【】

Liquid beat Natus Vincere in two maps, their own pick, Dust2, 16-14, and Inferno, 16-10.

The series between Natus Vincere and Liquid kicked off on Dust2, the latter team’s pick, with the American side taking the pistol round on the CT side. Having planted on the pistol round, Natus Vincere went into the third round with weapon advantage, and doubles by Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov got the Russian-Ukrainian side on the board, which would shortly thereafter show a 2-2 tie. On the attacking side Natus Vincere quickly started to show they were the superior side, linking several rounds in a row and resetting Liquid twice for a 9-4 lead. The American team finally got two in a row, bringing the half to 9-6 and leaving the map wide open.

The second pistol round went down to the wire, as electroNic won a 1vs3 clutch to further increase his team’s lead. Natus Vincere got to 12-6 before the first gun round. From thereon out, the roles switched and it was Liquid who took the reins of the match into their hands, doing the same Natus Vincere had done to them before switching sides. Liquid managed to take the lead going into the last round, and with a swift B push late in the round took the first map of the series.

Liquid have earned the first spot in the grand final after beating Na`Vi

The second map, Inferno, started out with Liquid on the CT side, taking their first pistol round of the series in part thanks to three kills from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken. Liquid quickly started controlling the half, stopping Natus Vincere before they could get comfortable in their late executes. Quickly, the CIS side disintegrated, with Liquid taking 8 rounds, including the last one with four AWP kills by Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella, before Natus Vincere could respond with one of their own. Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko & co. were able to take a few rounds, but it was Liquid who were in full control with an 11-4 scoreline.

Winning the second pistol round, Liquid started getting closer to the final, but Natus Vincere stopped that momentum by taking a third round force by and following it up against an economically maimed Liquid. The North American team finally found a way in to get on match point as they entered A, taking Zeus, electroNic and Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev out before planting and forcing the rest of Na`Vi to save. Liquid didn’t follow it up immediately, allowing Natus Vincere to string several more rounds together before closing it out, 16-10, and clenching a spot in tomorrow’s grand final.

ESL Pro League Season 7 FinalsBest of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 0 2 19th May 2018 Liquid 14Dust2 16 10Inferno 16

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	36 - 35	+1	68.7	1.09
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	35 - 36	-1	69.2	0.94
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	32 - 39	-7	71.1	0.84
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	26 - 38	-12	67.6	0.82
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	27 - 41	-14	55.7	0.81

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	39 - 30	+9	69.0	1.22
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	42 - 34	+8	83.3	1.22
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO	40 - 32	+8	67.8	1.12
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	34 - 28	+6	66.1	1.08
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	33 - 35	-2	85.5	1.05

Liquid #9 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 30 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1162 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.69 Natus Vincere #4 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov Age: 19 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 546 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.68 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 855 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 974 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.68 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 18 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 581 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.64 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 20 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.21 Maps played: 794 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.68