Virtus.pro move past Liquid in Group D opener

Liquid failed to convert a 14-11 advantage on the Anubis decider and subsequently fall to the lower bracket in Malta.

Virtus.pro earned their first ESL Pro League Season 18 win after moving past Liquid in their Group D opening fixture. The Russian-majority roster drew first blood after a strong performance on Inferno (16-11) but dropped the ball in an overtime affair on Mirage (19-17), eventually needing a full 30-round bout on Anubis (16-14) to get the job done.

Virtus.pro now advance to the Group D upper bracket semi-final in Malta, where they will play G2 on Thursday for a chance to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. Liquid, on the other hand, will lock horns with Lynn Vision in a desperate bid to avoid being sent down to elimination territory in the Last Chance Stage.

The loss also wraps up a tumultuous first day at Pro League for Liquid, one which was set to play out with coach Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele standing in for Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov. Liquid previously confirmed that the Russian rifler would miss out on the team's opening fixture versus Virtus.pro due to visa issues, but Patsi received his passport back from the US consulate with just enough time to spare to allow the 20-year-old to play after all, even if the team ultimately lost the series.

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Virtus.pro enjoyed a stellar start to their pick of Inferno, with the Russian-majority roster, who have reportedly played over 140 hours in the past two weeks in preparation for the tournament, putting up a near-impenetrable defensive wall to race to a 12-3 lead by the end of their CT-side.

Liquid did wake up slightly once it was their turn to defend, Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm in particular stepping up with a number of key rounds to help reduce the deficit. However, surprisingly poor performances from Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis (0.49) and Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic (0.71) ultimately left the international roster fighting an uphill battle, and it didn't take long for Virtus.pro to close out their map pick, 16-11, to send the series to Mirage.

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Liquid started their pick on the right foot, stringing together five rounds to kick-start their T-side effort. Despite the strong start, Liquid struggled for the remainder of the attacking phase, winning a solitary round to head into the side swap down by three, 6-9. Much like Inferno, the YEKINDAR-led roster found their rhythm once back from the halftime break, a sturdy A-site defense allowing the side to reach map point with three rounds to spare, 15-12. Virtus.pro did claw their way back into contention to force overtime, but Liquid had enough in the tank to clinch victory, 19-17, and force the Anubis decider.

There, it was once again Liquid who got off to a brighter start. Patsi added 14 kills to his tally versus his countrymen to spearhead a 9-6 T-side half for his team and inch Liquid closer to winning the series.

The international squad carried this new-found momentum into the second half, a stellar quad-kill hold of the A bombsite from oSee putting even more distance between the two teams. Alas, even the three-round buffer at halftime and oSee's standout performance weren't enough to guide Liquid to victory, with Virtus.pro recovering from an 11-14 deficit to win Anubis, 16-14, and send their foes to the lower bracket.