Miposhka After Defeating Virtus.Pro: "They’re not the same team we played against in the DPC."
As most expected, Team Spirit came out on top in the CIS derby against Virtus.Pro. However, VP surprised everyone by putting up an excellent fight against their big brothers.
Despite having their Bristleback and Spectre counter-picked by Larl’s Viper, Virtus.Pro played a clean first game to put themselves in the driver's seat.
The second game was totally action-packed. Team Spirit built up a 20,000 net worth lead, but at one point, VP could bring the game back to even. Still, Team Spirit won the game-deciding fight in the middle lane to tie the series.
The Game 3 decider was very close until the 33-minute mark, where Team Spirit took a great team fight at the bottom lane to propel them into the lead. The TI winners could build upon the advantage to snowball themselves to the win.
Miposhka was dragged in for a post-game interview. He mentioned that Virtus.Pro looked like a completely different team and has improved since the DPC:
"Right now, they’re kind of a different team. They’re not the same team we played against in the DPC. They’re definitely much better than our previous series [against them]."
Team Spirit's loss in Game 1 was their first loss in the tournament so far. The captain was asked if he was worried after losing the first map:
"I mean, I guess I was a bit worried. But I think it doesn’t matter. Everyone just wants to win the tournament. I don’t think anyone is setting some goal to win some tournaments without any losses. I don’t think it really matters, that’s why we have Best of 3 matches."