Falcons edge out FURIA in pulsating series

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow.

Honestly, the other three quarter-finals today barely even matter. What a phenomenal game this was. More of this please. Start tomorrow. Just keep FURIA in the tournament.

If you didn't watch this game, just go and rewatch it. Honestly, it was glorious.

FURIA had multiple chances to slay the beast, but if you don't take the chance to kill karrigan while he's down he will come back and he will bite you on the proverbial buttocks. He may have ended the series on a hilarious 24 fewer kills than anyone else, with just 39 kills in 90 rounds, but it doesn't matter if he can outcall you, outthink you and, well, out-BS you.

kyousuke will get a lot of the plaudits (and rightfully so, he was magnificent) but a word for the oft-maligned TeSeS, who stood tall and faced the bright lights of the stage head on. He was tasked with some very difficult jobs, but stick to them diligently and excelled in some very difficult positions.

It'd be pointless getting too granular with any of the rounds and maps in a series this grand. The entirety of Nuke was a highlight. kyousuke had more highlights in this game than some players get in a career. molodoy, m0NESY going blow for blow. KSCERATO an absolute colossus on Nuke. It was everything you want and more.

If we had one wish, it'd be that we hadn't seen this game and we could experience it again.

Alright, that might be a bit much. But it was sensational.

It truly had everything. Eventually, Falcons won out on multiple OTs on both Nuke and Dust 2, but the real winner was us, watching at home.

Who else but donk and sh1ro pushed Spirit over the edge to beat G2 in two maps?

sh1ro took over on Dust 2 to give Spirit a comfortable first map, but donk was by far the best player in the server on a grittier Ancient win. The deadly duo both were terrific on the CT side of Ancient as Spirit raced into a 9-3 lead, but as G2 clawed their way back into it was consistently donk who would multikill or get a crucial kill in the rounds Spirit did get to break the momentum, and he pretty much single-handedly kept them in front despite a pretty weak T side.

As is tradition.

G2 are a very good team who can seemingly not make the leap to great team, and do seem to just lose out to the top tiers when it really matters. They're close, but not quite there yet.

We don't know what they've been feeding xertioN recently, but we want some.

He's been on a generational tear since taking over IGLing, and while it doesn't feel entirely sustainable, it's a hell of a wave to ride right now. He was once more ridiculous as MOUZ recovered from a slow start to 2-0 Aurora on the Astana stage.

xertioN was the sole defender at times on Dust 2, with over a kill per round in a 4-8 half, which gave his teammates enough time to wake up and earn nine T rounds to win it in regulation, and he hit a kill per round for the whole of Nuke.

MOUZ won two tight maps and he had nearly 50% more kills than anyone on his team. That's a carry job, and it's a damn impressive one at that.

Ah 9z, what happened to you?

They went from 3-0 against three top teams to losing to magic in the quarter-finals at PGL Astana. AW, who doesn't seem to pop off very often, popped off twice in the two maps magic one to help them ascend to the semi-finals and break the South American hearts.

This one's just sad, man. We like magic. They seem like good guys and a pretty horrible team to play against as well. But 9z looked so insanely good in the group stage and just... capitulated on stage.

We want to see them back again. We want that group stage version back.

We're disappointed, but the story isn't over yet.