Virtus.pro to ELEAGUE semis over NiP

The fourth and final quarter-final of ELEAGUE Season 1 was an "El Classico" between Virtus.pro and Ninjas in Pyjamas, teams currently ranked #5 and #6 in the world, and the first map of the series took place on NiP's pick of Dust2.

A series of picks while defending the A site from Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg and Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi on the first pistolround seemed to seal the round for NiP but Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski suddenly came up Long and managed to win a one-versus-four to give VP the round.

NEO built upon his strong early performance on the first gunround, picking up three AK47 kills to help the Polish team cement an early 4-0 lead (which grew  to 5-0 after an anti-eco round). NiP then retaliated by putting a round on the board on the sixth round thanks to an AWP triple from pyth and Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund then picking up two kills on the retake.

GeT_RiGhT kept it interesting in the next round as well as the Swedish star picked up a quad kill for his team while defending the B site from closet. Another triple kill from NEO on the ninth round reversed the tide and NEO even got a triple kill in the following round and VP rocketed up to a 8-2 lead.

Solid defending from Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg on the eleventh round gave NiP enough of a foothold to string together a couple of rounds, but Virtus.pro still managed to close out the first half with a 9-6 lead. NiP again look formidable on the second pistolround but then it was Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski's turn to get a crucial triple kill with the USP, including a tense one-versus-one against pyth with low HP.

Despite winning the second pistolround, Virtus.pro suddenly found themselves falling victim to the dreaded eco as f0rest secured two TEC-9 kills and even a third after picking up a dropped M4A1-S. NiP secured this round and the next but were then themselves eco'd on a force buy on the nineteenth round as Virtus.pro rose to an 11-8 advantage.

This moment proved to be a crucial turning point in the game and with the Polish players firing on all cylinders, and none more so than NEO, Virtus.pro closed out the first map 16-8.

The first pistolround of Cobblestone seemed to further spell doom for the Ninjas as Snax quickly secured four USP kills to put the Poles up 1-0 on their CT side. The Swedes however bought up and it was the deadly duo of f0rest and GeT_RiGhT that picked up a number of UMP and Tec-9 kills to equalise the score and reset VP's economy.

NiP used this change of pace to charge ahead to a 6-1 score. Paweł "⁠byali⁠" Bieliński put his team back on the map on the eighth round by winning a one-versus-two on the B site while flanking from the back. Virtus.pro strung a few rounds together but the Ninjas remained ahead and the half ultimately finished 9-6 in the Swedish team's favour.

T-side aggression from Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas and his team on the second pistolround saw them clear out NiP and after anti-ecos, the score was equalised at 9-9. VP overwhelmed the Swedes on the B site on the first gunround and Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski won a one-versus-one against f0rest to see the Polish team move ahead with a 10-9 advantage.

NiP were simply unable to secure a single round afterwards on their CT-side and the Polish plow looked utterly indomitable as Virtus.pro closed out the map 16-9 off the back of a no-holds-barred T-side on Cobblestone and thus eliminated NiP from ELEAGUE.

ELEAGUE Season 1Best of 3

Virtus.pro

Matchpage

2

0

23rd July 2016

Ninjas in Pyjamas

16

Dust2

8

16

Cobblestone

9

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	45 - 29	+16	104.1	1.57
Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiSnax	39 - 25	+14	83.3	1.30
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	39 - 29	+10	84.4	1.29
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	32 - 29	+3	64.8	1.15
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	28 - 31	-3	62.6	1.00

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	35 - 37	-2	79.1	1.03
Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvipyth	34 - 38	-4	66.8	0.99
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	27 - 36	-9	71.9	0.87
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	27 - 35	-8	56.3	0.78
Adam 'friberg' Fribergfriberg	20 - 37	-17	54.4	0.64

ELEAGUE Season 1 concludes next weekend with semifinals and a grand final at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia as four teams will compete for the largest portion of the $1.4 million prize pool: a $390,000 reward for the first place team.

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter