Group D proved to be far more decisive than originally thought, as now the top three teams only have seeding left to play for.
In the first of three 2-0s on the day, Virtus.pro found their win over Fnatic. On map one, Train, Fnatic had a promising 5-round start only to be thwarted by the CIS team which ultimately finished 9-16. Dust2 had a slightly more competitive start, however VP’s 8 round win streak that bled over from T-side to CT-side allowed VP to pull ahead. Only taking 2 wins in Virtus.pro’s 8-16 victory, Fnatic was once again denied a victory.
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinkskis once again top fragged throughout both of the maps in the series, ending with 48 total frags, 110 ADR, and 1.63 rating. As the first team to claim a playoff spot, Virtus.pro will battle against Team Liquid for seeding on their last day.
Astralis soon after joined Virtus.pro, clenching their playoff spot with a 2-0 versus Endpoint. The first half of Inferno was a surprisingly tight contest, as Endpoint only trailed by one round moving into the CT side. Though Astralis ultimately took the map (16-10), Shahar “flameZ” Shushan still ended with the most total kills (22).
The second map, Dust2, was a much more convincing win as Astralis led the half with an 11-4 lead. Astralis truly fired on all cylinders in closing out this relatively quick series 16-8. One of the top teams that stumbled in the early parts of 2021, Astralis seems to have recovered well and will similarly vie for top seeding against Fnatic tomorrow.
The NA battle between Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses fell to TL in yet another 2-0 on the day. A back and forth bout on Inferno only saw Team Liquid find the win in the last three rounds. Despite the map loss Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov had a standout performance representing EG, ending with 26 total kills and 92 ADR in the 11-16 loss.
One upped by Jonathan “EliGe” Jablonowski however, Team Liquid’s Overpass performance soundly closed out the series for them 10-16. Ending the map with 28 kills and an even 100 ADR, Team Liquid became the sole NA team to clench a playoff berth in the ESL Pro League.
The group of death ultimately proved far more decisive than originally though, the top 3 teams ending the day 3-1, while Fnatic, Endpoint, and Evil Geniuses all have found only a single game on the day. While the eliminated are only playing for pride and practice, the remaining competitors will determine the final standing of Group D tomorrow.
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