MOUZ beat Spirit 2-0 at ESL Pro League Season 24 to secure the tournament's first playoff berth, HLTV reported. The result ended Spirit's streak of 32 consecutive match wins in Swiss group stages.
That run stretched back 668 days, to Spirit's opening match against FURIA at the Perfect World Shanghai Major. According to HLTV, a win over MOUZ would have given Spirit a 10th straight Swiss stage without a loss.
The win was MOUZ's second in six meetings with Spirit this year. The teams' previous meeting was the final of BLAST Open Porto, which Spirit won.
The series opened on Dust2, Spirit's pick. Spirit concentrated their early attacks on the B site and could not get past Lotan "Spinx" Giladi and Oldřich "PR" Nový. A switch to the A site was shut down by Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás and Adrian "xelex" Vincze, and MOUZ steadied after a run of force-buy rounds early in the second half to close out the map.
HLTV recorded it as the worst-rated Dust2 performance of Danil "donk" Kryshkovets's career and the seventh-worst map he has played overall. It was also the worst map of Boris "magixx" Vorobiev's career by the same measure.
On Mirage, xelex and Dorian "xertioN" Berman gave MOUZ the early advantage. Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia was the Spirit player who halted the slide, and donk finished the first half on eight kills after two four-kill rounds. MOUZ led 12-6 before Spirit's comeback took hold, and held on to win the map 13-11.
HLTV reported that Dennis "sycrone" Nielsen made light of the comeback during his final timeout of the map.
Finally we have a fight.
