On day one of Blast Premier Spring Showdown, OG upset Astralis, G2 took down Endpoint and Dignitas edged past Liquid. Here are four takeaways from today’s matches.
G2’s new setup
Since the departure of Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, G2 has been struggling to have a constant primary AWPer. In their debut match for Blast Premier Spring Showdown, the AWP was passed around between Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and François “AmaNEk” Delaunay, with an outstanding clutch by NiKo with the AWP. However, the team also proved that they didn’t need an AWP to succeed with a strong T side.
Astralis looking weak
In their match against OG’s new roster, Astralis looked weaker than ever. Despite bringing in Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen for map one, he didn’t know what to do in the team’s setup. Additionally, he continued to play a support role rather than his primary rifler role. As a result, OG dominated Astralis with Valdemar “valde” Vangså and Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski looking better than ever. OG 2-0’d Astralis and eliminated the danish team from Blast Premier Spring Showdown.
In a post-match interview with HLTV, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz said, “It is to be expected that some things might change.” This was meant in regard to Bubzkji’s playing. With Valve’s ruling about six-man rosters, Astralis had to “rethink the whole idea of a six-man roster.” And clearly, they are still trying to figure out what they are doing.
Endpoint future contender
While G2 eliminated Endpoint from Blast Premier Spring Showdown, Endpoint still proved that they have what it takes to perform at a high level. On map one, Inferno, Kia “Surreal” Man top fragged the server with his rifling skills. Also, Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel consistently delivered opening picks with his close-quarters AWPing. However, with NiKo and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač performing on a high level and clutching rounds for G2, Endpoint lost map one. On map two, the Kovač brothers continued their domination and lost 2-0.
ACEEEEEE for @G2huNter @BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/UqY2VfmYkR
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) April 13, 2021
Dignitas eliminate Liquid
While many expected Team Liquid to crush Dignitas, Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson’s addition to the team revolutionized Dignitas, and they looked terrific against Liquid. On their T side of Nuke, Dignitas dominated with Lekr0 getting opening kills, Ludvig “HEAP” Alonso cleaning up the rounds and Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg clutching rounds for his team. While the opening kills for both teams were approximately even, HEAP closed out each and every round and left Liquid with only one round on their CT side. Over on Vertigo, the same story continued but the scoreline was closer. Nevertheless, Dignitas took down Liquid 2-0 to eliminate them from Blast Premier Spring Showdown
Only upsets today. #DIGWIN pic.twitter.com/xereyPXcHF
— Dignitas (@dignitas) April 13, 2021
Matches tomorrow
For tomorrow’s matches, Wednesday, April 14, there are a few things to watch out for. Fans should make sure to convert the times to their local timezones so as not to miss anything.
Spirit vs Extra Salt (6:30am Eastern Daylight Time)
Gambit vs NASR (9:30am Eastern Daylight Time)
Furia vs MIBR (12:30pm Eastern Daylight Time)
