Into the Breach defeat B8 to qualify for BLAST Paris Major

Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting and company are the first UK-majority roster to ever qualify for a Valve-sponsored event in CS:GO.

Into the Breach are the fourth team to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, set to run from May 8-21, after narrowly getting the better of B8 in a hotly-contested three-map series.

The following four teams are now confirmed to participate at the Paris Major:

The British-majority lineup surpassed all expectations and posted an impressive 3-1 record en route to a place at CS:GO's final Valve-sponsored event. They first gave Natus Vincere a bloody nose (19-22) and comfortably took down Sprout (16-7) before upsetting Virtus.pro (16-13) to be within touching distance of a place at the Valve-sponsored competition in France.

The two teams fought ferociously in the qualifying series, with Into the Breach striking first following a 16-13 win on Ancient before B8 responded with a nail-biting 22-20 victory on Mirage, even holding off five match points in the process to force a Vertigo decider.

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The British troupe recovered despite the hard-to-swallow loss on Mirage, though, and quickly raced to a 9-6 lead on the CT-side. From then on, it was simply a case of taking care of business, as the Thomas-led roster allowed B8 just one round before closing out the series, 16-7, and nabbing a place at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.

"It's mental, to be honest — what a run," Thomas commented in a post-match interview after qualifying. "We've come from the open qualifier, we've barely been a team for two months. I'm just so happy that we were able to do this with a UK lineup. It means a lot to me, I've always wanted to do it and for the last Major [in CS:GO], we've finally got it over the line."

Into the Breach will now wait to see if their seeding allows them to qualify straight for the Legends Stage in Paris. Should that not be the case, the British team will have to play in the fourth-place decider on Sunday at 11:00 , where a loss would instead earn the side a Challengers Stage berth.

B8, who ended the first day of the RMR with a commanding 2-0 record, now turn their attention to their all-important 2-2 matchup on Sunday. A victory would earn the side a place at CS:GO's last-ever Major, whilst a defeat would send the Ukrainians to the last chance stage in Copenhagen, playing out over two days on April 14-15.

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