Sh1ro’s best efforts couldn’t help Cloud9 avoid defeat as Fnatic’s return to the major CS: GO at the IEM Rio came with a win.
Fnatic are three-time Major champions, but they only made a return to the CS: GO on Monday, and they were able to cap it with a huge victory.
The team didn’t have it easy, though, as they needed a tight 19-17 overtime on inferno win over giants Cloud9. William “mezii” Merriman was the man who led the Fnatic to such a big win on their return.
It is the first time in three years that Fnatic will return to the Major circuit. The last time was in 2019 when the organization’s Swedish lineup played in the IEM Katowice major.
However, since then, the organization has focused on qualifying for the IEM Rio Major while drifting from Sweden. The team that qualified for the IEM Rio Major included veteran Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson, Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen, and Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi.
The duo of Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen and Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi have both featured for Copenhagen Flames previously.
Meanwhile, the game on Monday started with Fnatic looking good for an easy walk over Cloud9 after an 8-1 lead by the CT side; the second half changed the direction of the game thanks to C9’s Russian continents led by Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov who has too hot to handle for Fnatic, forcing overtime.
Sh1ro was the MVP of the match after making 37 kills, finishing way ahead of his other teammates. roeJ and nicoodoz had the biggest kills, with 32 and 26 kills, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fnatic regained composure during the overtime and moved to the 1-0 Pool of the Challengers stage after a 19-17 win. The game rounded up the IEM Rio Major Challengers stage.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
