fnatic through to Pro League final

The opening semi-final of the ESL ESEA Pro League finals was a European classic between two sides going through very different phases of form: fnatic headed into this event on the back to two international titles, while questionmark are desperate to get back to winning ways after failing to impress at the fragbite Masters finals, their first offline tournament since leaving TSM.

de_inferno was the first map of the series, and it began with questionmark getting out to a 3-0 lead after a flawless pistol round in which they did not lose a single player. A triple kill from Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist in the first gun round during a B retake gave fnatic their first round on the board, with the Swedish team following it up with two more rounds to restore parity at 3-3.

questionmark then regained the lead after overturning a 3vs5 deficit, but fnatic rallied back and went on a fantastic run that saw them take an 11-4 half-time lead after capitalising on their opponents' mistakes without mercy.

olofmeister was on fire on inferno 

The Danish team came from the break looking very determined and won six rounds in a row to reduce the deficit to 10-11 and push fnatic into a tactical pause. It was only then that fnatic's offense came to life, with the Swedes winning four rounds straight to set the score at 15-10. questionmark knew they had no margin for error and managed to keep themselves in the game by winning back-to-back rounds, but then a triple kill from Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer gave fnatic the victory on a silver platter.

de_mirage began with questionmark once again coming out the livelier of the two sides, picking up the pistol round in great fashion, with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz getting three kills. The Danish team then were caught off-guard in the first anti-eco, and their two force buys failed to produce any results, leaving their economy in a dire situation.The few rounds the Danes were able to edge out were quickly countered by fnatic, who would close out the half with a commanding 10-5 lead.

device put up big numbers but could not prevent a defeat 

A flying start from the Danish side in the second half saw them take seven of the first eight rounds to once again take the lead, something that had not happened since the start of the map. fnatic then reacted with a no-nonsense Tec9 push and followed it up with a gun round to bring the scoreline to 13-12. It all seemed to be going in fnatic's favour, but a string of three rounds went questionmark's way and broke the Swedes' economy, forcing them to call a timeout.

With no money in the bank, fnatic resorted to a fast B push with nothing but Tec9s, and surprisingly questionmark were unable to hold the site. That round helped fnatic to swing the tide as they won the final two rounds of the half to seal an emphatic 16-14 success.