Heroic, Team Vitality, Monte and Team Liquid each won their first two matches on Saturday in the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: Legends Stage in France.
Heroic topped FaZe Clan with a 16-7 victory on Inferno in Round 1 and bested Apeks with a 16-10 triumph Mirage in Round 2.
Vitality edged G2 Esports with a 16-13 win on Nuke in Round 1 and jolted ENCE 16-13 on Vertigo in Round 2.
Monte defeated FURIA 16-7 on Ancient in Round 1 and outlasted Fnatic 19-17 on Vertigo in Round 2.
Liquid notched a 16-9 win on Overpass versus 9INE in Round 1 and a 16-8 victory on Inferno over Natus Vincere in Round 2.
Natus Vincere, Fnatic, ENCE, Apeks, Into The Breach, Bad News Eagles, Ninjas in Pyjamas and GamerLegion each split their respective matches on Saturday.
Furia Esports, 9INE, G2 Esports and FaZe Clan weren’t as fortunate, as they each lost both of their matches on Saturday.
The $1.25 million BLAST.tv Paris Major is running from May 8-21, with 24 teams playing offline in Paris. The champion will earn not only a $500,000 payday and 3,500 BLAST Premier points, but also automatic qualification into both IEM Cologne 2023 and the BLAST Premier World Final.
The Challengers Stage is using the Swiss System format, where after the opening match teams are divided into “high” and “low” matches. Elimination and advancement matches are best-of-three, and all other matches are best-of-one. The top eight teams advance to the Legends Stage, while the bottom eight are eliminated.
After the Legends Stage, which will also employ the Swiss System with 16 teams, the Champions Stage will be a single-elimination bracket with all matches best-of-three. The final is scheduled for May 21.
Sunday’s schedule:
Round 3: High matches — Heroic vs. Liquid; Vitality vs. Monte
Round 3: Mid matches — Natus Vincere vs. NIP; Fnatic vs. GamerLegion; ENCE vs. Into The Breach; Apeks vs. Bad News Eagles
Round 3: Low matches — 9INE vs. FaZe Clan; Furia Esports vs. G2 Esports
–Field Level Media