Natus Vincere and Team Vitality won their respective group with sweeps on Monday earned semifinal berths at the BLAST Open Spring event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Natus Vincere downed Aurora Gaming 2-0 in the upper-bracket final of Group A, and Team Vitality toppled PARIVISION 2-0 in Group B’s upper-bracket final.
Joining Aurora Gaming and PARIVISION in the quarterfinals on Friday in Rotterdam, Netherlands, will be Team Falcons and The MongolZ. Team Falcons edged FURIA 2-1 in the Group A lower-bracket final, and The MongolZ bested Team Spirit in the Group B lower-bracket final.
The 16 teams in the $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event were split into two groups of eight that contested double-elimination brackets. The top three finishers in each bracket advanced to the six-team playoffs. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on March 29.
The winning team will earn $150,000 along with three BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens.
On Monday, Natus Vincere beat Aurora Gaming 13-8 on Anubis, 13-10 on Nuke. Kosovo’s Drin “makazze” Shaqiri compiled 37 kills and a plus-11 kill-death differential for Natus Vincere. Caner “soulfly” Kesici posted 31 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential for all-Turkish Aurora Gaming.
Team Vitality opened with a 13-9 win on Mirage, then finished off PARIVISION 16-12 in overtime on Inferno. France’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut finished with 45 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential for Team Vitality. Dzhami “Jame” Ali led all-Russian PARIVISION with 39 kills and a plus-7 K-D differential.
Team Falcons captured Mirage 13-11 before FURIA equalized with a 16-13 overtime win on Dust II. The decisive third map, Nuke, went to Team Falcons 13-10. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov guided Team Falcons with 65 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential. Brazil’s Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato paced FURIA with 63 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential.
The all-Mongolian MongolZ slipped past Team Spirit 13-11 on Nuke, 13-9 on Overpass behind 47 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential from Ayush “mzinho” Batbold. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets registered 41 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential.
The playoff schedule
Friday
–Quarterfinal: Aurora Gaming vs. The MongolZ
–Quarterfinal: PARIVISION vs. Team Falcons
Saturday
–Semifinal: Aurora Gaming/The MongolZ winner vs. Team Vitality
–Semifinal: PARIVISION/Team Falcons winner vs. Natus Vincere
Sunday
–Grand final
BLAST Open Spring prize pool (cash prize, BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens)
1. $150,000, 3
2. $60,000, 1
3-4. $40,000, 1
5-6. $20,000, 1
7-8. $10,000 — FURIA, Team Spirit
9-12. $7,500 — TYLOO, NRG, 9z Team, Team Liquid
13-16. $5,000 — FaZe Clan, B8, MOUZ, Ninjas in Pyjamas
–Field Level Media
