FURIA and iNTACT to play for spot in MDL Season 30
The semifinal round of the ESEA Advanced Season 29 playoffs has ended, seeing FURIA and iNTACT through to the grand finals where they will play for a spot in MDL Season 30.
FURIA took on Final Feature in the first matchup of the day, claiming a 2-1 victory (12-16 Overpass, 16-10 Train, 16-5 Mirage) to net their spot in the grand finals.
Overpass began with Final Feature getting off to a hot start, working their way up to a 4-0 lead before FURIA managed to put a round on the board. However, the Brazilians found their economy quickly reset, allowing for Final Feature to work their way up to the infamous 7-1 scoreline before extending their lead to 8-1. FURIA got themselves back on the board after taking a pause to reconsider their options, allowing them to narrow the deficit to 8-7 at the half.
Final Feature put a stop to FURIA's comeback off the back of a victory in the second half pistol round, pulling ahead 11-7 before FURIA were able to reply. Once FURIA's economy stabilized, the Brazilian team fought to even the score, eventually grinding the match back to an 11-11 score; unfortunately, they were unable to pull ahead as Final Feature won a back-and-forth trade of rounds, allowing for them to take the first map 16-12 and put the Brazilians on the back foot.
Final Feature continued their momentum into the second map. taking a 4-0 lead once again before FURIA was able to contest with two rounds of their own. Another back-and-forth trading of rounds ensued, with Final Feature seemingly coming out on top for a 7-3 scoreline. FURIA weren't satisfied with their results however, and with another pause the Brazilian team rallied back to secure the final five rounds of the half, narrowly edging out the lead 8-7.
FURIA extended their round streak to ten straight as they took an additional five rounds at the start of the second half, putting themselves at a 13-7 scoreline. Final Feature fought back for a trio of rounds of their own, but FURIA halted the American team in their tracks as Yuri "yuurih" Santos helped to power his team through the final rounds for a 16-10 map win.
The deciding map of Mirage seemed set for contention as FURIA took their second pistol round of the series, granting themselves a 2-0 lead to kick off the map. Final Feature immediately replied back with five rounds of their own to take the lead, but this time it was Andrei "arT" Piovezan who stepped up to the plate for FURIA, allowing for the Brazilians to rally back and regain control. Fourteen rounds in row for FURIA allowed for them to close out the match with ease, leaving Final Feature with only the five rounds they'd gained at the start of the match to show for themselves.
FURIAFinal Feature| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
68 - 48 | +20 | 107.8 | 89.3% | 1.55 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
69 - 42 | +27 | 82.0 | 81.3% | 1.44 |
| Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo |
56 - 57 | -1 | 85.7 | 72.0% | 1.13 |
| Rinaldo 'ableJ' Moda Junior |
52 - 42 | +10 | 72.1 | 72.0% | 1.10 |
| Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
39 - 38 | +1 | 56.5 | 74.7% | 0.97 |
| Final Feature |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonah 'JonahP' Pulice |
56 - 49 | +7 | 75.4 | 72.0% | 1.10 |
 William 'shonk' Kittrell |
50 - 55 | -5 | 76.9 | 69.3% | 0.98 |
| Daniel 'picky' Milazzo |
47 - 60 | -13 | 75.4 | 68.0% | 0.88 |
| Colton 'BASE' Musella |
36 - 63 | -27 | 60.1 | 58.7% | 0.73 |
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
37 - 57 | -20 | 50.5 | 61.3% | 0.70 |
iNTACT had a far easier time of things on the opposite side of the bracket, picking up a 2-0 victory over The Fundamentals (16-9 Mirage, 16-9 Overpass) for their own spot in the grand finals.
The Fundamentals kicked off Mirage with a pistol round win on their T side, but found themselves quickly reset by iNTACT as Gabe "Spongey" Greiner and co. took the following four rounds for themselves. Once their economy stabilized, The Fundamentals were able to regain the lead by stringing together six rounds straight, but iNTACT continued to keep themselves competitive by securing two rounds of their own before The Fundamentals took the final trio of rounds to pull ahead 9-6 at the half.
The Fundamentals didn't hold on to their lead for long as iNTACT took the second pistol round for themselves, putting the economy firmly into their favor on the T side. With all their players stepping up to the plate, iNTACT continued to crush the defense of The Fundamentals to take ten rounds straight, locking out the CT side for a 16-9 map win.
The Fundamentals put themselves back on the board on Overpass, securing the first pistol round to go up 2-0 at the start of the map. iNTACT were quick to reply once they had guns, reclaiming the lead 3-2 before The Fundamentals put up a round of their own to even the score. Again, iNTACT pulled ahead with a trio of rounds, further extending their lead to 6-3 before The Fundamentals took another two rounds, and again another economic reset allowed for iNTACT to put up another three rounds before The Fundamentals managed to pick up the final round of the half for a 9-6 scoreline in iNTACT's favor.
iNTACT won their second pistol round of the series on their CT side of Overpass, granting themselves an 11-6 lead before The Fundamentals had a chance to reply. Toryon "KLUMZ" Kelley's side did manage to rally back for three rounds straight, but that was all iNTACT were willing to grant them as five rounds in a row gave iNTACT the map win at 16-9, netting themselves a spot in the grand finals.
The FundamentalsiNTACT| The Fundamentals |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toryon 'KLUMZ' Kelley |
37 - 42 | -5 | 95.7 | 60.0% | 1.10 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
32 - 36 | -4 | 77.0 | 72.0% | 1.01 |
| Jake 'Decko' Muse |
35 - 37 | -2 | 77.4 | 62.0% | 1.00 |
| Jake 'theTRUTH' Hass |
32 - 41 | -9 | 59.3 | 68.0% | 0.87 |
| Ryan 'ROBBY1' Robshaw |
22 - 37 | -15 | 45.6 | 60.0% | 0.69 |
| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
38 - 36 | +2 | 88.5 | 78.0% | 1.26 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
41 - 28 | +13 | 84.4 | 78.0% | 1.26 |
| Michael 'Turismo' Haas |
40 - 33 | +7 | 86.0 | 72.0% | 1.21 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
38 - 24 | +14 | 78.9 | 72.0% | 1.17 |
| William 'will' Cheng |
36 - 37 | -1 | 77.6 | 74.0% | 1.13 |
FURIA and iNTACT are set to face off on December 2nd at 9:30 PM EST in the grand finals of ESEA Advanced Season 29, with the winner claiming a spot in MDL Season 30. The loser of the matchup will still have a shot at a spot in MDL, but they will have to play through the MDL Relegation tournament alongside three other Advanced teams and the bottom four MDL teams from last season.
