Today’s semi-finals at the FACEIT Major in London had s1mple’s Na’Vi go up against FalleN’s MIBR and the American Team Liquid take on the overperforming superteam, Astralis. Two winners have emerged to face off tomorrow in the grand finale in Twickenham Stadium.
Natus Vincere glide past MIBR to secure a spot in the final
The very first map of the day was decided by Na’Vi after they picked Overpass. MIBR were struggling to hold their own on the counter-terrorist side against the trio of Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Denis “electronic” Sharipov,” as well as Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev. All three players were fragging left and right, constantly denying bomb plants and pushing smokes in the most unexpected fashion. The half finished in a healthy lead for Na’Vi, 10-5 as the American-Brazilian mix were yet to find their mojo.
Unfortunately, not much changed initially on t-side for MIBR. s1mple and co. picked up the very first five rounds on their ct-side just to build a 15-5 lead. It was a little too late for MIBR as they suddenly got fired up to win the next five rounds just to lose 16-10. Had they found their drive a little earlier, who knows if the map would have gone the other way?
The second map brought us to Dust 2, MIBR’s shocking map pick. Na’Vi displayed a very good Dust 2 map against BIG earlier in the tournament, beating them 16-2. MIBR’s choice definitely cost them the semi-final. It was yet again s1mple having the most impact out of his teammates. On the counter-terrorist side, s1mple would hold A long with the AWP, and FalleN and co. later would not even attempt to try to take control of that area of the map after getting battered time and time again. Much like on Overpass, the half ended 10-5 for Na’Vi. This time, however, MIBR would not mount any sort of comeback. In fact, the CIS team would win six straight and clean rounds on t-side. Na’Vi took the match by storm and won 16-5 to be the first finalist in London.
🇧🇷@mibr have been eliminated from the #FACEITMajor!
It sucks to see the boys not make the final, but we know that they will be back stronger next time!#SomosMIBR pic.twitter.com/AwT2ubvI66
— Betway CSGO (@BetwayCSGO) September 22, 2018
It was a very disappointing appearance for MIBR as no one truly stepped up. Mixed with a poor map pick, the outcome of the match-up could have been much different had MIBR played it all out more intelligently. Na’Vi advance with a 2-0 win over the Brazilian-American MIBR.
Liquid vs. Astralis
This was probably the most exciting match-up, as Team Liquid was looking to finally defeat Astralis after having lost time and time again on three different finals this year. Map one took us to Nuke, pick of the Danish Astralis. The first half was an incredible performance from Team Liquid. Despite Astralis comfortably winning on the few gun rounds that Liquid got, the Danes struggled to win against force rounds. Desert Eagles and CZ-75s got to work on multiple occasions as Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski kept it close for Liquid. And so they did as the half closed out 9-6 for the Danes.
Moving into the second half, Liquid picked up the pistol but in turn were denied the next three rounds following a force, this time by Astralis. The American side only managed to pick up one more round before losing the half 2-7, and Astralis winning the map 16-8. Astralis continue their undefeated streak on Nuke, going up to 19 after today’s win.
Team Liquid was going into their map pick, Mirage, full of hope. Unfortunately, the map didn’t turn out as everyone had expected. Instead of a tight game where Liquid would put up a fight, the exact opposite happened. Astralis started their ravage on the ct-side, not letting the North Americans enter bombsites freely. Team Liquid only got three rounds out of that half, with no one on the American side being able to step up for their team when needed.
Meanwhile, Astralis continued their journey on t-side where they lost the initial pistol only to follow up with three rounds of their own. Before finally closing out the game, Liquid woke up only to get three rounds before failing to retake the B bombsite. Astralis go on to the final after winning 16-7 on Mirage.
We've had some great moments at this major but ultimately it won't be ours. Thanks for the support everyone and we'll see you in New York #LetsGoLiquid pic.twitter.com/NSlmrEfNZu
— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) September 22, 2018
Yet again, the North American Team Liquid fail to beat the Danish Astralis. Failure to overcome their nemesis will haunt them forever. Once more, Astralis stands in the way of greatness for the talented roster of Team Liquid.
And thus tomorrow, we will see s1mple’s Natus Vincere take on device and his Astralis in the Grand Finale of the FACEIT Major in London at Twickenham Stadium.
As always, follow us at Daily Esports to get the most recent updates on the FACEIT Major in London.
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