iBUYPOWER have progressed to the Upper final following a 2-1 victory against Virtus.pro. (16-8 on de_cache, 14-16 on de_inferno and 16-14 on de_season.
Starting off on the Terrorist side on de_cache, iBUYPOWER got off to a flying start on this map as they won the pistol round and the two anti-eco rounds that followed. The first gun round also went their way, so it was with little surprise that the Americans strolled to an early 5-0 lead.
In the sixth round, it looked like iBP would continue on a roll after Sam "DaZeD" Marine cleared the path to the A site with two kills, but then Paweł "byali" Bielińsk got three kills to his name to keep their opponents at bay.
iBP then picked up two rounds in a row to make it 7-1, but in the following round they were stunned by Virtus.pro’s CZ75 eco strategy in the A site, with Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski picking up a triple kill. After losing the next round while on eco, iBUYPOWER came close to turning a 2-on-4 situation around, but Filip "Neo" Kubski saved the day by winning the decisive 1-on-2 to keep Virtus.pro in the path to recovery.
Virtus.pro were able to reduce the deficit to 5-7, but then they were caught off-guard by iBUYPOWER’s eco strategy, which picked off Wiktor "TaZ" Wotjas early on, a round that inspired the North American side to pick up a 10-5 lead at the break.
In the second half, Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham paved the way for his team to win the pistol round with two impressive long-range headshots with the USP-S. The first gun round went Virtus.pro's way, with Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski finally starting to show his AWP skills, but that did little in the way of slowing iBP down, as the Americans ran out 16-8 winners.
iBUYPOWER took the lead in the series
On de_inferno, Virtus.pro were the first to earn bragging rights following a B rush in the pistol round. Braxton "swag" Pierce almost managed to win the round by himself but all he got was three kills as he fell short in the decisive 1on1.
In the first gun round, Virtus.pro went again to B and rushed through Joshua "steel" Nissan's smoke grenade. The Polish team ended up losing the round despite Filip "neo" Kubski killing three players inside the site.
iBUYPOWER went on to win seven rounds in a row to make it 8-3, an incredible run that came to a hault thanks to Wiktor "TaZ" Wotjas, who won a 1-on-3 situation. However, that was as far as they would go in the first half, with iBP leading the score 11-4 at half-time.
In the second half, iBP were able to pick up where they had left off, further enlarging their lead by taking the pistol round, but the North American side would once again fall victim to a CZ75 eco from Virtus.pro's. This proved to be the turning point in the game as Virtus.pro strung five rounds together to reduce the deficit to 9-12.
iBP found themselves on the winning end in the following round thanks to a mid-B split, but Virtus.pro replied immediately after and regained control of the game before eventually sealing a 16-14 victory.
Virtus.pro levelled the score on one map
On de_season, iBUYPOWER came out the stronger and won the pistol round, but the Americans were then surprised by Virtus.pro, especially Filip "neo" Kubski, who won a 1-on-2 situation in great fashion in the B site.
Several rounds were then exchanged between the two teams as neither side were able to stamp their authority on the game. When iBP were leading 6-3, Wiktor "TaZ" Wotjas pulled off some great highlight material as he won the round after being left alone against three opponents in A when everything seemed to indicate that the Americans were going to retake the site.
iBP then won the following two rounds, which broke Virtus.pro’s economy and forced them to buy sub-par weapons for the remainder of the half, which helps to explain why the home team were enjoying a 10-5 lead at the break.
In the second half, Virtus.pro easily won the pistol and the two anti-eco rounds that followed. In the first gun round, iBUYPOWER managed to kill two opponents and plant the bomb in the A site without losing a single man, even though three of their members had been inflicted some serious damage, which the remaining Virtus.pro players were unaware of.
It looked like iBP would be able to build on that after clearing the path in the middle in the following, but their slow-paced approach to the game backfired this game as they ran out of time to plant the bomb, allowing Virtus.pro to reduce the gap to two rounds (9-11). Rounds then went back and forth all the way until of the game, with the Americans picking up a 16-14 victory to earn an Upper Final showdown against complexity.
ESEA Invite Season 16 Global FinalsBest of 3 
Virtus.pro
Matchpage 1 2 29th June 2014 
iBUYPOWER 8Cache 16 16Inferno 14 14Season 16
| iBUYPOWER | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 1.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam 'DaZeD' MarineDaZeD | 68 - 50 | +18 | - | 1.20 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierceswag | 65 - 47 | +18 | - | 1.17 |
| Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle | 53 - 47 | +6 | - | 1.02 |
 Keven 'AZK' LariviereAZK | 60 - 57 | +3 | - | 1.02 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissansteel | 46 - 54 | -8 | - | 0.87 |
| Virtus.pro | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 1.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ | 53 - 54 | -1 | - | 0.97 |
| Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps | 55 - 67 | -12 | - | 0.94 |
| Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO | 52 - 58 | -6 | - | 0.91 |
| Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali | 46 - 53 | -7 | - | 0.85 |
| Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiSnax | 47 - 61 | -14 | - | 0.83 |