Virtus Pro and Astralis move on to the EPICENTER playoffs

Following two days of impressive performances, Virtus Pro staged one of the biggest upsets of the year at EPICENTER.

In January this year, Virtus Pro made it to the grand finals of the ELEAGUE Major. Since then, however, the legendary Polish roster has fallen off a cliff, with disappointing finishes in both offline and online competitions.

But despite their consistent decline over the past six months, Virtus Pro advanced past the group stage of EPICENTER in spectacular fashion. After losing to SK Gaming in their opening series of the group stage, the Polish side took down reigning Valve Major champions Gambit to remain in the event. VP finally eliminated FaZe Clan in the final match, the team widely considered to be the best in the world right now.

Virtus Pro came back from a devastating 16-2 loss on the opening map Mirage to defeat FaZe Clan on both Cobblestone and Inferno. Although the Poles were able to end Cobblestone with a rather comfortable scoreline of 16-11, the deciding map was anything but simple.

After a convincing 11-4 opening CT half, FaZe answered back against the Poles by winning the second pistol round and began to inch their way closer to Virtus Pro’s scoreline. Despite Faze securing nine rounds throughout the half, however, Virtus Pro’s early lead paid off. The previously struggling roster ended the map with a 16-13 scoreline and eliminating FaZe.

Following what ultimately became the marquee match of the tournament’s third day, Denmark’s Astralis eliminated their fellow countrymen North from the event. Taking center stage on the Astralis side—as is often the case—was Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, who posted a total of 49 kills and 32 death across both maps of the series.

Now the stage is set for the semifinals, as Astralis will face SK Gaming. Virtus Pro will try to keep their run of form going against French side G2 Esports.