MOUZ edge past Spirit in thriller to reach Austin Major semifinals
MOUZ are the first semifinalist of the BLAST.tv Austin Major following a one-of-a-kind series versus Spirit this Thursday, June 19th. While the whole series was good and MOUZ successfully reverse-swept Spirit, Mirage is the map that fans won't forget so easily.
Mirage: 
Spirit 25-21 MOUZ 
That's right, the first map of this quarterfinal bout went all the way to fourth overtime and last 46 rounds. And that's because both teams played their hearts out.
There were multiple special plays, but Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotja arguably deserves more praise than anyone else. The Ukrainian had some unbelievable moments, first to force first overtime, and later to keep Spirit alive in the race.
Boris "magixx" Vorobyev also came alive for Spirit at the end, forcing OT #4 and winning a 1v3 situation in it, to put Spirit in map point.
That ultimately ended MOUZ's chances on Mirage, and Spirit stole MOUZ's own map pick to kick off the series in style. The Russians won seven clutches in total throughout Mirage, which truly made a difference.
Dust2: MOUZ 13-9 Spirit
Many fans thought MOUZ would give up after letting Mirage slip from their hands. However, they displayed a very good CT-side and won the first half by 8-4.
Spirit almost made things scary again as they won an unbelievable round with pistols and SMGs when MOUZ had reached map-point territory again, but Lotan "Spinx" Giladi hit them with a nasty lurk the round after to take the series to Nuke.
Nuke: MOUZ 13-10 Spirit
Spirit enjoyed a flying start on the CT side thanks to Danil "donk" Kryshkovets wreaking havoc Outside. MOUZ only remained alive for the second half thanks to finding a couple of rounds with half-buys.
MOUZ fought back in the second half, despite the lack of impact from Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin. The rest of the team carried the in-game leader as he had zero kills until Round 17.
A near-miraculous hold from Dorian "xertioN" Berman on Round 22 put MOUZ on map-point territory, and they didn't waste the opportunity to eliminate Spirit, the reigning Major champions, from Austin.
It's also worth noting MOUZ are 4-0 in best-of-threes in this Major.
SpiritMOUZ| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets |
78 - 63 | +15 | 94.5 | 73.6% | 1.30 |
 Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia |
57 - 61 | -4 | 78.7 | 71.4% | 1.02 |
| Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov |
56 - 56 | +0 | 59.6 | 71.4% | 0.90 |
| Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev |
54 - 60 | -6 | 67.4 | 67.0% | 0.90 |
| Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov |
48 - 65 | -17 | 54.6 | 70.3% | 0.82 |
| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi |
77 - 60 | +17 | 84.4 | 76.9% | 1.19 |
| Dorian 'xertioN' Berman |
60 - 63 | -3 | 79.0 | 71.4% | 1.09 |
 Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo |
60 - 52 | +8 | 76.3 | 79.1% | 1.08 |
 Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás |
59 - 53 | +6 | 67.6 | 68.1% | 1.01 |
 Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
48 - 66 | -18 | 63.6 | 76.9% | 0.94 |
The first playoff day will carry on with FURIA vs. paiN. Stay tuned to Dust2.us for more BLAST.tv Austin Major coverage!
