MIBR end MAD Lions' winning streak to lock Flashpoint 1 grand final spot

MIBR are through to the Flashpoint 1 grand final after putting an end to MAD Lions' long winning streak in the upper bracket final.

The Danes' streak at Flashpoint 1 ends at eight series victories in a row and 16 consecutive map wins, which they had amassed after a great recovery from an opening loss to HAVU in the tournament's first phase as they went undefeated from there on the road to the upper bracket final. Now, MAD Lions have fallen into the hands of the Finns again as the two teams will play a rematch in the consolidation final.

In the upper final, Asger "⁠AcilioN⁠" Larsen & co. ran into a strong-looking MIBR, who had conceded more maps on the way but won all but their first match at the tournament, as well, now sitting at nine consecutive series wins after they reached the grand final on the back of an inspired performance from their long-time captain and AWPer, Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo.

Train started off as a back-and-forth battle, in which neither team could establish control for long, with MAD Lions eventually clinching the one-round better half despite the Brazilians managing to avoid their opponents' double-AWP setup. Now on the defense, MIBR got off well on the back of Ignacio "⁠meyern⁠" Meyer's quad-kill in the pistol round, which spiraled into 6-1 run, but the Danes did not let that go unpunished.

With Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck single-handedly turning around a 2v4 at 10-13, MAD Lions were back in contention for the map, but when the score leveled out FalleN won a 1v1 clutch and saved his team from conceding a 5v2 situation, helping MIBR secure their pick 16-13.

MAD Lions looked to strike back on Mirage after climbing back from a pistol round loss and maintaining an advantage on the CT side thanks to 1v2 and 1v3 clutches from Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand and Fredrik "⁠roeJ⁠" Jørgensen, giving themselves a three-round cushion by halftime.

When sides switched, it was MIBR's turn to pick up big clutches, with FalleN kicking things off with a 1v2 while Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo went on to add a 1v3 for an 11-9 lead. However, the Danes finally found the recipe for success with aggression in middle in the sixth round and cruised to a 16-11 victory.

It all came down to Dust2, where despite early forcebuy battles MIBR managed to speed away and close out a comfortable half at 10-5 thanks to three consecutive multikills and a 1v1 clutch from FalleN. From then on the Brazilians were in complete control as they reached 13 rounds without breaking much of a sweat before the veteran AWPer added two more key plays to his tally to lock down the grand final spot for his team at 16-5, 2-1.