BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR AEU RMR A Day 4: As it happened
This was a live updated post with the latest from Group A of the BLAST.tv Paris Major European qualifier.
Is there anything like RMR Counter-Strike?
17:48 - NER0
At the close
17:41 - NER0
After all that, eight teams have qualified for the Major: Natus Vincere, fnatic, Into the Breach, and Bad News Eagles as Legends.
The big surprise, though, is in who hasn't. Neither FaZe not Virtus.pro have managed to confirm their qualification for Paris after four days of action.
FaZe have one more chance in next week's last chance qualifier, but there is no such luck for Virtus.pro.
xertioN: "I was really excited to play today"
17:41 - NER0
STYKO: I'm so glad we pulled through"
17:41 - NER0
Stats: Top five players from the EU RMR
17:41 - NER0
1.
Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi: 1.34 rating 2.0
2.Dorian "xertioN" Berman: 1.29
3.Cai "CYPHER" Watson: 1.27
4.
5.Justinas "jL" Lekavicius: 1.24
Watch: FaZe's losing moment
17:37 - NER0
jL: We didn't stop for one second"
17:36 - NER0
We also heard from jL after Apeks confirmed their own qualification.
"I want to cry. There hasn't been a single tournament where I want to cry. F*ck it means so much to me. I'm just proud of the boys, we kept our composure. Things were going wrong on Vertigo and we kept our composure."
"We kept pushing forward, we believed in each other and in ourselves and we got the W and I know this was our game. We didn't stop for one second. I'm so proud of myself and everyone was keeping composed."
"I knew that B8 would be devastated after [losing 25-23 on Vertigo]. It doesn't give us much, but it takes away a lot from them because it was their number one pick they should have won."
"There wasn't a map they had more chances to win than Vertigo, maybe Ancient. They're young guys, inexperienced like us. We knew that this would crumble their confidence in themselves."
A word with torzsi
17:31 - NER0
We caught up with Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás after MOUZ's stunning win over FaZe.
"When we were 1-2 down I had a talk in the evening with Dennis "sycrone" Nielsen and promised him we would qualify. I like to keep my words."
"After they won the grand slam FaZe are not in the best shape I would say. [Not to say] bad words but maybe they get a little bit lazy. I don't know though, no bad words to them."
"When we got to overtime it was really close. They were pushing, I was pushing. We had to clutch, they had to clutch. It was insanely close and we just kept our calmness. Like yeah, we were focussing on every round, round by round, we need to play it calm and we were playing off each other.
"Last year I didn't have good form right? Lately I'm feeling really confident. We worked on a lot of things with the team. I have a lot of space to work with, and I'm working a lot with Christopher "dexter" Nong, with sycrone, with our sports psychologists.
"Yeah, it just starts to click and lately I found my space in the team. We understand each other more and more and it's easier to play for me."
xertioN is the difference-maker
17:19 - NER0
Top fragging on all three maps, xertioN was the star man for MOUZ as they toppled FaZe.
Watch: MOUZ's winning moment
17:12 - NER0
Apeks fend off B8 for another spot in Paris
17:03 - Striker
In the final match of the fifth round, Apeks beat B8 in a much more straight-forward affair on Anubis and secure their place in the Major's Challengers Stage. Paris will mark the first Major appearance for Martin "STYKO" Styk since London 2018 and the first for Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad since Berlin 2019, while the rest of the lineup will be rookies.
MOUZ go flawless to secure the Paris spot
16:56 - Striker
A flawless performance in overtime gives MOUZ the victory and secures them a spot at the BLAST.tv Paris Major. FaZe stay alive, but only just, as they drop to the last chance qualifier, where six teams will play for just one spot in Paris later this week.
MOUZ take us to overtime!
16:41 - NER0
It's a real barn burner here in Copenhagen.
HUGE clutch from dexter
16:34 - NER0
xertioN is having an Ax1Le game
16:29 - NER0
xertioN was tagged to 18 hp at the start of the round, but that didn't matter as he walked through the library smoke and single-handedly destroyed FaZe's A defence
It's now 13-12 in favour of MOUZ!
FaZe up to 10
16:13 - NER0
FaZe in the ascendancy at the half
16:03 - NER0
FaZe are leading MOUZ by 9 to 6 at the half.
Apeks overcome B8 in triple OT
16:00 - NER0
It takes 48 rounds but Apeks eventually take B8's pick of Vertigo despite 106 ADR and 20 multi-kills from Artem "r1nkle" Moroz.
B8 19-19 Apeks
15:38 - NER0
B8 and Apeks are into their second overtime, with the Ukrainians losing two rounds on match point after this clutch form Alexey "alex666" Yarmoshchuk:
FaZe take Ancient 16-9
15:25 - NER0
We're going to need Inferno to separate FaZe and MOUZ.
Meanwhile, Apeks and B8 have entered overtime on their opener.
