Imperial fend off Finest; establish first-place decider against Astralis

Finest will be playing for their tournament lives against EG White in Group B's elimination best-of-three series.

The second Group B match of the day saw Finest suffer a 12-16 defeat at the hands of Imperial, with the Swedes showing signs of a resurgence in the second half, before Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's 'Last Dance' squad did just enough to once and for all eliminate any hopes of a comeback.

A single defeat away from getting knocked out of the Pinnacle Cup Championship, Finest will have to defeat EG White as well as the loser of Imperial and Astralis' first-spot-deciding match to get the opportunity of playing in front of their home crowd when the playoffs begin.

Finest and Imperial went back-and-forth in the opening six rounds of Dust2 as both sides kept things level at 3-3 with FalleN and Rasmus "⁠kreaz⁠" Johansson leading the way for their teams in terms of fragging. The Brazilians started to pick up momentum and create a gap to Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson's men thanks to their superb defenses, which put Finest on the back foot. Repeated failed attempts to get onto site hurt the team's economy as Imperial enjoyed a nearly insurmountable 12-3 lead after 15 rounds.

Although Imperial took the second pistol, Finest quickly shut the Brazilians down and took the next five rounds to reduce their deficit to 8-13, giving them the confidence and morale boost they need to potentially mount a decisive comeback. Despite Finest's best efforts, the lead built up by FalleN and company was too much to overcome and it was Imperial who were able to secure their 16th round and put the final nail in their Swedish opponents' coffin, denying the comeback and closing out Dust2, 16-12.