FaZe Clan, Virtus.pro and Team Falcons all edged their respective opponents 2-1 on Saturday to reach the semifinals at the BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown.
FaZe Clan ousted paiN Gaming, while Virtus.pro got the best of BIG. Team Falcons topped Complexity Gaming.
All three teams are now one win away from qualifying for the Fall Final. FaZe Clan will face OG in the semifinals, and Virtus.pro is set to take on Team Falcons.
The $135,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with 16 teams vying for the last two berths in the $425,000 BLAST Premier: Fall Final, scheduled for Sept. 25-29 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Team Spirit, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere and Astralis already booked their spots in the Fall Final based on their results in the Fall Groups.
The top two teams in the Fall Showdown will each receive $20,000 and 900 BLAST Premier points in addition to the coveted trip to Copenhagen. The Fall Showdown features a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches.
On Saturday, FaZe Clan took Anubis 13-5 before falling 16-14 on Inferno. However, they then cruised to a 13-5 victory on Mirage to keep their Fall Final hopes alive. Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool collected a match-high 61 kills to go along with a plus-24 kill-death differential for the winners.
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov parlayed 63 kills with a plus-14 K-D differential as Virtus.pro responded to a 19-16 loss on Ancient with victories on Mirage (13-7) and Dust II (13-10).
Team Falcons also had to rally, prevailing 13-10 on Vertigo and 13-5 on Anubis after a match-opening, 13-6 setback on Nuke. Spaniard Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia totaled 47 kills against 38 deaths in the win.
The Fall Showdown concludes Sunday with two matches:
–FaZe Clan vs. OG
–Team Falcons vs. Virtus.pro
BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown prize pool:
1-2. $20,000, 900 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier: Fall Final
3-4. $12,500, 600 BLAST Premier points
5-8. $7,500, 250 BLAST Premier points — paiN Gaming, AMKAL ESPORTS, Complexity Gaming, BIG
9-16. $5,000, no BLAST Premier points — Rare Atom, Cloud9, HEROIC, Ninjas in Pyjamas, M80, Metizport, GamerLegion, Zero Tenacity
–Field Level Media
