fnatic, Na`Vi move on to semis

fnatic and Natus Vincere advanced to semi-finals after their battles with Liquid (de_cache 16-14, de_mirage 16-8) and Luminosity (de_cbble 16-11, de_train 12-16, de_mirage 16-6), respectively.

Day three at ESL's studio in Burbank, California, saw Liquid take on fnatic first for second place in group A and another semi-final spot.

Liquid's de_cache semeed to have paid off towards the beginning, especially due to Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's absolutely monstrous individual performances.

He picked up a 26:10 scoreline during his team's 10-5 half as Terrorists, with the second best player on the server trailing with 13 kills, which was this year's second highest.

Despite falling short on Cache nitr0 finished the year with an amazing showing

With a pistol round in the bag though fnatic started mounting a comeback step by step, as they first closed the gap to two rounds afterwards. Almost every time Liquid picked up a round, fnatic responded with two, and not even a pause at 12-13 helped the Americans turn it back around. They did pick up a round on the way, but eventually lost narrowly 14-16.

The second map was another story entirely, fnatic took no prisoners on de_mirage, and with a 12-3 scoreline on the offense stormed onto the Counter-Terrorist side.

Liquid's pistol round and a gunround win helped them delay a little bit, although two lost 1-on-1 clutches by Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin and Eric "⁠adreN⁠" Hoag, both of which started as a 1-on-3, put them in a very bad spot. Two rounds afterwards fnatic could celebrate advancing to the semi-finals at 16-8.

ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 FinalsBest of 3 fnaticMatchpage 2 0 12th December 2015 Liquid 16Cache 14 16Mirage 8

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	45 - 29	+16	-	1.24
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	43 - 34	+9	-	1.14
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	37 - 34	+3	-	0.99
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis	36 - 36	0	-	0.99
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha	37 - 36	+1	-	0.98

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	56 - 40	+16	-	1.44
Spencer 'Hiko' MartinHiko	32 - 36	-4	-	0.91
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	32 - 42	-10	-	0.81
Eric 'adreN' HoagadreN	27 - 41	-14	-	0.70
Jacob 'FugLy' MedinaFugLy	22 - 40	-18	-	0.63

The other decider saw Luminosity face Na`Vi, which is a match up we tend to see often and always goes down to the wire, this time on de_cbble as the first map.

At the beginning of map one the teams kept splitting rounds more or less evenly, on Na`Vi's side much thanks to Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev, who had an immense showing throughout the whole map.

It was Luminosity who picked up close 8-7 lead at halftime, but a Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács-powered Natus Vincere re-gained the lead once again as Counter-Terrorists. Luminosity always only picked one round for numerous on Na`Vi's side, which saw the former take first map at 16-11.

Switching over to de_train, Na`Vi took the pistol round with ease, this time with both following anti-ecos, but Luminosity soon replied, starting with the first few gunrounds, for five in a row.

flamie led the charge against Luminosity

Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko's side didn't get rattled though and stormed through the opposition in all remaining rounds of the half to pick up a great 10-5 scoreline as Terrorists.

Tides turned once again, as the Brazilians got five in a row yet again to make it even at 10-10, before the teams split four rounds evenly for another tie at 12-12. From there on out, despite GuardiaN's attempts towards the end, Luminosity regained control and closed map two at 16-12.

Going into map three, de_mirage, Na`Vi picked up a quick 5-0 lead on the back of a won pistol round and a gunround as CT. Luminosity came back with three before dropping one round, as GuardiaN defused the bomb in a 1-on-1. 

Towards the end of the half, Na`Vi picked up four in a row to make it 10-5 yet again. flamie then stepped up a gear and put his team in a favorable position with an amazing 1-on-3, setting off another five-round streak for match point. Luminosity only picked up a single round as Terrorists thanks to Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's ace, as Na`Vi found their way to semi-finals at 16-6.

ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 FinalsBest of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 2 1 12th December 2015 Luminosity 16Cobblestone 11 12Train 16 16Mirage 6

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	81 - 41	+40	-	1.61
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN	58 - 49	+9	-	1.18
Denis 'seized' Kostinseized	53 - 50	+3	-	1.00
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	52 - 50	+2	-	0.96
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	53 - 57	-4	-	0.89

Luminosity	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	67 - 60	+7	-	1.13
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN	57 - 53	+4	-	1.13
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer	58 - 60	-2	-	0.94
Lincoln 'fnx' Laufnx	37 - 59	-22	-	0.65
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO	27 - 65	-38	-	0.47

With group stage coming to a close, the semi-final match-ups have been settled, we will see a Queston Mark-fnatic face-off up next, followed up by EnVyUs and Natus Vincere afterwards.

Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 28 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 697 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.69 Spencer 'Hiko' Martin Age: 25 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 355 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.60 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács Age: 24 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 682 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.62 Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 24 Team: Luminosity Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 208 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.63 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 266 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.68 Eric 'adreN' Hoag Age: 25 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 300 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.64 Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 18 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 503 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.67