Giants have booked their spot in the offline final of the BLAST Pro Series Madrid Play-In stage after beating Queso 2-1 in the online qualifier. The four-team Play-In qualifier came to a close with a mouth-watering Iberian showdown between Giants and Queso, who had reached this stage after beating Cream and Dragons, respectively, in the first round, both by 2-0 scorelines. The grand final began on Vertigo, a map that will be making its first appearance at a BLAST event in Madrid. With Carlos "sc4rx" Sánchez leading the charge (1.44 rating, 100 ADR), the Spanish team were able to win their pick before Giants responded on Inferno after coming back from 8-12 down thanks to a strong CT side display. It all came down to Dust2, where the first half ended with a narrow 8-7 lead in Giants' favour. The Portuguese side came from the break with fire in their bellies and brought the scoreline to 14-9. Queso still attempted a response, but a comeback was not in the cards as Giants secured back-to-back rounds to put the series to bed. Giants will be taking on Movistar Riders at the Play-In Finals, which will be held in Madrid on May 10, right before the BLAST Pro Series event kicks off. The two Iberian giants will be facing off in a best-of-three clash, with the winner securing entry into the main tournament, in which they will join the likes of Astralis and Natus Vincere. This will be the first LAN tournament of the year for Giants, who recently brought Joao "KILLDREAM" Ferreira back after previously benching him to make way for Luís "ZELIN" Lousada. However, all eyes will be on veteran Ricardo "fox" Pacheco, who seems to have rediscovered his best form. The 32-year-old has averaged a 1.13 rating in the last three months and was the highest-rated player in the Play-In stage at 1.43.Queso
Matchpage 1 2 17th April 2019
Giants 16Vertigo 14 14Inferno 16 12Dust2 16
Queso
K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Omar 'arki' Chakkorarki
66 - 59 +7 76.0 1.12 Pere 'sausol' Solsona Saumellsausol
68 - 68 0 83.8 1.08 Carlos 'sc4rx' Sánchezsc4rx
56 - 59 -3 78.5 1.05 Michal 'EMENK' BelejEMENK
57 - 62 -5 73.4 1.02 Peter 'shhhack' Belejshhhack
50 - 58 -8 57.7 0.85 Giants
K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Ricardo 'fox' Pachecofox
68 - 57 +11 84.4 1.24 Christopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesMUTiRiS
67 - 66 +1 83.0 1.13 Luís 'ZELIN' LousadaZELIN
60 - 54 +6 71.3 1.10 Ricardo 'roman' Oliveiraroman
61 - 61 0 82.0 1.09 Joao 'KILLDREAM' FerreiraKILLDREAM
50 - 59 -9 63.9 0.87 Joao 'KILLDREAM' Ferreira
Age: 26 Team: Giants Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 373 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.70
Dragons #227
Juan 'meisoN' Carlos Chacón
Francesc 'donQ' Savall Garcia
Victor 'xikii' García
Rajohn 'EasTor' Linato
Alfredo 'enanoks' Alvarez
Cream #232
Sergio 'sergi' Araque Cebrián
Francisco 'Zorrele' Rosa Egea
Jon 'jonba' Baraiazarra
Javier 'Vasili' Huélamo Gracia
Tomás 'Ergasster' Perez
Giants #101
Ricardo 'fox' Pacheco
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' Fernandes
Ricardo 'roman' Oliveira
Joao 'KILLDREAM' Ferreira
Luís 'ZELIN' Lousada
Ricardo 'fox' Pacheco
Age: 32 Team: Giants Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 756 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68
Movistar Riders #48
Aitor 'SOKER' Fernández
Oscar 'mixwell' Cañellas
Alejandro 'alex' Masanet
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano
Raúl 'DeathZz' Jordán Nieto
Astralis #1
Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Emil 'Magisk' Reif
Luís 'ZELIN' Lousada
Age: 25 Team: Giants Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 290 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.66
Carlos 'sc4rx' Sánchez
Age: 23 Team: Queso Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 67 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.69
Queso #121
Omar 'arki' Chakkor
Peter 'shhhack' Belej
Michal 'EMENK' Belej
Carlos 'sc4rx' Sánchez
Pere 'sausol' Solsona Saumell
Natus Vincere #3
Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev
Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov