This is how it all ended. I am talking about the Challengers Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. Coming into the last day, we had – ENCE, G2, FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Apeks – make their way into the Legends stage, having won three matches each. While these teams boarded the bus to the next stage of the tournament, we had OG, TheMongolz, Complexity, Fluxo, and MOUZ crashing out of the tournament. So, on the last day of the Challengers stage, we had three spots up for grabs between six teams.
The proceedings for the day started with FORZE taking on GamerLegion. The best-of-three matchup between these two teams, in contesting for one of the last three spots of the Legends stage, produced some interesting action to say the least. The first game of the series took us to Mirage, picked by the Ninjas. And they were in command right from the start. The first half ended with the scoreline being 7:8 in their favour. In the second half, the Ninjas led Grayhound by a four-point margin, wrapping up the best of three series 16:11 in their favour. The second series unfolded in a similar fashion, with the Ninjas taking lead on Grayhound’s map pick, Inferno. They won 16-12 and made sure that their campaign in this stage of the tournament ended on a good note.
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In the second match of the day, paiN, who had their dreams washed out the day before, were pitted against Monte. The first match of the series took us to Monte’s pick – Anubis. paiN won the game by 16-10. Monte staged a magnificent comeback on paiN’s map pick – Nuke, defeating them 16-1. However, on the third map of the series, Mirage, we saw Monte getting the upper hand on paiN, winning the map 16-10 and cementing their spot in the Legends stage.
The Challengers stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 came to a close with Grayhound facing off against Team Liquid, who were burdened with the expectations of North American CS fans. Liquid won back-to-back maps in their best-of-three series, 16-9, adding to the misery of Grayhound, who were on their way to de_airport.
At the end of the Challengers stage, here’s what the teams for the Legends stage are –
Now, we have the Legends stage starting on May 13, with Na’Vi taking on GamerLegion in the first match. With teams coming in with a lot of expectations and burdens on their backs, it will be interesting to see who handles the entire package well and makes it to the playoffs of the last CS:GO major ever and cement their name in history books.
Here’s a look at the schedule for the first day of the Legends stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 –
To get all of our coverage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, check out this page.