
Not.
I'll put a wrench in the works. You know, and there's that stat that the desk was anticipating.
Prof bringing it up that the conversion in the first three rounds can just be non-existent at times.
Sure enough, pick up pistol, lose to the four-spot.
They avoided that bane back in the first half, but now it shows itself.
They'll be stuck here with Boone on a single AK, pistols for the rest, go for that long timing,
but because he fires now, 90 already know there's at least one rifle out here on the field for the magic attempt.
The next few rounds, I think we'll have our questions answered about, you know, where, where 90 are at emotionally, coming into the second half because
It feels like they, you know, they aren't exactly themselves right now.
Little low on kills, not really controlling everything on Dust 2.
Sometimes it takes a second to wake up.
Scout tries to post up, they just missed timing and allowed players to get out.
You don't want to get too juggled here because again, you lose cat, you want to go back and get it, that's a little scary bomb.
Where on earth is that bomb going?
Going estate.
Moon's interview, he said, sometimes S-Fade just calls crazy things, dropping purpose to fake it at B.
There are two guys rotating back over, it's literally a double fake.
What are you up to, brother? How much, yeah, this guy hasn't slept.
And look, there's no CTs moving, because what are you supposed to do with that comm?
Props to bomb so Max can hear it.
After such long control.
And now they're just all stagnant inside tunnels.
would ever do that a guy who hasn't slept in a week as fate takes that bomb
possession back AK freed up to go to the cat challenge they're gonna try to
swing out middle low behold luchov able to hang on with 50 help AK starts to
activate it on the starting to push up cat you don't really have time this is
an AK still out here on the field hunting heads and it's just not gonna
happen a little lost to the sauce this round
They better not die after...
Wait, they caught!
No!
Wait, they said 91.
Did they barely got away with it? Yeah, they got the round.
Every frag at the end in the final millisecond.
Oh, less than a second to actually lock that up.
That would have been the most ludicrous way to win.
They tried to exact upcat after 13 seconds.
When we were about to call them geniuses, we're making this into a double fake towards me.
It's a 2v2 with three seconds left.
Oh my goodness.
That's around where everybody thought they won.
Yep.
Even Moon put his hands up in celebration.
They still get five kills with that, but...
Damn.
So that's what the desk men, when they said that magic will drag you into the mud.
Maybe they are South American.
That's the art quote.
I just don't know it yet.
Problem with that is that Esfade's gonna think to himself, oh, I almost did it.
Well, I hope he drives it again.
Tility up and over the mid-door, nobody actually pressing into this for the moment.
In terms of 9Z defense, there is a big gap out middle.
It's consistency on the aliens in position yet again. They show a bit of presence.
Two players there. They've gotten the B anchors to actually come fight middle instead.
Jumping MP9 to find the opening.
Another dink.
Damage on Luchov, tough spot to hold.
He will put the bomb in the dirt, the very least.
Careful coming through this.
AW's picked one up with the D.
Wossos, dead. Mayer's popped.
And it's gonna fall on DGT.
Bomb still down. 12 seconds.
Somebody's got a sprinting grab this.
There's no exceptions.
And as it tries to go back to the window...
Oh!
...to trade.
Another messy moment.
But this one comes up magic.
And they're the ones who had nothing to lose.
They were saving. They just had some deagles at such a massive play out of AW.
And I can't believe they even got that first entry.
No semblance of a hold, even though 9Z were aware that this frag was coming.
They had two outside the site.
One guy blowing open to smoke in on the mid-beast setup.
On paper, they may have been excited for this.
Look how fast all the rotations are, and they still end up losing.
Nine health moon to find an 11th round on Magic's scoreboard.
Now a mayor and scout with upgraded pistols, all 9Z are going to have to play with.
9Z unfortunately shrinking here under the lights.
They just can't put their finger on the pulse of Magic.
Let alone try to pick them down.
Espey's cap confirms three players there.
He'll give a gun over it. They can grab that M4. That'd be great for 90s chances of pulling off this 4-spy.
Oh, it's just the MP7.
Like quickly readying up long protocols, just clearing out the door, but this is not going to necessarily work for them.
Luchov is listening. He sees them running around. They've thrown a smoke right over his head, but they haven't pushed at all.
And now he's readying that flank.
Thinking about a boost, but you can see if he predicted AW holding for that pop up at
a wasso.
He stands up, he should be dead, but wasso gets the frag.
5-7, flank starts to activate.
The bomb just wants to get the hell out of here.
Mugenskag.
Mayer hits that.
All of a sudden, Mosvall and Tenzi.
2v4, no bomb possession.
30 seconds, and the SMGs continue to just press on it.
90 scores by, also works.
Oh my god, no bomb possession is like the funniest calm this time.
It's like every round, no bomb possession.
How am I going to get the bomb back?
It could never make it happen.
Are you supposed to be at work?
One of us.
This is now for magic.
Trying to figure out the funds, right?
It's an awkward position.
Nobody's got more than $2,000 really here for magic.
So I'm going to have to forfeit one.
So if Nynze get a little closer,
and it also gives them chances to just kind of,
I think, establish their game.
Yeah.
You know, I'm, chances.
Let's try, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Establish their game.
Obviously, Magic have Nynze questioning reality.
Oh, look at this.
Look how heavy his game is.
I decided to force in.
A bit of hesitation there for a moment, but magic will come throughout through with it.
Jump.
He's too close.
That's awkward.
I'll miss a little bit of info, but again, I don't really care too much.
their anti-ego dropped in this map so far.
Player press off the catwalk with rifles,
they've got a huge advantage in firepower here,
but they're worried about the numbers.
Honestly, cause for concern.
Magics see that forward press, decide,
I'm gonna look for this as well,
AW's Mac 10 set up with a scout behind it.
Just flush Ninesie back onto their site.
could be that their preference need to take their time is what could cost them
Also...
It's been nearly getting spotted on its way up to Kat.
Smoke lands in 45 seconds. See if it scares them.
They'll take any excuse to wait.
Got a smoke of their own for this execute as well.
Yeah, it's looking a little bit light over here for sure. I mean, don't have the op on Mayer
You have also head tucked in towards ramp and next to kill on AW that helps, but there's still this flood of magic players coming
Capable we'll call it
Take off the pistol mayor is able to recover the ghill from there as fate's dead
But the bomb is planted, Tenzy goes for the peek and only one to his name.
It's gonna be a seventh round secured by Ninzy. Again, trying to get their game on.
They are closing that gap to what is now a four-round lead, still four magic, who are now still kind of cash limited.
It's an excellent round for Ninzy. It's scary, especially when Moon gets that scout shot in so easily.
They also get towards the A site where there's no AWP, there's no third player who's playing POM.
It's a good round for that attack, and they don't even, you know, they actually get the bomb planted.
They don't lose it, they don't take too much time, but it's not enough to supplant a buy.
Nope.
And in fact, they're virtually looking to skip this round. One flash in.
That's the one upgrade single pistol
That was exchanged.
It's AW now, 20 and 8 with that P250 kill.
We're big AW guys.
This is more of a pseudo-attack than anything else.
I mean, whatever they get, they'll be happy with.
One kill already a bit.
More than 9Z would have wanted to offer over. We got a dink here on Hwaso.
There for the taking. Moon can't manage to finish it off though.
And now we're going to get an S-Fade charge towards the B site, stunned by the M4.
And 9Z able to convert this four player standing tall.
Magic have had to wait to come back with their gun rounds.
And this next buy, still sitting on a comfortable three round lead.
I don't think Magic are panicking just yet.
I guess the interesting part for them is that they can win any round, they can lose any round as they've already shown in this map, as they've already shown in this tournament.
So on the one hand, they get another buy, they're not going to feel super confident, but when they have to half buy, they might feel just as confident.
I'm really watching for this peek.
Bombs trailing back, so without the support.
I wonder if DGT can find a timing.
He's gonna hear a jump here as they're readying their long take.
It's the right call with Men Out Middle to go for the long control,
and so Magic find that with no resistance.
This gets really scary for DGT though.
As we can see, there's two players in lower tunnels.
It looks like he has the power with the ability to flank,
but look how intent they are on watching this.
Gotta hate though that it's SF8 who has to go back
back and throw utility when he's the straggler.
Oh no, they're actually over.
Oh, they were watching it the entire time
and they're still making it feel like long.
They still making it feel entirely like long.
Nice attempt at tracking there for Moon.
This one's pressure on Mayer, yeah.
Starting to leave.
Oh, that's actually, what a fantastic read of the map.
What is this smoke?
Yeah, that's messed up.
Like if that's Mayer and smoke, then he leaves the bomb site?
I mean, this is falling on him and he is not even really going to get a chance to fire through.
He'll pop it open, tries to catch them, but they also throw that flash just as an insurance policy.
This is such a great call. I mean, as fate...
The entire time they know there's a push top mid, and so they have long control.
They go, let's fake this. Fallen's gonna walk back. They still keep two players there,
but they know the entire time, even though no one has peaked or made noise behind that molotov,
off of their preparation, that this is the setup.
There was really no good way for 9z to read this everyone knows that it's so
difficult to come down this way at long, re-clear it, get the confirmed
information and make the right move to rotate out of there. Actually such a
quality play here for Magic they trick 9z, they suffer no deaths and even though
they only take two players out it's for map point. We'll give that rotation and
that call all the credit deserves but if there was ever kind of a miraculous
positioning that could have brought the round back into hand, it would have been Mayor E in that V-Sight,
maybe gets one of those AWP sequences. A smoker near that goes so deep, I mean that's just the round done.
You see all of magic creep in front of it, finds him as he just goes and repositions out middle.
I wish I could be more confident that he would have held it, but he throws this smoke and
even though they're right in front of it, I think he's still leaving and I also think that even if
If he's there, they're gonna commit, and he's gonna get traded.
At least maybe we could have seen a retake.
Instead, we see a four-round match.
Yeah, even if he was gonna die, I think at this point,
Nynze would have just hoped he could have done anything.
Open up the realm of possibility, even.
Instead, they just transition into a save call.
They know they've got no footing in this.
And so, Magical secured themselves four map points on Nynze's map pick.
It's an unorthodox game plan out of magic and some ridiculous moments sprinkled in
that just catches Nynze off-barred.
They weren't ready for this.
Confident in their Dust 2 after dismantling the Falcons with a 13-1 victory.
I would absolutely understand where that confidence on this map comes from.
But it's the head-to-head versus magic that makes things weird.
We've seen 9z try to stop this free fall, dig their heels in.
So far, unable to stop Magic from getting to this 12th.
Now all of a sudden, these sides gonna be wrapped around.
We've got multiple bodies out middle.
We've got utility trickling out through the tunnels.
Mayer and Will find one, but the doors player dies.
And with it, Esfade is gonna leave it all on Max,
who is not able to stop them.
Tenzy comes through with the headshot.
We've got a passive moment here for Mosvall.
And that bomb's gonna go down.
Oh man, retaking from the top of mid.
This could turn Mausval around if he's making a lot of noise.
They wanna come fight this first.
Perfect flash! Wow, that's awesome.
That's a great read to get man advantage.
Minds your force to go and retake this bomb site.
No mollies left.
Moon has given us reasons to celebrate here in Astana,
and he will be looking to lock it in from backplash
with more utility to fluster.
Oh, he has a bomb to sit in!
He's got a small pocket to hang onto.
Tensy straight down beneath this window.
The bomb is at 12 seconds, it's all on Tensi and a major nosecope comes out, so the retake will come through.
Wow, they lock it up, a nosecope?
And Ninzee pull off the retake, the flash from the top of mid to lower.
Break you, sir.
What a massive call out, and it had to be a pop flash.
If you turn from that, he was just going to get someone killed.
That's so sound out of Ninzee.
Unfortunately, Max has been struggling too. He's only got four kills. One more in that hold, and they really have an easier round.
Another nice shot out of Mayer with his AWP.
Magix, money doesn't betray them. They will come right back with an AWP on Moon as well.
It's full of forests here in round 22.
Oof, Lutrov takes damage though.
He'll be lucky to still be alive and try to find impact as he sits on 10 kills at the
moment.
I think they want any excuse to try that again.
I won't lie.
It's a little scary for 9Z how they slipped out middle and no one was there watching
it.
Got a free angle towards mid, Svade trying to get in between the utility.
And we saw that flashbang connect to TGT, so he gives up the angle here on Cat,
and that gives Svade a little space, a little more info,
and still plenty of time to try to call this one to perfection.
Met by a smoke at 55 seconds on the Catwalk, however.
We get this utility usage out of magic as they smoke off CT spawn.
An additional smoke to the left side of mid.
That's gonna keep your window player occupied.
Yeah, they are gonna try it again.
They could group up inside of that, and suddenly, Mayer's gonna have multiple bodies coming his way.
It's gonna be a responsibility picked up by Max with that dead with four kills.
It is all Mayer now.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
Uh-oh, he wants support from middle.
And the spam comes through, it slows it down, and he's behind that.
Two kills out of Mayer, and here is massive.
We've got low health bars, and the majority of the players still alive.
And now Moon picks one off.
Catching you on that rotate, 12 seconds left.
Bomb is on site, but it's gonna get dived by DGT's HURT!
And the battle of the Bomb HURT comes off UDA!
Night Z eclipsed by Magic in this one!
They lose their map pick, and the Holtown Hero closes!
She said she loves you, but she can't love me!
But I love you!
I won't play Windu anymore.
What's going on?
The human body was built to move, not trapped to death in one singular posture for 12 hours
a day.
It's time your chair evolved.
This is Secret Lab TitanEvo.
Ergonomically engineered for you.
Gamers.
Hybrid workers.
Artists.
That Titan Evil.
Ergonomically engineered for you.
Gamers.
Hybrid workers.
Officers.
And that in your every move.
Oh, oh, oh, it's magic.
I can't sing because then everything will get taken down on the stream copyright infringement, but there you go
We started this entire matchup by saying 9z had this in the bag
It was gonna be an uphill struggle for magic their third lan ever as a lineup and then they
They proved us wrong. Yeah, I did say there might be some magic in the air profit indeed
It was listen, I gotta give credit words you from the get go. They hit the ground running
We we said it was going to be chaotic
It was chaos and that's where they thrive and I feel like that is where of the difference was for 90
Unfortunately, we did say as well luchoff is it's gonna be sustainable had a bit of a quiet game
But the individuals on the side of magic they shown under the bright lights. Yeah, I mean just from starting with the pistol route
I think that was a fade cook there complete and be sure having four guys waiting for that long push and just getting the momentum from there
On onwards it just looked completely in their control
So after the half, what happened? They lose the N.T. could have been a quick and easy for
Magic, but it wasn't. Chaotic second half, but ultimately closing it out. I think on
the CT side where they did the majority of the job and the homeboy Moon, he played an
amazing game.
Oh yeah, absolutely. I think we really have to highlight how Moon, you know, he's had
a bit of a struggle in this entire tournament in the group stage so far, but on the CT side
with AWP, he was usually the guy, you know, taking point in his early kills, so reliable
with AWP and even the final round he kind of bookended his entire map if he asked me at the end there
just you know kind of playing a tower defense with the AWP and a B bomb site great stuff from him
But just overall I'm super impressed with them because there was one point even though they had a 9-3
Start we could see the comeback happening from 9-Z. They're the more tenured team. They're more experienced team
You think they might pull this one back
But Magic had so many cool calls coming up sure it looked ludicrous at times
But some of the force by wind comes to mind and then even even when they went for like a bit of a half by the way
They will steal away this rounds and even just even when they lose the rounds are just taking away all the guns from 9z
It didn't look like for me the magic were kind of the favorites in the server despite everything we said so far
What happened to the 9z that we saw take Falcons down on this map in such convincing style?
They picked into it. They knew that they were super strong here yet
It just didn't materialize.
I mean, yeah, we are kind of scared of this going into it
because they do rely a lot on their raw aim
to set themselves up in the positions
to win the rounds, win the maps.
And I would say 20%, 30% worse in each duel.
Like just on the eye test, seeing how the way Luchov
took an aim duel, DGT, Max, of course, the IGL,
he was overperforming this group stage.
We knew the regression to the mean was going to happen.
but in this matter, four kills for the whole map.
That just puts you in these...
It doesn't put you in the same positions they were in the group stage.
In the group stage, they were front running most of the time
in the rounds and in the maps,
and here they had to dig themselves out of the hole
and props for them, to them, for actually getting back into the game
and making it kind of competitive, but a few little mistakes.
We saw Mayor leaving the B bomb site, missing a smoke in one round,
and then towards the end, Max just being overwhelmed on B,
not being able to get a single kill.
That's it. That's how the cookie crumbles.
I mean, as a prelude to this matchup, we did touch upon how, you know, for it's going to be Mayen and Moon.
We're going to be keeping an eyes on these are kind of the two underperforming players for these two teams.
And for me, it was honestly surprising that Moon actually delivered on his promises that I'm just going to be coming out here.
I'm going to be popping off and you take a look at him like, you know, just like a hell of a sharing for Moon.
I don't think the stats necessarily paints the right picture because even though Mayen was finding a few kills here and there,
There are many rounds, the round you pointed out, for example, Prof, where he messed up so many times, right?
You're missing some sitters, not being in the right position, missing utility.
But I don't want to pin the blame solely on him, as you pointed out, Max also had a bit of a stinker right there.
But look, when you're 9-3 down, especially with a pressure on you, a two-map pick as well, by the way,
catch-up was not going to be easy, and credit-words do you for magic to close it out in the way they did.
They kept applying pressure, force buys, half buys, making sure even if they had the weaker weaponry of the utility,
they always made sure that the money was never in a good position for the side of 9Z.
And in the end, that's all they needed.
I mean, I think you have to give credit to Diagell for that T-side from Magic.
As you're pointing out, yeah, it hasn't been, it was four rounds on the T-side.
You don't think like that's something amazing.
But every round they're getting into bomb sites, they're manipulating rotations,
They're that one eco that they almost won one second off of the kill the 490 to win on time
And when you can't do that you feel like you always know, okay
If I just do this play we can find some gap more here
It was never a CT side that looked like a lockdown that they couldn't get anywhere on the bomb site
So I think it was just always a matter of time after that that the CT side that the T side was gonna be a win for
For magic you did bring him up earlier
But I kind of feel like he needs more flowers because it is his debut on the stage in front of his home crowd
Moon was doing the work. Oh, he was absolutely doing the work
I think round three or four when it gets the off out in his hands immediately
You seem like opening it up to a short getting lots of opening kills
And he was also doing a lot of combat off and you know some of his positions
I'm like, you know, what are you doing here, buddy?
But I'm quite sure even 9z was like confused as to why he's holding some of these angles that he was holding on towards
But yeah, that's the side from him. Just a 10 kills, but the amount of impact he was finding as well, Sam, right?
You know, 92 ADR as well, 3 opening, he went 3 and 0 in opening kills.
On a T side, didn't have to do much with the AWP, but when he got it in his hands, the final round comes to mind on the B bomb side,
just protecting the bomb plan, even though they had like 5 seconds remaining.
So, pretty weird to see, he had a quiet group stage, but he delivered on his promise on the stage.
Yeah, fantastic to see him come up to the occasion, right?
to be sad for him to be here in his home country and be like the anchor on the on the scoreboard to
drag his team down quite opposite to the occasion. It's a Kazakhstan thing, I'm realizing when it
comes to Kazakhstan Counter-Strike players the moment they're on the stage here in Astana they
they know what their job is and they make sure they get it done. I think it's in the quarterfinals.
Why do you have to be so mean? I'm supposed to be a bad guy here. Yeah, let him have his flowers,
man, you gotta give props to you. 90s gotta be frustrated. This was their map pick, okay?
And one of the things that I'm always curious about with these younger teams is mentally
how they're dealing with it. There was the big delay coming in. We know that that was
caused by a 90 player, their in-ears not working, right? So you have this delay, then you come
in on your map pick where you feel very confident and it starts not very well. You're just unable
to quite recover. Those are a lot of knocks that you're taking, mainly as a team, as players,
and there's an inexperience factor that now comes into play as well.
Yeah, for sure. And I feel this is where someone like Bit has to be brought up, right? Like that
the coach standing behind the side of 90, he's had a career of spanning, I think, 23, 24 years,
you know, one of the original Brazilian stars back in the day with MIBR lineup alongside
Lex and Kogu and all of that. So I feel like Bit definitely is going to have to, you know,
You know, kind of calm them down a bit, be like, it's okay, it's not quite over yet, Mirage is always still a chance, despite it being Magic's map pick and a map that they're very comfortable on.
But I want to just harken back to how we start off this, you know, this matchup. We were talking about a map Vito's, we were like, alright, Dust2, they destroyed Falcons on it.
Magic got trashed every single time they played Dust2. It was a punished pick coming in from 9-Z. And unfortunately, it didn't quite pan out.
Now, what is your plan B? Now, how are we going to countering Mirage? As Mirage, I'll tell you what, Magic, while we might have our criticisms of how they approach
the game and how crazy they can be at times, then Mirage is rock solid.
But it's also, we haven't exactly seen a lot of them Mirage though.
They haven't played a lot on LAN, so there's, the things we've seen are solid,
but also there's not a lot of data, so you're not sitting prepping against them the night before?
I mean, I think they played it four times already now here in Astana, and they won three,
so these are the key games. So K27, Heroic, Gentlemates, all the series that they won,
they won Mirage. They also had that Mongols 25-23.
It's one of the best Mirage teams in the world.
Yeah, they were kind of front running there and then just a lot of wins online and in smaller lands
So this has been their go-to map and a map where I just I think it suits a team like this
This is kind of pluggy kind of kind of wild team on the other side
You have 9z played it five times in the last three months only and mostly it is against good opposition lost to Falkin's lost the legacy
Beat legacy Imperial also a loss. It doesn't seem like a
a map that they've gone or played quite a bit.
And just looking at how Magic usually plays this map, I go back to the last time when they played
against Gentlemakes on the T side where one thing they really enjoyed doing is their default is
actually very, very solid. And one thing to do is always punish that A bombsite. They're going to
go for a default mid control over there, then we're going to have SFH just lurking towards mid late
on. And Loves the window boost. Yeah, he loves the window boost, he loves lurking around there,
and then they're just going to be grouping up. Meanwhile, they're going to have Mass Valor,
who's going to be looking towards Palace towards A. They do a very good job of defaulting.
And again, Gentleman's interesting thing was how they just kept abusing A bombsite time and time
again. Not too many fast rounds coming out. However, if I'm looking at Nyanzee here, I'm looking at
Max, who had a stinker of a first map. And as we said, Prof, he's maybe, you know, kind of finally
going back to his mean level performance. And if that's going to be his performance on Mirage
as a defender as well, they're going to be abusing him. If I'm them, I'm just going to be abusing him
time and time again. I'm curious how much 9Z will see into some of the tendencies. What I saw for
Magic is like they like to open the CT side with like five guys towards A and just leave B completely
open or go for these like three four guys grouping up and trying to find picks on A aggressively.
So if 9Z can kind of find little tells as to when this is happening and exploit that by hitting
the site that's not as guarded, that would be a key to success from the T side for 9Z for me.
Is there a world where Nines is able to take this map and equalize the series or do you think Magic may just have a semi-final in the bag?
I mean, I think there is a chance, but I also think this is Magic's best way to close it out to, like, they are not going to get a better opportunity than playing their map.
100% Like, this is a map where, like I said, even if you just forgot all the other maps where it can be very up and down for them, then Mirage is pretty impressive.
Like, very solid. Even against Mongols, sure, they kind of crapped away very massively, but it is the Mongols, right?
And also the really cool thing is you have all your players kind of hitting equally
It's not like one person overperforming now with moon stepping up in a mass file on the B bombsite with his break control and all of that
They're looking really good for me. It's about 9z. Yes, there is a chance, but you need to wake up right now
And like Max needs to wake up. You need to have
We need to have mayor as well with the AWP Mirage as a story goes
He needs to step it up as well
I don't think it's necessarily gonna be about the tactics so to speak
It's about guys you need to get on the page right here or else I agree with you
This is the best opportunity for Moon and Koto to pull off what you could even say opposite of the tournament if you ask me because it isn't from the arena
Zero experience crazy stuff magic in a semi-final
I do think that this is a conversation around the mental strength of these two teams
I think you had one team that had all the pressure coming in they've had such a dominant run
They looked so good
That's 9z and and they were feeling that everyone said you've got such an easy run to the semis and then you had magic who?
They themselves said well, we didn't actually even expect to be in playoffs
It wasn't really a goal the the lack of pressure for them allows them to step up and rise to the occasion in a way
That maybe 9z feels they can't yeah
9z you just have to have to play a lot better than they did in the first like seven eight rounds of that half
And I think they did warm up literally physically on the stage can't be kind of cold
You can come out here and you're like short sleeve. It's a hockey arena being like oh, I'm just gonna play and then you start playing
It's like, ah, it's kind of freezing.
I don't need to get a jumper.
I don't have it.
So maybe for the next map, they are
going to be a bit more prepared than on point with aim.
Just it was looking very sloppy early on on Dustin.
I think we've heard enough from both of you.
A shout out to our HLTV user, Kissing Before Mirage.
You don't have to deal with the tech pauses now,
because Scorni and Launders are ready to take us into game.
They say you can't lose when you're playing with house money.
And it kind of feels like that is what Magic are doing on this stage.
Ninesie been here in a similar place before trying to surpass it
and get back to semis after a couple of years of struggles.
And Magic just riding the wave, baby.
They're drinking Coke with no pressure, as they say.
So that's what we saw on Dust2.
And it got marginally close towards the end.
But I mean, Magic still looks super solid
when on the final round they won.
He-Side was very good overall. They lost, and it only bolsters the result that they ended up losing two egos and still closed it.
So now that we switch over to Mirage, we know that it has to be a bit about the stage that 9C couldn't perform as well on Dust 2.
We know that they could do better than that. They already showed us how much better they could do.
And now they'll have a second chance, but the series already tips heavily in favor of the team who are now on their map pick.
And Moon, he's here to play and impress you at home.
He did a fantastic job back on Dust2, had the final word with his op shot,
and definitely jumped off the page, and I think loves this land environment.
Certainly rode the hype off of some of those op shots.
Let Ninze know that he's across the server from them and ready to try and take this on to the semis.
We get a full-blown execute out of Magic's T-Sign onto the A-bomb site to deep-connect her jungle smoke.
There's a lot of bodies here for 9Z.
They're going to collect headshot.
Oh, nothing but headshots. All five members of Magic slain on the attempt to take A.
That's way better here for 9Z. They kick off with a pistol, very clean from Mayern.
And to be honest, I thought that there was going to be a huge issue with both oppers coming into the last map.
But Mayern was actually quite good.
Moon just stood out even more than he did in his recent performances.
And I think it's nice to see that the ops had the impact that they did.
It won't be the first time that Magic lose a pistol and have to run with scraps to try to make something happen.
something happened. Ninesi know that they're not through it just yet.
I think magic were criticized, you know, I think jokingly about how sort of how much chaos is how they can lose like almost any given situation.
But also they were very good about some of their protocols and setups. They were very creative and very smart at the same time about how they dealt with it.
And I think losing rounds that you're not supposed to,
it's going to happen when you're at their ranking and when everything's fresh.
But the confidence that they had to keep going and still commit to all of their game plans
and bringing in that unique style that was also very aggressive,
I think it's the reason that they ultimately won.
I said it the other day, but I felt that this draw for 9Z is actually one of the worst ones in playoffs.
Even though there's so many strong teams here,
it's the strong teams that 9Z look very comfortable versus.
And everybody knows that down in the tier two and three and that when the rankings get lower that it's not the CS
It necessarily drops off. I mean the confidence might even come up
But there's more to prepare for there's less familiarity and for 9z. They built a brand off of
Impressing when they need to punch up
for the being the giant killers themselves and
We talked about a lot of favoritism actually on the desk, you know
But I had to think this one very much painted in 9Z's favor so he couldn't see a way in really for magic and that's just it
It's it's when 9Z
Had that pressure on them
Cracking a few awkward rounds and magic just within that chaos of it all so can they do it again here on mirage their map pick
I don't tell but for now. It's just glocks across the board for magic
As if set up top middle
9Z a chance to kind of just regain familiarity with the game.
I did not get to pass the front gate trying to get into the A-play because it was such a clean pistol for 9Z, so...
I'll look to this round to...
If they're lucky, score two kills.
If they hit the lottery, get a bomb blast.
I guess they actually crawled up underneath this window unnoticed.
Now you're in stomping around, so yeah, this is for sure a chance to blindside somebody.
It's awkward to get the kill here.
Catch them on the fallback with the Glock headshot for 50.
9Z, just retreat ever so slightly.
Give that space over, you know, just really put distance between you and pistols.
Makes it all the more likely you can just clean up, but here's two kills.
Well, okay, that is in fact two frags.
Now, bomb again, unlikely gets retrieved,
and Mossball just wants to make sure if they need an upgrade, they can find it.
find it. And to keep both
to try to catch the M4. Don't
think they're going to find it
up there. No, it's, uh, it
fell actually. So they didn't
get it. Oh, they still didn't
go get it. Two pharmacists
and their M4. Three rifles
saved it to the next round.
It's a little scary to lose
anybody to Glock's, but it's
not the end of the world.
Magic wait, painful, patiently
come into their buy.
And we'll see if it helps out that while someone maxed
they'll only have those.
Estate.
The mystery bullet through the smoke,
the spam, he was going to catch him off anyways.
I can't even believe he attempted to fight there
instead of making sure he can recover his vision first.
AW was a threat back on Dust 2.
Finish the first map with a 1.51 rating,
top performing player of magic.
On that opening map, and a driving force.
To stealing away, Ninesie's map pick.
So for him to keep this first gun round alive is nice.
We get this push forward towards ramp,
and we'll see what Mosvall can do about it.
What a big gap.
Max is still watching it.
He's holding the window timer.
has no idea that Kat could be taken. Yeah, he could actually just get beat.
Yeah, AW picks his timing perfectly, and because he's off of ladder room,
there's no telling if it's going to be the A or B play right now, but DGC is pushed.
We just know that magic can come in slowly way later.
This Wasso-Marin situation over towards trip-line.
How's the bomb?
It's so good.
Wasso gets the bomb dropped, 30 seconds on it.
He'll go for the AK play.
We get this push out of magic, and the fact
that he's got a smoke to cut them off,
they're going to have to scramble through.
They want to just take this Hail-Marry moment
and try to go through to the third.
They have an A, they have an A.
They'll pop it wide, try to take the dual, the lineup.
Easy for Wasso-Peak, who takes control of the ramp,
gets three kills in the round, and puts 9Z up
to that 3-0 start.
Bomb possession, once again, a problem for Magic.
And it's always because it's a combination
of dropping the bomb and not having a lot of time.
If you have a lot of time, you can wait out any smoke.
You can coordinate a flank.
When you don't have a lot of time,
you have to take a risk.
So we get the bust of the round that wholly exemplifies
what Magic are all about.
Team that moves smart tactically,
play with the clock a lot, and off the blues the bomb.
Oh, it's not scarier for TGC.
Hello?
Whoa, he got them both!
What a shot.
You got them both?
How?
How does Espade snap that tech nine down for the second?
How?
That upgrade instantly comes to AW.
Now it's an entirety of mid-control one.
Gun upgrades here.
I have no idea how he adjusted for that flick, after working a little bit to get the first one.
Now 9-Z are on notice.
Here's non-comfortable at the moment, would love to try to pick somebody off his round, but no sir, dink comes through.
Yeah, that'd be good out of there now.
Stuck on 10 health as teammates send flashes over, Moon's just looking to try to punish any saves,
but that E-bomb site now belongs to Magic.
And so it's not the first gun round that works out, but rather a couple of Teclic Nines sprinkled into the next one.
Nines, you're gonna wait around to see if there's some kind of mistake.
Flosso peek looking for a duel, but won't find it.
Magic looked nervous for some reason, but they have full map control.
That's truly them just trying to get this off away and don't get cut off at the cross AW.
It was a great chance to actually make this very scary for 9z, but saving with 3 is not too bad.
I guess because it's just the tech 9, why not save and send a couple bullets out towards the exiting players.
Magic on the board, 2-2, one man. That's the IGL of Magic with the Tech 9 2K.
Crazy second shot.
Especially because that first kill was a bit labored and he never kind of panicked and just kind of left it to B to try to get the underpass kill which he was scared.
Yeah, right, it's reason to be.
So, held a couple shots out of Svade. His first two kills of the map.
We saw his impact over on Dust2.
Now caught with a grenade out, it's FZ. White swing into the rifles.
Svade's traded, DGT tries to find cover. He's got a challenge.
As it comes out through that ramp, it's Mayhem with a missed shot towards that ramp.
And I'm sick of saying it.
Mooch off inside a sandwich, he's got the blind side. Slips down into them.
It's a 1v3 for AW, big clutch factor from this player, but blindsided by that FB9.
And it is chaotic by 9C, within all of that, to get right back to winning ways.
Yeah, a lot of forward-facing positioning towards the A ramp, the trade's coming down,
and we've got a very emphatic S-Fade.
I don't know what you're talking about, the last round or the next.
Now, two of the greatest offers to start with Moe here in playoffs.
I hope that your filters get more and more specific.
the three of them, all the delay, honesty, boom.
Scratch their heads and piece together the math
for this one, Magic coming in with two AKs,
upgraded pistols, lots of grenades still.
But if you're new to watching Magic,
these are the kinds of rounds they find lifelines within.
Keep your eyes peeled.
New chop, with a great chop slipping down into sandwich last round.
Shot sail through the top, mid smoke, AW announces that he is in heat out here, eats a flash.
Doesn't find anybody actually trying to challenge off of the catwalk, so plenty of work still to do for magic,
but both teams kind of forego middle for now.
I already feel like we just want to go right into their same hit.
I'm going to look for that moment where 90 say, okay, well, let's just figure out what's
going on at mid, and then let's go into something else.
I feel like it's kind of perfect for 90.
They know the full exec is coming, one side or the other.
Mausoleum's got a Molly to kind of burn out Wasso.
Jaren's throwing utility as this starts to emerge.
Minded, he will still clip Tenzi off the play.
Wasso peek pulled back, but there's no real space made by Magic off of that one.
They will find a damage on Maern.
DGT and Wasso peek that activate with rifles, and it seems to only be Maern going down.
Sure, Moon, best efforts will catch Wasso peek,
but still majority up for 9Z as this 5-1 CT lead keeps growing.
Everything we wanted to see back on Dust2 finally happening.
So yeah, maybe 9Z have shaken it off.
Really impressive play so far between the spacing
and positioning and trading.
Again, the spam kills, they're playing off each other.
The HEU and utility usage looks on point.
into that galil right now. You know the rifles out here. That looming threat that
magic could still pull off the unthinkable. And Max's had this affinity to
get up inside the apartments. Loves getting off of the bomb site just for
that extra space. A little more confident in their ability to kind of leave him
here. And he's gonna play in front of a smoke right now. So Ninesie freed up to
move that third piece over to the A site where magic clearly tend to rotate.
We don't want to see is that bomb get cut off again.
So it waits to join forces, S-Fade alongside it now.
Want to send it over with some utility.
At 35 seconds, why wouldn't you use your smoke?
Don't need a lot of information to make that choice.
There's no lamp flash, so all the push comes out when he doesn't get a kill, he sees the
guy back at CT spawn first.
Scares the hell out of also B, but doesn't deal with him
It's gonna be moon instead to catch that kill and then the white swing out through Palace clipped off by Mayer
AW trying to keep the positioning fresh as he just slides down off boxes and a hell of an effort with one
Galil in the round still three kills to try to keep 9z honest, but this defense is clearly pulling ahead
That's it's looking awesome now. I mean this is the gap that we expected to see coming into this game
Maybe magic fighting back
to go up against 9Z, but not even this half is over. Even though it's a good start here
for 9Z. Magic picked this map. They've pressed us on their opponent's map choice. We know
they've got trinks up in store, Tensy hit low.
We dropped floating around this fight.
AW has looked for this duel multiple times.
Don't be shocked if he comes wide swinging.
Mosvall inside Palace isn't concerned about this left side walk up,
so Mosvall decoy, nice adjustment out of Mosvall.
Damn.
That's Mosvall who just thought there was no one there basically going that wide around the pillar.
He blows this smoke open. Might get a surprise, honestly.
Climbing up and over, that Stomp away as well. SF8 knows he's on the chase, but he's also
losing teammates in the process. Ooh, still able to punch up close.
Those draws in a second, but Lutroff's gonna survive that by the second kill. Here comes
the Mosvall Challenge out palace, and you've got Tensy activating bottom middle. Beautiful!
Couple of kills AW's got to smoke cover, and Magic just sit back and let Ninesie step into their own demise.
I really couldn't even make heads or tails of that position, to be honest.
I'm not surprised Ninesie get caught off. That's the first two kills out of Tenze so far in Mirage,
leading to direct impact on the round outcome.
Perfect to catch the Lurks.
See, Levi's not looking fantastic here for 9C.
But Mayer is having a good series on stage.
There's a good kill.
Takes out Moon, head to head.
This time we've actually got footwork from 9Z top middle. This is a portion of the map. They have not been able to find often.
Usually leaning back to Cat connector, but missed chance for Mayer to collect a second kill this round.
It's going to be confirmation on Sv8. It brings PGT back and you see how that top hit push the magic aren't used to.
comes back to fight them. Now, Waso's pistol limitation may never be called on.
There it's got a sequence going, so much so that he finishes off with just the pistol.
A quad kill out of Mayer, his 11th frag collected to close that out, and now the
top performing 9-Z player as they're right back to winning lanes.
That'll be the capstone round for him who has been kind of lackluster, but these
are the maps that matter the most, and it's, again, great to see that it's both
both him and Moon, who are delivering, but right now it's back-to-back maps for Mayeron.
Far fewer shots getting missed by him. They're really just controlling A ramp so well.
We know what portion of the round that it's going to be that Magic want to come out of
it. 9Z have fully tried to organize themselves to deal with every portion of the round towards
This is early on, you can come out late through a smoke where it's covered.
I've got the perfect read on what magic want to do.
And a slight adjustment with the top middle push to just evolve mid play.
Evolve the momentum out of magic now.
DGT loses vision early AW right back to the similar antics and worried about more of this mid-aggression.
He just keeps on spamming those smokes and trying to dodge and impact his way.
Very loose play top middle as another name comes out.
DGT takes up position behind that smoke late just to quickly check the underpass which he finds vacant.
Participated in this fight towards top mid but they don't over commit.
W has one at once versus Kat when he ate the flash. Virtually every other round there hasn't been a target there.
Rooks finally like this side of the map will get some love.
And a long time coming.
It's B site about to get hit by Utile.
Max is ready.
Seen him try to push into this, but little labor to get out of the window.
Spine Max has got his double.
Fresh gun for him, and Tentzy, it's just the one play.
So a single set of feet out of Magic hits that B site, and it only ends up wrapping
Max, who holds his nerve, holds his own, holds the line, and pushes Mazval to the 1v4 in 25 seconds.
Bombs right there, but so are so many Mininesi players.
His stop shot gives him a chance to hit the ground, but they're ready to swing, and Mayer and Stock are going to miss that second.
His 12th kill now collected.
We've had a lot of criticisms for Mayer and Stock offing throughout this week in general.
Back to desk again highlighting the shortcomings of both these teams offers will low and behold
Loone back on map one finally has probably his best map here in Astana
And it's looking like mayor
It's gonna try to replicate that in the second map of this series and you look at the round history only two on the board for
Magic I'm not looking at a single bomb plant in any of the seven rounds
19 of one and that bomb is slippery when it comes to magic
They just do not have control of it all the time and trouble especially with the block it so
They can win off elimination more easily, more consistently, and we're not surprised to see it.
So finally, this duel, it comes after so many rounds of there not being that much presence out of Luchov.
He just knows when to fight and when to pull back. He's 11-5 on this map, too.
Two.
AW is a weapon in the mid to late round,
so it's gonna be a little more annoying here
when SF8 thinks, how do we maximize our potential
down a player?
And it feels like very tunnel visioned
on the thought of trying to make a work.
from the bottom of the health bar, three kills on Mayer!
It's a jackpot for Mayer!
Select sequence!
Back turn to Luchoff to close out,
and he is now taking over this game.
That's one hell of a half out of him,
and that should have been a guaranteed bomb plant,
and a likely round win after they got that bomb
crossing connector, but Mayer stopped it all.
Oh, that was the bomb crossing, damn.
One bullet hits Mayer, he's done for.
Clips all three on that bomb site, and it'll send magic spiraling into Galil City on this final round of the half.
Two rounds to their T side, not a single bomb plant in the other nine.
The gap between these teams as we switch to the second map of the series is massive and
we know what 9Z are obviously capable of on Ancient, so they have tapped into the potential
I think a lot of people saw coming and were hoping for if you were cheering for 9Z in
this quarterfinal today.
We just didn't know if we were going to get it realized after how scrappy and messy some
of those Dust 2 moments were.
Why not now?
Took 92 years to get themselves back to a stage opportunity like this one.
And we were scared for a second that they were just going to flop it yet again.
Aided to connector will give Mayer an align, but he slides off of the ticket.
You've got magic on the brink of committing to this bombsite.
Few pieces of utility left for the commitment. Here it comes.
Liming Mayer to start it off does give you a chance to progress to the Bricks.
They've got Wasso dead, but Mayer is just omnipresent.
Always here within this A site.
Losing teammates left, right and center, but he is still hanging on.
And he'll jump around with another ulti kill.
Mayer's the man with the double digits secured off that yet again rock solid AD fence.
One ult out, split to bat as we get on stage.
He dominated, and a huge reason that he had the chances was Magix
were trying to make this an eccentric attack.
Every single round they were coming here,
whether it was through connector A ramp, early, mid, late round,
it didn't matter.
They were putting the full test on him.
He passed almost every single time,
and was the main reason he denied Magix from winning more rounds.
It's three opening successful duels the way of magic, two rounds off of it, and as said
no plants elsewhere.
I mean you couldn't have looked for a much flatter half, that kind of had all the makings
of it.
Huh? Is that S-Fade?
They had five headshots in that pistol on the A site, and it got shut down as quick as it did.
That was a little foreshadowing to just how difficult the T side magic were about to have.
Let's see if 9Z can just wrap this one up when you again think back to the desk that
Prof highlighted, or the staff that he highlighted, with Magik's inability to truly get these 3-0
starts going.
I mean, in a moment like this, that could spell disaster even if they win with this push-down
ramp.
We're in store for an interesting round.
Bombs dropped back, but they're readying almost what looks like a fake, and Svay won't call
out this fake entirely, but it's weird because, again, they did not pick the bomb up, so there's
There's no entrance right now, and to be the CTs are starting to freak out.
Couple players to climb up through the window, bomb is going B.
There is more to this right now, mid control, window control is taken.
Rosvald just looking for something to hold on to at that B site. He will find DGT first.
That's not the bomb. Is he gonna think that's a solo lurk? Luchov's been found out inside connector.
Things get very stringy.
With Mayer surrounded, oh my god, two tap into Mosvall. Bombs being planted B.
He's on it.
They are coming for him, and he will cut down half of the pack.
But that opened the door for Hwaso Pete to not only put that bomb down, also get off
to an unbeknownst position, and they missed that window jump, so it's just that little
bit more time for Ninesi to bank on Hwaso to try and close this.
He kind of just needs one kill, and then he can leave, yeah.
Gets back into the cover, AW, hoping he'll go for the repeat.
He can just play positioning, bombs at 13 seconds.
He draws him into the marketplace and ends it!
Mayer set it up with the triple kill, gets that bomb down uncontested,
and now all 9s he has to do is seal the deal with a conversion off this pistol.
They did everything right to actually win this pistol round.
The call light on the push, every kill to follow until Mayer and answered back with two.
Is that Espeyred?
Oh, we're still trying to find him.
That's a slick shot from Mayer, and he just draws everybody on him, guarantees the bomb
plant, and forces Magik's hand to come through with a force-fi now.
It's the perfect time to have an absolute life game to wake your team up.
Now you're in just steps outside in between these maps decides the slump is over.
Suppresses 21 kills in 13 rounds of play.
Now it's just about not tripping over your own two feet.
excuse me, four SMGs out here for magic. Obviously getting what they can to try to
stave this off. There hasn't really been any open movement towards this B site.
Smoke's gonna fade and Mosval is gonna have his hands full. That's for damn
sure. We start to see a bit of a move from magic over this direction as fate
kind of climbing out. So looking to put down another smoke but will it come down
a little too late? Will they just kind of slam their way through this? Is that the
9Z also banking on a fake over towards that A site. And sure enough, smoke blasts here in the middle of the pack.
Max still good for his one. AW's gun is about to go dry. He's got 12 shots left. Three players around him.
And he's not able to do anything else about it. S-Fade to emerge out through this market door, goes unnoticed.
And can he strike while the bomb's being planted? No. By the time he makes his move, he's the last man standing at a 1v4.
90 on the highway to ancient because this is now 12 to just about perfect and I
just the fact that they're not dropping these mechanical moments where there's
not much thinking involved they just have to out dole someone they might be
dropping off a ledge or swinging or having to escort a bomb but the fact
that they're getting away with all these that was all missing on dust too it's
all different now here for 90 about to really show everyone who's just tuning
in for playoffs what they showed us in the last week
And as he took down big names on the way to the playoffs, they slide through 3-0.
They maul the Falcons in the final map that we get to see them within the group stage.
That 13-1 Dust2 victory was supposed to set the tone for today's opener.
And now it's just about a recovery mission for 90, and Mirage is a massive recovery so far in this fashion.
Just got a churn through this last force by out of magic and Mosvall is gonna try to fight this tooth and nail
But DGT gets his number and the bobble soon be scooped up and right now Luchov's got this S fade occupied down towards middle
Tencies clipped and S fade 21 held for a one versus three
You know be left wondering what the hell happened to magic between these two maps
90 are not going to let these nightmares come to fruition again, a master class on Mirage.
And that is a chill, down magic spine as suddenly this quarterfinal is in question.
He said she loves you.
But she can't love me.
But I love you.
I won't play Windo anymore.
What's going on?
Play your role, one expect.
One, two, three.
not try to test get one singular posture for 12 hours a day
it's time your chair evolved this is secret lab Titan Evo
ergonomically engineered for you gamers, hybrid workers, artists, and back linear every move
I
You're watching PGL Astana, and we've just watched 9Z equalize their series against Magic
and stay in this fight for a place in our semi-finals, and they did it in convincing
fashion.
What a scoreline on the opponent's math pick, Prof.
Yeah, what a drubbing, right?
I was just passing by Launders and Scrony and finally said,
Analyze that!
It's going to be a tough job.
We're going to try.
We're going to try, we're going to do our best, honestly, from start to finish.
Just complete control from 9Z, understanding of what's going on in the macro perspective
and in the micro, the individuals showed up.
Yeah, absolutely.
And for Magic, we did touch upon, we actually spoke about how they like approaching this
T-Side Prof.
We said how they love going to the A bomb site, just going for the default mid-control
and then heading towards A.
And they didn't really change or like really deviate at all from that formula, right?
We thought maybe they might be trying to punish Max towards me.
There was one round they gave it a shot, then pan out.
It was just heading towards A bomb set again and again and again.
And then this guy playing tower defense from the ticket position.
And we said it in the green room as well.
If you look at his heatbap, it just got me from the ticket position.
Not one CD smoke being thrown his way and he was just going to chop them up.
I think that was perhaps the best big event performance from Mayen ever.
Just looking at some of the numbers and this was just a pop-off game for them.
Yeah, I mean absolutely and at no point did the 9Z guys have to guess what was going on.
I think they at every point they were like okay they're gonna come for an A-split.
We have three guys in A. They had different looks of defending A so even when adaptations come from Magic it was like okay we know how they play.
They still walked into, walked through a smoke.
There was a guy waiting behind the smoke, they wanted to molly under, there was a counter play for that.
So there's so many variations of what Nines was showing on the defense
and realistically it was just all around the A bomb site.
There's one round where S-Fade with attack 9 manages to create some chaos and maybe they win that round.
But realistically there's no openings that they could play off of, unlike on Dust2 where they're like
even when they're losing ground they're getting into situations and they could use that to manipulate rotations or throw a fake.
here when they decided to go B finally, it was so obvious that they were going to come B, so
Max had like two teammates there to support them and lock down the bomb site.
We had a magnifying glass on Mayer and Sam and he took out his own scope and 2.28 rating is
ludicrous from him. 22 kills, 131 ADR and bear in mind. There's only 15 rounds of play. That is
one hell of a performance and sure, that is such a stupid, such a stupid
Heatbabber where he's getting all his kills, all the kills from Ticket.
And then he had the one round where he got, I think, a 4k from the cons position, basically.
Great performance from him.
There's one on B, don't lie.
Fine, fair enough.
For Mayen, considering how much of a struggle it's been so far under the 9z colors,
a map like this, when you're facing elimination, it's really going to help your confidence.
It's probably the right time to suddenly rise to the occasion,
no doubt, equalizing the series for your team.
but to be fair, this was kind of what we expected coming into this matchup.
When you looked at it, when we were speaking about it in the pregame,
we said like, 9Z should completely outperform Magic from an experienced point of view,
from the level of player that's sitting in the server, all of that.
So this is the result that I think most people thought they were going to get,
Dust2 being a little bit of a surprise from the CIS boys.
Yeah, and I mean in some ways also the pick of Dust2 maybe that was a mistake to begin with.
We weren't really sure where it was going to go, but it was like overpass ancient, maybe infernal,
but then Dust2 was not even in my top three of maps that I expected 9z to go for.
So maybe it was also kind of a misplay from the veto side for the South Americans.
Yeah, and also just individuals, right? We saw how the first half, they were so flat.
We saw everyone kind of whipping the shots, Max having a rough game, even I think DGT as well,
not really finding the impact he was looking for. Again, I want to take nothing away from
from a side of magic. I think it was some really cool rounds being called by Espey as well.
But once it started waking up in a second half on that little bit of a comeback attempt,
you could start to see, yeah, okay, they're starting to frag out a little bit. And then
here, just a complete storm. Sure, they read them like an open book, but you still need
to hit your shots, right? And I felt like everyone chipped in there. And even though,
you know, we saw Marin kind of steal the show, everyone had their moment to shine.
We've seen them now do the job they needed equalizing this series. But I also want to
talk a little bit about Ninesie and what we've seen throughout this tournament and possibly
focus in on the South American region because there was a time where if you knew a South
American team was in the lineup there was always room for an upset. Obviously, Fury
had their rise last year, but for the most part it hasn't been as dominant as that region
has been in the past on the international scene.
I just feel like many of these lineups had their little spurred like Payne had earlier
in the year, last year Atlanta making playoffs and legacy towards the end of the year had
a few run CAC, I think Booker S, the Masters, where they're making playoffs or reaching grandfiles,
even winning a tournament. And it just feels like there's always some one or two upsets,
and then a roster change happens, and you can't really get the most out of all of the pieces.
Even when some of the transfers that come in look great on paper, I think in pain,
that was a great example when they were like, okay, we're going to operate,
we're going to get DGT, we're going to get some of these other players from the region,
it just doesn't click. So it's a constant cycle of that and 9Z are now the latest on the list.
Even though two years ago I am Dallas, I think that's where they broke out B-Titality, went to the
semifinals over there. So it's a constant cycle and no one can really capture that for like a full year.
Yeah, that seems to be kind of the the curse, so to speak, of the South American teams. And also
the cool thing with 9Z is when you speak about South American counter-strike, it's always Brazilians,
right, for obvious reasons, MIBR back in the day, 20 years ago, then of course we had
Fallen, just say Fallen, Fallen, yeah, there we go, Fallen, Fallen team, whatever, whatever
Fallen team, and then we had Furia without Fallen, you know, who we're looking super cool, right in
a pre-COVID as well, so you never really have had a chance to really kind of have this South American
mixture of various players coming in, and sure 9th is a good day for a while, we've seen other line-ups
as well who have had these South American, other South American players kind of, kind of punching
about the weight, so to speak, but we never had a consistent force where there could be a threat,
right? And so for me to see 9-Z coming in, also his Luchov pick up, which I feel is one of the
best pickups I've had, it's really cool to see that they're able to consistently do this. Now,
I know this matchup's not done yet, Sam, but for me, they are a team to watch for the remainder of
not just the season, but next year as well. I just want to commend now that you mentioned
Luchov, I just remember he was a part of that Bestia theme that qualified for the Austin Major.
Yes. I didn't get fees. As he was one of the players together with Tomashin, who were, I would
I would say two best players on that team and maybe two of the best up-and-coming Argentinian talents
that couldn't make it. That's why the team couldn't make it to the Major.
He missed out on that huge opportunity.
That team went through some roster changes.
He ends up on 9-Z and now he's playing his biggest game yet in his career.
How do we think? Because I do know a lot of teams are using this as their litmus test rights
for the Major, which is coming up.
And obviously, the Singapore Major is the one that a lot of teams have their eyes on.
but up now, who's ever qualified, Cologne is where the focus is.
Is that also something that you think plays into the mind
in a lot of these teams as they compete on the stage?
I mean, I think it's definitely a trial, it's a test,
it's like pushing the boundaries how far they can go.
I think for 9C, as much as this is great,
it's also going to put them on the radar of all of the teams at the major.
It might make some things a bit more difficult
because people will be like, okay, this is a serious team.
When going into this tournament,
I don't think anyone would really put them into playoffs
or expect too much of them after the first day when you saw them.
Okay, so if you've just joined us, I do have to remind you now I'm going to do this for Blair
because it's very important for him as you saw there. Obviously we asked all our analysts to do
some predictions as to who would make the playoffs and only one analyst put 9Z and it was Blair.
So you're going to hear this quite a bit. I just wanted to give some context.
Blair saw this coming. He predicted a 9Z in the playoffs.
I wanted to pick a wild card coming in and for me 9Z and there's a
Logic behind why I went for that as well. I even look at the the performance in Rotterdam for example, right?
There we go. See I got 90 and I also had mongol. So, you know, I got my face for that
Yeah, well, that is why we massively but a thing is for 90 when I saw them in Rotterdam the fact that you know
They were kind of competitive, I guess against you know, even vitality. I think it closes my map
I've been spirit as well and then they a knockout mouse for a tournament. I'm like, this is a team who is
is dangerous. This is a team who could make some of the top teams sweat. So if you're going to
have to pick a wild card from the group stage to make it through, I think it was a bit of a no-brainer,
honestly. Yeah, I think we all picked them to win this match, but all of you guys picking Aurora,
I thought that was going to be my hipster pick. I was like, when I saw you guys pick it, I was
so disappointed. I wanted to change it because the whole thing is about feeling unique and
feeling special, and you took it away from me. They took it from you. Don't worry, you've got
theory later. We'll talk about that, but not right now. Now we're going to focus in on that
9Z Magic matchup. Obviously, let's talk a little bit about ancients as the decider we focused in on the Vito in the pre-match.
I'd love to focus back in on how this is going to play out because for both of you, you kind of felt like this should have been
9Z's pick to begin with. Yeah, absolutely. And because for 9Z, even though it's a smaller sample size, they played Maus and played Paravision,
they didn't pick ancient, but they made quick work of them. And it's a map that they look super comfortable on again.
And for the side of 9Z, I think we started to play once and it's Monty. Monty is struggling team as well with the Losset.
And this is a map where I personally feel 90's should potentially run away with it
They're gonna be starting on a T side over here one thing they love doing profits
They're gonna be fighting mid. Oh boy. They're gonna be fighting mid Lucha's gonna be going on out there
And one thing I enjoyed against mouse mouse are throwing everything they have towards mid as well
But somehow they always come out on top and just kind of ties into how 90 like playing is super fast rounds early on when the default
On a T side
I feel that's when they kind of struggle a little bit they get picked off and they're not able to quite
They find that cohesion so to speak but when they go for his fast plays his mid takes and whatnot
I think the pre-world class great utility usage as well
And then you have Luchov who is also still delivering even in the playoffs and he's gonna be tip of his spear
I mean there when you see Luchov and DGT there at the top of that teammate the one from one side one from another
You know how that's gonna pan out
They're not gonna be shying away from the fight them on the other side
It's as fade when I don't feel like that's his fourth it just going straight out
It is more being sneaky and being a little lurky boy and a lurky boy, right?
So I think that's that's one area where the mismatch is strong and kind of as you mentioned like you're looking at the results
The latest win from magic on this map is against a team called drama
HLC Belgrade magic versus drama magic wins out. Yeah, that's that's kind of how it is
And as you said on the other side for 9z
It's just been a staple that they got a bunch of wins at this tournament to get against impressive teams as well
right there is one X factor that has
Someone just cropped up right now all of a sudden right just the fact that mayor that gave me had a mirage and sure
I can throw in the caveat. He really wasn't being pushed off his position. There weren't too many flashes
There was no smoke to block him up towards a connector
But he was doing some pretty pretty sick off shots like he was hitting a lot of the shots
I think I saw one miss from him the entire map so to speak so if he's able to
continue that particular form on it to ancient and suddenly things look very
interesting especially at a CD-side for Ninesie. Can he continue that form though?
Because if you think about what he looked like on Dust2, it's quite up and down for this guy.
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's usually down more than up and realistically they
gave him a great opportunity and he took it. I think for what I'm hoping for is
that it's just a better game and just for that to be achieved. It just need
some openings from Magix. That's all they need, just to get a few kills and some trades for the game to go a bit back and forth, otherwise 9-Z.
I mean, they ran all over teams like Falcons, right? If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile, and you can't be allowing that to a team like 9-Z.
Otherwise, it's going to be another stop.
another stop also like one thing we we touched upon in between the two maps was
how the mentality would be for 9z right and obviously they bring up bit as well
saying how you know he's going to be the the calming voice the experienced voice
saying like like listen guys it's okay you lost a map it doesn't matter we are
the better team and it's good to see that they were able to have the mental
resilience and not just bounce back a bounce back in that convincing a
fashion so if you're 9z right now you like listen one one doesn't matter look
at the way we play on their map it was even more dominant than what magic
We should have this one in the back because as Prof and I, we both agreed it was probably going to be ancient being picked
In this series. So you're in a comfort map
You have the momentum going your way and even your loitering player is pumping off
I mean and we saw on the other side like after maybe five or six round this fade was like
Kind of kind of tilted with some situations that happened. He was looking at his teammates
It looked like a bit of heightened tones going on
So that was not the greatest looking it just spilled over the the rest of the rest of that mirage game
they never really recovered in that game,
and we'll see if they can do it in the series at all.
The pendulum swings, right?
So we spoke moving into the second map
about how the mental pressure is now on 9z.
They recovered.
The same story can now be said for magic, right?
So you won on their map pick, and then they slap you on yours.
Now you've got to try and come back on ancient,
which is a map that you will know just as much as we've
spoken about it.
The teams do their research that this team is very strong on.
So now you're in a completely different position, but a very similar one to where 9Z found themselves.
Just need some moon magic, we need some moon magic for Kazakhstan.
Moon magic for Kazakhstan, let's find out if it exists.
It'll be a tough performance to repeat here for 9Z if, again, we get this sudden fall off out of Mayer,
because that was his highest rated map on LAN in nearly a decade of playing this game on HLT.
And so for him to drop that now, sure, you give him flowers for it, right?
You're facing elimination on a stage game that many people built you up as the favorites for.
Hell of a time to just sprinkle that 2.28 rating in.
And now I think the desk has said a lot of true things, right?
You build up ancient. This is a good place for 9Z. They've taken down bigger scouts.
Everything's starting to point the direction that 9Z have stabilized in this quarterfinal.
This is pretty much the best place they could go for a third map.
Maern has gotten them here after everybody really struggled on Dust2.
It wasn't the best form that they could have shown, but now they're here to play.
They want to steal this one away from Moon in front of this crowd,
and they might make it look easy if they just live up to their numbers,
because their comfort on Ancient is remarkable.
Oh, he saw it.
They were crouching.
Tensi was hoping for information, but they are still going to drop it over.
Easy. I didn't think so, but clearly with this roadside. Yeah, never mind
There was definitely some instance of confirmation. There's bodies outside that site
So Tenzi tucks back into big box. Who's got the double veredas over towards the doughnut exit
There's the white swinging from Wasek. There's that comfort. You'll collect the two kills
So 90 off to the races within this pistol quickly
sweeping magics ace site under the rug
This fits their playstyle so nicely to just swoop in like this onto sites.
They can do it on both halves of the map and a 3 on 5 retake to take this pistol back.
They'll so unlikely.
Here finds Esfade in sight.
Just worried about that temple push now and nothing to really be worried about
when only one player drops on the 90 side.
They are taking that stomp and stomp is the emphasis of Mirage
and rolling immediately here into Ancient.
It must have felt incredibly disheartening to have dropped us too.
I mean, even if we think about Ninesie moving on from the series,
they're going to be scared about how they kicked off a series in quarters,
but also first one of the whole playoffs.
I mean, it doesn't happen again. It doesn't matter.
But it's not as if the Magic can't play Ancient.
They don't have the same pedigree.
They need to go over top of lane.
Can't be lethal force buys.
They have to be cautious about that.
Hwaso peeks again.
They have to find a challenge deep inside T spawn.
He's got the advantage of the Galil versus what they brought to the table.
It's going to be hard.
They could just try to go through this if they want to, but they've got to kind of justify it.
Surely they're feeling corraled.
You can still smoke off the back lane, try to push the issue.
push the issue.
Wossol finds a pocket to play in, looks to peek off killer, Max has got him dead, Desert
Eagle dead with nothing.
Four pistols, they're the first two came from, they'll swing out that cave, Max 10's empty,
but the recovery's all good.
There is still a lot of damage dealt within the carnage of that, and so can S-Made's 30
health, be enough?
No.
No, Wosso peek peels and senses that smoke's occupied, and sure enough, 90, just kind of
forcing their hand into that B bomb site to convert the pistol for the second.
It's a small playground that B site and you know, even if again, they think it's being stacked
But they know the elbow players got spotted at least they're not also already jumping up heaven and starting the flank right away
They said if we go now, it's fine. We don't have to over complicate the situation. We saw two pushing around
But if the other players haven't made it over to B for the stack and they just got the info then
There's still a window of opportunity. I like when teams think like that
And this is what's supposed to be the farm round for 90.
Although Mossball has that M4, it was up front.
Mossball spots the challenge.
Ah, that's that gun down.
With it, so should the hopes of magic forced by in round three.
So swift and confident so far.
It's got shades of Mirage kind of written all across it.
And I think it is really going to kind of take an uptake out of Magic to stop 90s confidence from boiling over from that Mirage,
stop into this third net.
I think 90s should be just as confident on Ancient than they would have been on Mirage, if not more so.
And you give them that runway, you give them the chance to power up,
you give Mayer an opportunity to highlight his ability.
Again, career-highest LAN rating one map ago.
We've seen a lot of maps and that was definitely a life-game moment,
but it's just such a good sign for him that it's like in the rare playoff stage game in front of a crowd
that we see that Nines would get the opportunity to play with.
That's lovely. Now, we talked a lot about Moon back on the first map
and he was actually fantastic. Now we're CT side-ancient, he's going to be picking up and up.
It's time for him to play.
But Luchov, that's a second kill.
that you've lost the number over on B.
See, it feels okay that you come out 2-2 on traits,
but also the CT's a little pressure to make a move.
Osvald top of the ramp has got two guns trained on this peak.
And now he's dead with nothing.
Maybe Tensy catches Wap and no.
Mayer innings the headshot.
Smoke in front of the short lane,
but he doesn't wait for it to pop.
And so Max gets clipped,
and a Moon 1B3 is one kill in already.
Yeah, I don't know if he's really thinking about going for this.
We'll see.
He can walk it around,
But I think with the opposite, let's see.
I think he's coming in no-kit here.
Which is closer.
Doesn't see the cave set up.
Set up no-kit.
Yeah, no bomb at the 15 second point, no entry.
Maybe he catches a kill in cave, he could throw the Hail Mary at it.
This one is going to be the 4-0-9-Z start.
Again, good clash in middle.
You can see magic signing up for those fights, but it's the fact that the cane push dies that really just leads
90 to one of the two sides because if you're
Three versus three and you know you feel one off B already
Yeah, why not play the numbers that micro on that peak towards banana like the idea to go for the push could have been great
It could have been great
And they even started to leave a entirely to make sure they could lock it down on it on B
But what happened instead was sort of a shoulder that gave away his body
But didn't give him vision at first and all that happened was that got him killed and then we look at the 9z reps
They've got their win over miles like they're going to be way more confident at punishing those moves
Because they've already done it versus such strong teams
You'll catch the headshot as well onto moon and just like that
You'll have 90 storming towards the same site and a 4-0 g-side starting
It's a recovering issues
This ground is done before you realize and magic had brought something to the table to try to compete
But they'll they'll be left with sub $4,000 on most and I'm sure they feel like this game is in a
Refall, that's why I call them max never stop it because I think he literally did it for that one
Sometimes models can tell you different, but no, he was running the whole way.
There's a fast route that's as beautiful as it gets.
He's got to react to it, but the SMG finds the headshot. Good start for Magic at least.
No chance to answer back whatsoever, even when the bomb trails slightly behind to the same position.
So, they know there's no push inside of A-Main itself.
As Fade's in a fine position, he has a smoke to work with as well.
Every player on the map for magic seems to know how to cover this perfectly.
Because Svade's in a spot to cover any kind of window timing, all of Donut is cleaned,
and then the rest were over towards A, but 9z very wisely avoid this gambit.
Now, magic want to know that this is all totally clean.
Rotation's gonna come out, but we've seen this situation before.
If they don't get comfortable in the site, they can still lose multiple entries at once.
That's a lovely answer from the team that didn't have the expectation of making it into playoffs.
Starting a little slow in back-to-back maps, but in terms of how they read the map where they got the first kill, what they did with information, they kept moving it forward, clearly communication was still good.
good. Scary part about this game is they want to participate in the mid
engagements, but the Ninzee are so overwhelmingly confident that it feels
like they're getting out there faster, that they're crossing mid way too
quickly for Magic to deal with, and even though they like a little bit of chaos
themselves, it can't help but feel like they're worried about trying that again.
There's no doubt that it's gonna take more than just one round to put a real
dent in that 90 confidence. So stay alert.
Iron top box scoped in now has Mossball into the right side. Spots him as well.
At least that information goes both ways.
You got a spot. No one else is going to give a peek surely.
Throw a flash at it. That's a tough one for AWM.
That was a wall bang out of wassup.
Here's the field, they W. And the second folly of gunfire almost ends it.
Can't believe he did that much damage from so far away.
Look at this A positioning though, out of magic. Whatever they've sensed...
This is...
It's not real though, is it?
Not yet.
And they're flashing donut in, okay?
Bomb starting to trail this direction, Svade into the donut.
Tenty's grenade doesn't go deep enough to actually pop open Red Room,
and now they're gonna find Svade exposed, standing there,
prime for the taking, by Wasso P-10.
But you're right, the bomb doesn't go A, and AW is gonna confirm that.
Unfortunately low health, and so Wasso's body shot gets it opened up.
You've got Red Root control from Luchoff, confirming that Magic are on this scramble rotation,
and now they'll be lucky, desperate, to just get out of here with a save.
It's kind of a checkmate position. I mean, if they can kill Luchoff,
but they don't even know if another guy is coming out of mid.
Bomb gets planted safely. It's a perfect call.
A lot of good individual moments coming out of this,
Starting with Wasso, breaking open that donut smoke after Magic decided,
okay, it's time to start flanking B.
This is what 9-Z will ultimately want.
It was true until those flankers died.
Confidence of the read of the maps and the punish game is so strong here for 9-Z.
Magic are going to need some tricks, but the deck is stacked against them right now.
Unisplowing for Magic to maybe get a late
resurgence into this half, but
But the comfort that 90 have, and even this round where it does require a bit of back and forth, right, it's not an opening game plan that just sticks the landing, it's not that charge out middle for the 2K end on A in 20 seconds.
No, you had 90 thinking, the problem there for Magic is that 90 very sharp on this map, not around, it's a testament to it.
The double nape on Svade, just trying to position here in middle has now already gone up down to 50 health.
of that counter utility and they're actually banking on magic not being
scared of going from it so they're right about it
oh spotted real feel-out position here for 9z
They've kind of imposed their will on a few of these rounds,
but very aggressive about their map control.
And now I want to see what Magic do when they're giving some space.
Nynze would have seen that somebody was in that red room.
Will they consider it to be the AWP if anybody ends up crawling out middle?
And I mean, Magic, you saw that body, but now you still got to kind of keep the round active.
So we see this movement out through Donut. They're finding a ton of open space.
But this is all while Nynze climbed the commitment to the bomb site.
There's been so many midflanks, I feel like, even though this is coming out, you've got to be worried that eventually it's going to be washed.
We're going to smoke down top ramp. That's going to be a little awkward for Ninty to try to bust down.
We're getting this utility burned out of magic, but we also have this climb up.
And Ninty seemed numb the wiser to this kind of a mid push.
A certain vacancy that catches Wasso peek off guard.
Luchop's taking over the A site. This could scramble CT's back.
It's majority towards A for the moment.
90 gold, try to clear flank, and just feed a couple kills back the way of Magic.
Mazval on a smoke spade, it's meant to be covered, but this round just gets away from 90.
Another moment, just like the first one, Magic win, where all five players win.
They play it to just not be conditioned and they get mid control like they're looking for.
So the plant backfires a little bit, offering up some space almost to try to scare them
into not actually going for it, but they are just as quick about the flank.
quick about the flank. I thought they were going to be very reserved, and maybe the B site would get taken, then it would turn into a retake, but no.
Love to see that kind of play from Magic on the stage. Two CT rounds, half's not over.
We're looking for a close game to end this series, because both these teams haven't pressed us to get here.
And it would be a total shame if it was a shutout one way or the other.
Look at the simplify things again, setting themselves up outside this B site.
It's too far, I think they relied on that.
That was just all off the audio, has no idea what he's done.
Look at the rotation in for a moon, it's dead already, he's just going to drop a smoke in front of him.
It's going to cause AW to scramble, he will find at least his one.
And then Tenzi's catching Lucho.
Oh, the smoke got himself to double.
It's very low HP, and Mayeron's betting credible form,
but all he's got is this glott.
He's going to try to press into Mosvall,
and obviously loses.
What an awkward sequence at the end of this round
for Magic to find consecutive ones.
Yeah, just the middle of the site smoke.
And Mosvall did the audio that they
used to get into the site.
That was such a crazy good move out of Max.
Riding up the right side wall after hearing
that the jump spots have been cancelled, that was a real beautiful move out of them, but just completing and exacting is obviously the difficult part.
Now we can put a pin in it. Now Nimesi don't look as flawless as they did when they kicked off this map.
Yeah, and Magix are really into this half.
They built up a huge bank account in the process because of all that round loss bonus and the saves they pulled on.
They are giving themselves, melting themselves.
That was a fake, and the extra flash that came out, as they thought, weaved right in the middle of it.
That's that expert level utility that Ninesy have on this map.
It's a wallbang.
he's gonna press into A main.
He's got a bit of chip damage here on Max.
Mosvall activates, double kills his third, right there for the take-in.
Oh, he can't be stopped right now.
It's all him. He drums the bomb in the process,
but we've got a minute still for this clock to fizzle out.
Can Mosvall piece together anything else?
Because he's taking over the game for magic.
Clearly the frontrunner here on map three,
but the server's gone silent.
12 bullets, and he's taking a risk.
Sitting here in this position, obviously if you come and get cleared,
cleared. He has his flank being watched. He's separated from his teammate for now.
And if you're to trust one guy to be a renegade in a position, it would be him.
Sits here the whole time. Slow Creole up there stepping. He can sense it.
Foss balls, damage. 73 health back for Max into 1v2. And he'll have no idea where
AMW is coming in from. Max opts not to go for the bomb immediately. Tries to
He can't even believe that they're not playing off each other to go for the trade.
This will actually buy some time for AW and Max. He's going to look.
Oh, and he's going to pay.
Six help makes the difference.
Excuse me.
Mossball makes the difference.
Oh, yeah.
A crazy amount of individual level in these last two rounds.
And it's underscored by the fact that the site hit was good.
The timing was good. The mid-hit was good.
Good everything made sense up until they just got stopped by the raw firepower of Masvald
And his timing within that rapid right the way he throws himself up the CT lane
This is that opening kill a 5v3 established. Yeah, John pushes it to the 3v5 look at possible just swing and wide
Separating history from their hands and one another
Max aggro P, 6 health for AW.
The guy can clutch, we saw it back on ParaVision in that Budapest run, it's one of the things
that turned our heads.
It's kind of a gap that we thought maybe couldn't get filled once he was caught from that roster.
It's the first successful 1vx of this game, and it keeps magic on the heels of 9c who
who tiptoe into this round with an AK on TGT and nothing else really to work with.
It's better than he's gotta be careful, man.
Just trying to get a lot out of this jump spot.
We've already seen Nynze kind of creep in underneath his nose but down goes that single rifle.
He's gonna draw the pistols out towards mid and Moon will clean up.
On the retreat, just looking to hang on to this fight, V3.
It's gotta be so frustrating for Nynze that they continue to go for these plays.
But it only gets easier because they don't have that much money
Again magic not playing scared
Sponsor drop smoke
Calls rotation over and wasso peeks looking to come through. They stop watching. Okay. I think I am both sides
Honestly, I'm impressed. They're even watching that at all. It was such a fresh smoke. They got spotted at the end of it
Last kill comes out. Magic, this is kind of crazy now what they're doing. Five rounds on the CT side.
It's not going to be the prettiest round score in the world, but the fashion in which and the amount of rounds stolen away, and the fact that they look comfortable after the way that 90 won those early rounds.
That's going to be weighing on their minds.
You can see what's going to happen in this one. 19 out of the gate. Looked to rip this
towards the A site. Flashbacks already exiting through. Long. Tensy. He's got two targets.
Oh! I told you, crack it back! Snaps back out of the round. The boost over top of A.
They may know us, don't crack open this site.
But that donut smoke soon to fade.
These tees will replace it.
Bomb on site, worried about being challenged.
But Magic don't really bite down on that first fake.
There's any DP that was such a risk.
They couldn't watch that.
Now the full retake.
Maynard stuck up at the back of this site.
Guns, Spoker, Nates for Magic to play, Mayeron's position now known to the CTs.
Moswell wants to get the trade going. AW's feeling players off the main.
He's two kills into this.
It also puts a nail in the coffin.
At least Thinesy will find that final round win of the half.
Back out this snap.
He's meant to die here. I mean, he doesn't even notice that Max snuck by.
Looking down to Dodge Flashes, successfully completed that task.
Got his first kill, but that's where it was supposed to end.
7-5 on the half, it takes a bit of teamwork across the board for Ninesie as that one goes on.
This is about as good as the third map could be for these two squads.
We expect them, and as humans, coming in, playing a quarterfinal, being nervous, being
new, that's what we expect.
But after two maps of getting it all out, getting warmed up, now we're seeing their
higher-level gameplay. Two teams that greatly impressed us to get this
quarter-finals matchup and it's again almost a shame that they're matched up
against each other because 9Z did so well and of course magic.
Nice!
And I think it really was to get the last word right before a break to say
It's a two-round gap, it's not a tied half.
It's a CT side that could have been way better sure, but we're not going to think about that now.
We're the last victors.
It's like if you told Ninesi before this third map started, they'd be walking away with a 7-5 lead, they'd be happy with that.
It's just that it feels like they could have gotten more before Magic bounce back into it.
So I agree.
Important round, conclude the first half with an uptick, and now Waso beats it, meant to have found a blindside.
At least he kills Espey before Mosvall slides through him, Mosvall who will continue to be the best player on Magic Squad here on Ancient.
But behind that mid-play, behind that trade back and forth, all there is now for Ninesie is a smoke in red room and a question mark as to what the hell and who the hell could be on the other side of that.
The answer is no one.
Here comes the execute.
Magic's utility over top at Mayer and ahead of his smoker name.
He's got a chance off that flash, both blind, a little labored, but he gets there.
It's three deaths on the commitment here from Magic.
AW to another clutch attempt.
This is possible. He knows that. Mayer is super low.
Fresh magazine with a low health Mayer, and he's going to just dive on this,
but a nice reposition.
Mayer, mid the corner, gets away with it.
Majority of life for Nizee as their winning ways are starting to stem back through.
Also can't even believe mayor decided to cross back yet died that definitely could have been isolated 1v1's a backdoor exit out of the cave
And a new host of problems with AW who you know is gonna be confident in that class that's that it's mayor. Yeah
With three frags
The show the last map was not a complete aberration
They wanted that 75 lead to take the edge off for the pistol.
Okay, I bet you've got a disconnect, so I think we're just going to restart this round.
A little bit of time to think, you know, you don't necessarily want it to all of this
moment.
Trying to stay present should be good, but maybe magic.
to give them an extra custom motivation to revisit the idea that maybe they didn't expect to be in playoffs,
but now that they're just eight rounds away from actually closing out the third map,
that they could do something that seems impossible.
And for AW, someone who knows that it is, he did the Budapest run back with ParaVision out of nowhere.
And you know some of the times he's going to be talking to his teammates and telling them
There's no reason not to believe
Feels like if he can just kind of worm his way into Mausvald's mind right now keep this 12 and 9 performance going
Somebody's got to be the driving force for Magic to reclaim the lead.
Because what we haven't had here in the third map is another takeover out of Mayer.
It's better than some of the individual levels we've had throughout this week.
You find Wasso Peak and Luchok towards the top of that.
So it just feels like there's a chance here for anybody to seize this moment.
Because why we can sit here and talk about the parallels between these teams
these teams and their discomfort here on the big stage. They have had very different weeks leading
up to this moment. A 3-0 clear by Ninzee with victories over top of Falcons, over ParaVision,
and yet you get magic kind of crawling out of the dungeon from a 0-2 start to just get this chance
on playoffs with no knowledge as to whether this will ever happen again for them. What I love
for 9Z is that it wasn't born of a total collapse of their opponents, it was born because they
crushed their opponents with incredible and sustainable looking gameplay. Like a fully
fledged 9Z where their tactics and strategy finally looked totally tier one and that they
didn't actually look like the underdog in either matches. So they don't care again, post-match
tweet after 9Z beat them and then just they played insane. That was the fact when you went and watched
that game. Here, even though they give away Dust 2, they make up for it. Even closer to
this win now.
So you just hope that they don't lose sight of it.
Go back to that Dallas run for 90 and you think, you know, feels great to beat Vitality
on the group stage to start your playoffs in semis, but then you just get trounced by
G2 and it's over before you even realize it and you can't help but wonder. Yeah
What would they rather be struggling in this quarterfinal today in the first map trying to fight for it to power up and try to get into that momentum?
Surely even if this isn't the 2-0 they would have hoped for
It had to be stewie and Dallas and now it's to be moon in Astana
What other
Unforgiving storyline must they have to go up against it next but yeah with that even being that long ago
but that also being, you know, the first big chance, it's a, you know,
it is a moment where you don't necessarily expect them to win.
You're already impressed that they got there.
And now it's just where the expectations start to seep in a bit.
And I think that's how, you know, you see a dust choose go like that.
I think it's just such a classic story.
You know, again, you talk that group and then playoffs kind of falls out beneath you.
You come here, you go 3-0 and to be defeated by the team that would go 0-2 and grind back
It'd be such a disheartening kind of curse that 9C would probably feel like they've got on now.
So now Esfade's got to come up with an incredible game plan.
Bringing this back on T side versus a team that's already taken out two very strong opponents recently on Ancient.
