The European combine's Cinderella run continues with their win over Casper "cadiaN" Møller and company. GamerLegion are through to the BLAST.tv Paris Major title decider after besting HEROIC in a hard-fought three-map series. The Danes struck first on Ancient after a strong comeback, but were unable to convert their Inferno pick after a full-length 30-round affair, with GamerLegion running rampant on the Mirage decider (16-6) to get the job done and progress to the final hurdle in Paris. Mihai "iM" Ivan was once again a massive performer for his team, now averaging an tournament-leading 1.44 rating across the Legends and Champions stages, continuing his charge towards candidacy for the MVP. The European outfit will undoubtedly be looking to keep their strong form going in Paris as they move forward to the last game of the Major in France. Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and company will lock horns with the winner of the series between Apeks and Vitality on Sunday at 17:00 for a chance to cap off their fairy tale campaign and pick up the Major trophy and the $500,000 cash prize. GamerLegion enjoyed a hot start to their semi-final bout versus the Danes, cruising to a 10-5 lead on their Ancient pick after a strong T-side performance from Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand, Isak "isak" Fahlén, and iM. This lopsided scoreline was unable to be the buffer the European roster needed to clinch victory, however, as the Danes went on a miraculous comeback, conceding just three rounds in the second half to steal the map, 16-13. GamerLegion were quick to bounce back once Inferno rolled around, however, as the siuhy-led lineup put up a stellar eight-round spree to sport a comfortable 9-6 lead at the break. HEROIC were able to put up stubborn resistance once on the CT-side, but in the end it all came down to isak, who clutched a must-win 1vs2 clutch to prevent an overtime affair and tie the series up, 16-14. The hard-fought nature of the semi-final quickly dissipated once Mirage, the decider, came around. iM, who was the joint-highest-rated player of the Legends and Champions Stages heading into the match, continued to put on a show, leading the way with 15 frags to earn his side a 10-5 scoreline at the break. From there, it was only a quad kill from Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard that came through on the HEROIC side, the Danes otherwise outclassed as GamerLegion closed the map out, 16-6, and sent them packing with a 2-1 scoreline. cadiaN and company will undoubtedly be disappointed with the loss; the Danes were one of the pre-tournament favorites, and many had expected them to stomp their way to back-to-back Major grand finals, previously reaching the title decider of the IEM Rio Major in November. "I think they played super well. Kudos to them," cadiaN began in a post-match interview on stream, one that was continuously interrupted by a raucous applaud coming from the crowd. "There's no denying that they've had an unbelievable run... but today they took down one of the big dogs. Nothing but respect for that. "I was hoping that we could make the comeback. I was telling the boys that it was still possible, it was the same scoreline as the first half of Ancient. But yeah, too many mistakes; just not on point. "Thank you everyone in Paris for showing up," cadiaN said to a standing ovation. "For me, like I said in the speech, it started more than 10 years ago, bringing my own PC to Sweden... what can I say? Counter-Strike has changed my life, [I wouldn't be the person] I am without it."Date Matches BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 21/05/2023 GamerLegion 17:00
Vitality
Match HEROIC
Matchpage 1 2 20th May 2023
GamerLegion 16Ancient 13 14Inferno 16 6Mirage 16
HEROIC
K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN
54 - 45 +9 73.8 1.14 Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn
59 - 55 +4 81.9 1.12 Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaardjabbi
47 - 52 -5 71.6 0.99 René 'TeSeS' MadsenTeSeS
46 - 51 -5 57.3 0.89 Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush
39 - 58 -19 55.0 0.77 GamerLegion
K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Mihai 'iM' IvaniM
73 - 47 +26 93.8 1.40 Isak 'isak' Fahlénisak
53 - 51 +2 89.1 1.19 Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandacoR
55 - 41 +14 65.5 1.09 Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradeksiuhy
47 - 55 -8 69.7 0.96 Nicolas 'Keoz' DgusKeoz
32 - 55 -23 47.8 0.68 Vitality #1
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen
Emil 'Magisk' Reif
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Danny 'zonic' Sørensen
Isak 'isak' Fahlén
Age: 21 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 744 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard
Age: 19 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 917 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.66
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek
Age: 20 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 681 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69
GamerLegion #22
Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek
Isak 'isak' Fahlén
Ashley 'ash' Battye
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Age: 23 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 924 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69
Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand
Age: 25 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1211 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63
Apeks #19
Martin 'STYKO' Styk
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Jakub 'kuben' Gurczyński
Casper 'cadiaN' Møller
Age: 27 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1616 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.63
HEROIC #2
Casper 'cadiaN' Møller
Martin 'stavn' Lund
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard
Richard 'Xizt' Landström