Eternal Fire snap Vitality's 11-match win streak to reach EPL semis

The Turkish side completed the upset after a marathon of an Inferno decider.

Eternal Fire have locked up a spot in the semi-final stage of ESL Pro League 20 after a 2-1 victory over world No.1 Vitality, inflicting the first loss on Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's troops in exactly two months.

It's a heavy blow for the IEM Cologne champions, who will be ruing a missed opportunity to claim another title after being placed on the easier side of the bracket. They could have won the match 2-0, but a loss of focus in the final stages of Anubis proved costly. The same issues would come back to haunt them on Inferno, where they let an 8-3 lead slip.

In the end, Eternal Fire proved to be a much bigger challenge than many expected as they brought Vitality's 11-match win streak to an end.

"This is an amazing feeling," Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker told Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers after the match. "In this tournament, we hadn't managed any semi-finals with this lineup. Now we're in the semi-finals and we eliminated the No.1 in the world.

"It was a close game, a hard game. An emotional fight, an individual fight. I'm so happy. I cannot describe it."

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 20
21/09/2024	MIBR 16:15 Eternal Fire	Match

Eternal Fire took the lead in the series after a closely contested Anubis game. Vitality looked to have the game under control in the second half, but two miraculous force buys - the first courtesy of a 1v2 clutch by Ali "⁠Wicadia⁠" Haydar Yalçın - turned the tide of the map. With the momentum shifting in their favor, the Turkish side put the game to bed in overtime.

Vitality responded with a statement win on Nuke, a map where they looked comfortable from the initial exchanges. Eternal Fire took a while to get going, and their comeback efforts were derailed in the second half, when Vitality enjoyed a flawless 6-0 run.

Carrying their momentum into Inferno, Vitality were in the driving seat for the entire first half. Eternal Fire enjoyed a brief moment of respite after successful B hits in back-to-back rounds, but Vitality quickly readjusted and went to the break up by four.

However, Vitality took their foot off the gas and ceded control to Eternal Fire, who grew in confidence with each round won.

With the game running away from his team, Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut pulled off an amazing 1v4 clutch, but Eternal Fire kept their composure and eventually secured the map in the third overtime after a long battle of attrition.