They have an outstanding overall record and are in the lead.
And to do so with Tech 9's on Majority, this is all they can afford here in the 14th.
90 on the brink of double digits, and they can just bust down these tech nines, and we sing the praise of magic sometimes with these awkward buys.
To pull off the unthinkable, is to play with magic, and Lujov inside of K will be the first victim of S-Fade Tans himself.
Double down note from HwasoP. He sees the shadow confirming AW, who is now just working with Mosfal.
These are two hard hitters for Magic, and one of them disappears back into the unknown of A-Name.
There is plenty of time still for Magic to try to figure this one out.
Max is looking to punish a timing, and if, you know, elbow isn't taken up, then it's a very long road around.
Obviously, he can try to meet them here.
That just very possibly walks by Mosvall, but...
All he's done here is wait.
Yeah, at the end of the day, Magic... Max, excuse me, has his priorities correct.
He doesn't really need to worry about cave. He just needs to cut off the rotation
But the same is still true and that may or could ultimately also walk into the same corner unbeknownst
But no, you'll keep his head on a swivel figure that out and now you know what a w was up to yeah
He had his head on straight this entire time and
Probably even told his teammate that they might be locking into cave already and it doesn't matter give him that
Let's see how happy they all are as they seal up this anti-force by its 9 rounds for 9z.
But there's still an X factor in this next one. Magic have opted to spend Espade's money.
He puts his AK in the hands of Tenzi. And AW will be playing with a second set of Kevlar as well, just in case.
We'll see if things start to exchange hands. Magic continue to try to keep things unorthodox.
Just as Nynze, like you said, looked like they're on the brink of a celebration.
You don't want to be caught off by something awkward, but killing Tensy out of the gate with that rifle,
I mean that just spells disaster here for magic.
You needed to get value out of each of the pieces you dropped off and you're going to fight nothing.
You think you're going to walk down through that smoke and not be watched?
I don't think so, because Nynze you're powering up into this victory,
starting to play with a little more confidence, get off of that bombsite,
bomb site and really kind of stuff magic tricks back into their hat
The in the bottom line is that even though those five rounds that magic brought back almost each of those situations
Ninesie made a good round of it and then someone shined through individually mass fall
Back-to-back situations was so strong, but as a team there's no doubting Ninesie for now
For anything it's a one dig for him
One more and we can talk about a 1v4, but that's not going to happen.
Luchov disposes of Moon. They go on to 10.
And the buy will come back for Magic.
Still room for both.
Right now Moon would love to be trying to find more impact,
But bottom of the scoreboard here at heroic moments back on dust to hit the ground running
Has fallen back into the shadows as the series continues, but waiting for this by was magic
Up the lane
DGT's gonna lock in one side AW kills Luchov. Mosvall's a great distraction
Max is looking to come out on top, but instead it's both Mosvall and AW low and walking away with three kills between them and open
A site for the taking. They win out on that duel and the game goes on.
I love that they're willing to beat in middle once again. It's both these teams.
They love sticking heavily going for it and I know 9-Z were very confident they were going to win
on trades and flashes as they were a bit better on T side. I'm also not surprised Magic could
keep up with them even though they're low. No chance here for Mayeron to get anywhere near this.
Back to so confidently done, they're going to start expanding across the map to try to
hunt them down.
Worst thing you can do right now for Magic is just kind of shell up in this game.
So to see AW and Mosvall again, just kind of find that tethering out middle from the
elbow to the climb-up,
lighting tooth and nail for those trades and walking away effectively with a
sixth round win. That lead gets cut down to four and it's not like Nines here
standing on the finish line.
Ten-six is a reclaimable lead if you are magic.
Keeping the op-ed play means that the buy is actually pretty healthy without it.
It would be a bit more debatable.
A bit more dubious here for 9z, but that's a pretty big advantage going up against Magic once again.
Now of course, this one came down to Rivals at mid.
And the utility for DGT, he'll get caught trying to transition out, 10 c's to 1, and it's died.
And that stayed up that lane. Now Magic have momentum, now they've got something.
They feel like they have a way back in with the way they just tapped right back into that mid-success from the run, one round prior.
That was terrifying, because, ooh, wait a second,
talk about terrifying.
Okay, he won't escape.
Oh, and Max doesn't get this kill.
No chance at that retake.
And a confidence with victory inside of mid.
It's the Molotov and the Flashbangs that are perfect.
So, outdoing 9Z on utility, meeting them on the trades,
two rounds back to back where they steal mid control away,
and now they flush out all the bank accounts as well.
It was a hard fight battle back into that first half, down by 5-0.
Their first three round wins by DeFuse, just a real testament that 9Z kept those tests coming round after round.
Magic lose the second pistol.
But now stringing two together and like you said, bottoming out bank accounts really opens the door for Magic.
Just don't make any critical mistakes.
And sometimes easier said than done.
Accident jump throw, this flash.
They're still just waiting really far back.
Don't you dare give a rifle over. You hear the stomping as the CTs go through that swing.
We're gonna get counter-util here from magic. They want to try to reclaim middle.
But 90 just as quickly as they went for that peek are gone.
like ghosts moving into that A site instead it's still a stack that they
hope to get away with but we'll see where magic end up. Kind of tiptoeing their
way through the middle of the map. Moves gonna be under pressure, not a time to
start missing shots and giving over map control but they are still taking a look
at this site. There are pistols here in spades and while you would believe in the
got advantage every day of the week. That looming threat at 35 seconds. Now the
bomb starts to realize this is too uncomfortable and as it peels away you
keep all of 9Z preoccupied. You have found the solution. That open key bomb
site. Magic play the clock all the way down to the final 20 seconds but it's a
great way to at least keep hopefully for them four players alive and put that
pressure right back on 9Z. Kept them occupied actually in better you know
9Z's better interest either fully talk and make sure they don't show anyone
want to invite them in to a trap or go for it with the push once they left mid
obviously it's very hard to get into extremity positions really have a
convincing looking pistol setup and magic to a great job of scouting really
liking as fades like read of the map but when it's you know in this series
overall so really shown that the preparation for the team goes beyond
their level. And after two very smooth-looking victories on the mid control
takes they have a solid anti-eco to follow and just like in the first half it
looked like it was gonna be easy for 9z suddenly the story changes again after a
good start.
He's got it.
You rebuke your rewards.
You convert those rounds,
but now 9z back in with buys.
Should be a challenge to come.
What got you through the guns of 9z
where those back to back mid clashes
with AW tethering off of Espade
and Mosvall.
Is it gonna be that easy?
Can you just continue to rinse and repeat one opening move?
But at 9-Z try to change up the game here in round 19.
Right now there's one off on the field in its moons.
Problem is, it's been coming off quite empty.
Yeah, and with the style of play they're bringing, like the last few rounds,
he's not going to get a lot of action.
But eventually that will change.
There will be more mid-play.
The difference being, 90 don't sign up to this engagement, so they're just kind of looking to forfeit a little control,
play out a longer round, give Magic something else to try to solve, right?
This is a new puzzle. You don't get two opening kills in the bottom of middle, and then roll that towards a bomb site.
There's not a certain simplicity to this one. Magic will have to try to find a different answer.
Sort of a new test for Magic, you know, and then, funnily enough, even though you get this space for free,
Maybe it doesn't mean that the round gets easier, I mean I don't know who for who, like everyone.
That was from all the way to the cave side, it blinds both ends of that, S-Fades preoccupying those players, and if they can't move, there's nothing they can do!
Oh, now it's an issue, you don't have a kit for this, you might not even have players left to try to defuse, but yeah, it is a 3v3 and the bomb will get planted.
You need it, Bat. You get that kill on the cave player, all of a sudden there's no free up rotate, CTs could still consider it a loon on the line, he lands that.
It's Max gonna be tagged down to 13 health.
I'm not sure if 90 if it makes sense to even try it.
Wow, it's scary, but they're getting past the AWP.
It's dangerous games, but with those two upshots ringing out,
they still pushed into the bombsite.
AW pressured, but still comes out with the double.
Oh, this gets so expensive for 90.
Three kills to AW.
Another big moment, and while he may die to the flank here,
so be it.
20th frag found, and only one round the gap.
I mean, everything in your body is telling you,
go for this to 3v3 situation. We're early enough that maybe it won't come down to a 10 second stick,
but solo utility, absolutely no money left over. It's hard to say that it's a justified attempt,
especially without easily that the A site was taken. Not really enough information on where
everyone was. Oh, and Luchov stays alive, gets a kill at the very end to make that a little
expensive for Magic, but that was more important that Ninesie saved anything. Take by now.
Somewhat. EGT gets a gun and he's also not having a great game while he has had a great event.
It all starts with confidence, the way they took over middle in the back to backs, the way that they push these pistols out of existence.
And now in the most recent round, find a solution with that A main exit.
Svates picked up a lot of responsibility in these last two, just kind of being the guy on lane.
We saw him, eat that flashbang, damn near died to cave.
And if he doesn't hold that off as long as he does, who knows if the retake comes out.
Well, right now we get these utilities trickling him to B alone.
Once again, a lot of responsibility on that side.
With Nairn losing his angle out middle, the Pistols try to push to Nolodale.
It is Tenzi with the double shutdown.
Max is gonna activate and as he pushes out through cave you find that one kill on B
But again, it's gonna be magic to just move this into that A site to what seems like no resistance
Mayer and scout dead and the hopes of 90 keeping magic out of this tight match are now near non-existence
Yeah with that second pistol to 7-5 it felt like they've done everything they need to
To make this easy, but it's anything
But another come back in the second half year for magic and I'm not looking at this like a collapse out of 90
This is magic totally taking it from them
The way they're calling the way that they're taking mid control is so convincing
It doesn't even feel like there's much else 9z could do differently
They have to come up better on multi kills
And right now they're under the maximum amount of pressure to do so
All square at 10 apiece.
Anyone's game.
A full buy to see if they can stop magic from taking a lead on ancient.
Every time out still remaining for them.
As if they have been winning this entire time.
It's the shake up 90.
Isn't the face of losing those two mid clashes?
You shelled up a little.
You tried to think that maybe magic would kind of trip up.
If things got a little more complex.
Do you at this point try to tap back into your own ferociousness and throw something
at them?
I mean, you know for the moment, S-Fade continues to play outside of cave on his own.
That feels to me like a liability.
Like a chance for maybe a lower ramp push to catch that kill.
But it's going to take something brave out of 90 to go for that kind of gamble,
especially as Magic rack off what is now this five round streak.
They want mid every single time. They just lose it.
Tensy takes innate damage out through the smoke. That's bravery.
Wassopeak steps out, blind is a bat, finds the headshot, and now we're gonna get this doubling up inside of A main.
Bomb is in the background. Oh, Mayer, you cannot miss these shots, and yet here we are again.
Like a broken record, on repeat, this guy just can't land the pass, fate lines up too.
The teammates around Mayer try to make the difference, as his off does at least get one, but it's Luchoff to close it.
The Chordia live, and 9-Z reclaimed the league.
It's the same exact look, taking on mid control,
this time winning their opening engagement,
making it feel like they were giving up the space
like they did one brown previously.
Instead, they coordinate, they push through the smoke,
clean pick off, get back out of there.
And even though Marin misses,
they have a 5v4 over towards Zayn.
They have the rotations.
They still had their donut player,
and it was Magic who were wondering,
Should we just continue with the game plan, but without that kill we were looking for at first.
Old fast moves out mid, straight to the lane take, Tansy's gonna find Wasso on the fallback, but it's not aggression.
DGT tries to take control of the situation, him and Lutron firing back, Tansy and Max.
As all of a sudden we go 2v2 and that bomb sensing an opening.
Come on, Mayern, you've got him all the time in front of you, because he's low health,
He's got to give up this angle at least a bit of it flashbang blinds him bomb plant commitment moon's hands
Oh, it's a second attempt and Marsfall doesn't come on but a missed off shot for mayor
And so all the sudden 90s 12th round back under question moons got the post plan
It's gonna fall back into a main
But he picks it at a perfect moment and may your in between the two only they have one of these kills
the Molly could have stopped the other.
The defuse could come down,
but instead now it's a massive risk.
It's one fake, it's a burning mausoleum,
it's a slow move by Moon.
And as the fire goes out,
now Mayer and Crystal headshots huge,
but as he tries to get back on,
bombs at six seconds and played with by Moon,
that's magic!
Tag at 11, and the dreams still alive!
We're going into round 23, all tied up.
It comes down to the wire,
Trades every single step of the way
An unlikely hero in moon to contribute with his lot finally needed
Because it's rifles to deal with mid tensy getting a second kill on this bush was insane. Oh
Oh and mayor could have stopped the bomb right there in its tracks a free shot dropped
And another moment for Tenzi.
Push comes through.
They get the opening kill.
And even without it last round.
They still took down Ninezi.
Are they readying the same A push?
I see, this is a question they have to ask themselves.
Play Smoke to window to threaten map control.
Max has brought reinforcements here.
I'm just playing it confidently.
They got to kill.
Again, trying to just bank on their rightful work.
That was huge.
A little bait from behind.
That window player with a rightful, spanning.
Got a smoke for GGT, but he still gets a duel before it pops.
Big sweep, and it's AW again!
Oh, hit him!
This guy thrives in pressure while the other one crumbles.
And to support AW in his recovery within this round
is Moon on the other side.
He nails it, and Magic secure OT!
And Moon's on his feet, yelling at him.
Mayeron had a chance to stop the bomb.
This break transfer for AWM, he had full vision.
From career high to career low on this map.
DGT puts all the work in and then some.
Talk about vengeance for AWM.
From the chopping block of para-vision
to the brink of semi-finals in Dastan's country.
One more good call for Esfade, and that is all it'll take.
You know he has the soldiers right now. Everyone's delivering the entries.
There's been no reason to try to divert away from this A site.
Finally, 9Z decide to make a move, but look how far removed they are.
And because magic, they tend to go in late, even though you have this bit of map control, you can't know for sure.
As you do a great job of the pause in the action, making the correct call, their blocking
vision, it still has the shape of an A-play, but you can see that idea is expanding live.
You have a rotation now for Tenzi.
You might actually be covering their tracks perfectly.
Slow approach and only one piece of utility at a time.
Magic put the pressure on and Nynzee react with a smoke at 30 seconds.
Got something a little different looking.
30 seconds.
Nynzee are sweating.
Nynzee are also damn near without utility.
A couple of flashes on Mayeron.
This third piece meant to support this A site.
Magic play down to the wire.
29th place forward, DGT is dead, empty-handed, and here comes that CT activation.
Wasso's dead.
It all falls on a rotation, S-Fade, back-turn to him.
And with Max now, faced by utility and a bomb plant,
he is operating without a quit, Kit.
This is a magic that started 0-2 in the groups, finds themselves in front of 90 on the big stage,
And as Max's retake starts to move forward, he can find nothing!
We are witnessing something spectacular in Astana!
Don't you dare call it a miracle! This is magic!
It could have been either team celebrating its your jubilation here.
And we would have been celebrating right back.
But magic, the more unlikely squad, halfway through ancient,
surviving losing that second pistol.
T side come back, going up, toe to toe against the game plan of taking middle, and the final
call, the most complicated and ambitious, using the clock like they did back on map
1.
That took everything out of them to make this happen.
I don't think that this is just because it's 9-Z in quarters that they lost.
No, this was high level, high strength game play, and they lived to impress in front of
this crowd.
Well the crowd is on their feet and that was one hell of a game.
Guys, make some noise for Magic!
Now I've got to look at this though, first time on stage it looks like yeah you can have
some nerves or some different feelings in there but in the first map you guys seemed
really comfortable.
Talk to me about that game what you guys went through.
I don't know we just trained for Daz, we know that they picked Daz and we just trained
and we win them.
But on Mirage they just, they antistratas and that's all.
A lot of stacks and they're playing very good.
Esfaib, for you, we heard about your sleepless nights, the preparation,
that anti-stratton you must have done on Dust2 obviously had big improvements for your team,
But then why did it go so wrong that you couldn't climb your way back to fight in the same way on Mirage?
It didn't look like the normal magic we saw fight back in the groups.
We had a different dynamic, we had a high intensity, so we quickly threw the game away, because he felt the dynamic very well after the pause.
I understood that we were already going to 3B, but there was nothing to do. We played worse than before, so the guys were great.
But we were sure that we would play well, we were ready for it and we were ready for the decision.
Thank you very much for your support, guys.
I play for the first time on such a big stage and it happens in Kazakhstan.
I like everything, I like the people who are here, I like the culture of Kazakhstan.
And I don't even know what else to add, because emotions fill me up, it's just incredible.
and our opponent just bring the best on the Mirage.
And the engine was pretty easy.
So... pretty easy?
No?
It wasn't easy.
No, it was actually not easy on the engine,
because we threw away the starting dynamic of the game,
so we had to come back with very heavy rounds,
but we were ready for it.
So we throwed the start of the game,
And they had to put the fight on.
They had to put the fight on, and they did it in style.
The Moon, I saw you standing up, getting hyped.
You were not having maybe the best individual game,
but you didn't give up.
You were even shouting over at 9Z.
Were you just feeling it?
Were you starting to see the belief that you could get that win?
I'm feeling very good.
We are just playing rounds where I am support,
and I'm always just holding everything,
and I'm helping for my teammates, and they're fucking everyone.
I like it, bro.
I don't care about the start.
I don't care about the start, if the team is waiting.
Yes, one sec.
The last thing I want to say is thank you very much to my team for fighting until the end,
as we are talking about it, none of them even touched the most difficult moments of the game.
Each of them is incredible, thank you very much for this time.
Thank you to my teammates, they've been standing still during the whole of the match and been performing so great.
I'm very thankful for them.
I would agree with that and I'll let Moon say it one final time, out to your crowd, out to your people.
And there you have it, through to the semi-finals.
It's Moon, it's Espey.
It's my team!
At the start of this game, I stood here and I said, would it not be much like a movie?
The magic of this team, at their third ever land, coming here, having Moon in their team.
His first time on a big stage in front of his home crowd.
Imagine the magic if they made it through to the semi-finals and play with his dark sad heart said to me
It's just a movie. That's not real. Well, you're living the movie now. How does that feel?
Well, I got a humble pie and I'll gladly do so and you know
Sometimes life does imitate art and this was indeed the case
I really didn't believe they were able to bounce back on map number three
Especially after the beatdown on their mapping with Prof. They had heart man
They never said die and for 9z a hell of a nightmare, but for magic
What a day for these five kids how fantastic team performance to lose both pistols on this on this map
And to be so down to have to do go eight one toward the end of that path on the T side to make the comeback
I just want to say like S fate what has so much sauce this guy has so much sauce the calling that he can pull off as soon as
Because the openings are there, and we saw in this game, the mid-control 4-9-Z was not
working out on the CT side.
They had to pull out, they had to let mid be magics, and S-Fade used that so well.
The rotations, the poking and the prodding, and then AW, I want to give him credit as
well.
He kind of flew under the radar at this whole tournament.
The ability from this guy to get a crucial double kill spray down out of weird scenarios,
insane.
remembering that he was cut from Paravision not so long ago, that Paravision's not in the playoffs, that he is, and now he's in the semis. What a fantastic story.
Yeah, how do you like him, Apples, right? But look, honest to God, like, this is an ancient from 9-Z, where when they went up against Maus, for example,
they were just destroying them towards mid-Maus, really, weren't able to kind of handle the 9-Z force, but here, they were forced to respect magic.
They were forced to give up mid and be like, alright, we can't contest this all the time. And then, like you pointed out, Prof, the moment they get this opening picks,
opening picks which they weren't able to find in Mirage, but they were able to find
on Dust2, they found it here on Ancient, the way they're manipulating the rotations and
just calling the right side time and time again. Credit where it's due. And so yeah,
for Magic, the biggest surprise of the tournament. I thought it was going to be 9-Z, the biggest
surprise of Magic right now. That kind of won me over.
I do think it's also important to highlight the fact that in that second half, this wasn't
about 9-Z dropping off. Magic just found another gear and bought it to the table. That's an
important one as well because it shows that there is a bit more depth to this roster than
maybe people have given them credits.
Yeah, I mean, I think they just came out much more clutch
in these rounds in the 2v2s, 3v2s towards the end.
We saw Mayern being in quite a few situations,
never managed to make that step up,
make the difference in the rounds
while the guys on 9-Z, no, I mean on Magic did.
Even in the first half, I wanted you to give credit for that
because this comeback wouldn't be possible
without the recovery in the second half on the CT side.
First round, S-Fade classic in his style,
makes a mid-push, gets a backstab, and then after that,
Massvaal with back-to-back, multi-kill rounds on the defense
in situations where it seems like 9z has this,
and he just shows up with a double or triple kill.
Yeah, I do feel like after they had that massive lead in the first half,
it felt like they were a little bit left on the foot of the pedal,
a little bit for the side of 9z,
and credit where it's due for Espey to punish them for it.
We now say goodbye to the South American team.
James is with their coach to hear what they have to say.
Thank you very much, Sam, and thank you very much, Bit, for joining us to talk through this one.
I want to first start just looking at, for some of your players, it was the first time stepping onto a stage
and being able to go through these emotions after an incredible group stage.
I would say, like, the beginning 70% of Dust2, we didn't see the same team shooting fire in the back,
we didn't see what the same energy. What were you seeing from behind you?
Yeah, I think that's true. We just, we're pretty off, to be honest, when the match finished, I went to the back stage and talked to the guys about it, because we cannot play, like, I think we were too calm, you know, and that's not how we play.
When you are always fighting, always trying to be proactive on the map and trying to do stuff based on the information, based on what we want to do, and taking it such a thing.
And I think the first map was probably the worst we played with this team, but I think we came back stronger for the second map. It just didn't work.
Benz asked about the fact that they are two players, they never played on stage before, and what happened on Dust2.
What does Benz say? That they didn't play their games, they usually play much more aggressive, much more proactive, and try to be the first opponent.
But this time they didn't succeed, their attitude was too calm, compared to what was usual.
They started to come back into the game and just the ideas that the team was having and
maybe not having the right reads on the situation.
I think we had good reads to be honest.
The first two games we fought with five guys almost and they just killed us and then we
tried to play a bit more passive and in the end we won the round, played more passively
but then we tried to aggressive again and did more.
Yeah, it happened sometimes.
I think we had good reads,
but maybe we're not too sharp in the video
as we were in the last two, the last three matches.
And I feel like I was very disappointed after those two,
but I think the semi-third map, it was more like 9-Z
and yeah, I think they also played good.
James asks about how easy it was to read his opponent, how well they prepared and understood what their opponents were doing.
And he says that they had good reading of the opponent, they understood everything perfectly.
There was not enough of an old skill. Every time they adapted to the opponent, the players began to get much stronger.
In general, it was not possible to find your game at all.
forward rolling up into next events and the bootcamp preparation you have before you get
into the major?
I mean, I hit my, I think we missed a huge opportunity this playoffs, but I mean, I think
that's just the way, we just have to think that maybe this is going to work to get better
for the major, that's mainly how to pick the most, so I think it's going to be a very
good reason because maybe we can go down here but maybe we can pick up the
major length from here and do better so let's let's think this way post-year
and yeah I think we're in a good path how do we know we had here it was not
like it was not just one way you know it I think we have a good chance to go in
They learned the measure after this. Let's work for it.
Bid says it won't be a shame for him to lose such a huge opportunity for his team.
He will continue to play in the playoffs and get more opportunities to go up to the Major.
Because Major is coming soon and he hopes that their current form will give them the opportunity to move further and win the Major.
Thank you all for always playing. We are very happy with the campaign here.
It's not going to be today, but we are still working hard.
Next month we will see the Major and we will do our best. Thank you.
on the semi-finals of PGL Astana.
The worst they can do is a fourth place finish here.
And you have to paint the VRS picture now,
because for a team like Magic,
this is about to set them up to be in such a good position
when the season starts next year.
They're going to be high on that list.
It's gonna get them the invites to bigger tournaments.
It's a step in the right direction
if you wanna move yourself up the ranking.
Yeah, I mean, there are some invites
coming started next month, right?
and they're just going to skyrocket upwards
after this kind of a result.
And they are obviously a team that didn't make the major,
unlike 9-Z, that have something to look forward to
in this season for them.
This is their Super Bowl.
This is the biggest event that they have,
maybe even this year.
Who knows if they're ever going to play a game like this.
Whoever they play tomorrow on the stage
is just going to be a great experience.
Yeah, for sure.
And especially for a lot of us,
myself included coming to this event,
you know, you look at magic of prep and for this team.
You're like, yeah, I've seen this guy
in some of the online results when they do some lot of research and whatnot, but not a team,
you're really expected to do much in all honesty, Prof. No one expected to even...
I personally had them going 1-3 in the Swiss system.
They were 2-0 at one point. Let's be fair, 9-Z was undefeated through the group stage.
Magic was down two games at one point. We had written them off.
And that goes to show they're just a mentality, the resilience they have to go from
0-2-3 in our Swiss system. Sure, some of the opposition wasn't that great, but it doesn't
It doesn't matter. You did your job. And then here, when it looks like it's done and dusted,
you're like trailing, what, 10-5 or something, and you mount a comeback like that.
It wasn't just fluke gimmicky counter-strike. There's some solid CS being played by them.
Kudos to you. So no matter what happens tomorrow, they should be very, very happy with what they've pulled off so far.
I think that they're going to be happy just making the playoffs. They've said that themselves.
But obviously now, when you taste victory on a stage, Prof, there's some dreaming that's going to happen tonight.
I wouldn't know anything about that.
Okay, I think Victor is on a stage, not something I've done.
I haven't.
I mean, it's not going to be dreaming though.
He doesn't sleep, clearly.
That's true.
He takes naps, 30-minute naps.
That's all he gets.
Michael sleeps.
I did love, obviously, you heard it during that accident of you.
The crowd starts getting loud because Molodoy walks to the stage.
You hear them cheering Molodoy.
And then I was reminded of the Budapest Major, and you'll remember this with Maus.
Obviously, they had the Hometown Hero, but when they went up against FaZe, the crowd
completely turned on Mars, they're shouting for Molodoy and then Kerrigan
gets on the stage and the chant changes and that's something that it was very
clear that the crowd was on Magic side for this last game but I am curious to
see where they lean in a few minutes and how that's going to play out. I mean
Nico, Monace, can I have to give them at least at least a bit of love you know
when they come on the stage I think it's gonna be you. It was only Kerrigan
That was what they were cheering.
It's a carriagant effect, babe.
I mean, this is first Arena playoffs in a new green jersey.
We just saw him going out there.
First all year as well.
Oh, that's probably true.
Probably we didn't see him with FaZe in the playoffs
since the Budapest Major.
So everyone is excited for that prospect.
That's going to be the big one.
And of course, Magic is going to be watching this very closely.
Do you think, and I'm curious what you think,
when you look at Magic's playstyle
and then you look at these two teams,
Who would they be hoping to match up against in the semi-finals?
Ooh, that's a tricky question.
I would say... I'd actually go the way...
I know this might sound weird, I might actually go the way of Falcons, I think.
I also think so.
Yeah, the rather play Falcons is kind of like a newish team,
even though it's just an ideal change, but it's a big change, right?
They're switching on everything.
I mean, we don't know how Falcons will look on the stage,
but previously on the stage, they could be a bit shaky,
they can lose some weird rounds,
and that's the kind of rounds that Magic loves to play.
Fair enough. Okay, guess what's gonna happen?
We're gonna take a break that is an opportunity for you to go and phone your girlfriend phone your boyfriend and let them know
That you're not available for the rest of the day because something very important is going down
And you need to be in front of your screens or here in the arena to watch it falcons versus furia up next
She said she loves you, but she can't love me, but I love you
I
Won't play window anymore
The human body was built to roguer.
Not try to test in one single posture for 12 hours a day.
It's time your chair evolved. This is Secret Lab Titan EVO.
Ergonomically engineered for you, gamers, hybrid workers, artists, and back in every move.
Cash has been back added to Counter Shriver. Will he get it to the competitive map pool?
I'll be talking to some of our players here and I've got Torsi with me. What stands out
for you maybe as a moment you remember on the map from other tournaments from other players?
I mean I think obviously simple and I think the other one is the Rain Clutch, the 105.
I think these two definitely also boost from Shroud. You know, I mean there is many good
highlights from this map and yeah but if I have to highlight one probably
simple on the major. I mean for example it was two that's coming to my mind the
first one is the typical one that is the simple the the clutch when he just went
down heaven and he killed the last one without a scope and for example the
finally in the Moclan from Red that he was playing in the forklift every
seeing around he was getting three or four kills each round probably this map is the map that I have
the most highlights on I believe so but yeah I mean obviously the highlights with Eagle were
one of my favorites of all time and I'll probably choose I think the one versus Titan was you know
maybe more legendary because he was the first and it was a very very long time ago but I think
against FaZe was actually in an important tournament on B-side so yeah it brings back good memories so
hopefully I'll be able to you know do some some the usuals again there. I have one favorite one
it's a I was playing for herazers that day and not sure about opening but it must be Fnatic
and if he would have won that map we were going to the last top eight for the quarter final of the
major and we beat 16, 2 or 3 or something and because you know I was like not experienced
person in that time I was like kind of like a newbie but our assistant coach Amiran now
he's like doing managing things for the Navi he just said to me bro we can do it you know
I was stepped down from the game because it was 1-1 and I was like man we had a chance
We could have been on the second map as well and now how are we gonna win it?
You know, they got the confidence and stuff and he was like saying bro
I know these things like you really can win we can win still and no he just
Approached me he talked it to me like for a 10 minutes. I didn't part of the
Team talk and we just just stepped in the server and it was 6 in 3 that we won the map
Oh, I was like, bro, you were right
And like you you taught me a lot of things right now and that's why that day and that cash came
And I never forget it was in London 2018. It must be there's two things
I remember remember at some point because we're losing some cash games before we're making fun
They would call me falling veto cash like something like that
Yeah, it was actually a lie as at some point
But and also I remember when Fox from Portugal was playing with us
Well, there was a fun clip when he was saying give me boost give me pussy in Portuguese Portugal
more of Brazilian Portuguese and it was very funny first of all I want to say they should keep gravity
Yeah, of course. I think it's not right this moment and this guy hyped this game a lot, so he deserved it for sure.
I agree.
And you asked also about more highlights.
Yeah, if you've got something that stands in your mind that you remember.
Yeah, Hiko, with Tec9.
Niko when he clashed on top of A site, it's like, I think Kynia is also like these wallbangs
from A main for top of heaven I guess. Also NBK sprays, that's why NBK sprays, yes, so
it's really a lot of memories on Hela, so awesome.
I love the fact that you know so many of these, that's great. Belsenhoek, thank you
very much and I agree with you, we should get Simples Graffiti back on the map, it's
only right, so Valve, you know what to do.
I
Wally's good smoke coming down
Destruction
Oh so fly very masterful shut up
So blind, everyone.
So blind.
Oh, you're blind again!
Zalex!
Swing!
And he's on for the ace!
Zalex just gets mopped up straight away as he rounds the corner.
This is an Aurora round.
Diffuse attempting.
Wait!
JL with the cover!
Highline at right.
Jail scrapping and Torsche looking down the barrel of this hole.
Oh, that's a lucky play.
Torsche, why stop there?
Sampias is living on borrow time and that time's expired and another 4k from Torsche.
I don't like that worse.
Oh.
It will.
Now, I'm honestly looking for the refrag, Baxite has just enough time.
Bomb plants, oh, firms that he's there, he's going to sit on this position and end it through
the round.
Four kills to his name, he runs through that molly and does find the cave player, he go
No, able to shut him down.
Emas dead, climbing up through heaven.
You've been able to claw this one back.
There's 2v4 and it was 2v2.
And you've got the bomb planted.
Niko, low on health, doesn't care.
Oh!
Absolute mission.
Ugly spray for Tessus.
One more where that came from.
Is it too late?
Apparently not.
Yes, UK has kept the dream alive,
but now a chance of that plant.
Suke just staying gun on the lead plant for monosy
Easily done the double or post bar 2v5 4k from here suitcase
Come on cancel it
There's still time for you can just cancel it
All the way deep.
Oh, he hit four!
It'll have to be Uri to try to clutch out 1v2.
X-Flight's hands busy.
Uri opts not to jump out through the window immediately.
But this is 52 health for Nylo.
And he is sitting back by bench now.
Uri's got to figure out where he's at.
Oh!
Oh, he's tied up!
Uri!
The time is a big problem.
Ten seconds left, one kill in the right place!
That's it!
And you can win this!
Doc is just out in the open, looking for duels as he dies,
and that is why.
The bomb has been picked back up,
and we can see the damage that's been done
on all the fury of players.
Clean up on the bomb site.
The way he's just out here swinging.
Taster Auto could still deal with this, if not for Doc.
Ah, nice distraction.
Offers up the Molotoi blind side.
Nice shot.
Chiro's got the recovery under Waze.
Drops down pistol in hand
Giving more and more time for your kid art shiro. Oh, you get the kill light side. Oh, you messed it up. Oh, no
It's what multiple players coming up in banana now
He really wants to lure them into this position for Luchov, and he's gonna come up swinging!
He did get Molotov!
And not that it's gonna be putting a bit of a wrinkle in this round,
so he's supposed to try and get closer.
Flashbang is good, but Luchov falls into position!
Third player coming in, it's now whatever perivision.
If they want a chance to get in here, but Luchov is decimating them!
Another headshot, looking for another ace in this first half!
He is 17 and 2 haunting for the ace and he gets another one in the first half!
Max might be able to find a kill here on Tisello who is playing up by the church position.
Very deep towards church as well.
Oh but it's a bit of a sloppy fight at the moment.
Runs out of bullets, knife is out and on the other side too, it's all around knives!
Okay!
So we'll be sort of an execute for the counter smoke is coming out, they're bumping into
to each other. Matt is in the smoke moon, is he going to be able to find anything? He's
joined the T side somehow, but now he's dead instead. Tensy with three kills. Oh and a
head shot straight through, how has he done that?
We can be the insurance policy. Tensy's fated, kills the piece. It's out all on Tensy. Time
is ticking here though. Five seconds, he's going to get this kill and Tensy's taken
Oh my god, heroic! How have you let that flip?
Steps her by G2, and you're not mistaking the sound of Nernst picked up without a kill,
and it's Chase for JL, finds Hunter back in the spawn, Matt is playing through the smoke.
He's his hero moment, wrestles with the arrow, Matt is knocked some down!
I'm gonna get away with the multi-kill but the bomb was dropped there on that spare
matter what car to get close he won't follow up on a belcher knocking down the
doolies firing back no way
oh they just got it oh what car to you soul fly attempt in the clutch but with
the all-peer it should be a safe round for paravision I was not plodded for long
it's his belchinok so fly nerds on that deep
belchinok can't do it
what a weird round
crazy
some of the other maps well that's a knife
what are you
I've got Corn here with me from Fisher College, Neela from Ferrari.
I've got Falcons, Munisey with me here.
We're going to be looking at Inferno.
So three things are not correct on this image.
What could it be?
We have triple box and there is no bench where triple box is.
There's a bench and there's missing the new box.
Triple! Move it back.
Oh, this is a tough one.
In pool, the sandbags is not there.
Oh, the sandbag by water on the right side in the corner.
Yep, so where would it normally be, right? It would be...
Like Batchro's banana?
No, so this time right here, right? Where would it normally be?
What position is that? Because it is there on the map. Hmm, but it's been moved
It's not default is it? No, it's
Then let's say it
Inferno pull remove instant and
Salam alaikum salam alaikum this thing on top of first box. This is you know small
Not better. How we call it kushiman. No, this you see on first box. No. Hmm. It's this small thing
Oh, you mean the wall?
Yeah, no, no, no, no.
How do you call this?
On top of first box.
It shouldn't be there, no?
No, that should be there.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
I'm not purple, but I'm pretty sure I got the answers in front of me.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
You're gonna kick yourself at this one.
To have a hint?
Think of, like, walking into the bomb site.
Walking into the bomb site?
The triple is there, fountain is alright, second box is good.
Something is different, don't just think about removing stuff.
Ruins, right?
Nope.
No, I like it.
Dude, you're gonna kick yourself when you get here.
Peeler!
Nope.
Well, you should entrance the site, there's no, like, the wall ends of it.
Yeah, there's no, like, steps up into it, right?
Ah, there's no stairs.
I see, yeah.
Peeler on Darkest Air.
So it's supposed to be wide null?
It's not... you're thinking too wide, you're close, you're close.
I'm idiot, okay, the wall on...
How easy is that? And you just completely ignored it the whole time.
Yeah, but I thought it was gonna be harder.
I'm not looking for easy ways.
Yeah, you drink on the hard shot all the time, the difficult one.
Yes.
Two of the greatest to ever grace the game.
They have created memories for us for the last few years.
Memories that for many of us will never be forgotten.
Now they go head to head.
The professor versus the goat.
And behind them, two of the best orpers we currently have.
Rifling, talent in bucket loads.
And a whole new way of facing off.
It's hard to believe it is the twilight years
for both of these players.
Hell, one of them has told us
at the end of this year he is done.
And yet here they are still rising to the occasion.
Here they are still being the top of the conversation.
It is time to find out if the Falcons will soar,
or the Panthers will pounce.
Furia Falcons in this quarterfinal,
it should be a grand final
because Dan, the names in the server demanded
prof, ble, carrigan, and fallen.
There is so much to say about both of them,
and this is not the first time they've faced off.
They have done this a multitude of times
on numerous stages around the world.
For them, it's another day in the office.
For every single person here in Astana,
It is one of those magic moments that I spoke about earlier.
I mean, two extremely storied individuals, right?
And I feel like, as you alluded to right there, Sam,
like, you know, it is a twilight years of both these two guys.
Paul said, well, he said it so far.
We don't know what's going to happen.
It's going to be his final year in a competitive setting,
so to speak.
And for Karakin as well, while he hasn't announced any retirement,
it does feel like this Falcons run is going to be his final,
so to speak.
So just looking at this, like both of these guys,
the first record match, 2005, they've
playing before half this audience they were even born, majors won, multitative lands, MVPs,
stars in their own rights once upon a time. I mean what more can you say about these two guys?
I mean I know nothing really like they are just fantastic and having the opportunity to see them
on a stage is always a delight regardless of where the teams are and realistically these
teams are right now in a pretty good spot. They're not right now winning every tournament
but they're definitely at any point a contender for a title especially if the big dogs are not
here. So for me this is a game about like how good are Falcons already and how much has Karrigan
given them of his DNA. It's so difficult for me because I'm obviously a huge fan of both of these
players and I've always been fans of the way that they IGL. PGL Astana last year was the moment
where it became clear that Fallen was back and Furia was rising upright. They came on the stage
with this young or unknown opera we all laughed about the Mollardoy signing and then the breakout
happened and they went on to become favorites throughout last year. Now it's so funny that
this mirror has occurred because here is Kerrigan away from his beloved face. None of us thought
that that would ever happen. Back with a lineup where we're all going, is this going to work? Is
this what Falcons needs? And it's a very similar position that Furia found themselves in last year.
So I'm curious to see, because in the last while, Fiora has had that little bit of a
drop-off, so it may be time for them to hand over.
I mean, Boa, you did a great comparison, both gambles and the overrides.
Bringing in Molo, bringing in Fiora going international, we saw how well that worked.
On the other hand, now with Karrigan coming in, we saw the Falcons kind of run its course,
and Nico even spoke about it in the latest interview.
and one thing that I really like to note is that we knew this is not getting any better,
and we know that this roster gives us better chances at the Major.
That is though in about three weeks' time. I think for people to expect them here to win this tournament
and also that they are considered favorites in this match, I think that's crazy.