FaZe start to wrestle some control
15:06 - NER0
It's been a strong T side for the world's #2 side so far.
juanflatroo: "We need to get humbled a little bit"
14:58 - NER0
FaZe still not at 100%
14:48 - NER0
FaZe need a hero, and Robin "ropz" Kool has stood up.
B8 and Apeks get underway
14:30 - NER0
Apeks and B8 have got started on Vertigo, with STYKO's men up 5-1 at the moment.
FaZe and MOUZ are also live on Ancient.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
2:0 |
Match |
ash: "The system has not been fulfilled"
14:28 - NER0
HLTV.org caught up with GamerLegion coach Ashley "ash" Battye to ask about the controversy around Into the Breach's Legend spot:
"I think the admins have made a mistake in my opinion. We played the whole tournament on a system and then we have to finish the tournament instead of waiting the games out and playing at the end. We decided to play the other way round and now in my opinion the system has not been fulfilled."
"I don't think you could say it didn't have an impact. Last night we felt like we were the team that was probably going to be through [to Legends] based on the fixtures today."
"We weren't told until 11 hours before the game. We have to figure out what we're gonna do for the game. Do we need to prepare? What time are we getting up? I think it got in people's minds."
MOUZ go 1-0 up against FaZe
14:19 - NER0
FaZe are in trouble — they have lost their map pick of Nuke 16-8.
Might we really have neither 2022 Major champion in Paris?
BNE beat GamerLegion to guarantee themselves a Legends Spot
14:10 - Striker
GamerLegion will have to settle for a Challengers Stage spot after losing the deciding series.
xertioN on fire
14:01 - NER0
In his first official against FaZe xertioN is showing up big, on 18 kills featuring this monumental 4K.
MOUZ onto double figures
13:51 - NER0
xertioN and Jon "JDC" de Castro have had some huge impact to get MOUZ onto a 10-5 lead over FaZe, the same scoreline as for Bad News Eagles against GamerLegion.
BNE and FaZe lead
13:37 - NER0
In their first meeting since April 2022 at the Antwerp RMRs, MOUZ have set the pace against FaZe and lead 7-3 on Nuke.
Bad News Eagles are also pacesetting initially and boast an even better lead of 7-1 on Vertigo.
Falcons see their window closing
13:27 - NER0
If Falcons are to make the Major, they will have to do so via the Last Chance Qualifier.
flameZ: "It feels amazing"
13:24 - NER0
HLTV.org found OG's Shahar "flameZ" Shushan to give a few words after qualifying for the Major.
"It feels amazing. The 0-2 was very rough but I knew in my heart that now we have the best of threes we have a very good chance to qualify."
"I'm so proud of my team. Even when we lose those eco rounds, [or are in] those 2v5s, people are still fighting, they're not even slightly giving up on those rounds."
0-2 -> 3-2: OG complete the reverse sweep
13:19 - NER0
OG came alive in the BO3s to book their ticket to Paris.
RobbaN: "We're not 100%"
13:16 - NER0
xertioN: "I'm yet to play FaZe in an official"
13:13 - NER0
The maps will be Nuke, Ancient, and Inferno — only the second Nuke of the RMR.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
OG qualify for the Major
13:08 - NER0
OG send Falcons to the last chance qualifier.
 Falcons |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 - 36 | +1 | 79.2 | 79.2% | 1.16 | |
| 38 - 39 | -1 | 80.1 | 67.9% | 1.03 | |
| 34 - 37 | -3 | 74.7 | 67.9% | 1.03 | |
| 29 - 36 | -7 | 49.3 | 66.0% | 0.83 | |
| 30 - 39 | -9 | 67.5 | 64.2% | 0.83 |
 OG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 - 35 | +12 | 83.4 | 77.4% | 1.31 | |
| 42 - 30 | +12 | 75.7 | 77.4% | 1.23 | |
| 37 - 34 | +3 | 84.4 | 77.4% | 1.18 | |
| 33 - 36 | -3 | 67.8 | 67.9% | 1.02 | |
| 26 - 33 | -7 | 66.8 | 64.2% | 0.89 |
GamerLegion force a decider
13:06 - NER0
It's 16-14 on Ancient in favour of GamerLegion.
What a shot from gxx-!
12:55 - NER0
GamerLegion close in on 1-1
12:49 - NER0
GamerLegion have reached 13-10 on Ancient against Bad News Eagles.
Meanwhile, Falcons have managed to win a full glock eco against OG to take their lead to 12-10.
Falcons now 4-11 in pistols
12:42 - NER0
OG give Falcons no pistol-round respite, narrowing the score to 8-9 as we enter the first gun round.
Crucial pistol round for Falcons
12:39 - NER0
Falcons have won four and lost ten pistol rounds so far at the RMR, just 29%, and have not won a second-round force once. They lead OG 9-6 in map two, but can they overcome their pistol round demons?
rigoN deags two
12:31 - NER0
Falcons 6-6 (0-1)
OG
Bad News Eagles 8-7 (1-0)
There's also some madness going on in the other game, Rigon "rigoN" Gashi delivering this nasty clutch on the deagle.
More clutches for OG
12:18 - NER0
Falcons just can't catch a break. An Adam "NEOFRAG" Zouhar 3K with a P250 set flameZ up to win a lovely 1on2 to give OG all the early advantages on Mirage.
As do OG
11:57 - NER0
OG drop just one round on their T side to win Vertigo 16-8 over Falcons. After losing nine Vertigos in a row OG have now won their last two.
They won an insane six clutches in that time; three coming from Maciej "F1KU" Miklas.
BNE take map one
11:53 - NER0
Bad News Eagles were muted for once as they take Mirage over GamerLegion. They're one map away from skipping the Challenger stage altogether.
flameZ takes four as OG stretch ahead
11:50 - NER0
Another clutch has gone in OG's favour as they make it 14-7 against Falcons. That's six in a row for the international side.
Half-time in map one
11:34 - NER0
Falcons used that Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier clutch to fire them up to 7 rounds, but it's still close between them and OG.
In the last round of the half Abdul "degster" Gasanov added another clutch, one of his signature 1on2s, to give OG a slim advantage
misutaaa's time to clutch
11:19 - NER0
Several sound cues OG opened the door for misutaaa, but it was his aim that slammed it open. Game on?
BNE start strong
11:18 - NER0
GamerLegion likely aren't too happy about having to play this Legends decider, and it's not going well for them so far. They trail Bad News Eagles 6-2.
OG 4-0 up after several clutches
11:08 - NER0
Falcons looked to have stunned OG in their force buy, before it all unravelled in the post-plant.
Round three has also gone horribly wrong: Falcons have lost another 2on1, this time to NEOFRAG.
We're underway
11:03 - NER0
OG are live against Falcons on Vertigo, with Bad News Eagles and GamerLegion also live on Mirage.
Another grudge match for NBK-
10:56 - NER0
Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt had some things to say to one former team after he beat MOUZ. Today he faces another ex in OG for a spot at his home Major.
Later: B8 face Apeks
10:53 - NER0
r1nkle shared a picture of himself with STYKO from StarLadder i-League Season 3 finals back in April 2017, when the B8 AWPer was just 12 years old. Feeling old yet?
Pre-match reading
10:39 - NER0
Interviews gxx- "We didn’t think about last time [we beat FaZe]"
siuhy: "We want to finally reach the top 20"
frozen: "Beating VP was a good confidence boost"
ruggah: "Our T system is not hard for an IGL to call in" nicoodoz: "Tier two teams shoot hard"
Around the world
FalleN's Major-attending spree ends paiN, FURIA secure first Paris spots at Americas RMR
Asia and Americas RMRs suffer from integrity issues
4th place decider to go ahead as planned
10:31 - NER0
Into the Breach thought they had secured legend status after Bad News Eagles' win over FaZe last night, and BLAST seemed to have confirmed it when they showed the schedule for today.
Yet, there was controversy around this: GamerLegion could have jumped over Into the Breach in Buccholz score if certain results went their way in the round five matches today. But, because the fourth placed decider is scheduled for before round five, it seems like BLAST are — like ESL did in Rio — simply using round four Buccholz score to determine the Legends spot.
BLAST had promised to make an announcement around the issue but as of now the schedule remains unchanged, with no announcement forthcoming.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
What happened yesterday?
10:30 - NER0
There were more upsets yesterday, with Into the Breach qualifying for the Major over B8 and Bad News Eagles repeating their IEM Rio Major feat of defeating FaZe. GamerLegion also ensured they were back at the Major with a win over Falcons.
The big shock came for Virtus.pro, who flew David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan in yesterday morning as they removed Aleksandr "KaiR0N-" Anashkin citing a lack of "experience." The gamble backfired, however, as the Russians never got going in their elimination bout with MOUZ.
Good morning
10:29 - NER0
Good morning and Happy Easter from Copenhagen. We're into the best bit of Swiss today: The 2-2 matches. Falcons face OG in a bid to be the only French core at the Major, while Apeks against B8 guarantees a new organisation at the Major.
The headline is the match between FaZe and MOUZ, a top ten match-up that gives the loser a very slim chance of qualifying for Paris.
That slim chance for the loser is via the Last Chance Qualifier for the 17th European Major slot between the six teams with a 2-3 record next Sunday — it's not last chance saloon just yet. But with three teams coming into the LCQ from the very tough Group B, even FaZe or MOUZ would be brave to rely on it.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
| 09/04/2023 |
Finished
2:0 |
Match |
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants
Dion 'FASHR' Derksen
Aleksei 'Qikert' Golubev
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus
Gustavo 'Juve' Alexandre
staedtlercolor
Ree31
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Trungcoco
Delusional_Valde_Fan
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Biske
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Keleutian
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pr4ctic
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cybonics
eskbra
Rich1eG0h
