fnatic best Astralis in Espoo, advance to first LAN final in three years

fnatic have locked in a spot in the Elisa Masters Espoo grand final after moving past Astralis 2-0. The European outfit were in control for much of the series, starting strong with a 16-9 win on Mirage before putting the game to bed after snatching away a 19-16 victory on Overpass.

fnatic now progress to the grand final of the Finnish competition, their first appearance at the final hurdle of a LAN event since their run through the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals in 2019. The international roster will face off against BIG for a chance at taking home the $100,000 cash prize and a spot in the IEM Katowice 2023 Play-In. The two teams last duked it out in the IEM Rio Major Legends Stage, a game which fnatic narrowly prevailed in 2-0 to secure a coveted appearance in the Jeunesse Arena.

William “⁠mezii⁠” Merriman was key in securing his side a grand final berth. The in-game leader, who was one of the worst-performing players of the whole event up until this point, put the team on his back when it mattered, leading the way with a 1.32 rating and 88 ADR.

Astralis, on the other hand, head home in 3-4th place. The Danish side had a mixed bag of results in what was their last tournament appearance of the year, prevailing as the underdogs in a quarter-final matchup against ENCE, who were a pre-tournament favourite, but also suffering one-sided losses to 500 and fnatic earlier on in the group stage. The Danes would have certainly struggled to keep things close if it wasn’t for blameF, whose high-impact clutches and huge fragging output allowed Astralis to push fnatic to the limit.

The battle between the two squads got underway on Mirage, and fnatic were quick to punish the Danes’ map choice as they surged ahead to post an opening 5-0 lead on the CT-side. fnatic‘s grip on the game only got stronger from this point on, a booming economy coupled with strong fragging output by Fredrik “⁠roeJ⁠” Jørgensen powering the side to a 9-2 showing as the half reached the dying stages. The Danes finally awoke from their slumber towards the very end of their T-side effort, doubling the number of rounds they had on the board to head into the side swap with a more manageable 4-11 deficit.

A 1vs1 pistol-round clutch by the ever-dependable blameF got Astralis‘ comeback underway, and the Danish quintet fully capitalised on this ideal start to bring things back to within three, 9-12. fnatic didn’t allow this run of good form from Astralis to last long, though, as clinical shooting by mezii spearheaded a deadly four-round streak of their own to lock in a comfortable 16-9 victory and go 1-0 up in the series. Mikkel “⁠MistR⁠” Thomsen was way out of his depth on Mirage, adding just five kills to the scoreboard by the map’s end, something that contributed greatly to fnatic‘s overpowering performance.

Overpass played host to the second map of the series. The two teams quickly became embroiled in a back-and-forth skirmish, one which barely went the way of Astralis, who used this to wrestle control of the economy to coast to a 7-4 showing. fnatic got back in the running with a crucial round win in the 12th, made possible thanks to a 1vs1 clutch from Nico “⁠nicoodoz⁠” Tamjidi, using this new-found momentum to drive the team forward to boast an 8-7 lead to their name by the break.

fnatic nabbed their second pistol of the best-of-three to get their time on the defense underway, extending their lead even further by converting the following two rounds. Astralis soon began whittling away at the deficit once getting guns in their hands, winning four rounds on the trot thanks to sublime multi-kill rounds by blameF to carry the game all the way to an 11-round stalemate. fnatic stabilised and got their hands on match point first, 15-13, but Astralis held on by the skin of their teeth, digging deep into their strat book to eke out the remaining two rounds and force a trip to overtime.

In the end, all this heavy lifting by Astralis‘ highest-rated player would be worthless, as fnatic won three rounds on the CT-side of overtime, before trading a round apiece with the Danes when on the attack to clinch victory, 19-16, and make their way to the grand final in Espoo.