GamerLegion, FaZe Clan reach BLAST Rivals Spring semifinals

GamerLegion swept Astralis 2-0 on Friday to reach the semifinals at the BLAST Rivals Spring event in Fort Worth, Texas.

In the other quarterfinal match, FaZe Clan eked out a 2-1 victory over G2 Esports.

The results set up the semifinals on Saturday, when Natus Vincere will face FaZe Clan before Team Vitality will clash with GamerLegion.

The $350,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with eight teams divided into two double-elimination groups for the initial stage. The group winners moved directly to the semifinals of the single-elimination playoff. The group runners-up went to the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the teams that finished third in their groups advanced to the quarterfinals as low seeds.

All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $125,000 and two BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens.

On Friday, GamerLegion got past Astralis 13-8 on Overpass, then 16-14 in overtime on Inferno.

Sweden’s Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and the Czech Republic’s Oldrich “PR” Novy each logged 42 kills for GamerLegion, while PR had a team-best plus-4 kill-death differential. Lithuania’s Gytis “ryu” Glusauskas, Sweden’s Love “phzy” Smidebrant and Denmark’s Victor “Staehr” Staehr each amassed 37 kills for Astralis.

FaZe Clan opened with a 13-11 decision on Dust II before G2 Esports equalized by claiming Ancient 13-9. FaZe Clan sealed the series by taking Mirage 16-13 in overtime.

Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky propelled FaZe Clan with 58 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac and Spain’s Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia each posted 50 kills for G2 Esports.

BLAST Rivals Spring prize pool

1. $125,000, two BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens

2. $75,000

3-4. $40,000

5-6. $25,000 — Astralis, G2 Esports

7-8. $10,000 — FUT Esports, FURIA

–Field Level Media