IEM Winter 2021Virtus.pro come back from behind at IEM Winter, send GODSENT to quarter-finals
Virtus.pro have earned a ticket straight to the IEM Winter semi-finals after breaking GODSENT's spirits with a comeback from 9-14 on Mirage.
The CIS side now have nearly a week off to prepare for their playoffs campaign, with the 2-0 victory against GODSENT seeing them skip one round in the bracket stage and joining G2 in the semi-finals already, as they await their next opponent.
The Brazilians had already made their way to the playoffs after reaching Group B's upper final, and the loss to Virtus.pro sets them up a quarter-final affair up against Ninjas in Pyjamas on Sunday at 16:00 .
A tightly-contested opening half of Mirage saw the two teams go back and forth, with GODSENT starting on the T side and eventually snatching away a small lead on the back of a halfbuy victory.
The Brazilian side continued to showcase the impressive form they had shown in triumphs against HEROIC and BIG on the map in previous matches at IEM Winter, and they went on to amass a hefty lead once Epitacio "TACO" de Melo converted the second pistol round for his team with a quad-kill, but a resilient Virtus.pro refused to back down after seeing the opening stages of the second half dwindle away.
Down 9-14, Virtus.pro began their climb with Dzhami "Jame" Ali winning a key 1v2 situation that would have otherwise meant certain doom for the CIS squad, a clutch that breathed life back into them as they faced little resistance from the inexperienced opposition, stringing seven in a row to complete the comeback.
GODSENT seemingly managed to reset well after the heartbreaking loss on the opener and got off well on Dust2, but everything went wrong for the Brazilians from there on. Virtus.pro kicked into a new gear again with a flashy Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis triple, and consistent openings from the Latvian, Evgenii "FL1T" Lebedev, and Jame gave them the space to maneuver around the weakened GODSENT with ease as they dominated the rest of the half.
A pistol round victory offered a mere illusion to the TACO-led side that perhaps there was still hope left, an illusion that Virtus.pro immediately shattered with a second-round forcebuy, followed by a quick closing that saw the favorites secure the series at 16-7, 2-0.
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 - 31 | +13 | 93.8 | 77.4% | 1.44 | |
| 45 - 32 | +13 | 98.5 | 79.2% | 1.40 | |
| 42 - 21 | +21 | 72.6 | 79.2% | 1.37 | |
| 32 - 27 | +5 | 71.2 | 66.0% | 1.04 | |
| 19 - 34 | -15 | 45.4 | 60.4% | 0.68 |
 GODSENT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 - 37 | -2 | 71.9 | 62.3% | 0.98 | |
| 33 - 35 | -2 | 72.6 | 62.3% | 0.95 | |
| 27 - 35 | -8 | 66.4 | 60.4% | 0.79 | |
| 26 - 37 | -11 | 58.0 | 54.7% | 0.69 | |
| 24 - 39 | -15 | 61.1 | 54.7% | 0.69 |
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Audric 'JACKZ' Jug
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković
| 
Cucumber))
| 
Pokz628
CoffinDancer
| 
camilowidehead
| 
v0m1t
| 
JameBestawpEU
| 
AlphaSwede
| 
2pac^
| 
iknowdawae
