Day two of Zotac Cup Masters in Hong Kong saw MIBR face the South Korean MVP PK, and Kinguin take on Ghost.
Kinguin vs. Ghost: The Polish side outperform the promising Ghost
Map one saw the matchup go to Mirage, a map where Kinguin feels comfortable, hence their pick. A back-and-forth game emerged, with each side having their particular moments on both sides. Ghost started things off with a victory on the initial pistol round, but failed to retain composure, losing the next five rounds. Following, Ghost found some success finding the next five rounds themselves. Ultimately, the half finished by a close margin: 8:7 for Ghost. It was really Kenneth “koosta” Suen’s and Matthew “Wardell” Bowman AWP-ing that was the difference maker for Ghost.
Conversely, in the second half, it was Kinguin picking up the pistol round and stretching their victory for the next three rounds. However, things started going south for Kinguin when Ghost picked up the next five rounds. By then, Kinguin had enough and MikoÅ‚aj “mouz” Karolewski was the factor in helping his side secure the win, with Kinguin grabbing the last six rounds to win the map 16-14.
On map two, Nuke, fans got a glimpse of how to successfully build an impenetrable wall on the ct side. Ghost started the half poorly, not being able to stop the onslaught of terrorists. They finally found their drive towards the end of the half, somehow managing to pick up seven rounds, ending the half 8:7 for Kinguin. On ct-side, the story was completely different. Kinguin only planted the bomb twice, before getting defused, and only grabbed one round before the match finished. A textbook performance on behalf of Ghost, finishing things off 16:9.
The final decider map sent us to Overpass, with Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik getting a fantastic 4k. Kinguin was quick to respond on round three to pick up the next two, however, they had a tough time to stop Ghost’s bomb plants. Ghost successfully planted the bomb nine times in the half. Fortunately, Kinguin defused it five times and went on to win the half 8:7. Things became extremely straightforward for Kinguin on t-side. After a success on the pistol round, Kinguin won seven rounds before Ghost picked up one. The Poles finished things off in the next round to secure a spot in the Grand Finale.
Matthew “Wardell” Bowman had a fantastic performance, attaining a 1.31 rating according to hltv’s rating 2.0 throughout the three maps. His clutching, game sense, and AWP-ing however was not enough to win the series.
MIBR vs. MVP PK: The superteam continues its’ onslaught
The second semifinal of Zotac Cup Masters started off on Inferno, a pick made by the Korean MVP PK. MIBR began on t-side and swiftly picked up the first pistol round to secure the first three rounds. And then something clicked in the MVP PK mindset. The Koreans started to challenge MIBR with great positioning and unexpected plays, allowing the bomb to be planted only twice. And thus, the half went in favor of MVP PK 8:7. Things were looking solid for the underdogs. Then came the assault from MIBR’s ct-side. The South and North American mix got sick of MVP PK’s ct-side and showed an even better counter-terrorist performance. MVP PK was only able to pick up the pistol round. From then on, MIBR’s relentless pushes down mid and map control got in the way of MVP PK’s plans of snatching the first map. MIBR won the map comfortably 16:9 and were looking confident.
Map two, Dust 2, was more of the same from MIBR, except this time Made in Brazil showed how to play proper t-side. Marcelo “coldzera” David and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo were lethal, allowing MVP PK to only pick up three rounds in the first half. The half ended with a disappointing score of 12:3 in favor of MIBR. Jake “Stewie2K” Yip’s last round auto-sniper buy and spam down mid was the perfect conclusion as to how MIBR were feeling. In the second half, the Korean side managed to snatch the first three rounds and were looking determined to set up a comeback. Following a loss of the next three rounds, MVP went on to pick up the next four and a glimpse of hope appeared. Unfortunately for them, MIBR retained their composure yet again and picked up the final round to close out the map and game. The score at the end was 16:10 in favor of Made in Brazil and we will see them in tomorrow’s Grand Finale.
With the semifinals out of the way, the Polish Kinguin will face MIBR in a best-of-five match where the winner will take home a hefty $200,000 dollars. The stakes are high. Can Kinguin overcome the powerful South and North American machine? Tune in tomorrow to find out.
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