FURIA edge out Astralis in ECS S7 Finals opener

A 16-14 victory over Astralis on Nuke sees FURIA move on to the winners match of Group A at the ECS Season 7 Finals.

The Brazilian side started off the game on the right foot, picking off their opponents and closing out the 2v2 in the pistol round to take the 3-0 lead as T. The first rifle round went down to the wire but Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen clutched the 1v2, getting his side on the board. Astralis started rolling after that, grabbing a 5-3 advantage after some dominant holds.

Rounds were traded back-and-forth in the middle part of the half, but finally, FURIA was able to break Astralis' economy after Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan picked up a triple kill on the B bombsite following a fast vent dive. The Brazilians capitalized on that and took a minimal, 8-7 lead going into the second half.

The Danes took back the lead swiftly by winning the pistol and surviving the anti-ecos, and extended it with some strong play in rifle rounds. Astralis played down the clock but hit the sites perfectly in the end, allowing FURIA to claim only one round before they went up 14-9.

The Brazilian team finally managed to stop Astralis' dominance, with Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato and Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos managing a 2v3 retake on B being key to FURIA equalizing the scoreline at 14-14. KSCERATO, who was putting in a great performance throughout the game, stepped up once again in the final stretch, clutching a 1v2 on B and allowing FURIA to win the game 16-14.