FURIA in Paris: Zero T-side rounds after two maps

The Brazilians have gone 0-17 on the offense in matches against Monte and Ninjas in Pyjamas and now sit one best-of-three defeat away from an early exit at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.

FURIA came into the BLAST.tv Paris Major as one of the stronger teams, sitting at No. 8 on the world ranking and picking up the sole Legends Stage berth up for grabs at the Americas RMR after a first-place finish.

Alas, the Brazilians have had a lackluster start to the $1,250,000 competition in France, and are now one loss away from exiting the French spectacle with a 0-3 record — a feat notably accelerated by their inability to win a single T-side round in their two best-of-one bouts.

The Brazilians have been competitive on the CT side despite their disappointing offensive efforts, racking up seven rounds in their opening duel versus an ever-impressive Monte. Things quickly went awry, however; the Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan-led lineup were completely routed following the side swap, conceding eight rounds in quick succession to be cast straight down to the 0-1 pool.

The annihilation at the hands of the Ukrainian roster was so pronounced that André "⁠drop⁠" Abreu's three frags was the most the team could muster. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato, who Jacob "⁠Pimp⁠" Winneche claimed to be the best rifler of the year so far, was only able to add two kills to his tally, whilst Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa was unable to kill even one Monte player.

FURIA's 0-1 fixture versus Ninjas in Pyjamas was a similar story, with the Brazilians looking alive and in control for much of the opening half, leading 8-7 at the break with only Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner to worry about once on the attack. Regardless, a prowling REZ coupled with an uptick in form from Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov proved to be a dangerous duo, as FURIA were locked out of bombsites or overpowered with ease, leaving the Brazilians to sit in their chairs pensively as Nicholas "⁠guerri⁠" Nogueira sought to inspire the less-than-impressive lineup.

It's a flop that has left FURIA with a tall order ahead of them; the squad need to win three best-of-threes on the trot if they're to make their fourth consecutive playoff appearance at a Major. Their first do-or-die game will be on Sunday, with their opponent set to be determined by the end of Saturday.