HellRaisers move past Virtus.pro into EPICENTER main stage

HellRaisers have punched their ticket to the main EPICENTER tournament after defeating Virtus.pro in a close two-map series in the upper bracket final of the wildcard qualifier.

The series began on Inferno, HellRaisers' map pick, with the FACEIT Major quarter-finalists strolling to a 3-0 lead on the Terrorist side. But once Virtus.pro had money in the bank, the landscape of the game changed instantly. The Polish side set up a very strong double-AWP setup and closed out the half with a commanding 11-4 lead, with HellRaisers' sole gun round coming on the back of a 1v2 clutch by Vladyslav "⁠bondik⁠" Nechyporchuk.

HellRaisers came out of the break determined to turn things around and won their CT pistol without losing a single player. Virtus.pro responded in the third round after risking a buy, but HellRaisers hit back immediately and went on a fantastic run to equalise the score at 12-12.

Virtus.pro showed there was still some fight left in them, however, and won back-to-back rounds to get on the verge of map point, but HellRaisers kept the Terrorists at bay for the rest of the half to secure a hard-fought 16-14 victory.

Next up was Mirage, on which HellRaisers had lost their last six games, including one against Virtus.pro at IEM Shanghai. Kyrylo "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow's men were quickly reminded of that as they lost the first six rounds of the game, forcing the Ukrainian tactician to call a tactical pause.

The European mixture would take some time to find their feet in the game, but they kept a tight defence in the dying stages of the half, winning five of the last seven rounds to keep their comeback hopes alive.

Carrying their momentum into the second half, HellRaisers won four rounds right off the bat to bring the deficit to a minimum. Against all odds, Virtus.pro then picked up a round on a very weak buy thanks to a trio of AWP kills by Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki, but HR regained control of proceedings and made the Polish team work with a very low bank.

With the wind in their sails, HellRaisers quickly hit 14 rounds, but then they hit a brick wall as Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski pulled off a massive quad kill to keep Virtus.pro in the game. The Polish side restored parity on 14-14 rounds, but, just like on Inferno, they faltered at the final hurdle.

Following this defeat, Virtus.pro will drop down to the lower bracket to face Swole Patrol on Tuesday morning for the final qualifier spot in EPICENTER's main tournament.