G2 Esports and Heroic won their groups while Team Vitality and Complexity clinched playoff berths on Thursday in the BLAST Premier Spring Final in Washington.
G2 edged Imperial Esports 2-1 to claim the top spot in Group A, and Heroic swept FaZe Clan 2-0 to take first place in Group B. All four teams were already assured of playoff berths.
In the day’s two elimination matches, Vitality downed Cloud9 2-0 to escape Group A, and Complexity defeated Astralis 2-1 to get out of Group B.
The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, where the field was split into two groups of four teams.
All matches were best-of-three, with the winners of each group advancing to the playoff semifinals. Runners-up of each group move on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs as high seeds, while third-place finishers head to the quarterfinals as low seeds. All playoff matches are also best-of-three in the single-elimination bracket.
The grand final is scheduled for Sunday, with the winner taking home $200,000 of the $425,000 prize pool. A victory in the grand final also grants qualification to the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final, which will be held Dec. 12-17 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
On Thursday, G2 opened with a 16-7 victory on Ancient before Imperial pulled level by taking Inferno 16-13. On the decisive third map, Nuke, G2 prevailed 16-13.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nikola “NiKo” Kovac recorded 75 kills and a plus-28 kill-death differential for G2. Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo logged 55 kills and a minus-3 K-D differential for Imperial’s all-Brazilian squad.
Heroic got past FaZe 19-16 in overtime on Nuke, then 16-10 on Inferno. Martin “stavn” Lund produced 46 kills for Heroic’s all-Danish roster, while teammate Casper “cadiaN” Moller had a squad-best plus-13 K-D differential.
Vitality dumped Cloud9 16-13 on Overpass, then 19-16 in overtime on Anubis. France’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut amassed 54 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential for Vitality. Russia’s Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov led Cloud9 with 60 kills and a plus-25 K-D differential.
Complexity and Astralis traded 16-14 wins to begin their match, with Complexity claiming Vertigo before Astralis captured Ancient. The third map, Overpass, went to Complexity, again by a 16-14 count.
The United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince had 63 kills for Complexity, and teammate and countryman Ricky “floppy” Kemery recorded 62 kills and a team-high plus-10 K-D differential. Benjamin “blameF” Bremer amassed 77 kills and a plus-28 K-D differential for Astralis’ all-Danish team.
The playoffs begin Friday. FaZe Clan will oppose Team Vitality, with the winner advancing to oppose G2 Esports in the semifinals. Imperial Esports will meet Complexity for the right to face Heroic in the semifinals.
BLAST Premier Spring Final prize pool and points distribution
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier World Final
2. $85,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points
5-6. $20,000, 500 BLAST Premier points
7-8. $10,000, 300 BLAST Premier points — Cloud9, Astralis
–Field Level Media
