FUT’s impressive season continues at EPL Season 23 as the former-NAVI Junior squad took down MOUZ in the quarterfinals snapping their opponent’s long-standing top fours streak after a thrilling three map battle. The win sees FUT move into the top four, where they’ll face NAVI for a finals berth in Stockholm.
Related—ESL Pro League Season 23: Teams, Prize Pool, Schedule, and more
Team Rosters – FUT vs. MOUZ – EPL Season 23
| FUT | MOUZ |
|---|---|
| Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko | Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás |
| Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija | Dorian “xertioN” Berman |
| Mykyta “cmtry” Samolotov | Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo |
| Džiugas “dziugss” Steponavičius | Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin |
| Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea | Lotan “Spinx” Giladi |
| András “coolio” Fercsák (C) | Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen (C) |
Match Recap – FUT vs. MOUZ – ESL Pro League Season 23
- FUT removed Inferno
- MOUZ removed Anubis
- FUT picked Dust2
- MOUZ picked Overpass
- FUT removed Ancient
- MOUZ removed Nuke
- Mirage was left over
Dust2 – Jimpphat masterclass falls short – 13-11
Right from the veto stage, Dust2 stood out as a joker pick for the FUT side, looking to get an edge over MOUZ. But it was torzsi’s team that started things off with a pistol round conversion. A B rush in round three gave FUT their first round, but MOUZ’s defences were on point, shutting FUT out of the sites. Eventually FUT found success on the B site in consecutive rounds, preventing the CT’s lead from ballooning out of control.
Just like the first half, MOUZ got off to a scorching start, using the pistol win to extend their lead to 10-5. Round sixteen gave FUT a full buy, but Jimpphat’s headshots denied them the round. That however, spurred on FUT’s AWPer cmtry, who took over the map late on the CT side. Round after round he found crucial multikills, giving FUT every advantage he could muster. From 11-5, FUT pushed it all the way to a tied game, and even stole away map point from MOUZ. Everything came down to Jimpphat in a 1v2 clutch, but a well-placed headshot from dem0n closed the map out, giving FUT a lead in the series.
Overpass – MOUZ headstarts keep them alive – 13-10
FUT’s confidence was soaring going into the second map, and the rookies took a strong pistol round win. Unfortunately, they were unable to convert it, instead handing MOUZ a streak of three. With guns out though, FUT was in their comfort zone, answering back with a massive six round haul. While MOUZ found pathways into bombsites, FUT’s aggressive CT plays dwindled their numbers across the map, allowing for easier retakes, and a 7-5 lead.
MOUZ’s T-side pistol conversion allowed them to tie the scoreline once more, and this time FUT were looking out of sorts on the attack, allowing MOUZ to march on. Eventually star player dem0n took the charge in round 17, finding two key entries and winning a clean round for his team. Still, MOUZ made it to double digits first.
With the series potentially on the line, FUT knuckled down in the closing stages of the map and pulled it all the way to round 23. But in the end, MOUZ’s stars were simply shining too bright, tying up the series 1-1.
Mirage – dziugss goes nuclear to snatch victory – 13-11
After stellar performances from cmtry and Krabeni earlier in the series, Mirage was all about the dem0n-dziugss show on the FUT side. From the very first round, the duo battered down MOUZ’s attack, hitting nearly impossible headshots. While the initial rounds went back and forth, FUT broke MOUZ’s economy and took control of the half by round six. That allowed them to truly stretch their legs, taking a commanding 9-3 lead at halftime.
At last, FUT finally managed to win both a pistol round and its subsequent conversion, putting them up to match point. Backs against the wall, MOUZ would have to put together nine perfect rounds to push the game into overtime. It should have been impossible to pull off, but FUT were visibly feeling the pressure. Missed smokes, missed shots, and potential economic mistakes (according to analyst Janko “YNk” Paunović), allowed MOUZ to win eight of the nine needed with ease. Ultimately it would be dziugss to walk out of palace and crack open the A-site to send MOUZ packing from Stockholm.
Series Statistics – FUT vs. MOUZ – EPL Season 23
| Player | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOUZ Jimpphat | 56 | 16 | 46 | 80.3 |
| MOUZ Spinx | 54 | 14 | 47 | 75.4 |
| MOUZ xertioN | 50 | 20 | 49 | 77.3 |
| FUT Krabeni | 48 | 16 | 52 | 72.2 |
| FUT lauNX | 47 | 24 | 49 | 69.3 |
| FUT cmtry | 46 | 20 | 43 | 72.7 |
| FUT dem0n | 45 | 13 | 51 | 70.4 |
| FUT dziugss | 45 | 20 | 44 | 72.3 |
| MOUZ torzsi | 45 | 20 | 43 | 67.7 |
| MOUZ Brollan | 34 | 22 | 48 | 59.4 |
Editor’s Notes: MOUZ’s streak of top fours has finally been broken. The boat that MOUZ were surviving on, despite the sea of trophy-less events, has gotten a crack in the hull. Now, MOUZ could just come back at the next event and patch that hole and get back to their usualy winless, but top four, ways. Or they could finally look at the roster’s flaws, and plan for the future.
Though whether the future will have a spot for MOUZ is still a debate. The new academy squad is here to play instead. FUT were absolute brilliant in this series. Ofcourse like any young squad they had their own share of mistakes under pressure, but when you look at the Series Statistics above, you’ll see that three of MOUZ’s stars were comfortably ahead of FUT in the firepower department. And that trait is consistent across maps.
What MOUZ lacked, though, was the sheer tenacity and playmaking ability of the FUT squad. When push comes to shove, you can rely on any of the FUT five to find the key kills needed to snatch back an advantage. That’s exactly what happened on Mirage. With NAVI up next, FUT have a legitimate chance at making the finals now.
