Ex-Finest vs Fnatic Rising: ESL Challenger League 43

In the second round of the lower bracket of the 43rd ESL Challenger League, Ex-Finest and Fnatic Rising will square off. Fnatic Academy squad is the underdog in this competitive pair. The team lost their headliner Peppzor, one of their greatest players, when the young Swede chose to play for another club. On November 23rd, they played their last game. Peppzor was a team member for their previous five games. Thus, we don't believe more investigation is necessary. They will field a replacement, but we don't think he will be able to fill the gap left by the young Swede's departure. Read the review of this match from Cyber-sport.io.

Ex-Finest vs Fnatic Rising (1-10 rounds)

In the pistol round, Fnatic planted a bomb on A spot. The team found one kill, but immediately after that, the defense side began an active retake. Clutch one vs three by Maze ended the round. Hades2k successfully fell behind the map. Do you like this kind of preparation for the game and concentration? Funny moment. Fnatic plays the offensive side very carefully. The defense side tries to hold the opponents, but the attack kills them one by one. Easy round for Fnatic.

Another example of a passive attack from Fnatic. Ex-Finest loses focus more and more with each round. These rounds also ended with an easy victory for them. It's time for them to wake up. The first successful team game from ex-Finest. Ex-Finest were the first to meet the enemy and won by numbers. The defense side felt the passivity of the opponent's attacks was weak.

Where is the protection? There isn't aggressive play from the attack side, but the ex-Finders lose round after round. Here we can only see poor coordination and poor-quality macro play from the defense side. These rounds were surprisingly confidently won by Fnatic. The next couple of rounds were entirely random. Very uncertain game for the two sides. It needs to be clarified why Vertigo was chosen. The rounds are won by luck. Victories in these rounds go either to the defense team or the attacking team. You can only see a confident game from one team. That can only explain that this is only the first match of this confrontation. Nobody wants to take risks, and everyone tries to adapt to their opponent. 6:4 in favor of Fnatic Rising.

Ex-Finest vs Fnatic Rising (11-17 rounds)

Finally, a beautiful highlight. With 2 AWP shots, Wolfy kills two opponents and opens bombsite A. These were significant kills for the team. ex-Finders need to make a quick decision and run to bombsite A, but kevve was waiting for one of them. Without loss, Fnatic planted a bomb and killed four opponents. 

A confident, beautiful round from Fnatic. Fnatic finally started showing their mettle. Attacks have become much more aggressive. ex-Finders could not hold back the constant splits of the opponents. The attacking side successfully entered the bomb site every time the opponents lost concentration and control of the position. ex-Finest managed to win only one uncertain round. 10:5 in favor of Fnatic.

Second pistol round. Will ex-Finest show a more serious play for the defense side? Wrong splits from ex-Finest ended in useless deaths. Fnatic pinned two opponents in a bombsite. We needed to do a retake, but then ex-Finest turned on the fearlessness mode. They abruptly began to show their aggression and were the first to look for opponents. Four vs two turned into one vs two in favor of ex-Finest. The attack won this round. Wonderful duet.

The round started very calmly, but then ex-Finest started smashing and killing opponents. Super professional round from ex-Finest. The team woke up and started to show excellent results.

Ex-Finest vs Fnatic Rising (18-26 rounds)

The game has turned into chaos. This whole series of rounds passed without beautiful, memorable moments. The teams started playing "Who has the most anger". Too many mistakes on the attacking side. Useless splits from the attack and weak macro play from the defense side. Teams won rounds in turn. 14:11 in favor of Fnatic. At some point, there was a feeling that ex-Finest would make a comeback, but inexperienced decisions broke this expectation of the players.

Fnatic felt victory and started holding. The attacking side needed help finding the right solution to this situation. The economy is terrible, and the enemy is waiting in cold blood in every corner of Vertigo. Thus, Fnatic won the last rounds of this match. 16:11. Congratulations on your win for Fnatic Rising!

What do you think caused such a Fnatic game? Why didn't Ex-Finest show a good game for the attack side? Share your minds with Cyber-sport.io. Subscribe and follow the latest eSports news!