Virtus.pro Vs. FURIA - Who Will Stay at IEM Cologne?

Today the third day of IEM Cologne starts, and four more teams will leave the tournament. One of the elimination matches will be Virtus.pro versus FURIA. Who will stay in the contest?

Maps

Map vetoes look incredibly obvious. The most likely option is Inferno-Vertigo-Mirage in different sequences. Of course, one of the teams may choose a map the opponent does not expect, but this is unlikely. The most likely variant of the map veto is also the most balanced. The teams' win rates are approximately equal, despite the fact that FURIA is statistically stronger in places.

The shape

In terms of game form, the gap is enormous. FURIA has not shown a good game for a very long time. The players seem to have been replaced, and, most likely, there will be replacements immediately after the tournament. FURIA's losing streak is four matches, and only in one did the team face a tier-1 team. However, personal meetings speak of the superiority of FURIA. The Brazilians won the last two meetings against Virtus.pro.

At the same time, Virtus.pro, with huge problems after the replacements, began to recover. The team has already improved its game and is only progressing. In the first group stage, the CIS team lost to a very strong Cloud9, which was expected, given the opponents' shape. At the same time, Virtus.pro quickly passed the Play-In stage without losing a map. Therefore, the form of the CIS team suggests that the match with FURIA may turn out to be a cakewalk.

Conclusion

VIrtus.pro is the clear favorite in this match. However, significantly the CIS team outperforms FURIA in form, which is likely to be the deciding factor in this match. Detailed pre-match statistics can be viewed here.