Virtus.pro see off TSM

Virtus.pro have booked their place in the FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 semi-finals after defeating Team SoloMid 2-1 (16-4 on de_mirage, 6-16 on de_inferno and 16-12 on de_overpass).

Group B's Upper Bracket final presented yet another stern test for Team SoloMid, without a doubt one of the hottest sides of the moment after winning the CCS Kick-Off season finals last weekend. The Danish side's first match on British soil had been a successful one as they moved past Natus Vincere, but this time around they had Virtus.pro to deal with.

And TSM could not have asked for a worse start to the match as they found themselves down by seven rounds at the end of the first half on de_mirage. Virtus.pro then piled more misery on their opponents by winning the pistol round and the two anti-eco rounds that followed.

The Danish team came close to winning the first gun round of the half, but they took too long to secure the A site and were left with no time to defuse the bomb. With no money to work with, TSM ended up conceding the following round as well, giving Virtus.pro the lead in the series.

Virtus.pro drew first blood in the series 

de_inferno was the map that followed, and here TSM got off to a great start by winning the opening three rounds of the game. A 1-on-2 clutch by Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen in the first gun round then allowed the Danes to extend their lead to 5-0, but then some good defensive work in A in the sixth round by Virtus.pro saw the Poles get back into the game.

Until the end of the half, rounds went back and forth as neither side could stamp their authority on the game, but still TSM were the happier of the two teams as they enjoyed a 9-6 lead, to which they held on in the CT side as they picked up seven rounds without response.

TSM responded on de_inferno 

The decider map was de_overpass, where a flying start from TSM saw the Danish team take a six-round lead early on. During the latter stages of the first half, however, Virtus.pro were in complete control, which allowed the Polish team to cut the gap to just one round before switching to the Terrorist side.

The first few rounds of the second half then went TSM's way, but Virtus.pro responded in convincing fashion in gun play and levelled the score on 12 rounds to force a timeout out of the Danes. Still, it did nothing in the way of breaking the momentum of Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas's men, who strung four rounds together to seal passage to the semi-finals.

FACEIT League 2015 Stage 1 FinalsBest of 3 Virtus.proMatchpage 2 1 2nd May 2015 TSM 16Mirage 4 6Inferno 16 16Overpass 12

Wiktor 'TaZ' Wojtas Age: 28 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 650 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen Age: 25 Team: TSM Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 362 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.70