FURIA clinch final EPL playoff spot from Group A

The Brazilian team recovered from a trip down to the Last Chance Stage by defeating GamerLegion to make the playoffs.

FURIA are through to the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 18 after beating GamerLegion 2-0 in the final match of Group A's Last Chance Stage, securing their own pick of Mirage in overtime (19-15) before outclassing the European troupe on Overpass (16-4) to close out the series.

They join Vitality, Movistar Riders, and Astralis on the list of teams to make it out of Group A, and will start their playoff campaign from the first round as one of the four low seeds.

The Brazilian team can breathe a sigh of relief after a recent show of shaky form, with Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato being one of the only shining beacons of light in their EPL matches. The 23-year-old averaged an absurd 1.38 rating over the 12 maps that FURIA have played in Malta and was particularly excellent in their first match against Movistar Riders despite not winning a map in the series.

The additions of Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and Marcelo "⁠chelo⁠" Cespedes haven't immediately paid off and members of the team have repeatedly spoken up about the integration of styles being a work in progress, but at least here, they did show marketed improvement as the event wore on.

Read more

FalleN on adjusting to FURIA: "There is a cultural difference in how to approach Counter-Strike"

Wins over Ninjas in Pyjamas and Grayhound helped keep FURIA in the tournament, and though Astralis sent them down to the Last Chance Stage, they managed to recover by repeating another win over the Australian side and sweeping GamerLegion in the final match of the event.

That meant that FURIA had to play a doubleheader on the final day, and their match against Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov's side unfolded in very similar fashion to their first game of the day. The European troupe kept things close at the start of the series, mustering a 9-3 start on the CT side of the map, but couldn't maintain that momentum late into the half and once FURIA swapped over to the CT side.

The Brazilian team almost fumbled victory on their map pick, though, as they had GamerLegion dead to rights at 15-14 only for an over-peek by FalleN in CT to cost them the round and force overtime.

FURIA recovered from that, however, and swept the next four rounds to close out their pick in swift fashion. The Overpass decider was much more clear-cut overall despite an early back-and-forth as the trio of Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan, FalleN, and KSCERATO completely shut things down to earn their team a 16-4 win to close the series.