Astralis win Group A of BLAST Premier Fall Groups

BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 has begun with the three groups of the group stage are being played one by one. Group A ended yesterday and the winner, unsurprisingly, were Astralis.

The number four team in the world had tough opponents and even lost the first match, but that didn’t stop them from winning the group.

Unexpected initial loss against NiP 

All of the results in group A correspond with the predictions, which clearly indicated that Astralis would win, Team Vitality would finish second, Ninjas in Pyjamas would be third, and OG fourth.

But few people expected Astralis to lose the first match against NiP. And not only did they lose, but they lost at a score difference that made a lot of fans worry: 16–10 on Overpass.

Luckily for Astralis, Vitality won their first match against OG, which meant that they were going to play the first lower bracket match against OG. This was very important for the Danish team because, after a bad defeat, you need an easier opponent to rebuild your confidence.

In the end, to win the group, Astralis were going to have to beat everyone anyway. But the fact that they were offered the chance to start their successful run with an easy match was essential. And that match ended with a score of 16–9 on Mirage.

Revenge

In the second match, Astralis encountered NiP for the second time because the Swedes had lost against Vitality (16–12). This time though, the map was Ancient and Astralis proved to be much stronger. The final score was 16–9.

In the Grand Final, Vitality looked like they were going to win. The first half ended with a score of 10-5 in their favor. However, in the second half, Astralis pushed the match into overtime and then won with a final score of 19-17.

The forgiving tournament format

One thing to keep in mind is that the format of BLAST Premier: Fall Groups is extremely forgiving with the underperformers. All four teams from Group A have advanced to the playoffs. The only difference is that the winners, Astralis, will play directly in one of the three Finals, Vitality will play in one of the semifinals, while OG and NiP will play in the quarterfinals.

This makes Astralis’ job a lot easier. Because now, all they need to do to qualify for BLAST Premier: Fall Finals is to win one match. And even if they lose the Finals, they get another chance in the Last Chance Matches.

Fragster will continue to provide full coverage of the tournament and even broadcast it in the German language.

Header: Astralis