At the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, Vitality defeated Cloud9 2-0 to secure a place in the quarter-finals. G2 won 2-1 (7-16 Ancient, 16-13 Inferno, 13-16 Nuke) against Imperial, largely due to stellar performances from NiKo and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. Heroic edged FaZe 2-0 (Nuke 19-16, Inferno 16-10) and Complexity won 2-1 against Astralis.
Vitality vs. Cloud9
The match started on Overpass and the Russians immediately took a 6-0 lead. Vitality needed a bit to get going, but then managed to equalise and even go into the break with a narrow lead. In the second half, Vitality finally pulled itself together and dominated the map. Cloud9 lost Overpass 13-16.
OT 🚨OT 🚨OT 🚨OT 🚨
Off the back of a @zywoo ACE!!! pic.twitter.com/DxXupThHkZ
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 8, 2023
On Anubis, the second map, Vitality surged ahead and although Cloud9 could catch up later, it was not enough to slow down the European lineup. The map went into overtime and there Vitality won 19-17 to take the match 2-0. Cloud9 will now take a break after three disappointing months.
G2 vs. Imperial
On Ancient, NiKo had his big moment and helped his team to take a huge lead (12-3). The gap was just too big for Imperial to turn the tide and G2 won 16-7. Things went better for the Brazilians on Inferno and they took a 10-5 lead.
30 KILLS ON THE FIRST HALF.
What are we witnessing??? pic.twitter.com/yPKmTSYzB7
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 8, 2023
Imperial had Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo on their side to win the map 16-13. The last map was Nuke. It went back and forth a bit, but then G2 prevailed with a not-so-close 16-13. G2 thus secured their direct entry into the semi-finals.
Astralis vs. Complexity
16-14 was probably the score par excellence in Complexity’s match against Astralis. Complexity won against Astralis with a 16-14 win on Vertigo, then a 16-14 loss on Ancient and finally a 16-14 win on Overpass. On Vertigo, Complexity took an 8-3 lead and went on to win it 16-14. On the second map, Complexity faltered and was narrowly outclassed by Astralis to force a decider.
NA'S FINEST ECO. @Sonic_cs @1grimcs pic.twitter.com/uS1Rhia3Bm
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 9, 2023
On Overpass, Complexity had control of the map from the start and raced away with a 9-3 lead. The Danes then rallied back on Danes to make it 9-6 going into halftime. The two teams were neck and neck at 14-14 but then Complexity leapt ahead to win 16-14.
Heroic vs. FaZe
On Nuke it was a relatively tight story for FaZe, but they still got the short end of the stick and lost the first map 16-19. Heroic had a much easier time on Inferno and FaZe stumbled badly. They were already five points behind at half-time.
Assassination! @Twistzz pic.twitter.com/b9KFuB30Bp
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 9, 2023
They started again in the second half, but a 4v3 retake on the A-Bombsite gave the Danes their first round on the defensive, and from then on they had control back to finish the map 16-10.