by Natus Vincere secured a spot in the Group C final at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups after a hard-fought three-map series win against G2 Esports (16-12, 10-13, 13-9).
Their decision to pick Overpass paid off, with Valeriy “?b1t?” Vakhovskiy shining in an overtime victory.
However, G2 weren’t going to roll over, and they went on to take their map pick, Inferno, to send the series to Anubis.
Despite a close first and second map, NAVI dominated on Anubis, winning 13-9.
.@natusvincere are your victors after a spicy spicy series ???#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/6m5SjjYvro
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 23, 2024
In another Group C matchup, Ninjas in Pyjamas faced Complexity, aiming for redemption after a tough start.
NiP, with a strong CT side performance from Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen, secured a 13-9 victory on the first map.
They continued their dominance on Ancient, winning 13-5, setting up a rematch with G2 in the consolidation final.
Victory for the Ninjas at the Spring Groups ?? #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/xnm2q9BxI4
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 23, 2024
Astralis impressed by defeating Team Vitality 2-1 (13-10, 6-13, 13-4) in the Group A upper final.
Vitality, the world’s best Counter-Strike, team struggled on Mirage before finding form on Vertigo, where they won in dominant fashion.
However, Martin “?stavn?” Lund’s strong performance on Overpass and crucial clutches by Victor “?Staehr?” Staehr contributed to Astralis’ dominant victory on the decisive map.
The loss ended Vitality’s nine-match and 12-map win streaks.
.@AstralisCS take down the World #1 at the Spring Groups! ????#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/9VvD75SCRb
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 23, 2024
Falcons rebounded from a day one defeat against Astralis, dominating OG on Ancient (13-2) and securing the series victory on Vertigo (13-11).
The strong CT effort on Ancient, led by álvaro “?SunPayus?” GarcÃa, boosted Falcons’ confidence.
The win sets up a consolidation final against Astralis, offering a chance for Emil “?Magisk?” Reif and Danny “?zonic?” S?rensen to face their former teammates.
It took all 24 rounds but @FalconsEsport secure the map and the series to continue their Spring Groups journey!#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/T8oeN3ZFF1
— BLAST Premier ?? (@BLASTPremier) January 23, 2024
Both Group B and D action will kick off on Wednesday, with FaZe Clan clashing with GamerLegion in the opening series of the day.
Check out www.grivaschess.com’s preview of the day’s action here.
