Live updates from BLAST.tv Paris Major day 8

发布时间：2025-04-21 14:56:37 来源：cs upgrade 作者：case drop

This was a live post article from the final day of the Legends Stage.

Live updates

— Do or die in round 5: Winners advance to playoffs, losers get eliminated
—FaZe narrowly prevailed over Natus Vincere in electrifying must-win series
— fnatic were bested by Into the Breach in rip-roaring matchup
— Apeks made two huge comebacks to defeat Ninjas in Pyjamas

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen was understandably shell-shocked as he gave an interview on broadcast, an almost disbelieving look upon his face. He was clear as to what happened in that match:

“I think I’m in shock because we had already shown examples… we had another game we were up 14-3 and we let ENCE get to 9 rounds, maybe 11 even.

I was speaking about it with the performance coach and everyone and I was saying one day we might choke a lead like that if we get nervous, don’t focus on what’s in front of us, start stressing out, that’s going to haunt us, and the exact thing happened.”

The momentum Apeks built in their comeback carried through to overtime, Ninjas in Pyjamas seemed bereft of both confidence and ideas and slumped to a 19-16 defeat.

So discombobulated were Ninjas in Pyjamas that Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke bought a PP-Bizon in the last round of their T half.

The vital moment of OT came when Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius recovered a 3v5 with a majestic triple kill deep on the B site. What a play, check the clip below.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are eliminated 2-0.

Apeks	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	64 - 51	+13	96.9	1.32
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovskikyxsan	52 - 48	+4	85.5	1.17
Justinas 'jL' LekaviciusjL	47 - 44	+3	76.3	1.09
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	48 - 40	+8	64.2	1.08
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	43 - 50	-7	68.8	0.96

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitovheadtr1ck	62 - 47	+15	80.3	1.24
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib	50 - 48	+2	70.9	1.01
Ludvig 'Brollan' BrolinBrollan	47 - 53	-6	75.6	0.99
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wieneckek0nfig	39 - 56	-17	74.0	0.88
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	35 - 51	-16	62.1	0.86

Apeks were so confident in the final few rounds, taking aggressive fights all over the place and winning them.

We are now going to OT. What a majestic recovery from Apeks, 3-14 down back to 15-15. Magical stuff.

Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson’s AWP has been so reliable for Apeks today, he just held things down with some tasty flicks as his team were retaking the B site.

In round 26 Ninjas in Pyjamas finally found a 5v4 advantage, their first for ages it felt like, but once again nawwk worked his magic on the B site to trade things to a 1v1. Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov managed to escape with the bomb to the A site, and he locked down the clutch to get Ninjas in Pyjamas to 15.

Ninjas in Pyjamas default their way into an A hit in the following but they literally find a single kill in the process, the door firmly shut in their face.

Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk gets caught out by an A rush in the following, and this allows Ninjas in Pyjamas to make things messy. The chaos results in a 1v1 between Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski, and the latter manages to get the clutch over the line despite mis-reading the situation.

This is starting to get spicy, Ninjas in Pyjamas are now losing a man early in every round it seems. Apeks are then working the map well, finding the gaps to flank the Ninjas in Pyjamas offense before they can get comfortable in the mid-round.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have, generally, been able to work their way into the bombsite and get the plant, but Apeks have looked clean on the retakes as well.

The Ninjas have just seen another A post-plant go tits up, the score is now only 14-10.

Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin puts his carry pants on for the T pistol and grabs a 3k and 1v2 clutch to close it. The resulting Apeks eco is swiftly dealt with.

Since Apeks have started to rack some rounds up, they’ve brought the score back to 7-14.

Comeback?

Ninjas in Pyjamas’ individuals are standing tall and ensuring they maintain their lead in this game. This time Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen pops up with a clutch in a round that looked destined for failure.

Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad is trying his best to haul his team to rounds, he grabs a 3k and the bomb plant as they rush B, but Ninjas in Pyjamas retake effectively.

This trend continues for the rest of the half: Apeks get some traction, only for a Ninjas in Pyjamas player to step up and make a play to win the round. Aleksib in particular found some fantastic impact, and Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov in particular produced the raw numbers.

The score ends up being a dominant 12-3 in Ninjas in Pyjamas’ favor.

The first gun round goes the way of Ninjas in Pyjamas, they took the battle for mid control and traded three for one in the process, granting them an easy conversion.

After an Apeks eco is mopped up by Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, the European combine opt to speed things up with a B execute and Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad and Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius combine to crack open the bombsite and win the round.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have a fat wad of cash in the bank and can buy again, but some more clean entries from the aforementioned combo get Apeks another round on the board.

This causes Ninjas in Pyjamas to switch things into a double-AWP setup, and it’s Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov’s that sings with a 3k to keep the Nordic side in the lead.

