fnatic and Renegades go 3-0; through to playoffs

fnatic are through to the playoffs after beating Vitality 2-0, 16-6 on Mirage and 16-12 on Nuke, as are Renegades, who beat FaZe in three maps, 16-14 on Train, 11-16 on Dust2, and 16-13 on Inferno.

The match between fnatic and Vitality kicked off on Mirage, where Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell’s side were able to get on the board first after Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson downed three with the USP. Desert Eagle headshots by Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut created a 5vs3 afterplant in the second round, however, and the French team were able to win the forcebuy, further going on to take a 3-1 lead before the first gun round. Finally armed, the Swedes were able to stop Vitality and regain the lead early on. Able to dominate the half on the defense, fnatic went into the attacking side with an 11-4 lead.

Having won the second pistol round, it was Vitality’s turn to try and take hold of the situation, but once the economy evened out and the Swedes were able to buy, they kept plowing through, winning out 16-6.

The beginning of Nuke saw Vitality take the early lead on the CT side after bagging the pistol, and it wasn’t until the fifth round that fnatic could do the same. Not allowing the Swedes to follow up, it was this time Vitality who turned the plow on and dominated fnatic, who after eight rounds had only managed to plant the bomb twice in a 7-1 partial. The Scandinavians were able to shake off the bad start in the end as they took four of the last five rounds to keep it at a decent 5-10 going into the defending side.

Having won the pistol round, fnatic then kept inching closer and closer reaching a 10-10 tie, and they didn’t stop there and took it all the way as Vitality could not find a way to penetrate the defenses and fell behind as fnatic closed the map and match out, 16-12.

Renegades started off on the right foot on Train, winning the pistol round and following it up on the attacking side, but FaZe were quick to even it back up and go on to take the lead once guns were in the game. It wasn’t until the eighth round that Renegades were able to get back on the board with doubles by Jay "⁠Liazz⁠" Tregillgas and Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage on an A execute to make it 3-5. After letting another round go, it was finally with Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács at the helm that FaZe got gack in the lead and closed the half out 11-4.

Renegades were then able to win the pistol round on the CT side and start to bring it back after four rounds won in a row, but then FaZe were able to win a 5vs3 on the B site to get back on the board, making it 12-8. Both teams then struggled, taking rounds back and forth. Ultimately, though, it was Renegades who were able to stabilize on the defending side and after a five round streak closed the map out on the last round of regulation.

FaZe took the first pistol round on the defending side of Dust2 convincingly, and then went on to win five rounds before a B play by Renegades bore fruits and got the Australians on the board. FaZe looked very dominant taking an 8-1 lead on the defense, but Renegades were able to save the half and stay in the game winning five out of the six last rounds.

The second pistol round went to Renegades, who carried their momentum to the CT side. They were able to bring it back to 9-9 and it looked like they could start to run away with it, but FaZe found the cracks in the Australian team’s defenses going on to close the map out 16-10 and take the match to the decider map.

It all came down to Inferno after FaZe and Renegades traded the first two maps of the series, and three kills and a bomb defusal by NiKo gave the European combine the first round. After following it up, it was Renegades who put down two of their own to keep it close early on, which it did as the score was still tied after 10 rounds. Another triple from NiKo gave tied it back up 6-6, but Renegades struck back taking over the B site on the following round before going on to win the half 8-7.

FaZe tied it up with a clean pistol round on the A site and then went on to take a 12-9 lead as Renegades were having trouble stopping the European team’s attacks, although they were eventually able to revert the situation and tie it back up, 13-13, as the match reached its last stretch. It was finally Renegades who outlasted FaZe in the end, winning the last three rounds to close the map out, 16-13, and qualify for the playoffs.