fnatic have done the seemingly impossible and defeated home team favourites Natus Vincere in the semi-finals of BEAT IT Russia to book a spot in the final vs. Moscow Five . Despite entering the semi-final as underdogs fnatic repeated the success of the first fnatic lineup of 2011 by defeating Na`Vi to once again move to a final in the Ukraine.



The series began on dust2, considered a strong map for Na`Vi, and the Ukrainians looked dominant as they smashed fnatic as terrorists and then secured victory without wasting much time as CT. markeloff even produced one of his patented AWP aces from the rail/CT ramp towards catwalk, despite all of the fnatic players having weapons.

fnatic used the map selection process to their benefit to make sure the second map was nuke. It not only helps that nuke is one of fnatic's best maps but also that they had been able to watch Na`Vi play it against AGAiN in the previous round. fnatic's terrorist side looked polished as they stormed to 10 big rounds in the first half. Switching over to T side Na`Vi at first looked in a world of hurt as fnatic reached 14:7 overall, but then the Ukrainians got a run going and moved the game to 15:10 before the Swedes knotted the series.

The third map looked on paper to be a slam dunk for Na`Vi. train is not only their best maps but they are also probably the best team in the world on train and maybe even the best of all time on it. Na`Vi's losses on train barely count into double figures over almost two years and many a time it has been the map which was ensured their victory in Bo3s.

fnatic made sure they put the maximum possible pressure on Na`Vi as the Swedish team put a wall of defense that netted them 12 massive rounds in the first half. Even so one had to expect a Na`Vi comeback of sorts, being as they are so famous for being able to continue unphased when their own CT half comes around. The e-Stars game against mTw springs to mind where the Ukrainians lost by the same margin on the same sides in the first half but came back to win in overtime. Whether Na`Vi have gone to that well one too many times or fnatic had them figured out is anyone's guess.

fnatic swept the second half cleanly to take a very impressive 16:3 win on the deciding map, Na`Vi's best no less, and eliminate the favourites from the tournament. Amazingly this was also the exact same scoreline and manner in which fnatic won the train which decided their IEM V European Championship semi-final. Now the Swedes will move on to face Russia's finest: Moscow Five.