Apeks’ pick of Ancient is underway, and they have taken their T pistol to get started on the right foot.

Scratch that, Ninjas in Pyjamas just overwhelmed them on a B site retake to answer straight back. This forces Apeks into a save, and Ninjas in Pyjamas instead are the ones starting on the right foot, 2-1.

Another tidbit from the ground: Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk — just after we stopped filming the winning reaction, of course — said that "we finally have found a team that plays Vertigo worse than us."

Ninjas in Pyjamas now face an uphill battle on Apeks home ground of Ancient to keep their playoff dream alive.

Apeks have stolen their opponent’s map pick!

Overtime was just as hotly-contested as regulation, with rounds coming down to clutch situations, but Apeks held firm when it counted most.

Apeks had to hang on in this map, recovering a 2-8 deficit in the first half. The key moment in the match was probably Apeks winning the force-buy wars that commenced the second half, it allowed them to stop Ninjas in Pyjamas from running away with things.

We are going to overtime! Apeks broke Ninjas in Pyjamas’s economy to give themselves a clear route to 15, but the Ninjas caught their opponents with some ramp aggression to earn themselves another shot in this map.

A really tough battle here!

The first real gun round of the half comes through, but Apeks lose a player at A ramp and a player at B stairs within the first 20 seconds, allowing Ninjas in Pyjamas to convert comfortably.

Apeks switch things up and go for a straightforward B crawl in the next round and the entries from Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius and Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski are crisp and clean, winning their team the round.

The Ninjas opt for a half-buy in the next, but the Apeks default holds true and picks apart the defenders. We are now all tied up at 13-13.

Another force-buy, another win for the team forcing as Ninjas in Pyjamas read the Apeks fake correctly and hold onto the A site.

Of course that means Apeks opt to force again, and Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk manages to pull out a clutch on the B site to get it over the line.

FINALLY the force-buy wars are over as Apeks perform an effective A execute, and the resulting Ninjas in Pyjamas eco allows them to bring the score back to 11-12.

Ninjas in Pyjamas take their defensive pistol to pile the pressure on Apeks, a retake setup towards A working wonders.

Apeks deal with the pressure and answer straight back however, their force-buy battling at ramp before swinging back to B and catching Ninjas in Pyjamas rotating.

Another ramp brawl comes through with Ninjas in Pyjamas on a force-buy, and it trades out into a 3v3. Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner then catches Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk as he tries to lurk through middle, and Ninjas in Pyjamas duly clean up the remaining members.

The force-buy wars continue and this time Apeks reign supreme, catching two players for nothing at the top of ramp before converting the attack onto A. 11-8 in Ninjas in Pyjamas' favor and they will likely force again.

Apeks have managed to get themselves back into this half somewhat, thanks to sticking around to fight map control a bit more stubbornly. Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson finding collateral kills through smoke certainly helps.

It’s too, little too late to prevent Ninjas in Pyjamas from taking a convincing 9-6 half win however, with the late-round, fake-heavy playstyle continuing to pay dividends.

Damn, Ninjas in Pyjamas are really letting the clock run down in these rounds. They just won a round faking A with only 30s on the clock, only to send the bomb through to B. It’s intricate, but when it works it looks genius.

Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin is starting to bully Apeks towards ramp, finding opening kills even when working the position alone, and Ninjas in Pyjamas’s fakes are proving tough for their opponents to read.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have just secured their eight against a half-buy, and they are threating to run away with things.

Ninjas in Pyjamas get their offense going with a pistol win, working their way out into middle before overrunning the A bombsite. A slow crawl up ramp puts the Apeks force to bed and Ninjas in Pyjamas swat away the resulting eco to garner a 3-0 start.

Apeks were not to be denied on their first gun round, they comfortably held a slow crawl onto B to get themselves on the board early.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have been opting for very slow defaults on their gun rounds, and they go for the same in the following. This time Apeks get itchy and gamble stack A, but it’s the wrong call and Ninjas in Pyjamas smash through onto B. They left it late though, the Ninjas are risking things with how late they are leaving their executes.

Disaster then strikes for the Nordic squad; Apeks brawl hard at the top of ramp with unarmored deagles and one M4A-1S, and they make it work. 4-2 is the score now.

Vertigo will be the first map of this series, and Ninjas in Pyjamas start on the T side of their map pick.

This is a fairly middling map for both teams according to the stats over the last three months, so if Apeks can nick this away, they could very well be looking at a 2-0 victory.

Tech issues are delaying the start of this bout, but we will hopefully be underway shortly.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
16/05/2023	Apeks19:30 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen was kind enough to give us a few words after fnatic bowed out of the Major. "I feel fucking horrible, obviously. I can't believe what we showed, it's an embarrassment."

