Spirit have clinched a spot in the Esports World Cup playoffs with a 2-1 win over BIG, losing Cache before taking two tight maps on Dust2 and Mirage, HLTV reported.
The first half of Cache was a masterclass in T-side play from BIG, whose utility was ruthless and whose bombsite hits were close to impossible to defend, with Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz in particular shining. Danil “donk” Kryshkovets was the only Spirit player offering real resistance. Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia stepped up after the switch to provide at least a cosmetic comeback, but BIG sealed the map.
Spirit started hot on Dust2 and then began to wane, their T side struggling to get going as BIG ran the score back for a 7-5 lead. Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin took over from there, hitting two no-scopes and a jumping shot in a 1v3 that HLTV called a contender for highlight of the year. With their backs against the wall Spirit levelled up, Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich driving a CT-side recovery that dragged them back into contention. BIG's momentum stalled and Spirit racked up eight rounds in a row to force a decider.
BIG's resistance carried into the first half of Mirage, where consistent 4-1 leans towards the A site won them the CT half, but that was all they could muster. A lacklustre offence and a resurgent donk crushed their fight and handed Spirit the playoff berth.
Spirit were thoroughly bested on Cache and could have lost Dust2 but for the late CT-side recovery, and Boris “magixx” Vorobiev acknowledged as much to Freya Spiers in a post-match interview on stream.
It was a difficult one, as you would have seen. We have a couple of days in front of us to figure out how we are going to play the next games, and this time might be enough to change a lot of things going on in the game. I just hope we will manage to use that time to get better.
