Falcons eke out win, snag IEM Dallas playoff berth

Team Falcons pulled out a 2-1 win over HEROIC on Tuesday to book a berth in the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas playoffs.

The Falcons advanced to the Group B upper-bracket final, where they will oppose MOUZ, a 2-0 winner over Team Liquid on Tuesday.

In the Group A upper-bracket semifinals, Team Vitality swept GamerLegion 2-0 and The MongolZ downed G2 Esports.

All four upper-bracket finalists are playoff-bound.

The $300,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 16 teams dividing into two double-elimination groups. The group winners will clinch playoff semifinal berths.

The group runners-up will enter the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the two third-place teams will move into the quarterfinals as low seeds. The other five teams in each group will be eliminated.

All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three except for the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five.

The winning team will earn $125,000, the runner-up will make $50,000.

On Tuesday, Team Falcons began with a 13-9 win on Ancient before HEROIC claimed Nuke 16-13 in overtime. Falcons sealed the series with a 13-3 victory on Dust II.

Russia's Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov topped Team Falcons with 65 kills and a plus-27 kill-death differential. Turkey's Yasin "xfl0ud" Koc posted 45 kills and an even K-D differential for HEROIC.

MOUZ moseyed past Team Liquid 13-8 on Inferno, 13-2 on Train. Hungary's Adam "torzsi" Torzsas registered 37 kills and a plus-20 K-D differential. Israel's Guy "NertZ" Iluz wound up with 24 kills and a minus-8 K-D differential for Liquid.

Team Vitality pushed back GamerLegion 13-9 on Mirage, 13-10 on Nuke behind 39 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential from Estonia's Robin "ropz" Kool. Sweden's Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner logged 33 kills and a minus-1 K-D differential for GamerLegion.

The MongolZ manhandled G2 Esports 13-4 on Inferno, 13-7 on Dust II. Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch amassed 37 kills and a plus-20 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian MongolZ. Israel's Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko had 22 kills and a team-best minus-3 K-D differential for G2.

The lower-bracket quarterfinals were also contested on Tuesday.

In Group A, 3DMAX edged Legacy 2-1 to earn a matchup against G2 Esports, while FURIA swept Lynn Vision Gaming 2-0 to advance to face GamerLegion.

In Group B, FaZe Clan eliminated BC.Game Esports 2-0 to get a shot at HEROIC, and Aurora Gaming toppled NRG 2-0 to set up a showdown with Team Liquid.

The remaining group-stage matches will all be contested on Wednesday:

--Group A upper-bracket final: Team Vitality vs. The MongolZ

--Group B upper-bracket final: MOUZ vs. Team Falcons

--Group A lower-bracket semifinal: G2 Esports vs. 3DMAX

--Group A lower-bracket semifinal: GamerLegion vs. FURIA

--Group B lower-bracket semifinal: HEROIC vs. FaZe Clan

--Group B lower-bracket semifinal: Team Liquid vs. Aurora Gaming

Intel Extreme Masters Dallas prize pool

1. $125,000

2. $50,000

3-4. $25,000

5-6. $12,500

7-8. $7,000

9-12. $5,000

13-16. $4,000 -- Legacy, Lynn Vision Gaming, BC.Game Esports, NRG

--Field Level Media