The Ukrainian team B8, which secured their RMR spot through open qualifiers, is now one step closer to a place at the Major in Paris after causing an upset at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR.
In their opening best-of-one match, B8 triumphed over MOUZ with a 16-9 victory, marking the first upset of the event. This win propels the Ukrainian squad into the 1-0 pool in Copenhagen, with their next challenger to be determined later.
Meanwhile, MOUZ faces disappointment after their subpar start to the Major qualifier. They must now focus on avoiding an early descent into elimination territory in their next match on Thursday.
B8 has been turning heads at Major qualifiers, narrowly missing the IEM Rio Major—the most recent Valve-sponsored event—after a 2-3 performance in the Road to Rio Europe RMR A tournament in October. Although they haven’t participated in a LAN event since then, B8 has kicked off strong in Copenhagen and hopes to maintain their momentum throughout the 16-team contest.
The Regional Major Ranking campaigns for both teams started with a trip to Ancient, a map that seemed equally suitable for both squads—MOUZ held a 67% win rate (six maps) in the past three months, while B8 had a 71% win rate (seven maps).
However, MOUZ, currently the world’s 10th-best team, stumbled on the Aztec-inspired map, allowing Mykhailo “OWNER” Lymar and his team to take a comfortable 10-3 lead on the T-side. Although MOUZ demonstrated moments of individual skill, they were ultimately outperformed by a team ranked 32 spots below them. B8 recovered after a sluggish start on the CT-side, securing six consecutive rounds and finishing with a decisive 16-9 victory. This result pushes their European rivals down to the 0-1 pool in Copenhagen.
