FURIA surpasses MIBR 3-2 to earn first-ever Masters qualification

In the long-awaited Americas Kickoff upper final, the upstarts FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #4 nerve Michael Yerrow artzin Arthur Araujo eeiu Daniel Vucenovic koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio alym Torogul Baidyldaev upset the regional superteam MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #8 zekken Zachary Patrone tex Ian Botsch Mazino Roberto Rivas Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos in 3-2 fashion.

With this win, FURIA makes history with their first-ever international qualification as an organization, booking their tickets to Masters Santiago as the first seed in Americas after an undefeated upper bracket run.

The series played out on Bind, Abyss, Haven, Breeze, and Split. MIBR won Bind 13-8, FURIA responded on Abyss 13-8 and eked out Haven 13-11, MIBR dominated Breeze 13-2, and FURIA took it home on Split 13-8.

The match began on MIBR's first pick of Bind, where they were playing the map for the first time in this event. Both teams went for standard double-Duelist compositions, with the only difference between them being aspas on Raze versus alym on Waylay.

Both teams traded rounds in the first half; FURIA demonstrated polished postplants and MIBR countered with Seize and Orbital Strike combinations as part of their shutdowns. FURIA got both pistols to go up 8-5, but an Outlaw force to win the eco round and a zekken 3K in the following round gave MIBR complete control over the rest of the map as they ran away to a convincing 13-8 win.

After losing their previous Abyss showing to NRG, MIBR adjusted their composition, moving zekken from Astra to Omen and having tex play Astra instead of Cypher. The adjustments proved futile as MIBR could find no answers to FURIA's site hits and were forced into unfavorable retakes, giving FURIA a 10-2 lead at the half.

MIBR gained some momentum back in the second half but struggled to handle the anti-ecos, giving FURIA the openings they needed to close out the map 13-8. koalanoob was in form as Omen, ending with a server-high 23 kills and seven first kills.

Haven was a first-time showing for both teams, but there were few surprises as both teams went for standard Neon-Viper picks. The map was the most back-and-forth out of the series, with the score often drawing even, but MIBR stumbling again in the anti-eco at 11-10 created an opening that FURIA happily seized to win 13-11.

With zekken on Yoru and aspas on Jett, MIBR were in their element on Breeze, swiftly recovering in the series with a flawless 12-0 defense and an effortless 13-2 win. Both superstar Duelists found over one kill per round on average, as aspas went 18/6/1 and zekken went 17/8/6.

It all came down to Split, which was another double-Duelist home ground for both sides. The first half was a 6-6 deadlock, but FURIA took things into their own hands with a pistol and a bonus in the second half to take a 10-6 lead.

The nail in the coffin was round 20. artzin punished a whiff from his former teammate Verno to convert a 1v2, taking his team up to 12-8 and then 13-8 in what turned out to be MIBR's first map loss while using double-Duelist of the season.

koalanoob was the standout fragger across the series with 83 kills as he continues to show his worth as part of the rebuilt FURIA squad. He, along with nerve and alym, will make their international debuts in Santiago as they look to carve out their names on the global stage.

“This was always my goal,” nerve said in the post-match interview. “My one goal this entire year was to make an international, and we did it, man.”

“I'm just so happy to be on a team with these guys,” koalanoob added. “They make me a better person and player every day.”

MIBR has two more best-of-five chances at qualification. The first will be the middle final against an energized G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #2 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf tomorrow, February 14.