After a dominant 2-0 victory over #Sprout, #Spirit only needs to win two maps to advance to the #IEMRioMajor playoffs. The Russians now own a 2-2 record in the Legends Stage and are awaiting their opponent in the Tuesday final round.

With a 1-3 record, the Danish-majority team, which was led by Ismail #refrezh Ali, was unable to counter the T-side assault of Spirit, which was fueled by Boris #magixx Vorobiev’s eleven opening kills.

The Match Recap

Pavel #s1ren Ogloblin’s triple kill on the pistol round was the first of many individual plays that would help Spirit take the map and begin their dominance of Nuke. The team with a Russian majority did not immediately seize the initiative, but they eventually gained the lead 7-4 thanks to magixx’s 14 kills.

Sprout would recover quickly from this loss because they played a tough defense in the first half. Laurențiu #lauNX ârlea and refrezh’s dependability allowed Sprout to tie the game at 7-7 before Robert #Patsi Isyanov’s four kills in the decisive round gave Spirit the victory.

Similar to the first half, the second one began with Spirit winning the pistol round. Rasmus #Zyphon Nordfoss successfully won a 1v2 clutch out of desperation to prevent Spirit from finding their groove, but it was insufficient. The remainder of the half was dominated by Spirit, and in the final round, three kills from Patsi extinguished the last of Sprout’s momentum.

Vertigo Map

Following Nuke’s dominant second half, Spirit continued to demonstrate their Terrorist-side strength in Vertigo. Igor #Wonderful Zhdanov gave his team an 8-2 advantage by ensuring that Sprout would not force a third map. Zyphon attempted to keep Sprout in the match with 19 kills, but once more his valor was insufficient as they trailed 10-5 at the break.

In the first few minutes of the second half, Spirit’s advantage further expanded. They easily defeated Sprout in the first three rounds, and Patsi’s 1v2 clutch handed them the victory in the fourth.

At 13-5, Sprout attempted to enter the game, but his attempt was only temporary. Leonid, the “chopper Zyphon was towering over the rest of his squad and Vishnyakov’s team was putting on a show, but Spirit won the map 16-8 despite his 32 kills.

After having such an amazing performance, Spirit are just one series win away from qualifying for the playoffs for the second consecutive year in Major tournaments.