Even though the Sharks drew first blood on their Masters: Reykjavic debut, NUTURN quickly showcased their strategic mastery with two back-to-back 13-5 victories closing out the series 2-1.
Following their traditional Split perma-ban, Sharks picked Haven as the first map on the series, a map in which they boast an 89% win rate.
Things looked even more menacing when Gabriel “gaabx” Carli picked Sage, an unexpected pick given he is usually seen on Jett. Starting on the offensive side, the Sharks packed a mean bite.
Across a 10-2 first half, the Korean team was unable to get their foot in the game, with some unusual mistakes opening a lot of opportunities for the bundled aggression of the Brazilians.
Even NUTURN secured the pistol round, the pressure from the Sharks was too much to handle, closing out Haven on a one sided 13-5 scoreline.
Statistics gave NUTURN more of an advantage on the second map, their own map pick of Bind. Back to their comfort zone, the Koreans looked much stronger, with a landslide 10-2 closing out the first half. It took them six rounds, but NUTURN would tie up the series 1-1, with a 315 ACS performance from Jung “Peri” Bum-ki on Omen powering the 13-5 victory.
NUTURN didn’t slow down on the decider map, kicking off Ascent by replicating the 10-2 scoreline from the previous map. Sharks looked in shatters, even losing out on a 5v2 at Round 17 and giving match-point to the team commanded by veteran Kang “Solo” Geun-chul. The coup de grace came right after, 13-5 on the scoreboard.
With this victory at Masters: Reykjavic, NUTURN are the first team to qualify for the Upper Bracket Semi-Finals. On the flip side of the coin, the Sharks are in a big predicament, going up against KRÜ Esports in an elimination match, as the Latin team fell to Fnatic earlier today.
