MIBR advance to Flashpoint 2 lower bracket final over MAD Lions

The Brazilian squad pulverized an unfocused MAD Lions on Mirage before closing the series on a fought out Nuke to stay alive in the lower bracket.

The Flashpoint 2 lower bracket semi-final, a match featuring the two Flashpoint 1 finalists, ended up with the Brazilians taking revenge in a two map series, eliminating the previous iteration's champions in 5-6th place to proceed through to the tournament’s lower bracket final, where they will face off against BIG or OG.

The bout started on Mirage, MAD Lions’ pick, but was dominated by Raphael "⁠cogu⁠" Camargo’s men from the very beginning, as they imposed their will 16-3 without much opposition before moving on to their most played map, Nuke.

An early lead by MIBR on their pick looked like it could be smooth sailing towards a 2-0, although it turned into a fought out affair as MAD Lions started to gain momentum in the second half. Ultimately, however, it was too little, too late as Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand and company fell short, 13-16.

MIBR got off to a flying start, losing only the bonus round on MAD Lions’ first buy before standing their ground on the defense, with no weak links on the team to give the Danes a way into the map. It was all smiles on the Brazilian side as they took a commanding 8-1 lead, and although MAD Lions claimed a second round on a forcebuy B attack, they went back to getting torn apart the following round as MIBR cruised to a 12-3 half.

Vinicius "⁠vsm⁠" Moreira, an outstanding performer on the map next to Lucas "⁠LUCAS1⁠" Teles, downed three in the second pistol round as MIBR swiftly went on to close the map out 16-3 to take the lead in the series.

MIBR were once again first out of the gate, this time on their map pick, Nuke, which this roster has been picking over all others, but MAD Lions struck right back winning the forcebuy and following it up to control the economy early on. It didn’t take long for Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe and company to bounce back, however, as they retook the lead against a hesitant defense to go up 9-6 at the half.

MIBR made it four out of four pistol rounds on the CT side, quickly extending their lead to 12-6 after the first gun round and prompting MAD Lions to take a pause. The Danes then won a forcebuy play on B, after which they regained their confidence and got on a roll to start mounting a comeback, reaching 11-13. The two teams then traded round entering the late stage of the map, but it was finally MIBR who were able to stay strong and retain their advantage to secure a 16-13 victory, surviving in the Flashpoint 2 lower bracket at the expense of the Danish squad.