sAw, Virtus.pro eliminated as BLAST Europe Showdown reaches playoffs

The group stage of BLAST Premier Spring Europe Showdown has concluded as SAW and Virtus.pro are eliminated from the tournament.

The Portuguese side has been eliminated after the lowest-ranked side at the tournament placed last in Group A, though not without putting up a fight as they took ENCE to a full regulation match and dealt Vitality their only loss in the best-of-one round robin.

Meanwhile, with Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth still out of action and Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen and Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer stepping in, Astralis were far from their former selves, as they also clinched just one victory versus SAW and barely scraped through to the playoffs on the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Portuguese team.

Bubzkji was the highest-rated player of the group stage at 1.38

Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE finished atop the group with two victories and two ties each, with the Swedes earning the top spot and a direct ticket to the semi-finals thanks to a higher round difference, while Vitality placed third with a 1-2-1 record.

In Group B, MOUZ couldn't recover from their slump after suffering losses to fnatic and Virtus.pro but still managed to advance to the playoffs with just four points ahead of Dignitas. Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali & co. exited the competition on the back of three consecutive losses and only came out with a consolation prize in the form of a win against Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's team in the last round.

The first place in the group came down to a contest between MAD Lions and fnatic, from which the Danes came out victorious early in the group and ended up clinching first place without a defeat, leaving their Swedish adversaries second.

The final standings of the BLAST Premier Showdown group stage look as follows:

Group A TEAM M P Ninjas in Pyjamas 4 8 ENCE 4 8 Vitality 4 5 Astralis 4 3 SAW 4 3 Group B TEAM M P MAD Lions 4 10 fnatic 4 9 MOUZ 4 4 Dignitas 4 3 Virtus.pro 4 3

The playoffs, which will kick off on Friday, will see the third-fourth placed teams meet in the first round, with ENCE and fnatic waiting in the quarter-finals and Ninjas in Pyjamas and MAD Lions in the semi-finals, where two teams advancing to the BLAST Premier Spring Finals will be determined. One more spot will be on offer in the third-place decider.

You can see the playoffs schedule below:

Friday, June 5
12:30 MOUZ vs. Astralis
16:00 Vitality vs. Dignitas

Saturday, June 6
12:30 ENCE vs. mouz/Astralis winner
16:00 fnatic vs. Vitality/Dignitas winner

Sunday, June 7 (winners advance)
12:30 MAD Lions vs. ENCE-mouz/Astralis winner
16:00 Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. fnatic-Vitality/Dignitas winner

Monday, June 15 (winner advances)
12:30 Third place decider

Dignitas #40 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergHåkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli Astralis #2 Jakob 'JUGi' HansenMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen MAD Lions #15 Asger 'AcilioN' LarsenLucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandRasmus 'sjuush' BeckFredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen Astralis #2 Jakob 'JUGi' HansenMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Jakob 'JUGi' Hansen Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 908 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.61 Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 21 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 792 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.56 Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier MAD Lions #15 Asger 'AcilioN' LarsenLucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandRasmus 'sjuush' BeckFredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen Luis 'peacemaker' Tadeu ENCE #21 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiJere 'sergej' SaloElias 'Jamppi' Olkkonen Slaava 'Twista' Räsänen Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer Age: 29 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 1191 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.67 Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 24 Team: AstralisB Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1673 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 SAW #61 Omar 'arki' ChakkorChristopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesRicardo 'roman' OliveiraTiago 'JUST' MouraRenato 'stadodo' Gonçalves Ricardo 'AIm' Almeida ENCE #21 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiJere 'sergej' SaloElias 'Jamppi' Olkkonen Dignitas #40 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergHåkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli Robin 'Fifflaren' Johansson fnatic #3 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin fnatic #3 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Andreas 'Samuelsson' Samuelsson Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Simon 'twist' EliassonFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora MOUZ #5 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool Allan 'Rejin' Petersen Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Simon 'twist' EliassonFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Björn 'THREAT' Pers MOUZ #5 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool Finn 'karrigan' Andersen Age: 30 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1671 KPR: 0.63 DPR: 0.69 Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 24 Team: AstralisB Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1333 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Virtus.pro #26 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevSanjar 'SANJI' KulievAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev SAW #61 Omar 'arki' ChakkorChristopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesRicardo 'roman' OliveiraTiago 'JUST' MouraRenato 'stadodo' Gonçalves Virtus.pro #26 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevSanjar 'SANJI' KulievAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis