FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #3 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder have defeated KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete mta Nicolás González Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro 2-1 to qualify for the playoffs of Champions Seoul. With this result, KRÜ have been eliminated from the tournament, ending their season for the year.

The series was played out on Sunset, Haven, and Lotus. Both teams took their map pick, with KRÜ taking Sunset 13-11 and Fnatic taking Haven 13-9. On the decider map of Lotus, Fnatic closed out the series with a 13-5 victory.

Despite both these teams being part of the elite few that have attended every Champions tournament, the last time they faced head-to-head was all the way back in 2021, when KRÜ took a massive upset win in the opening round of the playoffs. While keznit , Boaster , and Derke were the only three players that remain from that original match, Fnatic were still out looking for revenge. “Now we have a chance for payback,” Derke said in the day nine hype trailer.

KRÜ had a commanding start to Sunset, with a pistol and bonus round putting them up 4-0, which they extended to a 7-2 lead in the half. Fnatic struggled to find any success early on, with their first two rounds requiring heroic multikills from Chronicle . Otherwise, the rounds were all going in KRÜ's favor, including a 1v3 clutch from Melser . Fnatic fought back in the late rounds to bring the half score up to an 8-4 in favor of KRÜ.

Melser clutches out the 1v3.

KRÜ once again started off hot in the second half, as Fnatic's failure to close out a 3v5 in the pistol allowed them to extend their lead to 11-4, including another bonus round conversion off the back of a 3k from keznit. However, that would be the last round KRÜ would find for a while, as stinger play from Boaster and Derke would stifle the KRÜ momentum, and give them a chance back into the game. Fnatic rallied back six rounds in a row to bring the score to 11-10. A hectic thrifty round would follow, ending Fnatic's winstreak and putting KRÜ up to match point, where they would close out the map in the final round of regulation.

keznit finds three on site to bring KRÜ up to 11.

Looking to carry some of their momentum from the end of Sunset, Fnatic started out with a strong pistol win on Haven, with Derke finding three on the round. After the second round eco, however, KRÜ would go on to win the next six rounds, rendering Derke's purchase of the operator ineffective. It would take a thrifty round gamble stack on the A site to get Fnatic back into it, leading them to win the last four rounds in the half to tie the half score at 6-6.

hiro holds down the C site.

The second half, the attacking side for Fnatic, was utter domination. KRÜ had no answer to the Yoru and Iso double duelist composition, letting Fnatic rack up six of the first seven rounds of the half to get up to match point at 12-7. Fnatic would close the map out three rounds later, for a 13-9 victory. Derke took over on Haven, posting a 1.43 rating and a 21-11 kill to death ratio.

Following their strong performance on Haven, Fnatic aimed to put up an even stronger performance on Lotus. Derke far surpassed his already impressive stat-line on the previous map, ending Lotus with an absurd 30-11 scoreline, 453 ACS, and a 2.07 rating. KRÜ was lucky to scrape away four rounds on their attacking half. Fnatic quickly ended the series in the second half, allowing only one more round for KRU before delivering the final blow.

Derke sneaks around the door to find three.

KRÜ have once again fallen in the group stage. They have not made it to the playoffs of an international event since their Cinderella run back in Champions 2021, where they originally took down Fnatic.

Fnatic have earned their revenge today, continuing their Champions run into the playoffs, hoping to redeem what has thus far been a disappointing year for the team. “That's not what our team was made for,” Boaster said after the match, reflecting on his team's performances earlier in the year. He has his sights set on lifting the Champions trophy, the only one that eluded Fnatic in 2023.