VERTEX upset Grayhound for spot at BLAST Showdown

Liam "⁠malta⁠" Schembri and company won the LAN qualifier to punch in their ticket to the European event.

VERTEX locked in a first-place finish at Fortress OCE Masters Fall 2022 Finals in Melbourne to qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. The Toby "⁠BRACE⁠" Barnes-led lineup dropped just one map en route to their qualification, taking down Rooster 2-0 in the semi-finals before edging out Grayhound 2-1 in the grand finals — the final map requiring all 30 rounds to be settled.

The victory grants a unique opportunity for the Australian side, with BLAST Showdown set to be VERTEX's second event outside of Oceania this year. It also brings about a change in dynamic to a region that has been mostly dominated by Grayhound (formerly ORDER) for the best part of two years, with Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter and co. notably attending every Major since 2020 as well as being Oceania's best team in recent times, peaking at No. 20 in the world ranking in August of 2021.

pz was instrumental in his team's victory, averaging a stellar 1.37 rating across the four-team LAN event

VERTEX will now prepare to go up against a handful of heavy-hitters in the Showdown, namely Astralis and Vitality who currently sit at No. 4 and No. 5 in the world ranking, respectively.

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Just six more spots remain up for the taking for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. The first four will secure their attendance via the European, North American, and South American qualifiers, the latter of which already has 9z and Fluxo set to battle it out at 23:10 on September 18 for their chance to steal the one spot up for grabs. The remaining two places will be filled by teams who receive a direct invite to the event by the tournament organiser.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown will be hosted online from October 19-23, with 16 teams duking it out in a bid to nab one of the two spots available for the BLAST Premier Fall Finals.

The current team list for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown is:

Astralis
Vitality
BIG
HEROIC
Complexity
Evil Geniuses
TYLOO
Sangal Sharks
VERTEX
TWR Masters
Pelaajat Nordic Masters
ACE Masters
FiReLEAGUE Latin Power
Invite
InviteSangal #50 Robin 'ScrunK' RöpkeKornél 'kory' SzedlárLove 'phzy' SmidebrantCan 'kyuubii' AliCaner 'soulfly' Kesici Joshua 'INS' Potter Age: 23 Team: Grayhound Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 972 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.65 Complexity #29 Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryHåkon 'hallzerk' FjærliMichael 'Grim' WinceJustin 'FaNg' Coakley Time is adjusted to your selected timezone ORDER Sharks #156 Jhonatan 'jnt' SilvaRodrigo 'drg' AusenkaVinicius 'n1ssim' PereiraRichard 'chayJESUS' SeidyVictor 'togs' Rapassi BIG #13 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNils 'k1to' GruhneJosef 'faveN' BaumannKarim 'Krimbo' Moussa Toby 'BRACE' Barnes Age: 23 Team: VERTEX Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 424 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.68 9z #22 Maximiliano 'max' GonzalezFranco 'dgt' GarciaDavid 'dav1deuS' Tapia MaldonadoLucas 'nqz' SoaresNicolás 'buda' Kramer TYLOO #37 YuLun 'Summer' CaiHansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandYuanZhang 'Attacker' ShengKelun 'SLOWLY' SunZhenghao 'DANK1NG' Lv Evil Geniuses #35 Timothy 'autimatic' TaVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovSanzhar 'neaLaN' IskhakovJadan 'HexT' Postma Fluxo #77 João 'felps' VasconcellosAdriano 'WOOD7' CeratoVinicius 'vsm' MoreiraLucas 'Lucaozy' NevesLucas 'lux' Meneghini Vitality #5 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' Giladi VERTEX #97 Liam 'malta' SchembriJordan 'pz' WhiteToby 'BRACE' BarnesChristian 'ADDICT' PendletonPeter 'BL1TZ' Athanasatos VERTEX #97 Liam 'malta' SchembriMarvin 'Forleks' TranJordan 'pz' WhiteToby 'BRACE' BarnesChristian 'ADDICT' Pendleton Grayhound #38 Joshua 'INS' PotterJay 'Liazz' TregillgasDeclan 'Vexite' PortelliSimon 'Sico' WilliamsAlistair 'aliStair' Johnston HEROIC #15 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' BeckJakob 'jabbi' Nygaard Rooster #149 Sharvesh 'dangeR' SaravananMichael 'chelleos' HawkinsTyson 'asap' PatersonEddie 'viridian' AzziTynan 'TjP' Purtell Liam 'malta' Schembri Age: 26 Team: VERTEX Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1021 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.64 Astralis #4 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeAsger 'Farlig' JensenBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer Grayhound #38 Joshua 'INS' PotterJay 'Liazz' TregillgasDeclan 'Vexite' PortelliSimon 'Sico' WilliamsAlistair 'aliStair' Johnston