The primary main match of the 2023 CS:GO marketing campaign is underway in Copenhagen with BLAST Premier Spring Teams. Twelve groups meet in group stage/play-in stage play with the hopes of reaching a top-six spot that may imply a assured place on the Spring Remaining.
The match began with a surprising shock when Evil Geniuses shocked the top-ranked Heroic, getting back from a decisive opening map loss on their very own choose. To spherical out day one, Vitality and Astralis confronted off in a reunion of the legendary Main three-peat Astralis roster, nevertheless it was Vitality who got here out on prime with two shut map wins on Overpass and Inferno.
The schedule expanded to 3 matches on day two, and the second day offered no scarcity of notable outcomes.
Es3tag shines for FaZe in stand-in efficiency towards former workforce
It’s been an actual battle for FaZe simply to make it to BLAST with a full workforce. Each Håvard “rain” Nygaard and coach Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström couldn’t make it, the workforce was knowledgeable late that they couldn’t use Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke, and apparently Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson didn’t know he was nonetheless listed in its place.
However FaZe was in a position to herald former Complexity/NiP participant Patrick “es3tag” Hansen simply in time for his or her match towards Complexity, and he placed on a terrific efficiency towards his former workforce. He completely flourished on Overpass, with 31 kills towards solely 9 deaths, adequate for an HLTV participant ranking over 2.0.
A superb stand-in efficiency may pay dividends in es3tag’s long-term workforce pursuits. Final 12 months for FaZe, Justin “jks” Savage was distinctive when standing in at IEM Katowice, serving to the workforce win a trophy and boosting his personal inventory. He then joined G2 full-time later within the 12 months.
OG capitalizes on “piles of errors” made by Liquid
North American groups discovered themselves on each side of an upset after two days, with Group Liquid falling in two maps to OG, capped off by a gut-wrenching extra time loss on Nuke.
Whereas this isn’t as stunning as EG’s upset over the No. 1 ranked Heroic, Liquid entered the 2023 marketing campaign with lots of momentum generated on the finish of 2022, specifically by way of top-four finishes at ESL ESL Professional League season 16, BLAST Fall Finals, and the BLAST World Remaining. Of their final assembly, Liquid put down OG within the semifinals of the BLAST World Remaining.
However OG’s trio of NEOFRAG, degster, and nexa weren’t eager on permitting a second straight Liquid win, with 50-plus kills every over two maps from all three gamers. Following the match, Liquid’s essential man Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski known as it a “irritating loss there with piles of errors.”
G2 withstands BIG check to kick off 2023 marketing campaign
Even after a humiliating loss within the RMR that induced them to overlook the Rio Main altogether, G2 rallied on the finish of 2022 with an impressive run towards a BLAST World Remaining championship.
However G2 had their resolve examined to begin their 2023 marketing campaign. On their opening map choose of Mirage, G2 jumped out to a fast 8-0 lead, however BIG replied with eight straight of their very own. G2 ended up needing all 30 rounds and a one-vs-one post-plant clutch from Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač to flee Mirage with a 16-14 win.
On Inferno, although, G2 corrected course with a decisive win to shut out the sequence, led by none aside from famous person Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. NiKo posted a +10 Ok/D ratio and registered 101.9 factors of injury per spherical in G2’s 16-9 victory on Inferno.
The BLAST Premier Spring Teams resume tomorrow with the higher last and elimination matches for Group B.