BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Asia RMRAsia RMR Day 4: As it happened
This is a live post with the latest updates from the happenings at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Asia qualifier.
It's over - TheMongolz qualify
17:16 - Striker
TheMongolz never looked in real danger as they fended off Rare Atom on Mirage to pick up the 2-0 series victory and joined Grayhound in qualifying for the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
Though not always representing the same name, the same two teams have qualified from the Asia RMR for three consecutive Majors:
BLAST.tv Paris Major Asia RMR
1. 
Grayhound
2. 
TheMongolz
IEM Rio Major Asia RMR
1. IHC
2. Grayhound
PGL Major Antwerp Asia RMR
1. IHC
2. Renegades
Clip: Annihilation's impressive 1v5 attempt
16:54 - Striker
Perfect mid-round call breaks Rare Atom
16:46 - Striker
Mercury 1v2 keeps Rare Atom-TheMongolz close
16:44 - Striker
Rare Atom finally string rounds together
16:33 - Striker
A few big rounds from Qianhao "Moseyuh" Chen put Rare Atom within one round from their opponents.
TheMongolz rack up an advantage
16:28 - Striker
Rare Atom sure don't have a good time against pistols and it's what catches up to them again. They lose a key round to a forcebuy and TheMongolz once again don't let them gain any momentum, and it's 7-3.
Mirage is live and bLitz kicks it off in style
16:12 - Striker
TheMongolz convert their pick and end Rare Atom's streak
15:48 - Striker
Rare Atom's 13-0 streak on Inferno comes to an end as they go down 0-1 in the series. Their own pick of Mirage is next and it will mark the first time this TheMongolz lineup plays the map. The lineup with Tengis "sk0R" Batjargal was no slouch on it, though - they beat Cloud9 and took FURIA to overtime on Mirage back at IEM Katowice.
TheMongolz edge closer to victory with control on the CT side
15:40 - Striker
Rare Atom got within two of TheMongolz after winning the pistol, but the gunrounds have all gone the way of the Mongolian squad and Rare Atom are scrambling for money with just one bomb plant in the last five rounds. 14-8.
Clip: Watch Rare Atom's cheeky attempt at a ninja
15:21 - Striker
The Chinese squad salvaged what they could before the end of the half, now with five rounds to their name. This one didn't work out as they fell to just pistols on the A bombsite, but it was an entertaining attempt, nonetheless.
Rare Atom unable to gain any momentum
15:13 - Striker
Rare Atom have won a couple of solitary rounds but haven't been able to string them together, faced with a response each time. It's 9-2.
TheMongolz get off the line first
15:00 - Striker
It's 5-0 for the Mongolian squad. So far this pick is certainly paying off as TheMongolz's methodical approach to the offense is leaving Rare Atom with little space around the map.
Rare Atom vs. TheMongolz about to go live
14:40 - Striker
The veto is in and it's a curious one. TheMongolz picked Inferno despite Rare Atom currently sitting on a 13-0 win streak on the map, including wins over Liquid and Natus Vincere. Clearly the Mongolian side opted for comfort and a strength of their own.
Mirage is second, Overpass to decide if needed.
Rare Atom advance to the consolidation final
13:40 - Striker
And that's it. A straight eight-round run on the Terrorist side gives Rare Atom the victory. The Chinese team advances to face TheMongolz for a spot at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
The team has been given an hour's break to prepare for the next match. See you then!
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Asia RMR | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
2:0
|
Match |
Kaze's 1v2 all but seals Twisted Minds' fate
13:35 - Striker
Andrew "kaze" Khong is putting Twisted Minds in their place despite nursing a fever. 28 kills from the Malaysian AWPer so far and a 1v2 clutch that put Rare Atom within two rounds of victory:
Map two is neck-and-neck again
13:16 - Striker
It's 6-6 on Vertigo between Rare Atom and Twisted Minds. Would you believe it — Shuaib "D0cC" Ahmad and Ahmad "SpAwNnS" Kanaan lead the way for the mix-team again.
aliStair: "I hope people put us as the 0-3"
13:06 - Striker
Alistair "aliStair" Johnston spoke to HLTV.org after qualifying for the Major, making a promise to do a shoey if Grayhound pass the Challengers Stage in Paris.
Read or listen to the full interview here.
HLTV user cheers on Rare Atom
12:47 - Striker
I don't know if this HLTV comment is a poem or if it was meant to rhyme, but whatever it is, it's beautiful.
"We've got advent as the leader
He knows exactly what we need
JamYoung at the back, Mosey entry frag
RA gonna win the major sticker!!!!!!!!"
Rare Atom pick up the map after advent 1v2s (16-14)
12:26 - Striker
Rare Atom found the recipe for success exploiting weaknesses in Twisted Minds' B holds, and combined with a timely Zhuo "advent" Liang 1v2 clutch on the same site they pick up the first map.
D0cC finishes the map with 34 kills, but Twisted Minds needed a little more cohesion in their B site defense to steal this one.
