HEROIC, B8 advance at BLAST.tv Austin Major

HEROIC and B8 eked out 2-1 wins on Wednesday to seal berths in Group Stage 2 at the BLAST.tv Austin Major in Texas.

In Round 3 high matches of Group Stage 1, HEROIC edged FlyQuest, and B8 nipped Wildcard.

The day also featured two elimination matches with Chinggis Warriors overtaking Fluxo 2-1 and Imperial Esports sweeping Metizport 2-0.

In single-map Round 3 mid matches, BetBoom Team beat Legacy 13-3 on Anubis, NRG downed Complexity 13-9 on Inferno, Nemiga Gaming topped Lynn Vision Gaming 13-10 on Dust II, and OG routed TYLOO 13-4 on Ancient.

The $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, which began with 32 teams, features three Swiss-system group stages.

Sixteen teams advanced through qualifying events to reach Group Stage 1, where all early-round matches are a single map while advancement and elimination matches are best-of-three.

The top eight teams in Group Stage 1 advance to Group Stage 2, where eight invited teams await: Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, 3DMAx, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, FURIA, MIBR and M80.

The same process applies in Group Stage 2, with the top eight squads moving on to Group Stage 3, where eight more invited teams will join the action: Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, The MongolZ, Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere and Team Liquid.

The top eight teams in Group Stage 3 advance to the single-elimination playoffs, where all matches will be best-of-3, including the grand final on June 22.

The winning team will earn $500,000, and the runner-up will pocket $170,000.

On Wednesday, HEROIC opened with a 13-7 win on Ancient before FlyQuest captured Anubis 13-11. On the decisive third map, Mirage, HEROIC prevailed 13-6.

Belarus' Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich paced HEROIC with 61 kills and a plus-21 kill-death differential. Romania's Iulian "regali" Harjau led FlyQuest with 44 kills and an even K-D differential.

Wildcard posted a 16-14 overtime win on Train before B8 stormed back to win 13-6 on Dust II and 13-2 on Inferno.

Alexey "alex666" Yarmoshchuk amassed 55 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential for all Ukrainian B8. Sweden's Tim "susp" Angstrom wound up with 50 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential for Wildcard.

Fluxo prevailed 13-10 on Ancient, but Chinggis Warriors rallied to triumph 13-11 on Mirage and 13-2 on Nuke.

Unudelger "controlez" Baasanjargal logged 60 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian Warriors. Kayke "kye" Bertolucci led all-Brazilian Fluxo with 53 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential.

The Thursday schedule:

Round 4 high matches (winners advance to Group Stage 2)

--OG vs. NRG

--BetBoom Team vs. Wildcard

--FlyQuest vs. Nemiga Gaming

Round 4 low matches (losers eliminated)

--Complexity vs. TYLOO

--Imperial Esports vs. Legacy

--Chinggis Warriors vs. Lynn Vision Gaming

BLAST.tv Austin Major Group Stage 1 standings

T1. Heroic, 3-0 (advanced to Group Stage 2)

T1. B8, 3-0 (advanced to Group Stage 2)

T3. BetBoom Team, 2-1

T3. FlyQuest, 2-1

T3. OG, 2-1

T3. NRG, 2-1

T3. Wildcard, 2-1

T3. Nemiga Gaming, 2-1

T9. Lynn Vision Gaming, 1-2

T9. Imperial Esports, 1-2

T9. Complexity, 1-2

T9. TYLOO, 1-2

T9. Chinggis Warriors, 1-2

T9. Legacy, 1-2

T15. Metizport, 0-3

T15. Fluxo, 0-3

BLAST.tv Austin Major prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000

5-8. $45,000

9-11. $15,000

12-14. $15,000

15-16. $15,000

17-19. $10,000

20-22. $10,000

23-24. $10,000

25-27. $5,000

28-30. $5,000

31-32. $5,000 -- Metizport, Fluxo