NiP and G2 esports stay alive at BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021

It was the first day of eliminations at BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021 with two lower bracket matches. NiP faced Evil Geniuses while G2 esports took on FaZe Clan in the first two matches of Day 3.

Evil Geniuses and FaZe Clan did not turn up today and are now out of the $425,000 tournament. The two teams secure $10,000 in prize money along with 250 BLAST Premier points. Meanwhile, NiP and G2 survive for another day and will actually face each other in their next match.

The series started on Overpass, a map that has been disastrous for Evil Geniuses. The team has lost five of its last six Overpass matches. This series was no different. Evil geniuses actually had a decent start to the map with a 6-2 lead on the T-side. However, NiP won the next eleven rounds (across the two halves) to bring the momentum back in their favor. Overpass went NiP’s way with a 16-11 score.

NiP continued its momentum into Dust 2, where the Swedish team rushed to a 5-2 score. But some individual plays by Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte meant EG climbed back into the half. Dust 2 has been a favored map for EG as the open nature of the map allows the players to showcase their individual skills. Despite valiant efforts by Michał "MICHU" Müller and a beautiful ace by Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz, EG lost the map 12-16.

With this 2-0 win, NiP move on to the next stage in the lower bracket. Evil Geniuses showed promise, but the team has lots of room to improve. 

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FaZe Clan came into the tournament with a roster change. The organization would be using Olofmeister on a ‘more permanent basis’, according to Niko. But it was a change too close to such an important tournament for FaZe. 

FaZe picked Ancient as Map 1, but it seemed like they weren’t prepared yet on the map. The team had a very slow start and G2 led 8-1 at one point of time. FaZe brought back the score to a 6-9 deficit at half-time, but it was a deficit one too many for the team. Ancient can be a very T-sided map at times, and G2 esports was able to break the FaZe bank on its T-side. Eventually, G2 won FaZe’s map pick with a 16-10 score. 

After G2 took down FaZe on Ancient, there were expectations of a 2-0 win. But we have seen such drafts many times in the past when both teams would win the opponent’s map pick. This series was no different as Inferno was a much more comfortable map for FaZe Clan. Boasting Olofmeister, a player who has played hundreds of matches on Inferno, FaZe looked at home on the map. 

In fact, one of the highlights of the series was FaZe players playing Tic-Tac-Toe during a timeout.

FaZe’s dominance was partly due to the strong CT-side. The team had a 9-3 lead at one point in time and it was only a matter of time before they secured the map. FaZe won Inferno with a 16-13 score.

The Inferno win might have given some hope to FaZe fans, but nothing prepared them for the thrashing they received on Nuke. Nuke is traditionally a CT-heavy map. When G2 finished the first half with a 10-5 score, many fans knew it was the beginning of the end. Actually, it was already the end, as G2 had a clean CT side, winning all six rounds. G2 defeated FaZe 16-5 and took the series with a 2-1 score.

NiP and G2 esports will face each other in their next match, in what will be yet another knockout match. FaZe Clan and Evil Geniuses are now out of BLAST Premier Spring Finals.

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