Liquid out 0-3: BLAST.tv Austin Major Stage 3 day 2 recap
Things returned to normal a little bit on the second day of Stage 3 of the BLAST.tv Austin Major, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any surprising results.
A day in which we also saw an incredible 0-2 clash between Liquid and MOUZ, it was one of the best days of the Major yet.
Let's go over the action.
Vitality dominate 3DMAX on Nuke
We kicked off the day in a big way, ropz picked up a lightning fast ace in the opening round of Vitality's game against 3DMAX.
A round that really set the tone for the map, Vitality were near impossible to push aside on their CT side, they went into the break with a 10-2 lead.
Converting that lead with ease in the second half for a 13-2 win, ropz remained strong throughout, topping the server with 16 kills.
FaZe comfortable against Legacy
Legacy have caused a lot of teams a lot of problems in Austin, but the same can't be said for FaZe.
FaZe are continuing to grow into the event, they looked the best they have yet as they took down the Brazilians 13-8 on Anubis.
s1mple also looked back to his best, he went 19-9 to put FaZe within one game of the playoffs.
G2 make light work of Aurora
Expectations were low for G2 heading into the Major but they're now one game away from making a playoffs appearance after a dominant win versus Aurora.
A match fought on Inferno, G2 never really felt any concern, they managed to take it 13-4 after a 8-4 T side to kick off the game.
huNter- top fragged, he picked up a monster 1.83 rating and 18 kills to help his team to a 2-1 record.
The MongolZ win the Asian derby
In the final BO1 of the day, two Asian giants met as The MongolZ took on Lynn Vision on Nuke.
A game that resulted in a 13-7 win for The MongolZ, it wasn't always so easy for them, Lynn Vision had them pegged back at the half 7-5.
However, the Mongolians were dominant when they moved to the CT side, winning eight rounds in a row to close out the game. A team effort, bLitz, Senzu, and 910 were the biggest reasons for that run, combining for 30 kills to seal the map.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenFURIA advance after crushing victory over VP
Heading into the 2-0 games, FURIA became the first team to advance to the playoffs after limiting Virtus.pro to just eight rounds across two maps.
A series that featured a 13-3 on Mirage and a 13-5 on Train, VP never really got into it as yuurih and FalleN both put in incredible performances and huge impact plays to secure the series for their team.
A first playoffs appearance for FalleN since IEM Katowice 2019, we caught up with the legendary IGL after the game.
Spirit blitz map two to seal playoffs against NAVI
In our second 2-0 game, we saw reigning Major champions Spirit take on a resurgent NAVI squad in what was set to be a blockbuster series.
The first map, Anubis, well and truly lived up to expectations, NAVI almost managed to come back to take it to OT. However, Spirit held on, eventually winning the game 13-11 with donk topping the scoreboard on 24 kills.
Despite such a close map one, Train wasn't close at all, Spirit ran away with the map to win with a 13-3 scoreline. donk typically topfragged once again, this time ending the map on 20 to seal playoffs for his team.
paiN come back from a map down to eliminate Nemiga.
Heading into the 0-2 games, we began with Nemiga vs paiN. 1eeR and his team have been a joy during this Major, but sadly, that came to an end in this series as paiN managed to comeback from an opening map defeat to take the series 2-1.
Nemiga looked good for it on Ancient, they took the map 13-8 thanks to 24 kills from zweih, but 23 kills from dav1deuS gave paiN a 13-8 win of their own on Anubis.
The decider, Dust2, was another solid map of CS, but paiN eventually closed out the series thanks to a couple of solid displays from snow and dgt and a 13-7 scoreline.
Liquid crash out after OT loss to MOUZ
No one would have expected to see MOUZ and Liquid facing off in a 0-2 game coming into the Major, but at least i delivered on all fronts.
MOUZ began the series confidently, they took Liquid down 13-8 on Dust2 thanks to 21 kills from Spinx. However, despite all of our talent predicting they would lose Nuke thanks to their 0% win rate on the map, Liquid then battled back thanks to a dominant 13-4 win on the map.
Map three was one of the best maps of the Major so far. A 22-19 win for MOUZ, ultimate did his best with 45 kills, but the overall fragging power of MOUZ was enough for them to pick up the win and keep their playoff hopes alive.
