FURIA beat INTZ 2-1, advance to upper bracket final

FURIA have joined NRG in the Americas Minor's upper bracket final after defeating their countrymen INTZ 2-1 (Train 8-16, Mirage 16-9, Inferno 16-7).

INTZ picked Train to kick off the second upper semi-final of the Americas Minor and got off to 3-0 start as Terrorists after a pistol round win. FURIA replied with four in a row, courtesy of a triple and a double from Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato, but they couldn't keep the lead as their Brazilian rivals put their foot down.

With Gustavo "⁠yel⁠" Knittel finding a couple of doubles on the outer bombsite, INTZ retook the lead and went on to close down the first half with a convincing 10-5 scoreline on the back of a seven-round streak to set themselves up for a favorable position.

As the second pistol round, as well as the following antiecos, went their way too, Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe & co. were in prime position to grab the opening map. FURIA could only secure one round before their opponents clinched match point, and then it was only a matter of time before INTZ emerged victorious at 16-8.

yel's team followed it up with a great start on Mirage, leading 5-0 as CT, in large part thanks to some individual heroics; a 2v5 turnaround by Marcelo "⁠chelo⁠" Cespedes and kNgV- in the pistol round and a 1v2 from Alexandre "⁠xand⁠" Zizi in the first gunround. FURIA answered in the sixth with KSCERATO getting a couple of openings and racked up some momentum on the offense with three in a row. INTZ made it 6-3, but they got reset immediately and their opponents went on a six-round streak at the end to grab a 9-6 lead.

FURIA continued the streak in the second half with a 5v5 retake on the A bombsite to extend their lead to 12-6, while INTZ took charge of the first gunrounds, winning three out of the next four rounds. A saved gun then helped KSCERATO win a save round and FURIA ran away with the map to equalize the series at 16-9, 1-1.

Inferno was left to decide it all and FURIA dealt the first blow with a pistol round win on the CT side for a 3-0 lead. The Terrorists replied in the fourth round with just pistols, and that eventually helped them equalize the score at 4-4 and soon get their first lead. They didn't hold it for long, however, as FURIA strung four together thanks to key plays from Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo and ended the half with nine rounds to their name.

When the sides switched, FURIA had little trouble closing out the match, with their opponents only being able to secure the first gunround before Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos's team won 16-7, 2-1.