FURIA fe ends Imperial fe's LAN winning streak in Rio
CS212-02 12:01
Imperial fe's main roster failed to win a LAN title for the first time since they began playing under Nigma Galaxy.
FURIA fe won the Rainhas do Clutch FERJEE 2024 Finals in front of a cheering home crowd in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They defeated heavyweights Imperial fe in an intense match that spanned three maps. This result comes just a week after Imperial fe defeated FURIA fe in the final of ESL Impact League Season 6 Finals.
For Imperial fe's core roster, this was the first time since its formation under Nigma Galaxy that the team failed to achieve first place at a LAN event. Before that, they dominated eight consecutive LAN titles at ESL Impact tournaments under both colors.
Imperial fe player Zainab "zAAz" Turkie expressed disappointment after the narrow defeat, saying it was "the most unfair match I have ever played in my career." She believes that the Brazilian crowd helped FURIA fe by revealing information during important rounds.
With this win, FURIA fe surpassed Imperial fe in Valve's rankings, becoming the highest ranked female team. They jumped from #37 to #26 in the world, while the Imperial fe dropped to #27.
The finals at the four-team event in Rio began with the Nuke map chosen by FURIA fe. Imperial fe started strong with an overwhelming 13-4 victory. However, Victoria "tory" Kazieva's team couldn't maintain their form on their map Dust2, losing a close game 14-16 in overtime, pushing the match to the deciding map Ancient.
Even though zAAz had an impressive performance on Ancient with a rating of 1.56, Imperial fe still couldn't complete the match. FURIA fe won 13-11 to win the tournament, taking home the grand prize of 10,339 USD.