FURIA pull off incredible comeback against ENCE to secure top spot in Group B

Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and co. were unable to stop the Brazilian advance, suffering their first defeat at EPL.

FURIA have topped their group at ESL Pro League Season 15, securing their spot after defeating ENCE 2-1. A chaotic start to Nuke quickly turned sour for the Brazilians, who conceded the map 11-16 before taking their pick of Vertigo 11-16. The decider on Mirage gave us another entertaining map, with FURIA coming back from a large deficit on the CT side to edge the series 16-13.

This is the fourth consecutive victory for Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's squad at EPL, and only have FaZe standing between them and a flawless campaign in Group B. Despite coming into the event as dark horses to steal the third spot in the group, FURIA have surprised everyone by beating every opponent in front of them, securing a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

We opened the series on ENCE's pick of Nuke, and the game quickly devolved into a FURIA special. The Brazilians' dynamic defense was really difficult to crack, and even in positions of disadvantage, the individuals from FURIA could always pull something out of the hat. arT even opened up round 7 with a knife kill before completing an ace after investing very little into the round. Despite all their heroics, however, the South Americans were unable to end the half ahead, facing steep resistance from ENCE's members, as they fought their way to a 9-6 half.

The second half started equally as competitive, but as soon as ENCE took the lead on round 23, they never let go. The Europeans strung six in a row to secure their pick 16-11, with Snappi leading by example, closing Nuke with a fantastic 31-13 K-D and a 1.86 rating.

The Brazilians quickly made it clear that Vertigo was their home turf, taking the opening pistol and rapidly advancing to an 8-2 lead. FURIA were able to exploit ENCE's defense of the A ramp to extend their advantage on the offensive half, and thanks to an inspiring Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa performance, they were able to go into the break 9-6 ahead despite a late resurgence from the CTs.

ENCE tried their best to come back in the game after switching sides, converting their first pistol round of the series and equalizing 9-9, but as soon as FURIA pulled out the rifles on the CT side, it was one-way traffic in their favor, closing their pick 16-11.

Moving into the decider on Mirage, no team stood out as a clear-cut favorite to take the series. ENCE were the first to strike, opening up with the pistol round and two conversions, but FURIA quickly responded with three of their own and an impressive 1v3 clutch from saffee. Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi played a fantastic CT side, powering their team to a solid 10-5 half.

Despite their fantastic first half and their conversion of the second pistol round, ENCE were unable to close out the map with a 12-5 advantage. FURIA played a near-flawless CT side to come back all the way, with the Brazilians pulling an incredible 10-round winning streak to take the lead on Mirage, before completing the comeback on round 29, ending with a 16-13 scoreline.