24 days together versus 388 from Furia. The depth that Furia has and how shallow Falcons'
map pool and and gameplay is that's it's a crazy comparison. I feel for me just
about Carrigan coming back in right here everyone remembers Boston everyone
remembers a heartbreak for Carrigan and Niko together and guess what after that
Carrigan went into the wilderness went into mouse found a couple of plays to
might have heard of them found a rops found a frozen here and there comes back
into phase wins a major Niko yet to find a major he's looking for that special
bullshit that Carrigan brings to a team to get that that could get him that
Major and this event is the first step. That's what the belief is there because of that man
That is carry so before we focus on carrying because obviously from from this point of view
We've already seen a very small sample size of what he does with Falcons
How has fury a match up to this falcons line up in the last few months?
Last few months not not so great
That's a great
They had their number last year and last year Falcons went for all in series against against Falcons including a big grand final in
in Hong Kong, but this year not so well.
Yeah, absolutely.
I feel like for Fury, this year has been kind of a disappointment.
We saw Maldor really tapering off.
The questions are being asked.
Maybe that was a bit of a fluke here from him.
We've had some struggles from some of the individuals as well.
Yakinda comes to mind, Uri comes to mind.
And for Falcons, again, you've got to remember this team,
they have really, really looked good overall this year,
if not for a certain team called Vitality,
who, by the way, they also beat them multiple times, right?
So it has been kind of like tables being turned,
but I feel like at this particular event,
it's exciting for me because firstly,
Karrigan coming in, which is touched upon,
but also we've seen the turnaround happen from Walidoy,
finally finding himself as well on home soil,
finding your kinder popping off as well.
And yeah, just all the individuals kind of coming together
when, you know, with Karrigan at the helm right now.
So obviously here we see the superstars that is Team Falkers.
We call this a super team because it is big name,
after big name, after big name.
And we'll get into the man in the middle there,
I think, minus E. I think here at PGL Estana, he looks revived.
He looks to be far more confident than what we've seen in the server from him recently.
Yeah, I mean, I think he kind of flew under the radar this year,
because his IAM Rio, which ended up just being a third place, finished for Falcons.
That's one of the best tournaments anyone had had in this whole year.
That's comparing to ZYWO, comparing to Donk, right?
That was a 1.48 rating. Only ZYWO has one better, Donk has one better.
Other than that, no one else touched that.
And I think Monosy has really ramping up.
Maybe the first two events of the year weren't super hot.
Oh, we see now, 1.35 rating.
That is the super elite, mega star type of performance
from Monosy that we come to expect.
Oh, absolutely.
Even despite some of the tight struggles
that faculty have had this year, the thing is,
he has been kind of the backbone of the guy stepping up.
And the guy you see on the screen over here,
you can hear the crowd as well behind him, Sam.
Molo doi coming back into form and it has been superlative right like eclipsing
monasy eclipsing everyone not called dong 1.47 rating and he has it just so
beautiful to see him coming back and playing the way he is right now and
what better than sheer in Astana I mean that's that's a thing for me if Molo
there hasn't hasn't been playing like this in in Astana I'd be like okay yeah
Falcons are the favorite but he's back to his highest level maybe the best level
he's ever had a tournament so far and with that being said I'm like okay
Fiora has the depth behind them to give them the winning.
Does Falcons have the same? I'm not sure.
And the motivation is huge.
We saw him on stage in the quarterfinal last year,
how he dominated against Aurora.
Later on, it fell off,
and Fiora weren't able to make the deepest run.
But for their first tournament, that was amazing.
And now he's coming back a year later,
a year more experienced, rookie of the year of 2025.
I think he has it here.
So I'm going to take a comment that was made by one of our other analysts,
and he's not here to defend it,
But you can jump in and share your thoughts.
Maui mentioned that he thinks Mahlerdwey struggles under pressure.
So we obviously saw in PGL Astana last year,
there was very little expectation on him,
because for the most part, everyone believed it was a little bit of a silly signing,
and he popped off.
He then rose, Furia looks incredible.
But now as the pressure's mounted, through the start of this year,
the Budapest major comes to mind as well, it feels like he's fallen off somewhat.
And I think that was what Maui's talking about.
In this particular setting, I would argue the pressure is definitely more on Furia than Falcons, because they are that established lineup.
Do you agree with Mali? Do you think that the pressure is getting to this young player?
This is my... I think pressure affects everyone. No one is immune to pressure.
However many new players we've got, and they would come and say, like,
oh yeah, it doesn't matter, it's just another game we're playing on the stage, that's not real.
It's just like, how much is it going to affect you, and how can you mitigate that pressure and still perform?
I think, yeah, he had some bad games on the playoffs.
He had some bad important games,
but also he had some really good ones.
I think what is more necessary for him
is the game style, the gameplay,
and trying to find what he adds to this team.
Because when he came in, he was a loose cannon.
He could do whatever he wanted,
and it didn't really matter.
Everything was kind of set up around him.
But then the more he tried to be like the polished offer
that can also support, that can play off of his teammates,
that can help his teammates,
Then the drop-off starts being more apparent.
I think that's, it's hard.
It's not something you just get overnight.
And he is kind of back to, you know,
doing the crazy stuff while being a team player
to a decent degree.
But you don't need to do everything.
I think that's the evolution of a player.
I gotta remember how young this player is, right?
And also he's been in this, in a tier one scene.
He was completely unknown a year back.
Now it's been a full year.
And I agree with him, Rob.
I feel like he is starting to shape up
into what he could really be, you know,
find his potential.
I think in the interview as well,
I think Ya'kinder and Molodoy, one of them did mention how when the pressure was on
because of how he was struggling a little bit, he was trying to do a little bit too much, right?
I think Fallen was like, listen, you don't have to do too much.
He's had to play with the team, but also when you want to go for these shots, just go for it.
And I feel like he's finally finding his stride right now.
And you can even say the same for the other players on his team as well.
Look at Ya'kinder, for example, right?
Like he was struggling quite a bit this season thus far.
He's also kind of finding his form at the moment.
And I think obviously it's going to be overshadowed by Molodoy.
But for me, the Akinder, this is his best events thus far, all season, right?
And most impressive to me is those ridiculous T-side stats.
38% opening attempt, sort of 44% success.
That's art-esque numbers, except with a much better success rate.
I mean, and then you put it sort of to the side of Falcons,
who's taking the most opening duels?
It's Kerrigan.
His opening success rate is 25% on the T-side.
It's a completely different, I would say, structure of a team.
because the IGL fallen, he's more supportive, throwing flashes, late-rounding and lurking
while Kerrigan is the guy. He's like, I'm going to be going in first and setting up Tiosuke,
who is another X-factor in this team. Can he activate him to a level that was promised?
He was supposed to be the rookie of last year. Molode came in and out of nowhere, swept that away.
How will he be on the stage? So let's focus in on that, though. I mean,
if we take a look at Kyosuke and what he's been able to do, there has
has been a level of disappointment, I presume, from Valken's fans with how he has performed?
Yeah, absolutely. If you're going to talk about play-offs, you know, the struggles from Walderdøy,
I mean, Kjøsak is an obvious one. Profit brought us this particular status as well.
I think the numbers paint the picture. He's been under the Falklands jersey for quite a while right now.
A multitude of play-off appearances and the fall-off right there is massive.
I mean, no one else in this team follows this much. And it's interesting because even when he plays against the best teams,
but it in the group stage he's pretty solid 115 rating, you know even even against the top five top 10 opposition
It just when the stage lights are on him. It's not the same player
He's not going for the same amount of opening kills. He kind of shies away from them
His success is lower and that's a part of the game that
Falcons really lacked in some of these playoffs games when it be him and kicks and trying to go for this map control
but felt like no one really had the
The belief in themselves to go for it and commit and win the opening opening
But this is something we've actually seen switch up a little bit in the group stages right one thing
Prok pointed out as well carrying with us all opening deals you look at mirage towards mid
It's gonna be carrying in him working together in tandem. So maybe this is the pairing that's gonna work. I
Know we're going back to the pressure conversation
But I do think it fits here as well before Falcon signed this player when the rumors were
Starting to filter around that there was gonna be this massive signing and all this money was gonna change hands
Next Donk. Next Donk. Next Donk. That was what everyone was saying.
He then comes into Falcons. Next Donk. And I remember, I watched the discs. I was on some of them.
We were demanding this level from this young player immediately in Falcons with these superstars around him.
And then when it didn't happen, he actually wasn't playing badly.
No.
For any other player we would have gone, damn, that's impressive in your rookie year.
But we all went, not next dunk, not next dunk.
And I did worry about him for a while.
I feel like in these group stages, what we've seen is when you have a personality and a name and a star like Karrigan,
who is now leading you, there seems to be a little spark in Kiosk here.
And I wonder if that's what he needed, is someone bigger, someone stronger, who can shut the noise down.
I think you hit a nail in the head right there because I want to hock and back to an interview given by Zonic on HLTV
Where he pointed out I want to hand a rain over the car again
And one very important point he made there was the reason why they needed someone to carry again
I think Nico's mentioned as well
There was no other option over apart for us apart from carrying because he commands respect it isn't demanded it
Isn't asked for it. He commands respect so someone you know someone like Nico legendary rifle or someone like monesty
Someone even someone like you see who is young and fiery and all of that when Karen says listen
This is what we're gonna do is I believe in this.
I think everyone's on 100%.
I think that's a difference to make with you.
I also was watching back the blogs from Rio
and seeing, obviously not everything is there,
but one thing you've seen some of these
after these losses in the team talks,
no one is taking responsibility.
Not even Zonic, it's like, hey guys,
we should have done it this way,
we need to be doing this, but who needs to be doing this?
Who's gonna say like, I messed up, you messed up,
you need to do this, direct with the communication
and direct with the feedback.
like okay you are not doing this good enough you need to improve and this is
not gonna fly with Kerrigan Kerrigan is gonna come in first of all he's gonna
take a lot of responsibility from the outside he's kind of a lightning rod for
all of the comments it's not gonna be a lot of policy about Nico about about
Kyosuke it's gonna be about is Kerrigan good enough does he suck can't he not
frag or his t-sides bad did he betray phase all because all everything is
about him and then everyone else is shielded it should just play the game
and that's why I believe in this this roster change I'm not saying they're
going to win the next major, not even any major maybe, but I do think it was a good move for
this specific lineup that has so much pressure on it.
I think it's also important to preface this by saying, I don't think Kixam was a bad player,
I don't think Kixam was a bad high gel, I actually think there's a lot of top teams
who could probably benefit from it.
I think this was a situation outside of the server.
It's a situation about noise, it's a situation about celebrity, whether we like it or not,
and now you've got someone who is so much bigger than the stage and he's leading you.
what a super team needs at the end of the day.
Yeah, absolutely. I think Kixson was very, very serviceable, but with the wrong pieces.
Yes. Or maybe you can flip it around as well. But for the style that Falcons like to play,
looking at individuals and their ability to multi-frag, and their ability to end it,
maybe sometimes a little bit of overconfidence as well. That's where I felt like Kixson really
struggled rating them in. Karrigan's going to rain them in, but not just rain them in,
he's going to hone them, give them control, aggression coming, because that's where he
He excels at, look at Faze, look at the run he had back in 2022, 2023.
That is where he specializes in, and now he's got the right tools to work with.
On the other side, there are very different styles of leadership, right?
The way we talk about Karrigan, he's almost like the boss, right?
And the big famous boss, whereas on the other side, I kind of feel like Fallen's like the
dead, and he himself has made this comparison.
He said Moledoy is the son he hasn't had yet, so there you go.
He's done that, but it is a bit more of a fatherly figure that's kind of allowing these
young players to rise up has said I'm gonna retire at the end of the year. He's
going, hey I'm giving you all this time to figure it out. I will be here. I will
help you through to the next steps. You know that he's getting involved and who's
taking over and how this is gonna look. It's a very different style and at the
moment I'm a bit worried that maybe it's not working for Furia because of this
falloff that we've seen from them. I mean it's a the situation that the
Baron is a tricky one. It is nice that they have this lead-up time to
figuring out okay how you want to do this but it also puts them in this awkward position
it's like okay maybe when are we going to look for an ideal is it going to be inside the team
it's already thinking a bit too much forward instead of focusing on the now we know that
Yaquindar has the ideal in the past we know that he when he came into this team he took over a lot
of the calling a lot of the mid-rounding and Fallen was super happy to do that and that was
necessary that definitely improved this team K-Strauters not that guy that's going to be super
active and manipulate rotations and help people be like, okay, let's do this.
They put your kinder in that role in the rotation spots and it worked really well.
But it did put some pressure, but I think after a few tournaments now,
just realizing, okay, we need to play out the rest of the year and then we'll see what happens.
I think speaking of pieces as well, Sam, like you've touched on all the star players and all of that.
I think one weakness of one of the fans at Furia as Machine and Sponge,
so eloquent they put it so many years ago, Kaseer-Rod and Yuri.
Yuri's drop off this year has been quite drastic, right?
If you look at his results last year, he, out of 18 events,
he had 16 events with a one plus rating.
This year, out of eight events,
he has one event with one plus rating,
which was hit his hometown in Rio.
Apart from that, his numbers have just been,
well, not abysmal, but way lacking by standards.
Why do you think that's happened?
I don't know.
I really don't know, honestly.
I test it just looks bad.
Like in some of the situations, he feels like caught off guard.
The aim is not on point.
He's not doing the worst plays ever, but it's just not the same thing that he brought last year,
where he was the difference maker from these anchoring spots.
And that being said, he's not playing the hardest spots on the map.
Oftentimes, that is Fallen, who has also proved extremely serviceable for what I expected of Fallen on the rifle.
It's obviously sometimes when you're watching that game, if you remove, like, you know, the name, the name tag, Yuri,
you're like, oh, there's probably a Tier 2 anchor playing here, because of so many silly mistakes,
even his aim, like at one point so reliable, like there were times when he
just take over the game alongside K-Fuse, okay, right? So yeah, it's a big
question mug and if they don't address it today, it's gonna be rough.
This is my favorite part of any event. It's this moment where we get to see our
two teams take to the stage, you can hear the crowd behind me, they are ready, so
respect.
How we doing Astana?
Now, I know this is a special one for you all,
and I know it's the game you are waiting for,
but let me just check that you guys are ready to be loud
and get crazy.
Mikes are noise!
CHEERING
For our first team taking to stage,
they're a team that came together in Astana.
They added Molodoy.
your hero, the local boy, living his dream.
Since then, he's lifted trophies.
He's claimed MVPs.
And right now, he wants to deliver the very best performance
he can to inspire more of you, young and old,
and show up in his country, inside his arena,
backed up by some of the most experienced and gifted players
we have in the game.
So please, make some noise for Fury!
The energy in here right now is electric!
But, despite being a fan favourite in this arena, the Falcons are looking to take flight
with their new in-game leader.
This is a player they brought in to bring the difference for them.
To make amends for the mistakes they have made, time and time again on the stage, this
is a team that are not looking for one more superstar, they were looking for a leader
to bring them these trophies, make some noise for Falcon!
Carragad, Fulham, come join us up here.
Well, they might be challenging Furia, but I've got Karrigan with me to start this one off.
And for you, Karrigan, first arena since Budapest.
I know this is where you love to be. How much have you missed this?
He's a lot. Just want to play today, he's a great team and it's just like being in Brazil, so just want to play this game.
Perikin says he really missed the opportunity to play on LAN, on Arena, and of course he's a great opponent.
He's going to steal this evening.
with some focus around Kiosky and what he can do here.
What's going to change from the old Falcons to what we've got with you at the helm?
I think that's the question we will see today, right?
Just looking forward to play a new system. We're going to be challenged.
We're against a great team, so just looking forward to see how our players are performing
and it's a hostile environment. So I'm just looking forward to make them a little bit quiet today.
James asks what will change in the team when it comes to Kerrigan.
And as Karekata says, let's see it. Let's see what's going on in this match, especially considering that the opponent is chic.
Hello, Astana Kalaisen!
We're going very close, we're happy to have him on the team. It's been one year now.
The first time we played with Molova was here in Astana, so it's great to be back.
He's locked in, we have good expectations that he can play good.
I know you guys have his back and we have his back as well, so let's hope for the best today.
I asked him about his condition now, and he said that it was the first time we played at the arena, exactly here in the stadium, a year ago, and it turned out great.
This year it will be much, much better and much, much harder.
deeper into the games against the Falcons. Is that what can give you the edge?
Honestly, when we're playing against teams like Falcons and every other top team,
Kerrigan here, how many times we have been together playing on stage,
everything is going to come up to the details, who's going to be able to perform better on the day.
So it doesn't really matter if we're playing for longer or not.
They have a good team, they have a good leader, and we respect that.
But when it comes to the game, we've just got to come up and play the best we can.
And if we do everything we have to do, we can be the winners.
Jens asks why you will win today, and Fallon says that everything will be solved in a matter of seconds, because the level of the game on tier 1 CS is always very high, especially considering that they are playing against one of the strongest teams in the previous EGL.
It's pretty obvious where we're gonna go with this one.
But who here is cheering for Furia?
Yeah!
The whole world is looking at you, Kazakhstan, at the stage, at you as a spectator, we have to show everyone that we love Counter-Strike.
Give it up for Zhumu!
ARE YOU READY?
It's one of the best ideas of our generation, some of the best players on that stage.
Just so many stories, Nico and Manus, hoping that this is their chance.
This is their first step towards lifting a major trophy.
Fallen, I'm sure, hoping this is his chance to take the team one more time.
So there's a goal cancelled in the back of the mind, they've got to lift this one now.
Oh, they absolutely have to lift this one, listen man, as someone who's been a fan for parts of a so long life,
and if you're a viewer, cherish this game.
You're not going to see an opportunity to watch Fallen Brooklyn's character back many more times,
and this game is going to be special for me.
I mean, just seeing the two of them on the stage, and their respect between them,
it's real sometimes that empty platitudes between players,
but like when you can do them or talking to saying, you know,
You know, it doesn't matter if they're together 10 days or 10 years.
You know how good these two teams are, it's just about showing you're not the server.
Let's see how the Vito goes.
Get lost, pick from Falcons, not the top.
Oh, I'm actually surprised.
I thought Falcons would go with the Barajvik.
That's a bit of a curveball being thrown in.
I thought Fiora would probably go with Inferno in all honesty.
So, for Falcons today, they did, I mean, they did get smacked in the past two.
Maybe it was a mistake we just saw.
Yeah, I think this appeared, so let's go check that out.
How do you think it will go? We'll see this in a little bit.
Let's just discuss now how we think the video is going to go.
An ancient band by Phyria, overpass band by Falcons.
And that means, for Phyria, they like going for overpass, right?
With that technical equation, it should be in front of coming in.
But if it's attacking Xio, the other should be sorted out hopefully soon.
All good. I mean, I think it's interesting just to note on that,
those are the two maps that, you know,
Perlman of Phyria's ancient is probably best out of the map.
And then Perlman of Falcons overpass probably best Phyria map at least.
That makes sense. That makes way more sense.
Fakus and Mirage pick. I'm zooming.
Okay, do you have an Inferno? Not too much of a curveball?
There is.
Sorry, that's actually, you can pick. Not too much of a curveball actually for the side of Fury.
They didn't play it a couple of times so far this event. They destroyed Monty on it early in the tournament as well.
And Dust2 is a decider. That's a 50-50 map right there.
Yeah, this makes sense. This is honestly, the only thing was what Fury will pick.
But would it go towards Inferno or towards Nuke, and whatever wasn't going to be picked
then it was probably banned by Falcons, and obviously a Nuke's neater team likes too much,
so it was going to be a game of chicken.
Who's going to be removing that?
Dust2 I think is kind of like a handshake towards the end.
But yeah, trying to make Falcons a bit uncomfortable, I think they didn't look super crazy so far,
but they only played it once or twice at this tournament.
Yeah, it was like a 9-0, it had a pretty solid lead and completely crumbled over there.
Look, Mirage has got to be very interesting.
Like as Falcons, this Mirage, we saw him go against the Mongols, right?
We saw a couple of cool things, Profi, he saw Kyosuke and Karagin working hand in hand in tandem.
You know, the father figure leading in the way, he's like, I go in, you kill everyone else.
And that Kyosuke can look really, really good.
And also you can't forget, you know, Modesty, you can really pop off here.
We've seen Falcons.
I mean, what are we expecting from Furia?
Honestly, we expect this guy to pop off.
Yeah, this is going to be one of those games where people are saying,
like, ah, let's remove Mirage, are going to be, you know, eating their words.
Because Mirage in an arena playoff with players like this, all fraggers along, I mean, maybe
Karrick or not. But, you know, rest of them can pop off and they will pop off.
Kyosuke on short on CT side. That's one of his better maps, better positions. Yeah, he
can overpeak. Yeah, he can overextend. But sometimes in arenas, you should do that.
Yes. Sometimes you need to go with the flow and just commit to the bit. One thing that's
interesting, we didn't speak about this player, Tessus. Now with Kerrigan coming in, he's getting some on paper better CT positions,
but it hasn't really shown in his performances this tournament. He's now moved from B to A site on Mirage, right?
And it's gonna take some time. He's gonna guide us, literally everything and anything on this map. And every time on this team,
every time there's a roster change, he's just gonna get moved around. And it's not easy to deal with that.
And it's also something Karagin mentioned in an interview as well, where Santa Tessus is a captain's player, right?
He's super underrated, so I'm curious to see how that's gonna play out as well. For me, the big question mark, Prof,
it's gonna be obviously Yuri, right? He's gonna be the A anchor over there,
and he's been having a nightmare of a season, nightmare of a tournament as well, so he's definitely gonna be a
bit of a question mark, I guess, for the Spiria defense.
Yeah, for sure. I don't know what happened in his new year celebration,
but whatever he did never repeated before that it was really good into this year not so much and yeah, I mean
We saw an interesting mirage earlier today. I think this game is gonna be nothing nothing like that
Definitely the tea side from from Falcons is gonna be here again going for a lot of a lot of moves with Tizuka
Following him up and so far it has been better
I still want to see more from Tizuka not just from on the playoffs
but in general his decision-making sometimes lets him down.
I do want to give a little bit of context because if you're at home and you're listening to the crowd
you have to understand that we joke about Molodoy being Fallen's adopted son
but actually he is the son of Kazakhstan, right?
Everyone here loves him. He's on billboards.
When you drive down the road, they've got him on billboards, he is beloved.
So of course, whoever he is playing against will not be a fanfaker.
It is kind of funny though because obviously you have someone like Modesty and Karagin
in any arena you go around the world people are going to be obviously cheering for them but
considering how one sided this is is kind of crazy i agree with with the carragane it does
feel like fury are playing on home soil here and there there's a very clear villain for the
first they say can hold let's give it to them say i mean all of us there and it is crazy because
obviously there's a lot of fans of just who care of modesty of niko but in this respect that that
doesn't matter it's not going to matter outside when they lose having a lot of positive signatures
But right now, they want nothing different.
It's very true. All right.
You know what?
We've got two of the best IGLs.
We've got two of the best showmen on that stage,
and we have 10 of the best players in the world in the server.
We don't know who's going to win,
but we do know we're about to have a damn good time.
Tonight, we find a tournament favorite,
a year on from his 1st tournament
in this very team. A year older,
a year wiser looking to put on a show
in front of his home country.
It's time to find out who's going to
that grand final. Yeah, they got a
late night slot. The prime time,
right? This is a very, very, very
exciting game. I mean, it's a
very, very exciting game. I mean,
it's a very, very exciting game.
I mean, it's a very, very exciting game.
time right this is the match that everyone's come to see. Molodoy back on this stage the arena
is packed out right now this is kind of the the birthplace of Molodoy right in more ways than one
twice over because here on the stage last year he made his debut of what a splash it was at the desk
talking about if this guy is staying all across the country you can't go anywhere without seeing
photos of Molodoy everyone knows who he is this is him a gear on meant to show how far he's come
on how much he's growing.
They've got one hell of a test to start things off.
Yeah, Falcons are used to being in the home team
in this part of the world, but not today.
Mordeaux on this very stage, looking to make up for last year,
looking to make a run all the way.
Magic waits in the semis.
But first we've got a quarterfinal.
Astana, who will fall short of their goals?
Let's find out.
the entire series, starting things off here on Mirage. The question about who hits the
ground running in this pistol round, the momentum feels like it's worth a lot especially when
you're competing against the crowd like the Falcons. Clear favorite here, your
kinder, the players on the cross. It's very set on this A-play for the Falcons.
Overwhelming, fallen Heidi at a point in sight. He takes two with him and you get to
get pushed back. Kiyosuke doesn't let him escape. 2v2 for the Falcons, but the
bomb not down. This is the firepower of Falcons up against the fans of Furia,
Molotovoye in Kisarato.
He's getting the first turn.
Kiyosuke, explosive start to the pistol, leaves it just on Kisarato,
but no stranger to clutch is
on the two required as he makes his way up through the connector.
Post plant's already taken for the Falcons.
Kisarato's creeping in.
Not much of a crossfire, he can isolate.
And a surprise, Gombri gets his and knows the whereabouts
of Kiyosuke out towards the spawn.
Surely not.
He's being held.
Suke gives him the floor.
Bricks heads off.
That's the start from the young gun you want.
He knows he has a crowd on his side.
He knows they're not giving that one away,
but Kiyosuke will not fall for it on the fake.
Tap on the bomb, it's a stick,
and Kiyosuke comes in with four kills in his pistol.
Firepower.
Questions of players who have crumbled on stages,
teams who have crumbled in playoffs.
And there are questions to be answered tonight.
Kiyosuke being one of them.
That's a big round to kick off this quarterfinal.
A molotov on this CT side is something we're all going to be waiting to see.
It may be Falcons' map pick, but even as Prof said on that desk,
don't want to eat your words.
This guy with the AWP on CT barrage is one of the best in the world.
I think Karagin get in the better case, Serrano.
That's a opener you'll take all down day if you're the Falcons
We play in the downtime as
They they're clave in this anti-force
Another kill out of Karagin and big problems here for Burian. They've got their captain
But he's up against the overwhelming odds getting surrounded Falcons on all side of him and nowhere left to run for fallen
This one looking to get cleaned up. It's just Yuri
Lovehuck here, so he plays that flight, never oversteps, never gets closer around the corner into a 5-7.
He forces his opponent to come to him.
All the while, Falcons whittle away at that b-hold.
Nice double entry for Karagin in middle.
All in all, Falcons happy with how this game started off.
Clutch and a pistol, a clean conversion, only one gank saved for Fury.
Okay, you know, I think we're all at home again on the Molodoy homecoming story, right?
The idea returning to the place where the journey all started, this version of Furia
began.
First international event, first outing on the stage for Molodoy, and as the Brazilians
in his team will tell him, with one home soil, that's not all it's cracked up to be.
The feat that has eluded the Brazilian core for Furia, but Fulham will never have the
chance to do again. Lost for Fallon in 21 years of active play, semi-finals, grand finals,
no trophies off home soil. Although I couldn't help Fallon get there, maybe Fallon will try
to give his young prodigy a shot here in the starting.
It's the fall in effect, he's always willing to throw weapons over.
Are they getting out of there?
Falcons catching their bets on his B site.
Unfortunately for Fury, only this USP here, but Fury are moving quick.
Fury's already in position and your kindred is about to be.
This is Falcons running into a stack, this could go very wrong indeed.
There's certainly a chance to complicate the early game.
Rifles here, pistols to back them up.
All the doigos to take first contact on that jump check, he gets deleted, doesn't last
long either.
That's going to beckon them into the stack, the rest of Fury are here, so the job, Far from
done, they turn around for Fury but not able to complete it, it's the character that's
doing big damage.
Your Kindar's got to run away.
That's a reasonable save here.
You're going to get fuller to weapon release in that next round.
Give yourself the best chance in the fall by.
I can't say that wasn't winnable.
There are lots of damage done.
Pressure put on.
Falcons still get that pop bomb.
That should confirm anyway.
Garragon already coming in with very high impact.
Let's be real here.
He's not exactly a star player in this Falcons team.
Broading for other reasons.
We've, to be honest, seen some really poor maps for him individually.
even when Falcons have come out with the win.
Right now, two massive double kills early in this game
has put Falcons in the right direction.
If you think Harri can see it again,
Kills, you have a serious misunderstanding of his role in this squad.
It's emblazoned with star power.
And so, a good finding impact is just a nice little X-Factor for the Falcons squad.
And you look at that firepower trio.
Been a phenomenal tournament for the three big names in the Falcons jersey, right?
Monacee with some electric games on the orb.
And Ninzee lost seeming to really light a fire under the Falcons back in the group stages.
And it has been a tremendous tournament.
hitting like his old self,
Kiyosuki,
finding his footing in a big way.
Also a hot start here in the playoffs.
That's been a real talking point around the Falcons.
Here's the gun round over Furium.
Moledoy will make an appearance.
He wanted to hit the ground running
now more than ever.
Just not out towards the apartments.
It's been a real obsession at the Falcons.
Has this B bomb site
there for that orb to find?
This is the last place you'd expect the orb to start
in the first gun round,
but Falcons want nothing to do with it.
So for now, Molotov is just getting his time wasted.
See if that comes into play later in the round.
Nico's still patrolling upper B.
Argonne is willing to, like Apex,
just run out top mid behind the boxes
every round of this teeside.
Establish that big control in a high-risk position.
Gonna move in as well.
Gotta watch out for this fight.
Nice check for Tess as Fallen fell, Karagun followed up onto and it's Falcons pulling the bomb back top mid.
Wait, no way!
Ow!
Yuri does a great job to get out with that kill there, Tess has just put it together, but unable to complete.
They're not sure, but right now Falcons are far from committed, this is still Karagun pulling some strings from the back.
Poppin Master putting Falcons in their place, only Molodoy sits on this B site.
And he's up against the entire firepower trio of the Falcons.
Billions of dollars worth of investment up against Marlowe.
First shot lands in this alone, but not for long,
because Yuri's making his way over, reinforcements on their way,
time running low, Modesty hits his,
but Marlowe puts up the wall, finally going to get dealt with.
Niko drags them into a clutch.
And count Nico out of this.
Is it a hot hand across all of Astana?
He's slow on the approach.
Can he finish?
What moment do he start?
Okay, he's suspicious.
Where can he be?
There's the infos.
Gamed.
And Nico is back in his aim.
Out in the open.
He goes for the fight straight up.
Now look at him win this to time.
He wants the conflict.
He wants the smoke.
Yuri closes it.
What the fuck is that?
No way!
That's not like Niko had it in the bag.
In the open, on the angle,
he's able to say that Yuri just outweights it.
So patient, almost too patient,
but in fact just enough to close on that clutch.
Polagoid's double, not in vain.
And that is a painful clutch to lose for Niko.
And Ico, who's looked renewed here by Karagin's side.
Fury are on the board now, early in this map.
I love my interning down the freehand to the very interesting fact of the Perfueria, trying
to stay focused, trying to let his performance do the talking.
wanting the emotions to
Reflect him ahead of this match. It's a big match. All boys here for it
Vincent couple of shots already
That all shining
There's a real focal point of this fury of defense is back into the scoreline
Like the side he's got teammates once again moving over to join him
I think it might make it out there waiting right now on a backstab or
Kiyosuke up through the connector.
That's the flank shut down and now Falcons have no choice but to battle forward.
It's Monossey, it's Niko, this duo, the one that was meant to put him under that.
The Monossey has been fed to the walls and Niko has exactly been.
Yuri with some higher ground to get things going.
He's got a bit of a bullet right now.
He's shooting hoping missiles.
Falcon's just catching into the face.
Excellent shot out of Yuri.
We saw a fantastic group stage from him and Rio.
Get in flight, translate into the playoffs.
My goodness.
Hitting shots like that on top of the clutch
in the previous round will go a long way.
now in control of the game.
This is where Kagan Shabas called upon,
calling them out of this into another gun round.
Because every round will cost you two at this point.
Paul Eco, just pistols and Alcans hope for a mistake.
But Furia have been anything but aggressive in this game.
They're trusting in Molodoys orb, and they're anchors to hold down.
Usually a very active CT side, you'll have the flash plays over the wards ramp,
Yuri looking to get set up there and take the space away,
but it hasn't really been that thus far, if Yuri is dead on,
just putting a lot of faith in Molodoys to kind of thin their herd and set them up for the round.
Oh dear, I need a glock. Need your guns for a case. There aren't two turns around, and it's all okay, you might have to think.
No crap in the end of the period, no casual cheating, don't write it off.
You got a solid lead on the palkes across these group stages.
How so?
Flub T sides you've seen when they struggled to get the ball rolling some Donna matches that end up closing up
Still able to break through into the playoffs
don't want these kind of
Brought T side benches where things just start getting away from you to crop up here in the quarter-final
Falcons fan you've been telling yourself you're waiting for
Carraghan and the rest of the gang to get to the stages. That's where he's meant to get extra mileage out of his place
Certainly. He's meant to be the master of how these games play, even in case for Monossey.
Okay, Serato opening up this one, he clashes with the star warp of the Falcons and finds that 5v4.
That water pressure put on middle in this round, they even have Molotovs backing up that push from K Serato.
The 1-2 punch from Furious Firepower.
Falcons lose Monossey. I see he's having a hell of a tournament.
Ego needs his pick, bombs coming in, and even just presence might draw Furia into this bombsite.
They're not certain just yet, seeing just one man.
All in keeps his sight blocked, Molodo is not far away either, and Falcon's corded by a smoke.
Decent amount of block, U-Till on Furia, right, the Molly over the wood short, and Molodo
could really complicate matters if he splits this push in half.
Alchins could try and dodge this by just throwing the timing awry.
They go through this smoke.
That smoke on combat keep Molotoy looking the wrong way, waiting for a lurker up short,
but it's entirely through the apartments that Valkyrie will pass.
That's suspicious.
Can't explain their card, but steps hurt, fallen.
He still needs here to help, and Alchins down with nothing done.
Again, Molotov, all might have to provide, needs another multi-kill.
He's active in every round since this all comes out.
But it's still there!
It's only there!
That was meant to be the punish!
Eco's supposed to be the safe pair of hands, but that gives it all away.
Now they're left to man down.
And this is all for now!
CK left to blow, and they're closing in!
But it's not a good way to get the retakes going, it's Yuri's with Closer, and their comeback starts shining to open up the boys.
Yuri a technique.
I could think of a few thousand people who are happy with that at all.
Falcon's looking awkward right now, looking shaky.
Some miss shots, some scared moves, some swings and misses from Nico here.
here but still a fantastic sequence of shots from Molodoy's orb, slow and steady of Furia.
Since guns have come out, you have to drop around. Valkans come back in with a
shambled by Yusuke Hiragil. Back to an AXEG, well Yusuke works on the other side of the map,
This is for making the Valkyries.
When they go, you tell them to try and open it, but I'm going back and split up.
Yeah, they're looking to rejoin Kiyosuke out through the apartments.
Dropping in, shut down, fallen never left, never felt for it, outbound in jeopardy.
And once throwing that a-fake link up with your point man out towards B,
but you've lost all this space, you've got nothing to show for it.
That whole round is designed around Kiyosuke killing fallen.
Bianca, weakest player on Furia on an individual level, that should be a good fight for Kiyosuke, but Fallen stays aware.
Good communication for Furia to not make him over-rotate. He moved out of position, he stayed in B.
And so with Fallen winning that fight, it extinguishes the entire round for Falcons. They're just left in the middle, wandering around in days.
Furia give them a kill.
I look away, here's that drop down under.
30 seconds, Alpen's looking for a way in.
The Furrier are kind of defying expectations on this CT side.
You're expecting some of these round pushes.
Zaltes says that would've deal with it once,
but that was the only time the Furrier have bloated
for any type of AWP aggression.
Jor needs to feel it. They're flying a little blind,
but that's why you look at the Moledoy all the time.
It's been able to cut through every one of these attacks.
It's a Falcon, Falcon's manned down in so many of their post-plans, right?
Struggling to get set up in those positions, have the crossfires established.
Not only are you not getting what you might have expected out of Fury,
but you're struggling to get into good positions yourselves.
You'd like to think the one thing Falcons have had is a bit of mid-control here.
Or often enough, getting given this space and they go back to what they know.
Isurato on the edge getting pushed back by the Molotov so mid is conceded by Furia
Pace-up connector Karagin selling this but it is the B hit you've got to worry about Kiyosuke clean entry on the fallen
Swing out for me a kid don't worry about it
It's building just that handful of games here in the Falcon's jersey for Karrigan, but man, a handful of double kills in this T side already.
That's a third double entry. Karrigan is found in this game, but it's Kyosuke who takes the impact, finding every kill he needs on that B bomb site, stopping the re-swing out kitchen as well.
Falcons get back on the board and these rounds have been cautious, these rounds have been close, so Furia don't have unlimited money.
Falcons can put them in a spot of bother by winning this round.
No questions around QCK, how do you get to the playoffs, just what version of him would you get here?
Right now it's actually Monocy and Nico, more experienced, more tanky guys in the Falcons' jersey, waiting for them to get online.
And that feels like what will be the difference maker down the end of this half
Yeah, we've had a couple of awesome honesty, but I think that the standout has been some of the messes we've seen from eco individually
You know he can recover
There is still time
Honestly was finishing games in these group stages though where he was undefeated in opening kills and he was taking them in almost every single round so
Feeling the lack of the AWP given that Molotoway has hit so hard
It's making it stand out to Orcas that are often talked about in similar phrasing.
The idea that they're fast, they're explosive, they might be involved, they're flashy.
This time, Malcolm's able to get side control, but now paying a price for it.
Will that change, Jonathan?
Smoke break, he's Serato!
Seems to think so!
I can twerk all the way in, I don't think you're even ready for that many players to eat, they deal with it well.
Karagin gets a response kill, one of C over the top, they're gonna hunt Karagin down, one of Godam in the open.
That gives way to a chance to pop, that bomb is in the open, and one of those will wall in across the three.
Niko 1v3, and 10 seconds to plant the numbers in.
I'm gonna check to spawn, that gives time for Fallen to get closer, and Niko napalm with this round.
Team Crash on the, Fallen's down again.
He goes opportunity passes him by and Furia keep their money above water.
Falcons are throwing a lot of set pieces of Furia right now and they are dealing with it really well.
Not hurried, not rushed.
Not overplayed in any of these rounds, not falling for the fakes.
Even when Kyosuke found a triple entry to beat, there were three players in the site.
Hiro had a solid read over this game.
And they can take a serious edge right now, winning this round, breaking Falcon's money into round 12.
I love this reset as well for Molotow, right?
They've got the man advantage, no need to overplay this, he can rotate, he can just stay in B, Falcons can't get a true read on where he is, and how is Monace meant to get a pick back in this round?
set as well for Molotow, right?
They've got the man advantage.
No need to overplay this.
He can rotate.
He could just stay and be.
Falcons can't get a true read on where he is.
And how is Monossey meant to get a pick back in this round?
Foulins offered it up.
Monossey see that cross to the right.
It seems like Furia want to reclimb it or do it together.
As in Conn would have heard that scope.
They've got an idea that Monossey right now
is holding it on short edges.
Walk in, play with that food.
They keep Monossey so interested in the prospect
Fallen, entirely overlooks the connector, not expecting that move out of Furia.
Tessa is dead out there in top mid and Niko left on an island operating entirely alone.
Back turn, dead man, teammates for Furia!
And this year in Falcon, you feel like you can't catch a break right again.
New players walking under your scope, where's your cover?
You get frustrated, your teammates probably to a degree.
Feels like you're walking into every single stack.
Valken's converted pistol, they have found one gun round since that point.
Furia, after the races, is this going to be an 8-4 CT side of barrage on Valken's map here?
One of the things we're seeing right now is one of the exciting parts as well,
whatever you get, kind of these old boy captains, Fallen versus Carrigan,
seeing it a lot with Apex in my talent here as well,
not afraid to make adjustments on the fly, trust in their read of the opposition.
Nothing Apex has been talking about in interviews,
around the likes of Carrigan, what he brings to the table.
You heard it from Fallen in the interview before this game.
There's a lot of mutual respect.
There's some understanding that some things you just can't breath for.
And even Furia were clapping Falcons out on the walkouts.
