JW shines as fnatic move past MIBR

fnatic booked a spot in Group B's winners' match after defeating MIBR in a one-sided Inferno affair.

The Swedish team move on to the upper bracket final to take on Astralis after a stylish performance orchestrated by Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell, who delivered his second-highest rating of the year at a Big Event. For the Brazilians, it was the case of one step forward and two steps back. After a solid victory against Evil Geniuses on Inferno came a result and a performance - especially on the T side - that suggest that the map is not yet mastered by Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo' side.

MIBR now find themselves on the brink of elimination and will need to fend off the threat posed by fellow Brazilian side Sharks, who will enter the elimination series with confidence running high after their close game against Astralis.

fnatic got off to a flying start on the CT side and cruised to a 4-0 lead as MIBR struggled to find holes in the defense or favorable duels to take. The Brazilians then got their first round on the board with little more than pistols, but there was no follow-up as fnatic continued to reign supreme, with JW wreaking havoc on the AWP. The Swedish sniper racked up 25 frags as he helped his team to limit MIBR to just three rounds in the half.

After switching over to the CT side, the Brazilians responded with a flawless pistol and followed that up with three more rounds, bringing the scoreline to 12-7. The two teams then traded rounds before Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson and Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist overturned a 2v5 deficit, swinging the tide back in fnatic's favor.

With their economy in shambles, MIBR struggled to sustain the pressure and saw fnatic hit match point at 15-9. Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe, always dangerous on the AWP, did his best to keep his team afloat, but JW came out to strike the finishing blow with another great individual round, taking his final tally to 34 kills.