BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018MIBR take down Virtus.pro to secure grand final spot; Cloud9 beat Space Soldiers
MIBR lost both pistol rounds on Cache to Virtus.pro, but still secured a convincing, 16-11 victory and advance to the grand final. Meanwhile, Cloud9 closed out the game against Space Soldiers on Mirage 16-11.
Despite a good opening to the match by Virtus.pro, as they won the pistol and went 3-0 up on the T side of Cache, it was MIBR who was in control of the early portion of the map, rolling over the Poles in rifle rounds (7-3). That is when Filip "NEO" Kubski, Michał "snatchie" Rudzki and Michał "MICHU" Müller combined on an A site split to get Virtus.pro their first rifle round. However, no momentum was built as the Poles wasted a 5v3 advantage and then lost a 2v1 clutch to Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, allowing MIBR to finish the half on a high, 10-5 up.
After the switch, Virtus.pro once again won the pistol and converted for a 3-0 start, but just like in the first half, it was all about MIBR when the rifles came into play and they shortly made the score 13-8. Virtus.pro won the following round and broke MIBR's money, but they couldn't hold against a simple B rush and allowed the American team to close out the game shortly, 16-11.
 MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 - 22 | +4 | 107.4 | 74.1% | 1.39 | |
| 22 - 16 | +6 | 70.8 | 59.3% | 1.19 | |
| 17 - 19 | -2 | 75.9 | 81.5% | 1.10 | |
| 17 - 21 | -4 | 74.3 | 59.3% | 0.96 | |
| 16 - 19 | -3 | 53.6 | 59.3% | 0.81 |
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 - 20 | +11 | 109.4 | 77.8% | 1.65 | |
| 22 - 19 | +3 | 93.2 | 77.8% | 1.11 | |
| 18 - 17 | +1 | 65.5 | 66.7% | 0.96 | |
| 14 - 21 | -7 | 62.7 | 59.3% | 0.76 | |
| 12 - 21 | -9 | 51.6 | 66.7% | 0.69 |
Space Soldiers and Cloud9 faced off on Mirage, with the Turkish side bursting out on the A site and winning pistol to the jubilation of the local fans. The happiness would be short-lived, though, as Robin "flusha" Rönnquist's two Scout headshots helped Cloud9 to bounce straight back.
The American-Swedish team would then go on to win twelve out of the next thirteen rounds, showing absolute dominance on the CT side, with William "RUSH" Wierzba proving to be a thorn in Space Soldiers' side with 20 kills in the first half. Space Soldiers switched to the defensive side 12-3 down, but got a lifeline as Ahmet "paz" Karahoca and Buğra "Calyx" Arkın combined to win the force-buy.
Maikil "Golden" Selim and co. then struggled to break through the defences for quite some time, Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli's side was mounting a serious comeback, but couldn't take it all the way and lost the game in the end, 16-11.
 Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 - 18 | +8 | 91.8 | 63.0% | 1.36 | |
| 22 - 15 | +7 | 85.4 | 77.8% | 1.31 | |
| 18 - 14 | +4 | 89.0 | 74.1% | 1.25 | |
| 19 - 16 | +3 | 71.4 | 74.1% | 1.12 | |
| 14 - 20 | -6 | 61.3 | 63.0% | 0.79 |
 Space Soldiers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 - 19 | +5 | 84.6 | 66.7% | 1.21 | |
| 22 - 20 | +2 | 81.1 | 59.3% | 1.11 | |
| 14 - 20 | -6 | 57.8 | 63.0% | 0.84 | |
| 16 - 19 | -3 | 60.1 | 59.3% | 0.76 | |
| 7 - 21 | -14 | 51.2 | 63.0% | 0.59 |
With these results, and Astralis beating Ninjas in Pyjamas, both of the grand finalists are known: MIBR and Astralis.
Astralis
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Janko 'YNk' Paunović
Faruk 'pita' Pita
OFFICIAL_OIL_BARREL_NEGOTIATOR
uffiez
| 
Realfakeflagger
| 
s1mple_4_baits_dev1ce_0
Shaperz
benit0_mussolini
| 
Isaacovsky
zj2
Waduhek
israel_doesnt_exist
| 
P1MPLE_NEVER_WON_A_MAJOR_LUL
| 
| 
kimochiii
| 
Chrome_GONINJAS
| 
sdkjasdhas89d
rationale
| 
Josip09
| 
Razerzer0
gagarin03
| 
GucciLeIe
VeryLowIQGuy
| 
