BetBoom Team squeezed past Wildcard with a pair of overtime map wins on Thursday to clinch a berth in Group Stage 2 at the BLAST.tv Austin Major in Texas.
Two other teams advanced out of Group Stage 1 with 2-0 wins, as OG swept NRG and Nemiga Gaming topped FlyQuest.
In the three elimination matches on Thursday, TYLOO ousted Complexity 2-0, Lynn Vision Gaming slipped past Chinggis Warriors 2-1, and Legacy nipped Imperial Esports 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 are a single map while advancement and elimination matches are best-of-three.
The top eight teams in Group Stage 1 advance to Group Stage 2, where eight invited teams await: Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, 3DMAx, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, FURIA, MIBR and M80.
The same process applies in Group Stage 2, with the top eight squads moving on to Group Stage 3, where eight more invited teams will join 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 Thursday, BetBoom Team beat Wildcard 19-17 in double overtime on Nuke and 16-14 in overtime on Anubis. Pavel “S1ren” Ogloblin paced all-Russian BetBoom Team with 50 kills and a plus-9 kill-death differential. Sweden’s Love “phzy” Smidebrant produced 52 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for Wildcard.
OG thrashed NRG 13-6 on Mirage, 13-3 on Nuke behind 36 kills and a plus-20 K-D differential from Denmark’s Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard. Canada’s Jadan “HexT” Postma topped NRG with 25 kills and a minus-3 K-D differential.
Nemiga Gaming bested FlyQuest 13-9 on Ancient, 13-11 on Inferno. Kazakhstan’s Beksultan “khan” Ospan amassed 37 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential or Nemiga Gaming, while Romania’s Iulian “regali” Harjau put up 38 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential for FlyQuest.
All-Chinese TYLOO toppled Complexity 13-8 on Train, 13-11 on Inferno, led by 41 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential from Dongkai “Jee” Ji. The United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince posted kills despite a minus-7 K-D differential for Complexity.
Legacy opened with a 13-2 triumph on Inferno before Imperial Esports took Dust II 13-5. On the decisive third map, Mirage, Legacy prevailed 13-4. Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer recorded 44 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for all-Brazilian Legacy. Brazil’s Lucas “decenty” Bacelar posted 36 kills and an even K-D differential for Imperial Esports.
Lynn Vision Gaming claimed Inferno 13-9, but Chinggis Warriors rallied to take Nuke 13-10. The teams played into overtime on Ancient before Lynn Vision Gaming sealed the series with a 16-13 win. Lizhi “Starry” Ye totaled 55 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for all-Chinese Lynn Vision Gaming. Tugserdene “Efire” Erdenebold wound up with 56 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian Chinggis Warriors.
The last three Group Stage 2 berths will be on the line Friday:
–NRG vs. Lynn Vision Gaming
–Wildcard vs. Legacy
–FlyQuest vs. TYLOO
BLAST.tv Austin Major Group Stage 1 standings
T1. Heroic, 3-0 (advanced to Group Stage 2)
T1. B8, 3-0 (advanced to Group Stage 2)
T3. BetBoom Team, 3-1
T3. OG, 3-1
T3. Nemiga Gaming, 3-1
T6. FlyQuest, 2-2
T6. NRG, 2-2
T6. Wildcard, 2-2
T6. Lynn Vision Gaming, 2-2
T6. Legacy, 2-2
T6. TYLOO, 2-2
T12. Imperial Esports, 1-3
T12. Chinggis Warriors, 1-3
T12. Complexity, 1-3
T15. Metizport, 0-3
T15. Fluxo, 0-3
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
17-19. $10,000
20-22. $10,000
23-24. $10,000
25-27. $5,000
28-30. $5,000 — Imperial Esports, Complexity, Chinggis Warriors
31-32. $5,000 — Metizport, Fluxo
–Field Level Media
