This article is part of our CS:GO series.
The Brazilians of SK Gaming have advances to the semifinals to face Cloud9 after taking Fnatic out 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the ELEAGUE Major: Boston.
The last quarterfinal match featuring SK Gaming and Fnatic kicked off on the Swedes map pick of Inferno. Fnatic started on the T-side where they pushed into the B-bombsite, as Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson's quad kill secured the pistol round. The Brazilians of SK returned in the following round with upgraded pistols as Fnatic tried for a slow approach on the B-bombsite, but they were shut down by a double from Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and a triple by Epitacio "TACO" de Melo.
From there, the teams traded rounds back and forth before SK secured a 9-6 lead going into the half on the back of a force buy. SK come out swinging in the second pistol round with a quick A-site push for the plant. Unfortunately, SK couldn't claim anymore rounds from their pistol win as Fnatic picked up five in a row thanks to Robin "flusha" Ronnquist triple.
SK bounced back with four more rounds to keep on pushing until the teams were forced into overtime. With neither team able to gain control after a flurry of traded rounds in the first overtime, the match continued into a second extra series. It was at that point that Fnatic managed to grind out a lead and eventually close out the map on the back of Maikil "Golden" Selim's triple kill for the 22-19 win.
The series shifted over to Overpass, where Marcelo "coldzera" David secured the pistol with a 1-vs-1 win in the post-plant. However, Fnatic returned in their eco round to disrupt SK's attempt to take map control toward the A-site. Both teams traded rounds but it was SK who finally came out on top with three straight wins. Not to be outdone, Fnatic picked up three of their own with the help of a huge triple kill from flusha.
SK forced in Round 12, allowing Joao "felps" Vasconcellos to secure a quick triple for the round win. Felps' heroics granted SK two more rounds before Fnatic had the last word as the team picked up the last two round to end the half 9-6. Fnatic started the second half with the second pistol win but could not follow up as SK broke Fnatic's economy with four straight.
With Fnatic working with a shattered economy, it was an uphill battle in the second half. The Swedes almost managed to force yet another overtime, but SK's in-game leader Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo skillfully guided his team through the rough waters to take the map 16-14, forcing a third and final map.
The third and final map came down to Mirage where SK Gaming opened strong with a pistol round secure. Despite the nice start, Fnatic kept things close with a series of runs in the early rounds of the first half that made the final game even tenser.
While Fnatic managed to keep pushing their way to an 8-7 lead at the half, SK came out with another pistol round secure to make an attempt to stabilize early in the final half. Fnatic responded with three straight before being completely shut down by the Brazilians for the rest of the game. SK picked up seven straight rounds to take the map 16-12 and set the stage for an explosive semifinal series against Cloud9.
