Preview: Virtus.pro vs SK Gaming in the SL i-League StarSeries S3
In the second round of the SL i-League StarSeries group stage, our CS:GO roster will face the Brazilian team SK Gaming. The match starts at 20:30 CET on April 5. The losing team will drop to the losers pool, while the winners will be a victory away from the playoffs.
Tournament standings and current form
Both teams were directly invited to the championship in Kiev. In the first round of the group stage, the Poles won convincingly against Korea-based MVP Project (16-4 @ Mirage), while the Brazilians bested the Chinese team TyLoo (16-12 @ Mirage).
As favorites, Virtus.pro were feeling comfortable during the match. MVP were only able to take the first three rounds as CT (thanks to the pistol round), and a round on offense.
TyLoo proved difficult for SK to handle. The first map half ended with a score of 7-8. The fight remained equal until the score was 10-10, whereupon the Brazilians found the key to their opponent’s defense, and won the match.
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo on felps: “He’s been doing a great job from the beginning, he is an amazing player and I think we are starting to feel better playing with each other. Sometimes changing one piece can change a lot inside the game, but I think we are getting close to how we would like to play”.
SK Gaming’s results have improved since felps joined the team. In the American division of the ESL Pro League S5, the Brazilians are in the top stop with 14 wins and two losses. Nevertheless, the team’s new lineup can hardly be said to have debuted successfully in the LAN tournament.
Both teams were going through a downturn in Katowice. Before leaving for Kiev, the two teams had mostly been practicing online, which makes their chances in this match approximately equal.
Head-to-head matches
The two teams last faced off against each other at IEM Katowice 2017, an event that ended negatively for both. The match was played on Inferno and ended in a 16-14 victory for Virtus.pro G2A. Both VP and SK showed some excellent play on defense, but the Poles were stronger on offense.
Map preferences
In the best-of-1 format, a team will try to exclude its least favorable options, and thus the match will probably be played on a map that is neutral for both sides.
The Brazilians are highly likely to veto Nuke, Mirage, and Train. VP.G2A’s choice will be built around the maps that the Poles are least confident about. Those are currently Cache, Overpass, and Cobblestone.
An alternate possibility is playing on Mirage, a map SK have begun to use more frequently since João “felps” Vasconcellos joined their roster.
Where to watch the match
A choice of two official livestream channels will be available to all who wish to join the audience for the match between Virtus.pro G2A and SK Gaming:
Follow our team’s run in the tournament using the hashtag #VP_Live. We’ll be bringing you dynamic coverage of the championship, LIVE!