BIG eliminate Virtus.Pro: BLAST Premier Fall Groups

The first team has been eliminated from Group D. BIG has taken a 2-1 win over Virtus.Pro with a close battle on Ancient to survive at the Fall Groups. Both teams struggled in their opening matches, but the German side managed to bounce back after a disastrous 2-0 loss to NaVi to keep their Copenhagen dreams alive.

Ever since Denis "electroNic" Sharipov joined Virtus.Pro, the team has had improved firepower. But that has been counteracted by an apparent weakening of the VP system. That has been further confirmed by In-Game Leader Dzhami "Jame" Ali talking about electroNic potentially even taking over leadership duties.

That mismatch reared its head yesterday when VP's protocols crumbled in Overtime against Liquid, allowing rookie sniper Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak to take a dominant debut win.

In a match against BIG, VP would typically hold the advantage, particularly after BIG's own struggles against NaVi. But Virtus.Pro needed their protocols on point, something that continued to be a problem in this match.

Dust2 started off with a pistol round conversion for BIG, syrsoN, and n0rb3r7, both making their best stormtrooper impressions. The CT side for VP was faltering, with opening picks handed over to the German side regularly. BIG quickly found themselves up 8-4 at halftime. Surprisingly, tabseN's men also struggled to build a defense after halftime. After a lost pistol round, VP proceeded to take 5 rounds in a row to tie the game up 9-9.

The teams then traded a couple of rounds back and forth, ending up with an 11-11 scoreline. With the double AWP out for BIG, JDC wielding the secondary sniper, they finally stopped the onslaught and closed the map out 13-11.

BIG started Mirage on the CT side, and much like Dust2, the defense felt weak. electroNic was finding success in his palace lurks, and once again, all BIG could muster was a pistol win. Fast picks, and aggressive play from syrsoN's AWP gave BIG a final shove, allowing them to go into the second half with four rounds on the board.

A pistol round would've been crucial for the German side, but Virtus.Pro managed to snatch that conversion to take a massive 11-4 lead. Map point was nearly in Jame's hands, but a stunning 1v3 clutch from JDC kept his team alive. That was a rallying moment for the Germans as they took 6 out of the next 7 rounds on the T side. Unfortunately, BIG got caught out by the classic saved AWP from Jame. Virtus.Pro won the map 13-10.

tabseN and co. started Ancient off with a pistol round retake. Despite a knife kill from n0rb3r7 in the force-buy, BIG took an early lead. VP stole a couple of rounds, but BIG's defense set up shop with syrsoN's AWP and Krimbo's MP9 finding round-winning plays. With the young duo of JDC and krimbo taking 26 frags between them, the half closed out with another 8-4 scoreline. This time, though, VP was unable to answer back as BIG accelerated to match point with solid IGLing. BIG won 5 out of the final 6 rounds to close out the series.

After their shocking defeat at the hands of Liquid, NaVi has dropped down to the lower bracket. BIG will now face them in a rematch of the group opener to book a seat in the Group Finals against Liquid. The first match was a write-off for BIG, with just 10 rounds across two maps. But they look more comfortable now, especially on Dust2. Aleksib and Blad3 will still hold the tactical lead, but BIG has a better shot to be competitive. We'll find out if they can succeed tomorrow.

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Featured Image via Stephanie Lindgren and BLAST