Fnatic secured slot at VCT Masters Reykjavik

In the second round of the EMEA VCT challenger one playoffs, the freshly named M3 Champions were defeated by the overpowered Fnatic in a nail-biting series. On March 25, Fnatic will compete in the Upper Bracket Finals against FunPlus Phoenix.

Fnatic overcame M3 Champions in a close match tonight and secured their spot at Master REYKJAVIK. Both teams fought hard, but it was Fnatic who stepped up their game at the last minute to take the victory and maintain their ‘Undefeated’ league record.

Both Fnatic and M3 sought to take control of Fracture early on, but neither succeeded. Both teams alternated taking the lead, however, the lead was quickly equalized in the next round.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with both teams deadlocked at 12-11 after 23 rounds of the map. In the last round, Chronicle and naTs were the only two remaining against Fnatic and a single spike would have tied the score for them. naTs was quickly knocked out by Fnatic, but Chronicle fought back and tamed Mystic. The moment before the spike was about to go down, Fnatic took down Chronicle and saved the map.

Despite losing the first map by a razor-thin margin, M3 jumped right into the second. At the end of the first half, the team had taken a 7-5 lead with “nAts” and “Chronicle” repeatedly punishing Fnatic in post-plant situations. After the first half, team Fnatic lost their composure and momentum. The team had no answer for M3’s ferocious pair, as they lost the second map by an 8 -13 score. This could be the jolt Fnatic needed to go back on track in the next map, Split.

Fnatic’s ‘Brave’ and ‘Mystic’ led the way, as the team built an early 8-3 lead on Split, but M3’s terrific counterattacks cut the deficit to 6-9. Before the last round, Fnatic had a 16-12 advantage in the Map. M3 made a valiant effort to recover, but they fell short of winning the round and the series by a razor-thin margin of 21-23.

Gambit has returned to the VCT Challengers as M3 after a long absence due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The squad went on a winning streak and breezed into the playoffs, but they were no match for the ‘undefeated’ Fnatic’s. Despite their heroic efforts, team M3 was defeated and instantly relegated to the lower bracket. However, they still have a chance to continue their journey, and in Loser’s Round 1, the team will meet G2.