fnatic outlast FURIA; to face Evil Geniuses in StarSeries grand final

fnatic won the three-map consolidation final in overtime against FURIA to punch their ticket to the grand final, where they will face Evil Geniuses.

fnatic opened the series on the attacking side of Inferno, securing the pistol round and the two following against a forcebuy and an eco. The Swedes took the first gun round, as well, with favorable trades on the B site ending in the whole FURIA team being taken out. Superior Banana play opened up the B site for fnatic in a 5vs3, but a triple by Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato turned the round on its head as the Brazilians tallied their first point. Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell and Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson then won a 2vs2 aferplant on B to regain their five-round lead. The two teams then traded rounds until a technical pause was called after which FURIA won three rounds in a row, although it was fnatic who took a 9-6 lead at the half.

The Swedes successfully defended the B site in the second pistol round, hitting double digits and setting themselves up to glide to the finish line in the second half, but another B hit by FURIA on a forcebuy threw a wrench in their plans. With a mix of fast and slow plays, FURIA were able to bring it back to a tie as fnatic struggled to build an economy. Up by one, KSCERATO won a 1vs2 clutch to keep his team ahead, as fnatic further struggled to win a gun round, and despite eventually finding it, it was too little as FURIA closed the first map out 16-11.

fnatic once again took initiative early on, winning their third pistol round in a row on the defending side of Nuke. With two bomb plants in the first two rounds, FURIA were able to have a good buy on the third round, which Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos made the best of with four SG552 kills. After tying it up, 2-2, against a forcebuy, FURIA took the lead against a full eco. With both teams able to wield proper weapons and utility the half evened out, with both teams level after ten rounds. Hitting around 120 ADR and 20 kills in the first half, yuurih helped FURIA to a 9-6 lead.

fnatic made it four out of four in pistol rounds, dominating early on in the second half with six rounds in a row to take a 12-9 lead. A triple by KSCERATO got FURIA back on the board, which the Brazilians were able to follow up, but a change of pace in fnatic’s play who charged forward caught the defense off-guard and the Swedes went on to hit match point. KRIMZ was about to close it out in a 1vs2 afterplant on B, but was traded out. That prompted FURIA to make a run for it late in the map, but fnatic were able to close it out on the last round to push it through to Mirage.

fnatic were once again first out of the gate, winning the pistol round on the decider on the attacking side, which they were able to follow up to go up 2-0. The third round ended up in a 2vs2, but as fnatic rotated around to the A site, too much time elapsed and FURIA were given the win. From there on out, the Brazilians set the pace to take a 5-2 lead, although great play by KRIMZ and Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin, with almost 100 ADR each, and a 1vs1 clutch by JW on B against Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan tied it up, 5-5. As fnatic pulled ahead, Brollan and JW won a 2vs5 to go on to win the half, 8-7.

fnatic made it six out of six, retaking the A site in a 5vs5 and defusing the bomb in the smoke. FURIA’s second-round forcebuy failed, but Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles and yuurih were able to win a 2vs2 afterplant on A to stay in the game. The Brazilians then proved too much for fnatic to handle, hitting both sites and converting rounds in their favor to a 13-11 lead. A huge four-kill round by HEN1 with a 1vs2 clutch got them up 14-12, but after getting to match point they were unable to deal the finishing blow as the match hit overtime.

fnatic won the first round with a strong B defense by Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim, followed by a three-kill hold by Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist on A. With a 3-0 lead at the half, fnatic found their way to a 3vs2 afterplant on A which they were able to win following two frags from Brollan to close out the map and match.