The final CS:GO Major has finally begun, with the first day beginning with a real bang. The Challengers Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 is no joke, and has already left some top teams in danger of elimination. Let’s delve into the first day of the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
Apeks have come to play | Credit: BLAST.tv
FaZe going from strength to strength
It was a great first day for FaZe, who go into the second day needing just a single best-of-three win to advance to the Legends Stage. But earlier in the day, the team danced with disaster. They faced a tough opener in Monte, and found themselves 10-14 down with the prospect of falling to the 0:1 bracket. The FaZe from the RMR would have crumbled under the pressure, but this wasn’t that FaZe. They showed incredible mental strength to battle back to a 16-14 victory, before steamrolling paiN Gaming in the second match. Now faced with the prospect of ENCE, FaZe are perfectly poised to move on to the next stage of the competition.
It will all depend on the form of ropz. At the moment it seems that when the young Estonian plays well, then FaZe follow. If he’s not completely on form, FaZe often falter. The early signs for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 are promising.
Trouble at Liquid
Liquid are in deep trouble. They were handed what should have been an easy opener against Apeks, but they found a way to lose. At times, it looked like they were purposefully searching for routes to defeat. Only oSee and EliGE came out of the first game with any praise, but they didn’t have the time to take it in.
A game against FORZE awaited. It was perhaps a surprise that FORZE were in the 0:1 bracket, so it was a tougher draw for Liquid. Somehow, someway, they once again managed to lose, leaving them needing a three-match winning streak to move on to the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Legends Stage.
Prior to the second game, EliGE gave an interview about the individual mistakes made in the opener. He claimed that it “wasn’t us,” in terms of the mistakes being made. The unfortunate truth that many Liquid fans have come to realize is that this type of gaffe is this Liquid roster. It is very much in character from what we’ve come to expect from this team.
They’re fortunate to be facing Fluxo in the 0:2 bracket, the one team in the tournament that has looked even more uninspired than Liquid. If they fall to another humiliating defeat, the team will have to host a lot of honest conversations about the future of the current roster. Right now, they just look lost.
Surprising Packages
Even on day one, there have been some very surprising teams bringing everything to the server in Paris. The main team is Apeks, who are 2:0 after a stunning first day. They even became the second-ever team to 16-0 a team at a CS:GO Major, after Astralis in both 2018 and 2019. They achieved the feat against Grayhound who had just come off the back of a great win over FORZE. We had them very low in our BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Power Rankings, and they now look set to make a mockery of that prediction. With G2 up next, they’ll likely fall into the 2:1 bracket. But the way they’re playing, don’t rule anything out.
Not all surprises are a good thing, and MOUZ certainly fall into that category. They came into the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 with high hopes, but right now, they’re stinking the place out. Their defeats to NIP and OG have looked comfortable so far. They look out of ideas and inspiration on day one.
Credit: BLAST
Only frozen has put up any kind of resistance during the two matches played. Based on the games up to now, we certainly don’t expect them to pull things back to become CS:GO Major winners.
With GamerLegion up next, we’d be shocked if MOUZ even made it out of the 0:2 bracket.
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