BLAST Premier Fall Groups: Liquid, Vitality & NiP with wins

BLAST Premier Fall Groups: Liquid, Vitality & NiP with wins

16. July 2023 by Andrew Williams

Liquid, Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas prevailed on day three of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups and advanced. Here is the progression of the matches:

Liquid defeats G2 to kick off their journey

Liquid got off to a strong start in the series, defeating G2 on Ancient with excellent teamwork. Liquid’s Robert “Patsi” Isyanov was the driving force in their spirited 16-9 victory, posting 20 kills and an HLTV rating of 1.44.

Both teams fought valiantly on Mirage to gain the upper hand, but their efforts were in vain as the score remained tied at the end of regulation time, necessitating overtime. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač came into the game for G2 in the overtime and helped the team to a 19:17 victory and a 1-1 tie in the series. In the series finale on Vertigo, Keith “NAF” Markovic tallied 27 kills to lead his team to a valiant 16-14 victory that eclipsed NiKo’s outstanding performance for G2.

Vitality continues winning

Vitaliy destroyed the North American team in the first game of the series, Inferno, resulting in a lopsided victory with only one round lost. Lotan “Spinx” Giladi stood out for Vitality with his 23-kill performance and firepower to give Vitality a convincing 16-1 victory.

Vitality took the momentum to Vertigo, shredding the North American team’s defense to the ground and building a massive 12-3 lead. Although Complexity’s new-look team stepped up in the second half, the Paris Major Champions came back and cruised to a 16-6 victory. With the win, Vitality advances to the group stage grand final, where they will await the winner of the match between Complexity and NIP.

NIP inflicts EG’s second loss in a row

NIP and EG went head-to-head on the opening map of the match, Inferno, and kept the score close throughout the game. In the second half of the match, EG finally managed to build a 14-9 lead thanks to the outstanding play of Jadan “HexT” Postma and Timothy “autimatic” Ta. With the help of Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov’s remarkable fragging skills, NIP quickly responded with a more aggressive style of play and evened the game at 15-15 before going into overtime at 22-20. After narrowly losing the first map, EG got off to a fantastic start on Vertigo and quickly took a 6-0 lead.

NIP managed to stop the carnage in Round 7 and keep the momentum going in the first half, taking possession of the map with a 9-6 advantage. In the second half, EG began another five-round winning streak, but headtr1ck and his team quickly countered their attack, winning six straight rounds to finish the map 16-11 and secure a rematch against Complexity Gaming.