EPL NA Finals: FURIA Win Over 100 Thieves

FURIA are the winners of ESL Pro League NA Season 12. After an easy win over EG, they have now put up a decisive victory over 100 Thieves as well.

The Brasilians have delivered a great season one again. They might have lost their last two matches during the Group Stage, but they came into the playoffs that much hotter. Their performance can only be described as dominant. They handled Evil Geniuses with casual 16-5 and 16-7 wins, and 100 Thieves couldn’t really perform any better.

FURIA already had a map advantage in the bag, coming from the Upper Bracket. So with a 1-0 lead, they took to Vertigo, where the Australians got the pistol and follow up rounds. But after that, FURIA struck back with a fantastic CT side and secured the 10-5 lead at halftime. With a similarly dominant display on the T side, Yuri “yuurih” Santos carried them to a quick 16-7 victory. The youngster was awarded a 1.72 rating for his troubles.

On Inferno, 100 Thieves were finally able to post a defense. With a 9-6 CT half, they were in a great position to take this map home. But unfortunately, they failed to break into the FURIA defense again. Justin “jks” Savage and his boys got one single round win and had to watch as the Brasilians ran away with the second map in quick style, making them the Grand Finals winners.

ARE FURIA NOW NA’S BEST?

FURIA have beaten every other top team of the league – with the exception of Chaos. Just a month ago, they had failed against Evil Geniuses during ESL One Cologne, but now they have already amassed two solid victories over them. The playoffs of ESL Pro League suggest that Team Liquid shouldn’t really be part of this discussion for now.

After their roster change, we had predicted that Liquid would be able to climb back to their top spot with Michael “Grim” Wince. But that was almost two months ago, nothing seems to have changed, and they appear to be no closer to their goal. Do they just need more time? Or have they hit the limit of what they can achieve under Jake “Stewie2k” Yip’s calling?

At the moment, FURIA and Evil Geniuses are developing an interesting rivalry. 100 Thieves are trying to break this duet apart and are showing relative success. But for the moment, the Brasilians hold the top spot. That begs the question: How long will EG let them?