Star-studded teams G2 and NAVI faced each other in the final game at BLAST Premier Spring Groups C to decide who would avoid an elimination bracket run.
But it wasn't the stars themseelves that made this game particularly interesting.
AVI and G2 have been polar opposites form-wise. NAVI went from the best to the rest, and G2 went from trash to the champs in Abu Dhabi.
Nothing exemplified this more than the personal performances of s1mple and NiKo on Inferno, the first map of this series. Whilst NiKo was out there hitting shots you didn’t think were possible, s1mple was flat-out average. The GOAT barely hit a 1.0 rating while NiKo hit a whopping 1.78.
G2 took Inferno 16-6 and despite great efforts from NAVI on the second map, Nuke, G2 secured both the map, series and early Spring Final qualification with a 16-10 win, leaving NAVI to fight for survival this weekend.
s1mple still had a good overall rating for this event. He’s s1mple after all. But his off performances are symptomatic of a greater problem in NAVI, their disappearing stars and a lack of consistency.
Earlier in the groups they won a series against NIP, yet dropped a map where they looked like a team fresh out of advanced, who just got carried by their AWPer. B1t, electroNic, and Perfecto haven’t been themselves and new man NPL doesn’t look as inspired as other NAVI prodigies have in the past.
On Saturday they'll face the winner of COL vs EG, a seemingly easy win. But that false sense of security might just be what will lead this roster into the biggest upset of the tournament *prepares popcorn
There are 3 more BLAST Spring Final spots up for grabs this weekend, and today we continue with:
And ICYMI, these teams are already qualified:
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