Reigning champions FURIA are through to the final of Thunderpick World Championship thanks to a 2-0 win over Aurora, the majority-Brazilian side earning their berth with wins on Dust2 (13-8) and Inferno (13-10).
These two teams met in the last tier one event, ESL Pro League, and it was Aurora who walked away victorious. With a new approach to the veto and seemingly renewed form, FURIA managed to turn things around in this rematch and continue their successful tournament run.
FURIA were deserved winners across the series but things were made more comfortable by their repeated success in low-buy rounds, and their individual firepower was a step above that of Aurora.
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FalleN: “There’s a real boost from winning a tournament; it would be great if we could feel that again”
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo has told HLTV during this event that one event victory can do a lot for a team’s momentum, and considering how good FURIA have looked thus far in Malta, perhaps they are on the brink of earning that all-important trophy as the Major fast approaches.
Strong starts to both halves were not enough for Aurora on Dust2, as FURIA picked themselves up once their economy was in order and outplayed their opponents. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis were in immense form on the CT side, always finding themselves in the right place at the right time, before the duo continued their reign of terror as part of a well-called offensive half.
A force-buy way kicked off Inferno and it was FURIA‘s T side that won out and took control of the half for a 4-1 lead, before the teams traded rounds back and forth with constant battles on the A bombsite. FURIA took advantage of the conditioning by switching their focus to B, YEKINDAR‘s entry work bagging two victories in a row, before a last-round pivot back to A caught Aurora flat-footed and sealed a dominant 8-4 half for FURIA.
The second half began with yet another force-buy tussle that once again went the way of FURIA, granting them a 10-6 advantage, before a Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo clutch helped Aurora flipped the script and close the deficit. In the crucial round, however, Aurora ran into a pistol stack on the B bombsite, collapsing their momentum and allowing FURIA to sweep to the map win and a 2-0 series victory.
