The greatest Counter-Strike team in history has been eliminated after the first day of the playoffs in Katowice. Virtus Pro beat Astralis 2-1 today in the quarterfinals of the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship.
The series was a close affair throughout with both teams hitting double digits on the scoreboard in all three maps. VP took their pick of Overpass to start the series, with the young Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis leading the way. He had over 112 points of damage per round and a first-kill differential of +5.
Astralis were able to reset the series score on Train. They won their map pick 16-12 on the shoulders of solid team play from all the Danes. This forced the series to Counter-Strike’s best map for deciding series, Inferno.
The two sides split the first half, with Astralis holding a narrow 8-7 lead at halftime after their T-side. But VP fired back with an even more impressive T-side. YEKINDAR came up huge again with a 29-kill performance and VP claimed nine out of 12 rounds in the second half to send Astralis home early.
For Astralis, this marks their earliest exit from a CS:GO world championship at Katowice. At every prior iteration, including the 2019 Major, they either reached the semifinals or won the entire thing.
For VP, their victory adds another impressive result from the CIS region here at Katowice. Themselves, Team Spirit, and Gambit Esports all remain in the playoffs after qualifying through the play-in stage. VP will face the lone non-CIS team remaining, Team Liquid, in the semifinals tomorrow.
