GamerLegion qualify for Paris Major playoffs over Apeks

Apeks will play Ninjas in Pyjamas in a must-win game on Tuesday for a chance to join GamerLegion in the Paris Major playoffs.

GamerLegion have secured their appearance in the BLAST.tv Paris Major playoffs after moving past Apeks in a comfortable two-map series in the Legends Stage's 2-1 pool (Ancient 16-6, Overpass 16-9).

"I have no words, I cannot speak English," Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan said in a post-match interview on stream with James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks, still shocked that his team are through to the playoffs of CS:GO's final Major.

GamerLegion went on a 3-1 run through the Legends Stage en route to a spot in the playoffs, suffering an opening-round loss to Natus Vincere before rebounding with crucial victories over 9INE and fnatic to set up a qualifying matchup versus Apeks in the 2-1 pool.

iM narrowly topped the scoreboard to earn GamerLegion a playoff spot in Paris

GamerLegion enjoyed a fantastic start in their game versus Apeks, racing to a 10-5 lead by the end of their CT-side effort on the Ancient opener thanks to a 1.74-rated performance from Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand. From there, victory was never in doubt for the Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek-led lineup, who conceded just one round once on the T-side before waltzing up to a 16-6 victory, with the Pole even rubbing salt into the wound with a knife between Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk's shoulder blades to end things.

Overpass was a similar affair to Ancient, a rampant T-side campaign from GamerLegion leaving Apeks in the dust as the European roster once again sported a 10-5 buffer at the interval. GamerLegion then carried the onslaught over to their CT-side campaign, responding to Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski's troops' three-round spree at the half's beginning with six of their own to win Overpass, 16-9, and the series to 2-0 to earn an appearance in front of the French crowd in the Accor Arena.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023Best of 3 ApeksMatchpage 0 2 15th May 2023 GamerLegion 6Ancient 16 9Overpass 16

Apeks	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	34 - 33	+1	68.6	1.01
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	26 - 38	-12	67.9	0.80
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	26 - 42	-16	75.8	0.79
Justinas 'jL' LekaviciusjL	22 - 38	-16	54.9	0.70
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovskikyxsan	18 - 34	-16	48.8	0.62

GamerLegion	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mihai 'iM' IvaniM	41 - 29	+12	95.9	1.39
Isak 'isak' Fahlénisak	39 - 24	+15	91.2	1.36
Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandacoR	34 - 21	+13	73.5	1.34
Nicolas 'Keoz' DgusKeoz	37 - 29	+8	83.1	1.32
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradeksiuhy	34 - 25	+9	78.9	1.17

With the win, GamerLegion have more than bested their previous showing at the IEM Rio Major back in November. The team around siuhy failed to make it past the Challengers Stage in their debut Major in Brazil, but have clearly made good use of the experience gained as they now join the likes of HEROIC and Vitality in the top-eight stage in France.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
16/05/2023	Apeks19:30 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

Apeks, by contrast, aren't knocked out of the BLAST.tv Paris Major with the loss, as the European squad will play in a do-or-die 2-2 matchup versus Ninjas in Pyjamas on Tuesday for a chance to join GamerLegion in the playoffs. Regardless, the squad will undoubtedly lament being unable to put up a fight against their foes, the squad instead relegated to sitting in their chairs with blank expressions on their faces as the camera panned by after the game.

The current Swiss standings of the Legends Stage are:

Group Legends Stage 3W - 0L HEROIC Vitality 3W - 1L Monte Liquid GamerLegion 2W - 2L Ninjas in Pyjamas fnatic Into the Breach Apeks FaZe Natus Vincere 1W - 3L G2 Bad News Eagles ENCE 0W - 3L 9INE FURIA fnatic #15 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Jamie 'keita' Hall Mihai 'iM' Ivan Age: 23 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 919 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69 James 'BanKs' Banks Age: 33 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.00 Maps played: 0 KPR: 0.00 DPR: 0.00 Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Kristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeFredrik 'REZ' SternerAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenLudvig 'Brollan' BrolinDaniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov Daniel 'djL' Narancic Apeks #19 Martin 'STYKO' StykJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadTim 'nawwk' JonassonJustinas 'jL' LekaviciusDamjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski Jakub 'kuben' Gurczyński HEROIC #2 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' BeckJakob 'jabbi' Nygaard Richard 'Xizt' Landström Vitality #1 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Danny 'zonic' Sørensen 9INE #18 Wiktor 'mynio' KrukKrzysztof 'Goofy' GórskiOlek 'hades' MiskiewiczKamil 'KEi' PietkunKacper 'Kylar' Walukiewicz Piotr 'nawrot' Nawrocki Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek Age: 20 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 676 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69 GamerLegion #22 Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandMihai 'iM' IvanNicolas 'Keoz' DgusKamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekIsak 'isak' Fahlén Ashley 'ash' Battye Martin 'STYKO' Styk Age: 27 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 1778 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Natus Vincere #4 Oleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyValeriy 'b1t' VakhovskiyAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand Age: 25 Team: GamerLegion Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1206 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63 Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski Age: 22 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 572 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.67