BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2024 Recap
From March 6th to 10th, 2024, the BLAST tournament series took place in an online format, with $135,000 up for grabs and two slots for the spring finals in London on the line. Sixteen teams competed for these two slots: eight partner teams and eight teams that qualified for the tournament through various qualifications. In this article, we will discuss the triumphs and disappointments of the latest major event before the Major.
Falcons
This team attracted significant attention, especially after signing Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev on loan. The hype surrounding the return of the best player of the last decade was unreal. Everyone was curious about two things: how Sasha was performing and what role he would take on within Falcons.
In their first match against the Swedish stack Metizport, the star-studded lineup faced few challenges on Mirage. s1mple didn’t deliver the most outstanding performance but handled his position well. He predominantly played on the B-site during defense and occasionally took on the role of a secondary AWPer. It felt like Alexander wasn’t ready to part ways with the sniper rifle permanently and sometimes even took it from SunPauys if he had a more advantageous spawn.
However, Falcons struggled in the second and third maps and were eliminated from the tournament. Many immediately began to point out that s1mple had played his worst match of his career, but blaming him alone isn’t entirely fair. Undoubtedly, it wasn’t the comeback that the player and his fans had hoped for. The main intrigue now is whether Falcons will extend the loan or possibly make a full buyout from NAVI. Currently, there have been no official statements from either side.
Cloud9
This lineup was one of the favorites in the qualifiers but once again failed, losing to a much less renowned opponent. Yes, they managed to win their first match against the Chinese collective led by Kirill “BoombI4” Mikhailov. However, it was a victory that was expected. In their next match, some of Eastern Europe’s best players lost to the Portuguese team SAW. We’ll discuss this team a bit later and in a much more positive light.
Cloud9’s instability greatly worries fans, and some community members have already written them off entirely. The reasons remain the same: the absence of a sniper, extremely unstable individual performances, and new roles for some players. Despite the tournament being held in an online format, many discouraging conclusions can be drawn before the Major in Copenhagen. When thinking about the future of the team, the first thing to consider is a change in coaching staff. There’s a feeling that groove hasn’t managed to find common ground with renowned players and is unlikely to do so in the future. He works well with younger players and would probably fit better in BetBoom Team, reuniting with nafany.
Team Liquid/Complexity/Imperial
Teams arrived at the European continent after the American RMR and didn’t have enough time to prepare for the tournament. All three teams failed in the first stage and were knocked out of the fight for the finals.
For Complexity and Imperial, this isn’t a significant loss, as they managed to qualify for the Major and will continue preparing for the more important event. However, for Team Liquid, this is another nail in the coffin. The entire lineup isn’t in optimal individual form, and there’s no talk of any team cohesion. This is especially true for YEKINDAR, who reportedly has some serious mental issues. He has refrained from social media and is actively supported by teammates in the media. It doesn’t seem like there will be any changes in Liquid in the near future, but similar conclusions were made about Astralis after their failure at the RMR. By the way, there are already rumors linking the freed-up blameF with a North American team.
Metizport
This team surprised everyone and made a loud statement from the very first match. The Swedish stack became the team that spoiled Alexander Kostylev’s debut in CS2. In the next round, the team defeated the revamped Monte lineup, but now it’s not the same team from the HLTV top 10. Therefore, the victory over this lineup shouldn’t be considered a significant achievement.
The game for a trip to London for the BLAST Spring Finals was much more interesting. In the deciding match, the young team had to face Team Spirit, who are currently in top form. Of course, Metizport predictably lost to the Russian team, but before that, they managed to make fans nervous by winning the first map. Overall, this team can be genuinely proud of their tournament performance. They played in two of the most hyped matches and showed worthy CS. Most discussions revolve around former NIP Academy player nilo. The guy demonstrated excellent individual play and surprised many pro players. It’s noteworthy that six months ago, NIP let him go to Metizsport as they didn’t see potential in him.
Team Spirit/SAW
These two teams proved to be stronger than the rest and earned spots in the LAN finals of BLAST Spring Final 2024. donk and company fairly predictably made it to the winners’ list of the qualifiers and confirmed their well-deserved status as favorites for the Major in Copenhagen.
However, seeing the Portuguese team among the triumphants turned out to be quite an unexpected outcome. If you look at their path, it was one of the toughest in the tournament. In the first round, they defeated Team Liquid, who needed redemption for their failure at the RMR. In the semifinals, SAW dealt with an even more experienced opponent, Cloud9. The final against OG already looked like a gift after facing such tough opponents in previous matches.
Before packing their bags for the capital of the United Kingdom, they will have to head to the first CS2 Major in Copenhagen. After this tournament, this team will be treated with special attention. While the Portuguese players have gained confidence and proven in practice that they can beat any opponent. It will be interesting to see these guys at LAN and what they can show there.
The final list of teams for BLAST Spring Final 2024, which will take place from June 12th to 16th in London:
FaZe
Vitality
NAVI
Virtus.prо
G2
Astralis
Team Spirit
SAW