MOUZ earn a playoffs berth over Falcons - Day three stage three Budapest Major

Vitality and MOUZ picked up big wins against their trophy-contending rivals to solidify a playoffs berth in Budapest.

Vitality won two 24-round maps over an impressive NAVI (something that bodes well for viewer experience in playoffs!) while MOUZ won a pulsating series over Falcons.

Falcons took map one with m0NESY - who had been worryingly absent up to this point - dominating on the defensive side, constantly finding openings and closing down rounds, including a delightful 1v2 early in the half. MOUZ ran it close, but ultimately the Russian duo on Falcons powered them to a win on Mirage.

Inferno was a completely different story, with MOUZ cruising to a win with their own AWPer putting in huge work, with a big clutch of his own. torzsi was far and away the best player in the server for that map, even if Spinx did eventually outfrag him.

Nuke felt like it was over when MOUZ raced into an 8-2 lead, but a resilient Falcons saw them fight back to within touching distance before it was cruelly pulled out from under them once again. It's good to see them close out a lead, as they've had some issues when the pressure turns on in the past, but this time they've secured playoffs with little to no drama.

The MongolZ continued their surprising renaissance with controlez by beating G2 and booking themselves a playoffs spot too.

Senzu was often seen as the X factor on this team and a large part of the reason they could be a top team, but in reality it appears that far more comes down to the cohesion and gameplan of the Mongolians, because controlez has stepped in and looked excellent.

G2 looked certain to be going through after a 2-0 start and generally have looked quite good up until the second map of this series, where they really struggled to get much going, epitomised by a desperately poor 3v1 loss to bLitz, who should have never been given a look-in at all.

Fortunately, they'll have one last chance - but it won't be an easy one...

Vitality were their usual selves, but w0nderful kept it close almost single-handedly on Inferno, and was a big contributor on Train too. NAVI seem pretty close to clicking, but just need another couple of percentage points to really challenge the elite right now.

In the 1-2 games, B8 needed three overtimes over the two maps to inch past paiN and send them home, but that sort of mental fortitude will only benefit them in the long run, especially with a 2-2 game to play. npl is often the first name on the scoreboard for B8, so it's encouraging that they eked out a win without him doing a whole lot.

FaZe eased past a disappointing 3DMAX in two, and Passion UA keep plugging away as they took down Imperial to stay alive. We weren't sure what to expect from Passion UA, and we're still not sure how much longer they can keep doing this, but fair play to them.

Tomorrow's games are juiced, ladies and gentlemen.

FaZe take on a resurgent Passion UA, with both starting off slow but growing into the stage. On paper this should be a simple FaZe win, but FaZe games rarely go to script.

The pick of the bunch, though, is G2 vs Falcons. Oh hell yeah. huNter- vs NiKo for a playoffs spot at the Major? NiKo potentially missing out on a Major to his cousin? G2 going from 2-0 to potentially 2-3? It's going to be drama-filled, but even forgetting that, it's two of the most fun teams in the world to watch going blow-for-blow.

Can we make it a BO5?

Finally, we have B8 vs NAVI, with B8 looking sneakily very dangerous. NAVI looked solid against Vitality, but far too often we've seen NAVI fall off against weaker opposition, and this is not an easy game for them at all.

Three playoffs spots remain.