FUT beat Vitality to reach PGL Masters Bucharest playoffs

FUT beat Vitality 2-1 to become the first team to reach the PGL Masters Bucharest playoffs, completing a 3-0 run in the group stage.

Álvaro “SunPayus” García led FUT with a 1.33 rating across the series. Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç recorded a 1.27 rating. SunPayus has a 1.35 rating across seven maps at the tournament after joining FUT for his debut with the team.

Vitality won the opening map, Mirage. Its stand-in, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, accidentally killed himself with a grenade early in the map, but Vitality controlled the closing rounds to take the lead.

FUT responded on Vitality’s map pick, Dust2. SunPayus played a central role throughout the map and won a 2v4 clutch with Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija. The Spanish AWPer has won six clutches in the group stage.

Vitality led Anubis 8-4 at halftime after playing on the CT side. FUT then won the second half to take the map. Xfl0ud recorded two four-kill holds on the B site, while Krabeni’s mid-round calls helped FUT control the later rounds.

“Everything is clicking,” SunPayus told the post-match desk. “I told the coach, I don’t want to change what you guys do, I just want to adapt. Everyone in this team treats me as a star player, they’re dropping me a Deagle on ecos, they’re saving money for my AWP.”

“It feels so good. I feel so confident. I have so much fun with them, they listen in reviews, and are learning super fast,” he added.

The result affects the race for a place at PGL Major Singapore. FUT and Astralis could both have Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov on their invited rosters. Major rules allow the higher-ranked team to attend Singapore if both teams retain him.

FUT’s 3-0 group-stage record is expected to give it the higher ranking. To avoid that outcome, FUT would need to play five matches with SunPayus, which is possible only if it wins its quarterfinal. Astralis would then have to use Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen or Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard at Stake Ranked instead of cmtry.

The five-match rule also applies to Vitality. With jL serving as its stand-in at the tournament, he is expected to be listed on Vitality’s invited roster. apEX is expected to miss out on a sticker if the team completes the required number of matches.

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