Virtus.pro have secured a spot in the quarter-finals of IEM Katowice after seeing off FaZe 16-13 on de_mirage.

FaZe came out strongly in the game and got out to a 3-0 lead before Virtus.pro took the first gun round. FaZe were on the brink of hitting back, which would have severely hurt Virtus' economy, but they made a massive blunder and allowed Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski to do a ninja defuse with the entire team still alive. Virtus.pro went on to take the lead, but that quickly changed as FaZe took a string of rounds themselves.

Down 4-6, Virtus.pro picked up a round as Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski went huge with the AWP and got four kills to his name. The rest of the half was highly contested, with Virtus.pro taking a narrow 8-7 half-time lead.



Virtus.pro advance to the quarter-finals

Virtus further grew their lead by winning the pistol round and the following anti-ecos, with FaZe taking the first gun round. The former G2 team were, however, unable to go on a run of their own as Virtus continued to pick up rounds to keep their opponents' economy in check.

At one point Virtus enjoyed a commanding 13-8 lead and many thought that the game was about to come to a close. FaZe still fought valiantly and brought the scoreline to 13-14, only to fall at the final hurdle as Virtus picked up back-to-back rounds.