Heroic qualify for Antwerp Major, Unique eliminate QUAZAR

HEROIC achieve a 3-0 record and secure a Legends stage spot at the PGL Major Antwerp.

The first set of best-of-threes at the Europe Regional Major Rankings A saw victory for Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and his side, who ensured their participation in the upcoming Major with a hard-fought win over Natus Vincere.

Meanwhile, QUAZAR bow out of the RMR after falling to Unique in their elimination match. It was a crucial battle between both teams with their tournament lives on the line, and in the end Vladimir "⁠shady⁠" Karelin's squad fell just short against their Kazakh opponents.

In the spot-deciding series, Mirage kicked off in HEROIC's favor as the Danish side took a quick 2-0 lead. Natus Vincere immediately fought back, scoring six rounds in a row to shift the momentum in their favor. cadiaN's team narrowed their deficit by halftime to just one round, down 7-8. After the switch, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev's crew wasted no time and came out with all guns blazing, winning the first seven consecutive rounds to bring the score line to a whopping 15-7. HEROIC fought back, but Natus Vincere were able to pull through as they clinched a 16-11 victory and a 1-0 advantage.

As Inferno started, HEROIC overwhelmed Natus Vincere's defense early on. They contained s1mple's side in the first half, amassing a 10-5 score line after 15 rounds. Coming out of the half, HEROIC were able to bring the score to 14-8, however Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's men had different plans as the Russian-Ukrainian lineup took six straight to keep themselves in the game. Despite Natus Vincere's best efforts, HEROIC prevented the comeback and took Inferno 16-13, sending the series to Nuke.

Both teams were inseparable early on Nuke, as Natus Vincere and HEROIC went back-and-forth all half. Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali's 16 kills eventually powered his team to a successful CT side as they entered halftime leading 8-7. HEROIC played relentlessly in the second half, shutting down Natus Vincere 16-9 and booking their spot at the Major.

QUAZAR kicked off their elimination series against Unique dominantly, scoring the first seven out of nine rounds in their favor on Ancient. Zhandarbek "⁠sorrow⁠" Mamyrbek's squad were able to find their groove late in the half, and ended with only a one round deficit by halftime. The second half began with the two teams exchanging wins before QUAZAR pulled ahead and never looked back, closing Ancient with a 16-10 score.

Map two began just like the first, with the first 15 rounds being tightly-contested between QUAZAR and Unique, with the latter finding themselves in their first lead of the entire series, up 8-7. The second half was nothing like the first, however, as Unique won eight straight to secure a quick 16-7 and force a decider.

The decider was held on Dust2, which was a completely different outing from the first two maps as Unique controlled the game from start to finish. Their CT side was truly remarkable, as QUAZAR were held to only two successful rounds by halftime. It wasn't long before Algat "⁠smiley⁠" Abdul's men left their opponents in the dust, as Unique claimed a commanding 16-5 victory to complete the reverse sweep and keep their Major hopes alive.

The Swiss series standings so far are as follows: