BIG surprise for G2 at BLAST Premier Spring Finals. The German roster won 2-1 against G2, sending them down to the lower bracket of the $425,000 tournament.
It is the second day at the BLAST Premier Spring finals and we already have an upset. BIG took down G2 in three maps, sending the World #4 team down to the lower bracket. The series decider was on Vertigo and BIG secured the win after a commanding T-side performance. Here's a quick recap of the best-of-three series.
Dust 2
The match kicked off on Dust 2, BIG’s map of choice. The open sightlines on Dust 2 allowed BIG's players to make individual plays and put their skills on display. The German roster started strong on the CT-side, racking up a 6-1 lead. G2 then won the next four rounds, but only to lose the final four of the half.
It was no surprise to see Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz and Florian "syrsoN" Rische step up for BIG. The duo has been fundamental to BIG’s success over the past few years. On Dust 2, which has traditionally been one of BIG’s strongholds, the players were able to use their experience and skill to overcome G2’s T-side assaults.
BIG won Dust 2 (16-11), a result that was not a surprise to CS:GO fans. Dust 2 has traditionally been a favorable map for German team, including BIG. A 1-0 lead in the series significantly improved the team's chances of winning their BLAST Premier Spring finals opener.
JaCkz and huNter- strike back on Mirage
After Dust 2, we move on to G2’s map pick of Mirage. The team has a 57.1% win-rate on Mirage, by no means a formidable force on the map. However, the players are extremely comfortable on this map and this comfort has allowed them to explore different playstyles and strategies.
Starting on the T-side, G2 extracted the maximum impact from its strat-book. The team had a 4-0 start, stumbled a bit and later won the last three rounds to finish with a 9-6 half. The impressive T-side performance was based on some quick rotations and mid-round calls. But there were also heroic plays such as JaCkZ on the A-site of Mirage.
But it was G2’s CT performance that stole BIG’s thunder. BIG did not make an impact on its T-side, winning just one round before losing the map. G2 would strike back on Mirage with a 16-9 score. Audric "JaCkz" Jug and Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač topped the scoreboard with 23 kills apiece.
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XANTARES arrives on Vertigo; BIG win BLAST Premier opener
G2 had the option between Ancient and Vertigo as the final map choice. The team chose to veto Ancient, leaving Vertigo as the final map. It was a familiar map and the players had practice on this map. However, they had not accounted for Xİsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş’ performance which saw them scrambling for economy as well as kills.
He had 31 kills on the final map with a 123.7 ADR. While XANTARES had the highest kills on the map, it also included some clutch moments. Nowhere was G2’s lackluster performance on Vertigo as evident as from the 1-9 start. After finishing the first half with a 10-5 score, it was only a matter of time before BIG closed out the map. The team's knowledge of the map, its layout and the depth of their strategies allowed BIG to secure the series with ease.
With this victory, BIG moves on to the next stage of the upper bracket. G2 falls to the lower bracket and will face the loser of Na’Vi and FaZe Clan.
The BLSAT Premier Spring Finals is a eight-team online CSGO tournament featuring some of the best players in attendance. The event has a $425,000 prize pool and the winner will receive an invitation to the BLAST Premier Global Finals later this year.
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