Fnatic surpass FPX to grab the second Copenhagen slot

Fnatic continued their dominance in the playoffs and took down FunPlus Phoenix in 3 games to secure the second Copenhagen spot in EMEA.

Icebox

Fnatic picked Icebox for the opening map of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event Upper Bracket Semi Finals game. They have picked the map four times throughout the group stage and won every map without facing any difficulties. Moreover, they even demolished OG LDN Utd on Icebox, beating them without dropping a single round, 13-0. The map started with Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow’s dominance on Yoru but Fnatic took control very easily, starting with the eco round. The European representatives won five rounds in a row but interestingly, FPX managed to plant the bomb in four of them. However, Fnatic had great post-plant performances to stay in the lead. Their dominance continued until the end of the first half and FPX won two more rounds before the end. Fnatic’s defense was on another level especially with Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev stepping up for his team. The Finnish star held a monstrous 2.13 rating and grabbed 18 kills on Chamber. He also had 3 first bloods and a 413 ACS. Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder was his biggest helper with 14 kills and a 1.69 rating. We have seen this duo stepping up in many games and they continued to dominate in the playoffs. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks’s Chamber was the most effective piece on the side of FPX with 10 kills and a 1.02 rating. ANGE1 grabbed 3 first bloods to open up the bomb sites for his teammate but he failed to provide more after the first bloods as he secured 4 kills in total. Fnatic demolished FPX on defense and the first half finished in favor of them, 9-3. The European team switched sides to attack in the second half and made an impressive start by winning two rounds in a row, including the pistol battle. The British duo, Jake "Boaster" Howlett and James "Mistic" Orfila led the pistol round with 4 kills in total. FPX tried to stay in the game and complete a comeback in the second half but FNC’s attacks were very strong. They closed out the first map in 19 rounds, 13-6. We all knew how dominant Fnatic were on Icebox and they once again proved it to the community. Derke finished the game with 25 kills and Alfajer followed him with 23 to his name. ardiis had 18 kills to keep his team in the game but they started the series with a loss.

Ascent

FPX picked Ascent two times during the group stage and won both games, the first one was against Fnatic. Today, they made the same pick again and won the pistol round with all the players getting their names on the scoreboard. Fnatic won the eco round by defusing the bomb but FPX took the control back by winning two rounds in a row. Until the 8th round, they were ahead with a score of 5-2 but after that, Fnatic managed to stop their attacks and successfully defended the bomb sites four times in a row. FunPlus Phoenix won the last map of the half to tie the game to 6-6 before switching sides. FNC’s Enzo "Enzo" Mestari had a stand-out Fade performance in the first half with 15 kills and a 1.65 rating. On the other side, Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky answered him also with Fade in his hands, grabbing 14 kills and holding a 1.62 rating. FPX picked up where they left off and won the first two rounds after the switch. Despite having rough times on the attacking side, Pontus "Zyppan" Eek secured 3 kills in the second pistol round to get his team ahead in the game. Interestingly, he only had 4 kills in the first half and managed to get 3 in the first round of the second half. The competition went on with both teams having streaks respectively. Lastly, Fnatic got ahead and reached the map point but FunPlus Phoenix did not let them complete the sweep on Ascent. ANGE1 defused the bomb and forced overtime. In the first round of overtime, Shao once again stepped up and grabbed 3 kills on the attacking side. Finally, FPX won the second round of overtime to win the map and force another map in the series. Shao and ardiis played great both in clutch moments and also generally in the game and grabbed 44 kills combined. On the other hand, Mistic had a 1.46 rating and 24 kills on KAY/O. He was very effective both on attack and defense but he could not keep his team in the game in overtime.

Fracture

The decider map of the series was Fracture. Fnatic and FunPlus Phoenix faced each other on Fracture before, during the group stage, and Fnatic were the winning side of that competition with a 10-round margin, 13-3. Today, we saw a much closer competition between the two teams. Fnatic made a great start to the last map and won the pistol round as well as the second round. However, FPX managed to plant the bomb and grabbed some extra cash to spend in the third round. Shao and ardiis stepped up for their first-round win and FPX won three rounds in a row. After that point, they failed to attack the bomb sites properly or Fnatic had a great defense in many scenarios. The European representatives denied FPX until the end of the first half and won seven rounds in a row. They had the lead after the first half, 9-3. Derke had a monstrous Chamber performance with 16 kills, and a 1.71 rating. He also dropped 3 first bloods to keep the bomb sites safe. Enzo’s Viper was also crucial for Fnatic’s defense and the French player held a 1.43 rating while grabbing 11 kills. FPX’s ardiis had 144 kills and a 1.52 rating but his efforts were insufficient. FPX made a great start to the second half with ardiis and Zyppan dominating the map. They held a 4-round winning streak and got closer to Fnatic. Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow had an ace on his own in the third round. However, Fnatic held onto their lead and managed to execute their attacking strategies. After winning the last two rounds, they closed out the map with a score of 13-9 and reached the Upper Bracket Final. Derke and Enzo were the real heroes on Fracture with 20 and 19 kills, respectively. On FPX’s side, ardiis tried his best with 22 kills and ANGE1 had 18. The duo had 8 first bloods combined, 5 for ardiis and 3 for ANGE1 but the Fnatic side was the superior one in this matchup.

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event

Fnatic

2

X

1

FunPlus Phoenix

Upper Bracket Semi Final, Best of 3 - June 18, 2022 - 4:15PM

13

Icebox

6

12

Ascent

14

13

Fracture

9

Fnatic

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Derke

1.28

279

65/46/5

+19

1.41

62.0%

171.9

24%

45%

13

16

Enzo

1.24

230

56/39/24

+17

1.44

78.9%

155.1

28%

33%

1

2

Alfajer

1.16

235

54/48/13

+6

1.13

73.3%

151.3

22%

54%

7

6

Mistic

1.04

182

47/44/26

+3

1.07

79.5%

124.9

39%

86%

6

1

Boaster

0.95

186

40/47/28

-7

0.85

78.7%

121.9

17%

47%

8

9

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

ardiis

1.23

270

62/52/9

+10

1.19

73.2%

175.3

24%

74%

14

5

ANGE1

0.87

186

46/53/10

-7

0.87

58.8%

127.3

42%

37%

10

17

SUYGETSU

0.79

170

39/52/14

-13

0.75

68.4%

119.2

37%

57%

4

3

Zyppan

0.78

160

37/51/19

-14

0.73

66.6%

102.8

21%

43%

3

4

Shao

0.78

168

40/54/19

-14

0.74

61.7%

126.0

24%

33%

3

6

Fnatic will face Guild Esports in the Upper Bracket Final and they have guaranteed themselves a spot at VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen. It is not the end of the road for FPX as they will now face Acend in the Lower Bracket Semi Finals.