MOUZ, Spirit storm into BLAST Open Spring semifinals

Team Spirit and MOUZ cruised to 2-0 sweeps on Friday to reach the semifinals of the BLAST Open Spring at Lisbon, Portugal.

Spirit downed Natus Vincere to earn a matchup with Team Vitality, while MOUZ ousted G2 Esports to advance to a clash against Eternal Fire. Vitality and Eternal Fire had earned direct entry into the Saturday semifinals by winning their groups in the tournament’s opening stage.

The $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with the 16 teams divided into two groups for double-elimination play. All group-stage matches were best-of-three.

In the single-elimination playoffs, all matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which will be best-of-five. The team that wins the Sunday final will pocket $150,000.

On Friday, Spirit toppled Natus Vincere 13-7 on Dust II, 13-6 on Anubis. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets paced Spirit with 42 kills and a plus-22 kill-death differential. Lithuania’s Justinas “jL” Lekavicius finished with 26 kills and a minus-4 K-D differential for Natus Vincere.

MOUZ dumped G2 Esports 13-8 on Inferno, 13-3 on Nuke. Israel’s Dorian “xertioN” Berman starred for MOUZ with 38 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov amassed 28 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential for G2 Esports.

BLAST Open Spring prize pool

1. $150,000

2. $60,000

3-4. $40,000

5-6. $20,000 — Natus Vincere, G2 Esports

7-8. $10,000 — Virtus.pro, The MongolZ

9-12. $7,500 — Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, M80

13-16. $5,000 — The Huns Esports, Astralis, Imperial Esports, FURIA

–Field Level Media