FaZe Clan and Team Vitality locked up byes into the semifinals of the $425,000 BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023 by prevailing in winners’ matches on Thursday in Copenhagen, Denmark.

FaZe rallied past Cloud9 2-1 to claim the top spot in Group A and Vitality outlasted Complexity Gaming 2-1 in Group B.

Cloud9 and Complexity still advanced to the playoff stage but will begin in the quarterfinals. They’ll be joined by the winners of Thursday’s two elimination games. In Group A, Natus Vincere beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0, and in Group B, Heroic swept Astralis 2-0.

The single-elimination playoffs begin Friday with the quarterfinals. All matches are best-of-three, including Sunday’s grand final. The winner earns $200,000 plus 3,000 BLAST Premier points and automatic entry into the World Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from Dec. 13-17.

On Thursday, FaZe lost 13-11 to Cloud9 on Overpass but bounced back nicely with a 13-2 rout on Ancient. The deciding map needed overtime, with FaZe pulling away 19-15 on Anubis.

Vitality crushed Complexity 13-2 on Anubis, but Complexity answered with a 16-13 overtime triumph on Nuke. On the third map, Vitality pulled away 13-7 on Inferno.

NAVi won 13-11 on Overpass and 13-6 on Mirage to eliminate Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Heroic won 13-8 on Vertigo before putting Astralis to bed in a 16-13 OT victory on Overpass.

The tournament continues Friday with two quarterfinal matches:
–Complexity Gaming vs. Natus Vincere (winner meets FaZe Clan)
–Cloud9 vs. Heroic (winner meets Team Vitality)

BLAST Premier Fall Final prize pool, BLAST Premier points
1. $200,000, 3,000 points, World Final berth
2. $85,000, 2,000 points
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 points
5-6. $20,000, 500 points
7-8. $10,000, 300 points — Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis

–Field Level Media