KSCERATO shines as FURIA take down INTZ to qualify for ECS Season 7 Finals
FURIA have earned a spot at the ECS Season 7 LAN finals following a 2-1 win over their countrymen from INTZ in the grand finals of week 3. An incredible performance by Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato powered FURIA to a win on map one, with the rest of the team stepping up alongside him as the series drew on.
KSCERATO came out of the gates swinging on FURIA's map pick of Inferno, with INTZ managing just four rounds in the first half as KCERATO powered him team to a 16-4 victory. A 2.55 rating saw KSCERATO finish the first map with a 35-4 scoreline, averaging 141 damage per round to dominate INTZ at the start of the series.
Train was a more contentious battleground, with KSCERATO cooling down from his performance on Inferno. Yuri "yuurih" Santos came to life for FURIA as the map got underway, although he faced heavy contention from Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe and Alexandre "xand" Zizi. The two teams traded blows back and forth throughout the half, with FURIA narrowly pulling ahead 8-7 as they swapped over to their T-side.
FURIA quickly extended their lead with a trio of rounds at the start of the second half, with INTZ putting one of their own on the board in reply. FURIA managed to reply back as they looked to maintain control, but stellar holds and opening kills by kNgV- and xand allowed for INTZ to lockdown the remainder of the map as they worked they way to a 16-12 victory.
Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo and yuurih combined on the deciding map of Mirage to grant FURIA a lead at the start, with INTZ managing to pick up just two rounds in the time that it took FURIA to grab eight. A resurgence towards the latter portion of the half allowed for INTZ to close that gap, with FURIA leading 9-6 as they swapped over to their T-side.
FURIA seemed set to close out the map in quick fashion as a four-round streak at the start of the second half put them ahead at 13-6. INTZ put one round of their own on the board, but a 2vs5 conversion by yuurih and Andrei "arT" Piovezan in the ensuing round allowed for FURIA to immediately answer back. Despite their considerable lead, FURIA were unable to close out the map and managed just one additional round, with INTZ coming out on top in every late-round situation to force the map to overtime.
Once overtime commenced, FURIA seemed to find their footing, with arT, yuurih, and KSCERATO combining to grant their team a flawless four-round streak to close out the map 19-15.
FURIAINTZ| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
74 - 40 | +34 | 91.5 | 84.1% | 1.44 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
63 - 51 | +12 | 86.3 | 72.0% | 1.26 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
64 - 49 | +15 | 80.3 | 76.8% | 1.17 |
| Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo |
62 - 59 | +3 | 82.5 | 76.8% | 1.17 |
| Rinaldo 'ableJ' Moda Junior |
45 - 57 | -12 | 62.8 | 72.0% | 0.87 |
| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
70 - 63 | +7 | 89.3 | 69.5% | 1.21 |
| Vito 'kNgV-' Giuseppe |
50 - 61 | -11 | 70.5 | 63.4% | 0.93 |
 Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
46 - 61 | -15 | 70.0 | 61.0% | 0.85 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
48 - 57 | -9 | 59.6 | 61.0% | 0.85 |
| Lucas 'destiny' Bullo |
42 - 66 | -24 | 62.7 | 63.4% | 0.78 |
With their win, FURIA have earned the final direct qualification slot to the LAN finals of ECS Season 7. The team list for ECS Season 7 Finals now consists of:
 Astralis |
 compLexity |
| FURIA |
North |
| NRG |
 Vitality |
 TBD |
TBD |
Two slots at the event remain, and will be awarded to one team from each region that finishes the five-week long season with the highest amount of prize money earned.
The current standings (discounting the already qualified teams) are as follows:
| 1. | INTZ |
$8,250 |
| 2. | Luminosity |
$5,750 |
| 3. | Cloud9 |
$2,500 |
| 4. | Spacestation |
$2,250 |
| 5. | eUnited |
$1,500 |
| 5. | Bad News Bears |
$1,500 |
| 7. | Liquid |
$750 |
| 7. |  ATK |
$750 |
| 7. | Singularity |
$750 |
The bracket for the fourth week of the competition is expected to be announced tomorrow.
