MIBR beat HAVU to advance to Flashpoint upper bracket final

MIBR are through to Flashpoint 1's upper bracket final following a hard-fought victory over HAVU.

The Brazilian giants assured themselves of a top-three finish in the inaugural season of Flashpoint with a display that became better as the series went on. MIBR walked away with the victory in the end, but not before a major scare after being humbled on their own map pick of Vertigo.

A five-round deficit on Dust2 could have spelled doom for the Brazilians, but they put up a resolute performance in the second half, with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo ultimately making the difference for his team in overtime with a vintage clutch. Train ended up being a walk in the park for MIBR, who know they will not have things so easy in Tuesday's upper bracket final against MAD Lions, a team they have not yet faced in the league.

MIBR got off to a flying start on Vertigo as they romped to an 8-2 lead on the CT side after shutting down any chances of MIBR stringing rounds together. The Brazilian team, who had even won the pistol round, then picked up the pace and earned some respite off the back of a trio of entry frags from Ignacio "⁠meyern⁠" Meyer on the B site, but it would not last long as HAVU ended the half on double-digit territory, with Olli "⁠sLowi⁠" Pitkänen and Joonas "⁠doto⁠" Forss combining for 31 frags.

A chaotic start to the second half saw teams trade blow-for-blow as neither side managed to get a grip on the game. After that back-and-forth period, the rest of the half ended up being a fantastic display of ruthless attacking from HAVU, who ran all over the Brazilian defense for a quick victory.

A quad-kill from sLowi in a chaotic pistol round set HAVU up for a 3-0 start on Dust2. MIBR responded with a streak of their own after buying up, but their recovery was short-lived: the Finnish team regained control of proceedings and won seven consecutive rounds before FalleN's troops bagged the final two rounds of the half to keep themselves in the game.

HAVU added to their lead after switching to the CT side, but there would be no follow-up as MIBR took the reins of the game. The Brazilians enjoyed a period of dominance and raced to a 15-13 lead, only to run out of steam in the dying stages of the half and allow their opponents to find the equaliser.

Things were starting to look bleak for MIBR as HAVU came out swinging in overtime, but a stunning 1v4 clutch from FalleN halted the Finnish side's early momentum. That round swung the tide back in favour of the Brazilians, who picked up two rounds in both halves to restore parity in the series.

After such an entertaining second map came a one-sided affair on Train. meyern led the charge as MIBR secured 12 rounds on the CT side, with the Brazilians following that up with a flawless offensive display to put an end to a series that could have easily gone in a different direction.