SAW, Viperio first to be eliminated from European RMR

Both squads left the Regional Major Ranking event in Copenhagen with a 0-3 record.

The first set of teams to be eliminated from BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A were decided after SAW and Viperio lost their respective 0-2 pool matches against OG and Sprout. The two eliminated squads recorded no wins in the best-of-one phase on Thursday before being kicked out in the first best-of-three series today.

SAW were eliminated by OG after a 2-1 series in favor of the European mix. The fixture marked the third consecutive top 20 team the Portuguese squad faced at the event following matches against Virtus.pro and MOUZ. Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes and company also attended the previous two RMR events, failing to qualify for the PGL Antwerp and IEM Rio Majors.

Meanwhile on the secondary stream, Sprout took down Viperio 2-1 to knock them out of the RMR. The British-Irish squad also did not have an easy journey at the event, narrowly losing their first match to fnatic in double-overtime before a loss to Bad News Eagles in the 0-1 pool. All the British fans' hopes now lay on Into the Breach as the Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting-led squad sits in the 2-1 pool, one match away from becoming the first UK-majority lineup at a Major.

Sprout came back against Viperio after losing the opener on Vertigo

OG are still a long way away from safety as they sit in the Swiss stage with a 1-2 record and are in need of two consecutive BO3 wins if they want to qualify for the Major. Any more slip-ups will make their journey to the Major harder, with the 17th place decider as their only way forwards if they manage to secure a 2-3 record.

The European mix has competed without their in-game leader Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković, using Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen as a stand-in and substitute captain for the last two months. The team has not performed to their potential at the RMR, especially as all the players except for Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov have failed to average a positive rating over the five maps played.

Sprout were in poor form coming into RMR following a series of roster changes involving Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss, Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali, and Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward. The German organization was not able to turn its fortunes around with the new IGL ahead of the RMR, and losses to Falcons and Into the Breach welcomed the team to Copenhagen.

Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr and Adrian "⁠XELLOW⁠" Guță have been the standout players for Sprout at the RMR in terms of raw numbers, and it's worth nothing Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea's underperformance at this event with a 0.97 rating when compared to his 1.10 score over the last year. If Sprout want to reach the Major, both the Romanian rifler and AZR, who's sitting at a 0.85 average score, have to step up.

Sprout and OG will continue their fight for tournament survival on Saturday against two more teams in the 1-2 pool, which at the moment includes the likes of Apeks, Virtus.pro, and MOUZ. The squads will await the conclusion of the 2-0 matches to see who they'll face in the next round of play.

Group Swiss

2W - 0L

Natus Vincere

FaZe

B8

fnatic

2W - 1L

Into the Breach

Bad News Eagles

GamerLegion

Falcons

1W - 2L

Virtus.pro

Apeks

1win

Sprout

MOUZ

OG

0W - 3L

SAW

Viperio

You can check out more of HLTV's coverage of the RMR and the Paris Major in the dedicated coverage hub.