by The final day of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups saw Astralis clash with BIG and G2 Esports take on Team Liquid, with the winner of each series claiming a spot at the Spring Final.
During the Spring Groups, Astralis encountered a bumpy road.
Despite convincing wins over Falcons and Team Vitality, they stumbled in the group final rematch against world’s best Counter-Strike team, Vitality.
Individual and team-wide issues plagued the Danish squad, with lackluster performances from key players like Nicolai “device” Reedtz and Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard.
BIG, however, defied expectations, growing stronger with each series.
Overcoming a heavy loss to Virtus.pro, they navigated through a challenging series against Heroic and showcased a solid performance against Cloud9.
The German squad, fuelled by emotion and determination, sought redemption after their struggles in the PGL Major Copenhagen qualifiers.
Astralis initially dominating on Vertigo, but BIG’s young duo, Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa and Elias ‘s1n’ Stein, displayed exceptional skill, leading their team to victory in overtime.
Overpass showcased Astralis’ dominance in the first half, and device’s impactful plays secured the map.
The decider was a tense back-and-forth affair, with BIG initially taking the lead, but Astralis mounted a comeback, ultimately securing the series win in overtime (12-16, 13-9, 16-14).
.@ASTRALISCS ARE HEADING TO LONDON! ???? ???? #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/CfudZe1bGl
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 28, 2024
Later on, G2 secured their spot at the BLAST Premier Spring Final with a convincing 2-0 (13-10, 13-7) victory over Liquid.
Despite Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov not performing at his usual level, the Kova? cousins, Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kova? and Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kova?, led G2 with a combined 67 kills.
On Overpass, Liquid had a sluggish start, prompting a timeout from coach Wilton “zews” Prado.
Although they staged a comeback on the CT side, G2 ultimately secured the map with key plays from huNter- and NiKo.
On Anubis, G2’s dominant T-side performance left Liquid with no answer as they secured a swift victory without dropping a single round.
For Liquid, the tournament began with a slow start, narrowly defeating Spirit and struggling against FaZe and G2.
Their only resounding victory came against GamerLegion.
With a month before their next event, the Americas RMR, Liquid has time to address their mistakes and fine-tune their performance.
After booking their spot in the BLAST Premier Spring Final, Astralis and G2 will join Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro and FaZe Clan.
Meanwhile, for Team Liquid and BIG, they will have to try and qualify for the Spring Final through the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.
LONDON CALLING FOR @G2CSGO ????#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/THalWZmbpF
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 28, 2024
