The BLAST Premier Spring Final will move into the playoff stage on Friday as the quarter-finals take place in the OVO Arena in London, England, where a full house is expected to witness two quality series.
Following the second and final day of the group stage, G2 Esports and SAW were eliminated in seventh-eighth place after suffering defeats at the hands of Team Vitality and Astralis, respectively.
Although G2’s star AWPer, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, arrived in London at the venue just minutes before their series started, the lack of reps and play time for the Counter-Strike squad showed as they fought hard but couldn’t secure pivotal rounds.
Vitality would take the series 2-1 (13-4, 9-13, 13-5) with G2 only able to secure Vitality’s map pick of Anubis, thanks to Nikola “NiKo” Kovac putting the team on his back and recording a map-high 1.51 rating.
Demonstrating their dominance, every player on Vitality recorded a positive kill/death differential and a rating above one, with Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut leading the way with a series-high 1.44 rating and +19 K/D.
.@kingmezii WILL play in front of the home crowd as @TeamVitality secure the series! 🐝✅#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/GrEsCaGCJS
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 13, 2024
Meanwhile, SAW was thrashed by a much-improved Astralis in two maps, as the Nicolai “device” Reedtz’ led squad claimed Dust2 13-6, thanks to a vintage performance from the in-game leader.
After a dominant first map, it was device again who would lead a second map stomp, as the Danish roster only needed 16 rounds to claim Mirage 13-3 and wrap up the series.
Topping the charts in terms of ratings for the second day, device finished with a massive 1.90 rating out of 2, +23 kill/death difference, and 109.9 ADR.
.@AstralisCS are heading to the OVO Wembley Arena ✅#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/BFCTWmd8I2
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 13, 2024
Although the other four teams didn’t risk elimination, the results would set up the playoff bracket, with Natus Vincere getting the better of FaZe Clan 2-1 (13-5, 9-13, 13-10), and Team Spirit proved the superior team in their region as they bested fellow Russian squad Virtus.pro 2-0 (13-4, 13-11).
With the loss, FaZe will clash with Team Vitality in the opening match on Friday, where the winner will advance to the semi-finals to take on Team Spirit.
Later, Virtus.pro and Astralis will clash for the right to play against Natus Vincere in the other semi-final on Saturday.
Friday’s Spring Final matches
- FaZe Clan (+107) vs Team Vitality (-135.14) @ 4pm BST
- Astralis (-161.29) vs Virtus.pro (+127) @ 7pm BST