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After a very close series in the best of 5 SEA qualifier final for ESL One New York, the new roster for Fnatic managed to triumph over TI5 wildcard success team MVP.Phoenix. The new addition of Dominik
'Black^' Reitmeier in the Fnatic carry role proved successful, as the series saw some classic hard carry play from him, winning games on Medusa as well as is patented Anti Mage.
The Koreans started off strongly by taking the first game of the favourites of the region and even managed to take nearly a 10k gold lead over them in the second game. However, Fnatic stayed patient, eventually making fewer mistakes than their opponents to take the victory.
Game 2 draft
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After losing the first game, Fnatic took control of the series, giving Black^ the two afformentioned carries that he thrives on. The third game saw Medusa at mid to try and deal with the big burst damage that MVP.P drafted. The Medusa seemed to be a great pick to challenge MVP's playstyle, as she could tank through much of the aggression that the Korean's brought. The story of the series was really just Fnatic managing to hold on throughout MVP's constant roaming and agression, stopping them from breaking the base and grinding out a victory.
MVP did manage to bring back a game in the 4th round of the series, drafting the Io/Bristleback duo that proves successful them over the course of TI5. It is a classic combo that has worked wonders for Team Secret amongst others in the past, but when unexpected it can be truly disastrous for the other team. More importantly, the Mushi Magnus could not compete with TA at mid, finishing the game 3-7 while March and Febby caused havoc.
Game 4 draft![]()
Game 5 draft![]()
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Finally, Fnatic went back to basics and drafted the Medusa again. The series went the whole distance to 5 games, but in the end Fnatic managed to win the final game against an arguably quite unconventional Drow strat from MVP. The game was back and forth, but after a fatal relocate from Febby up to the Fnatic Barracks, Mushi's team took the base by storm and locked in their spot for the main event of ESL One New York.
They will join the rest of the directly invited teams to compete for their share of over $250,000, which is over double the amount the touranment offered last year. The teams already invited are Team Secret, Virtus.Pro, Evil Geniuses and CDEC. The winner of the EU qualifier will be decided soon as Vega Squadron play Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Chinese and North American qualifiers are set to take place in the following weeks to decide the final places in New York.
