Fnatic are out after a classic battle with the Polish powerhouse PGS. Here's a look at the battle of the titans.
PGS with an unlikely map pick
According to Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas only two of PGS' players wanted to chose de_nuke, but they did anyway.
In the end it was a bad choice despite a good start from the Polish team. Fnatic were getting creamed and shut down, they just could not mount any effective attacks.
PGS looked strong and in total control of the match. Suddenly, the tables turned.
Oscar "Archi" Torgersen and Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg led they way and helped Fnatic break the-team-formerly-known-as-Pentagrams (TTFKAP) hold over de_nuke. Patrik "carn" Sättermon also had a very solid day on the job today. His tactical calls were very good and he consistently fragged several of his opponents. Both Filip "Neo" Kubski and Jakub "kuben" Gurczynski fired back for PGS but it wasn't enough to stop the Swedes from catching some momentum and push the half-time score to 7-8.
Needless to say, all of France was able to hear Lukas "Luq" Wnek screaming his lungs out during the dramatic moments of the half.
The Polish players' motivational abilities helped turn the volume up (yes, in several ways) for his team mates as it looked as if PGS would take their t-pistol round. Fnatic pushed into radio room with f0rest and dsn and traded frags with the Polish who could rush to an unprotected ramp room as a result. However, they lost their advantage and Fnatic rallied behind the important pistol round win.
PGS' captain said after the match that they sort of knew how Fnatic would play their CT side;
We knew they liked to take the radio room from ramp.
Still, it didn't help. Fnatic absolutely tore PGS apart as CT. Neo brought his team mates some much needed hope with an amazing one on three win in the 6th round. It simply wasn't enough. The Swedish team played a very solid half, shutting down the best team in the world to win the first map. They were even talking about how PGS would not stand a chance on the following maps, and they were right. Fnatic owned the semi-finals.
Exchanging blows
Hands down, the de_dust2 part of this years' semi-finals had some of the best CS I have ever seen. Both teams did extremely well in their own right but the audience won in the end.
PGS were shaken, but not stirred, after the first map. And early on it looked as if Fnatic would continue their domination, granted, they lost their pistol but the Polish team was way too hot-headed on the Swedish save round. PGS was obviously very eager to get back into the match and pushed up to fish for some broke Swedes. That proved too dumb at this level and Fnatic took the round.
Fnatic kept up the pressure and it looked as if f0rest was hell bent on reaching that final as he had some amazing rounds. Both Kuben and Loord were playing very well too and kept PGS in the game. Half-way through the pendulum swung in the opposite direction and the Poles defended their bomb sites a lot better. Two crucial one-on-one wins from TaZ and Kuben in the 14th and 15th round brought the score to 8-7. PGS suddenly had the ball.
The clutch play continued in the opening pistol as Luq and Taz somehow managed to win while at a two-on-four disadvantage. From standing behind the Swedes I was pretty sure this was it, the crazy Poles would go on a rampage. Fnatic proved their grit though and bounced back instantly taking the 4th, 5th, 6th (through an outstanding four-frag performance by team captain carn), 7th and 8th round. Manager Sam Matthews was cheering his boys on to what looked like a 2-0 victory and a place in the final.
However, PGS refused to die and switched up their attacks. They had been consistently going to A or out the middle where Fnatic were on fire. Instead they started doing slow rounds with individual pushes on several parts of the map and it helped strain the Swedish defense. F0rest got caught in the middle (again, in more than one way), PGS forced a rotation and took him out to plant in B.
The Polish team was close and on the offensive but wound up in a difficult two-on-three situation in the 11th round of the half. And clutched it to force Fnatic into a save round with the score 14-12 for PGS.
That was basically game, set and match for this amazing display of electronic sports. PGS was back and the match went to de_inferno for the tiebreaker.
Number 1 against number 2
Watching the game I couldn't help but think that we were seeing the two best teams in the world.
Fnatic had played so strong on de_nuke, but the lean, mean Polish machine was rolling, eating away Swedish self-confidence. Fnatic certainly had their work cut out for them but Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg wasn't feeling the pressure at all. He was smiling and waving at fans and spectators as he sat down for the most important forty minutes of 2007.
PGS wasn't going to waste any time. They went right for the Swedish throats winning the pistol round with a fast rush to B and could collect the following four rounds without problems. F0rest almost pulled off an unlikely one-on-three win but clock on the bomb ran out on him.
PGS kept up the pace and I was noting dsn's unusually weak AWP performance he finally got a couple with his big, green rifle. Oscar "Archi" Torgersen really stood out in the 9th round, PGS had taken B and dsn was scoping for something to shoot at while Archi retook B on his own against three Polish players. Could this be the jolt of energy the Swedes needed to get going again?
Apparently, not today. PGS exploited weak play and outright mistakes on the part of the Swedes and took the last two rounds. 10 rounds as terrorists on inferno is hard to pull back, especially when you absolutely have to and some of the most individually skilled players in the world is dug in on the other side of the map.
The pistol round came down to an amazing performance by carn and dsn, the partners in crime were hurt and at low health facing three guys. The bomb was down and the Swedes were stalling, playing for time.
They both hit their shots tremendously well but it didn't help, the defuse was a heart-breaker and the last thing the Swedes needed. It felt like it was all over after that, ESWC would not be draped in the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag. PGS could lean on fnatic until they finally succumbed with the final result at 16-7.
PGS was screaming, Fnatic two steps shy of crying.
Take nothing away from the Polish team, they were extremely solid with individual top shelf individual performances but I can't help but feel that the Swedes at some point stopped being aggressive. Their forwardness displaced PGS' balance on nuke and had them on the ropes during certain parts of the de_dust2 ordeal.
Despite their constant urging of each other to "take the fight to PGS" they stopped and with the luxury of hindsight that probably lost them dust2. And a place in the finals.
PGS vs. Fnatic was one of those matches when you don't want anyone to lose; you just want to see more.
ScoreCard:
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| Maps: de_nuke, de_dust2, de_inferno | |||||||||||||||
| fnatic dsn f0rest ins Archi cArn PGSPokerStrategy.cc LUq TaZ NEo lrd Kuben |
fnatic
PGSPokerStrategy.ccLiNk for Demo dowload : http://www.gotfrag.com/cs/demos/21130/
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