FURIA secure semi-final spot over Astralis

The first quarter-final of the day had the reliable stoic Danes of Astralis going up against the wild, crazy and talented Brazilians of FURIA.

The Bo3 kicked off on Ancient and the map-pickers of Astralis enjoyed a relatively successful T-side on what is commonly known as the most CT-sided map in the pool. After fifteen rounds they were sitting on seven, and they might have taken a couple more if it wasn’t for the ninja defuse abilities of “saffee”.
FURIA raised the tempo of the match as they hit the T-side, which netted them a small streak pushing their lead to four rounds. But FURIA soon started bleeding rounds, and like a shark in the water “k0nfig” smelt the blood of the Brazilians, and soon they were devoured as the Danes secured their map pick after a dominant CT-side.

The second map of the series was FURIA’s pick of Mirage, which they comfortably won 16-11 when they faced the Danes at IEM Katowice. They would now have to make a repeat performance to stay alive at EPL.
Maybe spurred on by the fact that they were playing for their tournament life, the Brazilian squad absolutely pummeled the Astralis defense in the early stages of the first half. The Danes started to show signs of life towards the end of the half but were not able to stop the relentless pressure of the FURIA offense, and now had to make a heroic comeback down 10-5 at halftime.
FURIA, led by IGL "arT", continued their assault after the break and impressively only allowed the Danish squad to take three more rounds before all was said and done.

The deciding map of the series was Nuke, and after a knife round win, Astralis chose to start on the CT-side.
The Danes got off to a great start on this third and final map, going up 5-1 and looking strong. That is when FURIA started abusing the upper site with rushes through lobby. Astralis struggled heavily with containing the fast plays, and whenever they did succeed, “yuurih” somehow were able to claw it back with some fantastic plays in disadvantageous positions. FURIA led by 8-7 at the break.
FURIA continued their stylish display as they completely slaughtered the Danes in the second half. The Brazilians were so dominating that they didn’t let Astralis get a single round on the T-side, and the map ended at 16-7.

Highlight of the Bo3-series

FURIA - Astralis 2-1 | ESL Pro League Season 15

13-16 (Ancient) | k0nfig - 1.55 Rating / 30-17 K-D / 106.0 ADR

16-8 (Mirage) | arT - 1.77 Rating / 26-14 K-D / 106.1 ADR

16-7 (Nuke) | yuurih - 1.99 Rating / 30-10 K-D / 118.8 ADR

MVP: Yuri "yuurih" Santos - 1.33 Rating / 60-43 K-D / 89.7 ADR