Also, right now Furia know all the pressure is on the Falcons,
Falcons and leaving it to them to make the first move more often than not here. We go shut down for Nico
There's an opening. Oh, no, it makes his way over the side
If you're confident to barrel on through with your kids are holding it down all on his lonesome
What's monosie supposed to do?
With the opening half in this quarterfinal and it's no contest yeah more though
We've seen him on some stages buckle under the pressure, right?
It was one thing in a start of last year,
falling to spirit in the semi-final
in his first top-tier Counter-Strike tournament.
It's another thing doing it in back-to-back mages,
but here, a year on,
Moldoi is showing up in this must-win match.
Hell of a performance from Moldoi to kick this game off,
8-4 CT side for Furia,
and already coming off of the group stages.
This was Moldoi's highest-rated event of his career.
as the Jars do something spectacular in the playoffs this weekend.
It's mentioned you think about this side in the playoffs they find themselves on.
This is supposed to be the hardest match till that grand final.
I mean so Falcons to draw fury in that quarter, isn't it?
No easy road
They may progress in a short period of time and there's still expectations and to disappear like this on a stage
Would not fulfill the honesty and Nico still but bottom of their teams blow karagin
Falcons they were the bottom
Pistol team, here in the playoffs, they found the first, can they find the second?
It's a long way to try and make this feel recoverable.
And they play on the cards, Kiyosuke, top performer, right plays, right time!
Oh, it's in the shot!
Yeah, go all of them!
Absolutely nailed it!
Fifth multi-killer than that with Kiyosuke, and I feel like every single one of them has led to a round-wimper Falcons.
This guy's unstoppable right now the only match the Maldoy on Furia
And that is one hell of a time to break your poor pistol for performances Falcons
You hear how animated how high up that gets carrying
Can this be a one-man show? Can it afford to be?
Not on the CT side.
They plan for the rounds ahead.
I know with that pistol not going their way, this could still be a lengthy battle.
It's a no use trying to rush it down without that bomb plant.
No use offering Falcons any more of a headway back into this one.
They take the eco.
Have a chance to chat over this next round.
This is my get to farm here up close to the ramp.
21. Rotate's going to start to arrive. Malkin's going to be good to deal with this, but a
surprising amount of damage comes in before the semi-finals.
We'll take your eco kills, maybe I'll make you feel a little bit better, triple for monosy,
or soon in this CT side, but not quite yet.
It's right around the size of Falcons, get the typings up.
This could be their path.
Back into the garage, the chance to remain competitive.
Right now, they're buying themselves as much time as possible to get the other members of this squad online.
Yeah, one more gun round. You can forget about your slow start, your missed punches.
Suddenly Falcons are back in the conversation.
not worth taking, bailed out as soon as it falls short of the mark.
Go back to middle, 50 seconds, Nico loses vision, connect the smoke, Falcons are in
the dark.
Going that open for Nico to watch, two out through lower, and now whatever the plan was
for Furia, maybe getting that window boost online, it's out the window, they've got 30 seconds left to work with here.
Time is a big problem. Coming out through the connector's not safe and that's the bomb away from Furia.
Falcons with a must win round if they want to keep themselves alive on Mirage.
Malino is causing a bit of chaos but it's the bomb drop. It's never ceased to be an issue.
I mean damage on the way out would not be turned down here but Tess has just blocks and lives
And so Falcons will get out with three guns here.
A little attempt from Furia in an unwinnable round,
but it's Niko's double that breaks in, and it's never too late.
In a single map of Counter-Strike, they have your round to come back.
Niko shows that here on the CT side.
Important double set up by his teammate.
Saves Falcons in this 4-byte.
The decision to be made is to what they want to do with these two rifles.
The Uri.
They're teaching words ahead of this one.
One of the two guns in play.
Everybody chipping in on the Falcons.
What, coming from Karagin and Monosy.
Chos to be called by that AWP as it enters the CT side.
We saw what Molodoy was able to do, how often he was in the right place.
Time for Monosy to match it.
So you're gonna start off out towards the connector if you tell it comes in, it's as
high as firmly fixed on top mid for now.
You don't really want much to do with this, it's a case of Serrano operating, a kindle
rather on this part of the map all alone.
Dury, that's cheeky.
Stuck out.
Big move, but now spotted.
It moves in and it's gone right away!
It's a problem. Honestly, he was meant to reel this one in, instead, he's rolled out the red carpet there.
Now the bot making its way over, Yuri pushed up deep over towards the spawn, they're controlling the rotates, pressure on for the Falcons.
Something's gonna kill. Kari gonna kill the suitcase, but it dealt with the...
Oh!
And he comes through here with a Hail Mary.
Jumps up that reload as well. Niko only trades, no cover, 1v3.
Let me try and take the element of surprise over this smoke, but they peep together in case Rato closes this.
Again, another clutch, denied by Furia, it doesn't even get through the door.
Lama Furia used Bonnie's in lieu of utility, three players picing that window sign.
Man advantage, and they get through it despite the bomb drop.
I feel like Yuri just made a read in that moment coming right through Palace.
Pulled his whole team in.
And he's monocied right now, dude.
That's a round losing miss.
Let's Yuri get deep CT control.
Let's the bomb rotate in.
And he had a second to react, but to be honest, it's monocied.
He's still expected to be fine with that.
The tighter kills that Molotov is getting right now are usually the type that you see from Modesty.
It's very flicky, it's very far and fast.
He's meant to be sure-fire back in those moments, and that's not being the case across all of Mirage.
Paragon wants Modesty back in his game.
He has dropped him a rifle here.
He doesn't care who came with Modesty.
He learned this from Paragon, that if you can feed him some confidence, kills, hope to get him back online because you're not winning this without him.
It's likely not.
Paragon with a smoke, monosy.
With his team on the other side of the map, he looks to send the pistols in.
Here we are, more than happy to wait for this. Look at this, he's called.
Passive, palace, and ramp.
Slowly clearing under.
I'm trying something out of Landish, around at Falconson, it's a losing spot, I'm going
to start to throw the aim off all of this to try and tee up Modesty on that hero gun.
Arm is now in an awkward position, going to have to go Palace, this is into the stack,
The Kindle might have to save this round.
And another attempt to set up Monacy.
It's a second player back at Palace.
And this might start closing in.
He looks to throw it over to Jeopardy.
And so it's shut down on this Palace crunch.
Great adjustment for Furia.
Very well handled in a round that could have so easily gone awry.
The Kindle was already shifting through that consnoke anyway,
But his team getting the spot pushes it faster forward good bail out from your kinder
Curia at all stages of this map
Look very composed. They are not breaking into chaos
You'd look to be the team trying to play an orderly game of Counter-Strike
Honestly, another try, another clash, we've won the match.
It's such an audacious offense, but Wolladoy just patiently waits it.
He delivers a double!
It doesn't matter, Wolladoy will not be stopped.
It's the last position you're expecting to see at all.
The Carrigan's caught him as well, that's the one they caught, it's very low bail, but
it's so early in the round, and what is that Royce stuff?
It's not going for it, now it might be.
The Kindars follow up, punishing a info play for Kiyosuke out through the window.
And an empty A bomb site. This is around Science Seal to Anger Living.
Alken's just too far away. Stacked their chips over towards the B site,
hoping that Furia come this way.
Got no reason to with falling, gaining ground out towards A.
Taking this extra moment just to go in.
Really, rest assured that they're making the right decision.
Bomb moves in under the safety of Fowlard's clear.
Kim does just end up punished as well. He doesn't even need to mark in.
Could get backstabbed by Karagaba, unlikely to be re-clearing this part of the apartment, so he'd go no escape.
Kim though with a second in Karagin, just trying to fight for survival now as Uria...
...wain on this D-side.
Welcome to In the Dark right now.
Gamble based on information, but Furia immediately rotates out upon that bomb being spotted.
And I love to see the growth from Molotoy as well.
I feel like at times it was bad, bring him on CT side, he'd be less aggressive, he'd
go for less shots.
What we always talk about in this guide last year was how he got so many shots off of the
even if he's every round, and feel like that's step or recent thing.
But very smart play on this T side to remain patient,
to let Falcons who are desperate now make that first move,
and they walk right into his scope.
Monty didn't have a chance.
Something you imagine Paul has been drilling since that early lead for Furia.
You know, it's the idea that it's Falcons feeling depression.
They're the guys that are going to make moves.
More often than not, Furia are content to let them do so,
and then they punish.
This is 12 rounds teed up for Furia.
Only the gun for Niko. Pistols around it.
This is it off the boost your kinder is
Missed you sneak back on the bench with that smoke down and no need to break it. No opener available for Falcons
You go just stays on top
Be split available
He goes back up in ladder watch out for them
You're more safe here. Punish from Niko.
Gonna come as a real surprise, right? Nifty little move to send Niko into this position.
Why do I look at a give chase here? Low on health.
I'm largely risk averse, but this one is...
Yeah, a bit out there.
Low on HP, tries that head to head on the Niko. Still his team will make it up through the connector, and Tess has no idea.
I just get shot in the side of the head.
Really wants this contact first out the wrap side, and that's what they'll give him.
Low Econ round for the Falcons, there in a 4v2.
K-Sirato dead and Ykindar getting sandwiched.
Falcons from nowhere.
But if the use of this one-hero gun on Niko,
they'll have a second chance.
They planned for the worst, hoped for the best, right?
That was going to be an Eko anyway to play up against Matt Point,
but now Falcons get extra room on this CT side
to make the late-game recovery.
They get a 4x, they get monies AWP, and they have reserves.
Falcons have been given a chance, a bang of pistol shots,
and Niko putting that gun to use absolutely required to keep Falcons in this game,
but they are bobbing. Make no mistake about it.
This is not a team swimming to the finish line. Falcons are surviving.
He goes handed off that AK to Kiyosuke, right now the game is happening, no better man
for the job. No better time to show up. Here he is final by for now.
take the order of the day.
Molledoy, chance for an opening here,
but it requires you to be very, very fast.
Luckily enough, that's this guy's whole thing.
This UK departs the angle.
So for now, all you get from this is the mid control.
No opener.
Here again, really reactive at the moment.
Barely even in the middle.
Molledoy holding chair, yes, but your kinder's
wary of these boosts up in window.
Come down at the read, Falcons flying blind.
They've got three players out towards the A site.
Immigration looking to come through now,
and that's when Yuri punishes.
So, Kimbam was on his way up,
and Amoli burns Niko down,
and so this idea of the bait and switch will not pan out.
Yuri over there, I set on the A play.
Monosy AWP in position, it has to deliver.
First shot lands, Yuri cleaned up.
Kiyosuke, it's made.
Kindar turns around to heal with him.
There's the Monodori AWP hitting its stride.
Throw everything you've got.
All the Nades forces a road tape,
and Monacy is saving if they let him.
And they're not keen on that idea.
Moledoy comes and knocking, time and time again,
getting the better over Monacy.
Fast track to the finishing line now,
with that big hunt coming in at the end.
There's no money left for the Falcons.
They're going to have to cobble together something.
Has felt like a game where everything that could go wrong
has gone wrong for the Falcons.
Furia with perfect stack CT side.
Bordeaux in the right place, hitting the shot every single time.
And Monosian Niko starting so slow in this map.
They were given very little time to recover.
Four chances for Furia to close, and this is on Falcons' map, it no less.
Yuri has been a monster across this map. He started so strong. Still not missing when
it matters. Honestly, all bought out. He's the only guy with money. An informal molotov
way to go up against this we say it's two orbers, oh they're gonna clash again.
Oh, Modesty just gives it away! Rifle push out in the top mid but with an opener
out towards B, Valkyrie is far from comfortable. Important double for Kiyosuke if you want to
have any chance in this round. Here he dies, this is over the bombs of top mid right now,
Kiyosuke will depart. It's that decision you'll regret later as his team have not been reliable.
He's done so much on this CT side, double kill to open up, surely that's enough.
Oh, they just missed the Palace smoke, Nico just threw that into the middle of the site.
More eyes on A, it's probably a good thing for Falcons right now though, Fury are coming in with three together.
That says tries to get stuck in a scary tense situation that block is a problem
Look in the smoke
That says we love this jump through Yuri with an important trade. It's a Moledoy storm hands off
To the Brazilians to try and see this one through
Oh, Serano and Yuri, he has spent playing together.
Will that synergy pay off in this man down last second sight here?
Stop over the stairs.
This is something Falcons aren't even considering.
Why would you?
Why would you, Niko just gets caught on in time!
And Falcons shut it down!
Not gonna lie, that felt like GG right there.
That boost was the perfect timing.
Niko was watching his connector flank, but they failed the boost.
They make the jump noise, they give info,
and Niko recovers a very important round, keeping Falcons in it yet again.
For one jump too many here for Furia, means they must play on.
Money on the line, no AWP for Molodoy.
Last time Falcons are in this position with a chance to punish Furia on a low
econ round, they fell short of it. This is their second chance now to really make
this the competitive map to bring it even closer. It's going to be something
speedy as well. Three pallets you can't do this forever you're going to be popping.
Bought by the util right now but as you say yeah pace will be
the game of the game for Furia. An explosive play all three rifles as a
pack out through the palace. Tess says lucky to escape with his life.
Tess is all trapped back in the connector by this util and Tess gets
out of the danger zone he can feel that Furia are looking for that CT
control. Falcons can buy retake, they have utility and they have the better weapons.
Furio have to take strong positions.
5v5. Retake being demanded. It's Karagin's backstab right now that Falcons are lending
a little bit of time, a little bit of space, but Karagin's not the only guy with a backstab.
You're Kindar closing in, out of CT, not even a requirement. Now gets the flank jungle.
He don't know, but they've got to be looking over their shoulder here.
He's going carrying by the openings.
It keeps our strikes.
And Yuri back here in CT, one kill in the right place, could do it.
Defeuze being held.
And Yuri takes it away.
The homecoming of Moledoy in front of his home crowd, where the journey all started,
gets off to a lights out start.
He tops the charts.
He outclasses Modesty.
his modesty and Falcons now it's back to the drawing board because Furious show
up here firing on all cylinders
She said she loves you, but she can't love me!
But I love you!
I won't play Windu anymore.
What's going on?
Play your role, when it's bad.
The
The human body was built to mogul, not trapped at a desk in one singular posture for 12 hours a day.
It's time your chair evolved. This is Secret Lab Titan Evo.
Ergonomically engineered for you, gamers, hybrid workers, artists, back in your every move.
Welcome back, you're watching a PGL of Stona and damn, if you have missed what's just gone
down, where the hell have you been?
Because it was absolutely fantastic counter strike on display, Furia up against Falcons
and Furia taking Falcons down 39 on the Falcons, Mavic boys.
What the hell happened?
Let's say Molledoy came in here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and he was all out of gum.
I'll tell you that much.
He was absolutely stellar prompt.
Just watching him hit his shots.
Went monosy in the server and you're like, bro, you're hitting more shots.
You're hitting shots which monosy used to hit once upon a time.
I mean, I don't think he missed a single shot.
I haven't seen if it was just on target round after round.
The positions he put himself in, you were allowed to miss shots because they were so
tight, the angles were playing so aggressive.
You were expected to miss shots.
He was not. He was so on point, round after round, and there was that one round I remember
Niko had to drop on him with like two bullets.
Monosy gets him back, just like that. I mean, Molotov, yes.
Monosy had a very slow start on the other hand, just like Niko Kyosuke did the best I've
seen in play in a playoff in a long time. I think sixth best playoff, big arena game
of all time for Kyosuke. Definitely stepped up to the task, but not the rest of the team,
Realistically, Fiora just played on a completely different level.
What they delivered, every player had a moment.
Oh yeah, absolutely. And the thing is for Falcons, as you pointed out, right,
the fact that Kyusuke, we said, it's playoff struggles,
he's the guy who's going to be under the radar,
sorry, under the microscope rather.
But again, really delivering in spades, right,
we saw Karakuen have his moments,
but he got to say that slow start we saw from Niko,
and from Moniz, even from Niko as well,
like the round you pointed out,
where he had a free kill on towards Molotov,
Completely with him all the hits to blinders of shots as well. And it's kind of like the the veteran
Fragners of the teams who kind of kind of flounder in the beginning sound they did find a little bit
And I'm curious as to why you think that might have happened
Nerves you can even say right lack of experience maybe maybe
But no, but but for Nico look, you know the choking tag it does kind of follow me all around
That's for majors blades too soon to stop pulling
It's not even a major and yet he's had such a slow start. It's so rough to see but I want to I want to talk about a positives
And there's one guy we mentioned who's been having a rough rough season so far a rough tournament so far
And it has to be the second Fang of Fury that was Yuri and my oh my prof
I said that a bombsite he's going to be targeted
He was targeted, but he just pushed them back round off around and that was the Yuri of old if not from all the
He was the MVP of this map for sure it was a 30 start for for Falcons
And then he shows up with a 1v1 clutch against Nico which I didn't no one believed he would win
It looked like Nico had had his number there then the next round
There's this alert from Kyosuke coming in and we all see it
And it's like he's he has a drop on Yuri 100%
180 just destroys Kyosuke who's already having a really good game and just from that point onward
He just delivers round after round. We saw how many rounds with kills there
Yeah, absolutely. And just when you have your lowest performing player has been struggling so hard to find his form
delivering that faccia and then Waller just coming in and not missing a single shot right there.
And also, I just want to highlight as well, you know, for Fallen, he didn't really necessarily have to frag much,
but I loved how calm and composed Fury are where in every round we saw,
there was no real panic coming in, they're always working together in tandem, the flashes as well in all these hectic moments.
That's when you see how calm the team is under pressure, right?
one flash, they flashed it through, they know it's swinging by themselves, this clinical
textbook count is right.
I mean just the re-aggressions and the mid rounds on the CT side, we saw as they started
you know taking control, it wasn't like Falcons wasn't getting into good positions, I want
to give credit to Kerrigan, we still have the T sides of Falcons have been under the
magnifying glass for the last year with Kicksand, now with Kerrigan, the numbers aren't any better
so far but I don't think I can put a lot of blame in on Kerrigan himself because he
was getting the team in positions but Fiora was fighting back.
I want to talk a bit more about that but before we do that we actually have an opportunity
to listen in to the Fiora comms as they were able to win that map.
Hey guys, we're going to flash CT okay?
They're going to come CT, we need to fight CT, I'm going to fly from kitchen.
We need to flash there.
We flashed there.
Flash CT.
You have flashed, flash CT.
Two flashed, two flashed.
Flash one.
Yeah.
Flash one now.
Have one more.
Right there.
Yeah, just do it, just do it.
I'm coming from kitchen.
Wait.
Flash, flash, flash, flash, flash.
Not deep, bro.
Is he big there?
I'm probably.
One is inside, sir.
Flank, flank, flank, flank.
Two triple, one flank, flank, flank.
Close, close.
People, people, people, people, people.
Kill him, kill him, kill him.
So calm, so collected and I think that's what you were mentioning earlier.
The chaos that we're used to hear from this team, and there was that chaos when Fallen was on the AWP has kind of
Changed I think with the new dynamic and then goes Parkinson's back to what we said about the the age of his lineup
It's been over a year right now and over the years
I'm sure in the beginning it would have been a way more hectic, but I love how calm that was right there
It was bit of a
Half-buy right there just had a couple of rifles couple of tech knives had limited utility and just the way they went rushing things
They went online. Oh shit, you know they're coming in we got to go for the flash
No, maybe kind of flanking all the way from B. It's just every little small little detail that that's something
The professor said in the pre-games like it comes down to the details and furia
They got it details right just on those details as well
Something else that I noticed is when Falcons won that seventh round and it started to look like in that second half
They were mounting the comeback
Furia calls for that time out
You see Fallen talking to the team you see the coach behind them and then they're back in the game and they're winning rounds
And I do feel like there is a synergy that we're seeing which kind of I want to say reminds me of furia
from last year and maybe I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. I am a fallen fan. It
tends to happen, but it does feel a little bit revitalized.
I don't know. I think what I liked in that round is just there is always a plan and it
doesn't even matter if the plan is the best, most optimal plan for the situation. But they
know, okay, we planted four CT, you came there was coming from behind, but you don't want
to delay for too long because it's going to be obvious that someone's coming from somewhere
else. So he's like, Hey guys, we need to make some play here. They make that play together.
in the end, you didn't even play at all in that round.
It was all about the other players,
but there was a synergy going on,
and there was a clear thing that they wanted to execute
instead of just standing and waiting on the bomb site
and letting the other team come in and just retake, right?
And we saw, on the other hand, in Falcons previously,
in playoff games, how they would let some of these situations
slip because it just seemed like everyone was sitting back
and waiting for the round to be won on its own.
And here, you just see, OK, this is what you're doing.
go for it and winning the round in the end.
Let's go to that conversation around the T-sides of Falcons,
which like you said, Prof, earlier,
we've spoken about it with Kickshand.
It's always been a bit of an issue.
Kerrigan's job, he himself has said,
I think he said it's HLTV,
that he has to come in and fix that.
Yeah.
Have we really, I can't believe I'm going to do this.
Have we really given him enough time though,
because it doesn't feel fair to expect to fix so soon.
I mean, I wanted to see something different
than what I see so far.
I had like a few checklists of items for Falcons.
One was just radars, radar screenshots.
How many have we seen from Falcons?
There was one eco round that they lost like a 3v5 on Dust2
in the group stage, but it wasn't that bad.
It was actually really well played from the opponent as well.
Other than that, none, right?
That's a good improvement.
Saving, I feel like has been better.
Previously Falcons would go for some retakes
that would ruin their economy,
but the T sides overall, the conversions are not there,
but at least see them getting into positions.
I see the trading is good,
but you know, when your main stars are just not on,
you put them in a position,
Kyosuke is getting these openings on a high level,
but Niko and Monasi aren't closing out.
Well, that's not on you.
I think this is something we were actually discussing
on that in the green room as well.
We're like, this is not like Falcons are playing
bad counter strike.
It's not like some of the setups are bad or what not.
It's just at the end of the day, you need to start,
it's an FPS game.
You got to hit some headshots.
And when you have someone like Maldor hitting shots,
Unbelievable shots. You have you know some of these moments of Yuri as well
It does you know it does come down to the small little minutiae of just fracking out
I mean, but I think that's the head to head the head between
monosy and Molladoy like the
Direct duals went 8-0 in favor of Molladoy if I'm not if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, we see it here
That's that's incredible right in the end. How much can you blame monosy when in some of these rounds like it looked
Unwinnable for him how fast model there was and it's also also because for monestee
I don't think anyone has any
Conversation about him being a choker or him being not a big game player. He is a big game player
He's an arena player. He's the one who delivers exactly he has been delivering thus far this entire season despite ups and downs and falcons
It has been an enkyo's we're sucking on playoffs and whatnot
Not one of his has been just his rock solid player the best offer off the season so far
Apart from maybe Zai, we went because of AWP, right?
But it was just a rough game, it was just a rough time.
And sometimes it happens, sometimes it's not much you can read into it.
Sometimes you just have a stinker of a map,
and I feel like that's what happened to Niko and Monosie.
And when that happens, and it's a molotoy,
and Yuri playing like that, it's a dunzo.
I did laugh, because obviously in the pre-game,
I called Karag in the goats.
And I did mean the goat IGL obviously left that pot up at the Zai Rufans.
They were not happy with me after that.
I've got some hate mail already, so there you go.
Sorry, Zai Rufans.
Let's talk about Kiyosuke though, because we've touched on him so much,
we've bought him up so much, but Blair, you and I mentioned this when we were watching him
during the game, is that he kind of looks revitalized, he's smiling,
he has a little bit of personality, I feel like sitting next to Karagin is doing him the world of good.
And then when you take a look at the stats, it's clearly doing something,
because he looks far more improved than what we've seen.
That was a fantastic game for him, I agree completely.
That's a part of the intangibles that we can't really analyze with any stats or data.
You don't really know what inserting a new player in the dynamic of a team will unlock,
but we were hoping for something like this.
We were hoping for Kerrigan to be able to take some of this pressure,
all of this focus on everything outside of the server,
and just let him play the game because we know he can play the game.
He's an insane individual skill,
It just hasn't been transforming to the on-serve performance in the big games.
We can at least look at history and what Karrigan has done
with many a young player in the past.
We can talk about your Frozen's.
You can talk about Rob's back-in-the-mouse potency.
You can even talk about a young Niko.
Ten years ago, eight, nine years ago,
and he's playing underneath that faith jersey as well, right?
So there's one guy who can walk wonders with young, unpolished youth.
It is Karrigan.
Yeah, unpolished youth. I like that player.
Okay, we're going to Nuke, this is Feria's math pick.
How does Falcons perform on this one?
I think just Kyosuke's showing up better
is gonna be a huge boon for them
because the 9Z game that they have on the T side,
he's an outside player, he's creating openings, right?
And he was having a stinker of a game together with Ergen.
If the two of them are playing anything similar
to this level, it will be a game, it will be a match.
If not, well, then it's gonna be hard
for anyone else to get involved.
Yeah, and I think that the T side is where Falcons
has completely fell apart on 9-0, right?
9-0, initially the CD side, they looked good,
I think it was 8-1 or 8-2, the scoreline for Falcons,
and then 9-0 able to swim a few rounds together at the end.
But the T side never really got going.
And I feel like, again, it's very early days,
we only saw that one nuke right there,
but Carrigan's nuke-calling, that's the thing.
His style of calling a nuke is something I used to love,
I used to love to watch back in the days of FaZe
when that was their main primary pick.
But it's also a style which requires a little bit of time
to settle down with when it comes to new players coming in.
So, hopefully they're not a proud player,
but I don't know, Kroff,
because this was a surprise when you're coming in.
We weren't really necessarily expecting Fiora to go for this one.
Yeah, I mean, in the head-to-head is the last time
these two teams played, Nuke, Falcons did win.
Obviously, that was a kick-sign, and now with Kerrigan,
Falcons also beat Vitality in overtime at IEM Rio.
But, yeah, lost to Ninesi, as we mentioned.
So, these are the three times they played,
not that much reps on this map even with Orwell.
And also, like for me, I'm just looking at Niko, I just saw that map right there.
Niko had a rough game earlier, he needs to wake up here, outside it's going to be a bloodbath.
Talking about waking up, you can tell Fallen's getting old, because he was yawning earlier.
I hope that isn't a sign of this to him.
We're moving on to Nukethuria, and your boy, Maladoy, is one map away from potentially securing a semi-final.
and now we have the Furia's pick is the stage that last year
and Molodoy was in tears on falling the spirit with a
shambolic third map of Mirage. He is making up for it right
now here in this quarterfinal. Falcons failure to launch a
team that has beaten Furia three times over this year as
Furia looks to find their first win when it matters.
their first win when it matters.
This is also meant to be the hardest game until those finals
for whoever takes it.
And so it's seeing Fiora power through the Falcons,
their map pick up next, sitting just a map away from the semis,
the Kazakh clash in their head to head over magic.
And Molotov is showing up in fantastic form from the word go.
It wasn't a weak link for Fiora.
The Falcons, their T-sides had let them down on this map back in the group stages.
There were real struggles.
There isn't much of a picture you can paint here, Furia.
Just a map away from those semi-finals.
A start-up!
Let me hear you!
Furia T-side, straight into lobby.
Straight with intention is Yuri.
It's himself tucked in in the heart. Do we have some sort of fake-out right now for Furia?
They're showing off Ramp, but they're not committing. They're just pushing Kiyosuke back.
Back to this A-Side. Nice fast play at least, but Yuri somehow longs it out.
Ugly fight for Tessa as Furia will recommit out Ramp.
Kiyosuke was already leaving. He was going up secret. Now he's been called back down.
Is it double fake into B or is it?
I
Can tries to hang around ends up giving it away and now a root open for furia into a near empty top site
It's honestly I spoke about man a problem after that first map
And have some redemption here on the door barrett is there flooding him from all angles though and monest he will get over ran
No one had dropped
Was chasing ghosts and have to watch out or else he'll become on himself now
It's Niko Kiyosuke 2 vs 3 trying to break away back through Molodoy shuts it down another convincing start
From Molodoy in the pistol they buy into every word fall and says that is ramp to a back to ramp to be back up to a
That is too many fakes to handle for Falcons
They just can't get a grip on the round and yeah, you talk about monosy in that previous map getting kept by Molodoy
That is not a good look either. That's not gonna build the confidence when you're miss hearing or miss calling whatever it is
Misunderstanding the situation. All the way puts a bow on it here for furia to lock in a pistol
What's why for Falcons?
Patience outside. All in their scary position, stuck red with the bomb, a smoke available
to get him out. He's not ready to go on for the job. Honestly, around, typically you would
I feel very threatened by Scout back in CT.
Furia, you have to give him anything.
Those needles are some kind of damn thing, and that main split coming in is a big problem.
Not enough manpower here to watch every available angle, and Falcons already fall out of favour in this round.
They're looking for the save.
Job done for Furia.
Oh, what? What? That's through the garage, no scope.
scope. Run that one back, that is ridiculous.
But a lot goes a long way here for monosy, but it only allows the save.
My goodness.
You can't even celebrate it if you're Falcons right now.
Fury it. Nice round. Get outside control.
Drop double smokes late, garage in hell, and just take over that A site.
It's been very buttoned up counter strike for Viria.
Very prim, very proper.
They weren't hurried, they weren't rushing, they weren't making silly mistakes.
They weren't trying to get too involved on CT side.
They let Falcons run the clock down.
I mean, look at this.
Whoa.
side, they let Falcons run the clock down. This is such an interesting map, right? Just
to pat this in the V2 because it's when you look at the numbers, you maybe say, ah, yeah,
furious, not a great run of things in 2026 so far. And that's understandable. But both
these teams had a great bit of nuke back and forth towards the end of last year. We saw
the finals face each other but in both the games of these two teams play
Furia won them out so they have that history to rely on. The question is can
Karrigan call you out? I felt like it was little Karrigan could do towards the
end of Nuke with some of his stars going silent. Not the time for it. And it's
also a very technical map. I mean the Falcons have talked pretty openly about
how they have had a lot of time with this new addition to everyone under
stands what they're doing, but how many strats are you going to have of your pocket? Is the
map that Fury had been struggling on? So as a result, must have been putting more work in.
The most technical map in Counter-Strike.
That sounds legal. Nice way to get this going. I'm able to follow up. It's a monosome scout in
with a reply out here on the heavens. It's UK flanking in through the lobby. How much more
What more can monocy do? The scouts found good impact since it arrived.
2k puts it in, that's really a line up. They're both 4 down low.
3 shots from the scout, could steal the round away, but nothing's connecting for monocy.
Hey, see some frustration there, because man, look at that winnable round.
Not for many players, but for monocy, you would bank on it.
Everybody within one-shot territory, he's getting multiple chances to fire off, and nothing connecting.
Not a good day here for Monosy.
Can the tune be changed or is this just one note for Falcons?
Failure in this arena.
It's one thing to lose, it's another thing to get beat.
First buy, Monosy's all, full rifles for Furia.
And look, his big bully in Molodoy doesn't have views, so a chance for Monosy to be
a bit more uninterrupted in his use of this AWP start down towards lower. They
don't have info in the yard and they've already lost Karrigan out towards the
door so Falcons there's a lot of gaps here. Modesty can't be super quick in
this push but we'll make it secret side on that orb. Don't expect to peek
up through secret info from this play just yet. Modesty's hanging around hoping
they're already moving his way. Second wall is gonna get you into a cross so
So that's straight into this AWP. It's time to strike, honestly.
But will you give away this kill? Is it just control for now?
Rest of Fury are back up in the lobby grouped.
Still want Util to hit this topside, main smoke, flash,
and just trading their way out.
Look how weak it is right now. It is Tessas against the world.
I honestly hit stat. That's your kinder dead on his lurk.
Outramp.
Go up next.
These were the two struggling players, the two missing stars for the Falcons.
Monacee holding a bit more promise here.
Nico at the ramp here and would it get out with one that at least keep things even?
You have this space.
No, the monies down lower.
That gives heaven open.
Yes, who cares? The question right now.
That says in this top site all alone and that still remains the case.
Good awareness to deal with that first man out through the heavens.
but now a chance to drop in with the bomb.
Kiyosuke will disrupt, arriving just in time to shut that one down.
Alright, a bit of panic here for Furia.
Would love to see Molotov just throw that bomb back down, back side,
let Keisuke Arto pick it up,
and maybe feeling the pressure of the clock at 15 seconds.
So Cross denied by Kiyosuke the player he never got a read on.
Back garage the entire time.
So Falcons catch Furia by surprise.
They pick up their first round in this half.
He's got the back of Monosy and Kiyosuke.
I mean, look at this bi. We have an AK and an AWP with three pistols.
We'll actually get to Kalil.
This being a little bit pacey here, you've got less to work with here,
so I'm hoping to make use of these yard smokes.
Right now it's around dominated by AWPers with both Monosy and Molodoy getting theirs.
He's again, they realize Monos is lower and look at what Furia do. They immediately take carriage control
They know they can go towards hell
They can go around the world but to do this with an orc is different cause it might come up in that post bar
Massive entries on this A site and nobody home for the Falcons. Knock knock, Mardo is coming for Monosy
All that's even spotted the last man. It's crisp. It's clean. Maximum damage dealt away
in the Falcons. Moledoy right now, 10 and 0 in this series over Monacy. Oh dear. We keeping
track. Damn right we are. Just how pivotal it feels to the outcome. And some better signs
out of Montesy, some signs of life at least on map 2, but if he never is able to overcome
Moldova in this head to head, will it matter? I mean he's sure he's getting his kill in
lower, but both rounds, Furia have reacted quickly and they've gone and avoided him.
They're not going to let him get activated. The Kindred now gets down Vex as a chance
As Falcons saw that dispatch, modesty down both below, but only a 5-7 in this round with a pistol armor for Falcons.
All of those just giving time, giving room to work with his AWP. Falcons gamble, 2-Ramp 2A, modesty uncertain,
re-clearing this lower site. I think there's definitely some awareness that the Kinders made this happen.
Is this all just a ruse for now?
Got a lot of control.
attempting to move this bomb to join him and that's what falcons realize look at
that mini man
this very heavy stack in at lower
you're here you tell them they throw how much do they signal this approach do
They check their corners.
Good opening here for your Kindar on that back ten,
but it's chaos as the pistols close in.
Monosy, keen double kill.
As your Kindar trapped down here, tries to...
Oh, he goes looking for it.
Monosy's been missing, but suddenly shows up
with a terrifying 3K.
And now it's Yuri.
And a string of high impact rounds back on Mirage.
Does he have a 1v3 in and off on the line?
And Tess says, locks it in.
Too many players there.
Modesty massive moment triple kill with a 5-7 push.
I like how Furia attempted to attack the side,
could have dealt with it a little bit more utile,
but they didn't have much in their pockets.
And Modesty pushes forward, takes three,
and saves Falcons on that eco.
This lower control proving to be a problem.
I'd just be sending Furia for more ramps round CT spawn.
Modesty's going to continue to be a nuisance in secret.
Even Falcons call the timeout after an eco win.
Sonic's saying a lot.
I mean, this has to be the start of something for the Falcons, right?
You can't scrape by with these one and done rounds.
In the one game, we saw them play with this version of the lineup here in Astana.
It was the T side that was the problem.
They got out with an 8-4 half.
They got 0 rounds on the T side.
And here CT, sure you change captain, but you'd like to imagine the protocols, the rotates, all of that looks to remain similar.
So for the individuals they know how to play off of each other well, but T side it's a whole different ball game.
Based on what we've seen so far, it is a problematic area for the Falcons.
This is where the streak is going to start, this is where you've got to go from strength to strength, start building in the right direction.
Honesty.
Acknowledge the promising sign from Honesty at the start of map 2.
Absolutely.
Starting in a more standard position now, but he'll be able to assist with his cross, but Fury are going in front of the smokes.
Intimate.
Oregon keeps his wits about him, eyes on, they're dropping down.
It's a bit of chaos there out at the door.
Okay, Serato with the opening.
Honesty backside on this all.
And the Furia want to try and move in. They slow down right now, lending time to Molotov.
Hatches one at the back of the site.
Are you ready for the Monosio tucked in CT-BEN?
Holly causes big problems. Monosio gets the strike while it's down, but he's burning alive.
And Tyne will decide his fate for it.
Burned out by the Util. Rotates arrive. Heaven's side. Kiyosuke and Niko wrestling this one back.
Swap back!
And on a knife setch now with damage done onto your Kindar.
Foulins made it down the fence. It's a lower plant for Furia.
So cheeky for Foulins, and he's got great timing as well.
He can even get back out into another position.
He can jump up on the clock, Foulin moves, time on his side.
Kindar playing very late.
And Falcons don't know whether it's one or two down through that vent smoke.
Be wary of a lurker.
Kindar is playing so slow in this round.
He even has a Molly for that bomb. Keep that in mind.
There's no smoke to put that out.
If he can find the late timing on ramp, he can win this round.
No master sitting back here, waiting for them to go walking
right into his crosshairs.
Oh, he'll swing out and seal it with a double.
Didn't need the flight.
Fallon's got him right where he wants him.
You think your kid does the round when a Fallon
Shows you a thing or two.
Shots Falcons down in that post plant with a very risky move right through the vents mode.
Disappear in front of your very eyes.
One final trick for Fallen, but it's still Falcons coming out with the 4x.
If he lifesigns for a monosie, Niko is the other piece that I'm hoping gets online,
but it won't be in this round.
You're kind of able to uproot him out in the yard, it's a big problem.
Crossdown in a secret now opens up.
A constant idea that you're going to be looking over your shoulder, wondering as you kind
of slip the net, as you made it in a back garage, they've at least gone and cleared
that real estate.
Down here in Lowe, you can see our Rose.
Even getting this control tells you, hey, if Vonnesey's not here, watch out for him.
He might be heaven, he might be supporting Ramp of the York.
So how will Furia react, realising they have this Lowe control?
Smoke hit him in the door, they know about the Karagin push as a result,
and that stops this in its tracks. He has made it in.
Kacerato keeps his wits about him, that smoke making contact with Karagin,
sealed his death.
Now it's kind of nice, now it's just a large smoke right now for Kacerato.
As you can spot out here on the rampside, they are going to try and challenge a Uri on that wide spacing.
Makes him down a peg.
They've been looking for the Monaceo, trying to figure out where he is, where he's gone to.
And they might dodge him entirely, bomb heading lower.
Yikindar taking that space earlier in the round, and even though they lose Keisarato back in the lobby,
it's this lower plant, 3v2.
Falcons don't really have any business giving this one a look in.
You've got to feel from honesty right now because he's actually hitting in the second map
but he is just getting out position round after round.
Vessels cannot consider going through the vet fury of having that position the entire round.
So Bonplas seals their fate.
Falcons walk away.
I would chance is about to go wrong there for Furia.
Furia getting isolated out in front of that molotov, but man, he is just limited in this
game and you've really got to give it to him.
Of course, the attention is on this AWP head to head to the highest rate of play as the
event.
The Uri has stuck in with valuable impact across both maps.
Considering he was one of the pieces you were worrying about,
adding into this quarter-final,
he's given you all such concerns as this one's gone on.
This is a round. I want to see Monaston just throw himself into the fire,
get involved early. He's been relatively passive on the CT side.
When I think how Falcons beat by Talotov and his map back in Rio,
it was Chaos from Odyssey and Niko collapsing on outside,
round after round, shutting down Apex and Co.
Buria are not running behind those yard smokes,
they are just walking through Ramm.
Taking to the Deagle, double setup here with the boost earlier,
and Niko's gonna make him regret it.
Keen double, all rotates in, and there's that triple threat!
Finally providing something for the Falcons!
I don't know who your kinder got here, he has element of surprise.
It's really hoping, Monace, he kept this line.
Now he's just another guy arriving late into the ramp room, Kill gets picked up via Kindar
though and that's the AWP gone.
By no means an easy clutch.
Kindar has no info on Karagan or Tessas in this 1v2.
