Sad in Rio, a Blast in Copenhagen

It feels like months ago we watched the big dogs falter at the Rio Major, yet somehow it has only been 15 days since Jame was named the king of Brazil. So enter Blast Copenhagen, the first “real” event post-major. Sorry Elisa Masters Espoo.

FaZe, NAVI, and Liquid have arrived at the Danish Capital with a shared goal: Prove that what happened in Brazil was just a fluke.

For the European mix of FaZe, that has gone as well as they could’ve hoped. The Danish-led side destroyed OG and Heroic across four maps in two series to seal a spot on stage at the Royal Arena.

Having the three highest-rated players at the event so far, FaZe is showing what they didn’t in Brazil.

As for NAVI and Liquid, they both won their opening games 2-0 against Fluxo and G2 respectively, which against tier-two opposition, was only expected.

Their wins sealed a date in the Finals of their group, one qualifying for the Arena, and one qualifying for a showdown against Heroic. In their duel, NAVI blinked first, as Liquid solidified into ice-cold killers.

nitr0 specifically showed up on Inferno, reminding us all that Captain America can still do it, even after being frozen in a block of something called “Valorant”.

Let’s see if that super-IGL serum will carry him over the line on the Royal Arena stage.

This brings us to the teams that didn’t make Rio, or simply didn’t show up in Rio.

Unsurprisingly, OG once again failed to make any impact. They won 9 full rounds in two maps against FaZe, and took NiP to overtime on Ancient, but that was about it? They’re supposedly the 16th best team in the world, but it somehow doesn’t really feel like it.

And NiP? Sort of a mixed bag. The Scandinavian mix managed a 16-13 victory against Heroic on Inferno, and then got 10 rounds in total on Ancient and Overpass. Yikes. At least they made it to the Arena by showing they were the better Red Bull sponsored team against OG.

Hopefully, for them, those wings sprout quickly, as they’ll try to fly over the deep pit of NAVI in the quarters.

For G2 the fact that they made it to the Arena must be feel more like a relief than an achievement. They lost against Liquid, but made it relatively close, so we guess that’s kind of alright? And then they squeezed past Fluxo to set up a match versus cadiaN. In a Danish arena. That’ll be fun.

This weekend we’ll find out, who is the best of the Major underperformers: May the playoffs begin.

Quarter final 1:

• Heroic vs G2

Quarter final 2:

• NIP vs Na’Vi

Semi final 1:

• FaZe vs Q2 Winner

Semi final 2:

• Liquid vs Q1 Winner