"It was day and night from yesterday. Yesterday we wanted to win and after a few stupid anti-ecos we lose it's like... mentality going down, and like, choking. We crumbled hard against underdogs. They just play whatever, right? They have nothing to lose and if you don't hit your shots it's over."

We have the final bout for a playoffs spot coming up, with Ninjas in Pyjamas taking on Apeks.

Both teams have hit their best form at this Major, having been relatively unfavored heading into the tournament. Perhaps Ninjas in Pyjamas have shown a little more in the event thus far, having beaten ENCE 2-0 in an elimination bout yesterday.

Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin has stepped up massively so far in Ninjas in Pyjamas’s run, as have Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov, whilst Apeks have been massively reliant on Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad for the bulk of their fragging.

Predictions? The betting odds give Ninjas in Pyjamas a firm edge.

Karol "⁠rallen⁠" Rodowicz's last Major was DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca in 2015, a group stage exit more than eight years ago. Who would have thought that he would make the Major playoffs so long after, and with a UK team as well! Here's what he had to tell HLTV.org:

"I'm really proud of my team and me. It's insane what a miracle run we did, we still have the opportunity to go further and I expect we can get some revenge on Liquid. Overall I'm really excited about what's coming, it's one of the biggest arenas so it's insane what will happen in the next few days.

I can say that it was my mistake that I didn't try to play in an international team before. Because I can see that I can do a lot in international lineups and I'm really proud of what we achieved."

Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting was, understandably, thrilled with his team’s victory. He gave some thoughts on the analyst desk.

“The boys were down so I pumped them up a lot. I told them that we’re here, we have to play with everything we have, our hearts. It was quite scary to be honest witnessing the downfall almost, so I gave every last bit of energy I had to motivate the boys.”

“When momentum starts, anything can happen right? Especially when they’re like “ah I can’t be losing to this guy, we can’t lose to a UK team,” and I think a lot of teams here have been thinking about that. UK CS might be back, God save the King so far.”

“We’re dealing with what we have right now, and I think utilizing your players, especially when you’re an IGL you have to trust them. That’s what I do, and the boys are carrying me through.”

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman came onto the broadcast after that heart-breaking defeat to give his thoughts on why fnatic were short of their best in this matchup.

“We said they were going to try and get themselves back in it by being aggressive, we kinda knew it, but we were just sloppy on our defaults and let them back in on Overpass.”

“I don’t know what it is, but against the top teams we are much more on the ball with our communication and overall team play. When we get into these games I’m not sure what it is, but we just fall short and maybe forget, play a lot more sloppy.”

THEY HAVE DONE IT! History is made as Into the Breach become the first ever UK core in the playoffs of a CS:GO Major.

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman did push through a clutch to allow fnatic a single round, but they were never going to stop the onslaught.

Years of trying for Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel and Karol "⁠rallen⁠" Rodowicz, years of building up the UK scene for Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting, and it’s finally come together for the trio alongside youngsters Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson and Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș.

The UK-majority squad completely outplayed fnatic on the final two maps of this series, the European combine didn’t have a hope.

It’s coming home, boys and girls.

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
William 'mezii' Merrimanmezii	56 - 45	+11	77.4	1.13
Dion 'FASHR' DerksenFASHR	43 - 47	-4	68.2	1.00
Nico 'nicoodoz' Tamjidinicoodoz	44 - 50	-6	69.5	0.93
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	38 - 41	-3	62.8	0.90
Fredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenroeJ	33 - 58	-25	65.9	0.70

Into the Breach	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joey 'CRUC1AL' SteuselCRUC1AL	58 - 35	+23	74.4	1.35
Cai 'CYPHER' WatsonCYPHER	51 - 49	+2	83.3	1.22
Karol 'rallen' Rodowiczrallen	39 - 44	-5	70.2	1.02
Thomas 'Thomas' UttingThomas	50 - 45	+5	69.9	1.00
Sebastian 'volt' Maloșvolt	42 - 42	0	60.7	0.97

Finally Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi and Fredrik "⁠roeJ⁠" Jørgensen win the battle for A ramp, and this nets fnatic their second round of the half.

This improved approach to battling for ramp allowed fnatic to grab a few rounds in the half, but Into the Breach still had tricks up their sleeve; one example was a fake towards A ramp, which allowed them to slip the bomb away to B in a 3v4. They left Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel at sandbags, however, and he prevented the fnatic rotations with aplomb.

Timeout after timeout came through for fnatic but no adjustment could be found for true success.

The half ends 12-3 in Into the Breach’s favor.

Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel finds an opening frag in the initial battle at A ramp, and his team double back into a B hit, forcing fnatic into a save.

