BIG Send G2 To Lower Bracket In BLAST Premier Spring Final

BIG managed to win Dust2 and Vertigo in a three-map affair against G2 to advance in the upper bracket of the $425,000 tournament. Florian “⁠syrsoN⁠” Rische and Ismailcan “⁠XANTARES⁠” Dörtkardeş were crucial to the victory, showing up in style in their map victories.

G2 streak of finishing at least top at the last three events they attended is in danger after they fell short to Johannes “⁠tabseN⁠” Wodarz and co. The 2-1 loss to BIG comes after a humbling defeat to Gambit in the semi-final of IEM Summer, with the Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač-powered squad looking to redeem themselves in the lower-bracket against the loser of Natus Vincere vs. FaZe on Thursday.

XANTARES came alive on Vertigo with 31 kills

syrsoN was hitting his shots from the get-go on Dust2, with BIG converting their AWPers strong form into a 6-1 start on the CT side. G2 got their second on B and then Audric “⁠JaCkz⁠” Jug cracked open the A bombsite as his team got back into the game (6-5). However, the German side bolstered their defenses to finish the half 10-5 up, with Nemanja “⁠huNter-⁠” Kovač‘s pistol round effort crucial to giving G2 a lifeline. They went on a 5-2 run on the defense, but BIG managed to break their economy and close out the game, with tabseN standing out in the second half.

On their own map pick, G2 put their opponents on the back foot early, winning the T pistol and followups, but BIG recovered after a stunning ace from Nils “⁠k1to⁠” Gruhne on the A bombsite. The Germans equalized the score at 6-6, however, huNter- and JaCkz made sure G2 switched sides with a three-round advantage. NiKo clutched the following pistol and put the French-Balkan squad on the path to a resounding victory, 16-7, losing just one round as CT.

On fire from the start of Vertigo, XANTARES brought the pain with 18 kills to secure a flying start for BIG, 9-1. On the other side, NiKo came alive at the end of the half with 12 kills in just the last five rounds, giving hope in a comeback (10-5). G2 continued their streak with a pistol round win, but got shut down by BIG‘s pistols in the follow-up. The momentum was seized by the Germans, who edged towards the victory and took Vertigo 16-10, finishing the series 2-1.