Fnatic best BIG and secure their first win at ESL Pro League S14

With Group A and Group B having been concluded we are now beginning to see the teams from Group C of the ESL Pro League Season 14 event locking horns. With Group C arguably being the strongest group at the event there have been and will come many intense Bo3-series. One of these interesting Bo3-series was between BIG and fnatic. With both teams having made recent changes to their starting roster it was unclear as to how they would perform going into the event. BIG started their first Bo3-series with greater success than fnatic netting them three points whereas fnatic had to see themselves defeated and at zero points. This would soon change for the fnatic roster, however, as they managed to best BIG and secure their first victory at the ESL Pro League Season 14.

The first map was the pick of fnatic and saw the Bo3-series start off on Overpass. Both teams are well-versed on the map of Overpass and it seemed as if it would be a close first map to kick off the series with. And close it was, at least in the first half of the game. Posting a strong CT-sided performance it was the BIG roster to secure a 9-6 lead at halftime. However, whilst their CT-side looked strong and well organized it was a different story once the two teams had switched sides. Looking uninspired and almost scared the T-sided approach from BIG was not enough for them to finish what they had started. After only managing to win a single round in the second half, the BIG roster would have to see themselves bested on Overpass at the scoreline of 16-10.

The second map of the series was BIG’s map pick. BIG opted to go for Dust 2 as their map pick, a map that heavily favors long-range weaponry such as the AWP. Having perhaps noticed the lackluster performance from the fnatic AWP’er “Jackinho” in recent times, BIG saw Dust 2 as their opportunity to regain what they had lost on Overpass. And they managed to do exactly that. Whilst fnatic tried their best to answer back BIG it was clear that it was BIG who were the better team on Dust. After securing a 10-5 lead in the first half all BIG had to do was to finish what they had started. They did exactly that and could walk away with a victory on Dust 2 at the scoreline of 16-7.

The third and final map was set to be played on Nuke. We have seen BIG play Nuke numerous times, however, the sample size from the new fnatic roster is almost non-existent. The third and final map was just as close as one would have imagined, with fnatic having the slight upper hand in the first half. After an impressive T-sided performance on Nuke from the new-look fnatic the score at halftime was as close as possible at 8-7 favoring the fnatic side. The second half brought more intense battles between the two rosters. Despite fnatic almost closing it out in regulation time the third and final map went to OT to be decided. Ultimately fnatic did what they couldn’t in regulation time and closed out the series at the scoreline of 22-18, meaning their first victory in ESL Pro League Season 14.

Map 1 – Overpass

16-10 fnatic | Brollan 1.51 Rating / 93.0 ADR / 21-14 K-D

Map 2 – Dust 2

16-7 BIG | tiziaN 1.56 Rating / 93.7 ADR / 21-12 K-D

Map 3 – Nuke

22-18 fnatic | mezii 1.35 Rating / 87.5 ADR / 31-24 K-D

Highlight of the BO1-series

MVP

Florian "syrsoN" Rische | 1.18 Rating - 63-52 K/D - 71.9 ADR - 70.8% KAST