KSCERATO leads the charge: FURIA vs fnatic

In the first round of playoffs, FURIA bested fnatic 2-0 with two 16-13 map wins, securing them a spot in the quarterfinals against the European powerhouse FaZe. What allowed FURIA to move ahead, and will they be able to repeat it against FaZe?

KSCERATO doing what he does best

Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato was undoubtedly the most valuable player for FURIA in the group stage, and an important component of any deep playoff run for the squad would no doubt require the star rifler to maintain that form in the single-elimination bracket. Thankfully for Andrei "arT" Piovezan and company, KSCERATO hardly broke a sweat as he matched Nico "nicoodoz" Tamjidi's 1.27 average series rating to jointly hold the title as the top-rated player on the server.

A little help from some friends

While KSCERATO's performance was certainly important, it would be disingenuous to say it was unexpected. A pleasant surprise from the group stage was the solid showings from Rafael "saffee" Costa, who has been on the rise individually since the squad's semifinal finish at the IEM Rio Major. saffee continued this run of good form against fnatic as well, posting a 1.10 rating in the match.

Joining saffee and KSCERATO in terms of performance was Yuri "yuurih" Santos, who had a somewhat quiet group stage barring a 1.32 average rating in the squad's series against Movistar Riders. yuurih was able to find his footing in the fnatic game, providing much-needed support for KSCERATO and saffee which absolutely played a big role in FURIA coming out on top in the two close maps.

arT forging a path ahead

Already quite well-known for his hit-or-miss, aggressive style of Counter-Strike, arT made his style very apparent against fnatic, as he charged ahead in the first kills department by a longshot. Leading the way with fifteen total first kills across the two maps played, arT compensated for his nine opening deaths by helping his team secure a 5v4 advantage in almost 60% of the rounds played in the series.

Will FURIA stun FaZe?

While FURIA can certainly take pride in this victory, they ought to be particularly concerned about the daunting task ahead of them in the form of their match versus FaZe. While FaZe did show some weaknesses in their 0-2 loss to Vitality, particularly in their fumbling of a 14-1 lead on Anubis in that series, the European side is not one to be sniffed at by any means. Considering the fact that fnatic could have very well brought this match over the line despite having only nicoodoz putting up strong numbers raises some concern.

If FURIA are to take down FaZe, it will require effort on all fronts. KSCERATO will need to continue his heroics from the group stage, saffee needs to relish in his new-found form while yuurih hunts for his old one, and arT needs to not give up early advantages. FURIA do have a wild card in the form of André "drop" Abreu; although he has managed only a 0.92 rating at EPL so far, a strong showing like he displayed at the IEM Rio Major could be what FURIA needs to keep their playoff run alive.