FURIA oust Liquid in BLAST Premier: Spring American Finals

The MIBR-Evil Geniuses loser will oppose FURIA on Saturday in a showdown for the other final-round spot. 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.

FURIA Esports stayed alive in the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Finals on Thursday, edging Team Liquid 2-1 in the first round of the lower bracket. MIBR and Evil Geniuses will square off in the upper-bracket final on Friday, with a berth in the Sunday final at stake. The MIBR-Evil Geniuses loser will oppose FURIA on Saturday in a showdown for the other final-round spot.

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.

Liquid opened the Thursday match by grabbing a 10-7 lead on Vertigo, but FURIA claimed the next nine rounds to win 16-10. Liquid powered to a 16-10 victory on Nuke, but FURIA pulled away on the decisive third map, Mirage. FURIA captured seven of the first eight rounds and emerged with a 16-8 win.

All five players on FURIA's all-Brazilian squad registered at least 53 kills, led by Yuri "yuurih" Santos with 60. Henrique "HEN1" Teles recorded a team-best plus-18 kill-death differential. Canada's Keith "NAF" Markovic paced Liquid with 65 kills and a plus-12 kill-death differential. None of his teammates had a positive 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 -- Team Liquid --Field Level Media