The much anticipated Bo3 matchup between the new fnatic lineup, who topped their group, and the Natus Vincere side, who have dominated 2010, in the semi-final of IEM Shanghai proved every bit as exciting and action-packed as hoped for the first two maps. Then disaster struck as the trade show had to close for the night and delays meant the third map would have to be played tomorrow morning at 3AM CEST.

On one side there is the fear that this will ruin the flow of a potentially legendary series as both teams were fully warmed up in the kind of mode where they were winning huge rounds. On the other there's the opportunity to see how Counter-Strike adapts under Wimbeldon-esque circumstances where a game must be finished the next day. In the former case teams may complain after the fact that they weren't warmed or their momentum was cut short when they lose. In the latter it may yield better footage for the Eurosport crew following fnatic's progress.

Natus Vincere 16:14 fnatic (train - 13:2, 3:12)

On train Na`Vi continued to show they are the best team in the world on the map and can beat every elite team on it. The final score looked very close but Na`Vi were the dominant force in the first half and also hit 14 rounds fairly early on. They met resistance from fnatic who had great plays of their own to push it but it felt like eventually Na`Vi would get the round they needed and so they did to take map one.

Natus Vincere 18:21 fnatic (dust2 - 6:9, 9:6, OT - 2:3, 1:3)

After the stomping Na`Vi put on the threat fnatic lineup at ESWC it was ballsy of fnatic to pick this map and so they played against elimination on a map markeloff has made his own personal highlight factory for two tournies.

fnatic got off to the good start and had some great play from dsn and Gux. In the second it was Na`Vi getting back into the game slowly while fnatic kept pushing up their round total. Eventually it got into a scenario where fnatic would win on the last round but Na`Vi worked magic with a buy of only deagles and famases. Into overtime we went.

In overtime Na`Vi only finished up terrorist side with two round and switching to terrorist themselves the Swedes of fnatic seized control by winning the pistol round. Na`Vi had dodged so many bullets that the longer it went on finally they were going to lose a key round with fnatic playing at that level.


The third map was, and is, to be inferno. Definitely an interesting map with a lot of storylines and context for both teams. Tomorrow we will see how the both arrive at the event and begin playing it, with the winner facing TyLoo.raw in the final hours later.