Virtus.pro upset FaZe in the first semifinal of the V4 Future Sports Festival, 2-0, on Cache and Nuke, to clinch a spot in the final.

The first round on Cache went the way of the Poles, who were able to defend the sites on the first round losing a single player to FaZe’s pistols before taking the round by eliminating their opposition. After grinding the European combine’s players in the anti-ecos, Virtus.pro were able to win the first gun round and a pistol buy as Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski won two 1vs1’s to make it 5-0. Doubles by Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller and Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski on A kept the Poles ahead and FaZe still roundless, prompting the first timeout of the match.

Finally, on the eighth round, Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač were able to get the two opening frags of the round, forcing Virtus.pro to play with three players on one site, allowing FaZe to plant on B without opposition and get on the scoreboard. Following it up, FaZe were able to gain mid-control and punish Virtus.pro, clawing their way back into the map and reverse-sweeping the half, going from 0-7 to 8-7 before the switch.

Virtus.pro won the second pistol round of the map, breaking FaZe’s momentum and taking the lead back after winning the anti-ecos, 10-8. Down 8-12, FaZe finally won their first round of the half, but lost all weapons to the hands of Virtus.pro and remained unable to build an economy. After trades on A, the Poles planted with a 3vs3, and a great double by MICHU closed it out for his team.

FaZe then tried to force two times in a row, with mostly just pistols, something Virtus.pro took advantage of the first time around, but were unable to replicate as FaZe were able to retake a 3vs3 on A site to stop the Poles from reaching map point. A triple on B by Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács pushed Virtus.pro to take their first tactical timeout of the match as FaZe slowly cut the distance, 12-14. With the momentum and economic advantage on their side, FaZe tied it up 14-14, but a sneaky play by Virtus.pro with MICHU and NEO taking A, which ended up in NEO winning a 1vs1 afterpland against Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard to get match point. Virtus.pro were then able to win a 2vs4 with a huge triple by MICHU to bag the first map.

MICHU was a big part of VP’s takedown of FaZe

Virtus.pro opened up Nuke winning the third of the three pistol rounds played, on the Terrorist side, with MICHU getting a triple and picking up right where he left off. The Poles then got a huge first gun round win as they made their way to B and protected the bomb in a 4vs3 afterplant. Finally, FaZe were able to take the first round of the half as Virtus.pro failed to take B after an A fake. Doubles by rain and NiKo then got FaZe back in it, stopping a Virtus.pro A push. Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski stopped FaZe’s momentum with a double entry kill to open up the round for the Poles. With VP in the lead 6-3, both teams then traded rounds.

Despite having the economic advantage and ahead 7-4 on the scoreboard, Virtus.pro were unable to win the half as FaZe made a push late in the half to take it 8-7 ahead of the change in sides, mirroring the results of the first half of the first map of the series.

The second half of Nuke saw FaZe take their first pistol round of the match as the European combine were able to take the A site and defend a 2vs2 afterplant, but Virtus.pro were able to win their forcebuy, and tie it up 9-9 in the follow-up. Up 10-9, MICHU was able to make quick work of Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and GuardiaN to win a 1vs2 clutch on the A site to keep his team in the lead. The Polish youngster then followed it up with three kills in a 2vs3, once again on A, to deny FaZe the plant and the round win.

Finally, MICHU lost a clutch, as he was unable to kill NiKo in a 1vs1 after taking karrigan down. Virtus.pro then reset FaZe as Paweł "⁠byali⁠" Bieliński and MICHU’s doubles. In the end, the Poles were able to take the map, 16-10, winning the series and earning a spot in the final.

V4 Future Sports Festival 2018 Best of 3 FaZe Matchpage 0 2 Virtus.pro 14 Cache 16 10 Nuke 16