Miraculous comeback earns Virtus.pro EPL quarter-final spot

8-5-2024 23:49

The Russian team snatched a 2-1 victory after a remarkable late turnaround on the decider map.

Virtus.pro move on to the quarter-finals

Virtus.pro have secured the last spot in the quarter-final stage of the ESL Pro League Season 19 playoffs after a 2-1 win over The MongolZ. The Russian side had to bounce back from a map down and overcome a massive deficit on the decider map in this thrilling series that served as a reminder of the gulf in experience that exists between the two teams.

Up 11-2 on Ancient after stealing away VP's map pick and falling flat on Mirage, The MongolZ collapsed after losing to a force-buy and never found themselves again. Still, the heartbreaking loss shouldn't take away from what was an excellent run from the Mongolian team, who were the better team during long spells of the series.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
09/05/2024	Complexity 16:15 Virtus.pro	Match

Virtus.pro looked uncharacteristically disorganized and ineffective on the offense on Overpass, mustering only three rounds in a scrappy half of Counter-Strike that was summed up in the final round, when Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold picked up an ace to take his tally to a whopping 16 frags.

Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali stepped up to the plate and spearheaded Virtus.pro's comeback on the CT side. The Russian team chipped away at the deficit and kept The MongolZ from stringing rounds together, only to slip at the final hurdle after a sensational fake sold by Sodbayar "⁠Techno⁠" Munkhbold on the A site.

Next up was Mirage, where Virtus.pro recovered from an early deficit and cruised to a 9-3 lead thanks to an inspired performance by Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev, who ended the half with a 2.22 rating and a 151 ADR. The MongolZ refused to throw in the towel and strung some rounds together after a successful force-buy, but their comeback attempt was quickly thwarted.

Virtus.pro drew first blood on Ancient, but it all fell apart from there. The MongolZ responded in an eco round and rode that momentum to a massive 11-2 lead that seemed insurmountable.

And that's when insanity began. Virtus.pro hit back in a must-win force-buy and put together a stunning 11-0 run, winning every close scenario (including a couple of clutches) against a shell-shocked opponent.

"I'm happy that we didn't give up when we were down 11-2 and we won it," David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan said after the match. "Round by round, we were hyped, we were screaming info on TeamSpeak, and we managed to come back."

ESL Pro League Season 19Best of 3

The MongolZ

Matchpage

8th May 2024

Virtus.pro

Overpass

Mirage

Ancient

The MongolZ	K - D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Azbayar 'Senzu' Munkhbold Senzu	57 - 44	+2.13%	78.5	65.7%	1.21
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold Techno	47 - 47	-0.52%	71.9	70.1%	1.03
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren bLitz	43 - 45	-0.72%	79.4	65.7%	1.03
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch 910	39 - 42	-1.71%	67.0	64.2%	0.97
Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold mzinho	27 - 49	-3.71%	48.7	58.2%	0.65

Virtus.pro	K - D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Jame	51 - 39	+3.01%	86.1	74.6%	1.25
Petr 'fame' Bolyshev fame	51 - 46	+2.15%	80.6	70.1%	1.18
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov electroNic	44 - 47	+0.86%	74.1	68.7%	1.07
David 'n0rb3r7' Danielyan n0rb3r7	39 - 40	-0.39%	55.0	70.1%	0.99
Evgenii 'FL1T' Lebedev FL1T	41 - 41	-1.10%	72.7	64.2%	0.95

VP one of the best ever comeback teams, remember that faceit tournament

2024-05-08 23:50

13 replies

Jame can turn around anything

2024-05-09 00:11

4 replies

except make Sanji comeback to pro cs.

2024-05-09 04:50

3 replies

lmao that would be the most epic comeback in cs history a challenge worthy of vp

2024-05-09 14:37

2 replies

Sanji was smart player, he would slay in current format with a bunch of 20yo zoomers who can only click heads.

