As we enter September, we have closed the summer chapter of 2015, leaving mere memories of incredible Counter-Strike in form of tournaments and general growth. There's no reason to sob though, as this fall's tournament season looks to be equally as strong. And it all kicks off with an epic five-map showdown to ignite the fifth edition of Fragbite Masters powered by Com Hem.
This weekend, the Fragbite Masters title holders of Team SoloMid will be facing their Swedish rivals of fnatic in a five-map clash, where every map has its own individual prize purse. The cash isn't everything, however, as the winner of three maps, or more, directly qualifies for the upcoming Season 5 LAN finals, meaning they won't be playing the online portion of Fragbite Masters.
Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
The match-up "Team SoloMid versus fnatic" is a modern classic. The two teams have faced each other in numerous grand finals throughout 2015, with the Danes walking out victorious in most of them. A lot of people would say that TSM has the edge in this specific match-up, but statistics say that fnatic, in spite of losing a lot to TSM, is the best team in the world at this moment. In other words, this weekend is about the best team in the world facing their Achilles' heel.
Hopefully, we'll be able to see those ideas put into play this weekend, when fnatic and Team SoloMid play their five-map-clash, with a potential cut of 100,000 SEK (circa $11,840) and a direct invite to the LAN finals of Fragbite Masters powered by Com Hem Season 5. In conclusion, Rasmussen gave us the same words that people around the world are thinking.
fnatic: pronax, JW, flusha, olofm, krimz
TSM: karrigan, cajunb, device, dupreeh, Xyp9x
Map 1: 15,000 SEK (~1,770 USD)
Map 2: 15,000 SEK (~1,770 USD)
Map 3: 20,000 SEK (~2,360 USD)
Map 4: 20,000 SEK (~2,360 USD)
Map 5: 30,000 SEK (~3,550 USD)
This weekend, the Fragbite Masters title holders of Team SoloMid will be facing their Swedish rivals of fnatic in a five-map clash, where every map has its own individual prize purse. The cash isn't everything, however, as the winner of three maps, or more, directly qualifies for the upcoming Season 5 LAN finals, meaning they won't be playing the online portion of Fragbite Masters.
"I think it’s a cool idea. Let's say fnatic win the first three maps, and the rest of the games would just be played for the viewer's enjoyment. The game could easily become very random and the players not caring too much about it since it’s already determined who's won the series. However, with the last maps being stacked wiyh money, I believe every map will be a fight. Who wouldn’t fight for money? For us, however, the main priority is just to win the series", Team SoloMid star Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen tells Fragbite.
Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
The match-up "Team SoloMid versus fnatic" is a modern classic. The two teams have faced each other in numerous grand finals throughout 2015, with the Danes walking out victorious in most of them. A lot of people would say that TSM has the edge in this specific match-up, but statistics say that fnatic, in spite of losing a lot to TSM, is the best team in the world at this moment. In other words, this weekend is about the best team in the world facing their Achilles' heel.
"Fnatic has been as dominant as ever, noone but us and Cloud 9 has actually beaten them in a best of three since April I think, so I guess they will always be the favourite. We’re hoping to win so we can skip the online part of Fragbite Masters so we have more time to prepare and practice. Match-ups against fnatic are always fun and I hope we’ll come out on top again!"
"We could have won the game, but we didn’t."
The two teams were expected to face off during the latest major, ESL One Cologne. However, the audience never got to see the anticipated encounter as the teams were in different groups, and were placed on opposite sides of the playoff bracket. This would have made for an epic grand final, but Team SoloMid failed to reach the tournament's climax when they lost the semi final to EnVyUs, who then were defeated by fnatic in the grand final."Playing against EnVyUs is pretty much who's better on the day, and who's hitting their shots. Neither of us has a huge masterplan when it comes to tactics, so it’s all about the individual level. They played better than us, and we had a few mistakes here and there, and a few mistakes are crucial in such matches. We could have won the game, but we didn’t."
How did you cope with the loss, seeing as your previous results favoured you to reach the grand final?
"Like we always do. Top 4 is decent, but everyone was disappointed as we really wanted that grand final. We’ve discussed our mistakes, worked on them and been talking about what our plan should be for the future. We got some good ideas so I hope it will show in the future!"Hopefully, we'll be able to see those ideas put into play this weekend, when fnatic and Team SoloMid play their five-map-clash, with a potential cut of 100,000 SEK (circa $11,840) and a direct invite to the LAN finals of Fragbite Masters powered by Com Hem Season 5. In conclusion, Rasmussen gave us the same words that people around the world are thinking.
"We'll have our grand-final that we missed in Cologne."
fnatic vs. 
Team SoloMid
fnatic: pronax, JW, flusha, olofm, krimzTSM: karrigan, cajunb, device, dupreeh, Xyp9x
Map 1: 15,000 SEK (~1,770 USD)
Map 2: 15,000 SEK (~1,770 USD)
Map 3: 20,000 SEK (~2,360 USD)
Map 4: 20,000 SEK (~2,360 USD)
Map 5: 30,000 SEK (~3,550 USD)