Another round and another battle for ramp control, which Into the Breach win. They accelerate onto A thanks to their success, and easily convert the 3v3. The momentum from Overpass is real, and it’s driving the Brits to success.

fnatic simply can’t handle the sauce Into the Breach are throwing their way at A ramp, and Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș and Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson have been so good with the entries.

Into the Breach finally mix things up and head to B after a slow default, and they batter their way through the hold. 7-1 now, getting dangerous for fnatic.

Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson, take a bow son. He puts up a magnificent ace in the pistol round to get Into the Breach going on their offensive half. A flawless anti-eco follows, and the Brits are looking brutal early doors.

Chaos ensues at A ramp in the first gun round, and the melee trades down into a 2v2 post-plant. Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș catches William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman’s flank, granting Into the Breach another round win.

A low investment comes out from fnatic but they make the pistols work at top ramp, damaging the Into the Breach hit and forcing a 3v3. The UK team are so damaged they fall as they enter the site, and Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel can’t make the clutch work. 3-1 now, fnatic are on the board.

Another gun round came through and Into the Breach faltered once again. They earned a 4v4 after a default, but the resulting B hit finds no traction.

The UK squad might be feeling the pressure here, as they cobbled together a buy with very low utility around a saved AWP in the next. It falls flat, and now fnatic are really heating up.

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman goes man-mode in the next round, rushing all the way up to playground to grab a double-kill and smash Into the Breach into the ground.

FINALLY Into the Breach break their T-side duck, crunching a forward setup in middle by crashing through connector, finishing things up on the A site.

The UK boys end the map with a hit towards A, clinching a 16-8 score and forcing the decider of Vertigo.

The first step has been taken by fnatic, they won their CT pistol thanks to repelling an attack towards B thanks to Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen and William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman. The European side then mop up the resulting eco to get their third on the board.

With guns up Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi fights towards fountains aggressively, taking two before losing his life. Into the Breach somehow turn things around as fnatic try to crunch the remaining attackers, with Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel taking a crucial (haha) multi-frag, but fnatic hold off the resulting B attack.

Into the Breach can’t make a force-buy attack towards A work, and so whilst fnatic have a long way to go, they are putting the pressure on. 5-14 now.

The rounds have been closer for the last few. fnatic opt for a contact play into A but trade kills when faced with Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel’s AWP. The European squad rotate back to B, but they don’t have the time to plant the bomb after Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting drops the carrier.

A triple-boost in spawn allows Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi to pick one in heaven with his AWP, but even with a man advantage they can’t force through the B hit.

From here Into the Breach strolled to a convincing half victory. Even when they did lose the first frag in the round, their reads and crossfires were so potent they rarely seemed in trouble.

fnatic have an absolutely mammoth task ahead of them if they want to close this in two.

A varied approach is already apparent for Into the Breach on their defense, and relentless aggression at top middle puts fnatic to bed. Then fnatic’s force in the next round falls flat.

Another unique maneuver catches fnatic off guard with guns back up, this time a triple-boost in graffiti looking into construction, and the eventual B hit is flattened with ease by Into the Breach for a 7-0 lead.

One of the UK side's aggressive moves was bound to get caught out, and with fnatic on Tec-9s they rush party to break apart the forward setup. They swarm towards A and trade into a 1v1, which William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman gets over the line thanks to catching a timing on Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson. fnatic are finally on the board, 1-7.

That was just the start Into the Breach needed, Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson did what he always does for this team and found an entry at short, before the rest of his team mopped up the ensuing B hit. Into the Breach stood tall in balloons to put the resulting fnatic save to bed.

The initial moves of the first gun round saw openings traded, and in the 4v4 fnatic opted to head to the B site. A retake setup allowed fnatic into the site, but they lost too many players as they entered and Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș and Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel pushed through the retake.

fnatic cobble together a buy but it falls flat, and now Into the Breach have a strong 4-0 lead to build upon.

We’re back in action, this time on Overpass, and all the signs are pointing to a fnatic 2-0 here.

Into the Breach have only a 33% winrate on Overpass in the last three months, which compares poorly to fnatic’s 73%. This is the home map of fnatic, their chosen battleground wherever possible, so they will be full of confidence.

At least Into the Breach have shown some chops on this map earlier in the tournament, they ran Liquid all the way to double-overtime on it just yesterday, so not all hope is lost.

Feels like a good start is necessary for Into the Breach, and they kick things off on their overall stronger defensive side. Let’s see what they can do.

It wasn't pretty but fnatic did eventually put Into the Breach away on Inferno. Key to that was a hefty bit of kinslaying from William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman who got down in the mud to put up a 1.49 rating.

