Astralis defeated Renegades 2-1 in the best-of-three format, overcoming a 19-17 defeat on Mirage with a 16-9 win on Nuke and 16-2 victory on Inferno. Liquid swept Natus Vincere 2-0, with a 16-14 win over Mirage and 16-9 victory on Dust2.
The victories secured Astralis and Liquid the first spots in the quarterfinals of the $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament in Katowice, Poland, which will begin on Feb. 28.
In Round 3 “mid” matches — a best-of-one format — on Thursday, MiBR defeated G2 Esports 16-12 on Inferno, AVANGAR edged FaZe Clan 16-13 on Mirage, Vitality beat Cloud9 16-14 on Mirage and Ninjas in Pyjamas handled HellRaisers 16-5 on Overpass.
In the two Round 3 “low” matches — which are best-of-three — on Thursday, ENCE upended BIG 2-1, and compLexity Gaming swept NRG Esports 2-0. The losers became the first teams to be eliminated from the New Legends Stage.
The losers of the Round 3 “high” matches — Renegades and Na’Vi — and the winners of the Round 3 “mid” matches — MiBR, AVANGAR, Vitality and NiP — will participate in Round 4 “high” matchups on Friday, with those three winners also advancing to the Champions Stage. Renegades will face Vitality, Na’Vi draw AVANGAR and MiBR oppose NiP.
The losers of the Round 3 “mid” matches — G2, FaZe, Cloud9 and HellRaisers — and the winners of the Round 3 “low” matches — ENCE and compLexity — will head to Round 4 “low” matchups on Saturday. ENCE will face G2, FaZe take on compLexity and Cloud9 face HellRaisers.
The three Round 4 “high” losers and the three Round 4 “low” winners will square off Sunday to determine the last three quarterfinalists.
The Champions Stage will run from Feb. 28 to March 3.
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