Spirit advance to Major playoffs, Vitality eliminate Liquid

The Russian side are the first team to book their place in the top eight of PGL Major Antwerp, while Vitality kept their campaign alive by eliminating Liquid.

The first BO3 matches of the Legends Stage have concluded, with the battle of the underdogs going the way of Spirit, who managed to beat Copenhagen Flames with a 2-1 result and advance to the next stage.

In the elimination game we were treated to a match between Vitality and Liquid. It was the French-Danish team that prevailed in a comfortable 2-0 win, which they hope will reignite their form after a tough start to the second stage.

Few expected Copenhagen Flames and Spirit to play in the 2-0 bracket, but the underdogs deservedly found themselves one series away from the top eight at a Major.

The match started off on Vertigo, which was the pick of the Danes. Copenhagen Flames started off hot, converting their pistol round win to a 6-1 lead with Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard winning a 1v3 clutch. Near the end of the half it was Spirit who looked more confident, though, reducing the five round deficit to just one in the end.

A good start to their offensive side gave Spirit a lead for the first time in the map, with Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov delivering a multi kill in pretty much every round as they were able to get up to 9 rounds, before the Danes took the lead back and kept it all the way to the end, running away with a 16-10 win.

Next up was Mirage, where Spirit put together a much more successful offensive side. Bar a four round streak by the Flames they looked in control of the map, as Pavel "⁠s1ren⁠" Ogloblin was able to find a few crucial openings to set his team up for a 9-6 lead at half time.

s1ren, who was the top rated player on CT sides at the Major up to this map, stopped the Copenhagen Flames force buy, and in turn set up his team with the opportunity to take a commanding lead. His teammates obliged, as the Russian team raced to a 13-6 lead before Copenhagen Flames replied with a round of their own. That proved too little too late for the Danes, as the map finished 16-8 in favor of Spirit.

The deciding map of the series was Ancient, where Spirit presented an indomitable CT side, as they countered the pistol round win of their opponents with ten straight rounds. Copenhagen Flames were able to atleast get a couple of rounds towards the end, as the half finished 11-4.

A pistol round win for Copenhagen Flames wasn't enough to worry the Spirit side, as they quickly responded and went 14-6 up. The Russian side closed out the series and booked their place in the top eight, where they will hope to continue their fairytale run.

In the elimination game it was a battle of storied organizations and players, with Vitality meeting Liquid. The series started off on Mirage, which is a map where the French-Danish side have a 30% win rate — even though it is worth noting they won three out of the last four matches on the map.

Three kills by Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen got his team the pistol round, with Vitality looking on fire straight from the off, swiftly getting up to a 6-0 lead before the North Americans posted their first round with a B attack. A turning point in the first half was the Vitality half-buy at 6-2, where they were able to stop Liquid on the A ramp and swing the momentum back into their favor. After that round, the Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut powered CT side got seven rounds in a row, ending the half with a dominant 13-2.

A second pistol round win for Vitality set them up for a comfortable win on Mirage, in the end taking a 16-7 win over Liquid.

Next up was the classic Dust2, which was picked by Vitality and proved to be a much closer map than the first. The teams kept trading rounds throughout the first half, with Liquid coming out in the lead at the end, as Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski got seven multi kills in the first half and managed to keep his team in the game.

Vitality won the second pistol, going up 10-7 before doing an aggressive push up middle in the first gun round which proved to be successful. Liquid however didn't let that deter them, as they started mounting a comeback, getting to 12-10 before Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif's colossal B hold stopped the push from the North Americans.

Magisk one-upped that round in the following, this time getting an ace and putting his team 14-10 up. That was the end of the road for Liquid, who lost the map and ended their Major run with a 0-3 record.