B8 and Aurora underdog runs end after LCQ losses

Cloud9 and FaZe stay in contention for the final Paris Major spot.

The BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe Last Chance Qualifier is underway, and two teams have already suffered elimination. B8 and Aurora were paired up against the two heavy hitters of the LCQ in Cloud9 and FaZe, and both came up short in one-sided 2-0 losses.

The two squads have now ended their bid to qualify for the Paris Major, while Cloud9 await the winner of Falcons vs. BIG in the third place decider on Saturday. The winner of that matchup will face off against FaZe for the final Challengers Stage spot on Saturday at 14:15 .

Aurora's Paris bid came to an end

Despite their exits, both B8 and Aurora will be proud of their achievements at the RMR. B8 had been put in the less-stacked EU RMR A, but impressively defeated MOUZ and Virtus.pro to reach the 2-0 pool. They weren't able to win a best-of-three series, however, as subsequent losses to fnatic, Into the Breach, and Apeks relegated them to the last-chance qualifier.

Cloud9 were their LCQ opponents in what was the toughest draw possible for the Ukrainian roster, and they were simply outmatched by a Cloud9 side that had their backs against the wall.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A
06/04/2023	MOUZ Finished 9:16 B8	Match
06/04/2023	Virtus.pro Finished 14:16 B8	Match
07/04/2023	B8 Finished 1:2 fnatic	Match
08/04/2023	Into the Breach Finished 2:1 B8	Match
09/04/2023	Apeks Finished 2:0 B8	Match

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Europe Last Chance Qualifier
14/04/2023	B8 Finished 0:2 Cloud9	Match

Conversely, Aurora were thrust into the stacked European B RMR that contained five top-ten teams, but came close to qualifying despite that. They defeated Spirit in their opening round and then suffered two gut-wrenching 14-16 losses to HEROIC and G2 to stare down the barrel of elimination. A win against Eternal Fire followed to put them in the 2-2 pool, but they weren't able to best FORZE in the deciding series and got demoted to the LCQ.

A fired-up FaZe stood against them, and the Russian squad wasn't able to trouble the Intel Grand Slam winners, ending their impassioned RMR campaign in the first round of the last-chance qualifier.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR B
11/04/2023	Spirit Finished 13:16 Aurora	Match
11/04/2023	HEROIC Finished 16:14 Aurora	Match
12/04/2023	Aurora Finished 14:16 G2	Match
13/04/2023	Aurora Finished 2:1 Eternal Fire	Match
14/04/2023	Aurora Finished 0:2 FORZE	Match

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Europe Last Chance Qualifier
14/04/2023	FaZe Finished 2:0 Aurora	Match