Virtus.pro qualify for ESL Pro League S18 playoffs

The ESL Pro League S18 Group Stage is ending, and Virtus.pro became the third team to qualify for the playoffs from Group D after defeating Team Liquid 2-1 in a thrilling and intense match.

Undoubtedly, the Russian squad had a spectacular performance in this series and are justly deserving of the victory. However, Team Liquid also earned their ticket to the playoffs. As a result, the Group Stage is over for VP, while Team Liquid will have to play for their lives from now on in the Lower Bracket.

We will have an action-packed Sunday, as we will know the winner of Group D and the last team to qualify for the playoffs. We have also had some surprising and unexpected results, so this may continue to be the case on this last day of the Group Stage.

Let’s see what happened in the VP and Team Liquid match in the ESL Pro League S18 Group D Mid Bracket semifinal without further ado.

Virtus.pro applied a reverse sweep to qualify for the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs

The series was intense and exciting from start to finish, and Team Liquid came close to taking a 2-0 victory. However, after applying an excellent reverse sweep, the Russian squad woke up in great form to seal qualification to the playoffs.

The series was held at Inferno, Ancient, and Vertigo.

Inferno

It all started on Inferno, VP’s map pick, where Team Liquid stepped up to show amazing quality on this map. In the first half, Liquid had a spectacular T Side to take a partial victory by 9-6. Then, as the sides changed, things changed a bit, and the rounds started to be shared. Finally, after 13 rounds, Team Liquid took the victory by 16-12 to start the series with a 1-0 lead.

.@TeamLiquidCS kick off the series by closing out @virtuspro‘s map pick of Inferno 16-12 ⚔

Ancient is coming right up!#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/JWLqzY3VLU

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 23, 2023

Ancient

The teams then moved to Ancient, Team Liquid’s map pick, where we witnessed a spectacular back-and-forth match, and either team could have won. In the first half, Team Liquid started strong again to take a tight 8-7 win on their T Side. Then, at the change of sides, Team Liquid got 14-10 ahead on the scoreboard, which gave them great confidence to close the map. However, VP’s offense was able to win the last 6 rounds to take the 16-14 victory and even the series 1-1.

.@virtuspro win SIX rounds in a row to close out Ancient 16-14 over @TeamLiquidCS 👀

Vertigo will decide which team goes to the #ESLProLeague Season 18 Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/mN7hWhMhCV

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 23, 2023

Vertigo

Finally, Vertigo, the Decider Map, witnessed a great level of play by VP, who came away with a resounding 16-6 victory.

In the first half, things were evenly balanced as VP took a 9-6 partial victory. However, unlike the first two maps, VP’s defense was amazing in the second half, and after winning the first 7 rounds in a row, they managed to take the comfortable 16-6 victory. As a result, the Russian squad sealed their ticket to the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs.

.@virtuspro show their true strength on the final map! They take down @TeamLiquidCS 2-1 in the Lower Bracket Final of Group D 💪

12-16 Inferno
16-14 Ancient
16-6 Vertigo#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/6Q0wuSWv9H

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 23, 2023

Header: ESL