Spirit fend off Endpoint to claim first victory in Malta

Endpoint were gunning for a reverse-sweep after losing their map pick and winning Spirit's in overtime, but the Russians prevailed in double OT in the decider.

Spirit secured their first ESL Pro League Season 16 win, 2-1, over Endpoint. The Russian squad dominated Overpass 16-3, narrowly lost Ancient 17-19 in overtime, and came out on top 22-18 after two rounds of OT on Vertigo.

Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov was the best player on the server in the deciding map, racking up 35 kills and a 1.49 rating to bring his team to victory. Pavel "⁠s1ren⁠" Ogloblin and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev were the dominant forces for Spirit on Overpass, as the pair put up 1.92 and 1.81 ratings, respectively.

Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz contributed numerous round-defining kills and clutches to keep Endpoint alive, ending the series as his team's best player with a 1.09 rating.

Spirit dominated early and garnered an 11-1 lead through their lockdown B site defense. magixx and s1ren constantly shut down Endpoint and boasted 14 and 19 kills by the 12th round, respectively. Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye's opening frags allowed his team to score back-to-back rounds and Endpoint even looked poised for a third, however a 1vs3 clutch by Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov in the 15th gave Spirit the 12-3 lead at halftime. Coming out of the break, the Russians wasted no time and claimed four straight rounds to wrap up Overpass, 16-3.

Both sides exchanged scoring runs all throughout the first half of Ancient, which concluded with Endpoint holding a narrow 8-7 lead at the switch. After swapping sides, Spirit immediately set the pace on defense and won five in a row to go up 12-8. Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel hit pivotal shots with the Big Green which helped Endpoint recover their lead, but Patsi and Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's multi-kill rounds clinched map point for Spirit in the 28th.

Endpoint fended off the Russians' A site retakes in the dying stages of the map and forced overtime, in which Max "⁠MiGHTYMAX⁠" Heath and company triumphed and sent the series to a decider on Vertigo.

Endpoint had a near-flawless start in the deciding map and amassed a 6-1 lead, but Spirit started to turn things around after magixx's clutch in the eighth. From there on, Endpoint only won a single round in the half as Spirit converted their five-round deficit to a one-round advantage at the break. MiGHTYMAX led his team to a 14-10 lead, but Spirit held on and sent the final map to OT after winning five of the last six rounds in regulation. Spirit kept Endpoint at bay and took home Vertigo, 22-18, after two sets of extra time.