FURIA eliminate Heroic from IEM Global Challenge

The Danish team was handed a group stage exit following a marathon series.

A four-hour match between FURIA and Heroic went the way of the Brazilians, keeping them alive in the $500,000 tournament.

The match started on Mirage, where FURIA were in control for the majority of the map and managed to close it out, despite Heroic managing to make it look scary at the end. Nuke was next, where a similar pattern followed, but this time the Danes reached 15-15 and converted the map after three sets of overtime. However, it was all for naught as FURIA overrun them on Vertigo, 16-4, to take the win.

This result makes IEM Global Challenge the fourth consecutive event Heroic were unable to reach top-4 and could see them dip in the rankings before the end of the year. FURIA, on the other hand, will take on the loser of Liquid - Natus Vincere next in a match for a playoff spot.

Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's triple in the pistol set FURIA for a 3-0 start on the Terrorist side of Mirage, but things changed after rifles came into play. Heroic's double AWP setup proved to be the solution for the Brazilians' aggression, with seven out of the next eight rounds going their way (7-4). FURIA then switched to direct site hits and found success, finishing the half just one round behind.

With the second pistol going their way as well, FURIA got back into the lead early into their CT side. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato led the way as his team reached a 14-9 advantage, but things weren't over yet. After a few close losses, Heroic finally managed to convert a round and break FURIA's money, coming close to equalizing as a result. However, arT's team pulled it over the line with a mixed-buy victory, making it 16-13.

The perfect pistol round and conversion record continued for FURIA on Nuke, but Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and co. were quick to show their prowess on their map pick by grabbing four in a row. Crucial kills from Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos and arT on the A defense stopped that streak and started one of their own, pushing to a 10-5 scoreline at halftime.

Conceding another pistol, Heroic had to battle back from 13-5 on the defensive side of their map pick, and again started well with the rifles. The score was 13-9 when arT's triple opened the A bombsite, while yuurih's 1v2 clutch put FURIA onto match point. A Heroic comeback ensued, as René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen stepped up to keep his team alive, seeing them chain six together to force overtime.

The thriller continued in the added rounds, this time Heroic getting to map point first, but the teams kept trading blows and bouncing back from disadvantages. The map was only decided after the third set of overtime, when cadiaN clutched a 1v2 to force the decider, Vertigo.

On the last map, Heroic again started on the back foot, and when they managed to tie three together, arT's low-buy antics stopped the Danes from building any momentum. With arT and Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles pulling off 1v3 clutches, FURIA cruised to a massive 11-4 lead for the half. After the switch, FURIA kept their 100% pistol efficiency for the series, and brought things to an early conclusion, 16-4.