(Photo credit: Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK)
G2 Esports and Team Spirit advanced to the upper-bracket final of Group A on Sunday at the Intel Extreme Masters Krakow tournament in Poland.
G2 fought past FUT Esports 2-1, and Team Spirit beat Natus Vincere 2-0.
The lower bracket of Group A kicked off with FURIA and Astralis advancing by 2-1 decisions, while in Group B, MOUZ blanked NRG 2-0 and Aurora Gaming outlasted Team Falcons 2-1 in their openers.
The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament started with 24 teams and is currently in a 16-team double-elimination group stage involving best-of-three matches. The group winners earn spots in the playoff semifinals, the group runners-up head to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds and the third-place teams go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.
The playoffs will consist of a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches until the grand final on Feb. 8, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $400,000, and the runner-up will get $180,000.
On Sunday, FUT Esports opened with a 13-9 win on Mirage but G2 responded with 13-9 victories on Dust II and Ancient. Spaniard Alvaro 'SunPayus' Garcia led G2 with 53 kills on a plus-14 kills-deaths differential.
The other Group A upper-bracket semi saw Spirit edge NaVi 16-14 in overtime on Mirage, then trounce them 13-3 on Dust II. Russia's Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets paced Spirit with 47 kills on a plus-17 K-D.
FURIA rallied past The MongolZ, absorbing a 13-11 defeat on Mirage by winning 16-12 in OT on Inferno and 13-2 on Nuke. Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Galinskis of Latvia had 60 kills on a plus-15 K-D for FURIA.
Astralis defeated PARIVISION in three maps, as well. They opened with a 13-11 win on Overpass, fell 16-13 in OT on Dust II and bounced back for a 13-7 clincher on Ancient. Jakob ''jabbi' Nygaard of Denmark racked up 70 kills on a plus-23 for Astralis.
MOUZ notched matching 13-9 victories over NRG on Dust II and Ancient. Israel's Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi led the way with 40 kills on a plus-14.
Finally, Aurora faced Falcons and sandwiched a 13-7 win on Anubis and a 13-8 result on Inferno around a 13-10 setback on Mirage. Turkey's Caner 'soulfly' Kesici and Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dortkardes had 52 and 51 kills for Aurora, both on plus-14 differentials.
The tournament continues Monday with six matches:
--Natus Vincere vs. FURIA (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)
--FUT Esports vs. Astralis (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)
--Team Vitality vs. 3DMAX (Group B upper-bracket semifinal)
--MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming (Group B upper-bracket semifinal)
--BC.Game Esports vs. FaZe Clan (Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal)
--NRG vs. Team Falcons (Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal)
Intel Extreme Masters Krakow prize pool
1. $400,000
2. $180,000
3. $100,000
4. $60,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000 -- The MongolZ, PARIVISION, two teams TBD
17-20. $4,500 -- GamerLegion, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, paiN Gaming
21-24. $2,500 -- Passion UA, Legacy, B8, HEROIC
--Field Level Media
