Imperial, Evil Geniuses Black advance at Spring American Showdown

Fans Mark Escamilla, left, and John Chun, right, cheer for Austin FC eMLS player John Garcia during the eMLS Cup tournament at the Moody Theater on March 13, 2022. The eMLS Cup is the championship tournament that determines which player is the best FIFA esports player in North America.

Aem Sxsw Emls Cup 17

Credit: Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Both Imperial Esports and Evil Geniuses Black pulled off comeback victories in quarterfinal play on Friday to set up a head-to-head semifinal matchup at the BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023.

Imperial defeated Complexity Gaming 2-1 and the Geniuses ousted FURIA Esports by the same score.

The $67,500 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began Wednesday and features eight teams competing in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three, including Sunday’s grand final.

Imperial dropped its opening map on Inferno 16-12 but rallied for wins on Ancient (16-10) and Overpass (16-11) to advance.

Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes carried the all-Brazilian Imperial squad with 66 kills and a plus-18 kill-death differential. The United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince led Complexity with 50 kills.

FURIA took an early lead by using a map-ending 12-2 run for a 16-11 victory on Vertigo. EG Black evened the match with a 16-8 win on Mirage. FURIA built a 13-6 advantage on the final map (Inferno), but the Geniuses ripped off the final 10 points of the match in a 16-13 thriller.

Paytyn “junior” Johnson of the United States was dominant for EGB, producing 72 kills and a plus-36 K-D differential. Yuri “yuurih” Santos logged 64 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for FURIA’s all-Brazilian roster.

Both semifinal matches are scheduled for Saturday:
–paiN Gaming vs. Team Liquid
–Imperial Esports vs. Evil Geniuses Black

BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023 prize pool and points pool
1. $20,000, qualification to Spring Final, 1,000 BLAST points — TBD
2. $12,500, 600 BLAST points — TBD
3-4. $7,500, 375 BLAST points — TBD
5-8. $5,000, 112.5 BLAST points — Complexity Gaming, FURIA Esports, MIBR, Noun Esports

–Field Level Media

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