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BLAST Global Finals: Liquid, Vitality, Astralis, and G2 Take the Lead

After a surprising 14-16 loss, Astralis got back on their feet and won the two following maps over Evil... Fabio | 20. January 2021

After a surprising 14-16 loss, Astralis got back on their feet and won the two following maps over Evil Geniuses. G2 narrowly set themselves on top of FURIA and Vitality quickly dismantled a weakened Complexity. The biggest surprise of the day came in the form of Team Liquid, who presented a convincing takedown of Natus Vincere on two straight maps.

We’ve already had to wave goodbye to FURIA in the Lower Bracket. Despite Lucas “honda” Honda pulling off three entire aces against G2 Esports, the team eventually lost out to G2 and EG. Evil Geniuses stunned Astralis with a 16-14 victory on Inferno, but eventually they had to concede two 8-16 losses. Complexity stood without a chance, as Valentin “poizon” Vasilev continues to battle an undisclosed ailment. He’s now been absent from the last two events. They have an Elimination Match lined up against Natus Vincere, something they surely won’t be able to win.

LIQUID SHINE IN FALLEN DEBUT

Team Liquid’s signing of Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo definitely made some headlines. Even though Jake “Stewie2k” Yip has only had good things to say of the Brazilian in-game-leader, the MIBR experiment with two North American players was an absolute failure. When Stewie2k and Tarik “tarik” Celik arrived at MIBR from Cloud9 back in the day, their results immediately tanked. Just a few months later, they were already out of the roster again.

Now, Fallen wanted to join a North American lineup. This move definitely made sense, considering that there is no internationally viable Brazilian team right now aside from FURIA. He would have had to rebuild a new team from the ground up. But after Stewie2k has struggled for months to adequately lead his team and Russel “Twistzz” VanDulken vacated his spot on the roster, Fallen saw an opportunity.

Obviously, one match played isn’t enough to judge whether the roster will succeed or fail. But so far, Fallen is doing a great job. He has lead Liquid into some fantastic rounds. His executes and strategies were bang on, and often times the team won because Stewie2k and his colleagues were in the right positions at the right time. A 16-6 victory on Inferno made it clear that they are intent on utilizing their time on this continent to the fullest extent. Even though the second map got really close, the 16-14 scoreline on Nuke proves that the roster already boasts immense resilience and mental fortitude. Keith “NAF” Markovic was the deserved MVP of the match. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev delivered the most kills on the server, but his team failed to match his performance in any capacity.

ASTRALIS, LIQUID, VITALITY, AND G2 WANT TO CONTINUE ON

All these teams aim to secure their place in the Upper Bracket Finals as soon as possible. Astralis stand a great chance. Their opponents, G2, already struggled against FURIA. They are definitely not on the same level they displayed back at the BLAST Premier: Regular Season. Maybe Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and his men just need some more time to really warm up.

The other side of the bracket is much more interesting. Vitality made quick work of Complexity and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut put up a great show as expected. However, the Complexity boys really didn’t pose a challenge and the Frenchmen haven’t been tested yet. Liquid, on the other hand, have really stepped up their game against Natus Vincere. After all, s1mple played god-like and often times, his men actually won the duels. Liquid were propelled by great calls and tactical setups. This is exactly what will give them a fighting chance going up against Vitality.

Aside from these two NaVi maps, the Frenchmen really haven’t got any demo material to work with. So Fallen doesn’t have to worry about any of this and can instead concentrate on finding holes in the Vitality setup – provided there are any. For Stewie2k and his colleagues, this match will be the next big test. Should they make it, they might be en route for an early trophy this year. After an abysmal 2020 for North American Counter-Strike, such a victory would be a welcome change.