FURIA fall to MOUZ, what went wrong?

After coming out on top in the Brazilian derby, FURIA had to face EU opposition in their next match-up. MOUZ had walked over SAW the previous day and would be the Brazilians first top fifteen opponent in their ESL Pro League Season 17.

KSCERATO one man army...again

Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato was one of the best riflers in the world last year, and despite his team bombing out of IEM Katowice play-in's, he showed that his form was carrying on as he was the highest-rated player at the event. The problem for the star rifler is that the rest of his team, even his partner in crime Yuri 'yuurih' Santos have been severely off the ball this year.

AWPer Rafael "saffee" Costa had a good showing against Imperial, with the sniper topping the charts against their fellow Brazilians but he failed to replicate that form against the International squad posting just a 0.75 rating. KSCERATO was of course on top of the charts against MOUZ, a 1.19 rating being a massive 0.33 above his closest teammate.

It must feel great for FURIA knowing that they have a world class player on their team, however, that's about all they can feel good about. The downside is that FURIA will want to capitilize on the rifler's rich vein of form, or feel they have missed their opportunity to secure some trophies in their cabinet.

TLDR:

• KSCERATO needs help, 0.33 rating above the closest teammate

• André "drop" Abreu negative rating for the fourth series in a row

• saffee unable to replicate yesterday's form

• yuurih needs to refind his 2022 form

Mirage

Despite dropping nearly 30 kills, KSCERATO could not do enough to drag his team over the line on their map pick. There were signs of holes in the Brazilian's armor when they faced off against Imperial on Mirage in their previous series, but the team managed to save five map points and take it in OT.

Jon 'JDC' de Castro proved to be a menace on the CT side as his 117 ADR performance helped the EU squad to take a huge 11-4 lead on their defense. This in tandem with MOUZ IGL Christopher 'dexter' Nong putting in a 1.25 rating proving once again that he is more than capable being a fragging leader at a tier one level, something he has often been criticised for.

The lack of innovation and success on FURIA's T side sparks new questions over Andrei 'arT' Piovezan's playstyle. Whilst great for the viewer, it feels the top teams have figured out the Brazilian's hyper-aggressive brand of Counter-Strike. With no plan B, it often leaves FURIA relying on their one man army KSCERATO.

TLDR:

• KSCERATO 1.55 rating

• JDC 117 ADR on CT side

• dexter proving to be a top fragging IGL, 1.25 rating

• saffee 2 kills on T side

Ancient

On Ancient it was the reverse story, after putting up a solid T half with seven rounds, the FURIA side crumbled on their defense winning only two rounds out of ten on their way to getting 2-9'd by MOUZ. FURIA won the pistol on their T half which gave them the chance to build up an economic advantage and keep MOUZ on the ropes but once the EU team got guns they went on to dominate.

Once again it would be IGL and Aussie dexter to lead the way and when compared to the impact of his opposite number questions have to be raised. arT found his team six first kills in the map, but he also gave away five first kills almost completely negating the advantages his aggression earnt. yuurih continued to have a series to forget as he gave away the man advantage three times, without finding a single opener himself which partnered with his server low 0.74 kills raises serious questions about the former top 20 player.

The real scary thing for FURIA is that Ancient showed how lost the team are when they can't fall back on talisman KSCERATO. The star rifler had a map to forget as he posted a 0.81 rating, just 12 kills which was a joint low with yuurih.

TLDR:

• T side Ancient suits the FURIA aggression

• arT gives up as many FK's as he gains (6 for, 5 against)

• yuurih 2023 form poor, 1.02 rating past three months v. 1.18 career rating

• Without KSCERATO, FURIA are completely lost

Whats next for FURIA?

FURIA now will face off against Spaniards Movistar Riders, who beat out Complexity in a shock win to send the NA side to the Last Chance bracket. It is a match that FURIA have to win, if they fail to do so they will be knocked down to the Last Chance bracket where there will be no more room for mistakes.