EU RMR B and LCQ: Day five as it happened

This is a live updated post with the Legends decider from Group B of the BLAST.tv Paris Major European qualifier and the Last Chance Qualifier.

Summary

— Vitality defeat Monte to lock in Legends spot
— Cloud9 eliminated BIG in LCQ round 2
— FaZe secure final Major spot with win in the LCQ final

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rain: "karrigan has been doing motivational speeches"
16:58 - NER0

We found Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard after FaZe completed their gauntlet run through the last chance qualifier.

"It would have been a really shitty end to CS:GO for my career if I ended up not playing the last Major, so it's amazing a feeling to do so."

"karrigan has been doing some motivational speeches before the games. I think everybody's been fired up, I feel like I want to punch the wall, that's how hyped I am right?"

"The mentality is really strong right now. We had a good team talk after RMR A, we figured out our mistakes and knew what we had to work on."

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karrigan: "What a comeback"
16:53 - Sumljiv

The Danish captain expressed his pride about the team's comeback in the post-match interview, while also expressing condolences to the Cloud9 team in regards to their schedule.

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FaZe have done it
16:42 - Sumljiv

After coming back from 4-13 on Mirage, Inferno was more straightforward for the European side. A strong offense helped them close out a 16-9 victory on their map pick, securing them the final Major spot in the process.

Looks like Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's confetti helped.

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FaZe reach match point
16:38 - Sumljiv

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken looks to have put the final nail in the Cloud9 coffin by finding an MP9 quad-kill on the B defense.

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Cloud9 look to complete a comeback of their own
16:30 - Sumljiv

The Russian squad won out the opening force-buy wars and now sit just five rounds behind. Can they match FaZe and come back from 5-13 down?

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A dominant T half for FaZe
16:14 - Sumljiv

FaZe outmaneuvered and outshot Cloud9 on their way to a comfortable 11-4 lead on the T half.

Cloud9's confidence looks to be shattered, and they will need the full force of Zonic's law if they are to come back.

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sh1ro breaks the FaZe streak
16:07 - Sumljiv

Armed with just a Deagle, Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov stopped FaZe's A attack with a 3k to try and inject some life into their CT side.

FaZe returned to winning ways in the next round, though, so the scoreline stands at 9-3 in their favor.

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FaZe in the ascendancy
15:57 - NER0

After a Twistzz ace in a 3v5 stole the round prior, Cloud9's backs were broken by yet another clutch, a broky 1v2. The international side has now won the last eight rounds in a row tl read 8-2

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Mirage: Post-game stats
15:47 - NER0

Cloud9 built themselves a reputation for slow starts this RMR, but managed to win both pistols on Mirage to help themselves to a 13-4 lead. In the gun rounds, they found matters far harder, winning just 6 full buy vs full buy rounds compared to FaZe's 14.

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Inferno begins
15:47 - Sumljiv

Cloud9 won the pistol but FaZe's unrelenting force buys got them back into the lead soon enough. The European combine are 3-2 up after the opening exchanges.

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karrigan brought a souvenir
15:44 - Sumljiv

karrigan is motivating his team with a memento from the EPL S17 victory against Cloud9. Looks like the piece of confetti did the job, considering the comeback his team pulled off.

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Can Cloud9 recover?
15:36 - Sumljiv

The mentality of the Russian squad has been broken after such a disappointing loss, with the players looking distraught after the first map. FaZe's pick of Inferno is up next, can they bounce back?

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FaZe close out Mirage
15:29 - Sumljiv

After an incredible comeback to reach overtime, FaZe put together four flawless rounds to close out the map 19-15.

The post-match reaction says it all.

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We have overtime!
15:14 - Sumljiv

Well, that was quite the comeback. FaZe won nine out of the last ten rounds to force out overtime, with the momentum no doubt in the favor of the karrigan-led team.

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FaZe reach double digits
15:06 - Sumljiv

FaZe's comeback attempt continues and they have just reached a 10-15 scoreline. Five more straight rounds are needed to force out overtime. Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool are dragging their team toward the finish line.

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FaZe fight on
14:55 - Sumljiv

A lost pistol round meant the European combine found themselves 13-4 down, but they aren't giving up. The deficit has been reduced to seven rounds, with Cloud9 on an eco in the next.

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Cloud9 take lead into second half
14:42 - Sumljiv

Cloud9 converted their strong start into an 11-4 half, stabilizing after losing a 2vs4 situation to take a seven-round lead into their offense.

Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov put up 21 kills and 143 ADR in the half while also winning all five of his opening duels, living up to the nickname of "FaZe destroyer." sh1ro isn't far behind with 19, while ropz is the only FaZe player with over ten kills.

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FaZe get on the board
14:19 - Sumljiv

FaZe have found two rounds in a row and broke their opponents economy in the process. The two closers of the squad, broky and ropz, combined to convert a 2vs4 situation on the A site.

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Match is underway
14:09 - Sumljiv

FaZe went for repeated force-buys but failed to convert any of them, giving Cloud9 a chance to get off to a 4-0 start. The Russian squad's economy is already looking strong, but FaZe finally have a full-rifle round.

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ropz: "More pressure here than EPL"
14:06 - NER0

ropz gave a quick pre-game interview, revealing a few nuggets of information:

"The next Major will be a year from now, so that is going to hurt the most if you're not going to make it. So we're really eager, hoping to make it today."

"There's probably a bit more pressure here than in the Pro League [final]. The feelings that the players feel is indescribable."

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Maps: Mirage, Inferno, Ancient
14:00 - NER0

Both teams ban each other's best maps, so neither will be in their true comfort zone this series. Prepare for a brawly affair.

The match is now live.

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FaZe vs. Cloud9 starts soon
13:08 - Sumljiv

We are just under an hour away from the final game of the RMR cycle. FaZe and Cloud9 are set to clash for the last remaining Challengers Stage spot, with one of the goliaths set to miss out on the Paris Major.

The last time the two teams met was in the final of ESL Pro League S17, where FaZe prevailed with a 3-1 scoreline to secure the Intel Grand Slam. Cloud9 racked up three straight victories against the European side before the EPL final, though.

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tabseN: "Fuck"
12:36 - Striker

A short and understandable reply to a question from Adam "⁠Dinko⁠" Hawthorne about how Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz felt after losing to Cloud9.

"It hurts a lot. It's just really sad that we are not able to play the last CS:GO Major. We put so much effort and so much work into this tournament, also in the previous months, but unfortunately it didn't work out."

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Cloud9 eliminate BIG from Major contention
12:31 - Striker

It took a few tries, some narrow saves from BIG, and a halfbuy win to do it, but Cloud9 are through to the last-chance qualifier final and set up the decider against FaZe for who goes to Paris. The match is scheduled for 14:15 , don't miss it, because it's the last spot on the line.

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Clip: tabseN keeps BIG alive with his trigger discipline
12:22 - Striker

Smart play from tabseN, but it'll take a lot more than that to pull off this comeback from 9-15.

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Vitality 2-0 Monte
12:10 - Sumljiv

Vitality's first pistol round of the series set them up for a comfortable T half — they lost just one round on their way to victory.

The win secures Vitality a Legends Stage spot in the organization's home Major, giving French fans something to cheer for after Falcons' elimination yesterday.

Here's a full list of the BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends, who will skip the Challengers Stage:

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BIG's halfbuy prevents Cloud9 from running away with the half
11:58 - Striker

Cloud9 won six rounds in a row when BIG were forced onto a low buy. Fights down ramp had not worked out for them much in that run, but Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa's MP9 double there turned their fortunes around in round 11.

Cloud9 responded with the final two rounds after turning their focus towards B. It's another 8-7 half in the Russians' favor.

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Vitality finish strong
11:51 - Sumljiv

Vitality took control of the first half's latter stages with five round wins in a row. The European squad is now 9-6 up, and they are getting ever closer to a Legends Stage spot in Paris.

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It's even early on Vertigo between C9 and BIG
11:45 - Striker

From 0-4 to 4-4, Cloud9 are starting to take control of the Terrorist side. As usual, Vertigo is all about A — early fights around ramp often decide the teams' fate and it's been the same here.

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Monte take slender lead on Mirage
11:42 - Sumljiv

Monte picked Mirage in the series and have gotten off to a decent start on the map. They won the pistol and currently lead 6-4 on the offense.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut is back on top of the scoreboard after a relatively quiet Nuke, with his AWPing counterpart Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk equaling the Frenchman for the Monte side.

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What a retake
11:29 - Striker

BIG kick off Vertigo with a superb pistol round retake on A and get off to a good start on Cloud9's pick.

Vertigo has been shaky for the favorites at this tournament and yesterday they faltered under the pressure when they faced ENCE on it.

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Cloud9 clinch Anubis 16-13
11:14 - Striker

BIG's double AWP setup could not stop Cloud9 in the end. A great call to rotate to A when the Russian side already had control over the B bombsite gave them the 16th round and we head to Vertigo.

Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov got some key entries throughout the match and especially in the 28th round. The Kazakhstani ends the first map with a 10-4 score in opening duels and nine multikills — that's huge impact.

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Vitality close out Nuke
11:11 - Sumljiv

Vitality's six-round streak to end the CT half was enough for the European combine to close out Nuke, 16-14. Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire combined for four kills on the Ramp hold to stop Monte's advances and complete their comeback from 10-14 down.

The apEX-led team are now one map victory away from securing a Legends Stage spot in Paris.

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Who needs money when you have Deagles?
11:02 - Striker

Cloud9 had all the control they needed, but could not force their way through to the A bombsite up against just a couple of saved guns and Deagles in hand. Krimbo steps up again with a triple. One round separates the two teams and the bank Cloud9 had is all but gone.

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Vitality find success on CT side
11:02 - Sumljiv

Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev and company won an incredible nine rounds in a row to take the lead on Nuke, 14-10, but Vitality have finally started to find their footing.

They strung three rounds together and reduced the deficit to just one, with Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas and Magisk continuing to trade blows — the Jordanian is sitting on 27 kills, slightly ahead of the Dane at 25.

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Cloud9 in control of economy late
10:55 - Striker

Cloud9 are now in control at 12-10 after trading the first two gunrounds and sending BIG on a halfbuy and eco.

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Monte tie things up
10:46 - Sumljiv

A second pistol for the Monte means the scores are now tied up at 10-10 as we enter the final few rounds of the game. BOROS is sitting on 23 kills and is the driving force behind his team's comeback, and the 18-year-old doesn't look like slowing down anytime soon.

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Cloud9 take a narrow lead going into 2nd half
10:40 - Striker

BIG did well to recover from the slow start to Anubis and picked up seven out of the last ten rounds of the half, aided in part by the Krimbo 1v5 clutch. They are still trailing going into the CT side, though — Anubis is by far the most Terrorist-sided map at the moment.

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Vitality in control
10:29 - Sumljiv

After losing a 2vs4 situation in the pistol, Vitality have taken control and are now sitting at an 8-4 lead. The Outside hold is proving a problem for Monte, who have won a single gun round so far.

Another problem for the majority-Ukrainian side is the fact that ZywOo has woken up. After collecting a single frag in the opening nine rounds, the French AWPer now sits at seven following back-to-back multi-kills.

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Clip: Krimbo 1v5s Cloud9
10:23 - Striker

BIG were on the way to recovery from a 0-5 start to Anubis after they saved a scary 1v3 attempt from Ax1Le. They were facing just a few saved guns when Krimbo found himself alone against five — a task the German youngster was up for.

That is the first and likely will remain the only 1v5 of the BLAST.tv Paris Major RMRs.

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BOROS stars once again
10:15 - Sumljiv

BOROS, who has been one of the biggest revelations of the RMRs, has started the Legends Stage decider match against Vitality in hot form. With his team in a 2vs4 situation, the Jordanian picked up four crisp headshots to turn the round in Monte's favor.

After Monte's pistol round and following conversion, Vitality have tied up the scores at 3-3.

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Cloud9-BIG in the LCQ, Vitality-Monte in the Legends decider go live
10:07 - Striker

The first two of three matches of the day go live. BIG picked Anubis to start their elimination game against Cloud9 in the last-chance qualifier and the Germans are trailing after the pistol round. Monte grabbed an early lead in the Legends Stage decider on Vitality's Nuke pick.

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What happened yesterday?
09:45 - NER0

In another dramatic day at the RMRs ENCE, FORZE, and Ninjas in Pyjamas secured qualification for the Major, sending Cloud9 into the shark den of the Last Chance Qualifier.

sh1ro and company, despite looking devastated after the loss to ENCE, did rally to convincingly defeat B8 last night. FaZe were also convincing, with karrigan going loud to try and re-invigorate his troops.

We also saw the elimination of Falcons, confirming that there will be no majority-French lineup at the Paris Major.

Read more

Biggest stories and top plays from day 8 of Paris Major qualifiers

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Schedule
09:37 - NER0

Just the three games today, with an intense decider to close the Major qualifiers later between FaZe and the winner of BIG-Cloud9.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR B
15/04/2023	Monte Finished 0:2 Vitality	Match

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Europe Last Chance Qualifier
15/04/2023	Cloud9 Finished 2:0 BIG	Match
15/04/2023	FaZe Finished 2:0 Cloud9	Match