Immortals overpower North in a three map series to secure the third semi-finals spot at Intel Extreme Masters XI: Katowice 2017.
Immortals were able to overcome the barriers set by North, securing their placement in the semi-finals of the tournament. The team will now go on to face FaZe Clan in a best-of-three series to determine who will be performing in the grand final of the tournament.
Below is a comprehensive recap of all three matches that took place over the course of the match-up:
de_Cache - 16:14 (13:2, 3:12)
The first map of the day saw an incredibly close match between Immortals and North, with the Brazilians just about snagging Cache just one round away from overtime. Immortals kicked off on the T side of de_Cache, where a double kill from Lucas "steel" Lopes secured the team the first pistol round of the map. In the same round Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke went for one of his infamous knifing attempts, on this occasion to no avail, as all he received was a bullet to the dome from the very same Lucas "steel" Lopes.
After a strong start, the Brazilians carried the momentum further, landing round after round, until a consecutive seven were reached. On the 8th round of Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke and Emil "Magisk" Reif stepped up, each landing two kills to secure their team the first round of the map. In contrast to Immortals, the Danes weren't able to produce further rounds, as they were promptly shut down by Henrique "HEN1" Teles, who landed an insane four kills for his team. A further four rounds were amassed by the Brazilians, prior to North being able to secure their second, and last round of the half, with the Brazilian side having the final word at 13:2.
It was now North's turn to lead the way. The second pistol round was secured by North through good communication and teamwork of the Danes. In-game leader of the team, Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen was able to secure a crucial two kills, greatly increasing the chances of succeess. Following the pistol round the Brazilians made the decision to force buy, proving to be a great idea, as the team was able to dismantle a bought up aggression from North. The Danish side felt confident, going for a force buy themselves in the following round. Deagle'd up and ready to go, Emil "Magisk" Reif, Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen and Philip "aizy" Aistrup all secured crucial frags, securing their team another round in the half, more importantly destabilising the economy of the cocky opponent at 4:14. What ensued was absolutely astonishing, as it seemed that Immortals had dropped the ball. They conceded a total of 10 consecutive rounds on the defence, allowing the Danes to equalise at 14:14. In a moment of high pressure the Brazilians, however, came through, securing the last two rounds of the map, closing out de_Cache at a nail-biting 16:14.
de_Overpass - 15:19 (9:6, 6:9, 0:4)
Next up was Overpass, with the Danes kicking off on the T side. A double kill from Philip "aizy" Aistrup on the pistol round gave the team a chance at taking away the first few rounds, as the did go on to do. Not only that, North managed to run away with the following five, landing them an initial lead of 6:0. Lincoln "fnx" Lau wasn't too happy about the situation that was unfolding for his team, demonstrating this with a crucial three kills during the 7th round of the map, followed by a defuse on the bomb. This was a turning point for both teams, as the scaled dropped in the Brazilians' favour. The thirst for victory awoke in Immortals, with the team ravaging the Danes round after round, stopping at nothing. A whopping nine consecutive rounds went their way, closing the initial half at 9:6 in their favour.
The second half kicked off with North landing the pistol round, where again we saw team captain Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen step up and clutch out a 3v1 situation for his team. The following round also went in favour of the Danes, however they weren't able to secure the usual two rounds following a pistol victory, due to a strong performance from Immortals. At this point the score was at 10:8 in favour of the Brazilians. The 19th round saw a monstrous performance from Ricardo "boltz" Prass, where he was able to secure four frags onto the Danish roster. Back and forth motion started at the 11:8 mark, where North showed some pushback. Said performance led to a 14:12 score, with Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen once against stepping up for his team in round 25, securing yet another 4k for his team. Immortals were unable to cash in on an easy win, as North mounted a comeback in the latter half of the map, quite nearly securing it. Unfortunately for the Danes, Immortals had other things in mind, landing the 30th round of the map, pushing the map into overtime.
Unlike their initial performance, Immortals were simply unable to defend against immaculate aggression from North. The Danes took four consecutive rounds in the overtime, leaving no room for the Brazilians to come back.
de_Cobblestone - 16:5 (11:4, 5:2)
Immortals commenced on the T side of Cobblestone, where the duo of Henrique "HEN1" Teles and Lucas "lucas1" Teles terrorised the defence on the pistol round with their insane pistol frags, grabbing three and two kills respectively. The Brazilians followed up with the obligatory two, sporting a standard 3:0 score. On the 4th round, North managed to force two members of the opposing team to save their weapons, after the defence was able to dispatch three members. A stunning showing was seen from Immortals' newcomer, Lincoln "fnx" Lau on the 6th round, where the Brazilian star grabbed four kills against a fully equipped North. Domination continued for the Brazilians, as they slowly amass a significant surplus, clocking in at a strong 11:2. North weren't about giving up so easily, securing the last two rounds for themselves, hence closing out the first half with an 11:4 in favour of Immortals.
Despite a lacklustre half, North mounted up. Emil "Magisk" Reif demolished the defence in the second pistol round, not only securing three kills for his team, but also planting the bomb. Two further rounds were secured by the Danes, bringing the score to 11:6, with the Brazilians still sporting a five round lead. Immortals anti-eco'd on the 18th round of the map, with Lincoln "fnx" Lau holding a close position on B plateau, wielding a MAG-7. Unfortunately for the newest member of the team, he was unable to secure but a single frag, however his teammate Lucas "lucas1" Teles went on to pick up said MAG-7 and mow down three members of North. Round after round went in favour of Immortals, finalising the map with a 1v2 situation involving two members of the Brazilian roster and Philip "aizy" Aistrup. The young Dane was unable to keep his team in the series, falling to Lucas "lucas1" Teles. Immortals proceed to the semi-finals of Intel Extreme Masters XI: Katowice 2017 after securing a 16:5 lead on de_Cobblestone.
Image courtesy of ESL Twitter
