Fnatic have taken their first major tournament of the year after having recently participated in a roster change. The black and orange jersey representatives managed to down their Ukrainian rivals 28-25 in a tiring match on de_dust2.

Starting CT, fnatic took off to a great start after winning the pistol and the opening four rounds. In the fifth round, Na`Vi forced their way into the A site to get the plant with fnatic not taking any chances by opting to save weapons rather than go for the retake to take the score 4-1. The next two rounds were exchanged until the Ukrainians started storm rolling their opponents to take the lead 8-6. Final round of the first half saw fnatic open the round leaving the Ukrainians in a 3v5 situation. Na`Vi managed to get the plant into B but with only Edward remaining. After managing to take down Karrigan, Friis retaliated with the frag onto Edward to defuse the bomb and end the first half 8-7 in favour of the Ukrainians.

In the second half pistol, Na`Vi’s tactician starix proved his strength in the team as he managed to annihilate four of fnatic as they rushed into the B site. The Ukrainian side then continued how they started to take the opening four rounds until fnatic fought back with the fifth round being their first after great play by Xizt in the A bomb site. Eigth round saw Karrigan managing to keep fnatic in the game after his momentous play led four of the Ukrainians being eliminated to bring the score even at 4-4.Rounds were then switched between the two teams with Na`Vi taking the match point with the second half score at 7-5. Friis then opened up the following round by taking down markeloff which aided fnatic to close the gap a little bit more, the loss of the round forced the Ukrainians into an eco round which led to fnatic taking the following two rounds to force the match into an overtime.

Overtime started with Fnatic taking the opening round, after a 2v1 situation left markeloff unable to compete with an AWP leading him to be quickly downed by Gux. Second round saw Na`Vi retaliate with this time Gux being downed by ceh9 in the remaining 1v1 situation, with fnatic swiftly taking the remaining round of the first half overtime to end it 2-1. In the second half, fnatic once again dominated their opponent with aggressive play to take overtime match point. What looked to be fnatic’s victory in the second round of the second half briskly turned in Na`Vi’s favour after a 5v3 situation was turned around by the Ukrainians to take the round. The next round went in the similar way, demanding both teams to play a second overtime.

Fnatic once again opened the second overtime by taking the first round. Second round saw fnatic plant in A, but poor play by karrigan secured Na`Vi the second round win by playing openly allowing Zeus to take him down and defuse the bomb. The first half overtime ended 2-1 in favour of the Ukrainians. Going into the second half, fnatic took the opening round with immense play by Gux allowing him to defuse the bomb with a mere second to spare. The following round went to the Ukrainians, bringing the score to 3-2 in their favour. Last round of the second overtime saw Starix plant the bomb but Xizt running into the bombsite with a mere 1hp to down the remaining Ukrainian and take the bomb defuse, forcing the teams into a third overtime. Third overtime saw both teams take 3 rounds each once again leading to a fourth overtime.

Fourth overtime saw both teams battle it out once again, but Na`Vi only managed to take one round as fnatic pulled ahead to take the victory at last with a score of 28-25, a mammoth ride.



This is the first tournament that Fnatic have played with Xizt taking over the tactician role and karrigan playing in replacement of cArn. Throughout the tournament they managed to down every opponent they faced, including the likes of WinFakt and last year’s winners ESC Gaming. With the win they take home €9,400 (~$12,400).



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