Spirit move past FURIA to set up Virtus.pro clash in Dubai

The Elisa Masters Espoo champions cut a frustrated figure in the first match in Dubai.

Spirit are through to Group B’s winners’ match at BetBoom Dacha 2023 after beating FURIA 2-0 in their opening match. The Brazilian side, fresh off a title-winning campaign in Finland, crashed back to reality as they turned in a tepid display against the Russian team, powered by the red-hot Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, who posted a series-high 1.48 rating.

With this victory, Spirit set up a clash against fellow Russian side Virtus.pro in a rematch of the PARI Dunav Party grand final, which ended with a 2-0 victory for Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov’s troops. Meanwhile, FURIA will fight for their tournament lives against the new-look Astralis, who fell to Virtus.pro in a three-map series earlier in the day.

Date	Matches
BetBoom Dacha 2023
07/12/2023	Virtus.pro 09:55 Spirit	Match
07/12/2023	Astralis 18:10 FURIA	Match

FURIA came out the brighter of the two teams and cruised to a 9-3 lead on Nuke, shutting down any chance of their opponents stringing rounds together. But the tone of the game changed immediately once Spirit got to play on the CT side. The Russian team kept the Brazilians at bay for the entire half with a near-impenetrable defense and locked down the map with a dream 10-0 run.

The following map, Mirage, began with FURIA taking another early lead, though this time around Spirit quickly put together a string of rounds, with Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov leading their defensive efforts. After a 6-6 stalemate, donk took control of the game on the T side, putting in a 1.79 rating as Spirit quickly put the game to bed.