Aurora, Spirit reach playoff stage at CS:GO Esports World Cup event

Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit from Group A and Natus Vincere and FURIA from Group D advanced to the playoff stage at the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition at the Esports World Cup on Saturday in Paris.

Aurora Gaming swept JiJieHao, while Team Spirit took down BIG 2-1 in the Group A lower-bracket semifinals. In the Group D upper-bracket semifinals, Natus Vincere beat The MongolZ 2-1 and FURIA defeated 9z Team by the same score.

Also on Saturday, magic and paiN Gaming prevailed in the Group D lower-bracket quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals on Sunday.

The event features 32 teams divided into four groups in the double-elimination opening stage. All opening matches consisted of a single map, while the remaining group-stage matches will be best-of-three.

The top four teams in each group will move on to the single-elimination playoffs. Playoff matches will be best-of-three until the grand final on Aug. 22, which will be best-of-five.

The championship team will receive $600,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The runner-up will get $340,000 and 750 points.

Aurora opened with a 13-6 win on Mirage and closed out JiJieHao with a 13-4 victory on Anubis. Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo of Finland led the way for the victors with 39 kills and 16 deaths.

Team Spirit fell to BIG 13-9 on Cache, but rebounded with back-to-back wins on Dust II (13-10) and Mirage (13-7). Danil "donk" Kryshkovets of Russia posted a match-high 65 kills with 40 deaths to lead the way for Team Spirit.

In Group D, Natus Vincere got off to a strong start with a 13-5 win on Inferno, but MongolZ rebounded to pull even with a 13-9 triumph on Ancient. In the decisive third game, Natus Vincere advanced with a 13-8 victory on Mirage. Kosovo's Drin "makazze" Shaqiri played a vital role in the win, posting a team-high 49 kills along with 12 assists and 38 deaths.

Also in Group D, FURIA opened strong against 9z Team, winning 13-6 on Dust II only to see 9z bounce back with a 16-13 overtime win on Mirage. In the end, FURIA advanced with another 13-6 victory, this time on Nuke. Brazil's Kaike "KSCERATO'" Cerato powered FURIA with a 65-41-15 kill-death-assist ratio.

In Group D's lower-bracket quarterfinals, magic blanked 3DMAX 2-0, winning 13-6 on Dust II and 13-7 Ancient. In the other lower-bracket quarterfinals in Group D, paiN opened with a 16-12 overtime loss, but rebounded with back-to-back wins (13-3 on Nuke, 13-7 on Mirage) to prevail.

The tournament continues Sunday with the final six matches of group play:

--Legacy vs. MIBR (Group B lower-bracket semifinals)

--Astralis vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (Group B lower-bracket semifinals)

--MOUZ vs. PARIVISION (Group C lower-bracket semifinals)

--Team Vitality vs. Lynn Vision Gaming (Group C lower-bracket semifinals)

--9z Team vs. magic (Group D lower-bracket semifinals)

--The MongolZ vs. paiN Gaming (Group D lower-bracket semifinals)

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive -- Esports World Cup prize pool (with money winnings and Esports World Cup club points)

1. $600,000, 1,000 points

2. $340,000, 750 points

3. $190,000, 500 points

4. $110,000, 300 points

5-8. $60,000, 200 points

9-16. $35,000, no points

17-24. $20,000, no points -- BIG, JiJieHao, TBD

25-32. $10,000, no points -- Luminosity Gaming, M80, K27, BetBoom Team, 100 Thieves, TYLOO, 3DMAX, Wildcard

--Field Level Media