FURIA fall in IEM Sydney EU qualifier
Fresh off their uninspiring IEM Cologne run where they were eliminate in the Play-In, FURIA are spending some time in EU to play some events and hone their skills as a new squad. In addition to events like the Thunderpick World Championship, FURIA also elected to play through Europe for the IEM Sydney Qualifiers. With no dedicated South America qualifiers, IEM Sydney is an event that FURIA would have no other chance to qualify for if not for this European expedition.
In the open qualifier, the panthers mauled their way through orgless teams on their way to the top, until they met Sprout in the round of 16. On the chosen battleground of Vertigo, FURIA made it close the whole game, but truly the difference makers were Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato with an uncharacteristic 0.79 rating and Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov with a spectacular 1.57 rating, earning his nickname.
FURIASprout| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
21 - 24 | -3 | 89.5 | 70.0% | 1.13 |
| Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo |
22 - 21 | +1 | 70.8 | 80.0% | 1.10 |
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
17 - 20 | -3 | 68.8 | 80.0% | 0.96 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
18 - 22 | -4 | 71.1 | 66.7% | 0.85 |
| Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
15 - 20 | -5 | 63.4 | 53.3% | 0.79 |
| Sprout |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov |
27 - 14 | +13 | 97.5 | 80.0% | 1.57 |
 Olle 'spooke' Grundström |
24 - 21 | +3 | 86.2 | 80.0% | 1.17 |
 Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss |
19 - 20 | -1 | 80.4 | 66.7% | 1.08 |
 Daniil 'alpha' Demin |
18 - 18 | +0 | 60.9 | 66.7% | 1.01 |
| Rasmus 'raalz' Steensborg |
19 - 20 | -1 | 62.8 | 73.3% | 0.95 |
Sprout eventually came away with the BO1 with a slim 16-14 victory, cementing their place in the top eight. All is not lost for FURIA, as there is a second European qualifier that the Brazilians can play in if they wish to try their luck once more in the grueling BO1, single-elimination environment. FURIA are already registered for this second qualifier, so Brazilian fans can watch that take place once the event begins tomorrow.
