Vitality, ENCE win at BLAST Spring European finals

Team Vitality and ENCE won their respective finals matches Sunday at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown European event. Vitality posted a 2-1 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas to claim $37,500 in prize money and a berth in the eight-team, $500,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive BLAST Premier Spring European Finals. They overcame a 16-7 setback on Nuke to NiP to record a 16-14 victory on Overpass and 16-11 triumph on Vertigo.

Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut anchored Vitality with 70 kills and a plus-15 kill-death differential. Fredrik "REZ" Sterner had 66 kills to pace NiP while his plus-12 kill-death differential matched Simon "twist" Eliasson for the team lead. ENCE also pocketed $37,500 and a berth in the BLAST Premier Spring European Finals after sweeping MAD Lions on Sunday. They secured a 16-13 win on Train and 22-18 overtime victory on Mirage.

Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen recorded 60 kills and a plus-13 kill-death differential for ENCE, while Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand also had 60 kills to go along with his plus-15 kill-death differential for MAD Lions. NiP and MAD Lions will battle in a play-in match on June 15. The winner will earn a third spot in the Spring European Finals, scheduled for June 16-21.

The Spring Showdown European event began with two five-team groups for round-robin play. All group games consisted of a single map, with three points awarded for a win and one for a tie. Standings determine seeding for two playoff brackets. Five teams already earned spots in the Spring European Finals based on their results in the Jan. 31-Feb. 16 regular season: FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, Complexity Gaming and OG.

BLAST Premier Spring Showdown - Europe prize pool: 1-2. $37,500 -- Team Vitality, ENCE

3. $25,000 -- TBD 4. $20,000 -- TBD

5-6. $13,750 -- Fnatic, mousesports 7-8. $10,000 -- Dignitas, Astralis

9-10. $7,500 -- sAw, Virtus.pro --Field Level Media