Astralis and Liquid survive as FaZe go 3-0 - Stage two day two recap

There was no great fall for either of the big boys confined to the 0-2 bracket, as both came through unscathed in their elimination games at the Budapest Major.

Astralis came up against a FlyQuest team who were in electric form in the previous stage, but no such thing could be seen from the Aussies in this game as Astralis dispatched of them in two.

Vexite was probably the player of the stage in stage one, but offered next to nothing in this game - and with Overpass being so close, one can't help but wonder what could have been had he shown up at all.

Liquid on the other hand needed double OT to complete the 2-0 win on Mirage, but were comfortable on Inferno as they looked every bit the favourite.

Mirage was a surprisingly enjoyable and high quality game, with exit pulling off some outrageous spray transfers, NertZ punching holes in the MIBR set-ups and ultimate looking reliable and comfortable with the AWP. This was a back-and-forth affair, with each player having their big moment, but Liquid edging it 19-17.

Inferno, on the other hand, was the ELiGE show. He picked up over 150 ADR and 25 kills in just 18 rounds.

NAVI cruised past B8 and into the next stage with w0nderful taking centre stage.

Much has been made of w0nderful's form in the last 12 months, but he was back to his old self today as he taught B8 a lesson in positioning and timing, and made them look like the tier two team they came into the tournament expected to be.

On Train especially, he was everywhere - it's rare you see such a dominant T side performance from an AWPer, but w0nderful found important kills in early and late round situations time and time again with just superior positioning and a steady hand.

In retrospect, it was so obvious that FaZe would bounce back from being awful in stage one to a clean 3-0 in stage two, including beating an NIP team that had beaten them in the previous stage.

This one went to overtime on both maps, but FaZe didn't lose a single OT round in the series, instead holding their nerve in clutch situations - as they are known for.

This was one of jcobbb's better performances in a FaZe shirt, and karrigan was effusive in his praise for the much-maligned young Pole.

In the BO1s, 3DMAX battered Passion UA and M80 came out on top against TYLOO, but the really interesting games came later on.

PARIVISION were allowed Overpass by Aurora who wanted to challenge them on it, which proved to be a big mistake. Jame is an elite caller and AWPer on Overpass still, and led his band of merry misfits to a hard-fought win over one of the highest ranked teams at this stage.

Jame himself certainly wasn't the standout; xiELO is starting to make a name for himself, and he was excellent in this game again with 22 kills to swing a tight game.

They'll be joined in the 2-1 bracket by Imperial, who muscled past an out-of-sorts fnatic side on Dust 2. Unusually, this was a D2 game where neither AWPer really got going, and it instead came down to the rifle cores, with noway, skullz and VINI getting the better of their opposite numbers on several occasions to turn the tides.

Six more BO3s to come tomorrow, starting with fnatic vs Passion UA and PARIVISION vs NIP. fnatic, while underwhelming, have looked better than Passion UA who look a bit lost at this level of play right now.

PARIVISION vs NIP could honestly go either way, and no result would massively surprise us. We'd edge it to NIP due to the experience in a tough game like this, but we could be convinced that Jame has more rabbits and more hats still to come.

Imperial and M80 face off for a spot in stage three, while Aurora and Astralis battle it out for survival. Work that one out.

Finally, we end with B8 vs 3DMAX, another impossible one to call on current form, and Liquid vs TYLOO, which should on paper be a simple win for Liquid - but TYLOO have history and have a lot of talent, so be careful.