Team Vitality, OG and FaZe Clan earned victories Saturday in the finals at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups event, becoming the first three teams to advance to the Spring Finals.
G2 defeated Vitality, OG beat Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe knocked off BIG in the finals of the play-in stage. Saturday’s three losers have one more shot to advance in Sunday’s “last chance matches.”
Last week, two teams were split into three double-elimination, best-of-one groups competing to determine seeding for the play-in stage, which features best-of-three matches.
At stake Sunday are the final three spots earning berths in the $425,000 Spring Finals in June, with the bottom six teams falling to the Spring Showdown.
On Saturday, Vitality bested G2 2-1. Vitality won 16-10 on Inferno before losing 16-4 on Mirage. Vitality clinched with a 16-12 victory on Dust II. Denmark’s Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen led Vitality with 57 kills and a plus-13 kills-to-deaths differential. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina had match-high 62 kills for G2, adding a plus-13 K-D differential.
OG defeated NiP, also by a 2-1 margin. OG opened with a 16-4 win on Overpass before dropping a 16-14 decision on Ancient. OG then eked out a 19-17 win in overtime on Mirage. OG trailed 8-7 at intermission and then 13-7 before winning seven of the last eight rounds to force OT.
Poland’s Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski recorded eye-popping numbers to lead OG – 70 kills and a plus-27 K-D differential. Sweden’s Fredrik “REZ” Sterner led NiP with 60 kills and a plus-3 differential.
FaZe opened with a 16-14 win on Dust II before getting shellacked 16-2 on Overpass. But FaZe returned the favor, destroying BIG on Nuke, 16-1. Latvia’s Helvijs “broky” Saukants led FaZe with 47 kills and a plus-16 differential. Florian “syrsoN” Rische led the all-German side with 46 kills and a plus-12.
The play-in stage will continue Sunday with three “last chance matches”:
G2 vs. MIBR
NiP vs. Natus Vincere
BIG vs. Astralis
BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2022 prize pool
1-3. TBD — $27,500, 2,400 BLAST Premier points (Spring Finals)
4-6. TBD — $17,500, 1,200 BLAST Premier points (Spring Finals)
7-9. TBD — $8,500, 900 BLAST Premier points (Spring Showdown)
10-12. Complexity Gaming, Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses — $5,666, 600 BLAST Premier points (Spring Showdown)
–Field Level Media
