EG advance in BLAST Premier: Spring American Finals

Evil Geniuses shook off a first-map loss to beat Team Liquid 2-1 on Wednesday and advance to the upper-bracket final in the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Finals. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski paced Liquid with 55 kills and a plus-5 kill-death differential. BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Finals prize pool, with money and BLAST Premier points: 1.

Evil Geniuses shook off a first-map loss to beat Team Liquid 2-1 on Wednesday and advance to the upper-bracket final in the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Finals. EG will oppose MIBR on Friday, with the winner earning a berth in the Sunday final.

Liquid fall into the lower bracket, where they will face FURIA Esports on Thursday. The winner of that match will square off with the EG-MIBR loser on Saturday in the lower-bracket final. The $250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event has four teams competing for a berth in the $1.5 million BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020, scheduled for next January.

All matches in the double-elimination event are best-of-three. Along with the spot in the Global Final, the winner will earn $160,000 and 1,600 BLAST Premier points, while the runner-up will receive $65,000 and 800 BLAST Premier points. The BLAST Premier Spring Finals, a $750,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, was originally scheduled to be played in Moscow, but it was moved online and split into two regions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The eight-team, $500,000 European region, which began play Monday, features a double-elimination playoff bracket with all matches best-of-three. The European champion will claim $335,000, and the top two finishers will secure spots in the BLAST Premier: Global Final. Evil Geniuses completed their Wednesday comeback by coming from behind in the decisive third map, Inferno. Liquid jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but EG took 16 of the last 17 rounds, including the final nine in a row.

Liquid had opened the match with a 16-7 win on Nuke before EG pulled level with a 16-8 victory on Dust II, claiming eight of the final nine rounds. Ethan "Ethan" Arnold led EG with 54 kills, and he and teammate Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte each finished with a plus-8 kill-death differential. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski paced Liquid with 55 kills and a plus-5 kill-death differential.

BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Finals prize pool, with money and BLAST Premier points: 1. $160,000, 1,600 points

2. $65,000, 800 points 3. $15,000, 600 points

4. $10,000, 400 points --Field Level Media