Fnatic and NAVI qualify for BLAST.tv Paris Major

NAVI and Fnatic are the first two teams to secure a berth in the BLAST.tv Paris Major following the conclusion of the third-round matches of the European RMR A.

Natus Vincere became the first team to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, after taking down the Intel Grand Slam Season 4 winners FaZe 2-0 series in the third round of the European RMR A. Fnatic followed the suit and overcame Viperio B8 to become the second team to secure a spot in the French tournament with a 3-0 record. Both teams will begin their French tournament trip from the Legends stage, skipping the Challengers round.

Six more teams from the first European group will qualify over the next two days, with two of them moving on directly to the Legends Stage and the other four to the Challengers Stage. On Saturday, three Major-qualifying matches will be played in the 2-1 pool, while three elimination games will be played in the 1-2 pool.

NAVI overcome FaZe to clinch a spot in Paris Major

NAVI earned a spot in the Legends Stage of the Paris Major with an unbeaten 3-0 record in the European RMR.  After a weak performance against Into the Breach in the first round, which necessitated double overtime to determine the outcome, NAVI comfortably cruised past Falcons in the second round with a convincing 16-6 victory on Ancient. The team’s hardest challenge came in the third round as they faced off against ESL Pro League Season 17 champion FaZe Clan.

The match, which many spectators anticipated would be fiercely competitive, ended up being relatively one-sided as NAVI outclassed FaZe on Inferno and Ancient to secure a clean 2-0 victory and earn a spot in the Paris Major. With impressive performances throughout the qualifiers, the up-and-coming CS:GO talent npl led the way for the Ukrainian side. During the four maps NAVI played, the 17-year-old averaged 1.34 ratings, placing first on the kill rankings for his side.

Fnatic complete a flawless 3-0 run with a victory over B8

William “⁠mezii⁠” Merriman and company first demolished 1WIN in the opening match before besting Viperio to go up 2-0 and set up deciding match against B8. B8 came into the match with great expectations after defeating Virtus.Pro and MOUZ in the first two encounters.

B8’s hopes, however, were thwarted by Freddy “⁠KRIMZ⁠” Johansson, who put on a terrific performance on Vertigo and Ancient to give B8 their first loss in the RMR and reduced their chances of qualifying for Paris Major to just two. The European mix first demolished B8 on Vertigo and despite dropping the second map Nuke, the team secured the series with a hard-fought victory on Ancient.

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