MIBR secure final PGL Astana playoff berth over Virtus.pro

The series came down to a 1vs2 in the final round on the Ancient decider map.

Virtus.pro's Mirage pick opened the series, and although MIBR were first on the board after winning their CT-side pistol round, the Russian squad took an early 4-1 lead. Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji and Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa played big roles in not letting it get out of hand, however, and contributed 12 frags each to get their team a 7-5 lead at the half.

MIBR then got a 10-5 lead after the half, stemming from a failed 5vs5 retake in the pistol round, although Virtus.pro brought back to an 11-11 tie grinding their way back on the defense, but were ultimately stunned in the final two rounds as the Brazilians stole the map, 13-11, to get the 1-0 lead in the series.

With their backs up against the wall, Virtus.pro didn't fret, and took Anubis by the horns. From the map's onset on the favored T side, Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and company went on a tear, hitting double digits before the switch and closing the map out 13-5 to force a decider.

electroNic was denied a 1vs3 after killing two players to make a 1vs1 in the opening pistol round of Ancient, which set the pace on the map as MIBR went on to take a 4-0 lead before the two teams split the remaining rounds to make it 8-4 at the half.

From there on out the Brazilian team faded momentarily as Virtus.pro chained the first five rounds on the CT side to take the lead, 9-8, but electroNic and his men failed to keep the momentum going and MIBR won four of the following five rounds to hit match point.

saffee had two big moments late in the series, when he downed three to get his team ahead, 11-10, and then when he won a 1vs2 clutch in the final round of regulation to get MIBR past the finish line, 13-11.