2024-05-09 16:22

1 reply

his role would literally be to toss nades and drop guns, can finish game with 0 kills and still win

2024-05-09 21:14

yes but maybe just win over a weaker opponent and no need for epic comebacks?

2024-05-09 00:25

Paid by the round.

2024-05-09 00:54

remember that dust2 vs ence?

2024-05-09 00:50

What was it, 14-1 -> 14-16 or something like that

2024-05-09 05:32

15-3 -> OT win

2024-05-09 08:39

I remember 3-15 comeback on Dust 2, mb I've forgot another one, need to check

2024-05-09 09:00

no I think that was a gambit match

2024-05-09 09:07

11-2 to 11-13??????????? HAHAHAHAHAHA OMG

2024-05-09 01:46

lol

I was here

2024-05-08 23:51

never in doubt

two days, two chokes witnessed. Incredible lmao

2024-05-08 23:52

Time for a third

2024-05-08 23:56

Mongolz played really good, but at the last half on ancient, they just didnt look the same. so many afterplants that they shouldve won but didnt. pure heartbreak. ggs to vp tho, one of the best comebacks ive ever seen

6 replies

so close but yet so far. Oh well. Its a pity cause those guys are just so close to breaking into tier 1 but seem to have the pre-COVID Liquid/Astralis choking problem right now. Someone's gotta hire a psychologist for them

2024-05-08 23:59

I feel like its more of an experience issue, rather than a mental one. they just dont face good opponents often enough to be able to handle the pressure of playoffs. if they'd be able to play tier1 opponents as much as EU or NA teams, they'd be way more confident, and probably wouldve won this game

2024-05-09 00:01

nah, its definitely a mental issue mainly. If shit goes wrong, then so do they. And they were too pressed with wanting to end the game as soon as possible that they basically tunnel visioned.

2024-05-09 00:04

They could be a tier-1 team, but on T side Virtus.Pro has not figured out how to play. Therefore they are doing a good job on the CT side. They need to find pace for T side too. they could be easily top-3 team.

2024-05-09 10:25

"they just dont face good opponents" it would be worse for them, top teams quickly adapted to their style

2024-05-09 14:26

Mongolz are sick and I will be happy to see more of them in the future. Jame had to get run over by peak Astralis before he got his major too.

2024-05-09 00:20

That was rough to watch.

I only watched map 3.. rough is putting it mildly. I mean kudos to VP but mongolz were scorching hot then.. idk.. I just dk

2024-05-09 01:38

Typical Virtus.Pro, congrats!

2024-05-09 00:24

No matter the lineup, no matter the nationality, it's either Plow, Throw or Comeback Kings

2024-05-09 00:38

respect the mongolz. GJ VP

2024-05-09 00:30

Choke of the year

2024-05-09 00:35

THEY WERE UP 11:2???

2024-05-09 00:37

yeah vp was already at the airport, but the flight was cancelled

2024-05-09 01:29

kkkkkk

2024-05-09 03:54

I was quite disappointed for Mongolz but since I also love vp it’s all good

2024-05-09 01:51

paid by the round also what a choke from 11-2

2024-05-09 02:02

Mongolz is a 322 team that don’t even bother fixing like that at the LAN. Esports is a dirty place and no one cares about honest play but players themselves. There is no respect for a team like mongolz

2024-05-09 04:46

Yo, STFU. Gambling is Haram, Mongolz solo carrying an entire Asian scene

2024-05-09 06:31

how much?

2024-05-09 06:33

None was bet, just spreading the word

2024-05-09 15:45

I don't bet. But this sucked as mongolz should have been able to scrape past.

2024-05-09 08:32

Nice CT sides mens, VP actually solid teems now after beating mongolz

2024-05-09 08:52

I went to sleep, when it was 11-2 or 11-3 thinking this is over. Wtf is this xd

2024-05-09 09:01

Wtf? How do you lose Ancient from 11-2 without taking any gun round round? Mongolz beat G2 and Falcons on ths map I mean, well played VP, but they wont be able to do this against any top 10 team.

2024-05-09 11:56