Spirit are the eighth and final team to qualify for BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals in Malta after eliminating 100 Thieves.
Having trailed 10-6 on Anubis, they recovered to win 13-11 with some strong CT side holds, but offense was even more difficult on Mirage as William "sirah" Kjærsgaard's dominant A site work led 100T to a 10-2 lead and 13-4 win.
That ended Spirit's eight-map winning streak on the map, something that Boris "magixx" Vorobiev said was like a "slap in the face" which woke them up ready for the Dust2 decider.
There, Danil "donk" Kryshkovets simply refused to let the game get away from them. He opened proceedings with a 1v3, reached 16-4 by round 7, and ended the 13-0 win on a career-high 2.84 rating.
It was reminiscent of how donk demolished Stage 2 of the Major, as he asserted Spirit's dominance without breaking a sweat. The Bounty tournament is now Spirit's to lose, as they became the only top 10 team to qualify for the LAN finals. As two-time Bounty champions already, anything short of a third win will be considered a failure.
When asked about so few favorites making it by Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg, magixx explained: "When youre playing T1, everyone plays the same CS, you get used to it. Against Top 40 or lower, they have their own fresh ideas and if you are not ready, if you are against one scenario you expect, you get owned by a different one."
He added: "Almost every tournament we play, the question is about us winning or losing it, it mostly comes down to us and how we perform."
100 Thieves' promising showing ends with a whimper
100 Thieves taking down Falcons was one hell of a way to begin life under Jack "Gizmy" von Spreckelsen. Ending Spirit's Mirage streak is also a signal that the team are here to play.
Because of that, they will be left with a sour taste in their mouths having been humbled by donk and company. But positives need to be taken from competing with two top 5 teams on four consecutive maps.
"I feel like, the way they are playing, its very different to when rain was IGL," magixx said. "Gizmy is bringing a lot of ideas, different situations, sometimes its tricky to play against them. If youre not on your A or at least B+ game it might catch you."
More highlights:
Alex 'Mauisnake' Ellenberg
100 Thieves
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen
William 'sirah' Kjærsgaard
Alex 'poiii' Nyholm Sundgren
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
Spirit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Sergey 'hally' Shavaev
William 'sirah' Kjærsgaard
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets