【2020 Archives】

With only four Counter-Strike: Global Offensiveteams left020 Archivesthe final day of ESL One New York, everything was on the line in every match.

Na'Vi and Virtus.pro made it past the semifinals on to the finals after two close matches, denying the South and North American teams SK Gaming and Team Liquid from a shot at glory.

Na'Vi vs. Team Liquid

Team Liquid came into the semifinals riding the wave of the hometown crowd. As the only North American team left in the tournament, the fans came out in full force, cheering for every kill and round victory.

Na'Vi had been looking hot in the tournament, beating Team Liquid and Virtus.pro on the first day and then dominating SK Gaming on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. Everyone on Na'Vi had been playing well, and they looked like the favorite going into the first match of the day.

But Team Liquid had something to prove, and they proved it on Cobblestone. Liquid's Pimp was on fire, with an ADR hitting 140 in the seventh round. Na'Vi didn't stand a chance on the terrorist side, getting bowled over by everyone on Team Liquid.

After dominating the first half, Na'Vi managed to grab a few rounds with the counter-terrorist side advantage, but Team Liquid couldn't be stopped, winning the first game 16-7 and heading into map two.

Map two was Train, and Na'Vi came out aggressively on the pistol round, grabbing that early economy advantage and winning the next couple rounds, but losing to Team Liquid in round four, getting outplayed and shifting the momentum back to Team Liquid.

Rounds were close, coming down to 1v1s multiple times, but Team Liquid continued its win streak. Na'Vi pulled it right back though, outsmarting Team Liquid on bomb plants and playing carefully. One of the most tense moments of the map was round 11, down to Na'Vi's Seized vs. Liquid's Nitro.

Na'Vi used the economy advantage and won round after round to take the half 8-7. The game stayed even in the second half, both teams inching up toward the win. Each round was intense and occasionally explosive as teams met each other with guns blazing on the bombsites.

Flamie was on fire, getting an insane amount of kills and helping to push the team into a victory. Na'Vi took Train, sending the match into the final map: Dust2.

Na'Vi started out on the CT side, winning the pistol round and pretty much steamrolling Team Liquid from there. With five wins on their side, Na'Vi's S1mple was up against Nitr0 on bombsite B, tossing his AWP over the wall and completely disrespecting Nitr0 with a pistol kill.

Team Liquid couldn't get a good streak going after that until deep into the second half. After Na'Vi reached match point with 15 wins, Liquid started amping it up, winning round after round, crushing Na'Vi when they were down to pistols and outplaying them with rifles and AWPs. Pimp and Nitr0 were looking particularly hot.

The streak was broken in the 26th round and Na'Vi won 16-10 thanks to a quad-kill from Seized, pushing Na'Vi into the finals.

Virtus.pro vs. SK Gaming

Coming into the semifinals, SK Gaming looked like the favorite after their 16-8 victory over Virtus.pro on Saturday. Both teams already lost to Na'Vi, so whoever made it through would have a tough match in the finals.

Starting on VP's favored map, Mirage, the teams stayed pretty even for most of the game, neither one pulling out too far ahead of the other. Taz had several good rounds mowing down SK and grabbing clutch wins.

The teams traded wins back and forth, and at match point for SK, Virtus.pro managed to win two close rounds and send the map into overtime.

The teams traded the first two rounds, but SK pulled out and won 4-1 in overtime, finishing with an insanely close call in the last round.

On map two, Overpass, SK Gaming won the pistol round and took the next several rounds, getting a comfortable 6-0 lead on Virtus.pro before its first loss. With that win, VP went all out, taking the lead 7-6 with some amazing plays from Byali and Neo.

Virtus.pro was looking great, ending the first half 8-7 and winning the pistol round in the second.

SK lost the next two rounds before turning the tide and beating back VP for a much-needed win.

To bring it even closer, SK's FalleN outplayed PashaBiceps for a clutch win, putting them down 10-11 and in a good position to take the map and move on to the finals.

SK then tied it up 11-11 and the next rounds were close and intense as VP fought to push the match into a third map. The teams traded wins, tying it up 12-12. The next round went to SK Gaming as VP were completely dominated across the board.

SK took the next two rounds, bringing them to match point at 15-12, but VP didn't let them take it easily, decimating SK to make it 15-13 and then taking the next round to make it a close 14-15.

VP managed to win the next round, too, sending the teams into their second overtime in two maps. SK came out hot once again, winning the first two rounds handily and grabbing the third by the skin of its teeth.

Virtus.pro managed to keep SK from planting the bomb in the next two rounds, putting the score at 3-2 and stopping the Brazilian squad from sweeping overtime. With one last chance before going into a second overtime, SK was mowed down by VP, sending the teams into another best-of-six.

In the second overtime, Virtus.pro flipped the narrative and took the first two rounds, forcing SK to take a tactical pause.

It looked like Virtus was going to take the third round for a game point lead, but SK managed to squeak by and take out VP after planting the bomb.

Virtus.pro took the next round in a close pinch, going up 3-1 and inching closer toward sending the match into a third game thanks to Byali's 1v2 clutch.

SK got two big wins in the next rounds, sending the teams into triple overtime on Overpass.

Virtus.pro got the first blood and the first round on the terrorist side, using that momentum to take the next round and forcing SK to head into round three with some pistols. VP quickly went up 3-0 with only one win needed to take Overpass.

Both teams went into round four cautiously. Byali was the first one taken out, followed by Pasha. But it wasn't enough as Taz tore through SK Gaming.

After a long battle on Overpass, VP took the map to tie the series 1-1, sending both teams to map three: Nuke.

In the third map and fourth hour of Virtus.pro vs. SK Gaming, VP started out with the lead, racking up a 5-0 advantage over SK before narrowly losing the sixth round, giving SK a solid economy to trade rounds with VP. In a series of close rounds, Virtus.pro took the first half 9-6.

VP won the pistol round in the next half, and then traded wins with SK to put the score at 11-7. SK couldn't hang on, losing Nuke to VP 16-7.

The finals between Na'Vi and Virtus.pro will be broadcast live on Twitch and ESL's website Sunday night.