Virtus.pro upset Natus Vincere in ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS

After suffering a 2-0 defeat to pro100 in their first Road to Rio match, Virtus.pro bounced back with a victory against the event favorites, Natus Vincere.

With just one BO3 won from the last four played, Virtus.pro (#20) headed into the series against the world #2 as massive underdogs. However, the big ranking difference wasn't felt on the server, as Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev's troops took the lead early on both Inferno and Train, and managed to close out the maps in a tight fashion.

Virtus.pro picked up a 4-0 lead on their map pick, Inferno, starting it on the Terrorist side, before Natus Vincere managed to stop their streak with a low-buy win, bouncing back to 4-4. Shortly after, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev stepped up with a saved AWP on an otherwise eco round, making it difficult for the team from Kazakhstan to build any momentum, but exploiting vulnerabilities on B still allowed them to finish the half 9-6 up.

That lead was extended as they cleaned up the CT pistol and followups (12-6), but, again, Natus Vincere didn't allow them to run away with the lead thanks to a successful low-buy. Virtus.pro replied in the same fashion as Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov secured a crucial double, allowing his team to reach map point shortly. Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov, who was the biggest contributor for his side after s1mple, single-handedly dismantled the B defense with a Tec-9 to keep the map going, but at 15-13, AdreN and co. locked down the approach towards B to win their map pick.

The trio of buster, qikert, and Jame showed up against NAVI

Natus Vincere's force-buy success continued on Train, where they pulled ahead, 3-1, starting on the Terrorist side. Things looked much grimmer when Virtus.pro rolled out the rifles, however, as they went on to pick up seven out of the following eight rounds. Natus Vincere added to their tally with a pace change, but powered by buster and Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev, Virtus.pro reached 10 before the switch.

Another pistol went Virtus.pro's way and it seemed like they were going to run away with the map, but an anti-force blunder followed, giving Natus Vincere a lifeline. Slowly but surely, the Russian-Ukrainian mixture brought the game back, posting round after round on the CT side to go up 14-12. After giving away their six-round lead, Virtus.pro pulled-off an A site fake to finally get rolling, and secured four rounds in a row to close out the map 16-14, shocking Natus Vincere in the ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS.

ESL One: Road to Rio - CISBest of 3

Virtus.pro

Matchpage

2

0

3rd May 2020

Natus Vincere

16

Inferno

13

16

Train

14

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	51 - 39	+12	94.3	78.0%	1.31
Aleksei 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	42 - 30	+12	79.6	78.0%	1.23
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	41 - 30	+11	68.1	83.1%	1.21
Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievSANJI	32 - 36	-4	67.4	72.9%	0.97
Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevAdreN	27 - 39	-12	55.2	64.4%	0.80

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	48 - 32	+16	78.9	76.3%	1.30
Kirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovBoombl4	35 - 43	-8	81.9	69.5%	1.03
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	35 - 43	-8	67.9	66.1%	0.91
Ilya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyPerfecto	30 - 39	-9	61.4	69.5%	0.84
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	26 - 37	-11	50.4	66.1%	0.72

It is still the early stages in ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS, but pro100 has currently assumed the top spot in group B after wins over Virtus.pro and Hard Legion. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis and co. will be taking on Natus Vincere next, on May 6th.

Group B

TEAM

M

P

pro100

2

6

Natus Vincere

2

3

Virtus.pro

2

3

Hard Legion

2

3

Syman

1

0

Espada

1

0