EG Black takes down #1 Brazilian team
In both team's opening match, EG and FURIA both have an opportunity for redemption. FURIA is finding their form after a disappointing IEM Katowice and Evil Geniuses have submitted their Blueprint roster instead of the main team. With EG Black making their first appearance at a BLAST event, their chances as a dark horse are not insignificant. EG Black have been making decent waves in NA ECL standings and recently qualified for ESL Challenger Melbourne. But, it will still be an uphill battle for the Americans. FURIA are looking to show that they are favorites for a reason.
The match started off on EG's pick of Vertigo, a map that the Americas are incredibly strong on and one that FURIA, well, are not. EG Black proved this point in the first half, despite going down early to a 4-2 deficit. The Blueprint organization would come back and win seven rounds in a row to eventually force a 9-6 half on their T-side.
However, the CT-side wouldn't be as successful. Despite Vertigo being a tough map for the Brazilians, they would simply run over EG's defenses as they secured the first map in a 16-11 victory.
Headed to FURIA's pick of Mirage, Evil Geniuses once again showed how strong they were. The Americans did not allow FURIA to get into the game at any point as they headed to a swift 13-2 first half victory on their CT-side. Despite a slight comeback on the T-side for FURIA, they could not contest against the inevitable three rounds that Evil Geniuses would be able to string together to make this a 16-8 victory for the Americans.
The final map would be Inferno, where both EG and FURIA felt like they could succeed. In the first half, Evil Geniuses would be on the T-side and they would find it very difficult to penetrate the defenses of the Brazilians. They would lose the opening pistol and fall behind, but trade several gun rounds as they would get six rounds out of the first half.
Now, on the defenses, EG made it memorable. Highlighted by a Round 20 defuse where Will "RUSH" Wierzba accidentally got two kills through the smoke while falling back to save, somehow turned into a round win. This would spur the Americans on an improbably journey as they would power through to an improbable 16-13 win and advance to play against Imperial.
FURIAEG Black| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
60 - 49 | +11 | 86.2 | 75.0% | 1.25 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
64 - 52 | +12 | 78.6 | 71.2% | 1.17 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
48 - 50 | -2 | 68.7 | 70.0% | 0.97 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
41 - 58 | -17 | 66.5 | 71.2% | 0.89 |
| André 'drop' Abreu |
39 - 49 | -10 | 46.4 | 72.5% | 0.78 |
| EG Black |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
72 - 36 | +36 | 85.8 | 85.0% | 1.50 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
54 - 62 | -8 | 78.2 | 68.8% | 1.05 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
50 - 49 | +1 | 72.8 | 68.8% | 1.05 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
40 - 49 | -9 | 56.3 | 72.5% | 0.89 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
38 - 59 | -21 | 62.3 | 62.5% | 0.76 |
