Monte, Heroic, Vitality move into 2-0 pool

13-5-2023 20:37

Liquid opened up the second round of play with surprising wins over 9INE and Natus Vincere.

The second round of play at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 is well underway as the opening four matches decided which teams will fight for the first two playoff spots on Sunday.

Liquid kicked off the 1-0 pool matches with a 16-9 win against Natus Vincere in a dream performance powered by Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's 2.00 rating. The Latvian rifler cracked open their opponents' defenses with ease with several impactful frags, which temporarily made people North American fans forget that they started off the Major with a 0-2 record.

YEKINDAR bullies NAVI as Liquid move to 2-0 pool in Paris

Monte defeated fnatic to secure their presence in the 2-0 pool

Meanwhile on the secondary stream, Monte continued their dream run at the Paris Major with a narrow 19-17 victory over fnatic, relegating the European mix to the 1-1 pool. Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev's men are now on a four-match winning streak at the Major and just two maps away from securing a spot in the Accor Arena.

The home heroes of Vitality also started their Major campaign with a 2-0 record after their victories over G2 and ENCE. Their win over Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company was the first one since IEM Cologne 2022, and marked the second top-ten team taken down by Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's men on day one.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi were on fire today, and their performances against ENCE put Vitality within touching distance of their home fans in the Accor Arena.

Vitality halt G2 comeback to win opening Legends Stage game

Closing the 1-0 matches was HEROIC as the No. 1 ranked team in the world defeated Apeks 16-10 on Mirage to secure their advancement to the best-of-three series on Sunday. The Danes have started off their run in Paris on the front foot, proving to spectators they are here to make a challenge for the trophy.

Group Legends Stage

2W - 0L