Spirit has closed its first game of the ESL Pro League Season 23 with a quick 2-0 win over 3DMAX. Heavy favorites coming into the game and producing expected results dominantly. The CIS side will now need just 2 wins to make it to the playoffs.
VETO
- 3DMAX removed Mirage
- Spirit removed Inferno
- 3DMAX picked Nuke
- Spirit picked Overpass
- 3DMAX removed Ancient
- Spirit removed Anubis
- Dust2 was left over
Map 1: Nuke; Pick: 3DMAX; Winner: Spirit
Winning the pistol round, 3DMAX on the offense managed to put Spirit on the backfoot to kick off the map. Winning only 1 before giving away 4 rounds to the French side, Spirit recovered later in the game, winning 6 in a row to take the lead and losing the final round of the half before switching sides. Winning the pistol on their offense and converting 3 subsequent rounds, Spirit managed to hit 11 before 3DMAX found something of a footing on their defense. Putting together a streak of 4 rounds, the 3DMAX defense finally broke in the 17th round, leading to Spirit taking the momentum back and winning the two rounds they needed to take home their opponents’ map pick. Usual suspect donk came up huge with 24 kills to put down 3DMAX with relative ease.
Map 2: Overpass; Pick: Spirit; Winner: Spirit
Winning the pistol round, Spirit converted the force buy on their offense to take control of the game. Winning the force buy, Spirit managed to win 3 in a row, setting the pace of the game. For the entirety of the first half, 3DMAX managed to only win 4 rounds, but they were few and far between as teams switched sides with an 8-4 scoreline with the CIS side leading. 3DMAX cut the lead short by winning the pistol and 2 more off the back of it before Spirit found their footing on the defense. The first-full buy round saw Spirit effortlessly closing out the game with a flawless defense, winning 5 in a row. Another masterclass of a team performance with donk leading the charts with 22 kills and 1.5 IR to close out the game.
3DMAX has effortlessly fought through situations when its back has been against the wall, as we saw in Stage 1. While a loss on the opening day may break their morale, it would be foolish to write them off, especially after the surge in performance they have shown with the addition of misutaaa.
