The EU MRQ for the BLAST.tv Austin Major is here, with 16 teams looking to secure the last few places in the upcoming tournament in June. This system replaces the previous RMRs, with the MRQs instead being held online, and the top teams already directly invited to the Major via their VRS spots. Is this a better system? Who knows. All I know is that day of the EU MRQ has given us plenty to get excited about as favorites have struggled under the pressure.
Here are some of the most exciting storylines to come out of day one of the EU MRQ for the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | PGL
After day one of the BLAST.tv Austin Major EU MRQ, the future of both Astralis and Fnatic are uncertain. These two teams were undoubtedly among the favorites to qualify for the event, but they find themselves in the 1:1 bracket at day one after disappointing opening matches against OG and BC.Game respectively. The pendulum can swing either way in tomorrow’s matches, but it’s not a situation they want to be in as favorites.
Missing out here would mean a fifth consecutive Major non-attendance for Astralis, which could have financial implications for the team at this point. They did well to bounce back after losing their opener to beat Jame’s PARIVISION team, but they need to find some more consistency among their riflers if they’re to avoid yet another disaster.
Fnatic are Fnatic. They’re a legacy organization, and their name belongs at Majors. They did reach the PW Shanghai Major 2024, but missed out on Copenhagen before that. It’s just a point of pride for Fnatic at this point – they’re not going to win the Major, but they have to be there at a minimum. Their 0:1 match against GamerLegion got unnecessarily close given their dominant lead, but they’ll just be happy to have gotten over the line to stay competitive in the 1:1 bracket.
Credit: ESL
Things went a little better for OG and HEROIC, with both teams now just one best-of-three win away from qualifying for the BLAST.tv Austin Major in June. It means different things to these teams for different reasons, even if they’re in the same situation going into tomorrow, sitting pretty in the 2:0 bracket.
For OG, qualification here would mark their first Major appearance since the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. It’s been a considerable time away from the team, but their investment in Danish talent like nicoodoz and Buzz is on the verge of paying off in a big way. They even managed to put down Astralis en route to the 2:0 bracket, which will be extra sweet for former player Buzz.
HEROIC’s roster history in recent times has been turbulent, to say the least, but reaching the BLAST Austin Major would be a validation of their efforts and investment in young talent. HEROIC may be a far cry away from winning trophies as they may want from their team, but reaching the Major is a very good place to start.
Credit: Sebastian Pandelache | PGL
I didn’t think I’d be writing this after day one, but GamerLegion and PARIVISION are in danger of a very early exit from the BLAST Austin Major EU MRQ. They are, by far, the most shocking teams in the 0:2 bracket, with both now needing to fight like their lives depend on it to have any chance of heading to Austin in June.
GamerLegion have just had an absolutely miserable time, falling to Nemiga and Fnatic in two truly uninspiring matches. At 13:7 and 13:8, their matches look to have been competitive on paper, but any positives for GamerLegion in these scorelines are purely cosmetic – they were never close to getting anything done here. They need to book their ideas up, and fast.
It was a similarly rough day at the office for PARIVISION, a lineup sporting two CS:GO Major winners in the lineup in Jame and Qikert. They threw away momentum in their opener against HEROIC, before being dismantled by Astralis in the second. I had PARIVISION progressing in my own personal predictions, but on this kind of evidence, there’s no chance.
You can view the current brackets for the BLAST Austin Major EU MRQ below, including the upcoming matches for tomorrow.
2:0 Bracket (Winner qualifies for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025)
1:1 Bracket
0:2 Bracket (Loser is eliminated from BLAST Austin Major 2025 EU MRQ)
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