The winning streak at VCT Masters Shanghai continues for Gen.G Esports.
On Fnatic's return to the international stage, they were greeted with a reality check from Gen.G Esports as the Pacific second seed came back after going down in the first game to take the win at VCT Masters Shanghai. That win makes it three in a row for Gen.G on the international stage as they dropped Fnatic to the lower bracket.
The first game was Gen.G's pick on Lotus, to which they started off strongly by winning the pistol round. However, they would only go on to win two more rounds in the entire first half as Fnatic were in full control when on the defensive side. Fnatic would lead 9-3 going into the second half, which was also the time Gen.G started picking up steam as they took five straight rounds to pull themselves back to within one point.
Unfortunately for them, Fnatic was on a different level and with just four points needed to close the first game, they did so spectacularly. Game two was on Fnatic's map pick of Bind and the first half of game two was the closest between them as they went 6-6. This included spectacular solo plays like a 4K from Kim “Karon” Won-tae as well as a one-versus-three clutch from Na-ra “t3xture” Kim.
Gen.G would go on to dominate the second half of Bind, despite Fnatic taking the pistol and consequent round after to pull ahead. They would go on to win the next seven out of nine rounds against Fnatic to tie the series, which saw them head to the last map pick of Breeze. And it would be Gen.G who got a good start with three quick rounds in a row.
However, Fnatic responded with five rounds of their own that also saw Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov walk away with a 4K in the eighth round. Both teams would split the last four rounds 2-2 to give Fnatic a slight 7-5 lead heading into half-time. And they would build on that lead with two more rounds to start the second half to go up 9-5. But in the last 10 rounds, Gen.G's offensive strategies came into full effect.
Even after Jake “Boaster” Howlett gave his team a 10-6 lead with a crucial 3K, Fnatic would let the lead slip as Gen.G was able to come back from a four-round deficit to win five in a row to give themselves an 11-10 lead. The VCT EMEA number one seed did manage to bring tie it at 11-11 but in the final two rounds, Gen.G managed to complete its comeback altogether.
Gen.G will now go up against arguably one of the top teams at the moment, 100 Thieves. As for Fnatic, they aren't out of it yet as they will play an elimination series against their fellow VCT EMEA team, FUT Esports. This will be the third time that both these teams will face each other this season with FUT winning 2-0 during the regular season while Fnatic won 3-1 during the EMEA Stage 1 playoffs.
When quizzed about playing FUT once again, Emir "Alfajer" Beder spoke about how boring it is to play the same team from the same region at an international tournament. “I need to show it again on who is the best Turkish player.”