The tribute is the second voice inside of this team, great brain for the game.
Can you, Kindar, piece it together?
If he's doing this, I feel like he's just going to go up the ladder, though, isn't he?
That's exactly what Karagin's waiting for, to try to buy some time, make Falcons think
he's rotated.
Hope they go looking for guns, because Karagin only has a pistol, and it might be the perfect
weapon for the job.
Right up the ladder, and Karagin has his number.
Oh, oh. Not even close. Big round from Nico. Double off the 5'7
era rap. Nice c-monacy. Moving quick to join the action. Sometimes he's been pretty static
in his position. But right there to support. Falcons have done a decent job of winning
some of these low economy rounds in this game. It's gone on gun when they've had trouble.
Still very much the team kind of second the tone for this second map.
I remarked on how it's been a pretty slow methodical game out of this furious squad.
I can see willing to try and match them there. This is the round they decide that they can flip
that one round and maybe the guy is setting the tone, setting the pace.
They've got a chance to break here yet.
It's jumpy right now for Falcons, but here we go. Take all round on this recovery.
He's going to get back to the garage.
Ash guys, let's go to the left for you now.
Three rifles, two pistols.
Fury are playing very late, expecting perhaps some break on this smoke.
provide. One more native atop the roof as well. He doesn't even believe it. He thinks
this is a fake right now. It's not. Fury, a double wall is going to allow them to cross.
Oh. What is this? But they cut it.
The kind of brooding tension in the air here is... Everyone's dialed in. No one's celebrating
yet. Fury, I know this could either be a great T-Sider. One more Falcon's are able to answer
back they lose K-Sorado here in the lobby and they've heard a man up on T-Roof. This has kept
a lot of players on the wrong end of the map. Uriah move in decisively so after seeing that lobby
crunch. Alkins now arrive on a C-Aup, first on the chopping block. No more nades. And that
dialed in on this position. Monacee will pick it up. Vardage extended. Still this late lurk had
had a fallen back in the lobby but it relies on Yuri and Molodoy holding the line in at
lower.
Yuri, risky position, fights ahead at the retake wrap side, Monosy gets the better
of him.
Molodoy, even good, it is head to head but no longer Monosy, huge hat trick, it's the
back star but he's one step ahead of it, that's four, like it from Monosy.
That's what we've been waiting to see here in this quarterfinal.
We promised you a duel of two of the best AWPers in the world.
Honestly, shows up on this stage.
Better late than never, and not too late here at the Falcons.
Honestly, 4K, foot-some on the ball.
And that keeps them in the game.
A single flash and a collection of pistols just to punch this A site.
Oh, a bit of a surprise there when you kick it off, but it shouldn't be well-informed.
All the rotates arrive for the Valkyries, they're swept with it, and a putdown of that A-play.
No issue there, up against the pistols.
This type of rounds were the ones that were getting close back at Mirage.
The mileage had a dealier.
Honestly topping the charts on Nuke.
Olidoy finally dons his orb to try and meet him.
Had a couple of rounds without it with the money going down the drain for Furia.
He will get to bring out one more AWP at the end of the half.
It's a credit to Fiora for the game plan, right?
They definitely won the first few rounds,
but now he's feeling inevitable,
finding them every time.
Molledoy, the glass or...
Try and match.
He's got a real pep in his step here, right?
You've had these very passive rounds
from Odyssey down and lower.
Not here in round 12.
It's Pops, skipping a jump across, out in a secret,
looking for a yard, fight three players there to face him,
but a missed shot, Odyssey goes unpunished.
Stubborn on the line, and that's what Molledoy wants.
That's one score!
Before this half is over!
Nico keeps the advantage for the Falcons.
Oh, and he makes it across into the garage.
While CID here for Furia, the secret cross now feels uncertain.
Every time Falcons are pulled away from hell, Furia have managed to take it.
Falcons don't look over their shoulder, they look forward.
It does find him a kill.
But still, Furia can creep behind.
Oh, and taking the barn out towards main.
A lot of bodies to get past in this A-bombside. Faster rotates available as well. This will
not be easy. Prodigy, Stude and the Masters side by side in this one for Furia.
Time to teach him a lesson. Barrel spotted. He's got that info. Who's about to play a
CT then? Will he try and chase this? Because he waits for the swing and a carry, and gets
All enabled to punish, it's that swing out there that seals their fate
because Foulin's going lower, thinking he's got room
and that couldn't be further from the truth.
Falkins go on to stabilize, signs of life from Monosy,
repelling them through to a split half.
Yeah, very strong start in this game for Furia,
looking to just make a statement out of this quarterfinal,
but four straight rounds down the stretch
and a 4k in there from Monosy
is just at the right time here for Falkins.
staying in this game looking to drag us all the way to Dust 2.
But this is where the game gets hard.
We talked about this coming in.
The difficult T-small.
Garagund calling a T-side at Nuke at the top level with limited time to prepare.
I don't know if you could guarantee this at-pick for Furia in this V2 as well.
It's a bit of a surprise.
Yeah, both a bit of a pocket pick and a bit of a punish, right?
Trying to exploit the fact that, like you say,
there just wasn't any way you used to anticipate this.
Urius saw those struggles.
They know that this is a technically demanding map.
And if there ever was a time to try and exploit a new IGL
and new captain, this would be the time and the place to do it.
Nice one, guys. Let's go. Good shit.
Oh, here for Furia. It seems to be the way they're looking to get improved. That's how
I would describe the entire series thus far from this Furia squad. Is that a state of
Harry's been able to work magic in the past, when teams embrace his unique chaos and fall
and he's tried to stay above it throughout this game.
This four rounds have been good in four Falcons.
It's not every day you see 5v5 retake hay.
Forget this bomb planted.
Nice.
That would be a kind of rush as that, and that's given, honestly, a chance to punish.
You've got one player pulled away from the pack at least, so maybe this leads to Furia
picking up the pace Heavenside.
Don't drop in, right over Kiyosuke Yurin in there.
But here's the responses, monosin and Tessettes wrestling back kills.
Round still wide open, planted out in the open, Niko meant to stop this.
Niko meant to deny it, down to this clutch, locked in the Yuri.
Swing for the info and Niko's got it, dead to right.
It's another pistol for the Falcons.
They'll move into the lead.
Falcons will take split pistols every single day.
Our team members historically struggle in these opening rounds.
Never the conversions, just getting them on the board.
This event alone, bottom of the playoff teams.
But showing up with an important pistol,
whatever matters, puts them in the lead.
And it forces a tricky decision from Furia.
It is often just too tempting not to buy.
This could be Falcons taking an early lead in the second half.
Fury, weird to see them play retake A with no clear smoke, but this is what they bargained for, this is what they'll get.
Rifle outside, wreaking havoc.
She could hold in brawl for this yard control, but right now that FAMAS going up and over.
Bolliloy taking a bit of a risk, it pays off.
I heard them run away.
They're holding on.
The light cabinet concede the odd control.
They're right here on the team, but the right force here on the team with the U-Tail.
You want this position.
They're going to have to go back and clear it a little later.
Important catch on the kickoff.
Really nice. See Falcons re-clear this though.
It's the right call. Make sure your guns aren't picked up.
Fury can't flank them, stuck in the lobby, they've got Tessa still there.
Assemblance of control, the Falcons to regroup with, so back they go.
Holodoy looking to commit to a position on this site.
Fallen just praying to delay on the ramp.
Fury want to risk it, or are they trusting in their individuals to hold their spots alone?
It's to be the latter, and who else but the hometown hero to get put to the test.
Holodoy up here, and can a drop vent and get away from him, so never given the chance to
strike into Loa, go the Falcons dodging this topside stack.
They got a decision, do you want to grab guns outside, say he's given another goal, or do
you want to really try and get down that vent?
It's a death trap.
It's a furia, look like they're gonna walk away.
That's a carabin' call right there.
Dropping that drive.
A furia waiting for.
No way, no way, just baiting out steps I guess, trying to make Falcons go down with the ball.
Not realistic, Falcons don't fall for it. Don't consider this pistol converted, there are two
fantasies in play.
Chance to try it all over again, even the kit still maintaining your presence on full and just to give you more time if you're able to make this next one
to make this next one competitive.
Uriah, throwing a bit of money,
dropped pistols making their way over,
Famous is still in play.
Falcon's gonna approach this one like it's a gun round.
Not smoking, but McCuse made it across,
K-Sirato, not spotted in that crossing,
already set up at the secret stairs.
Spamming, hoping this means Kcerato goes overlooked.
It's an attempt at the bait and switch, do they pull for it?
No, there's the clear.
If you're really accounting on Kcerato getting something from that position,
even a one and done, this is worst case scenario.
Double drop in a lower.
Hang on here, this could still be graphical, but pushing forward, four rifles, look your way, all of grabs are headshot,
all of drops another, and suddenly the 5-7 tears through.
All of them with a chance to escape, he'll take it, 3v3 and Falcons flustered.
Now the game plan's gone awry, you've got Tessas on this lurk who might be the guy to try and open up a backdoor.
The Kindar not able to find him that would have been the make or break kill
because now they come flying at the vent right in a hurry only one on the 5-7
it's a Moldoid clutch being demanded 1v2 for Moldoid
three wrap-out into Heavens Falcons already in their post-bots this should be
unwinnable. Kit lost a long way away and so time is a problem. Molodoy hoping to
force a fight for something out of the Falcons. The noise made and no reason to
give him this, no reason to give him the satisfaction. Molodoy with the first, no
time for this round. That's the heads for the hills. Falcons get away with the
Pistol and those conversions and early leading on the T side of new
Yeah, you've got to give a round of applause to Tess's there. He absolutely fails Falcons out with that failed lower hit
All the way and thought fooling were putting the pressure on Tess's relieves it with the entry and the trade up the vents
Massive kills on that top side to give Falcons a big round move and we're seeing them use that vent to their best success on this T side
so far, bailing out in the second round, down in a 3v3, and now coming up to close that one.
Valken's with a significant lead, and Fury over the chance to fight back, but no
no warp to do it with. It's honestly he's put in position with his.
Thanks Layne, outside. Falling ahead of the Molly? That's a commitment. He can't get
out of here alive. Surely, trade is good.
Take a one for one there, if you're fury aright.
Fallen put in a really tough spot, as you say.
Utile used just to make him so uncomfortable.
Chunky damage put down range, needs to follow.
Breaking that smoke, just to laze the cross.
It's alright, I didn't hang around and try and fight that
on the break.
If he did, he would have seen a lot of players
heading across into the garage. Not the secret walk.
Keisarato get off the one.
Morgoy wants a fight.
Gonna bypass him entirely.
Arrogant moves in, main side.
Monosian toe on that AWP.
He is still hoping they're giving these yard fights,
but no angles open as Falcons take the main space.
It's Uri, with a lot to answer for here, two players coming his way, Uri went crumpled!
One back from Odyssey, but the end of the line is all of Furia, pulled through!
And that's Uri again, another magical double on that topside, right when Furia need him.
Audacious jump shots, but no trade allowed with an orb stuck in main.
Uri are winning out there, first full buy on this CT side, they do it without an orb.
They do it with only even trades, until Yuri gets involved and wins the round.
All picked up as well, so Molodoy lethal now.
Honestly, took the cake this map.
Now for Molodoy's time in the limelight.
I'll try and play with pace here you know that all got saved out of the last so it feels like going quickly is the
the best resolution for the Falcons.
Is it too quiet?
I don't ever saw anything crossing.
Here's that A-Play.
Fury again, trying to be the stock gap this time,
only out with one.
K-Sirago decides to conceive.
Polidoy, that's audacious.
White swing out through the heavens,
and he goes unpunished.
Now flashes to get ahead of this
before the bombs even planted.
They bring a ferocious pace.
It's got a retake.
It's a shutdown.
And Tessa knows there's no winning this 10 HP blocked out by the Util, only a matter of time.
They just chased them down.
Fury of Fearless on this CT side, a man Mordoi making moves.
Risky at all. That was the AWP on the line. You were giving Falcons guns back side there.
That was a very dangerous display.
That was the most unhinged fury I have looked in this series,
but it's still conducive to a round win and one that has complications.
Falcons full broke, nothing they can do now.
This game will tie it up.
Chance for Kerrigan here to have a bit of a think, try and put some minds at ease.
De Niko just full hands off the keyboard as they chat amongst themselves because they're
about to relinquish this lead.
And they know the task ahead of them is huge, right?
They're up against their fury that are playing a very clean game, not giving way to chaos.
All the fury individuals are showing up.
They know the task is massive.
They haven't had the time nor the tape to tell themselves they can do this, their only
experiences on Nuke here in Astana have been about as worse as you can ask for, zero T-Rounds
on this map the one time it crept up.
Against 90 as well, right, can't forget that factor, sure it's even it, come through and
shock everybody in groups but that's just weird, nothing to rely on, nothing in the bag.
What's the deagle kill?
Niko's got a gun.
4 on 3, that Oli is a lot of pressure in case the Rado has to evade.
This is a bomb plant.
As far as falcons are concerned, this round is a success.
Can it get better?
I don't count Niko out of something crazy.
Just no armor is going to hold him back.
So we've got this Kiyosuke deagle, and a lights out opening map.
Trying to recover here.
It's already beginning to get excited about this round.
And in comes Nico wrestling back that wrap kill.
Oh!
Did he buy that for him?
Full shot.
No way!
Times now the problem.
Mollenoid's going to close in.
And he'll stop him in his tracks, nail-biting deep views.
But I think he's done enough.
Mollenoid just saving Derea.
No business having that round.
Get so close!
Nice to see things going right for Nico for a change.
Yeah, only so far though.
Nearly the impossible.
The final bullet headshot.
And it's a choke off in that 1v1, but Molodoy slams it shut.
That hurts for Nico a few seconds of difference.
But Molodeitch just closes in and what deags Niko on this side?
Deagle give and a deagle take.
That could have been a spark for Falcons at this point in the game, right?
The difficulties on the T side of Nuke, winning an unlikely Glock round.
And so you can tell yourself it's fine, you can tell yourself that it was just an Eiko, it was a nice try.
The Falcons know what that could have represented instead, Fiora remain in this game.
Beck and Neck as the 4-1 comes in.
A round like that certainly lights a fire underneath you.
They're at the idea that you came so close to doing it with nothing.
There was $700 invested in that round and you got it down to a 1v1.
A very winnable position.
U-Till finds big damage out in the yard.
QCJ board down low.
I think it was going to do even more, but the scourge behind the box in time, Falcons.
What were two words for Wreck?
Look at these yards, folks. Always trying to leave Fury a guessing.
More often than not, they kept this utility attack just to play for that information and look at this.
This is a change. It's been a game and Fury are largely sat back.
back, waited for Falcons to make the first move, but they try and bring a fight into the lobby.
I think they think everyone's outside right now, they're still more in the lobby, they kill
Tess as the lurker, Falcons are right there, three players in the hut coming out, Furia
find out the hard way. It's a mystery here for Furia on that info, they've bought everyone
in the hallway, it's over, Yuri! And he gets away with a lot of damage, but it won't be enough.
Top site taken and Furia out of position. That's when Prep doesn't pay off,
That's when the kill feed lets you down, flushing out the lobby lurker with spam and Furia pull knives out, they run, they rotate.
They remove themselves entirely and Falcons were just cooped up in the hut, waiting to strike.
Tessus there does them a world of good there.
And Furia fall victim to the miss read.
Nice jump on A for Falcons, realizing the opportunity they had.
The game dominated by captains trying to outread each other.
One of the few times Furia play for information, it sends them the wrong way.
Yeah, they had no Nades left on those outside smokes.
So as the late wall comes down, Falcons could be beat.
They could have crossed.
Fury would have known.
Too little, too late.
And 10 rounds taken first by the Falcons,
breaking that streak of three.
And now Colby.
See the Moledoy dominate a lot of the discussion.
Money on the line at the curia.
If they want to do it on Nuke, if they want to do it in two,
this is the round worth all the marbles.
But Maldonado is so involved in the discussion in that timeout,
you wonder if he's going to come through with something audacious.
And the one guy looking for openers, the one guy making moves,
thinking about some of these starts out on top of the garage, pushing into the lobby.
Moledoy scoped up, but a swing and a miss on that opening.
Good jiggle.
Break on the smoke, Monosy looking for a break it again, he says.
Holding heaven, Monosy on the money, picks Moledoy first.
Even throughout this recovery, that fight has not been a good one for Monosy.
finally taking an edge over Moledoy, this late in the game.
That feels huge.
It's going to make all the difference.
Pistol up close, but Fallon's been a bit of a survivalist 5-7.
Well, let's break it down!
Double headshot!
Diminished to dust.
Team Falcons in a 3v4, and Yikindo with the AWP, puts it to use.
Close to the scope.
Yasuke, base full of lead, and Yikindo through the smoke as well.
How has he pulled that out?
Honestly, is it too late for some magic?
This round started with his opening, it ends with his death out in the yard.
Maddown, low Econ, fallen delivers.
And the Ekindar follows in his stead.
Ah, that just hurts, right? Falcons line up on ramp, the one position they don't properly clear close against a 5-7, fallen, though less, he has had some horrendously huge multi-kills with this weapon.
And that's just a random shot for your kinder.
Disaster strikes late in the day.
See here, a orb.
That's all Falcons have to work with.
They're entrusting this round to Monacee.
This is a crazy buy, though, right?
Sure, Monacee's backing himself. He's feeling it.
He's definitely had the impact in the second map, but...
I mean, you've really got to save this gun
if you can't win the round alone.
And how can you win the round alone on T-side, Luke?
He started silo.
You can't have crossed into secret from outside,
and nobody knows.
Kinda just peeks, this round is done for.
Alright, there's the opening.
Trade gets denied.
Oh!
All given a second chance to strike now out in the yard.
Do they give Monosia any more fights?
Moledoy, no one's looking for it.
Will they come to regret this?
They fed Monosia, had full of kills and in comes Nico with that deagle.
He's falling after Sazion again.
He finds big damage.
Here he is locked out. Plant in the upper.
The Kindar catches one back turn, but it's that monosy AWP.
The Firestarter Falcons put everything into the belief.
The monosy could make magic happen!
And that's exactly what he does!
from absent on map one.
Monizzi has just given them a lifeline in this quarter final.
Clogs and an AWP and it is enough.
How the hell does he win that round?
Molodoy takes him on and for the first time lives to regret it.
and the
game.
Fall on Wednesday, 5
seven, but monosy
eclipses.
Oh,
oh,
final timeout final by the pressure of that low econ round never goes away the
idea that they could get reset this late in the game
that would bring on dust to that would bring about the third map that fills
everything with uncertainty and what has been a sure fire head-to-head
Molodoy versus Monosy. While those scales are starting to tip back the other way,
both AWPers will have their weapon of choice in round 22.
Use it or lose it. Those Orbs might get to come out on Nuke.
Molodoy just wants to go for it. Would not expect Monosy in the lobby,
He tries to pick a rifle early as he moves behind the smoke outside
Checking everything he can leaving no stone unturned. Molotov is not far away
This is crazy even for him through the smoke. Kiyosuke catches him on guard and they line up
Cross there in the right place
Furia fall on their face three on four as Falcons have that sight
You might have to save here. You're still out of position. You've lost a
You're done for and you need these guns. The money is gone for Furia. What a recovery for the Falcons
Their hands are tied when the kills come through that cleanly you're building up this monosimaly do I head-to-head
And that's not what it comes down to just a crazy call for Kiyosuke to walk through that smoke that early in the round
No info on main
Odoi has the drop, but Kiyosuke hears him jump up, and he just seizes the opportunity.
That's the X-Factor you want to see here from these Falcons players. That's what superstars are meant to do.
Falcons take matters into their own hands. Matt points on Furious Pick. Two chances.
The guy you couldn't miss at the start of the quarterfinal, the misses within the defining
feet of the latter stages of the quarterfinal, caught out in the yard by Niko, equalised
a secure, Tess says, catches them sleeping, claps and awards this A site, Kasey Rato be
difference maker down to the 2v2 but looking you're facing next, Modesty lightning fast
for Caserados quicker!
Carrigan, 6-17, he's not one to fight, so will Brains be the port of cool?
Finds the gap, shifts below Util to set him up.
But the captain earned his stripes immediately in this quarterfinal to close out the map against the Redhawk Furia.
It's the right read of the situation, anticipates that Ben Rotayen.
He isn't too worried about the rampside, rushing at bomb plant.
You'll hear them in the vents.
It's not the stars. It's not the heavy hitters.
It's the brand new addition. It's Carrigan.
And a clutch for the map. Chase down, throw it off, fall in, and K-Sorado play it perfectly.
And Furia, they're now looking for overtime. Huge double kill for K-Sorado.
And well handled in that 2v1. They don't let Karagan get under their skin with that bomb plant at lower.
Yeah, well, Karrigan is silent individually in this game.
That's why you have to give it to players like Fallon, who can still frag at the top level,
still reliably, puts up big games on big stages.
He's done it today.
16 and 12, he's had his fair share of impact as an individual.
And Furia played that one together, offering no way into the round for Karrigan.
Instant trade allowed.
Here we go.
I
Feels destined that we're gonna get an all-time surely
Both of them keen to bring these orbs out in the yard and try and look for that early advantage
The one that could decide everything how is Moledoy feeling because the last couple of fights he's gone over eager
He's maybe taking fights. He shouldn't have his not crumbling
He's still performing across the map, but he is giving monestee what he wants
He is fighting monestee in the base your kidney gets flashed outside though and monestee is strict from this round
Alright, you've lost the AWP. Now you've lost the advantage.
Slowly but surely giving up ground are the Falcons.
RAP is nice.
Spurt times calling for desperate measures.
They're gonna go right in to that AWP.
Moledoy gets the spot and sees that other player out in the yard.
He's not biting.
Said he was over eager and rounds gone by,
while in this one they've done the hard part.
4v2, they're gonna wait for the Falcons to play their hand.
He's got an open runway, red carpet being walked.
No block on the vent this time, but if he can wait for Kiyosuke to get in position, he can punish on these vent drops.
A big mistake would be for Furia to drop vent at this point in the round, but every other rotation will take so much time.
So what poison do you pick?
Will they find a ramp rotate? Will they run round secret?
run round secret or will they fall into the hands of Kiyosuke? Will he even be here? How can
still fear of this B site? Once they realize they need that bomb down staff and nobody in the
vent, that's open runway for Furio. There's interviews, Karagin to be very excited about
getting a work alongside Kiyosuke. Raw unrefined potential and Karagin is hoping to bring out
out the best in him while they're the two alive in this 2v4.
Three from the rampside, Kiyosuke with the bow down.
Loses Karagin in the downtime and doesn't know the presence
of this four.
Kiyosuke, what shy of the clutch.
As again, Yuri fails out Furia.
Into overtime we go.
First it was Niko and now it's Kiyosuke.
The Falcons just can't finish their meal.
Such a nice try again and again and again,
but Buria hang on here into OT.
Star studded, spectacular shots, still not enough.
Kind of!
Kind of back to his old tricks
It's the bomb! This is the bomb! And you kind of dropped it with no trade! Karagan too late! Will he offer up a 1v1 as well? You're kind of getting rambunctious outside! And he's dropped the captain as well!
Captain as well, up above. Niko looks for a trade, but is it too little and too late?
That whole time, just the fear of the AWP, and now did he keep Niko at bay?
And finally, it reveals its hand.
Ollidoy strikes Monosy off the tally.
Tess, as at times, limited by position, not in this round. They need him to make a play.
That's the spot, and there's the kill. Yuri and Keisarato playing in tandem.
Miko 1v4 and Furia off a nothing, Molodoy waits to puncture again and when they need him he is there in this CT side.
Might add some woes right down the tail end of regulation, getting bested by Monacy in those head to head as this game's raged on, but that is a very promising look into the first round of OT.
Both these teams know this is opportunity, this match right here with Magic waiting in the semi-finals.
This is the harder of the two games.
This is a grand final, birth on offer potentially in the quarter-finals.
Falcons may have tried to remove expectation.
Lift the pressure off their backs coming into the playoffs.
Beauty, new captain, new ideas, but expectations remain all the same.
Did you come this far only to fall?
Furia have unfinished business.
You're in a start-up.
Same exact start to the round.
Even Niko up there on top silo.
Yikindar again with aggression and it's aggression that gets overlooked.
Yikindar, charge for big damage as Yard belongs to this guy.
Falcons need to learn their lesson.
They are getting torn right now.
Sure, you have the kill, but this is a 1v5 as clean as they get.
And you know what? Molodoy is up for the fights.
Trying to bring that engagement straight away.
Get over Eager here. It's a 4v1.
This isn't map 1 monosy anymore. He is getting backstabbed on all sides.
It's in Sunez, K Serato has the insurance policy.
Oh, that is a slap on the wrist. Back to back rounds.
They think there's no way they do it again. There's no way your kinder has that spawn
and has the balls to push up close outside,
but he punishes Kiyosuke twice over.
The guy who found timings earlier,
pushed through, smokes in main, made these A-hits happen.
We haven't seen Falcons on that top site in some time.
That's what got them on this T-side.
Look at how strapped for cash they are as well.
Honestly, there's not yet an AWP in the final round of this T-side.
You're working with a lot less here,
and you need results now more than ever.
Miko's made it fast across.
Molodoy, spotting over the top of that smoke.
A hell of a pickup for Monosy.
Looking for even more.
But a lot of resistance out here in the yard.
Two players crossing into the garage.
Falcons decide to try and get down lower.
These rounds have been won and lost on these yard fights.
Well, this time they go looking for that cross.
Modesty scout proves not to be a problem. He picks that AK right up. That is mine, Karagan.
Let me finish what I started. Nobody home in this B site. Fury have just gambled topside every
single round of this entire CT side. They have not wanted or been concerned with lower. Now they
have reason to be a retake. They must attempt bomb going down back site, fallen on duty.
Oh, he has a plant.
Oh, a fallen over extends.
Bites off more than he can chew.
I know a duo that has a bite.
Kassarato and Yuri Duo, the fangs of Furia.
Oh, they catch Kiyosuke, and now it's a big problem.
Karrigan's in the site alone with his scout.
Remember, but he'll answer the call, dealing with Kassarato.
And finishing the job! Alright, Karagin!
Quite the way to go about it, that scout is blessed!
Beholder of multi-kills!
One round for the Falcons!
And it's their most cash-strapped round of the entire overtime!
Yeah, it's the least likely player to pick up the clutch
on this B-bomb site, Tessus far away.
And Karagin with two massive headshots has given Falcons a chance here in overtime.
Not getting swept, just yet.
Here is T-Side started hot, ended cold.
They bring more pace in this one, smokes down, but it's already crossing through them. You can do it, here's that nade.
Just avoids death.
There we are, they're just gonna pounce?
What to do for Tess says.
Kindles pushed the smoke on lower.
Niko acting as if it's a possibility, still holding off.
Honestly picked by Monodoi outside.
Kindle with a 1v1, not ready for Niko in a 50-50 fight, and now they walk out trying
Why? Contact on them.
Oh, no, he's thinking of heaven.
Timing couldn't be worse.
Pressure on Pate says that he can't do it.
Timing could not be better for Furia.
Right as they're trying to adjust.
Right as they're shuffling this setup.
Furia play out.
Can't save now, but no kids.
Better hope there's one on that top site.
Now ready to play them off.
Smoke down in main.
Blocking the only path to rotation for the Falcons.
Free Connit, nothing given to the Falcons, swing out on that smoke fade and Furia arrive.
Match and series point, two chances to get it done in two.
Some incredible calls for Fallen in this tee side.
So much of the conversation has been dominated by a Bollidoyed man that was just on our screens
Last year here, his breakout event in the Fury of Jersey in front of the home crowd.
This is meant to be his chance to show us what he's made of a year on, a year better.
More equipped to deal with the stage.
Well, last time he buckled here under the pressure of those semi-finals.
And back when it was a failure to launch for Monacy,
he thought that he was just going to walk all over them, but he did get tested here.
He did start getting bested here, down the tail end of Nuke.
And he's up his own level, an important set of entries,
an important set of openers.
This is Furia, not at their high.
Stock dipped.
Trouble.
Off the top of this season.
Not the trophy-winning team of the end of 2025,
but up against Falcons, a team that has had their head
three out of three times this year alone.
Furia looked to show up in this playoff game.
against the New Look Falcons and finish it in two.
They have them right where they want them.
And Falcons had their chance to close, to take this to Dust 2.
But is new for the bookend?
The Kinder on a Lurk.
More be controlled, fallen holds a Molly for backside or hut.
your heart. Argon and Tess says. With no support, no backup.
They are in this alone. 20 seconds on this site here. Time is of the essence. You need
these entries and you need them now. Bombs down the vent. Last second scramble.
MADDASH IN A NICO! MADDASH INTO THE POINT MAD!
KYASUKE A MONICY ON THE DOUBLE ORB!
HE'S GOT IT DOWN!
STOCKED THE BOMB FROM CROSSING!
MOLLY'S GONNA FORCE THE SWING, MOLLY DOYA DEADMAN AND FALLEN!
WHAT'S HE SUPPOSED TO DO?
NOTHING!
FAR REMOVED FROM THIS ROUND!
AND A 1B4 DOUBLE ORB STAIRING AND DEAD IN THE FACE WHEN HE ROUNDS THIS CORNER!
LEADS IT TO THE SPAM!
Trade found! Falcons with fight left in them!
What a double-open round, my goodness! Falcons pulling out all the stops,
lived to fight another round, survived this overtime, and singles a pause for Furia to collect themselves.
Because that was a desperate drop down bent, a last second decision.
And Falcons saved themselves from devastation.
They just look surprisingly frazzled in that round, right?
Leaving themselves with so little time to try and come in.
It was always going to be a very awkward ending
if you encountered any resistance,
and that's exactly the fate that befell them on that lower drop.
Falcons somehow one step ahead,
all the staging, all the signs pointed towards the A-play.
Karagane had his pieces in the right place.
It's now a chance at another OT.
Falcons had two chances in regulation. They could close. This is Furia second or the same.
They play it together. Xerato lobby. Furia walk outside.
This is a fight between Monosia Moldova. We might get to see you around early.
Oh.
What a damage done on the Yikindar. That's your aggressive lurker bought down so low.
Just want this fight. They just want this pick. Monos is not giving it.
Oh, Nico! On Nico, nearly punished.
punish, will get gone on in time, the kindar cleaned up, the early advantage,
going away the Falcons, almost made it down to Soa's Kiyosuke.
Wrestling back a kill here on this main lurk, lashing with his captain
counterpart, and Bomb still plays it forward into lower, but always been
spotted. It's the info on the early rotate out of Kiyosuke. They're gonna try and end
This is a crazy move, this is a wild call and it all hinges on K-Sorato and Fallen at this top site.
Tess says he has the info, sees them in the vents, can guess what's coming his way.
K-Sorato shuts him down and that top site cracked wide open.
Falken's about some miraculous rounds but right now Kiyosuke and Monizio are going to summon something else.
The first kill goes one, Monacee's way.
Here he is, he hands off the keyboard, no one move a muscle, time will do the heavy lifting, time will solve this for us.
Time is all we need, how many times have we heard that?
Kusuke looking for that first incision, finds Yuri back at the site.
Oh!
The resilience is getting picked apart and it ends up with this,
Modesty, top performer, fallen dead!
The captain, brushed aside, and a nail-biter of a defuse that just comes in!
Modesty is magic!
The ghost of Astana back from the dead in this second map,
and a two versus four with the elimination looming over Falcon's fight on.
How does he survive? A bridge too far, a swing too far around that will play in
your nightmares.
Fiora, do not finish what they started.
Pace, disrespect, pissed off, your kid has had enough!
Oh, where's this come from?
Oh, game over!
Fiora tried to play it safe by a kid now.
Gives him a pacey round to contemplate what he was famed for.
Remember that one, Karrigan.
Do you remember that one?
Main drop.
Disrespect.
And a perfect 4K from your kinder.
Our next overtime has started quick.
But again, with a lot of respect
between these captains, between these squads.
Yeah, catch your breath.
and he has a sport where he wants an opening move, he'll do it. Remember regulation, those
outside pushes, under silo, back to back rounds, broke Falcons into overtime. And then Yaquinda
that caused the shots on an unstoppable top hit.
Furious still fight in him.
Valkans catch their breath.
They pull the double orb into play.
They are relying on winning this round, Valkans.
If they do not, it will cost them everything.
It's high risk.
They feel like it's the answer.
Double orbs all them through in that CT half of OT.
Now in the first one, be a dead-on.
It is a massive risk. They are fully broken.
And T sides have been the struggle for Furia.
Adoi waits.
And Kiyosuke drops him.
There's no more pressure where that came from.
And Kiyosuke thinking, does he want to hang around?
That's both orbs ramp side. They think better of it.
They'll concede the space. They've got the advantage.
Not getting too greedy here.
Are the Falcons.
Furia are gonna mid-round, Falcons do drop two lower rotates and so Monosy needs to have eyes in the back of his head
He needs to consider Yuri's position and look at how Falcons are ready for it. They're re-aggressing secret
They don't believe this already. They've got the right call
As long as Monosy controls hell and stop that heaven climb up, how can Furia get out of this position?
Lower corrupted hell contained
but patient nonetheless Yuri here to punish that opens up options for Furia
Yuri's been incredibly stable but you see in the kind of intensity of the
situation get to him there does well to recover that spray I sat on the lower
play into this Kiyosuke double orb we're gonna go we'll deal with Yuri that's the
lurk player gone site might fall but the vent rotates wide open Falcons can
arrive here very very quickly for this retake it's a scary bomb plot in the
The player above him, Cacerato gets the cover, he needs to pick a position, and he needs to pick it quick.
But I mentioned Falcons money, it is still on the line in this overtime.
They have double Orbs, we've got to swap off.
Falcons got to throw those Orbs right in, but they've won harder retakes in this game.
Fallen on the AWP.
Can he roll back the years?
Donning his signature gun.
Fallen with the first, he's got two more Orbs to worry about.
And that's too, too many.
Oh, no, no, no, no!
No, that's the downside!
Can a double or three take?
The run and the gun from Cacerato.
And Balkans duke on that B site.
Rings around him and above of Cacerato.
Naming their cop and shots.
And look at this boy!
Look around brother, look around brother.
Let's go.
Good shit, good shit, good shit.
Falcons risked it all.
This is what it leaves them.
A proof of a map.
You're always delivering.
in these high-octane games.
But now Falcons, they've got it delivered with nothing.
No kids. What a smoke. SMGs.
Is there a hero in sight?
Last time they were in this position, it was Monosy, right?
Getting the round going on the scout.
But he might get left out of this altogether.
There is no one in the yard for Furia.
That might not matter. Danger on this top site.
I don't think you could pick a better setup for the Falcons.
S&G's in position, rightful side by side.
Fury coming into the stack site.
Gonna give way to the chaos of this top site here.
Tess says, goes over look.
Shut down as they try to come through
and on these low-ecom rounds, time and time again,
Falcons, full of surprises.
They're running out of time and modesty.
through hard seals it with a wall bang. One back for the Falcons. Don't get me wrong.
Fury loved that topside, fallen courts and great rounds, but there was no sprinkling.
There was no dressing up of that round, fakes outside, play it cross in garage or secret.
No sell at all. They just walked into the low weaponry. They knew they broke the money
and they give Falcons exactly what they want. Dear, oh dear. Right, when you think Fury are
We're just gonna roll over them, Falcons give us a little bit of life.
Time and time again, Refusing.
To go out of this game to find Monosy.
I don't know if he saw him, I'm surely not.
Maybe he saw something, Molly, to the red box.
But tucked in secret is Molotoy's orb.
This is about as strange a round opener as you could get, that was the exact play Monosy was looking for, the Flash left him blind.
But they call it secret for a reason.
Falcons do not know.
Molotoy confirms these smokes are a fake.
And so ready on this top site.
Three strong, just as Falcons were.
It's good with these main timings, he's gonna try and hit one here, shut down by your kinder.
Gun on for K-Sirato, now the only guy at his top site, reinforcements are on their way,
he's just gonna buy time, what if he does more than that?
What if he wins the whole thing on his own, three kills from K-Sirato?
Leave Niko in a tricky position, bomb dropped out in no man's land.
No illusion as to where he is now with the jump.
Niko going in to enemy territory and that all
Begs down upon him again, Furia
with two chances to take this over the line
And now Cacerato is excelling that clutch on the B bomb site
showing up with a triple hole on top when Furia need him he performs
And Furia again
Will they tempt Faye or can they actually finish the job?
two over times in a 4v2 post plot fumbled
Furia on the edge of success every time
Furia have had them on the ropes
Falcon's about some BS way maybe with
what no no no to pull it off but how
sustainable is that and he gets out
monosy dead first at the hands of
He's got to make up for it now, Tessus, life on the line, out through Dorsmo, Kiyosuke all the same.
He's crossing to main, fallen Uri Kurokawa throwing nades and that's another entry denied by Fallen.
Tessus hears him but he can't save this round, he can't save this match.
Karrigan and Niko.
Or Falcons fall in the quarter-final.
Thinking back up.
Niko said there was only one IGL in mind.
It had to be Karrigan.
And now it has to be then.
If Falcons are to continue in this quarter-final.
No.
New Falcons here somewhere.
Niko closing in.
And they flip this one round.
It's almost poetic that it's the duo of Karagin and Niko trying to extend play up against
Molodoy, hometown hero, out wide, they don't know, and you can't let Molodoy live!
Niko shuts it down!
The bullshit is alive and well for the Falcons.
Again, it's a one round game.
It's contagious right now.
Carrigan brings it all the way, and Nikoda close up another cut-round for the Falcons.
They have handed radar moments right back to Furia.
And they are right there, one step away from dragging us to another overtime.
No more timeouts left, Furia's burned.
And Falcons, right when you're ready to give up, they pull you back in.
Not all round losses have created equal, and the ones that Furia have faced on this path
to try and close have certainly hurt the most.
Anti-Niko move.
More of the way up and above and of course it's the one round that Niko doesn't commit.
Gets up, gets off.
They might be looking to go ramp right now and it's wide open with this boost in the
yard with the Akindar down in secret.
had to be made. This has not been a ramp focused game and so Furia had given up all this space.
A big risk taken but Falcons have been burned by being contacted in this position so will they
do it again? Out they walk into the lion's den. That giant is sleeping. Furia are not here! They
They walk right down into Niko,
missed chance to trade back.
Molotoy feeling the burn as the bullet pierces his skull.
And Falcons 5v3, this feels unloosable, even for them.
You're not comfortable till this one is done.
Till this one's over, they deal with you, Kinder on alert.
That leaves Yuri and Kei Serato, the two franchise players of Furia, clawing back their 2v5 attempt down at lower.
But Bombs set up for Monosy. Bombs set up for that orb and Swing will seal his fate.
Yuri's getting sandwiched and doesn't know where to turn.
Time running low. A third overtime looming.
Is it really going to be sticking his best option, the only option, and Carrigan shuts it down.
This one goes to a third overtime. Astana, are you not entertained?
The Falcons have that grit in them, or are they just going to keep going slow and steady?
Smokes down outside, Kiyosuke does bring the pace, that Nade lands right on it and two shots miss.
Oh dear, how does he convert that? Before Furia fight back, Amaladoy won't stop him and he disappears back through the smoke.
Falcons get an untreated fight before, they get an opportunity. It's been catch up since overtime for Falcons.
Chas to take this first round.
One team keeps doing the impossible keeps pulling themselves back up right when it feels like it's over and the other keep losing out on their chances to close this series
This could be the overtime that changes everything because Falcons are fully in the groove of Nuke now there's no doubting it
And they've vanished to boot in this first rifle round, they've never been able to pick
these up since we've hit OT, Poladoy, I get blinded, fallen here to lend a helping hand.
They'll reel in this ramp take, honesty with the reply.
Oh no.
Gotta give it up.
Hanover extend.
