Vitality and Spirit cruise to StarLadder Budapest Major semifinals
Day one of the StarLadder Budapest Major quarterfinals has come to a close with Spirit and Vitality both claiming 2-0 wins to advance into the semifinals. The wins see the two most recent Major champions secure fairly comprehensive victories over their opponents to keep the Major dream alive.
The day started with Spirit taking on Falcons, with Spirit's 2-0 win over the "superteam" once again revealing cracks in the pricey project when the lights are brightest. While Spirit's Ivan "zweih" Gogin had an absolutely fantastic day in his Major playoffs debut the same cannot be said for any player on Falcons, with Nikola "NiKo" Kovač having a rough day amidst the continued pressure of grabbing his first Major trophy.
The first map in the series, Nuke, was an absolute blowout for Spirit, with the Russian team taking it 13-4 while Dust2 ended up being a vastly more competitive 16-12 win for Spirit. zweih was undoubtedly the MVP of the series, ending the day with 43 kills, 93.3 ADR, and a 1.59 rating.
SpiritFalcons| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ivan 'zweih' Gogin |
43 - 29 | +14 | 93.3 | 68.9% | 1.59 |
| Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets |
46 - 22 | +24 | 93.4 | 80.0% | 1.53 |
| Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov |
34 - 20 | +14 | 71.2 | 75.6% | 1.23 |
 Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich |
31 - 27 | +4 | 92.7 | 82.2% | 1.23 |
| Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov |
17 - 28 | -11 | 47.0 | 73.3% | 0.68 |
| Falcons |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxim 'kyousuke' Lukin |
33 - 36 | -3 | 80.5 | 66.7% | 1.04 |
| Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
29 - 28 | +1 | 61.6 | 55.6% | 0.97 |
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
29 - 36 | -7 | 70.2 | 62.2% | 0.96 |
 Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski |
19 - 36 | -17 | 49.5 | 55.6% | 0.73 |
 René 'TeSeS' Madsen |
16 - 36 | -20 | 53.4 | 60.0% | 0.64 |
The other series of the day between Vitality and The MongolZ, meanwhile, was a complete blowout, with the defending Major champions making quick work of their opposition. It was the Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut show as the French phenom ended the day with 46 kills and a 2.18; far above anything his opposition or his teammates could muster.
This combined with a great day from Robin "ropz" Kool saw Vitality tie up the series with a bow after taking Mirage 13-5 and Dust2 13-4.
VitalityThe MongolZ| Vitality |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut |
46 - 18 | +28 | 131.0 | 88.6% | 2.18 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
29 - 17 | +12 | 86.3 | 91.4% | 1.53 |
 William 'mezii' Merriman |
30 - 21 | +9 | 87.8 | 85.7% | 1.30 |
 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan |
26 - 23 | +3 | 84.0 | 74.3% | 1.27 |
| Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire |
14 - 23 | -9 | 44.7 | 62.9% | 0.56 |
| The MongolZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ayush 'mzinho' Batbold |
29 - 28 | +1 | 86.8 | 62.9% | 1.23 |
| Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch |
23 - 30 | -7 | 63.0 | 65.7% | 0.86 |
| Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren |
18 - 31 | -13 | 79.4 | 62.9% | 0.86 |
| Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold |
19 - 27 | -8 | 55.1 | 65.7% | 0.81 |
| Unudelger 'controlez' Baasanjargal |
12 - 29 | -17 | 43.0 | 42.9% | 0.46 |
With these series out of the way, tomorrow will start with FaZe taking on MOUZ before FURIA take on NAVI.
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