Liquid and MOUZ relegated to 0-2 pool as first day in Paris concludes

Two favored teams are already staring down the barrel of elimination after a single day of competition.

The first day of the BLAST Paris Major has concluded, and it was OG and FORZE who secured vital victories against MOUZ and Liquid to join the 1-1 pool.

OG had a slightly easier time against their European counterparts as they secured a 16-11 win on Ancient, while the game against FORZE and Liquid went the full 30 rounds before the Russian squad secured a 16-14 victory.

The losses come as a huge shock for both MOUZ and Liquid, who were both expected to make it through the Challengers Stage and perhaps even further than that. While it could be argued that MOUZ were dealt a tough draw as they faced off against two similarly ranked teams to them in Ninjas in Pyjamas and OG, Liquid don't have such an excuse.

The North Americans first lost against Apeks and followed that up with a close loss against FORZE, with both teams ranked far below them in the world rankings despite their impressive recent form.

Both MOUZ and Liquid are not out of the Major yet, though, as they are set to play for their tournament lives in the 0-2 pool on Tuesday. They require three consecutive best-of-three victories to make it through to the next stage, with their first tests coming against GamerLegion and Fluxo, respectively.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage
09/05/2023	GamerLegion 16:20 MOUZ	Match
09/05/2023	Fluxo 18:15 Liquid	Match

Conversely, OG and FORZE stay in the best-of-one portion of the tournament as they are set to face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas and Monte in the 1-1 matches.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage
09/05/2023	Ninjas in Pyjamas 12:25 OG	Match
09/05/2023	FORZE 12:40 Monte	Match

The standings after the first day of play are as follows: