AVANGAR dispatch HellRaisers; forZe outshine FURIA

AVANGAR have ensured a 2-1 record at the expense of HellRaisers following a 16-8 victory on Dust2, while FORZE bested FURIA 16-10 on Nuke.

HellRaisers kicked off their CT side on Dust2 with an early three-round lead, facilitated by a P2000 3k from Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný. Shortly after this successful stretch for the defence, the Kazakh offensive retaliated once finances were in check and rallied to a 7-3 lead off the back of an outstanding individual showing from Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev.

The concluding five rounds of the initial have were split with a slight skew towards HellRaisers, producing a 9-6 lead for AVANGAR going into the second half.

Much like their opponents, a successful pistol round allowed AVANGAR to extend their lead by three rounds, but this time around, their early momentum had longevity. Doubling up on their early victories meant map point for the Kazakhs, who subsequently went on to close out Dust2 at 16-8.

FURIA and FORZE faced off on Nuke, where the Brazilian roster saw success in the early and mid portions of their CT half, stalled slightly by a MAC-10 ace from Dmitriy "⁠facecrack⁠" Alekseyev. This inspiring performance meant that the Russian quintet was later able to soften their half-time deficit, as a total of five rounds were converted, four in consecutive fashion, to cut the gap to just one round by half-time.

After moving over to the defence, FORZE were visibly more comfortable, expressed by their success in the pistol round. The following two were accrued shortly after, and despite a minor setback in the form of FURIA's success with their first set of rifles, the Russian onslaught continued. Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov and his men went on to secure a 2-1 record in the New Challengers stage, as FURIA faltered in crucial situations, conceding the map with a 10-16 score.