Virtus.pro destroys Eternal Fire in ESL Pro League S18 Group D Mid-Bracket

The emotions in Group D of the ESL pro League S18 continue and, as it happened in the first three groups, we have that, on Friday, only two matches were played, and one of them was a crushing victory of Virtus.pro against Eternal Fire by 2-0.

Undoubtedly, this match looked to be one of the most balanced and exciting of the day. However, VP came out determined to avenge their loss to G2 Esports in the Upper Bracket and came away with a solid victory. On the other hand, Eternal Fire will have a tough test in the Lower Bracket to stay alive in the tournament.

VP is now just one win away from becoming the third qualifier of Group D for the playoffs, but they will have to beat an inspired Team Liquid in the Mid Bracket semifinal.

Let’s see what happened in the series between Virtus.pro and Eternal Fire in the ESL Pro League S18 Group D Mid Bracket quarterfinals.

Eternal Fire can’t beat VP

As mentioned, we all expected this match to be very intense, exciting, and, above all, tight. However, the VP came out with a lot of conviction to take a comfortable victory, and they succeeded, as the Turks could do practically nothing to avoid defeat.

The series between VP and EF was played in Vertigo and Inferno.

Vertigo

It all started in Vertigo, the map pick of Eternal Fire, where the Russian squad was always ahead on the scoreboard. VP got a solid and comfortable 10-5 lead on their CT Side in the first half. Then, at the change of sides, there was a give and take between the two teams, but this favored the Russians, as, after 11 rounds, they managed a comfortable 16-10 victory.

.@virtuspro start the series with a 16-10 win on @eternalfiregg‘s pick of Vertigo 💥

Inferno is coming up next!#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/NMLW6wkD3Q

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 22, 2023

Inferno

Finally, the teams moved to Inferno, where we had a somewhat tighter and more balanced map, considering that the Turkish squad came out more inspired on this map. In the first half, Eternal Fire took a really tight 8-7 partial victory, which made us think that the Turks could blow the table and even the series 1-1.

However, at the change of sides, the guys from Virtus.pro, led by Nikolay “mir” Bityukov (116.9 ADR and 1.74 Rating), managed to deploy a spectacular defensive performance to take the victory on the map after 13 rounds (9-4 partial score) by 16-12 and in the series with a comfortable 2-0.

Now, as mentioned, VP is just one win away from qualifying for the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs.

.@virtuspro manage to secure a 2-0 win against @eternalfiregg, sending them down to the Last Chance Bracket!

16-10 Vertigo
16-12 Inferno#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/u704mWWWomj

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 22, 2023

Header: ESL