NRG beat Furia 2-0; qualify for IEM Katowice 2019 major
The match between NRG and FURIA kicked off on Inferno, the North American side’s pick. On the attacking side, NRG were able to win their duels on B to take the first round after defending the bomb in a 3vs2. After a 3-0 side, the first full gun round came, but a predictable A execute from NRG ended in doubles by Rinaldo "ableJ" Moda Junior and Andrei "arT"Piovezan to get their team on the board. NRG picked themselves up quickly, however, winning two in a row to push FURIA into an eco.
FURIA were finally able to get another round on the board, making it 2-7, thanks to three of the Brazilian players saving guns on the previous round in which NRG had a clean entry on B. NRG then reset the CTs to continue the first half stomp, eventually going on to close it out 11-4 after giving the last two rounds up to the defending side.
NRG hit B on their attacking pistol round, but doubles by Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte and Ethan "nahtE" Arnold turned the balance in the defending side’s favor to give them the first round of the second half and keep FURIA with their head underwater. The Brazilians fought back, however, as a forecebuy A execute worked out for them. They then got control of the economy, planting on B and winning their second round in a row against a half-buy. A big triple by Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov finally gave his team another round, making it 13-7, but a fast A play by FURIA reset the North Americans.
With USPs and a hero rifle NRG were able to break the momentum, following it up with a wild mid push by Brehze and CeRq that put both teams’ players out of positions, with NRGfinally coming out on top to make it on map point. After stopping the Brazilians on an A execute, NRG sealed the deal, 16-9.
Cache started out with NRG once again taking the lead after the Terrorist side pistol round, after the second round FURIA were able to get on the board by defusing on A after a strong retake. Another round going the way of NRG put FURIA on a forcebuy, and it wasn’t until Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo got four kills on an A play by NRG that they were able to get back on the board, making it 2-5. A triple by Yuri "yuurih" Santos gave his team back-to-back rounds. It was then Jacob "FugLy" Medina who got a triple in an action-packed default round which saw NRGwin it cleanly to take a 6-3 lead.
The game quickly got even, as FURIA started to bring it around to a tie score following several solid defenses, but a clean A execute by NRG kept the North American side ahead. They were then able to win out the half, but only barely, as they switched with an 8-7 scoreline.
FURIA were then able to tie it up, 8-8, after winning a 5vs5 retake on the A site, but they then lost again to a full eco by NRG. FURIA were able to take the lead 11-10, but a huge triple by CeRq on mid and B evened it back out. The rounds kept going back and forth, but it was finally NRG who were able to break their enemies’ economy to get a 14-12 lead. NRG then won two in a row to secure their spot at the Major.