Clip: What a retake from Twisted Minds (13-13)
12:20 - Striker
Rare Atom 12-11 Twisted Minds
12:14 - Striker
D0cC is on a tear. He's on 27 kills and leads Twisted Minds back into contention for the opening map. Just one round separates the two teams.
Never mind, it was a quick fix
11:45 - Striker
We're back live after the issue was fixed relatively quickly. It's 5-5 between the two teams on Mirage.
Brace yourselves, it's a tech pause
11:41 - Striker
No point in trying to promise when the match will resume, but at the very least it seems a technical issue is going to take long enough to fix that the broadcast went into a waiting screen.
Rare Atom face Twisted Minds next
11:14 - Striker
In a pre-match interview, the language from Nikola "Lobanjica" Mijomanović was about the same as always. The Montenegrin has consistently set expectations low, saying this time the preparation amounted to six hours of sleep, breakfast, some coffee, and no game time.
Grayhound qualify for the Paris Major
10:57 - Striker
After five attempts Grayhound close the match, taking advantage of aggression from TheMongolz in middle and ending on B. Declan "Vexite" Portelli and Joshua "INS" Potter ended the map with 61 kills combined to get to that Major spot.
TheMongolz have a few hours to regroup before they have their second and last chance to qualify, facing off against the winner of the Rare Atom vs. Twisted Minds lower bracket final later in the day.
Another big save
10:54 - Striker
A 2v2 ends with Tuvshintugs "Annihilation" Nyamdorj picking off the final Grayhound players trying to get into the B bombsite in the last moment. Just three chances left for the Aussies.
TheMongolz prevent first match point
10:51 - Striker
TheMongolz survive the first of seven match points Grayhound have to close it with a close retake of the A site. That was the hardest one, as it was with just some pistols and a few smaller guns.
Grayhound on the verge of making it to Paris
10:42 - Striker
It's 14-8 in favor of the hounds. With how Anubis went it's a little early to call it, but the Australians are on the verge of making it to Paris.
Clips: Beautiful plays from hasteka and INS
10:30 - Striker
Yes, they can
09:47 - Striker
No big drama this time. Grayhound picked up the first three rounds of the second half and, despite giving away a 2v5 situation to Baatarkhuu "Bart4k" Batbold and Annihilation, reached match point. It took them four attempts to finish it off, but they did before it got dangerous whatsoever.
It's time for Ancient to decide the first Asian team advancing to the Paris Major.
Can Grayhound close it this time?
09:28 - Striker
It's been a breeze of a first half from Grayhound and it's 11-4 in their favor. We were in a similar position on Anubis, though, so let's see if this time it's enough to close the match.
Back live with Inferno
08:57 - Striker
After a short (in relative terms) technical delay, the match is back live with Inferno. Grayhound lead 4-0 to start with hopes of equalizing the series and making it to Ancient.
TheMongolz complete the comeback
08:19 - Striker
From down 3-12 in the first half TheMongolz pulled it all the way back and prevailed in overtime on their pick. Grayhound's pick of Inferno will follow in a moment.
Overtime!
08:06 - Striker
It was Grayhound who were on the ropes after struggles on the CT side, but they survived up against match point to force overtime on the first map.
Jinxed?
07:26 - Striker
TheMongolz have double digits now while Grayhound struggle to get anything going. It all started with this pistol round clutch from Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold:
Surely Grayhound have got this in the bag
07:26 - Striker
12-3 as TheMongolz salvaged what they could with a couple of pistol wins to end the half.
Grayhound are running away with Anubis
07:26 - Striker
It was close to start as Grayhound won the pistol round thanks to a 1v1 clutch from Vexite and needed some great play from Jay "Liazz" Tregillgas just a few rounds later, but it's 10-1 now.
Anubis to start - a surprise pick
07:04 - Striker
Grayhound didn't expect TheMongolz to pick Anubis and instead focused more on preparation for Nuke, according to aliStair.
Two Major spots up for grabs in Asia today
06:35 - Striker
Welcome to the last day of the Asia RMR.
It's been a bumpy road, but the final day of the tournament taking place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is here. We're about to witness the final four teams compete for the region's two BLAST.tv Paris Major spots, after all three of the big favorites have made it through and were joined by an unlikely underdog in Twisted Minds.
The first Major spot will go to the winner of the first match of the day between TheMongolz and Grayhound. The loser will have another chance at the end of the day when they face off against the winner of Rare Atom vs. Twisted Minds.
Yesterday some of the day one issues cropped up again with complaining of experiencing loss, resulting in the last series finishing well past 2 AM local time. Here's to a problem-free day.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Asia RMR | ||
| 09/04/2023 |
1:2
|
Match |
| 09/04/2023 |
0:2
|
Match |
| 09/04/2023 |
2:0
|
Match |
Tuvshintugs 'Annihilation' Nyamdorj
Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov
Andrew 'kaze' Khong
Shuaib 'D0cC' Ahmad
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Simon 'Sico' Williams
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