MOUZ and Liquid both 0-2: BLAST.tv Austin Major Stage 3 round two recap
Day one of Stage 3 has now come to an end and wow, what a day of Counter-Strike.
If you thought the previous two stages were mental, this one is the icing on the cake. Vitality lost their opening game to Legacy, MOUZ lost theirs to VP, and Lynn Vision have continued to march on wards by winning theirs against Team Liquid.
Games that all set up 1-0 and 0-1 clashes, let's take a look at how the second round of matches played out.
FURIA confident against Aurora
Aurora got off to a strong start in Austin with a 13-5 win over FaZe, but they were quickly brought back down to Earth by a FURIA side that has looked incredible since the additions of molodoy and YEKINDAR.
molodoy topfragged his second map of the day, adding another 22 kills to his tally for the event as his 1.92 rating prevented the Turkish team from ever really finding their footing.
Clearly ready to shine in his first Major, this Dust2 performance has us very excited for what FURIA might be able to accomplish in their 2-0 game tomorrow.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenVP brings Legacy's run to a halt
Another potentially surprising team we now see in the 2-0 bracket, VP find themselves 2-0 up for the second time in Austin after taking down Legacy in their 1-0 game.
A 13-11 win on Ancient, VP started strong with a 7-5 T half, then managed to do what was needed of them in the second half to prevent the game from going to OT.
An even more reassuring sign for their chances to go even further in the event, FL4MUS starred again, he and ICY combined for 40 kills to help their team to get within one game of advancing.
Spirit go 2-0 with win over Lynn Vision
At least there's one 2-0 team that we expected to see there, Spirit have put their foots in the playoff door with a win against Lynn Vision.
A second Dust2 of the day for both teams after they previously beat paiN and Liquid respectively, the second time wasn't so good for Lynn Vision as they fell 13-7.
Another strong map for Spirit's two biggest stars, sh1ro and donk combined for 33 kills to knock on that playoffs door.
Photo: Michal KonkolNAVI seal Inferno against 3DMAX in OT
It's been a hard year for NAVI, but they truly might be back to their best in Austin after going 2-0 on day one.
The French team had also looked impressive versus G2 earlier in the day, and that was enough to push the game to OT, but NAVI's grit and determination was seemingly back in full force as they managed to close out the game 16-14.
A map in which all of NAVI's stars performed, jL continued his strong dayh one with a 1.18 rating to set NAVI up with a game against Spirit on day two.
FaZe send MOUZ to the 0-2 bracket
MOUZ 0-2. Now that's something we didn't expect to say today.
Still, we're saying it, because FaZe sent them down to the 0-2 bracket after taking them down 13-10 on Ancient.
A starring performance from rain, he picked up 21 kills and a 1.39 rating to give his team their first win in Stage 3.
Vitality bounce back against Nemiga
After getting battered by Legacy earlier on in the day, Vitality looked comfortable throughout in their second game versus Nemiga.
A 13-6 win on Dust2, Vitality's experience showed throughout, they registered a 9-3 CT half by consistently preventing their opponents from even getting the bomb down.
A game that also marked ZywOo's arrival in Austin, he recorded a monstrous 1.77 rating thanks to his 22-11 statline.
Liquid go 0-2 with loss to The MongolZ
Things were looking great for Liquid in the opening exchanges of Ancient, they kicked off the map with a 5-0 run on their T side.
However, The MongolZ fought back hard, winning the remaining seven rounds on their CT half before starting the second half with another four straight round wins.
Eventually coming to a close at 13-7, Liquid failed to ever really get a grip back on the game, and bLitz topfragged with 21 kills.
Photo: Michal KonkolG2 take down paiN on Dust2
paiN looked very strong in Stage 2 but have since struggled in Stage 3 as they now find themselves 0-2 following defeats to Spirit and G2.
The second of those, G2, took them down 13-6 on Dust2, the second time they were beaten handily on the map today.
A rare topfrag performance from Snax, he led the way for his team with a 20-12 statline.
