fnatic take down Spirit at EPL Season 16

fnatic earned their second win in Group A of ESL Pro League Season 16 with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Spirit. The William “⁠mezii⁠” Merriman-helmed lineup moved past Spirit 16-11 on Nuke before doubling down with a 16-9 victory on Mirage to close things out.

fnatic had a good day at the office in this game, with all players sitting in the green. Fredrik “⁠roeJ⁠” Jørgensen, in particular, had a strong showing, averaging a 1.27 rating and a team-high 87 ADR. The European mix will look to secure their place in the playoffs as they face Endpoint in the closing games for Group A on Sunday at 19:30 .

A victory in this game would have guaranteed Spirit a spot in the playoffs. Instead, Leonid “⁠chopper⁠” Vishnyakov and company will need to try their luck in their matchup versus Vitality on Sunday at 19:30 . Pavel “⁠s1ren⁠” Ogloblin was a menace in the server in spite of the loss, with the young Russian putting up an impressive 1.25 rating over the two maps.

Spirit got off to the ideal start on the opening map of Nuke, racing up to a 7-2 lead on the back of solid defensive holds by s1ren and Boris “⁠magixx⁠” Vorobiev. The black-and-orange didn’t roll over, however, running riot with clinical executes to bring things back to seven rounds apiece. Spirit wised up to close things out, though, shutting down an upper hit by fnatic in the 15th round to squeak an 8-7 lead by the swap.

fnatic took the lead for the first time in the game at the onset of the second half; snatching the first three rounds to go up, 10-8. The remainder of the half turned into Dion “⁠FASHR⁠” Derksen‘s personal playground, with fnatic‘s newest recruit putting up a whopping 28 frags to power his side to a 16-11 victory — extending their win-streak on the map to 10 in a row.

FASHR averaged a team-high 1.52 rating on Nuke

Spirit jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on the T-side of Mirage, with Robert “⁠Patsi⁠” Isyanov and chopper rising to the occasion as they combined for 11 frags. fnatic hopped back in the driver’s seat, however, posting seven of the next eight rounds to surge ahead to a 7-4 showing. This didn’t deter Spirit, though, with the Russian-majority side putting their foot to the floor from here on out to nab the remaining four rounds and lead 8-7 at half-time once again.

Back-to-back force buy victories by both teams got the second half underway, but it was fnatic who came out on top as they took control of the economy to reach 12-9. mezii and company used this new-found momentum to run away with things, adding four rounds on the bounce without any noticeable Spirit resistance to steal Mirage 16-9 and close the series, 2-0.