FNATIC downs Wolves, trains eyes on Paper Rex in grand final

FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder has defeated Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #2 SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) Juicy Tyler James Aeria 3-1 in the lower final of Masters Toronto, earning a spot in the grand final against Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov .

It will be FNATIC's first appearance at an international grand final since Masters Tokyo in 2023 and fourth-ever in an international event.

The match played out on FNATIC's Split, Wolves' Icebox, FNATIC's Lotus, and Ascent, leaving the decider map of Sunset unnecessary. FNATIC won Split 13-9, Icebox 13-4, Wolves won Lotus 13-10, FNATIC won Ascent 13-5.

FNATIC started out the match on Split at a full sprint. With recent wins on the map over Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) Suggest Seo Jae-young (서재영) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) and G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #1 jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf , FNATIC carried momentum into the map, starting on the attacker side and rolling in the process. Wolves, meanwhile, had wins over Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #4 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) on the map.

While FNATIC benefited from a strong attack-side against Gen.G, Wolves utilized a strong defender side to overcome a 10-2 halftime deficit. With FNATIC starting on attack and Wolves on defense, both teams started the map on their supposed stronger side.

In the head-on clash, it was FNATIC and its disruptive double Duelist comp that caused problems for Wolves. The kaajak and Alfajer pairing of Yoru and Raze combined for 25 kills on the attack side alone, while veteran Chronicle had 13 of his own.

As they have several times throughout the course of Toronto, Wolves threatened to flip the script on their opponents. A 6-0 run to start its attacking half cut the once-insurmountable-looking deficit to just two, but FNATIC managed to pull away 13-11.

The series shifted to Wolves' Icebox, a map where both teams play fairly unconventional team comps. While FNATIC opted for its double Sentinel comp, Wolves went for a double Initiator pairing of Sova and Gekko.

The map, generally attacker-sided, began disastrously for Wolves. While they won their first buy round to shut down a potential bonus round conversion, they gave up a 6-0 run to their opponents. Even on rounds that looked seemingly won, FNATIC had moments of brilliance.

kaajak could seemingly do no wrong on the defender of the map. The young, sharpshooting Duelist ended the defense half 12/6 with a 1.61 rating, a 313 ACS, and an unbelievable 50% headshot percentage. He helped FNATIC to a 9-3 halftime lead.

While Wolves grabbed the pistol round to start a potential comeback, a FNATIC eco round win was the beginning of the end, leading to a 13-4 win for the EMEA side.

FNATIC and Wolves fielded mirror comps on Lotus, featuring the double Controller pairing of Omen and Viper, the popular Raze and Fade combination, and Killjoy as the solo Sentinel. The first half of the map was a streaky one for both teams, with Wolves riding a 6-1 run in the middle of its defender side to enter halftime tied 6-6.

The momentum of the second half ran back and forth. No team won more than two rounds consecutively, with FNATIC winning the pistol and anti-eco rounds in flashy fashion.

Wolves fought back against that early FNATIC momentum, led by Spring and Juicy . The pair combined for 47 kills, with Spring's 26 leading all players on the map. 27 of those kills came on the attacker side alone. Juicy went 8-1 in first duels, logging as many first bloods as FNATIC did as a team. He helped Wolves to a 15-8 advantage in first duels, which disrupted FNATIC's more patient approach.

The series then shifted to Ascent, a map that's been a playground for Alfajer's Chamber in recent weeks. In dominant wins over Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid and Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #6 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh , he had a total of 43 kills, with his Tour de Force and Headhunter causing problems on both sides of the map.

While Wolves benefited from strong attack-side halves against RRQ and BiliBili, they managed just four rounds against FNATIC's tricky double Sentinel comp. With SiuFatBB 's Sova the only Initiator on Wolves' side of the stage to help clear out utility.

Alfajer's run of form on Ascent continued. His 22 kills led the way on the map. He ended the series with a server-high 80 kills, with no other player recording more than 70.

Wolves wraps up a historic run at Masters Toronto, a run that saw the squad pull off victories against the likes of Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #3 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius , Gen.G, and RRQ. The third-place finish is the highest for the team's history and for any member of the team.

Meanwhile, FNATIC has completed a monumental bounce-back. After missing out on Masters Bangkok, they've completed not just a return to the international stage, but a return to contending for trophies on it. Sunday's grand final will be almost two years after FNATIC lifted the Masters Tokyo trophy by defeating Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #11 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker 3-0.