Team Vitality and The MongolZ move on to BLAST.tv Austin Major semi-finals

Team Vitality and The MongolZ have secured the final two semi-final spots at the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Team Vitality defeated NAVI in the opening semi-final match while The MongolZ bested FaZe Clan in the fourth quarter-final at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

NAVI looked to shock the best Counter-Strike team in the world while Team Vitality aimed to continue its dominance with another event victory. Mirage kicked off proceedings, with both teams trading rounds back and forth before the Ukrainian side grabbed a slender 5-3 lead. 

Vitality responded with some robust defence, levelling the map at 6-6 bringing an end to a hotly contested first half. 

NAVI began the second half with a victorious pistol round but was unable to break away from Vitality, which quickly equalised the map once more. After a pair of successful offensive rounds, Vitality grabbed a 12-9 lead as the French powerhouse closed in on securing the first map.

Team Vitality held its nerve thanks to three clinical kills from Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan, wrapping up Mirage with a 12-9 victory to move within one map of the semi-finals.

The action headed to Team Vitality’s pick of Nuke, and despite NAVI racing to an early lead, the attacking rounds of the French side proved crucial to keep the defenders within touching distance. Vitality quickly showed why the team selected Nuke, stringing together several give consecutive attacking rounds to establish a 7-3 lead.

Glimpses of NAVI’s defence proved pivotal, as Vitality headed into the second half with a 7-5 lead after a strong offensive half. With only five defensive rounds on Nuke, NAVI had it all to do in the second half of regular time.

Vitality was ready for any strategies from the NAVI playbook and raced to a 10-5 lead to break the economy of the attackers. However, NAVI managed to break through the defences to reduce the deficit to 10-8, giving the team a chance of making a potential comeback.

Ass NAVI looked to keep the ball rolling, Vitality came roaring back in round 20 to re-establish a two-round lead but it wasn’t enough as the Ukrainian side responded immediately in round 21 to bring the gap down to one.

A crucial three eliminations from William ‘mezii’ Merriman stopped NAVI’s hopes of forcing overtime, taking Nuke 13-11 and the series 2-0 to advance to the Austin Major semi-final, where it will battle against a resurging MOUZ lineup.

The second semi-final of day two saw FaZe Clan continue its Major campaign against The MongolZ. With Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski competing as North America’s last remaining player, the Moody Center were hoping the hometown hero could advance to the last four.

FaZe Clan roared into a 4-1 lead on Mirage with in-game leader (IGL) Finn ‘Karrigan’ Andersen leading the charge, much to the delight of the capacity crowd. The MongolZ silenced the FaZe Clan offence and the fans, levelling the series at four rounds apiece.

The MongolZ responded in round nine to take a 5-4 lead, but Karrigan’s experience continued to shine to equalise the match once more. Action resumed in round 11 following a short tech pause, with the half ending all square at 6-6.

The Mongolians kicked off the second half with the opening two rounds to build a slender lead over the fan favourites, before breaking FaZe’s economy in round 15, giving the defenders an excellent opportunity to secure their map pick.

With the ball rolling, The MongolZ extended its advantage with five consecutive round wins, leaving FaZe Clan scrambling to stay alive in the opening duel as the crowd fell silent. The Red Militia stayed alive thanks to some clinical AWP shots from stand-in Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev to reduce the deficit to four rounds.

A major miscue from s1mple halted any kind of comeback, with The MongolZ taking Mirage 13-9 to place FaZe Clan on the verge of elimination.

Similar to Mirage, FaZe Clan kicked off proceedings with three quick defensive rounds before The MongolZ immediately bounced back with three rounds of its own to level Ancient. The MongolZ managed to secure a slender lead, but FaZe continued to hang on, with five rounds each.

A one-versus-two clutch from EliGE sent the Moody Center into raptures, giving FaZe Clan a 7-5 lead and a chance to level the series. The only North American player left in the Austin Major continued to demonstrate some expert precision to maintain a two-round advantage. FaZe Clan’s lead disappeared in an instant, with The MongolZ scoring three defensive rounds to retake the lead.

The North American organisation continued to hold, equalising Ancient to offer a chance of third and deciding map. Despite its best efforts, The MongolZ held strong, taking the map 13-11 to complete the 2-0 sweep.

With the quarter-finals of the Austin Major concluded, all eyes are on the semi-finals. Team Vitality will take on MOUZ for a place in the Grand Final, while the Brazilian side of PaiN Gaming will be facing off against FaZe Clan/The MongolZ.

Fans can tune into the semi-finals of the BLAST.tv Austin Major across the tournament organiser’s Twitch and YouTube channels.