INTZ beat FURIA to qualify for PLG Grand Slam

INTZ have punched their ticket to PLG Grand Slam 2018 after beating FURIA 2-1 in the grand final of the North American qualifier.

With not a single top 10 team in North America taking place in the qualifier - most likely due to a schedule clash between the region's closed qualifier for the America Minor and the PLG Grand Slam event - it was with no surprise the final ended up being an all-Brazilian clash between two teams still trying to find their stride.

FURIA, who made headlined last month when they promoted 19-year-old Rinaldo "⁠ableJ⁠" Moda Junior from their academy squad, took the lead in the series with a convincing victory on Mirage, with Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan sealing the show with a 1.45 rating/+11 KDD.

kNg & co qualify for PLG Grand Slam

The second map, Overpass, went down to the wire with big individual plays from both teams, including an ace from Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe and a 1v3 clutch from ableJ. FURIA almost overturned a 9-13 deficit before INTZ bagged the final two rounds of regulation to force a decider. Cache ended up being a pretty straightforward game as João "⁠horvy⁠" Horvath's men cruised to an 11-0 lead before eventually running out 16-6 victors.

PLG Grand Slam 2018 North America Open QualifierBest of 3

INTZ

Matchpage

2

1

3rd November 2018

FURIA

10

Mirage

16

16

Overpass

14

16

Cache

6

INTZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Vito 'kNgV-' GiuseppekNgV-	62 - 47	+15	86.3	71.8%	1.27
João 'felps' Vasconcellosfelps	55 - 50	+5	83.9	74.4%	1.14
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedeschelo	53 - 50	+3	76.4	73.1%	1.10
Alexandre 'xand' Zizixand	51 - 53	-2	68.4	71.8%	1.04
João 'horvy' Horvathhorvy	46 - 43	+3	58.8	75.6%	1.02

FURIA	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Andrei 'arT' PiovezanarT	59 - 51	+8	78.7	73.1%	1.21
Yuri 'yuurih' Santosyuurih	52 - 53	-1	78.6	69.2%	1.07
Kaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoKSCERATO	41 - 47	-6	64.7	66.7%	0.91
Rinaldo 'ableJ' Moda JuniorableJ	49 - 58	-9	66.4	64.1%	0.88
Vinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoVINI	42 - 58	-16	64.3	62.8%	0.83

The qualification comes as a timely boost for the Brazilian team, who are in the running for a spot at the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. INTZ currently lie in sixth place in the North American league, with 29 points, and will face tenth-placed Rogue in their final matches in the competition.

PLG Grand Slam will run from December 12 through 15 in Abu Dhabi, where 16 teams will duke it out for their share of a $100,000 prize pool. The team list for the event currently looks as follows:

G2
fnatic
bluuuuud
INTZ
Invite #5
Invite #7
Europe Qual.
GCC & South Asia Qual.

HellRaisers
Sharks
5POWER
Invite #4
Invite #6
Invite #8
Oceania Qual.
Levant & Africa Qual.