MongolZ, Vitality to clash in BLAST.tv Austin Major grand final

Team Vitality and The MongolZ won their semifinal matches on Saturday to advance to the grand final at the BLAST.tv Austin Major in Texas.

The MongolZ swept paiN Gaming 2-0, while Vitality took down MOUZ 2-1 to reach Sunday's grand final.

The $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, which began with 32 teams, features three Swiss-system group stages.

Sixteen teams advanced through qualifying events to reach Group Stage 1, where all early-round matches were a single map while advancement and elimination matches were best-of-three.

The top eight teams in Group Stage 1 advanced to Group Stage 2, where eight invited teams awaited: Team Falcons, FaZe Clan, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro, paiN Gaming, FURIA, MIBR and M80.

The same process applied in Group Stage 2, with the top eight squads moving on to Group Stage 3, where eight more invited teams joined the action: Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, MongolZ, Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere and Team Liquid.

The top eight teams in Group Stage 3 advance to the single-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-3, including the grand final.

The winning team will earn $500,000, and the runner-up will pocket $170,000.

Vitality opened the day Saturday against MOUZ, sandwiching wins on Mirage (13-8) and Train (13-6) around a 13-4 loss on Inferno. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut of France paced the winners with 53 kills and a plus-21 kill-death differential, both match highs. For MOUZ, Israel's Dorian "xertioN" Berman had a team-high 46 kills and plus-5 K-D differential.

In the second quarterfinal of the day, MongolZ swept paIN Gaming with back-to-back 13-5 wins on Mirage and Anubis. Ayush "mzinho" Batbold led the winners with 28 kills, while teammate Azbayar "Senzu" Munkhbold posted a match-high plus-14 K-D ratio for the all-Mongolian squad. Brazil's Lucas "nqz" Soares posted 27 kills for paiN Gaming.

BLAST.tv Austin Major prize pool:

1. $500,000 -- TBD

2. $170,000 -- TBD

3-4. $80,000 - MOUZ, paiN Gaming

5-8. $45,000 -- Team Spirit, FURIA, Natus Vincere, FaZe Clan

9-11. $15,000 -- Virtus.pro, Legacy, G2 Esports

12-14. $15,000 -- Aurora Gaming, 3DMAX, Lynn Vision Gaming

15-16. $15,000 -- Team Liquid, Nemiga Gaming

17-19. $10,000 -- B8, MIBR, HEROIC

20-22. $10,000 -- TYLOO, Team Falcons, M80

23-24. $10,000 -- OG, BetBoom Team

25-27. $5,000 -- FlyQuest, NRG, Wildcard

28-30. $5,000 -- Imperial Esports, Chinggis Warriors, Complexity

31-32. $5,000 -- Metizport, Fluxo

--Field Level Media