35 seconds here, time is low for the Falcons, they've gotta move quickly wherever they end
up.
off on this top site, Yuri considering his timings.
Karagan not taking any...
Alcans 30 seconds as you say, and they go down towards Loha.
Karagan looks to join them late.
He's cut off a retake path here for Furia,
but it's a path they don't know about yet.
Think about this game.
Think about the B site.
Furia have never been inside it.
They have had no interest with Loha on their CT side,
and Karagan waits to punish Molledoy.
Who's his reaction?
Oh, well, go.
It used to be, and...
Oh!
I was gonna say, trying to outbrain them here,
but a leg sticking out, Karrion showing a little too much.
This would have really rumbled the retake.
Now you've got to worry about ramp.
Now you're worried about the double and single doors.
This site is feeling very claustrophobic.
These are the two young stars
meant to elevate for the Falcons.
Comes down just to Kiyosuke.
And he's trapped between a rock and a hard place.
Furia take the first in this third overtime.
We've seen more than enough rounds.
One out by those two, Monossey and Kiyosuke, but finally, K-Serato closes.
Unexpected position, as Monossey didn't realise two players coming through that single door.
And Molotoy, the balls to walk right out round there, low HP with a pistol in hand,
he finds Karaghan unsuspecting.
This guy's got game.
The area continued to lead in overtime.
But it's not just been unable to close, right?
Even though the rounds we've seen Furio go 2-0 up in OT,
they just can't find that clean sweep.
Seemingly made all the difference.
Honestly, trying to put himself at the forefront, does it again?
Hello, the man of find, right? As this game's going on,
you can't undersell Cacerato's contributions.
He's topping the charts, coming through, pulling through for Furio,
in a number of pivotal moments.
They will feel that early death in a big way.
He's your late-round player.
He's your insurance policy.
Swing and a miss for Moledoy out in the yard.
As Falcons set their sights on the crossing.
OK, that's OK.
Kind of makes it a near-fatal error there.
He's lucky.
Moledoy missed that shot, moving ahead of the smokes.
Goodbye, Yuri.
Back turn before the bloom.
Tess says, takes a 5v3 in a very comfortable position.
One that Falcons would rather just group up and go together.
So they cross the bomb back to lobby, ramp an opportunity.
We get to meet up with Kyosuke that way.
It's Maldoy gambles again on this top side.
We trust him.
Fallen in the corner, they will clear it.
Tess says nice double.
Nobody home here.
Molotov just enough, 30 seconds to stop that bomb, it's boxed in.
Niko has no choice but to fight his way out of this.
He's trying to buy time for Karagin to come in on a backstab.
Then Molly well-forced Molotov away.
Now down low in the Utile, the bombs made it into lower.
Right now they've got Karagin trapped.
Akindar arrives, they deal with him.
To an edge to at least give way to this two on two.
You're not looking over your shoulder, but the retake.
Slow to arrive with Molotov, linking up with the Akindar's secret side.
Kiyosuke in a position to just shut this down before it becomes a problem.
And here he is in defense.
Oh, dead on that swing there!
It's a down to the 1v1 now.
The Kindar 3 kills deep, but Niko, a huge question mark.
You don't know where he is.
He's right beneath you.
Kairugan has caught some great decides in this game in the chaos.
Realizing the gaps of Furia are given to him.
It's not just ramp, it's its lowest side. The Falcons are abusing time after time on the T side.
Not once does Furia have a player in lower. Not once do they rotate ramps safe.
They are left in so many retakes, so many post-plans.
And sure, Furia have won their fair share of the ridiculous rounds in this game,
but Falcons are coming out on top on this T side down B.
I think you see now as well why for so long Furia tried to rise above the chaos, not buy
in to what Falcons were selling, because in these chaotic moments, these tense round
closes, that's where Falcons are doing their best work.
You've not had Falcons find a great deal of success in these first half of OTs, that's
always gone the way of Furia.
They've been the guys with the chance to go 3-0.
They've always taken 2.
Can Falcons change that now, or will they once again
3 over times the B-playing catch up?
We stopped getting Monosivy Molotoy, right?
That head-to-head is long gone, yard.
These smokes have been the way down for both teams.
And the way out of this head-to-head,
the Molotoy searches, ever pressing outside against these rifles.
Eko has never died in this position to an AWP.
Jiggle's UTL pulls back. Same as always.
Kyosuke clears his corners.
But once we have just eyes outside,
confirm no cross, but you can't be coming up secrets.
You're all in all in a good position,
but no smokes.
About to dress outside.
They're waiting.
The monocies peaking. Goodbye, you kinder.
They take up the info there, monocies.
Hard peaking at Ango, and again, Falcons, you get them this 5v4.
They will take the execute. They will take the ramp hits,
because it's been so open in this CT side.
They know the whole map has gone dark right now for Fury.
They know that Furia are worried about Loa, but what the Furia do in these positions every time they gamble topside?
And so many times it's been the wrong move
All of these OTs have been carrying and trying to condition the fallen to worry about the lower take well now
You see this you till you see the rollout
The other ladies next few moments very very carefully clamping down
Crossfire established, in comes Keisarato to be the saviour of grace.
Moledoy with him and Carrigan Thorn, he called the perfect round, plays right into their hands.
He is a rock.
Keisarato, cold-blooded killer, clutch after clutch, multi-kill after multi-kill.
And again, Fury, I'll hold the lead, but for how long?
Fury, I do not look that. Gift horse in the mouth. There you go. Straight up on that topside.
No fakes today. Back to their T side.
Careful, Karagin, they're scaling.
Hey, it's nice for your kinders outside.
He just walked right over the red smoke.
I'll see back to secret.
Now, that is a missed smoke for your kinder.
That's a bot Karagin.
If you're here, you're going to be telling yourself,
it's now or never.
There's only so long you can keep this up in the OT.
There's only so many advantageous positions you can be in
and have it go against you.
You can do a 5v4.
They surge again for the double chance to close.
Honesty denies the outside space.
And that was the man they expected to face, and now they hear more UTEL out in the yard.
No, there's more.
Morgan has that cross.
Smokes in his face.
Fury up above surely realized by Falcons in this 4v4.
Kinsuke here is a very important role to play, not uncommon to see Furiga looking for this heaven control, trying to scale for the wrap.
Becoming main.
As for his check, didn't see a thing. Moledoy only just getting onto the angle, it will be this main split.
Fallen looks to lead the charge, drop down, important trade, they sacrifice Yuri for the space.
the space. He goes overlooked. Oh, if Kesses goes overlooked as he so often does, he could
rip it all away. Falcons with an instant reply. Straight away on the CT side.
This was advantage for Furia, the 5v4, trades for the space, but one man going overlapped.
Has big implications, tie game, this is the earliest tie we've had in these overtime.
40 rounds deep and Monosy fights his 40th kill, Kaserato right behind.
Quick pace for your Kindar, down secret he goes, Furia edge towards the ramp.
Kyosuke's anti-flash on his position.
Furyu and no hurry to go.
They want to wait for your kinder to get the space.
Controls rotations now.
This is very far to this position for your kinder.
Kyosuke calls for support.
That's a resmote from Niko.
That's going to change the plan here for Furyu
or at least delay it.
I'll get around just here.
I'm going to have to break this
if they want to catch Kyosuke off guard,
fall and hold to Molly for help.
This is Kiyosuke in trouble.
The footsteps. No longer an illusion, no longer.
Left guessing goes for the swing, risks it on the fight.
Trust the Niko to be here to clean it up.
And that double at least keeps the round alive.
There's 45 seconds left. This is where you remember.
Kinda has had these vents on lock the entire time.
The path to rotate is long, and that leaves Falcons with little time in this retake.
They're looking for a lurker, they're not gonna find him.
Okay, Serato is in this B site. Ramp retake now for Falcons. They don't have a smoke for this bomb.
Uriah are gonna frag their way out of this round, unless Falcons pull off something incredible.
Look at the stars are gone.
Niko and Kiyosuke watching on from beyond the grave.
Backstab for Tess says finds it's mark.
Hell of a kill on the Echindar.
Now the Ram players have room to work with,
but what they don't have is time.
Oh! Monocly!
No accounting for that!
And as if that's how Falcons break through,
they're finally the team on that point!
From Magic to Havok in this B-bomb site,
Monocly with more miracles,
and maybe more maps in this quarterfinal,
Falcons have not had a map point
Since regulation, Fury had dragged it back twice to take it to overtime, to overtime, to overtime.
And now Falcon's an opportunity.
You had your chance, Fury. Watch as it sails past.
First time in all the OTs that Falcon's have been in this position around the way.
From ensuring play continues, fury at all the opportunities in the world to end this quarter final.
And now they find themselves out of time. It's too late. It's not.
Falcons take us the distance.
Until you know we're choking on the stage, digs deep again and again.
Watch after watch. Ground after round, match point after match point.
Falcons do not crumble. They rise to the occasion.
They prevail a third map of Dust2, demanded of this quarterfinal.
She said she loves you, but she can't love me.
But I love you!
I won't play Windu anymore.
What's going on?
Play your role, one expect.
The human body was built to move, not trapped at a desk in one singular posture for twelve
hours a day. It's time your chair evolved. This is Secret Lab Titan Evo.
Ergonomically engineered for you. Gamers. Hybrid workers. Artists. Back in with every move.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret because I spend a lot of time with analysts
and I hear them complain a lot about a lot of things and one of the things that they
complain the most about is how much they hate having to analyze games where a team absolutely
stomps the other.
Maybe the score line is 13-1, 13-2.
They're bitch about it.
They don't want to come here.
They don't know what they're going to say.
I'll tell you something now.
If I was an analyst, I would not want to analyze what I just saw, because where the hell do
you even start?
So thank goodness I'm not an analyst, because I'm just going to make you two do that for
us.
What the hell was that?
I don't even know.
My ADHD brain craved excitement and novelty, but it was overwhelmed by the end of this
game.
Literally, every player had their own moment.
Monacy, I have to start with them.
Insane performance.
I think I've ever seen someone do as much on the T side with the AWP.
I don't think anyone got as many AWP T side kills, scout kills, just sniper kills on the T side of Nuke.
And honestly, it wouldn't have been possible if Molotov wasn't on the other side, because both of these guys were going for it.
I mean, what we saw from Molotov in map 1 was just crazy, just crazy stuff.
And then you come in to this Nuke, again, as you pointed out Prof, on the T side especially,
And this was an absolutely elite and actual beast of a performance coming out from
from from Odyssey.
And even then it didn't feel like it was enough, right?
We've seen rounds like this.
It was dying to pistols, half-pies and all of that.
But in a way, like as a zoomerlinger goes, this was cinema.
Absolute cinema.
That's all I'm going to say about it.
The best way to explain this as well is so I have some friends back home in South Africa
who have never watched Counter-Star and they tuned into this map halfway through.
They have no cooking clue what's going on.
in the third overtime I get a message being like,
hold on, the score is this, like, who actually wins this?
And also, this is insane.
And this game is crazy.
And by the end of it, I was like, it took one map,
but I'm pretty sure that they're now hooked
and they're gonna be watching.
That is the level that we got to see here.
And it was just highlights, after highlights,
after highlight.
I would argue this is one of the best games
we've seen this year.
I mean, for sure.
I mean, you need to rewind.
I don't know even where to.
That, the game started in a direction
that seemed like Furia was in control. They got like a six six rounds for very fast on.
Falcons kind of come back into it from that second half onward. At no point did I know
what the hell was going on. You win a round, you lose a round. This round, this round where
Monosy and Chisuke do a 2v4 screenshot that if you want. Let's see that radar going on. Falcons
with some magic going on. Derrigan wasn't in that round. He wasn't alive but he had, he had his
little fingers on this one. 0.28 seconds. I was about to say let's talk about the difference there
that was the difference between Furia winning and making it through to the semi-finals and all
of that overtime that we saw. Flare, you've got the number. Yeah, 0.28 seconds. That was a difference
between Furia making it through to the next stage of some of my finals and then Falcons taking the
overtime in which way they eventually won. And there's so many rounds, I just want to like talk
about every single round clearly here. Kei Serato, he was quietly getting a kill here in their double
double kill and then that round just pop off one versus three and the lower
bomb time with AK-47 and then you had one round with your kinder just running
up a bomb side four kills from him as well and this another quad another
cost it's it's just unreal the amount of pop off rounds we had and I just stop
you know trying to analyze his rounds honestly it got it got so deep it
opens up drop where things just get murky it just comes down to mind games
and your player just hitting the shots honestly this is one of the best games
of deathmatch I don't know if I've ever seen in my life, like at some point it's just like everyone's
behind everyone, there's no structure, it doesn't seem like there's any map control, everyone's just
running around the map and killing people, people stop sneaking through smalls, people just started
w-ing and then going for the duels, also the arena was so loud that I don't know what anyone could
have heard at all, I do have to say Molledoy at the end ended up on the bottom of the scoreboard
which looking at the first half, the second half, in the regulation he was doing amazingly,
I really do feel like that 4v2 where he was the first domino to fall in the in the monocy and Yasuke retake
kind of kind of
Put them on the back foot. You got him like overthinking the whole situation
He was trying to go for some hero plays. He tried to close it out in style
But it backfired and allowed this guy to get up to
43 kills that is actually
Unreal from him and also especially a lot of the skills came in and overtime as well
I mean, the Overdamp was just shredding everyone to pieces.
He didn't seemingly miss a single shot.
I actually didn't think about it.
I don't think he missed a single shot with AWP.
I mean, that round is still in regulation
when he just forced bot the AWP.
Three blocks, one deagle and an AWP.
And he just goes outside and goes crazy.
He goes crazy on the kills people in the yard.
He so many kills outside, but also on the lower bomb site.
Look at how the heat map on the CT side,
what he was able to do, the Flash, what else to say?
I mean, that was absolutely the Flash as Monaco goes.
Listen, we had, I think it was Molo-Doy going 8-0 in opening duels,
and then at the beginning of the game on Nuke, it was 10-0,
because he was still having Monasi's number.
But I felt like as the match dragged on,
Monasi managed to bring this one back.
We don't have the exact numbers right now, Sam,
but I'm sure he has almost gotten up to Molo-Doy.
And I feel like, just this head-to-head,
We rarely ever get to see operas go head to head, like, you know, opera to opera, but it's this game has just been crazy in the fashion in which it's gone.
And there we go.
Malta actually coming on top just by one.
I think it was only a nuke.
Yeah, it was only a nuke.
It was like a bit of a throwback to the CSGO days, right?
Where you see those old wars happen.
We haven't had those in a while.
And like, it's such a magical thing to watch.
I've missed it.
I'm not sure if this, I can make very much mistake.
with 32 AWP kills on one map, even with overtime?
I don't think I've ever seen that one.
It was like a gazillion overtime to be fair, and he did a lot of shooting.
Sure, but I don't think I've ever seen 32 AWP kills in overtime, in like a big game or something.
I'm sure there's someone out there.
Again, again, insane. I want to give some props to Tessus as well.
I think he, in general, hasn't been shining this tournament, and he didn't start this game too well.
He had some misplays, but as the overtime has progressed, I don't even know how many we had.
But towards the latter two overpounds, he had some very pivotal moments staying alive, getting trade kills,
and in the last round, the lockdown of the 8 bombsite.
I think he's really good at just getting his kills, at least getting a double kill, or if he finds a one kill, he stays alive, right?
I think that's very, very important. The moment he dies, bombsite's overrun, it's going to be almost impossible to retake as well.
So I think, yeah, absolutely. I think he did a good job.
Even Niko as well, he had his moments, you know, with M4, he's still having a bit of a quieter game overall by his standards.
But honestly, God, like, everyone stepped up and, for a character, listen, man, when it,
when Morris is popping up at 40 kills, it's fine, you don't have to frag it.
Let's be clear, though. Everyone in Falcons at some points had a moment where they were able
to secure a round, even Nico. But on the other side, everyone in Furio as well. I don't think you
can actually look at this game and say that there wasn't a player that at some point was
instrumental in making things happen. Both of these sides so equally matched. For me, I said it
to both of you, maybe you disagree, but I felt like the eventual win that Falcons was able to pull
was simply because it just looked like Furia had nothing left in the tank. They looked tired those
last two rounds. It was almost like they kind of went, we've just got to get this to Dust2.
But for me, neither of these two teams was worse than the other.
I mean, but this is also the type of games that Karrigan wins. It just keeps on going,
keeps on going, and you're just like, I don't know what to do anymore. And he always knows what.
He always has an idea and a back pocket strat. And we saw some of the situations where there's a
complete read and Nico just walking up ramp and getting a backstab on Molodoy.
out of nowhere. It seems like the map is under control. Everyone's doing something and out of
he just appears behind and get that kill. That's the edge that he brings sometimes in these big
playoffs games. And it's also not apart from that as well. Just when it comes down to these sort of
games with how composed Furiel looked in map one. You look at this game, it's close affair. You see
Falcons trying to catch up from behind. You feel like, yeah, sure, Furiel is going to have this
because how many times have we seen the Falcons of all stumble and fall time and time again when
when the pressure is on when you're facing elimination, but that's a
character effect, right? You're going to be entertained and sometimes it's going
to be a character coming out on top. And now we have map number three here.
Prof, I think that the HLTV Awards needs a new section, a new category, and it can
be most entertaining map of the year, because I feel like this wins hands down.
And I'm going to say it, I don't think that the two majors are going to give us
what we just saw now. And this was, this is absolutely credible and, you know,
it's great. We have one more map coming. Let's talk about it now, right? We're
Obviously moving to Dust2, this is the decider.
Personal opinion?
Because I feel like we're throwing those out there, let's do this.
I don't think Fiora wins this now.
I think Falcons on pure firepower alone has Dust2 in the bag,
and they'll be very invigorated after what just occurred.
Yeah, there is going to need to be very big
and how do I say, effective team talk coming in.
Actually, I noticed in the huddle before the game
that Molo there was speaking, I'm not saying he was the only one,
But he was giving a little speech at the start of that.
I expect it to be Fallen now.
I don't expect it to be Sid.
He is more of a tactical guy.
I think it Fallen needs to pick the reins here
and gather the troops and make sure that, especially Moldova,
his back is like normal form going into this map.
Yeah, I agree with Sam as well.
I feel it for Falcons.
We actually, Duster wouldn't even have been a crazy pick for them
to go for initially because, yes, they completely crumbled.
They didn't show the pickings 9-Z, but apart from that,
I mean, like they've had a pretty good show.
The Mongols 38 now you might be like yeah
Mongols they don't really pick dust you but they are a team who usually punish other teams for picking dust to against them
Right, they look really good there. I feel like a T side has really improved a lot as well
I feel like Kiyosuke working with Karrigan, you know
We saw in day one how it was little too over-aggressive, but it seems like he's rain himself in as well
So heading into this for fear it if only played us once thus far in this event and it was a loss
I believe it was a spirit very convincing fashion as well, and I do feel like yeah
It might be swaying the way of the Falcons. Yeah, I mean, I'm just still not sure about like the the test is kiss okay
The combo combination
They didn't look that comfortable early on but obviously every game adds a bit more
I do think kiss okay has a lot of potential has some really great rounds
But sometimes over over forcing the double off. I mean this last game we saw so many double ups
Obviously, you don't really know what that means with the off as well. Just just pull out the up
Why not care? Everyone was doing it at some point
Yeah, so that's that's a tricky part for me. I hope they can they can figure out their stuff
Obviously right now for both the two teams is about trying to like cool down a little bit because that game got really really super hectic
Right, so it's about a mental reset. It's not just about for fury
I having lost that map considering to have two or three map points going the way it's also a falcon
You don't want to get too over you go
You don't want to get too heated up to start things off
So mental reset will be coming in. I'm not surprised by you got a character
You got fallen you got zonic as well as in a byline for the falcons and they should be able to do it
I don't think people truly appreciate in this arena how noisy it is the lights the sound and what we just saw the
Adrenaline was going to be through the roof now. You've had 10 minutes to chill outside
I remember when adrenaline dropped suddenly the exhaustion sets in stuff feeling really tired
It's late you've been playing a long time that is going to impact all of these players on the side of falcons to be fair
Kerrigan has been here before, Tessus has been here before, Niko has been here before,
Manus is being here before. That is going to give them the upper hand. They've all fought the big battles.
They've fought at big sort of grand finals. I think it will help them considerably if they want to take down Furia.
Yeah, I mean the team talk, the pep talk just came in getting into the back of the seats.
We are burning midnight oil with this game. I completely lost track of time, if I completely honest.
But we see Molotov not, I mean, definitely frustrated after that game and hopefully for him, he can start off strong just like he did in previous two maps with the pistol.
He's been really good on the pistols throughout this last game. They spent the pistol's first one actually, lost both and still dominant on Marash.
And again, remember what Karrigan, just for some reasons, remember the code he said where he's never played an operant this good.
this good ever in his career.
And I think this is him,
Kevin realizing, holy shit,
I can call whatever I want.
And this kid's gonna own them all.
But yeah, I just want to honk it back to you,
Dusty, a little bit,
very quickly before we go live over here, Sam.
I think the one thing we noticed from Falcons
after that loss they had against 9-Z,
one thing we expected from them
was aggressive CD sides,
modernity, pushing up towards short,
taking fights everywhere, pushing up top mid.
And that is going to be what Furia have to contend with
if they want to survive this Falcons team.
It's already been an incredible battle.
and now it all comes down to Dash 2, Furia, Falcons.
Let's find out who is making it to the semifinals of PGL Estatna.
A game that goes the distance and then keeps going.
This overtime battle won out by Falcons' resilience shown
to a level we've never seen from this team, this organization,
this core, all with a new caragon at the helm.
Falcons bringing one hell of a fight
And Furia slowing down. We hear yawns. We hear disappointment.
We see Molodoy disappear, come the end of Nuke.
It's all thrown into question.
Furia called a surprising veto.
They caught Falcons with their pants down,
but now this game goes to distance.
Yeah, you're going to be feeling a lot of things here.
Tiredness, frustration, maybe even anger is how things went.
If you're Furia, are you going to check all that at the door?
Because now we're arriving at map three.
Do you have any expectations, any feelings about this one ahead of this series?
It's all been blowing out the water and now it's anyone's game.
Moledoy, best foot forward in the pistol to opening kills as Furia try and charge down the Falcons,
catch them sleeping at the wheel, convincing shutdown, it's Furia on the board first.
Well, if it's fallen, calling a pistol, why not go old school and run up top mid, TTSI Dust 2?
That is one hell of a precedent set in this pistol round by Furia.
And Molodoy puts bullets in heads to kick off this pistol,
a reassuring sign on a map like Dust 2.
He's guessed quite the matchup to go up against.
It was 8 and 0 to Molodoy's favour on that first map of Mirage.
Well, honestly, showed up, come nuke, didn't he?
43 kills.
I don't even think that that tells the full story. No
Teams appreciate the breather that is this and eco round. It's not long though. We're back here
All that makes a lot of money
So what does that mean at full fury it means they can bring this all power straight away if they want
He doesn't have that pleasure on the other end of the spectrum.
Its rifles are plenty for the Falcons, but a bonus round out of fury.
They're going to keep the SMGs in tow, get up to some mischief here, and they'll be on
on Dust2.
You know there'll be plenty of opportunities, you just want to keep your money alive here.
So triple SMG, I actually love this call for fury, look what they're doing with it.
They're going for the full B gamble right now, you might even see aggression to tempt fate.
All Falcons into this site.
In fact, you don't need to bait them.
Falcons are biting right down off the rib.
All of them are ruling Karagin's Blast.
Falcons fake will Furia move.
Right there, in they go.
I'm not counting anyone out of anything.
Oh, I'm lost out in the open, giving fights from the card.
This is to draw the attention away,
because the backstab's closing in window side.
Bonnecy's got him.
They will clap down upon him,
and ice him out of at least the first clutch attempt.
Two kills deep.
Yeah, I don't know if that's Mordor going early,
or his team kind of hanging him out to dry there,
telling him to fight, because it's very early on the puke
with an SMG.
Furious still quick on it.
Trade that round out.
Falcons back to the drawing boards.
very explosive rounds to start this game off.
Furia calling perfect setups.
It's going to be quite the test of your resilience across this series,
especially the Falcons who have played this entire quarterfinal from behind.
Having the kind of storybook ending of this, that's where it turns around, right?
the idea that they were beating down, they were always having to come back, because they
finally did and they finally broke through.
They were able to rise to the occasion and actually take it over Furia in the end.
That's not what we're getting in these early rounds.
I don't even know what this would say if Falcon fell apart in this third map, right?
Like the resilience on display is incredible, but at the end of the day, the result is what
matters.
And if Furia can level upwards, it's credits to Furia, but it's also more question marks
to a falcons. We did the hard part he'd like to think.
So Furia throw more trouble their way.
Fall in the long side and...
That's it, this takes him out.
Also, man, they've had a hell of a lot of reps on here
and Astana cropping up in a number of their series.
maybe most infamously the 9-Z one but it was the exception of the rule other than that it was a pretty breezy time for the Falcons on Dust 2
Oh dear
He's missed this time and B site's given up and the man down here if he doesn't get something on the cross
this becomes a very awkward round you're hesitant to call the save
you know that Falcons don't have a lock in their back pocket here it's just these pistols
B is a hard site to retake
Back until it flashes on Molodoy, and that's all you've got to work with.
So as those come out, that retake begins very, very quickly.
Churned up by the pistols and in the blink of an eye, it's only Molodoy left.
Still reluctant as ever to give this one away, but eventually there's no other choice.
The hunt comes in, Valkyries break through early on pistols.
Now, what more evidence do you need that this is the hardest site to retake in the game?
That is pistols, and Furious still had to jump on them.
The Valkyries just chew him up with tech nines.
And he's simply done to get on the board,
catching a timing of fury, checking out middle,
and orb denied on the save, so it's costly here for Fury.
But hey, you can end it with double orbs,
thus too we'll begin with them.
And we've got many a candidate who can wield it here on Fury,
in case Arto joins the fray.
Fourth player to wield this orb on Fury today.
One step to right, it's belongs to you Kim. It's a question around the remaining players down here in the lower monocy.
But let him reap too much havoc in the back line.
Ashen into this upper tunnel on the double orb.
I'm just going to concede this contest for the tunnels, Niko comes back.
No confirmation for Furia, case Rato pulled back.
Never clear tunnels.
He didn't stale me.
I'm just going to keep two players over here towards B.
Keep them on the wrong end of the map, Falcons setting their sights on the short control.
still awfully quiet.
Molotov needs to reposition.
He's down in the spawn right now.
That smoke begins to fade.
How can he get closer?
They have no smoke in their own.
This is around where Molotov has to go.
He doesn't. It belongs firmly to the Falcons.
He gets himself entrenched in time.
This is not a fantasy.
He goes back for it second time to the jump.
Why not?
He's leaving to the jump shot.
Nogo is fishing for another on this retake.
With the longside lurk, Niko sniffed out and dealt with early on.
Now pressure applied by Fallen out on the longside.
Carrying it with the rebots.
Stops Yuri from sneaking in, closing the distance.
He was looking for Tessas.
And Serato also dead. It's Caragat answering back with the taps.
Just a very smart move. He crouches all the way back against the wall.
Gets past Yuri, and Bracken never sees him.
Reposition, and then stops that retake.
Dead in its tracks.
Furio, that's a shocking round to lose, and it's at the behest of Karrigan, who goes on with three kills.
Malcolm's going into the AWP, they lose theirs and they still get out with the round.
Karrigan saving the AWP.
Giving Falcons their second here on this T side.
Furio don't exactly run away with the lead off the back of their pistol round.
They're broken in fact.
Oh, that's a hell of a catch, want to see.
Oh, no, no, no.
Questions, you know, would he warm up in time?
Would he find himself in time?
And the Daunt of Map 3, this orb hitting hard.
Two quick kills here.
Sure, it's in what is supposed to be a give-you-round for the Falcons.
But it's how he gets them, that's what's kind of getting you hyped right now.
Catch on the cross, ready for the short swing.
Every little detail is well-scoped in on that body.
You saw that that AK was picked up because it was fallen who saved last round.
He knows that's gone. He knows the free position.
So Falcons don't look to walk into it.
It's Fury and Gamble, triple on the B side.
Falcons clear their corners with utility.
With Modesty leveling up like this, it feels like
Such an insurmountable cost to get through him on Dust2.
Yeah, also, you know, just because Furia, they dug the multiple times over to try and put a stop to this in 2,
you really exert yourself on that charge.
And we said on that second map, not all round losses to create at equals, some of them hurt more than others.
And the ones that Furia's faced on that second map, on that crazy triple overtime,
Duke half of the year, they hurt the most.
Yeah, I think Falcons had very few rounds like that, you know, certainly a couple of clutches from
Taserato and the lights, but for the most part it was, you know, not these unwinnable moments that
Furia picked up. It was kind of just annoying, you know, Falcons mistakes,
you know, clearing outside those kind of rounds that led Furia on the lead.
Falcons showed resilience that we haven't seen before.
Come back after comeback now puts them even keel here on dust 2
This is a grand finalist in the making
That's magic do exactly that
Yeah, I mean the semi-final, no matter who takes this, is such a David B. Goliath story.
What you see from both these squads today, they got one hell of a match ahead of them.
This is more experienced opposition.
Another catch on the cross out of monesy.
which painted the way of Yuri.
It's Molodoy hoping for a response for the jump check.
Molly pushes Molodoy back and off the angle.
She's gonna come looking for this.
He's the guy taking into this angle.
So Molodoy's got the edge and leads to tell the tale.
He really-
A dishman dodged as Molodoy escapes.
He made the most of that Molotov-Dindy.
A little gap in the corner.
Odyssey pulls Nades out thinking that Molly's
bought him the room.
A perfect play for Molodoy
to take out his opposing warband.
with a risky maneuver perhaps, Oleg is waiting.
Side against it.
B5 and IZE leave the catwalk.
Here he is still hanging the balance of the B setup.
set up. Props to Cricket-Tess as well. He really held his own in that last map, but he's given
very little agency to make moves as an individual. We see him static and lobby on Nuke so long.
We see him holding Long A on this T side as well. Eventually he groups up on the pack.
No lurkers in this round. Falcons just look to punch in together.
This is where the earlier damage on the Molotov could prove to be really valuable.
Orp posted back on the long side is the first thing that could arrive to help out Yakin Dar.
He's got one flash to try and support him.
Hold back this coming A-take.
Molotov brings forth the second flash now to set up Yakin Dar for his swing.
Not able to find a thing and so that will be a bomb plant, a retake being demanded of Viria.
Ralkins can definitely win this round. Karrigan's even got the AWP. Why not?
Spawn is very tricky.
So we're all three are coming from for Furia.
Although he's so low on the long side, he needs his teammates to make that first incision.
Kcerano comes looking, Tessayas sends him away.
Tessayas!
On for the ace right now, and he's done more than enough, more than his fair share!
Polanoid can't hack, it is 6-8-3 and he has been since the start of the round.
To Falcons, a man down.
But Tessers for Wales and Polanoid dies to that bomb, that is maximum damage.
Can't get out with anything and Tessers takes the lot.
Difficult roles, not glamorous positions, limited agency, but put him in a postcard,
He shows off that fine a
Biggest round of the series from Tess's if you look at the numbers and coming through at an integral time
Even looking to force the all to get their money back in this game
But Falcons are a bit of a hot streak right now on this T side
Did that without honesty as well for the five for the RIP?
You know in the team of this many stars
My life is never gonna fall on Tess's
That's why Karrie called him the captain's player, someone who is more than willing to do whatever the team needs.
But if he shows up here on map 3, bringing an aim like that, got the mechanics to back it up,
that is a serious X-Factor for the Falcons showing its hand early on, an important 4K lead taken.
And another one of these manned down post-plants coming up in Falcons' favor.
The Falcons really need more superstars.
More firepower.
Here we are.
On that risky buy, they can save some for later, but we've got a hero M4, a hero war.
Do we have heroes though?
All the boys at least been getting involved.
Not sitting out of the fight. It's going to be stuck on B for now.
Blocks mode comes in, we can't just get it crazy.
Don't get punished.
Tries to see if his teammate, Molodoy, in that B bomb site.
Maybe Falcons change their tune. They've seen this now.
Surprise revealed.
Around about that B site,
obviously, Fletal and the Profits of Molodoy's caused a constant series,
and they do change their mind. They try and play for distance.
They know that with that kill, Molodoy ain't moving a muscle,
and so they set their sights on the A-play.
They're going in a case Serrano, low HP on the first man facing.
Same copy said for the next two.
This one is done.
The boy might limp his way over, but Monosy is on this angle.
There is no peeking into CT. It is a death zone.
And Nico just says, yeah, he can go cat, but deep down he knows.
Molodoy wants this all for the next round.
This was already a very risky buy.
And Falcons want to take it out of his hands.
So, Polaroid has to stay active, consider all positions as Falcons come hunting,
monocene with the spot.
And the shot!
Ludacris!
Honestly, he's a man on a mission tonight.
And not missing.
The Raj can absolutely be forgiven.
The Falcons right now appreciating that on the T side there, the guys setting the pace
and the tone of how this third map's played.
On his time at Asfurea, trying to rise above that, bring order to chaos,
but that all fell apart back on Nuke, and it's very, very hard to regain control over this wild Falcon.
A small burner of a round leveled against them.
used almost all their block in Utah. They are now at the full mercy of the Falcons in this
rightful round. Very late on long-wit numbers as well. Keisarato, have his eyes on the prize here.
Keisarato only good for the first and important trade for Texans. Massive contributions in these
A plays and again he's good for it. Kiyosuke opens up at the downtime. Furia
out of position, all hinging on the fast backstab from your kinder. Not enough to
make a difference with just the one and done. Bombe getting across is tenuous.
You've got to lob it. Run boost to get it over and pass that AWP. Crisis
inverted. Falcons running away with this on the T side. As we take forward to
Midnight, it's getting messy, it's getting shaky, we're seeing missed shots, and opportunity squandered here.
Furia, reliant on Yikindo to connect those shots without it, it's a sick round in a row for Valken's.
Molodoy just left out of the action right now, and yet Despera looking for the save.
Last time we were here we saw the emotional Molodoy in a series that went the distance, completely buckle.
on map 3. That's not the case here on Dust2. In fact, he's the one guy providing right now for Furia.
The rest of the team struggling to keep on pace.
And Molotow is certainly feeling the pressure to force some of these early fights. Try and be the difference maker.
It's not been enough.
Nice to see Falcons break that smoke on shore, right? They catch Fulin off guard.
off guard, re-aggressing because he's lost his long control and Molladoi is far away
with that AWP, so Furia at a position by force of the Falcons. It's heating up right now,
Furia getting burned down. Orb survives, but it is all we will see in this round, unless
Molladoi drops something over, so Furia feeling the risk right now is worth the reward.
I
Again and bringing the hints right back
They want the cake in the lead to two
The monesties been attempting this cross shot. That's where Molledoy brings his orb to the fray
He didn't get that free fight in this round.
Honestly, he could catch out along as well.
It's Karrigan.
He thinks he's got more room than he does.
That intercept has just been an unstoppable force.
Always good for these trades.
Had that massive 4K round.
Really emerging as a difference-making player.
Come the turn of map three.
He could really try to be surprising
and do the last thing Falcons would expect.
But if he feeds right into them, a 5v3,
He pushes further to extend advantage and he's going to kick himself for that
They go to retrieve guns along the Falcons have given themselves an opportunity
Tessus calls us back
Also want to bring note to the way the Molotov takes that mid-flight. He lets that decoy go off
He doesn't even fall for it. He peaks off the real shot of monosy. So
Really is laser focused right now
and in the right place to have impact for once.
Last time emotions consumed him.
This time he's determined, but will determination be enough for Molledoy?
He's forced off the angle.
When he tries to pick up the slack, he's moving in a hostile territory.
He needs to tap and he can't manage it, Miko.
I'll just do it together.
Spatches of him on that triple swing.
And the A-side proves to be a problem. Excellent post-bots.
Tessa has been the issue in these retakes and he's the one guy still
scrapping till this round's over. Yosuke with the long wrap. Burya don't know it
but they're living on borrowed time and that time is running out.
Okay, Serato low and no time left to win this.
Tessa is running, rings around them, another lot to kill
from the overshadowed piece of the Falcons.
What a time for Tessus to show up.
He definitely had his impact towards the latter stage of the game.
It was reliable as well on that topside.
We're leading right now.
He is excelling in this third map.
An unlikely star here for the Falcons.
7-3 up, 7 rounds in a row.
Inferior have had money, they've had buys, they've had hero warbs, but they have not broken in yet.
Look at the pace they set in that pistol that Topman pushed with the faction.
The triple B stack.
Right now, Falcons are calm, slow and steady.
Even in disadvantages, managing to cool and shoot their way out of these rounds, Cat
control has been the way in for the Falcons as they come hunting for their
eighth consecutive round
they're equating their boots just hoping they've read this one right
triple lean over towards B but again it's just been a play after a play out
through the short side for Carrigan again Molotoy's imposition but is that
But enough is the question, this full exec, two smokes.
Falcons are going to have that cross at least to the corner before
Olyphe can get a shot off.
You're limited on how many shots you can get in this position.
It needs to fade, Karabin drops it, they're going for the mid to be.
Right, Fury will get their wish.
They've read this round correctly.
Falcons back up, they're going to change their mind.
Have they really pieced this one together?
Just stop seeing your Kindar in the kill feed.
That's enough, that's enough info.
Honestly, dead sure, but Kiyosuke is found a way in.
It's him and Niko side by side.
The rightful duo at the heart of the Falcons, Bob now planted.
Furia, one of these man up retakes, they have to seal the deal on this one.
It's only Kiyosuke to beat.
Finally, street broken, and Furia get on the board.
We learned on New Kids never too late to show up here,
so Furia at least keeping themselves in the conversation,
but this is scraps at the end of the hard,
At the end of the night on this CT side, Furia do enough.
The Falcons realise that's a snap on B, they do abandon ship.
Not able to shoot their way out of a situation for once.
So Furia hang on, looking for this five round half.
More than anything, it's a break in momentum.
A welcome feeling for Furia after a long game.
Super-Firing has cleared the area on this floor.
Drop it off.
Honestly, has this.
So if it ain't broke, I bought it trying to fix it.
And they all flashed back off the line.
Luckily enough, Fallen here to provide some cover.
Players out on this jaunt into the mid to be.
Kiyosuke gets that spot.
Kinda seen up close.
U-Tail's gonna rain in, making very uncomfortable forces that fight.
Drop down into CT is a wild move for Karagin.
But he now controls these rotates.
I hope in the Furia overreact, three players storm up through the catwalk,
giving them all that oil to get low on health.
Drop down for Kier Snuke.
Looking to hold on a CT, it's a big risk.
Looking for the big reward.
Honestly, up next also takes this line.
Two players here and the tension on.
It's quick.
Not a scubbiter reposition.
Smooth moves, gets him out of the danger zone.
There's Kiyosuke, brushing up on Volador at the long side.
And this now becomes a very tricky retake.
Crossfire set up between the two Falcons players.
There's the Sway.
Pai-Sin Fiori, two consecutive rounds from Fiori.
A build upon this weak CT side.
Will it be enough?
Yeah, feeling cast right now.
Exhausted, I'm sure, and Falcons are absolutely bouncing on this opportunity.
Look at that half. In a five-round CT side, they had the advantage to 5v4, nine of those rounds.
Not able to convert. Numerous advantages in post-boss as well, and Falcons still shut out most of them.
Furia hang on here at the end of the half. This is a very different game now.
A well-called T-side by Karagin, certainly not putting up numbers in this series, but
some of the recovery on T-halves has been excellent.
You know, you mentioned this 90-game from Falcons inside of the group stages.
He got absolutely slaughtered on this map on CT side.
For those first half rounds, very important.
I can't believe this one becomes a war of attrition.
It's a very demanding series.
Let's go boys, for Daniel, for Daniel bro.
Let's look and go.