He's commented on being forged in the fires of UK LANs and that experience was apparent here, as anti-ecos were thrown and man advantages squandered. Hopefully, both sides can show a better face on Overpass.

It wasn't a clean one, at all. However, this is exactly what we expected when BLAST announced a UKCS derby for a do-or-die decider match at the Paris Major. fnatic will go into their pick of Overpass with a 1-0 series lead after a truly chaotic match full of highlights, lowlights, and moments that bewildered players and spectators alike.

The match could be summarized by Into the Breach's B rush on round 25. The British core just rushed down banana with Glocks and overwhelmed fnatic's defenses on the site, an unthinkable outcome given the starting condition for both teams.

Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș, the ex-fnatic Rising prospect, had a quiet first half but pulled off an impressive wall spam to secure Into the Breach's win against the upgraded pistols from fnatic. The gap is now just 10-12 and the British core is not going down quietly.

Sometimes it's the simple things that do it, and Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson proved it on banana with a Deagle double-kill to open up the site. He then added another frag with the MP9 to secure Into the Breach's round with a very complicated offensive strategy: "CYPHER, go kill."

Into the Breach have not given a single round away without a fight, always looking to play aggressively and catch their opponents off guard. Unfortunately for them, fnatic made their name in CS:GO with that philosophy in mind and were more than ready to counter the CT aggression.

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman has topped the scoreboard all half, but Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson joined him after a late resurgence from the Swedish veteran, with the duo successfully powering fnatic to a 10-5 lead despite Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting and Michael "⁠Crucial⁠" Bishop's heroics around the B site.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut is the last man standing of 2022's top five players after Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's elimination. A changing of the guard, or a temporary fluke?

fnatic were seemingly on their way to another straightforward round victory after finding a double-entry on banana, looking to take the B site with a 5vs3 advantage over Into the Breach. Unfortunately for them Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting stepped up with a life-saving 3k to stop the T advance and claim a 4-6 advantage, keeping the scoreline close.

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and company decided to start on the offense, but Into the Breach are making them sweat for every round and are more than happy to celebrate after every successful play. This match screams UK Counter-Strike.

Despair for Natus Vincere, and elation for FaZe. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev was understandably frustrated, with Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy on the end of a few choice words. In the other booth, FaZe — once the defuse was complete — erupted into celebration.

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen had told them they could complete "the greatest comeback of all time" at 10-15, a motivational speech that paid off in spades.

fnatic started off on the front foot on Inferno with a pistol round vicotry and a clean follow-up, with captain William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman leading from the front in terms of fragging. Into the Breach have not immediately folded and have been proactive with their CT side, even claiming a win with just a few upgraded pistols and a FAMAS, courtesy of a P250 double-kill from Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel.

Both fnatic and Into the Breach opt for their usual home turfs of Overpass (that fnatic pick in 48% of series) and Inferno (that ITB choose 31% of the time). Both teams have weak win rates on their opponent's pick — there is a route to Vertigo for the British underdogs.

FaZe's Norwegian rifler was still in disbelief after FaZe's comeback win, but didn't miss the chance to draw parallels to a previous match they had agianst Vitality at ESL Pro League Season 17.

"It was very crazy," Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard said. " A lot of jitters still, I can't believe we pulled off the comeback. At least this time it was us, not Vitality, pulling off the comeback [laughs].

"It feels good, karrigan made a lot of great calls, he made sure everybody believes still even at 15-9. He had a good little speech even though we had a shit buy and everything, he still made us believe and we pulled through."

Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants delivered 101 ADR and 40 frags as FaZe completed their historic comeback. It is a performance, both team and individual, that will go down in history.

After that exhausting, hard-fought, and electrifying series between FaZe and Natus Vincere, we now have the second fixture of the day between fnatic and Into the Breach.

Just like the previous matchup, the winner qualifies for the playoffs, whilst the loser will have their Major run cut short.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
16/05/2023	fnatic15:45 Into the Breach	Match

fnatic come into the best-of-three as the favorite; the European troupe eliminated G2 from the $1.25 million spectacle in France on Monday, and they will be eager to make back-to-back playoffs at Majors after doing so at IEM Rio in November.

It will also be a particularly meaningful game for William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and Jamie "⁠keita⁠" Hall, as the two Brits of fnatic will lock horns with their countrymen of Into the Breach.

The UK-majority team became the first team from their country to qualify for a Major after a surprisingly strong run at the RMR in Denmark, with the chance to go one further and make the playoffs now on the cards. What a feat it would be for the UK.

"It's coming home," Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson said on stream with James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks. Is it though?

Anubis has delivered on all fronts, and overtime, no.. double overtime, on the Egypt-inspired map was no different.

