FORZE reign supreme in EPL Group D Russian derby to secure playoffs

Spirit now await a challenger coming from the Liquid vs. ATK series in the lower bracket semis.

FORZE secured bragging rights after taking down Spirit in the Russian brawl in ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D's upper bracket semi-final, 2-1. Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov's troops got off to a strong start by taking Mirage 16-8 after going on an unblemished 14-round spree, but a 7-16 drubbing on Anubis meant they had to double down with a commanding 16-4 victory on Ancient to close out the series.

FORZE came into ESL Pro League Season 17 in shaky form, notably making it to the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR but also missing out on a spot at ESL Challenger Melbourne after losing to ECSTATIC and HONORIS in the closed qualifier. Regardless, the Russian team have hit their stride in Malta, first dispatching Natus Vincere — Group D's second-highest-rated side — before moving past Spirit in a relatively comfortable three-map affair to show their true potential.

The result also earns FORZE a place in the ESL Pro League Season 17 playoffs. The Russian roster will face off against the winner of ENCE vs. Rare Atom on Sunday at 16:00 to determine where they start their bracket stage run, either the second round or the quarter-finals. Spirit, on the other hand, drop down to the lower bracket, and will face the winner of Liquid versus ATK in their next matchup on Friday at 16:00 .

zorte was impactful all series long, sporting a server-high 1.40 rating

The first series of EPL S17 Group D's second day began on Mirage, FORZE's pick, but it was Spirit who got off to a better start on the CT-side thanks to a triple kill from Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov in the pistol round and a quad kill from Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov the round after. It took heroics and a plethora of clutches from Aleksandr "⁠zorte⁠" Zagodyrenko for FORZE to mount any meaningful comeback. He downed four with his AWP in round 11, before pulling 1vs2 plays out of his hat in rounds 13 and 15 to ruin Spirit's economy and gift his side a way back to seven rounds by the switch.

FORZE, who went on a five-round spree to end the first half, continued their dominant recovery once on the CT-side. The all-Russian squad put up a flawless side, with Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko's anchoring, zorte's marksmanship, and Jerry's calling all combining to shut Spirit out round after round en route to a commanding 16-8 victory on their map pick.

FORZE's round-winning spree was extended to 17 at the outset of Anubis, the Russian side nesting an early 3-0 lead on the T-side courtesy of yet another clutch from zorte. This proved to be all FORZE could muster in the opening half, though, as Spirit took control and sprinted to a whopping 12-3 showing on the defense. The feat was made possible due to a sublime performance from Patsi, who boasted a 22-4 K-D differential and 144 ADR by the side swap.

FORZE pushed up to seven rounds on the scoresheet when it was their turn to defend, but Spirit's overpowering grip on the game was too difficult to remove. A 1vs1 clutch from Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev marked his team's return to winning ways, 13-7, and it was simply a case of taking care of business from this point on — the Russian-majority troupe added the three remaining rounds they needed with ease to force an Ancient decider.

FORZE won their fourth pistol round of the series to kick-start the battle on the Aztec map, building on their new-found economic advantage to sit on a 5-0 lead on the CT-side. A couple of clean entires gifted Spirit a way to post two rounds on the board, but FORZE's defensive effort, which took nine rounds off Natus Vincere on Wednesday, remained firm. Evgeny "⁠r3salt⁠" Frolov, who Jerry predicts to be one of the best players in the world one day, took it upon himself to earn his team a seven-round cushion at the break, leading the server with 17 frags to his name.

Jerry and co. wasted no time in qualifying for the ESL Pro League Season 17 playoffs once on the attack, picking up five rounds from five to cast Spirit down to the lower bracket in Malta. The win was very much a team effort, with all members of the FORZE quintet posting positive numbers in the server.

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3

Spirit

Matchpage

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16th March 2023

FORZE

8

Mirage

16

16

Anubis

7

4

Ancient

16

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robert 'Patsi' IsyanovPatsi	54 - 45	+9	86.4	1.25
Igor 'w0nderful' Zhdanovw0nderful	39 - 42	-3	59.2	0.88
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakovchopper	34 - 47	-13	65.9	0.84
Boris 'magixx' Vorobievmagixx	35 - 46	-11	67.8	0.84
Pavel 's1ren' Ogloblins1ren	36 - 47	-11	59.5	0.76

FORZE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenkozorte	54 - 25	+29	72.7	1.40
Vladislav 'Krad' KravchenkoKrad	46 - 42	+4	81.4	1.17
Evgeny 'r3salt' Frolovr3salt	48 - 43	+5	74.8	1.06
Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovJerry	40 - 44	-4	67.6	0.97
Aleksandr 'shalfey' Marenovshalfey	39 - 45	-6	69.2	0.90