Gambit defeat fnatic on Ancient

On the opening day of IEM Winter 2021, we are presented with many thrilling matches throughout the day. The first matches are being played in the Bo1-series format, where absolutely anything can happen. This perhaps played into fnatic’s advantage when they were set to brawl with the powerful Gambit roster. The fnatic roster going into the Bo1-series, however, wasn’t as we have become custom to seeing them. With a current 12 series win streak and a recent victory at the Dreamhack Open November 2021 event, it was anyone’s match to take home. Ending their otherwise impressive win streak, albeit, against lesser teams than the likes of Gambit, it was ultimately the CIS giants of Gambit to take home the victory and start the opening day of IEM Winter 2021 strong.

The map the two teams decided on came to be Ancient, the newest map in the official map pool. The new-look fnatic roster were the favorites statistically on Ancient, as they are yet to have lost on the map with this current roster. Gambit, however, are no strangers to Ancient themselves and are sitting on a 60% win rate on Ancient in the past three months. Fnatic started on the arguably stronger side, as the CT’s, whereas it was Gambit to dictate the pace in the first half as T’s. fnatic had great success in the opening rounds and seemed confident going into the map. The confidence of fnatic, however, was soon met by a powerful and strategic Gambit side. Picking apart the fnatic defense and forcing incredible clutches from fnatic, it was Gambit to secure a 9-6 lead at halftime. The scary Gambit roster that had woken up in the first half of Ancient was relentless in the second. The CIS defense was too much for fnatic to handle and at 16-9, it was Gambit to claim the victory.

Highlight of the BO1-series

fnatic – Gambit (1-0) | IEM Winter 2021  

16-9 (Ancient) | Hobbit – 1.70 Rating / 27-14 K-D / 113.2 ADR

IEM Winter 2021 overview – Virtus.pro vs ENCE (1-0)

Whilst fnatic and Gambit were battling it out on Ancient, another Bo1-series took place within the event – a brawl between Virtus.pro and ENCE. Just like the Bo1-series between fnatic and Gambit it also took place on Ancient. A close first half saw the two teams almost inseparable in terms of finding the better team. This carried through to the second half. The winner wasn’t to be found in regulation time, so both teams got ready to head to overtime. Despite being a close and intense Bo1-series it was ultimately Virtus.pro to prove the better side as they closed out their Bo1-series at the scoreline of 19-17.  

19-17 (Ancient) | Jame – 1.29 Rating / 24-13 K-D / 70.4 ADR