The quarter-finals of the Intel Extreme Masters in San Jose have now been concluded, yielding some interesting and some more expected results. Let’s take a look and see what this means for the concluding stages of the competition.
Here are the outcomes from the quarter-finals:
G2 vs CLG 2-0 G2 Won
Solomid vs Cloud9 2-1 Team Solomid Won
NaVi vs Luminosity 2-0 Natus Vincere Won
Virtus vs Liquid 0-2 Team Liquid Won
The first match between G2 and CLG was a very close affair, finishing 19-17 to G2, but the second encounter was far more one-sided, with CLG being humbled 16-7. Consequently, like at DreamHack, CLG failed to win a single game and questions may now be asked.
The second match-up was substantially more engaging. With a completely unpredictable turn of events on the second map, Cloud 9 was able to claw a win over Team Solomid, who are currently the number one CS:GO team. This made the last game incredibly tense, but Cloud 9 just did not deliver in the decisive third encounter.
Meanwhile, Luminosity were not able to get the revenge they so desperately craved, yet again losing to Natus Vincere. Nonetheless, they were consistent in pushing NaVi to the wire, with score differences of only a few points in their games. Maybe next time they meet, Luminosity will be luckier and could possibly get the win that they crave.
The final match was the most surprising as the betting predicted Virtus.Pro would win. However, clearly Team Liquid had prepared well as they thrashed Virtus to the cold hard ground in both maps, winning by several points on each occasion.
Now that the teams for the semi-finals are known, we can use their performances in the quarter-finals to see how they are likely to fare. The semis will be:
Team Solomid vs G2 20:00 GMT
NaVi vs Team Liquid 21:30 GMT
The final will follow at 02:45 GMT
Team Solomid didn’t begin the tournament with the solid start they had hoped for as Cloud9 put up a good fight. Conversely, G2 quickly beat CLG and are definitely worth considering in the betting as they are reasonably-priced outsiders for the semi-final. However, this shouldn’t completely influence our predictions as Cloud9 were still red hot after winning the iBP Cup, making them an arguably more difficult opponent than CLG, who have not been performing well of late. The odds at the moment are quite decisive, but we feel there could be two radically different outcomes. The first is that it will be a close game, while the second is that TSM will win easily. Either way, TSM are expected to get through to the final, but if the competition is tight, there could be value in G2.
Team Liquid have had an awfully hectic week and it will be physically and mentally taxing for them to do well in all of their games, particularly after the energy expended in defeating a strong Virtus.Pro team. Liquid will now play against NaVi and although NaVi haven’t been doing well recently, the odds are in their favour by a considerable distance. Despite this, seeing how Team Liquid performed in the quarter-finals, it really could go either way so don’t discount the outside bet here either.
