MIBR and paiN Gaming wrapped up the quarterfinals of the BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2022 with victories Friday.
MIBR swept Complexity Gaming 2-0 while paiN battled Team Liquid for a 2-1 result.
Next, MIBR and paiN will meet in one semifinal match Saturday while GODSENT and FURIA Esports square off in the other.
Eight teams are competing in a single-elimination bracket for shares of a $67,500 prize pool. The winner will clinch a spot in the BLAST Premier: Spring Finals along with a $20,000 first prize. All matches are best-of-three.
The Spring Final champion will earn $200,000 and a spot in the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final 2022 in December. Six teams have qualified so far: FaZe Clan, NAVI, Team Vitality, G2, OG and BIG.
MIBR prevailed 16-9 on Dust II and 16-10 on Inferno to eliminate Complexity. Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes led the all-Brazilian MIBR squad with 47 kills on a plus-19 kills-to-deaths differential. Jhonatan “JOTA” Willian added 46 kills with a game-high plus-21 K-D.
In the later match, paiN opened with a 16-9 victory on Vertigo before Liquid fought back with a 16-13 win on Ancient. The deciding map, Overpass, required overtime before paiN pulled out the key 19-17 victory.
Brazil’s Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt carried paiN with 77 kills and a plus-18 differential. Canada’s Keith “NAF” Markovic of Team Liquid posted 83 kills and a plus-23.
The two semifinal matches are slated for Saturday:
–GODSENT vs. FURIA Esports
–MIBR vs. paiN Gaming
BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown prize pool, BLAST Premier points
1. $20,000, 1,600 points, berth in Spring Finals — TBD
2. $12,500, 800 points — TBD
3-4. $7,500, 500 points — TBD
5-8. $5,000, 150 points — Evil Geniuses, ATK, Complexity Gaming, Team Liquid
–Field Level Media
