FunPlus Phoenix win Snow Sweet Snow 1 over Gambit

After a tightly contested series, FunPlus Phoenix were crowned champions of Snow Sweet Snow 1, defeating Gambit 2-1. The European side was invited directly into the playoffs of the $100,000 tournament that started in January and won three BO3s to lift the title.

FunPlus Phoenix took down forZe and SAW before reaching the grand final, while their opponents Gambit had to overcome GODSENT and edge out Virtus.pro on path to a runner-up finish.

Snow Sweet Snow 1 is the second tournament the FunPlus Phoenix roster played since making the move from GODSENT and linking up with mousesports veteran chrisJ, having placed second at DreamHack Open January in their first outing.

Gambit had the upper hand early on Inferno, as Martin “⁠STYKO⁠” Styk‘s quad-kill in the pistol was followed up by a force-buy win from the Russian side. They were 7-2 up shortly, but FunPlus Phoenix narrowed the gap to five by half time. Abay “⁠Hobbit⁠” Khasenov‘s triple ensured that gap was increased in the second half, but after back-and-forth force-buys, FunPlus Phoenix ended up on top. They survived a 2v5 loss to Sergey “⁠Ax1Le⁠” Rykhtorov and Timofey “⁠interz⁠” Yakushin and closed out the map 16-14.

On Overpass, Gambit were comfortable on the Terrorist side, with Dmitry “⁠sh1ro⁠” Sokolov finding openings on the AWP consistently. They were 11-4 after the first half before another impactful pistol from STYKO set his team on the path of recovery. The European side reached 10 rounds, but Gambit managed to compose themselves and close out their map pick, with Hobbit going 22K-14D.

FunPlus Phoenix finally kicked off a map with a lead on Dust2, going 4-1 before great play from Ax1Le pushed the Russian team back into the game. A low-buy from the European side stopped Gambit in their stride, and together with STYKO‘s 1v4 clutch, ensured a 9-6 lead before the break. Going onto the defense, another force-buy was won, this time by Gambit, but FunPlus Phoenix looked strong on the full buys and closed out the series with a 16-9 scoreline.

Final standings and prize pool distribution for Snow Sweet Snow 1*:

1. FunPlus Phoenix – $40,000
2. Gambit
3-4. Virtus.pro
3-4. SAW
5-8. forZe – $4,000
5-8. GODSENT – $4,000
5-8. ENCE – $4,000
5-8. Endpoint – $4,000
9-12. Izako Boars – $3,000
9-12. Sangal – $3,000
9-12. Winstrike – $3,000
9-12. Sprout – $3,000
13-15. Dignitas
13-15. EXTREMUM
13-15. PACT
13-15. Dignitas
16-18. Lyngby Vikings
16-18. Sinners
16-18. EC Kyiv
19-20. HONORIS
19-20. GamerLegion

*Qualifying from the Swiss stage earned teams $3,000, winning the first playoff match an additional $1,000