FURIA get revenge on O PLANO to book cs_summit 8 upper bracket spot

Paytyn "⁠junior⁠" Johnson emphatically answered critics with a stellar performance on Mirage.

Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo had promised a different FURIA side for the grudge match against O PLANO and they delivered big time, beating their fellow Brazilian side in just two maps to punch their ticket to the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs. After being humbled by Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe's side on Friday, FURIA reaffirmed their status as the team to beat in the tournament with a strong performance in a series in which they were almost always on the front foot.

Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato and VINI were the main contributors in FURIA's comfortable Nuke win, while junior stole the show on Mirage with one of his best performances since joining the Brazilian team - a much-needed morale boost after a series of sub-par showings in recent weeks.

"We had some ideas on how to play the first series, but they didn't really work well," Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan said after the match. "We missed a lot of opportunities in the early stages and we got wrecked.

"There's an old saying that says that everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face."

FURIA came out swinging on Nuke, their own map pick, as they established an early rhythm on the T side. Apart from a brief period of respite early in the half, O PLANO's defence was ripped apart time after time by FURIA, with KSCERATO pacing the team in fragging with 17 kills to his name.

The second half brought with it an entertaining start as O PLANO took the game to their opponents and cut the deficit to just three rounds. But their efforts would be in vain: VINI pulled off two vital clutches, one of which in a 1v3 situation, to prevent things from getting out of hand and keep the momentum with FURIA in a thrilling end to the game.

arT's troops kept the rhythm going as they went on a 5-0 run on Mirage after losing the opening two rounds of the map. The closing stages of the half were played at a frantic pace, with O PLANO shutting down any chances of their opponents stringing rounds together to head into the break chasing just a one-round deficit.

O PLANO regained the lead after switching to the offence, but then FURIA, led by an in-form junior, hit their stride and took the upper hand, hitting match point at 15-10. However, they would have to wait until overtime to secure the map as O PLANO showed strong resilience and almost knotted the score at 18-18 before coming up short against a B execute.