FaZe just overturned a 3vs5 situation in the final round of overtime, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen gunning down two to hault the A attack, before Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants won a 2vs2 to qualify for playoffs.

Just wow, Natus Vincere are going to be absolutely kicking themselves. They had six chances to close the map. Six. And they couldn't do it. The loss also consigns Natus Vincere to their fourth-ever elimination in the group stage of a Major, and of course it's in the final CS:GO Major that they falter after such a dominant run in the shooter's 10-year history.

Conversely, FaZe's fortitude was tremendous, and they are now the sixth team to earn a playoff berth here in France, completing the comeback from an initial 9-15 deficit to win 22-19, and the series, 2-1.

"We are going to make it; this is going to be a comeback for the history books," karrigan said at 9-15 down, according to Zvonimir "⁠Professeur⁠" Burazin and Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez on the broadcast. It certainly was a history-defining comeback, karrigan. GG.

"We are truly blessed by the Counter-Strike gods tonight," Anders "⁠Anders⁠" Blume rightly said midway through the double overtime. The Danish caster is spot on.

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	78 - 50	+28	89.8	1.33
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	62 - 59	+3	79.9	1.12
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	58 - 62	-4	77.9	1.10
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	63 - 64	-1	73.8	1.03
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	55 - 50	+5	64.7	0.97

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ilya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyPerfecto	59 - 55	+4	72.1	1.06
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	62 - 66	-4	73.9	1.02
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiyb1t	56 - 65	-9	76.2	1.00
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	61 - 69	-8	71.4	0.98
Andrii 'npl' Kukharskyinpl	45 - 64	-19	57.5	0.78

It's just too close to call, both sides are fighting tooth and nail to stay alive in Paris. Everyone is zoned in, playing their A-game.

But still, we're going to double overtime here.

"Nice, blyat" is heard from the Natus Vincere camp as they add the 18th round to force double overtime.

250k viewers in the official stream, it's a Major final in and of itself, but instead we watch in the Legends Stage.

Counter-Strike.

Okay things are starting to heat up again now. FaZe, who looked down and out, have won six in a row convincingly to force an overtime affair in the third and final map of the must-win series!

It was close at one point, Natus Vincere close to stealing the series after a rush of the B bombsite with Tec-9s and Desert Eagles, but FaZe held their ground and sent the map to extra time — much to the jubilation of the entire FaZe camp.

It's a perfect end to a barnburner of a series, and I'm all for it. This is what a Major is meant to be. Passion and determination. Who is it going to be going through to the Accor Arena now?

Hmm, FaZe are started to look deflated now; their CT-side has been a whimper, and Natus Vincere are capitalizing.

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants even successfully pulled off a 2vs3 retake on the B bombsite versus an entrenched Natus Vincere, doing so with a full-length 10-second defuse, to earn FaZe the pistol.

But that wasn't enough to help the European roster build momentum. Natus Vincere responded in the ensuing round with a mishmash buy of rifles to take control of the economy, now on a six-round spree as they sit on a 14-8 lead.

It's thanks to rookie Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi too, who won a 1vs2 clutch in round 23 to get onto 14. He hasn't been Natus Vincere's savior often in his five-month tenure with the squad, but he may have just secured their playoff spot here.

FaZe did in fact add those much-needed rounds on the board, finding three of the final five rounds of the half to sit down by one round at the break.

These key wins were 100% due to Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants and his trusty Big Green; the Latvian added seven kills over those five rounds to ensure FaZe aren't staring down the barrel of an even greater deficit.

He now sits at the top of his team's tally with 16 kills, seven more than Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, who is the second-best performer on the European roster.

FaZe now move over to the CT-side on the Anubis decider. It's going to be close.

As expected, the opening exchanges of Anubis has been a skirmish, with Natus Vincere narrowly leading by one round thanks to a five-round spree of their own.

This strong burst came as a result of Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's brilliance, the duo already combining for 18 kills in the first 10 rounds.

FaZe will need to get some much-needed rounds on the board if they're to remain competitive here.

It all comes down to this: two titans in Natus Vincere and FaZe fighting for their tournament lives on Anubis, the newest map in the pool and the one they've both played the least (aside from Vertigo).

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy could be seen having a stern exchange on stream, and it wasn't uncommon to see Natus Vincere be quite explosive when things weren't going their way a few years ago.

FaZe, by contrast, will be booming with confidence after that 16-5 thrashing, with that hotly-contested loss on Overpass clearly not hanging over them.

It's Natus Vincere on the CT-side and FaZe on the T-side. Who do you have winning this at home? Who will play on stage in front of the Accor Arena? We're about to find that out.

FaZe just snatched control of the game in shock fashion, ruining Natus Vincere's chance of mounting a comeback.

The European troupe were down to just pistols, but that didn't stop them from clinching victory in the round to reach 14.

From there, it was just a case of taking care of business; the Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen-led roster added the two rounds they needed with ease to trounce the Ukrainians 16-5 and force an Anubis decider in the must-win game.

It was a complete team effort from FaZe to get their map win over the line. Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool topped the scoreboard with 19 frags, with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard, and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants on 16 apiece.

FaZe's scoreboard on Mirage was:

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	19 - 7	+12	85.1	1.57
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	16 - 8	+8	77.9	1.37
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	16 - 10	+6	90.0	1.36
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	16 - 11	+5	88.0	1.32
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	11 - 10	+1	61.7	0.95

FaZe are far more composed on Natus Vincere's pick of Mirage, leading 11-4 at the switch after a comfortable display on the CT-side.

It's a truly team effort as well, with the difference in kills on the FaZe side being just three (12 on Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, nine on Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen).

The same can't be said for Natus Vincere, who are just looking completely flat. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi are struggling massively in the server, and Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy (8-10) is his team's highest-performing individual.

Odds are that FaZe will force a trip to Anubis now, but time will tell.

FaZe have took Mirage by the scruff of the neck on the CT-side, desperate to force a three-map series to stay alive in Paris.

The European roster nurture a 7-2 lead on the defense, courtesy of a 1vs2 clutch from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, even tapping Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy through smoke with a crisp headshot to get the job done. Check him pc.

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev is on a 1-6 K-D ratio as we head into round 10. Can FaZe get back into the series?

FaZe's decision to pick into Overpass has failed to pay off, the roster now down 0-1 in the must-win series after Natus Vincere managed to pick up the map after a 29-round affair, 16-13.

The majority of the map was a relatively uneventful bout, but things soon came alive as we entered the dying stages.

It was a shouting match from Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen: "Sit down, s1mple!" and "Holy shit you're missing so many shots, go back to VALORANT!" the Danish captain allegedly screamed after his impactful clutch in round 25.

Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard even came alive in round 26 with a superb 1vs3, but FaZe were unable to get it over the line. The Ukrainians managed to snatch victory away, and now head into their Mirage pick, a map away from making the playoffs and eliminating FaZe from CS:GO's last-ever Major.

Alas, FaZe were down 0-1 after a battering on Overpass at the hands of Bad News Eagles on Monday. The team rebounded though, winning in overtime in map two before clinching victory outright in the Inferno decider. Is that going to happen again, or will Natus Vincere put the series to bed on Mirage?

The stream didn't catch it, but the trash talk from Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen was better than just saying "sit down." We heard him follow it up with "Holy shit you're missing so many shots s1mple, go back to VALORANT" — a piece of banter that could have become legendary had FaZe pulled off the comeback. Alas, now it will be resigned to the records.

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen continues to earn his pay, clutching a 1vs1 Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev in round 25 before erupting into a scream.

"Sit down, s1mple!" the Dane exclaimed. It's a crucial round win for FaZe, with Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard standing tall the round after in a sublime 1vs3 to reduce the deficit to just one.

We're heading into the dying stages of Overpass now, FaZe are on 13, Natus Vincere on 14. It's so close.

It was looking dire at one point, I can't lie. Natus Vincere strung three rounds together to reach a 12-6 lead, but FaZe have since mounted a slight comeback.

Said comeback was thanks to a strong hold of the B bombsite from Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, who is FaZe's second-best performer in the map so far.

It may be just a two-kill hold, but it single-handedly halted the Natus Vincere attack and allowed his teammates to rotate down from the A bombsite — a key round win for the European troupe.

The score is now 9-13, with FaZe slowly making their way back. Is it too late, though? Are Natus Vincere too far head for karrigan's men to clinch victory on their map pick?

It's Natus Vincere who are in control at halftime on Overpass, putting up nine rounds by the end of their defensive effort. FaZe's map pick is starting to look a bit shaky.

Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi, the rookie of the Natus Vincere squad, showed his inexperience as he died to the bomb explosion on A in round 12, losing his team the AWP they'd love to have saved — it's not a cheap investment after all. His reaction said it all, he'll come to regret this should Natus Vincere end up losing the map.

Regardless, this blunder did little to stop the Ukrainian-majority roster from walking up to a first-half lead, 9-6. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, who began proceedings with a 4-5 K-D ratio, has since woken up, ending his team's CT-side with 15 kills and just eight deaths. He's always worth his weight in gold when it matters most.

The fixture between FaZe and Natus Vincere is as hard-fought as you could expect, with the two teams separated by just a single round — FaZe are on four, Natus Vincere on three.

It's Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen who is stepping up for his side, going above and beyond the call of duty with 10 kills and four deaths to ensure FaZe have the advantage midway through the first half.

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, who has had a lackluster showing over the past few days, is continuing to struggle in the server. The Ukrainian has four frags and five deaths to his name; he needs to wake up if Natus Vincere want to have a strong chance at winning.

Natus Vincere and FaZe have had many a brawl, and nearly all of them are close: The scoreline reads 4-4 in LAN series since COVID, 10-11 in maps, and 269-300 in rounds.

In Natus Vincere wins the scoreline is generally more dominant, thanks to their front-running style; if it gets close, smart money is usually on FaZe to pull through in the clutch moments.

The most remarkable stat from this H2H is total rounds played: 569 rounds over 21 maps equals 27.1 rounds per map, so a very high average scoreline of 16:11. Get your seatbelts strapped on, we could be in for a long one.

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen sought to inspire his troops before the must-win game went live. "We've been here before," he said.

After barely moving past Bad News Eagles on Monday, it's no wonder the Dane is trying to bring life into his squad. It's a fixture they have to win, there's no way around it.

The highlight matchup of the day between FaZe and Natus Vincere is about to begin.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
16/05/2023	FaZe11:30 Natus Vincere	Match

The two teams met in the PGL Antwerp Major grand final in 2022, but are now fighting in the Legends Stage for a chance to avoid elimination and make the playoffs.

In more recent times, however, there was a meeting at the RMR in Denmark back in April. Natus Vincere won that matchup relatively comfortably, kick-starting FaZe's downward spiral which ended with the European having to fight through the last chance qualifier to earn their Major berth.

It's going to be a brawl to say the least, and we begin on FaZe's pick of Overpass, a choice Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez says is "a mistake." Who do you think takes map one?

The veto is as follows:

1. FaZe removed Ancient
2. NAVI removed Nuke
3. FaZe picked Overpass
4. NAVI picked Mirage
5. NAVI removed Vertigo
6. FaZe removed Inferno
7. Anubiswas left over

It was not too long ago that these two sides were accustomed to meeting each other in grand finals. There is only one difference in terms of personnel (Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi for Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov) but the entire complexion of the scene has changed since those brawls in Antwerp and Cologne. Rather than fighting for the crown, today they are fighting over scraps; their final chance to scrape into playoffs.

FaZe, often praised for their 4-man core of fraggers, have become a bit of a two-man show this event: Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants sport 1.20+ ratings while Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken has dramatically fallen off from his 2022 peak.

Natus Vincere, too, are lacking firepower — something that would be unimaginable just twelve months ago. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev is only at 1.10, with Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy below 0.99 and npl (0.72) among the four lowest-rated players at the event.

HLTV conducted interviews with Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk, and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač yesterday — and another is soon to follow with Isak "⁠isak⁠" Fahlén.

karrigan: "Beating BNE now is slaying our demons"

After FaZe broke their Bad News Eagles curse and survived a rollercoaster series against the Kosovar team to make it to round five, karrigan shared his thoughts on the team's recovery so far from their poor start to the Major and what their latest win signifies.

"Overall, a really tough match, but I'm proud of the boys because on the first map, we were not awake. We were not ping-ponging, against them the communication needs to be on point and that has been our main issue the whole tournament. Thank god we woke up for the second and third map."

Read more here.

Woro2K: "I think we can even win this Major"

Woro2k was short but to the point in our interview with him following Monte's playoffs-qualifying victory against his countrymen in Natus Vincere:

"The atmosphere is so insane, I think we're ready for the stage. Yes, maybe it's the first time for four players on stage, but I think if we keep our confidence, our mood, it'll be the same as here. I think we can even win this Major, some teams are very, very good, but we'll try our best to beat them."

Read or listen to the full interview here.

NiKo: "I did not deserve to win a Major in CS:GO"

A devastated NiKo spoke to us following G2's elimination at the hands of fnatic.

"I still cannot really believe it, we underperformed so hard today and on the first day. It just felt like everything went so fast, and I don't even know what went wrong or what was the reason. Still can't believe that we didn't make it to the playoffs honestly."

Missed what happened on day three of the Legends Stage? Here's a recap of the biggest stories, our best player of the day, and the best highlights of the day:

It's the final day of the Legends Stage. Three matches, three playoffs spots up for grabs, easy as that.

The day will kick off with a barnburner between two of the five pre-event favorites and current #3 and #4 teams in the world, FaZe and Natus Vincere (no, we don't know why that is in the worst time slot, either).

fnatic will then play Into the Breach and Apeks vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas will close the day.

Who do you think will advance?

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
16/05/2023	FaZe11:30 Natus Vincere	Match
16/05/2023	fnatic15:45 Into the Breach	Match
16/05/2023	Apeks19:30 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

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