I taste a lot of sand, they want to do it from all the joy.
Trying to find those ways to motivate themselves in the tail end of an exhausting, taught of final.
their pistols have been furious.
They're gonna keep it going with speed.
Sukei cleans out to get the ball rolling.
Can he find any more?
Closing an instance on him now, Kiyosukei.
Oh, it's out!
He's not stopping!
Still in threat, not dealt with yet.
And rotates start to arrive.
Kiyosukei lays, lays, the fury at in this pistol.
The regular shots of this guy showing up in this series.
He was the only performer at the Dawn of the Rage.
And he is going late into the night for frags.
Beautiful stuff on this B site.
Fury again, nowhere.
They don't cross.
They don't get past the big box.
Kiyosuke does not allow.
Sonic might have implemented that pug band
on all of the Falcons at events.
That's the reason my character was keen to lift it.
You've got to use these nighttime demons in their prime.
Should it be required?
Yeah, I've been very vocal in the past few months about the difficulties of playing great games, of struggling, staying up.
Right now, this would be the deepest in up there, the effort to come back in this map.
This is a Falcons' prime and ready, looking for a run to the trophy.
A team of underdogs awaiting in the semi-finals.
A familiar foe, perhaps.
If they made it all the way and if Furia may have bottomed out here in this third map.
hit the eject button or is this just gliding into its place?
Oh, it's confident.
Honestly taking every fight you can.
It's been easy round, full burn, that's really not a bad way to get it all rolling.
It's Niko though getting baited for out here behind Goose.
Ready to stop this in its tracks, the arrival of Karrig and clamping down on the side here.
Bosses best didn't get more.
They must win rifle round.
The doorstep of Furia, if they do want to have any hope.
They do want to try and right the ship.
This is the one.
And energies just felt different right short.
They've been on the CT side.
You can see it on their face.
And they look exhausted at the end of that new game.
And they know they have their chance, time after time.
We just hit a limit eventually.
Maybe fury a half.
This is the round that decides how competitive Dust2 gets to be.
I'm going to be in court this furious squad now all too well.
Now I'm out in front of your home country, never a nice feeling, it's a very unique
type of pressure.
You've had to contend with it, you can never rise to the occasion on their home turf, you
have.
Vitality a rare exception.
Take the right side, at least in this round. Falcons, heavy long set up, heavy in mid, anticipating it to be.
They have all this room, they have themselves a bomb plant, 5v5 retake, that's what's being demanded.
Karigan moving in as the first man to space, and Kindar's got the spot.
Hedder, but stops him in his tracks, bloodbath here on ramp, but Kacerato bites willingly, Niko and Admiribar attempt, but Furia will survive one more.
First gun round connects here for Furia, the first of many more four buys for Falcons.
But not now, not yet.
You're looking for that second wind. If you get within touching distance, if you get within a couple of rounds of those semi-finals,
I think all of a sudden Fury come back alive. That's their first step, very important one in the right direction.
Look at this bifurcate, it's pretty rash as well. The three right paulges, swinging off the flash. Excellent first skill here for Niko.
Those opening duels where all Fury is, that first half, Niko responds well, Karagon can't get that gun, it's been picked up.
So, Furia, can't be waste, they don't let Falcons arm themselves in this still tricky fight.
This is a risky peek off the flash, Kiyosuke has a teammate ready to trade, missed opportunity for Tessus.
Terey's been the guy, right, the trade guy throughout this entire thing.
Just to put a bit more patty in staffing this round, instead now it's a 4-on-4, you're working
with less, you don't know where fury you're at.
Time to make a gap with the Falcons, you just got to pick a site and believe in it right
now because you don't have the guns to be spread thin.
Leaving back off of A, obviously in the spawn, uncertain, and Nico getting burned out of his
corner because below the smoke, Fallon still finds him.
There is nobody home. Marker does get caught, oh hell for Kcerato.
So there's a question. He's about to find the answer.
Let's flank up through short, starts to move into position.
It's Carrigan closing in on the AK.
Neymar, honestly, plays it forward, but he wasn't ready for Yuri late along.
Which is Carrigan and Tessas.
High power piece at the forefront of this.
Carrigan though is way deeper than they could be ready for.
taking that Molly has the element of surprise even one from Carrigan would
be a massive difference maybe he comes up short
money broken this is gonna close up
that was a heavy investment here for Falcons
one they've got worth the risk with the lead they had
And we've been holding on to dear life here, as Fury are getting closer and closer on these two sides.
We're going to run up again to see what our back tent is going to face behind us.
They find confidence late in this game.
They're bringing some pace.
Falcons have nothing to throw out with no flash to pop through the long smoke.
No hero rifle to bail them out.
They just swing together.
Another dink put down range.
You still think that this shouldn't get weird, though,
with the trades coming in cleanly?
No worries.
They've been given away.
These are just guns to get saved
for the Falcons taken with them into that next round.
There's no stopping this from closing up.
One at round game.
Pressurisilient, hyperfuria, the job is far from done.
Waiting for the monocy AWP on the CT side.
Are these guns safe?
Helps that a lot.
Still a question.
Oh my goodness, you're ginder spotted.
Nico wanna risk it, though.
That's just nothing to lose because I say the same
You make your money this all still won't get to come out for the Falcons any time soon. It'll be all plus in the next
I might look at the money and say Niko could drop one over but he doesn't have armour to play with.
You don't want to run the glass rifle, that just doesn't exist.
Timeout called in and an out of time because awkward decisions lay ahead for the Falcons.
and see what has kind of been there.
They're star peas throughout this entire series.
First map shore, a blemish on Odyssey's record,
but outside of that the Orc has been a defining feature of the Falcons.
All the doig gets his.
It's the freedom that comes with streaking these rounds together.
All the rifles for the Falcons.
As they stirred that closes up.
Darkin's had a great read on the T side, avoided the stacks, went into Moldova and lifted to the tail.
Pressure is put on Fallen now. How does he use his pieces? Moldova, he pulled on the long side, going for a quick pick.
Karagan seen this one before, he's not going ahead of the Utils, smoke blooms, and locks Fury out of long.
Still looking paced somewhat.
Perhaps wanted to punish Karagan alone in his position.
Karagan, it may be time to call the ambulance, because four players are on the long side.
He is being put down range.
Long space taken.
Whole map dark right now for the Falcons.
John will alleviate that a little with the push in through the upper tunnels.
Can you see the clear?
Big info, but it's only fear and commitment when it matters.
They can still reset round the world. They can still take mid control.
Nico has out won his own on a violin here in middle.
They are in T spawn right now.
And he is in no time for help, backed up for monasy, pulls back and your kinder has to risk it.
This is costing you a lot of time if you're furious.
Suddenly the prospect of trying to get this bomb anywhere becomes a really tricky prospect.
Oh, can't they go? It's their only option.
Would you really dart into a mid to B with no smoke?
Twenty seconds, Falcons don't believe they would ever do this.
He falls into the stack.
Although Falcons start to leave.
Now they see the bomb out here on short, they'll get back in time, kill in the right place.
Line-up for Modesty!
And Falcon 2 will knock an egg on this lead! They hold on to it!
Modesty might not have his orb, but he still hits hard!
Quick reactions from the Falcons, but disaster strikes for Fury at that bomb, top middle,
and the amount of time taken to pick it back up.
It's not acceptable, this late in the game, it is double digits,
handed over on the roots of Fury's comeback.
And while Falcons almost bite the bullet on that over rotation, that one spot for Monosy goes so far and he puts his AK to use.
Now he's rewarded with his weapon of choice.
I can be alive on that cross.
These Orbs play in.
Odoi, so hard to trot and strong start, it's been slow finishes that have let him down,
that was a case on Yuke.
He came in, winning that head to head, even here on Dust2 despite his deep success.
And I feel like Honesty might just wake up at the right time, now he's been given this
opportunity again he has waited so long for a CT AWP and he'd be right by it.
Certainly dials up the pressure. Man he is delivered at times when his team have
not time and time again. Passed to that Monosier WP though. Niko's gonna get left
out of this. Karrigan as well it's a B site play out of Furia.
Suke and Tess says both here and a reblock in at the tunnels of the 42nd mark changing the game plan. Perhaps
What about going back? It's so late in the day. They feel like they have to follow through
Alcans know it's coming Kiyosuke strong position to change his side goes back to the car. This is a classic position for this rifle
Tess is taking first contact
No trade yet, then they all spin it through, quick set of entries and when Niko not seeing a thing up here on this boost, Falcon's gonna get left out of the picture in this round.
They've been waiting to bring out that monosie AWP. Well, it's gonna save, gonna run for the hills and K-sur-R-R plays to deny, takes them down the peg for the hunt.
We're not a bad on Kiyosuke and Tessa is not training evenly in that B bomb site
Molotoy on the angle locked Tessa's into position and Kiyosuke can't get a single kill from
car with the AK. How many highlights have we seen from him in that position?
Bastaful lurk from Keisarato and they only saved two guns.
Falcons not out of the woods yet, eating the entire wave, but never done.
This is two teams at their absolute limit.
It's about who can hold it together for the next few rounds.
Awesome order, Cole.
If you want to see this like being left out of the picture,
you dislike not being a part of that round in any way, shape or form.
But to be honest, this is a map where it's really hard to just force that, right?
You can go for Catwalk, you can go for a pick, you can fight middle if you want to risk it on CT side,
but in a late round, you can't guarantee you're going to get action.
Thinking about the group stage, Monosy was really loving these catfights,
trying to get aggressive with this AWP.
Wonder if that's his port of call here in this round, because straight away, straight up onto the Catwalk.
This is what Monosy was doing all throughout the group stages.
Slow boost. See a thing.
No, he was holding for that cross shot.
It doesn't seem Honesty floating around middle.
He's going to have to make it count now as there's a boost in play just on the edge.
Pixels make all the difference here.
That's the corner. Open and lower.
So he's really banking on his teammates having his back.
Because the barrel's been spotted now.
Yesuke springs to life on the back of it.
They know about this AWP on the catwalk.
That won't stop Honesty from getting involved.
Determined from the word go that this time
That AWP would get to play.
Check these margins.
You peek a second before the Molly pops.
You pay the price of your life.
Says Threads the Needle.
Threads the Needle through the backline of Team Furia.
Ready for that wrap.
But Molotoway comes out ahead.
This B site's not free.
Kiyosuke's going to get here in time to try and stop him.
Teammates offer flashes.
Teammates offer support.
But in terms of guns, it's one man left in all.
Deco Spam connects and does enough.
And Yuri does enough of the room for this.
30 seconds left, he heads for the hills.
They're closing in on him, a punishing hunt.
Falcons pulling ahead as this one hits crunch time.
Still not losing their identity.
Still aggressive, still oppressive,
still putting their individuals in places to succeed.
And after the game testers has had,
what a perfect time to push up a B,
throw chaos into that round, get all the information for Falcons.
As Monacee back on Catwalk, like you said, forcing his engagement,
and Kiyosuke down and lower, causing chaos.
Falcons, win or loss, they'll go out doing it their way.
Now they lead by two.
Even when Furia had the chance to finish this series back on you,
numerous times over, unable to do it.
Soon as Falcons found an opportunity in overtime,
it was theirs for the taking.
So we're now paused a lot of dialogue between Ykindar
and Fulham.
Someone's going to provide the solution to this scoreline.
Someone's going to own it.
All in on this round.
It's this quarterfinal rests on this four-spy.
Back to B, they go.
It's time, nothing. Tess as in Kiyosuke.
Last time they weren't able to stop it.
This time, it's a different story.
Lying up into the tunnels, big damage from the rifle.
Falcons a man up, you know how tricky this B site is.
You know how tough this one can be to pull off, even with that advantage.
They've got a lot of Util, that's the one edge, that's what you're telling yourselves now.
In no fall and slight niche, don't know, he's already here in time, he's picked up a Naze, he's putting him to use.
Finally, Karagun on the flank, getting into position. They've got to wait for him.
Smoking in the door. Util to make life uncomfortable for Furia, Yuri tries to take the initiative,
tries to be the guy fighting first, scared back from the window.
Side by side with Bullen as this is for all the marbles. This is for those semis!
Murray holds on! There is still hope yet for Furia!
That is impossible!
Falcons time it together and still they are picked apart one by one, isolated by Furia with no room to move.
They get pushed into uncomfortable positions. They still steal it away.
to be bomb site and Falcons bank account. Empty. This is surely 24 rounds. And there
and no more timeouts. Roller coaster of the series. Never a second you can take your
eye off the ball. Right when you think you're comfortable, right when you think this is yours.
It slips through your fingers. Both teams have experienced it.
And there are no certainties here!
Scout is the only thing interesting about this fight for the Falcons.
The fact it's opened up like that immediately puts a bit of fear in Furia.
Now, all round losses are equal. Some of them hurt more than others, and you fall down to
an eco at this score line. That is the ultimate burn. Open and secured. There should be no
worry. You're telling yourselves, it's fine. It's one scout. We can still pull through,
And if they pick the right site, they certainly can.
If you go beat this one's over, I think that's in the back of Fjord's mind.
The fear is that there's a stack in play, but once you get into that site,
the round is fully done.
Oh my goodness, look at the mist there.
Look at that.
It's Karagin on the wrap round.
He's no stranger to what a crowd can provide.
Get him a helping hand.
How about a fist?
Just a knockout blow.
He's going back up through the catwalk.
Even though you can't knock out all this space,
he's right over the catch on Kiyosuke,
so no issues here trying to navigate past these pistols.
Tess says we'll steal back one more.
And in this 2v2, the tunnel's like for Yuri.
He doesn't want to overstep.
any reason to go for this round?
Why make you more expensive than it has to be
when economy could decide so much?
What is it?
Multi-hour, multi-overtime campaign,
you don't want it falling flat on its face
because you went for the hunt here.
Even just saying that Khalil is ugly,
that you'd rather have something than nothing.
A little bit of extra money will go a long way
late in the game, 11 rounds apiece.
Falcons had them nine-five down
And Furia have put in a shift on this T side to pull it all the way back.
Round's getting traded, now back to back.
Attack at the most tense moment.
We are ready.
This is it.
The make or break.
True test.
And what a crazy call it is to open in this round.
Being left barred, Tess says they're alone.
And the stack can deny a long rush.
It feels like the biggest risk to take at this point in the game
where you know Furia have punished you on being numerous times.
You know how impossible this round is.
Monacy would be left saving.
Shocked Falcons want to risk this site.
So Monacy hangs around in middle,
forcing involvement with this AWP.
Because by God, does this guy deserve the fight at this point?
Deserve the engagement to keep Falcons here.
It's on that smoke and it's handed over and opening it.
Kind of just with blind spam.
Catching Tess says, that's already going to shuffle around the defense.
That's what Fury are telling themselves here.
They've still got a whole minute left to play with,
but Falcons do not move a muscle.
They are stubborn. They are set in place.
They've got faith that somehow, someway,
This is all going to come together so risky for the bombs come all the way back around
They're gonna leave monosy out of the picture
Are you telling me after the effort after the shift the monosy is put in he is not gonna get to play in these last couple
of rounds of regulation he has to rely on his team
Kiyosuke Joker in the pack hiding out
He could with me he's baiting for him and fury are undecided. They need to change their mind. It's meant to be
It feels like a high-risk maneuver, Fallen is still lurking long.
There's 20 seconds you've got to get a move on.
That time's becoming a real problem.
Now the Modesty Orb's going to scare you away.
And at this point, Falcon know.
That basic arrogant.
Safe play.
Gizuki tucked in with an order play for...
That's it!
The lineup!
That's the bomb!
You can't win this!
You need the kills!
You need them now!
Modesty!
It's going to go on the hunt and can't fall and do it!
Modesty runs away!
Second defense!
Falcons! Falcons win the round!
The bullshit didn't belong to FaZe Clan, it belonged to Karak in the whole time!
Falcons cannot a match at series point!
Seconds the difference, Monasi escapes certain death and Kiyosuke punish, bomb drop.
This young rifle has stood tall in this series. He has showed up on the stage and
Falcons want to finish in style
They were so stubborn
They didn't move
Everything Furia threw it and they had faith in the read their faith in the cool
They want to jam this finish right down furious thrones
And at the tail end of hours, everything put on the line, put it in this series, no doubt
in the commitment.
Falcons could pull through here and now, Carrigan, deep on long, tested first.
That's all clout!
It's denied!
Don't tell me we got another overtime!
Let's go back!
No survivors into overtime!
Falcons push the boat out, drowned in lower tunnels.
And we are not done with our quarterfinals.
That pop of adrenaline.
Oh, they both hit it.
Mordor first, yes, 2K better!
Now you tell me, have you done enough?
Kiyosuke has handed you the mother of all openings here with that double kill.
It's now falls to Furia to be the ones to find a solution.
Two players out on the mid-side, but it's not without contest.
Looking around here, you've got Nico out towards the spawn.
An acquired map for him.
With Monacee looking over his shoulder, you're feeling bold and you've got this orb to cover.
Fallen desperately wants a window peek, he is not going to get it.
Eventually you've got to call it off, smoke the cross.
You can Monacee find the shot.
Okay, touch a glass from Foulin, honestly might be quick, but Foulin's got the experience
and that kill has opened up a route back into the A site.
That kills home.
Carrigan sits down bottom of the board and while his team get picked apart, it all falls
onto his shoulders, crossing out into no man's land.
Carrigan is dead!
Foulin collects this AWP.
his hands and doing a number to the Falcons. Kiyosuke started this off with that crazy
double and still more is demanded of Falcons Prodigy. Two shots and a shot away from certain
dead. Yuri does the honors. A double entry for Kiyosuke and it falls on dead ears. Yuri
a 3v5 their way to that first round of overtime. It was Falcons who refused to go down on you,
Furia, and now pulling it out here on Dust2. And there is more in store in this third map
as Fallen, an old dog with new tricks perhaps, keeps Furia in this tag on the cross.
He is under threat, Tasos drops his name out of fear, but a walk in here is risking your entire life, your kingdom one shots him.
Kiyosuke alone, they're gonna pounce.
Good for Molly Jones here, it's Kiyosuke.
Cross out towards the car, you've got to deal with him quickly.
Cross the map, help him try and move in a position.
You get past Kiyosuke.
Bomb in tow, it's went forward.
I think you can't wait. I think you've got to go, Nico.
I'm trying to strike all the irons on through this.
Sides against it, waits for Karrigan to come and back him up.
Where's the flash to get this one going?
These postmars are so difficult. I feel like Elementor surprises all you have sometimes.
Playing this together in a 2v2 slow and steady gives the TZ advantage.
He's great here, he's more down low, and there's Nico on a wide swing.
Finally finding his impact.
Took a long time to get mileage out of the guy.
But retaking, almost on his load soon.
The hardest site in the map.
Excellent utility as well.
The smoke that gets him out the nade
that sends Fury down
and despite brutal entry into that beef-obside from the Kinder in Pacerato
he still trade rounds in this overtime.
I also feel like the Orpah's Paradise anymore
although another cross shot for Molotoy has once again left Tess's on notice.
This map has fallen into the hands of the Riflems.
Great flashbang!
There's no punish.
Yeah, man.
It's been a while.
Yeah, it's been a while, been a streak of silence for Mollinoy, but an important head-to-head,
the earlier tag, finding impact here.
As he looks to win out this half-moo team for Muriel, they've just got ego to get past
top on the line, one's not going to cut it.
Garrigan can't match up against K-Zoran with firepower out the short side and this
a bombsite crack wide open.
To begin these rotates you better be looking over your shoulder because Yuri
lurks down here in the tunnels ready to round it out. Tessa is tagged right at the
door to this round as the guy left in the clutch the Furia they've just got to
finish what Mollardoy started.
It's a matter of time.
And Mollardoy does not miss.
So Furia advantage in OT from 5-9 down all the way.
Falcons could not close on their one opportunity.
And this is a game where nothing is sacred, you are never safe until you are out of your
seat.
The back and forth from these last few overtime's training game.
MOLOTOV is trying to leave everything out of the stage, pushes that Molotov, doesn't get his chance.
Make full shorts.
Falcons, silent up Cat, but silent into who you ask.
Even MOLOTOV won't take the risk, the smoke comes down.
If Falcons call the bluff, MOLOTOV has repositioned.
To gap, the Falcons don't want a risk.
Honestly.
Sorah awaits.
The clear is a little labored, they've got him pinned in now though as the Magrod stride
That will decide his fate in the mid-fight.
20 seconds left on this.
So, he's really gonna make an aggressive move,
looking like he wants to come through,
or at least thinking about it.
So, it's against it.
Insight called in a question now.
That's the object of Falcons' desire.
Yuri has had a number of pivotal moments across this series.
Oh, no!
It has to be one of them.
That's one hell of a double.
Limit reached eventually.
An advantage sides with Falcons
as they put distance between themselves and Furia.
Oh!
Hell of a catch!
Four fallen!
No nades on this retake.
This is the round Monacee is made for.
Tell yourself you've got Monacee in a post-plan.
You've got him with his weapon of choice.
He will be enough.
He will hold the line.
Has to be.
Oh, holding the window.
locked in on this door, Frank missed,
Monacee pinks, he hits his, and this is it.
Monacee and Tessas take it a distance.
Even game once again.
Balkans never take their finger off that trigger.
and in more of a city even monesty getting chance because game respects game
you better witness to
the most tightly contested one of the best series of counters I played on the stage
And it's helmed by two grizzled veterans.
Karagin has spoke this entire time trying to lay down the law.
His path for Falcons to get back into this.
That's the first step in the right direction.
He falls to full in a try and counter.
You've got to tell yourself at least you're on the T side, going out on your terms.
You call the shots, you take the risks, you decide your fate. Falcons. Out-middle, smokes down, cat control gifted.
I think all the way back to regulation, might have felt like a long time ago, but this catwalk area was the way in for the Falcons.
able to nullify Molotov's impact on the cross shots,
you had the crazy openings from Tessas and Kiyosuke.
They're going to go back to old faithful here.
Looking at that catwalk with interest.
Locked down, but that doesn't stifle the plan much.
Fallen does have a re-smoke here. Maybe that causes some chaos.
It's only a matter of time before this exec rolls out.
This time, no three players out the long doors.
Usually it's one guy lurking here alone.
Otis gonna be on Moledoy, rising to the occasion.
Long gets corrupted, they're getting pincen.
Moledoy off, holds the line for the first.
Oh, and there's the follow-up!
Tessa is dead, and Modesty doesn't have the time!
20 seconds left to work with,
really gonna live up to that nickname now,
but Modesty flashed off the line,
and there's more that came from,
They're just slowing him down, trying to let the clock decide it.
Uria match and series point.
An impossibility for Monosy.
Uria make it so.
They throw everything they have at him
and Molotoy in the right place at the right time delivers the shots.
Both these AWPers have gone quiet and come back louder.
But the headline might just read Furia in Astana as they are given a chance to shut this series up for once and for all.
Will the mistakes of Nugret ahead again?
Or can Furia finish what started hours ago?
Ollenoid is looking for the coup de grande, a killing blow to Malkin, ends up giving away an opening.
Alright.
To Falcons.
Breathe a little easier, that orb out of play.
Roll of the dice.
Comes up in favor of the Falcons.
Check that bomb.
Uri has been a rock in this series, extremely reliable across all three maps, but this should be a task too far.
As Fallen makes a gamble happen, Falcons puff their chest up, they fake out.
Uriah, will they fall for it?
It's between Uri's and Fallen, and they're sprayed out to save this series.
This is all the fuss! The object is on B.
And it's only two players in front of Yuri though, this is not impossible, he's picked up the multi kills but that one comes up short.
Okindar and a tricky 1v2 in front of him, if they do want to close this here and now.
They had so much trouble getting this done in OT, they couldn't manage it on Nuke.
And I think history could repeat itself on Dust2 unless Okindar does the impossible.
And in Trench test says, a set up, Monacy.
No one's going to overpeak. No one's going to give you this.
You've got to make your own clutch happen and out into the open.
It's a shutdown. We're running this one back.
I got so scared seeing that AWP swap off,
but Monacy delivers no matter what you give him.
Falcons force another overtime.
the game that keeps giving, that never ends.
And Yuri had it there, right in the palm of his hand,
fallen set him up just for it, but still,
Furia, it slips through their fingers,
that all familiar feeling.
on control denied attention dissipates right you're keen to take a bit of
extra risks here now now that you've got a fleet of rounds to play with again so
risking it on a test has pushed out through the long doors just to
experiment give it a bit of a flavor as to what's going on on that half of the
map. All the way out here in middle on a tight line, they start all to sing. So from bad to
worse with the Falcons, it's two of these attempts to go and seek that opener come up short.
Kiyosuke, not overlooked, Keisarato, B-Line straight for him.
Left now through a desperate play out through the cap wall.
This one is a failure to launch from the Falcons.
Can you believe that here, past midnight in this quarterfinal,
against some of the best players in the world,
it is fallen top-fragging for his team right now
in his final year of competitive play.
Showing up on the big stage with even bigger plays,
25 kills deep into these over times.
Dropped his AWP for this young Kazakh sensation and still doing more with less in 2026.
How do you call yourself out of this, Falcons?
Or do I fight in the middle, breaking the smokes, keeping the pressure on?
Falcons heavy-heat.
No one in this site, that changes, Furia put two in position.
And the Royce State is active after firing the shots, he's got support from the site.
Falcons getting drawn into a B2B.
Oh no, Carrigan.
That is not the time for misutility.
He's going to get the fight he looks for.
What's going on here in mid?
How does he still get away with what?
Ballerboy didn't check it, now it's a 2v3, man down.
Feels impossible round again.
It's Flash's to try and make it happen.
I'm really hoping for a mistake.
Not the most Falcons have made a couple in this round with this.
You tell Flash's lead the charge, but your Kindar only manages one.
Fuller knows just how impossible this clutch is supposed to be.
Into this twilight year.
That nice guy looking beautiful right now because Fuller shines as a star, finally extinguished.
Falcon's answer back, nail-biter of a round.
And still no clear winner in this area.
Everybody has had their moments.
That is five kills from the two dainter Falcons.
Kerrigan gets a double, out middle.
Molotov jumps the gun.
Coming through that CT smoke,
perhaps thinking Kerrigan was killed.
He gets two, Tess's clutch is up.
And again, we trade rounds back and forth.
Oh, dear!
B player picked, and that was the second door for Furia.
risk taken. Yikinda grabs lower. This is a ballsy push. Yikinda takes it all on these
fights in and lower. And one is all he'll manage barely able to stem the bleeding.
Now it's just resource management for Furia. They're not in a position to take
risks here. It's a 3v4. Got to pick a site and dedicate to it.
Oh, ho, ho, ho!
A late activation, you say. Honestly, it re-enters.
It has to be Molotovic. If he doesn't get a multi-kill here,
Round gets away from you. They learn about that orb.
Try and play for distance. They're going right back into Yuri.
On his tunnels, push.
Molotovic with an important trade.
And that's the one that opens up this plant.
That's the one that secures the round.
Bollinoy is so much to clear, and he'll get shut down, Falcons with two in OT.
Yeah, that means nothing at this point. No round lead, it would matter at any point in overtime.
We have yet to have a flawless half in all the OTs we played across this series.
And with that in mind, there is always a chance,
which is what Furion must tell themselves, but Monosy, with his best round in a minute,
Three miraculous kills, two on the cross and follows up on that upper push.
Falcons with advantage for now.
They will not give Mordor what he wants.
No fight on the cross, only one player makes it in.
That's as he was getting tagged earlier.
This time it's all his.
He's going to get his side by side.
Missing the cross back to B, and breaking the smoke, but just missing that timing.
Fallen makes it up Cat, undisturbed.
And a lot of B hits in this game.
And Falcons are bound banking on one more.
I don't know what, maybe they're on to something.
These stacks they're so stubborn about it, but it just has a funny way of falling into
place that the way the Falcons want it to.
Had all the makings of a short play and it was the under defended side of the map.
Honestly, was out of position.
Oh, something's called Fury of Back over the Wards B.
Korotov smokes down in middle, and now you're smiling to yourselves.
You're thinking, they're really gonna give us this.
They're gonna play right into our hands.
Three players over the Wards B site.
Kiyosuke, full blind at the util.
Stack broken through, but it was Niko going undetected.
Flying under the radar.
In and a multi-kill, but he gets put down after one.
Bob will go down with seconds to spare.
Furia breakthrough the three-man hole.
The flash of dreams puts Kiyosuke on his ass.
No one saves them here.
Niko could have held the shot.
He took it while he had it.
And that's how Falcons are manned down
in this important retake round.
They're just going to swing through the door,
carry it on his timing.
Volodoy denies it.
And Monosy, again, thrust into an impossibility.
Bury her even up and Monosy can do nothing about it
Don't you worry you can do a monotone is hit you with an IOU and that knife kill bank rolls it
Okay, through his opponent, why not?
You'll take it, a bit of flair.
Something to wash it down with.
Yeah, he also fought it on Bina.
It's fucking good on Bina.
That was the previous round, Tess is calling the stack ahead of time, they go triple B
and look what they have to show for absolutely nothing.
Furia pounced through that B site.
It's just going to be a real rough feeling for the Falcons, right?
The idea that you had the right read, you had the right idea.
You had everything there teed up for that to be your round and it crumbled.
There is no flow to this game, no logic.
This laid into the match.
Another cross shot connective, both AWPers have hit them.
That's a small atop, is that an opportunity here
that you can do what to take?
You're getting so many of these cross shots getting hit,
while Zywoo is regarded for having this fantastic game sense,
this unparalleled reed of the game.
These are two AWPers considered for their speed.
That's what it's all about.
And these cross shots should be coming through aplenty.
Oh.
This position got him multiple kills earlier in regulation.
Over time, what's the difference at this point?
Good molly.
Flushes, K-Zero out.
They were ready with a flash for that.
They're able to punish Kisuke on the swing.
Trey comes out, Tessus is low.
That might just call you over, right? That's a B pick.
I'm sure you went one for one, but you can cut down these mid rotates.
Pressure's gonna be on for Niko. He has to play through this utility.
He has to pop his chest out in mid.
You let them have this control.
That B site is wide open with only Tessus to defend.
Fallen's allowed entrance.
There's a smoke down. He uses it against it.
Fallen walks the walk.
All in, caught out by that push and an important one for Niko.
Path to rotate now opens back up for the Falcons.
Tessas hold his sight.
Is he enjoying it? Eyes on that mid smoke, never took him off it.
And with Tessas holding the climb over, Falcons look to recover.
Moledoy, a dead man on that cross.
Monash, he sends his regards.
It's Falcons again, match in series point.
He survived. Let me get away. This thing's between himself and the long-take
Instantly calling the block of fury and they were moving in to try and clear that out and they decide against it
Thing they did fury it did not depart. This was not a ruse. Hi
All the way Mr. Jumpy wanted to go pit with that jiggle now. He's risking it all. Honestly hit that leg at range
the game. You know, you've got
Falcons paranoid. You know you've
cut off the info. Where did
fury ago back to be if they get a
door smoke in? We're talking
another overtime. Kiyosuke is in
mid with the AWP. That mid smoke
might send him back to his bomb
site, but a door smoke would lock
him out of this entirely.
That mid smoke might send him back to his bomb site, but a door smoke would lock him out of this entirely
Urea four players
Molodoy with no more utility fake
He's thrown his last long smoke and he pulls back as Urea walk right through
Tess says has the entire team coming his way and what a time for him to deliver
The finish line is right there. The madness could be about to end
Falcons and they'll get it done into those semi-finals.
The most resilient we have ever seen this team on the big stage at their first outing with Garagher.
They got battered off the rags, they got bruised on youth, but they stood true.
Over time after over time, across back-to-back maps past the midnight, Falcons refused to crumble.
they refuse to fumble. The Haywatchers are starving and Molodoy in his home arena, home
country, home crowd, it is not enough today. And he's just crushed. See him sitting there
after this last, I mean no matter who fell short here, no matter who reached those semis,
the other team is going to be leaving destroyed, but it's Molodoy, the guy who made a name
himself here in his home arena devastated at the end of a multiple overtime hours
long quarterfinal it just was not enough
by far the craziest and most exciting game of this year maybe of CS2 but
and Falcons finally overcome it on the stage.
Monocly, what did it take?
How hard was it?
What did you go through?
Explain to me what was in your mindset
throughout all of this play.
Let's mic him for now, okay, let's mic him for now, okay.
What was going through our pair?
I mean, we just tried to play until the end.
It was a very hard game.
I think one of the hardest games I ever played in CS, maybe,
In terms of over times, we played so many rounds, we're hungry, we played so many rounds, I would say, but we just didn't give up on Nuke.
It was so important to stay until the end, to stay strong with good mentality, and I don't know, it was nice to play.
When you say it was hard to play, in the first map you couldn't get things going for yourself
individually. Molodoy was dominating you. Coming back into that nuke, what was the
reset like? What was the conversation like? What did Karaghan say to you in this moment?
First of all, yes, they played insane. Molodoy played very also good on their last and all
the maps. He was punishing me on all my mistakes that I was doing. Daniel was playing very good today.
I mean, we just talked as a team after Dimash. We had to reset, because we cannot continue playing like this, you know.
We step up on Nuke and we showed better CS than we did on the first map.
but we just pulled this card to the third card and managed to win here.
We are chaos on the server, we are controlling the pace, we are controlling the game, so Fin is doing an amazing job at calling on Dust2, in my opinion he overcalled them on the T side, we are playing very good with all the rotations, they go, how to say, diving on our rotations, rotating, rotating, we are winning the rounds because of that, Fin is insane with calling, thanks to him.
and gave a lot of impact for the victory.
Today was a very loud match, I think.
You can clap.
Thank you for your support, you can go to sleep, tomorrow will be even better.
You're better!
Guys, we're not going to sleep yet, we'll have a loser interview tomorrow.
So we're not running away, I'm serious now.
Thank you everyone for all the support, you're a great crowd and it was amazing to play here on the arena.
It certainly was, it was an amazing game. So come on guys, one final time, it's Monocy and Falcon!
We said that Nuke was the best map that we've seen this year without a doubt and then they
brought us two again. What an incredible series and I feel like this is one of those times
where we can look at both of these teams, Falcons, Fury, there's no way to sit and say this team
made too many mistakes or this team did this. They both fought down to the wire time and
time again, exchanging those rounds. What an incredible display of Counter-Strike. We all got to
win this. I mean, Fallen called it before the game even started. He said it doesn't matter how much
someone practiced, how much someone's been together with these two teams, the 10 players on the server,
the quality there is so high that the small details won't decide on the day and that's what
happened. I mean, what you said, how can you even separate these two teams with all the back and
It started this this last game started like it's going to be a blow-up that we often get in a series like this
Do very exciting maps and then the last one is just if there's just nothing and Falcons started super well
But the second half was back to this crazy crazy bullshit from both sides
I mean mistakes were a plenty from both the two teams are we so so many mistakes me many
We suck you sukey did pretty much a high-strated player for the tournament
He was throwing rounds left right and center so many crazy moments
But for me, honestly, listen, I'm drained just watching that game.
I'm exhausted just having to absorb everything that happens.
I'm sure the players are kind of having a dreddling dump right now as well.
So I'm just curious how they're dealing with it, because I can't.
We've obviously heard from the victors,
and now I think I do not envy Banks for having to do this interview
because it is absolutely heartbreaking.
They did nothing wrong.
A little bit of luck sometimes leans in the favor of another team.
It's here from Furia.
Come on!
Molodoy, I know how important this event is for you.
How much you want to focus, how much you've been trying to show your improvements.
So, I'm just going to let you say whatever you want to say to this crowd, to your people, and all the fans watching at home.
Thank you all for coming. It was very nice.
It was possible to win a lot of times. They just poured their game.
Such a life happens. Without it, you don't have to go through something stronger.
Probably just some step to become stronger.
Without it, you don't have...
Maybe it's just another step to being stronger. We had a lot of opportunities and we throw it up.
I want to say thank you everyone who's coming here to support Kazakhstan and see it's interesting.
and I hope that it will increase every year and I hope that it will help the Kyrgyz people in Kyrgyzstan as well as in other countries.
And I hope that you will support Kyrgyz in the same way. Thank you very much, see you!
And I wanted to be influenced by everyone to be a part of the Kondrish strike in Kazakhstan.
This time I'm not lucky, but next time we'll see how it goes. Good luck to everyone, see you in Gakastan.
loses interviews they work extremely hard so that you could hear from these
players and you hear from Maladoy himself as well obviously so difficult here
in the crowd but shout out as well to this crowd who stayed to cheer their guy
on every single one of these players on Furia and Falcons delivered today it I
mean there is a very clear MVP if we have to save it for the most part you
gotta give flowers to every single one of the gents in the server yeah hundred
rounds of Counter-Strike burning the midnight oil Monace said it we are
hungry quite literally I mean I am too I mean this this has been quite a joy to
watch this to experience this live here in in Palestine insane series I mean we
have so many legendary games with paths throughout the counter-strike history
of course this is obviously not a major in all the way remember Glen Boston I
would like to personally kindness the the 100 match on a static is very fitting
just like incredibly long-drawn at series crazy performances coming out from
From Tessus we saw in the final map right there, Kyosuke throughout the entire series.
Monosir was one of the most dominating tees-hopping displays we've ever seen in Counter Strike, if you ask me.
So, yeah, everybody tuned in. They definitely had a good one with that game.
Can we just say, though, that the Falcons of old would have crumbled on Yuke.
Over times didn't exist then. The moment they were on the backfoot, they fell.
Let's be clear, this is a very different team.
And we all know what it is.
Yang Po, he's not here with us, but he said it,
and I'm gonna steal the line.
It's the Kerrigan effect.
It absolutely is a Kerrigan effect.
We talk about the phase bullshit,
turns out it was Kerrigan bullshit all along.
And listen.
I don't like that negativity.
It's the Kerrigan effect.
It's not negativity.
It's a positive thing.
It's with a lot of affection.
And you've got to also understand Kerrigan,
We also call him the great entertainer, right?
And when you are the great entertainer
and you have star power like this,
I for one am excited for what the future holds with Falcons.
I'll say I never saw Kiyosuke play an arena playoff game
like this.
Statistically, maybe the numbers aren't the best ever,
but having a three map series
where he is in the green every map
and he's delivering like this, in my opinion,
this is his coming of age on the stage.
Let's take a look now at that bracket
So you can see who has made the semi-finals here at PGL and Starnas.
Some top teams, some surprises as well, of course, and you get to see the matchups tomorrow.
Falcons, without a doubt now, have the easiest run into the grand finals.
I must say it, zero excuses now, boys. We want to see you in the final.
I can agree on this one. There's no excuses on them not reaching the final against Magic.
And then whoever's going to be there, that's going to be a different story.
I think Falcons are going to be the great villains of Astana because now we're not only
going to take it on Molo-Doy, but tomorrow they're going to go against the final Kazakhstan
left in the tournament in the form of Moon as well.
So yeah, exciting day of Counter Strike tomorrow.
This is what your schedule looks like.
We will be having a show match, Brighton early.
It will be 1pm here in Kazakhstan.
And then of course those two semi-finals, Maus up against Team Spurred followed off
by Magic versus Team Falcons.
And now I very quickly want to ask you a favor.
If you've been watching, if you enjoyed what you just saw, I'm pretty sure if you didn't,
you're crazy.
But if you enjoyed it, please do yourself a favor, go online, thank PGL.
I'd love you to call them out.
I'd love you to share how much fun you had because all of the staff here have been here
very early this morning.
They have continued to deliver and they have bought you probably the best game of 2026.
I want to say so far, but I'll put my head on a chopping block and say it probably will
be the game we talk about at the end of the year as well. So please do give them a big
shout out and thanks. And also of course to Harry and Hugo, our commentators, they ran
that gauntlet as well and what an incredible job they did. Big shout out to you for sticking
through all of this. I hope you had a good time. I sure as hell did. Make sure you're
back here tomorrow because I can guarantee you much of the same.