GamerLegion 0-2 after day one: BLAST.tv Austin Major MRQs day one recap

It's the most tense time of the year - the MRQs have now begun.

The last-chance qualifiers for teams with hopes of making the Major, today marked the start of the European MRQ, with 16 teams all doing battle for just six available spots in the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

There was 16 games on day one, so let's go over the action.

Round one

With the MRQs starting out BO1, there was no room for error for teams on day one.

That said, both BIG and fnatic began their time in the event with rough starts, BIG were taken down 13-3 by 9 Pandas and fnatic fell 13-2 to BC.Game.

A testament to the level of quality within the event, the two teams will be thanking their lucky stars that they fared better later in the day.

GamerLegion also slipped up in their opening match, they fell 13-7 to Nemiga on Mirage. A game effectively decided by the T sides, GamerLegion just couldn't get a handle on Nemiga's aggression after their own T side fell flat.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Those games weren't the only upsets in round one, Astralis also found themselves in the 0-1 bracket after getting blitzed by new OG signing, nicoodoz. The Dane was in incredible form on Nuke, pulling off an incredibly 28-14 scoreline to push Astralis a step closer to missing out on yet another Major.

However, not every team was upset in round one. ENCE, Metizport, HEROIC, and BetBoom all got off to strong starts, with BetBoom looking in particularly fine form as they shut down SAW 13-3.

Full round one results:

• ENCE 13-7 500
• Metizport 13-7 B8
• 9 Pandas 13-4 BIG
• HEROIC 13-9 PARIVISION
• BC.Game 13-2 fnatic
• BetBoom 13-3 SAW
• Nemiga 13-7 GamerLegion
• OG 13-8 Astralis

Photo: ENCE

Round two

Already a game down, BIG bounced back in emphatic fashion in their second game as they pulled off a dominant 13-2 victory over 500, sending the Bulgarian team swiftly down to the 0-2 bracket.

And BIG weren't the only team to bounce back from an opening upset defeat, both Astralis and fnatic managed to claw a game back in round two.

Astralis were first up, they took down PARIVISION 13-7 thanks to 19 kills from device on Mirage. fnatic then closed out the day, sending GamerLegion to the 0-2 bracket thanks to 44 combined kills from MATYS and blameF in a 13-8 win on Anubis.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

It's a very unfortunate result for GamerLegion, but given what they did in the RMR for the Perfect World Shanghai Major, we wouldn't count them out just yet.

Elsewhere in round two, neither BC.Game or ENCE could carry their momentum forward to book themselves spots in the 2-0 bracket, they lost to Metizport and HEROIC respectively.

However, OG could continue their momentum, they put themselves within one game of qualifying for the Major after taking down 9 Pandas 13-9 on Nuke.

Nemiga also carried their form through to a second confident victory, they took down a strong BetBoom side with a comfortable 13-4 scoreline on Ancient.

Full round two results:

• BIG 13-2 500
• HEROIC 13-6 ENCE
• Metizport 13-8 BC.Game
• SAW 19-17 B8
• Astralis 13-7 PARIVISION
• OG 13-9 9 Pandas
• Nemiga 13-4 Betboom
• fnatic 13-8 GamerLegion