FURIA eliminate paiN in Shanghai

FURIA proved their status as the best team in Brazil is well justified, with their added clutch factor helping them over the line.

FURIA have earned themselves one last shot at the playoffs at Perfect World Shanghai Major, taking down fellow Brazilians paiN 2-1 in a hard-fought series to do so.

It was an electric start to the series from both teams, with FURIA romping to a 4-0 lead courtesy of two 1v1 clutches from veteran Gabriel “⁠FalleN⁠” Toledo. paiN tightened up and gradually took the upper hand, losing just one round in the rest of the half thanks to some stellar plays from Lucas “⁠lux⁠” Meneghini and Kaue “⁠kauez⁠” Kaschuk.

paiN maintained their momentum after the side switch and easily cut through the FURIA defense to increase their lead to 10-5. FURIA were the better side for the rest of the half and even fought back from 10-12 down on a force-buy to take the game the distance. But just when they thought the worst was over and they could take it to overtime, Felipe “⁠skullz⁠” Medeiros was caught out pushing through a smoke, leaving his team in a 4v5 situation and costing them the round.

skullz redeemed himself early on Mirage with an ace clutch that put his team on the board. That was one of three 1vsX situations that went FURIA’s way in an otherwise unremarkable half from FalleN’s troops as João “⁠snow⁠” Vinicius and kauez combined for 26 frags to inspire paiN to an 8-4 lead.

FURIA stepped up on their CT side by winning nine of the 10 rounds played, picking up a pistol and conversion before another clutch went their way to ensure they earned themselves a decider.

Inferno was just as close as the rest of the series, starting with paiN struggling with their very passive CT side approach in the face of some late FURIA executes. A tidy Kaike “⁠KSCERATO⁠” Cerato clutch made it seem FURIA would run away with the map, but paiN stabilized late on to earn a competitive half-time score.

The second half devolved into a bit of an ugly affair, as both teams got sloppy with the pressure mounting. paiN took the lead before melting to an insane Yuri “⁠yuurih⁠” Santos UMP spray on a half-buy, and FURIA inched ahead thanks to another KSCERATO clutch and some impressive fragging by Marcelo “⁠chelo⁠” Cespedes.

With the map drawing to a close both teams threw unforgiveable rounds, paiN to chelo’s hero AK and FURIA to a full Glock eco, before the latter’s class finally told and FURIA sealed the deal 13-11.