MIBR take down Virtus.pro to secure grand final spot; Cloud9 beat Space Soldiers

MIBR lost both pistol rounds on Cache to Virtus.pro, but still secured a convincing, 16-11 victory and advance to the grand final. Meanwhile, Cloud9 closed out the game against Space Soldiers on Mirage 16-11.

Despite a good opening to the match by Virtus.pro, as they won the pistol and went 3-0 up on the T side of Cache, it was MIBR who was in control of the early portion of the map, rolling over the Poles in rifle rounds (7-3). That is when Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski, Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki and Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller combined on an A site split to get Virtus.pro their first rifle round. However, no momentum was built as the Poles wasted a 5v3 advantage and then lost a 2v1 clutch to Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo, allowing MIBR to finish the half on a high, 10-5 up.

FalleN will meet Astralis in the grand final, just like at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen

After the switch, Virtus.pro once again won the pistol and converted for a 3-0 start, but just like in the first half, it was all about MIBR when the rifles came into play and they shortly made the score 13-8. Virtus.pro won the following round and broke MIBR's money, but they couldn't hold against a simple B rush and allowed the American team to close out the game shortly, 16-11.

BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018Best of 1 MIBRMatchpage 16 11 29th September 2018 Virtus.pro 16Cache 11

MIBR	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	26 - 22	+4	107.4	1.39
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN	22 - 16	+6	70.8	1.19
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	17 - 19	-2	75.9	1.10
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	17 - 21	-4	74.3	0.96
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	16 - 19	-3	53.6	0.81

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU	31 - 20	+11	109.4	1.65
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	22 - 19	+3	93.2	1.11
Michał 'snatchie' Rudzkisnatchie	18 - 17	+1	65.5	0.96
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	14 - 21	-7	62.7	0.76
Piotr 'morelz' Taterkamorelz	12 - 21	-9	51.6	0.69

Space Soldiers and Cloud9 faced off on Mirage, with the Turkish side bursting out on the A site and winning pistol to the jubilation of the local fans. The happiness would be short-lived, though, as Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist's two Scout headshots helped Cloud9 to bounce straight back.

The American-Swedish team would then go on to win twelve out of the next thirteen rounds, showing absolute dominance on the CT side, with William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba proving to be a thorn in Space Soldiers' side with 20 kills in the first half. Space Soldiers switched to the defensive side 12-3 down, but got a lifeline as Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca and Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın combined to win the force-buy.

Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim and co. then struggled to break through the defences for quite some time, Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli's side was mounting a serious comeback, but couldn't take it all the way and lost the game in the end, 16-11.

BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018Best of 1 Cloud9Matchpage 16 11 29th September 2018 Space Soldiers 16Mirage 11

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	26 - 18	+8	91.8	1.36
Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden	22 - 15	+7	85.4	1.31
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha	18 - 14	+4	89.0	1.25
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	19 - 16	+3	71.4	1.12
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	14 - 20	-6	61.3	0.79

Space Soldiers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ahmet 'paz' Karahocapaz	24 - 19	+5	84.6	1.21
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	22 - 20	+2	81.1	1.11
Buğra 'Calyx' ArkınCalyx	14 - 20	-6	57.8	0.84
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	16 - 19	-3	60.1	0.76
Engin 'ngiN' KorngiN	7 - 21	-14	51.2	0.59

With these results, and Astralis beating Ninjas in Pyjamas, both of the grand finalists are known: MIBR and Astralis.

Group A TEAM M P Astralis 4 12 MIBR 4 10 Ninjas in Pyjamas 4 4 Cloud9 4 3 Virtus.pro 4 3 Space Soldiers 4 3 Cloud9 #21 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaMaikil 'Golden' Selim Cloud9 #21 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaMaikil 'Golden' Selim Soham 'valens' Chowdhury Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Filip 'NEO' Kubski Age: 31 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 1538 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.67 Space Soldiers #39 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor Canpolat 'hardstyle' Yıldıran Maikil 'Golden' Selim Age: 24 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 400 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Michał 'snatchie' Rudzki Age: 20 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 538 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 27 Team: MIBR Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 908 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.60 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Ahmet 'paz' Karahoca Age: 21 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 643 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Jakub 'kuben' Gurczyński Space Soldiers #39 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist Age: 25 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1367 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 MIBR #4 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoTarik 'tarik' CelikFernando 'fer' AlvarengaJake 'Stewie2K' YipMarcelo 'coldzera' David MIBR #4 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoTarik 'tarik' CelikFernando 'fer' AlvarengaJake 'Stewie2K' YipMarcelo 'coldzera' David Janko 'YNk' Paunović Engin 'MAJ3R' Küpeli Age: 27 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 613 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.67 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen Ninjas in Pyjamas #9 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Michał 'MICHU' Müller Age: 21 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1152 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 William 'RUSH' Wierzba Age: 24 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 840 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Ninjas in Pyjamas #9 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Faruk 'pita' Pita Buğra 'Calyx' Arkın Age: 20 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 645 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.62