In a match that went down to the wire, FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder defeated MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #1 artzin Arthur Araujo xenom Eduardo Soeiro cortezia Gabriel Cortez Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos 2-1 to claim Group B's top seed, locking in a spot for the playoffs and a week's worth of rest.

After stealing each other's map picks in dominant fashion, the decider map went down to the wire. The series was played out on FNATIC's Bind, MIBR's Abyss, and the decider map of Haven. MIBR won Bind 13-5, FNATIC won Abyss 13-7, and FNATIC won Haven 13-10.

Both teams entered this match in good form, having captured 2-0 wins in their opening matches. FNATIC had a 2-0 win over Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #4 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh , while MIBR made quick work of Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #1 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) in a 2-0 sweep.

The series opened on FNATIC's pick of Bind. Both teams opted for free-flowing, zero-Sentinel comps, double-Controller comps. MIBR went for the meta Viper-Brimstone combo with Raze and Yoru at the front of the fragging force, while FNATIC went for Viper-Astra with a double-Initiator pairing of Tejo and Fade.

After dropping the pistol and anti-eco, MIBR went on a dominant six-round run on attack to claim an early lead. FNATIC managed to claw three of the final four rounds in the half back to make the halftime score a manageable 7-5, struggling to contain the likes of aspas and Verno , who combined for 21 in the half.

Big 4K from Verno.

MIBR opened their defense half with pistol, anti-eco, and bonus round victories. Their comp was well-fitted to claim early space and disrupt the slow-paced, patient FNATIC attack. Armed with the utility to deny plants, MIBR countered FNATIC's trademark patient, slow-paced play on Bind to perfection, shutting them out 6-0 on defense to tie the bow on a dominant 13-6 win.

Abyss, recently reintroduced into the map pool for the first time since Masters Bangkok, was MIBR's map pick. MIBR went 3-1 on the map during Americas Kickoff while FNATIC went 1-2 at EMEA Kickoff, never picking into it.

Both teams had double-Initiator comps, complemented by an Astra and a Cypher. MIBR went for Sova and KAY/O, while FNATIC had Sova and Breach. MIBR started the map with a pistol round win, using it to catapult into an early 4-0 lead. Just like the map before, MIBR had the edge on their attack side, entering halftime with a 7-5 lead. It was once again the aspas and Verno show in the first half, as the duo combined for 29 kills.

Seeming down and out with their map pick already lost, FNATIC stormed back on their attack half. While FNATIC's slow pace of play may have been their Achilles Heel on Bind, it was a strength for them on the large Abyss, where it would take rotating players longer to arrive for retakes. FNATIC replicated MIBR's second half on Bind by shutting their opponents out, winning eight straight rounds to flip the map on its head and win 13-8.

Boaster 's attack-side Operator pays dividends against one of the weapon's best users of all time.

On the decider map of Haven, both teams ran a comp with elements of the Viper, Omen, Sova, and Killjoy comp popularized by Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #2 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) . The only difference between the two sides was the Duelist position. kaajak remained on his usual Yoru, while aspas was on Neon. FNATIC started on defense, and suffocated MIBR, surrounding them and using their diagonal Toxic Screen to claim easy space mid. FNATIC entered halftime up 8-4, and with wins in the pistol and anti-eco rounds, looked to close up shop.

Once FNATIC had a 10-4 lead, the tides started to shift ever so slightly. MIBR clawed back to win five of the next six rounds, with four of those wins coming either by way of time expiring or with single-digit seconds on the clock. MIBR managed to bring the score to within one round, but just when the Brazilian squad threatened to mount a comeback, the ultimates lined up for FNATIC to get over the line, winning 13-10 to claim the series.

What started as an impressive retake led by aspas ended in a more impressive 1v3 for Chronicle .

aspas's match-leading 54 kills were not enough to lead his side to victory, while FNATIC was led by kaajak and Alfajer , who each had 47 in the match. aspas and kaajak were the spearheads for both attacks, with aspas going 13-6 in first duels and kaajak finishing 11-4.

Up next

The top seeds of the group will have one week off before the playoffs begin, while elimination matches will begin tomorrow, starting with matches in Groups C and A.