Virtus defeat Cloud9, move to playoffs

The Poles of Virtus.pro and the North American side of Cloud9 could not have entered into the upper final of Group D in more disparate manners, with Virtus.pro resting on their laurels after a comfortable victory over 3DMAX while Cloud9 fought tooth and nail to advance over TSM.

With the Polish crowd making their presence audible immediately from the first round, the match-up on de_inferno promised to be a tough battle for Cloud9 mentally. Cloud9 perfectly countered such ambiance with a clean pistol round victory on their T side.

On the third round however, Virtus.pro jumped into the driver's seat by using pistols to shut down a C9 gun-round B take. VP then continued to drive past CT rounds like way-signs, with Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski and Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas harvesting important and notable kills.

pashaBiceps delivered with stellar play on VP's CT side 

On the 13th round, Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert picked up an entry kill and finally let C9 into A site, which the team had been trying fruitlessly to take over for multiple rounds before that point.

The score at 10:3 for VP, Cloud9 failed to convert their round win into more momentum and stalled on mid, allowing VP to pick them apart. The Poles drove the point home and ended their half 12:3.

Canadian Kory "⁠SEMPHIS⁠" Friesen gave C9 some hope on their CT pistol round with two kills onbanana and Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek cleaned up house on A, giving the North American team a much needed pistol round win.

 Cloud9 couldn't quite mount the comeback in the end

VP managed to plant on the succeeding eco, which allowed them to force a mixed-buy on the next round. However, this choice backfired with C9 putting up a strong defense and VP began to lose some noticeable momentum in the next few rounds.

Cloud9 mounted seven rounds in a row, with shroud delivering on his role as a star player and topping his team's scoreboard, bringing the score to a close 12:10 for VP.

The crowd was in full force when it came to VP's won rounds 

The ensuing round proved to be the critical one for Virtus, as the Poles hamfistedly barged into A site and dismantled C9. The next round was just as hair-raising as VP planted the bomb with seconds remaining and successfully defended against a retake, to bring the score to 14:10.

Despite a short indication of another Cloud9 comeback, Virtus.pro won an eco on the 26th round to give themselves the match point. After that VP calmly took the next round and advanced to the quafterfinals.