sAw win RTP Arena Cup over Movistar Riders; qualify for BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe Showdown

SAW dominantly took down Movistar Riders in the best-of-five grand final of the RTP Arena Cup with a 3-0 victory to book a place at the Showdown event.

The eight-team Iberian tournament was played out in a single-elimination, best-of-three bracket (excluding the BO5 grand final) for a single spot at BLAST Premier Spring Europe Showdown.

The two invited teams at the event, SAW and Movistar Riders, cruised their way through their sides of the bracket to set up a grand final matchup, with SAW recording a 100% map win percentage in the process.

sAw rolled over Movistar Riders to qualify for BLAST Premier Spring Europe Showdown

The best-of-five grand final kicked off on Movistar Riders map pick of Overpass, but the Spanish squad could not get the ball rolling as SAW dominated the map from start to finish, swiftly securing a 16-8 scoreline.

The series went from bad to worse for Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes’ troops following the conclusion of the second map, Vertigo, when SAW kicked their performance up to an even higher gear. Spearheaded by a 1.97-rated Ricardo "⁠roman⁠" Oliveira showing, the Portuguese side stormed to a 16-1 blowout to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Train was a more competitive map for Movistar Riders, who began to find their footing in the matchup, but it came too late as SAW were able to close out the map 16-12, and the series 3-0, thanks to numerous opening kills.

RTP Arena Cup 2020Best of 5 Movistar RidersMatchpage 0 3 24th May 2020 SAW 8Overpass 16 1Vertigo 16 12Train 16

Movistar Riders	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Rajohn 'EasTor' LinatoEasTor	47 - 52	-5	75.0	1.00
Lucas 'steel' Lopessteel	40 - 59	-19	75.2	0.83
Christian 'loWel' Garcia AntoranloWel	41 - 50	-9	64.3	0.76
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Canomopoz	37 - 55	-18	63.4	0.74
Alejandro 'alex' Masanetalex	30 - 55	-25	49.7	0.58

SAW	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Renato 'stadodo' Gonçalvesstadodo	56 - 33	+23	91.8	1.51
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesMUTiRiS	59 - 37	+22	98.6	1.47
Tiago 'JUST' MouraJUST	52 - 39	+13	80.2	1.19
Ricardo 'roman' Oliveiraroman	55 - 44	+11	70.0	1.18
Omar 'arki' Chakkorarki	49 - 42	+7	72.3	1.17

BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe Showdown will run from May 31 to June 7 with two spots at the European Finals up for grabs. The participants' list for the showdown event currently looks as follows:

Astralis
Vitality
MAD Lions
ENCE
SAW Ninjas in Pyjamas
fnatic
MOUZ
Dignitas
Unknown flag cis CIS Cup fnatic #3 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Ricardo 'roman' Oliveira Age: 28 Team: SAW Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 538 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69 Dignitas #40 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergHåkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli Movistar Riders #28 Christian 'loWel' Garcia AntoranRajohn 'EasTor' LinatoLucas 'steel' LopesAlejandro 'alex' MasanetAlejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Simon 'twist' EliassonFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserTim 'nawwk' JonassonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Lucas 'steel' Lopes Age: 26 Team: Movistar Riders Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 1086 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.66 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenNicolai 'device' ReedtzJakob 'JUGi' HansenEmil 'Magisk' Reif MOUZ #4 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool MAD Lions #13 Asger 'AcilioN' LarsenLucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandRasmus 'sjuush' BeckFredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen SAW #77 Omar 'arki' ChakkorChristopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesRicardo 'roman' OliveiraTiago 'JUST' MouraRenato 'stadodo' Gonçalves ENCE #20 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiJere 'sergej' SaloElias 'Jamppi' Olkkonen