Vitality squeeze past Natus Vincere in PGL Masters Bucharest quarters

Jul 21, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of gaming controllers on display during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images Team Vitality rallied for a 2-1 victory over Natus Vincere on Thursday, advancing to the semifinals of the PGL Masters Bucharest event in Romania. The other quarterfinal matches all resulted in 2-0 sweeps, with FURIA besting BetBoom Team, MOUZ topping Aurora Gaming, and Nemiga Gaming dumping FUT Esports. The $1.25 million Counter Strike 2 event began with 16 teams in a Swiss-system format. The eight teams that reached three wins before taking three losses advanced to the single-elimination playoffs. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Saturday. The winning team will take home $450,000, with half going to the team and half to the players. On Thursday, Natus Vincere opened with a 13-5 victory on Cache, but Team Vitality bounced back to claim a 13-9 win on Mirage and a 13-6 decision on Dust II. France's Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut propelled Team Vitality with 49 kills and a plus-9 kill-death differential. Ukraine's Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy posted 43 kills and a plus-6 K-D differential for Natus Vincere. FURIA needed overtime to edge BetBoom Team 16-12 on Dust II, then sealed advancement with a 13-7 win on Cache. Latvia's Mareks "YEKINDAR" Galinskis recorded 39 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential for FURIA. Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko recorded 34 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential for all-Russian BetBoom Team. MOUZ thrashed Aurora Gaming 13-6 on Mirage, 13-2 on Cache behind 36 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential from Israel's Lotan "Spinx" Giladi. North Macedonia's Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski amassed 21 kills and a minus-9 K-D differential for Aurora Gaming. Nemiga Gaming got past FUT Esports 13-11 on Nuke, 13-9 on Dust II. Kazakhstan's Beksultan "khaN" Ospan logged 32 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential for Nemiga Gaming. Lithuania's Dziugas "dziugss" Steponavicius finished with 36 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential for FUT Esports. In the semifinals on Friday, FURIA will oppose MOUZ, and Team Vitality will clash with Nemiga Gaming. PGL Masters Bucharest prize pool with total prize money, player prize money and team share: 1. $450,000 ($225,000, $25,000) 2. $200,000 ($100,000, $100,000) 3. $137,500 ($68,750, $68,750) 4. $87,500 ($43,750, $43,750) 5-8. $50,000 ($25,000, $25,000) -- BetBoom Team, Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere, FUT Esports 9-11. $31,250 ($15,625, $15,625) -- Team Liquid, Team Spirit, The MongolZ 12-14. $18,750 ($9,375, $9,375) -- TYLOO, Legacy, DENDELE CS 15-16. $12,500 ($6,250, $6,250) -- 9z Team, G2 Esports --Field Level Media