BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR Open Qualifier 1

EYEBALLERS, HONORIS among eight teams to advance to BLAST.tv EU RMR closed qualifiers

14-2-2023 18:36

The two teams containing former Major champions made it through the gauntlet of the first BLAST.tv Europe RMR open qualifier.

The first BLAST.tv Paris Europe RMR open qualifier has played past its qualification round, and thus the eight teams that have advanced to the closed qualifier have been determined.

The open qualifier kicked off on Monday with nearly 800 teams battling through a brutal single-elimination, best-of-one bracket, and there were relatively few upsets that took place in the early rounds. The majority of favorites managed to make it through to at least the round of 128, at which point the pool of teams had been whittled down to more familiar names.

JW and flusha have advanced to the closed qualifier

Tragedy struck for the French teams hoping to secure berths to their home Major in the following round, with LDLC, HEET, and GenOne all bowing out just shy of making it to day two of the qualifier. Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon's Nakama also faltered earlier on in the qualifier, and by the time play reached the round of 32, not a single French player was left standing in the bracket.

For a detailed recap and breakdown of how the matches up until the round of 32 unfolded, you can take a look back through our live post.

A number of storied names were left standing heading into the second day of matches, which began with one last best-of-one round before play reached the best-of-three qualifying matchups. Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund and his boomer demons crew fell in the Ro32 and had their strong run from day one brought to an end, with Benched Heroes, ECSTATIC, JANO, and Boston crab notably also bowing out.

Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist and Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell, however, found success with their young EYEBALLERS roster by moving past Websterz 2-0 in the qualifying round, and Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas did the same with HONORIS, defeating SINNERS in a close 2-1 series to earn a closed qualifier berth.

B8, Into the Breach, Viperio, iNation, and Tricked also all successfully made it through the round of 16 to qualify, while Eternal Fire had their run cut short at the final hurdle as they struggled against 500, losing 0-2 to let the Bulgarian side past.

The eight teams who advanced through this qualifier join the team list for the closed stage, although which of the two European RMR closed qualifiers they will take part in won't be determined until the conclusion of the seeding matches.

The rosters who faltered in this qualifier, especially the French ones who dream of playing at their home Major, will have one final chance to make it to the closed stage through the second open qualifier, which is currently underway. You can follow along with the live post for that qualifier here.

The teams who have advanced to the BLAST.tv Paris EU RMR closed qualifiers are: