HEROIC, B8 advance as Chinggis Warriors survive in dramatic BLAST.tv Austin Major day

    The BLAST.tv Austin Major rolled through its first group stage Wednesday with high-stakes action across the board, as 32 teams continue their quest for a share of the $1.25 million prize pool in Texas.

    cs216 cs216

    In the pivotal high matches of Group Stage 1, HEROIC and B8 punched their tickets to the next round. HEROIC edged FlyQuest 2-1 in a tightly contested series.

    Belarusian standout Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich led the charge with 61 kills and a +21 K-D differential. HEROIC claimed wins on Ancient (13-7) and Mirage (13-6), with FlyQuest taking Anubis 13-11 behind a solid showing from Iulian 'regali' Harjau.

    B8 overcame a rocky start against Wildcard, rallying after a narrow overtime loss on Train (14-16) to dominate Dust II (13-6) and Inferno (13-2). Ukrainian rifler Alexey 'alex666' Yarmoshchuk starred with 55 kills and a +17 differential.

    In the elimination bracket, the Chinggis Warriors mounted a fierce comeback against Fluxo. After dropping Ancient 10-13, the Mongolian squad stormed back with wins on Mirage (13-11) and Nuke (13-2) to stay alive. Imperial Esports made quick work of Metizport, winning 2-0 to move on.

    Mid-bracket single-map wins went to BetBoom Team (13-3 over Legacy), NRG (13-9 over Complexity), Nemiga Gaming (13-10 over Lynn Vision), and OG (13-4 over TYLOO).