FURIA and Team Spirit swept into the BLAST.tv Austin Major playoffs with victories on Friday in Texas.
In second-round high matches of Group Stage 3, FURIA routed Virtus.pro 2-0 and Team Spirit downed Natus Vincere 2-0.
Four second-round mid matches were contested, with FaZe Clan defeating Legacy 13-8 on Anubis, Team Vitality blitzing 3DMAX 13-2 on Nuke, G2 Esports blasting Aurora Gaming 13-4 and The MongolZ dumping Lynn Vision Gaming 13-7.
In the first two elimination matches of Group Stage 3, MOUZ edged Team Liquid 2-1, and paiN Gaming rallied Nemiga Gaming 2-1.
The $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, which began with 32 teams, features three Swiss-system group stages.
Sixteen teams advanced through qualifying events to reach Group Stage 1, where all early-round matches were a single map while advancement and elimination matches were best-of-three.
The top eight teams in Group Stage 1 advanced to Group Stage 2, where eight invited teams awaited: Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, FURIA, MIBR and M80.
The same process applied in Group Stage 2, with the top eight squads moving on to Group Stage 3, where eight more invited teams joined the action: Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, The MongolZ, Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere and Team Liquid.
The top eight teams in Group Stage 3 advance to the single-elimination playoffs, where all matches will be best-of-3, including the grand final on June 22.
The winning team will earn $500,000, and the runner-up will pocket $170,000.
On Friday, FURIA destroyed Virtus.pro 13-3 on Mirage, 13-5 on Train. Brazil’s Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato led FURIA with 30 kills and kills and a plus-15 kill-death differential. Kazakhstan’s Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov led Virtus.pro with 23 kills and a minus-1 K-D differential.
Team Spirit opened with a 13-11 win over Natus Vincere on Anubis, then sealed the match with a 13-3 victory on Train. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets paced Team Spirit with 44 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential. Romania’s Mihai “iM” Ivan wound up with 30 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential for Natus Vincere.
FaZe Clan prevailed against Legacy behind 19 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential from Ukraine’s Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer and Lucas “lux” Meneghini each had 13 kills for all-Brazilian Legacy.
Team Vitality got 16 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential from Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool. Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro led all-French 3DMAX with nine kills.
Bosnia’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac amassed 18 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential for G2 Esports. Samet “jottAAA” Koklu finished with 19 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential for all-Turkish Aurora Gaming.
Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold registered 20 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian MongolZ. Sike “z4kr” Zhang topped all-Chinese Lynn Vision Gaming with 16 kills and a plus-1 K-D differential.
MOUZ opened with a 13-8 win on Dust II before Team Liquid claimed Nuke 13-4. The decisive third map, Mirage, went to triple overtime before MOUZ triumphed 22-19. Israel’s Lotan “Spinx” Giladi powered MOUZ with 70 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential. Poland’s Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak compiled 71 kills and a plus-29 K-D differential.
Nemiga Gaming captured Ancient 13-8, but paiN Gaming came back to win 13-8 on Anubis and 13-7 on Dust II. Chile’s David “dav1deuS” Tapia Maldonado starred for paiN Gaming with 52 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential. Russia’s Maksim “riskyb0b” Churikov amassed 49 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential.
The Group Stage 3 schedule for Saturday:
Round 4 high matches
–The MongolZ vs. FaZe Clan
–Virtus.pro vs. Team Vitality
–Natus Vincere vs. G2 Esports
Round 4 low matches
–Legacy vs. Lynn Vision Gaming
–3DMAX vs. paiN Gaming
–Aurora Gaming vs. MOUZ
BLAST.tv Austin Major Group Stage 3 standings
T1. FURIA, 3-0 (advanced to playoffs)
T1. Team Spirit, 3-0 (advanced to playoffs)
T3. Virtus.pro, 2-1
T3. The MongolZ, 2-1
T3. Natus Vincere, 2-1
T3. G2 Esports, 2-1
T3. FaZe Clan 2-1
T3. Team Vitality, 2-1
T9. Aurora Gaming, 1-2
T9. Legacy, 1-2
T9. 3DMAX, 1-2
T9. paiN Gaming, 1-2
T9. Lynn Vision Gaming, 1-2
T9. MOUZ, 1-2
T15. Nemiga Gaming, 0-3 (eliminated)
T15. Team Liquid, 0-3 (eliminated)
BLAST.tv Austin Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $15,000
12-14. $15,000
15-16. $15,000 — Team Liquid, Nemiga Gaming
17-19. $10,000 — B8, MIBR, HEROIC
20-22. $10,000 — TYLOO, Team Falcons, M80
23-24. $10,000 — OG, BetBoom Team
25-27. $5,000 — FlyQuest, NRG, Wildcard
28-30. $5,000 — Imperial Esports, Chinggis Warriors, Complexity
31-32. $5,000 — Metizport, Fluxo
–Field Level Media
