FURIA advance to BLAST Premier Fall Showdown semi-finals over Virtus.pro

FURIA will meet the winner of Liquid vs. MIBR on Sunday for a chance at making it to the BLAST Premier Fall Finals.

FURIA dominated Virtus.pro in the CIS squad’s map pick, Inferno, winning it 16-6, and although VP didn’t let up in a tight second map, Mirage, which they won 13-16, the Brazilians pushed through on the decider, Train , to secure a 16-9 victory and a spot in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown semi-finals.

FURIA will now go on to play the winner of MIBR vs. Liquid in the tournament’s semi-finals on Sunday for a spot at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, while Virtus.pro’s elimination means their next match will be on Monday, when they will resume their Flashpoint 2 run with their first playoff match against MAD Lions.

FURIA started confidently on the CT side of Inferno, taking the first pistol round and instantly imposing their will in dominant fashion with a stunning defensive display, not giving up trades and hitting important opening kills on their way to a 9-0 start. It was finally Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali, winning a 1vs1, that got his team on the board. FURIA’s players, firing on all pistons, continued to dismantle Virtus.pro on the CIS team’s pick on the way to a 13-2 half. FURIA pushed B to win the second pistol round, but gave up the following round against the forcebuy. The Brazilians hit match point four rounds later, 15-6, going on to close the map out in the following.

Virtus.pro didn’t shrivel up after a poor performance on Inferno, taking a 3-0 lead after the first gun round on the CT side of Mirage. FURIA were then able to win the forcebuy, prompting them to go on to tie things up 3-3. Back on rifles, VP regained the lead. Down 3-7 the Brazilian squad bagged another forcebuy after an aggressive mid play, as a close half ensued with Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev and company barely coming out ahead, 8-7. Sanjar "⁠SANJI⁠" Kuliev clutched a 1vs2 afterplant situation to keep his team ahead as they went on to increase their lead to 11-7, but FURIA crept back on the scoreboard as both teams went neck-and-neck late into the second half. Ultimately, however, Virtus.pro were able to come out on top, 16-13, to push the series to a decider map.

Three P250 headshots by Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov got Virtus.pro ahead on the attacking side of Train, and it wasn’t until the fifth round that FURIA were able to get on the board, making it 1-4. Two more strong defenses got the Brazilians within one of tying things up, but Virtus.pro struck back with two strong incursions, first on B and then on A, to go up 6-3. That would be it for the CIS squad, however, as FURIA won the last six rounds of the half to go up 9-6 at the switch. Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos’s triple in the second pistol round helped FURIA hit double digits, after which they carried their momentum, giving up just three rounds, all the way to a 16-9 victory to secure a spot in the tournament's semi-finals.