The ?? ??? ??? ???Kosovar-majority roster won 11 T-side rounds thanks to an aggressive and often chaotic game plan to join the 1-1 pool.

Bad News Eagles are through to the 1-1 pool of the BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends Stage following a 16-13 upset victory over G2, one of the tournament-wide favorites, on Ancient.

"I believe we're the biggest momentum team in the game," Flatron "?juanflatroo?" Halimi commented to James "?BanKs?" Banks in a post-game interview on stream. "Once we get that momentum, no matter the enemy... it's hard to stop us.

"It's all about getting that momentum back into the team and believing in each other. Everything just falls into place; we play much better," the Kosovar continued.

BNE recovered from a 5-10 deficit to snatch victory over G2

The brawl on the Aztec-inspired map was one of utter discombobulation, with rounds playing out in truly unexpected fashion, eventually giving way to a Bad News Eagles victory after the Kosovar team recovered from a 5-10 deficit.

G2 were quick to assert their dominance in the server, beginning proceedings on the T-side and racing to a 10-5 lead by the interval. This confident display was mostly due to a sublime performance from Nikola "?NiKo?" Kova?, who was near unstoppable on the attack and ended the half with a 2.28 rating and 21-7 K-D.

The script was flipped once Bad News Eagles were on the offensive, however. An all-important 1vs3 clutch from Sener "?SENER1?" Mahmuti in the second pistol round got the Kosovar team off to a strong start, with the side only growing in confidence as the rounds became ever more chaotic. Once they had momentum on their side, Bad News Eagles never looked back, allowing G2 just three rounds in the half before closing the map out 16-13 and booking their spot in the 1-1 pool.

The bewildering nature of the game became so great that Chad "?SPUNJ?" Burchill and Alex "?Machine?" Richardson' confusion could be heard through their casting, with rounds flying by and G2's grip on the game quickly slipping away.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023Best of 1 Bad News EaglesMatchpage 16 13 13th May 2023 G2 16Ancient 13

?Bad News Eagles	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Flatron 'juanflatroo' Halimijuanflatroo	24 - 21	+3	86.4	1.25
Sener 'SENER1' MahmutiSENER1	22 - 18	+4	80.6	1.18
Rigon 'rigoN' GashirigoN	23 - 21	+2	91.6	1.16
Genc 'gxx-' Kolgecigxx-	13 - 18	-5	50.9	0.94
Dionis 'sinnopsyy' Budecisinnopsyy	15 - 17	-2	57.5	0.84

?G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' Kova?NiKo	31 - 18	+13	105.2	1.59
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipovm0NESY	17 - 19	-2	67.8	1.05
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	17 - 17	0	69.2	1.01
Nemanja 'huNter-' Kova?huNter-	14 - 20	-6	58.9	0.79
Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenHooXi	14 - 23	-9	57.6	0.78

The Rasmus "?HooXi?" Nielsen-led roster will look to rebound in their upcoming do-or-die game scheduled for Sunday. The European troupe will need to win three best-of-threes on the bounce if they're to earn a spot in the Accor Arena, or else an early exit for the IEM Katowice champions is on the cards.

Bad News Eagles, by contrast, will be over the moon with their mid-map recovery. The Kosovar roster will move forward to the 1-1 pool, with their final best-of-one of the Major set to take place on Sunday morning.

The current standings of the Swiss stage are:

Group Legends Stage 2W - 0L HEROIC Liquid Monte Vitality 1W - 1L ENCE fnatic Ninjas in Pyjamas Apeks Natus Vincere GamerLegion Bad News Eagles 0W - 1L Into the Breach FaZe 0W - 2L G2 9INE FURIA Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen Age: 27 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 0.86 Maps played: 896 KPR: 0.57 DPR: 0.68 Sener 'SENER1' Mahmuti Age: 26 Team: Bad News Eagles Rating 1.0: 0.91 Maps played: 534 KPR: 0.60 DPR: 0.66 Chad 'SPUNJ' Burchill Age: 33 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.88 Maps played: 160 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.73 Alex 'Machine' Richardson Age: 29 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.74 Maps played: 2 KPR: 0.44 DPR: 0.64 James 'BanKs' Banks Age: 33 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.00 Maps played: 0 KPR: 0.00 DPR: 0.00 Flatron 'juanflatroo' Halimi Age: 26 Team: Bad News Eagles Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 729 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.72 G2 #4 Nikola 'NiKo' Kova?Nemanja 'huNter-' Kova?Justin 'jks' SavageRasmus 'HooXi' NielsenIlya 'm0NESY' Osipov Jan 'Swani' Müller Nikola 'NiKo' Kova? Age: 26 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 1723 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.67 Bad News Eagles #20 Rigon 'rigoN' GashiSener 'SENER1' MahmutiFlatron 'juanflatroo' HalimiDionis 'sinnopsyy' BudeciGenc 'gxx-' Kolgeci Jonatan 'Devilwalk' Lundberg