The finals of the play-in stage at BLAST Premier Fall Groups are set after OG, Team Vitality and Team Liquid won their respective semifinal matches on Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark.
OG defeated FaZe Clan 2-1, Vitality bested G2 Esports 2-1 and Team Liquid swept Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 to advance. The losing clubs were not yet eliminated, instead moving into “last-chance matches” set for Sunday.
OG will face Astralis, Vitality will draw Natus Vincere and Team Liquid will battle Heroic in Saturday’s finals, with the three winning sides qualifying for the Fall Finals. Astralis, NaVi and Heroic clinched double-byes into the finals by placing first in their respective groups in the Group Stage.
Twelve teams were split into three double-elimination, best-of-one groups to determine seeding for the Play-In Stage, which will feature best-of-three matches. The top six finishers this week will earn berths into the $425,000 Fall Finals in November, with the bottom six settling for the Fall Showdown.
OG beat FaZe Clan 16-10 on Ancient before FaZe responded 16-9 on Mirage. OG claimed a 16-11 win on Inferno to clinch the match. Shahar “flameZ” Shushan of Israel and Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic of Serbia each posted 57 kills for OG, while FaZe’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken of Canada led all players with 65 kills and a plus-14 kills-to-deaths differential.
Vitality got off to a hot start by thrashing G2 16-4 on Vertigo, but G2 came back with a 16-5 rout on Nuke. On the decisive map, Inferno, Vitality claimed a 16-6 victory. Lotan “Spinx” Giladi of Israel starred for Vitality with 59 kills and a plus-23 K-D.
Liquid eked out two close wins over Ninjas in Pyjamas, 16-13 on Overpass and 19-17 in overtime on Mirage. Latvia’s Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis had a game-high 60 kills and a plus-16 for Liquid, while American teammate Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski added 54 kills on a plus-17.
Saturday’s three finals matchups are:
–Astralis vs. OG
–Natus Vincere vs. Team Vitality
–Heroic vs. Team Liquid
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 prize pool
1-3. $27,500, 2,400 BLAST Premier points (Fall Finals) — TBD
4-6. $17,500, 1,200 BLAST Premier points (Fall Finals) — TBD
7-9. $8,500, 900 BLAST Premier points (Fall Showdown) — TBD
10-12. $5,666, 600 BLAST Premier points (Fall Showdown) — Complexity Gaming, BIG, Evil Geniuses
–Field Level Media
