BIG, mousesports earn first-round wins in Flashpoint Season 3

Closed qualifier mousesports surprised with an upset victory Tuesday in the opening round of Flashpoint Season 3.

One of five closed qualifiers to earn spots in the event, mousesports pulled off a dominating 2-0 sweep over Fnatic, which entered as the No. 6-ranked team in the European Regional Major Rankings (RMR).

In the other match of the day, BIG (Europe's fifth-ranked squad entering the event) also posted a decisive 2-0 win in defeating Complexity Gaming, the top closed qualifier.

BIG and mousesports will battle each other in the second round of the upper bracket on May 19, while Complexity and Fnatic will meet in the first round of the lower bracket on Saturday.

The $50,000 double-elimination event runs through May 30. All matches are best-of-three. The champion will receive $17,000 and 1,600 European Regional Major Rankings, with the runner-up getting $10,000 and 1,500 points.

Monday's upset win by mousesports was a blowout, as they built early 9-2 leads to win on both maps in easy fashion -- 16-8 on Inferno and 16-4 on Overpass. Three players recorded 40-plus kills for the winners -- Denmark's Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand with 42, Estonia's Robin "ropz" Kool (match-high plus-19 kill-death differential) and Australian Christopher "dexter" Nong with 41 apiece. Jack "Jackinho" Strouml;m Mattsson topped the all-Brazilian Fnatic unit with 35 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential.

BIG advanced thanks partially to a roller-coaster 16-14 victory on Nuke in their opening map. Once leading 11-5 before falling behind 14-13, BIG scored the map's final three points. They then fell behind 5-0 on Dust II before ending the match on a 16-3 run for a 16-8 triumph. Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz led BIG with 47 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential. Valentin "poizon" Vasilev of Bulgaria carried Complexity with a team-best 40 kills and even K-D differential.

First-round play continues Tuesday with two matches:

--Heroic vs. Sprout

--G2 Esports vs. FaZe Clan

Flashpoint Season 3 prize pool and European Regional Major Rankings points:

1. $17,000, 1,600 points

2. $10,000, 1,500 points

3. $7,000, 1,400 points

4. $5,000, 1,300 points

5. $4,000, 1,200 points

6. $3,000, 1,100 points

7. $2,000, 1,000 points

8. $2,000, 900 points

9. no money, 800 points

10. no money, 700 points

11. no money, 600 points

12. no money, 500 points

13-16. no money, 250 points

--Field Level Media