FURIA open ESL Pro League Season 11 campaign with victory over Liquid

FURIA bested Liquid 2-1 (Nuke 10-16, Inferno 16-11, Mirage 16-13) in their opening match of ESL Pro League Season 11 North America.

While FURIA stepped into their campaign in the North American division on the right foot, Liquid continue to blow hot and cold after suffering a stunning loss to Swole Patrol earlier in the group stage, which now puts the highest-ranked side of the tournament at a 2-2 record before their last match against Evil Geniuses.

Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's team's fourth match of the season saw all three maps played out to double digits, with Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato paving the way for his team by posting an impressive 1.32 series rating as FURIA picked up the narrow victory.

KSCERATO was dominant throughout the series, peaking on Inferno with a 2.08 rating

The series kicked off on Nuke, where Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip ensured a solid start for Liquid with a USP-S quad kill. FURIA retaliated in the following rounds, and it was on Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski to snatch the momentum back in his team's favour with a 1v2 clutch. The outstanding play inspired the defense to produce a 10-5 half, but a solid effort from Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo and Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan in the second pistol round set up FURIA for an eventual equalizer at ten apiece. Liquid prevented any additional rounds from slipping, as they posted a 16-10 victory on their opponents' pick.

Liquid's dominance continued in the first five rounds of of Inferno, but KSCERATO's triple kill put FURIA on the map and the Brazilian offense managed to have their way in the majority of remaining rounds, softening the half-time blow at 7-8. Despite a consecutive pistol round victory, Liquid had a turbulent defense, where FURIA were able to consistently outperform the Americans. The series entered map three after FURIA closed it with a 16-11 scoreline, highlighted by KSCERATO's astounding 2.08 rating.

Similar to their Inferno showing, Liquid got off on the right foot on the T side of Mirage, walking away with six consecutive rounds to start their final campaign of the series. At this pivotal point the FURIA defense rallied, allowing but two additional rounds to slip the way of their opponents at 7-8. The Brazilians showed no sign of slowing down in the latter half, as the T side pistol round went their way. arT and company breached double-digits not long after, but they found Liquid on their heels and the defense's response was swift. The Americans mustered two additional rounds, but the rest went the way of FURIA. arT's AK-47 quad kill ensured map point and a successful A hit put a lid on the series at 16-13.

ESL Pro League Season 11 North AmericaBest of 3 LiquidMatchpage 1 2 29th March 2020 FURIA 16Nuke 10 11Inferno 16 13Mirage 16

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	58 - 54	+4	79.8	1.14
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	50 - 50	0	71.9	1.04
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	54 - 54	0	72.0	1.02
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	53 - 53	0	71.6	1.01
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	38 - 55	-17	51.3	0.81

FURIA	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoKSCERATO	65 - 43	+22	82.5	1.32
Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1	47 - 42	+5	73.7	1.18
Andrei 'arT' PiovezanarT	51 - 56	-5	64.2	0.94
Vinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoVINI	54 - 62	-8	73.4	0.91
Yuri 'yuurih' Santosyuurih	49 - 51	-2	65.5	0.91

Below are the current standings for ESL Pro League Season 11 North America:

Group A TEAM M P 100 Thieves 3 6 Liquid 4 6 FURIA 1 3 Swole Patrol 2 3 Evil Geniuses 1 0 MIBR 1 0 MIBR #25 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoVito 'kNgV-' GiuseppeFernando 'fer' AlvarengaEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloIgnacio 'meyern' Meyer 100 Thieves #9 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadSean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiJay 'Liazz' Tregillgas Aleksandar 'kassad' Trifunović Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1235 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 Evil Geniuses #8 Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzTarik 'tarik' CelikVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 24 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1260 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Andrei 'arT' Piovezan Age: 24 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 586 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Swole Patrol #56 Ryan 'freakazoid' AbadirVictor 'food' WongEdgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoJordan 'Zellsis' MontemurroAustin 'Cooper' Abadir Liquid #6 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Eric 'adreN' Hoag Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Age: 20 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 509 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.57 Evil Geniuses #8 Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzTarik 'tarik' CelikVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Chet 'Chet' Singh FURIA #12 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Nicholas 'guerri' Nogueira Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo Age: 20 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 580 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.67 Liquid #6 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken FURIA #12 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1171 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68