Fnatic overcome HellRaisers 2-1 to secure the second European closed qualifier spot at the StarLadder StarSeries i-League Season 3 LAN finals in Kiev, Ukraine.
Fnatic are the second team to have secured a placement in the LAN finals of StarLadder StarSeries i-League Season 3 via the closed European qualifier. The team will be flying out to Kiev, Ukraine closer to April 4th to fight for their share of the significant $300,000 prize pool. Sixteen teams will struggle against each other for first place and the lion's share of the substantial prize pool. So far fourteen teams have been decided to participate at the event, eight of which received direct invites.
Following are the teams that have made it through to the event:
 SK Gaming |  Virtus.pro |  North |  G2 Esports |
 Natus Vincere |  Gambit Esports |  FaZe Clan | Immortals |
| Astralis |  Ninjas in Pyjamas |  5POWER | Fnatic |
 MVP Project | TyLoo | Americas qualifier slot #2 | European qualifier slot #3 |
To secure their placement, the Swedes had to butt heads with the European mix of HellRaisers. The best-of-three series saw all three maps played out, with Fnatic conceding the initial map, followed by two consecutive wins to take away the series. The first map, de_Cobblestone, saw a rather close score, where HellRasiers pulled slightly ahead with a 16-13 victory. The intial half saw a close performance from both teams. Going blow for blow, the fifteen rounds ended up being distributed 8:7 in slight favour of HellRaisers. The European mix continued to grind away at the Swedes, slowly but systematically. Through persistence and a strong performance, the team was able to clock in another eight rounds to Fnatic's six in the second half, closing out the match at a close 16-13.
Next was de_Train, the initial half of which didn't seem to signify a comeback from Fnatic. Their CT side seemed quite weak, conceding a 6-9 initial half and potentially looking at the idea of having to play for third place against Team EnVyUs. This, of course, proved to be false as the Swedes mounted an amazing comeback, securing a 10-1 latter half score, and consequently the second map at 16-10.
The last map, de_Inferno, would decide the winner. The Swedes kick off on de_Inferno, a map they were once considered to be the one of the strongest teams in the world on. Ten rounds went in favour of the terrorist side for Fnatic, bringing the team gradually closer to a victory. Despite all efforts from HellRasiers, the European mix was only able to amount to two rounds on the T side of Inferno, allowing Fnatic to secure the final six rounds needed to close out the series. Whilst Fnatic rejoice and prepare for their trip to Kiev, HellRaisers buckle up and hit the practice regiment, as they will be facing Team EnVyUs for the third slot at the LAN finals.
Image courtesy of DreamHack Flickr / Adela Sznajder
