Legacy, Astralis among final six to make playoffs at CS:GO World Cup event

Legacy and Astralis were among the final six teams to clinch their places in the playoff stage of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition at the Esports World Cup on Sunday in Paris.

Legacy defeated MIBR 2-0 and Astralis topped Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 in the Group B lower-bracket semifinals. In Group C, MOUZ blanked PARIVISION 2-0 and Team Vitality advanced past Lynn Vision Gaming 2-0. And in the Group D lower bracket, magic fought past 9z Team 2-1 and The MongolZ shut out paiN Gaming 2-0.

The six losing teams were eliminated from the tournament.

The event began with 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 were best-of-three.

The top four teams in each group moved on to the single-elimination playoffs. Playoff matches this week will be best-of-three until the grand final on Aug. 23, 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.

On Sunday, Legacy eked past MIBR 13-11 on Nuke and 13-8 on Inferno. Santino "try" Rigal of Argentina paced Legacy with 38 kills on a plus-17 kills-deaths differential.

Astralis opened with a 13-3 rout on Nuke, fell 13-10 to NIP on Inferno and won the do-or-die third round 13-7 on Cache. Denmark's Victor "Staehr" Staehr had a match-high 53 kills on a plus-17 K-D.

In Group C, MOUZ routed PARIVISION 13-4 on Dust II and then prevailed 13-10 on Inferno. Dorian "xertioN" Berman of Israel led MOUZ with 36 kills on a plus-11 K-D.

Team Vitality roared past Lynn Vision 13-2 on Dust II and 13-5 on Inferno. Frenchman Mathieu ‘ZywOo' Herbaut starred for Vitality with 40 kills on a plus-23.

As for Group D, magic opened with a 19-17 overtime win on Ancient, lost to 9z Team 13-10 on Dust II and rebounded to finish them off 13-10 on Inferno. Russian Nikita "tenzy" Kochenyuk posted 74 kills on a plus-24 for magic.

The MongolZ topped paiN 13-10 on Nuke and 13-4 on Inferno. Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren led the all-Mongolian squad with 37 kills on a plus-12.

The tournament will resume Wednesday with the first four Round of 16 matchups, which have yet to be determined.

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, MIBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, PARIVISION, Lynn Vision Gaming, 9z Team, paiN Gaming

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

--Field Level Media