Stage 3 of the BLAST.tv Austin Major playoffs concluded on Sunday evening, with the final three teams booking their place in the eight-team playoff bracket that will decide CS2’s third major champion, and may define an era for William ‘mezii’ Merriman’s Vitality roster.
MOUZ, The MongolZ, and paiN added their names to the playoff catalogue, joining Vitality, FaZe, Furia, Natus Vincere, and defending champions Spirit.
Playoffs will take place at Austin’s Moody Center, with over 40,000 fans expected to descend on the venue. The playoff action will kick off with MOUZ taking on Spirit at 20:00 BST on Thursday evening (14:00 local time).
Vitality, who have won six trophies in a row, are vying for a rare accolade in Counter-Strike, an era defined by their dominance. With Legacy ending their 30-match win streak in Stage 3, mezii and the rest of Vitality will be hoping that is the only streak to be broken in Austin as they look forward to their competition against PGL Copenhagen Major Champions, Na’Vi, in their quarter-final.
Blast.tv Austin Major Playoffs: MOUZ, The MongolZ, and paiN scrape in
In traditional fashion, the concluding moments of Stage 3 were full of heartbreak, with G2, Legacy and Virtus.pro missing playoffs by the finest of margins.
For paiN, elation; an explosion of joy as the team made organisation history by making the playoffs by a single round. The roster experienced several difficulties this calendar year that resulted in them barely playing as a full five, yet showed their potential when at full strength to qualify to play their regional rivals, FURIA, on Thursday night.
For MongolZ and MOUZ the emotions were more controlled, as the rosters fully expected to arrive to the arena for playoffs, yet made it by the skin of their teeth, with MOUZ requiring three maps against the surprise of the tournament, Legacy, and The MongolZ needing five overtimes to put G2 to bed. MOUZ, especially starting 0-2 in Stage 3, will be glad they avoided a similar fate to the Falcons, who were eliminated 1-3 in Stage 2.
Senzu sets kill record
Azbayar ‘Senzu’ Munkhbold set the MR12 record for single-map kills at a major with 36 kills in regulation and 56 after the overtimes. When asked on broadcast if he felt how much he was dominating in the game, he replied in The MongolZ’s typically modest fashion, replying, “I don’t know, just lucky.”
To see all the odds for the playoffs, check out our recommended CS2 betting sites.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
