FURIA is the winner of BLAST Rivals Season 2, beating Falcons with a 3-1 scoreline and establishing themselves as the favourites heading into the Major. Having beaten Vitality in the Grand Finals in Chengdu and Falcons in Hong Kong, there is hardly anyone who can keep up with FURIA at this point.
VETO
- FURIA removed Ancient
- Falcons removed Overpass
- FURIA picked Inferno
- Falcons picked Nuke
- FURIA picked Train
- Falcons picked Mirage
- Dust2 was left over
Map 1: Inferno; Pick: FURIA; Winner: Falcons
Starting the Grand Finals on a high tempo, Falcons washed out the FURIA offense. Demonstrating their tactical prowess with perfect utility and game reading, the Falcons started strong, winning 10 rounds on defense, and closed the second half with a perfect streak. 10-2 in the first half, followed by a clean 3-0, FURIA were nowhere to be found in the first map of the Grand Finals. An unexpected chart topper in the Falcons IGL, kyxsan dropping 23 kills, put the Falcons 1-0 up in the Grand Finals.
Map 2: Nuke; Pick: Falcons; Winner: FURIA
Falcons failed to build on the momentum, as a poor start to Nuke shifted it in favour of the Brazilians. Falcons recovered late in the game, which left the first half level, but poor defense let FURIA back in. Having won only 3 rounds in the second half, FURIA remained solid for the remainder of the half and levelled the scoreline with a convincing performance. YEKINDAR, finding his form on Nuke, turned the tables with the stars from Falcons failing to replicate their form from the previous map.
Map 3: Train; Pick: FURIA; Winner: FURIA
The series truly reached its peak on Train, with the first half having both teams trading blows with no team dominating for prolonged streaks. Despite a slow start, the Falcons managed a 7-5 lead on the defense, but that did not stop FURIA from levelling it in the second half and taking us to overtime. The first overtime saw FURIA threatening to close it before Falcons narrowly edged out, before a flawless offense from the Brazilians clean-swept in the second overtime to hit the series point. 32 kills from Molodoy closed the doors for Falcons regaining their lead in the series, while putting his team on a series point.
Map 4: Mirage; Pick: Falcons; Winner: FURIA
Falcons started the map with a 4-0 scoreline, dropping the ball, leading to FURIA recovering in the first half to edge out a narrow lead. Falcons managed to replicate the scoreline and push the game to overtime. Falcons cracked the first half of the first OT with 3 back-to-back rounds, but fumbled in the next half, leading to FURIA pushing the game to another OT. Starting the 2nd OT with a win, the Falcons failed to win anything thereafter, and FURIA closed the game with a smashing offense. The 19-16 win came off the back of a 32-kill masterclass from Molodoy, who by far remained the best player in the series.
Falcons will be heading home with another disappointing loss, with the Grand Finals revealing more problems that they managed to fix from Chengdu. With NiKo’s massive dip in form and the team struggling to close matches, NiKo’s wait for the major is all set to continue for another 6 months at least.
As for FURIA, falleN is taking the wheel with YEKINDAR and Molodoy serving as the stars with a strong core of yuriih and KSCERATO. They have presented a solid case to be the best team in the world heading into the Major. Goes without saying that they will be the team to beat while the likes of MOUZ, Falcons, and Vitality all eyeing revenge against the Brazilians at the big stage.