Esport MeNemiga stun FUT 2-0 on Nuke and Dust2 to reach Bucharest semis
A second-half Nuke turnaround and a dominant pistol record on Dust2 sent Nemiga past FUT and into the PGL Masters Bucharest semi-finals.
Nemiga have reached the semi-finals of PGL Masters Bucharest after beating FUT 2-0, closing out Nuke 13-11 and Dust2 13-9, according to HLTV.
FUT, led by Aulon "Krabeni" Fazlija, had come through the group stage cleanly, but could not reproduce that form against a Nemiga side who only advanced after winning a decider on the final day of a 2-2 group.
The opener on Nuke was far from straightforward for Nemiga. FUT nullified an early pistol win with a second-round forcebuy, and a disjointed Nemiga T-side slipped to a 3-9 deficit at the break.
Nikita "robo" Dushin managed just one kill in the first half, and HLTV reported Nemiga's win probability on the map had fallen to 4 percent at that stage.
Nemiga rebuilt their footing after taking the second pistol round. Kirill "Xant3r" Kononov extended his run of strong Nuke performances to seven straight maps rated 1.10 or higher, posting a 1.28 rating that included a 1v2 clutch.
Daniel "syph0" Ageyev was the key figure in closing out the map, delivering a 1v2 clutch of his own alongside a 2.38 CT-side rating and a CT-side swing of plus-14.76 percent, as Nemiga won the decisive round in regulation to take Nuke.
Dust2 opened in Nemiga's favour on the CT side, with a third straight pistol round won in dramatic fashion — Álvaro "SunPayus" García came close to denying them with a 1v3 clutch attempt — helping Nemiga open a 4-1 lead inside the first five rounds.
FUT then took control to level at the half, with Xant3r failing to deal damage across four consecutive rounds during that spell.
After the side switch, Nemiga won their fourth straight pistol round, a significant advantage in a tight series, and pushed the lead back out to 9-6 before FUT rallied to tie the map at 9-9.
That proved to be FUT's final push. Nemiga took over on the attack from there, closing out the map 13-9 against a FUT CT side that, per HLTV's report, struggled to find answers in the closing rounds.
The result sends Nemiga through to the next round of the PGL Masters Bucharest playoffs, while FUT's run in the tournament ends at the quarter-final stage.