North American team NRG continued their win streak as they defeated Furia Esports in the VCT Americas League on Monday, April 8 (US Time).
The two teams met for the first time in history, and they did not disappoint the fans as the match went into a win-or-lose game 3.
In the post-match interview, the team’s star player Sam “S0m” Oh admitted they felt pressured coming into the match, mainly because they needed to win all their remaining games to qualify for the playoffs.
“There’s obviously a little bit of pressure, it’s just about how we handle it. Today, I think, we handled it pretty well. I think we play pretty well, up to our standards, and, I think, if we keep it up, playoffs are in sight,” he said.
NRG vs Furia Esports
Map 1 – Bind
In the first map of Bind, the guys were off to a slow start on the defending side, only winning three rounds compared to Furia Esports’ nine. However, when NRG went to the attackers’ side, they proved that the infamous 9-3 curse existed.
Down 3-9 in the half, NRG built their momentum to take the lead, 12-10, after 22 rounds. In round 23, Furia successfully defused the bomb to give them a breather, 11-12. However, NRG never looked back and closed the game in the following round after killing all of Furia’s players.
Map 2 – Haven
In the second map of Haven, NRG lost momentum in the latter part of the match. At halftime, NRG and Furia Esports were tied at 6-6, with NRG on the attackers’ side. However, NRG quickly built a two-round advantage, 8-6, winning the eco rounds on the defenders’ side.
However, down by 9-11, Furia’s “dgzin” took over the game and recorded three kills each in rounds 23 and 24 to extend the match in a win-or-lose Map 3.
Map 3 – Pearl
In the last map of Pearl, NRG built early momentum on the attackers’ side, winning the first five rounds. After that, Furia Esports slowly woke up to win four in the next six rounds. However, NRG ended the first half strong with an 8-4 lead.
With Furia Esports attacking, they won the first two rounds, thanks to “mwzera” and “Mazin‘s” two kills each in round 13. Unfortunately for them, NRG’s “ardiis” got three kills in round 15 that swung the momentum back to his team, as they soon took the victory, 13-6.
NRG and Furia Esports now have an identical 4-3 win-loss record, placing at fourth and fifth place respectively, behind league-leaders LOUD, Cloud9, and Leviatan.
Furia Esports will next play 100 Thieves on May 13 (US Time), while NRG will face the undefeated LOUD on May 14 (US Time).
