[LIVE] mezii drags fnatic to a third victory and the playoffs

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20:10 mezii drags fnatic to a third victory and the playoffs

After double overtime, fnatic beat SAW for their third win and a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, in no small part thanks to William “⁠mezii⁠” Merriman. The in-game leader won three 1v2 clutches, one at 14-15 to save his team, one at 15-16, and one at 20-19. Here’s the most ridiculous of the three:

SAW have been eliminated from contention, and the final playoffs spot will come down to the Astralis vs. Complexity do-or-die match. Meanwhile, fnatic will play Bad News Eagles in a match where a win would guarantee them first place, while a loss would give 500 a chance to secure the semi-final berth for themselves. Even Complexity are in with a shot at first place, which they would secure if they win and both fnatic and 500 lose.

Final matches:

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18:55 500 decimate Astralis to clinch playoffs berth

Against all odds as the lowest-ranked team in attendance, 500 secure one of the three playoffs spots on offer in Group B after decimating Astralis. The Bulgarian squad now have three wins to their name and still have one more match left to play for a chance to clinch first place and a direct berth to the semi-finals.

The Danes, playing without Nicolai “⁠device⁠” Reedtz in Finland, have only won two out of the last 30 rounds they played on the Terrorist side. Their last match will be against Complexity and is nearly certain to decide another playoffs spot.

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17:45 fnatic best Astralis and Complexity eliminate Bad News Eagles

Complexity took a step closer to the playoffs by ending Bad News Eagles‘ chances, consigning the Kosovar squad to a 1-3 record after besting them 16-14 on Ancient.

The North American side did have to survive a comeback scare, with Bad News Eagles bringing a 6-13 deficit back to 13-13 late in the game.

In the other game fnatic comfortably defeated Astralis 16-7 on Overpass, with Fredrik “⁠roeJ⁠” Jørgensen providing an incredible 25 frags and 178 ADR in the first half.

Next up Astralis and fnatic will be looking to tighten their grips on playoff spots as they take on 500 and SAW respectively.

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15:55 SAW take down Complexity, 500 crush Bad News Eagles

More upsets graced the Elisa Masters Espoo as both Complexity and Bad News Eagles were defeated.

SAW produced a potent 11-round offense on Vertigo to best Complexity 16-9, with Michel “⁠ewjerkz⁠” Pinto putting 115 ADR on the board as he dominated the server.

Denislav “⁠dennyslaw⁠” Dimitrov was the man of the hour for 500, his nine multi-kills putting Bad News Eagles to the sword.

Coming up we have Bad News Eagles vs Complexity, with both teams sat at a 1-2 record and needing a win to keep their campaigns on track. fnatic will also be taking on Astralis, with the Danes the only team left in the group without a defeat on their record.

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14:52 : blameF leads Astralis to victory with 36 kills in an overtime affair

Astralis pick up their second victory in overtime against Bad News Eagles, spearheaded by a Benjamin “⁠blameF⁠” Bremer performance. Playing without device in Espoo, the lurker couldn’t help but joke on Twitter saying “100% winrate since device joined the team” and “200% winrate since device joined the team” following their two wins.

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14:15 : Complexity demolish fnatic on Nuke

With no one stepping up like stand-in Peppe “⁠Peppzor⁠” Borak had in their first match, fnatic were dealt a tough blow by Complexity, who came back from a close loss to 500 in the opening round to go 1-1 in Espoo.

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12:51 : Both fnatic and Astralis take solid opening victories

The A stream hosted fnatic‘s victory over 500, the European mix posting a strong 10-round T half on Overpass to help power themselves to a solid 16-11 scoreline. fnatic will be encouraged by the excellent performance of their stand-in Peppzor, who sported 28 kills and 100 ADR.

Elsewhere in the group Astralis secured an opening 16-11 win over SAW on Dust2, a powerful defence providing the Danes with the foundation needed to open their Elisa Masters campaign successfully. SAW will lament the number of man-advantage situations they dropped throughout the map:

Next up are the clashes of the group favourites, with Bad News Eagles taking on Astralis and fnatic facing off against Complexity.

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11:10 : Complexity fall to 500, gxx- drags BNE across the finish line over SAW

We didn’t have to wait long for the first upset to happen, as 500 beat Complexity in the opening round of Group B. Aleks “⁠Rainwaker⁠” Petrov ruined the North American side with a 2v5 quad-kill to help the Bulgarian side turn it around from 10-13.

In the other match Genc “⁠gxx-⁠” Kolgeci dragged Bad News Eagles across the finish line in their narrow win over SAW, stepping up with 1v2 clutches at 12-12 and 14-12 on the Terrorist side of Ancient:

fnatic and the device-less Astralis play their first matches next.

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10:00 : Complexity vs. 500, Bad News Eagles vs. SAW kick off the round robin group

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09:55 : Group B begins

On the first day of the $200,000 competition, Sprout secured a semi-finals berth after coming out on top of Group A. ENCE and the Florian “⁠syrsoN⁠” Rische-less BIG made it to the quarter-finals after placing second and third, leaving HEET, GamerLegion, and HAVU behind as the trio were eliminated from the competition.

The second group is now starting featuring a couple of teams coming off of impressive performances at the IEM Rio Major — fnatic, who made it to the playoffs in Brazil before bowing out of the quarter-finals at the hands of champions Outsiders, and Bad News Eagles, who went 3-0 in the Challengers Stage and went on to eliminate FaZe in Legends.

Astralis are the third-highest ranked team in Group B, but will play without device, instead fielding a second academy member in Kristoffer “⁠Kristou⁠” Aamand. Complexity will also be making their first appearance since their unsuccessful campaign in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, fighting for their last chance to make their mark before the year closes.

SAW and 500 round out the group as by far the lowest-ranked teams, sitting at #37 and #50, respectively, hoping to upset the much more established competition in the round robin.

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