G2 and OG advance to Blast Premier Spring Finals

OG had a rollercoaster day - starting off their first game 0-15 down, somehow coming back to win the series, and then losing a tight, tight game against G2 where they were once again soundly beaten on the first map. They can be happy with their finish, though, as they made it through to the Global Finals, while 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses will be forced to go through the BLAST Showdown.

Obviously, EG rushed into an early lead. That tends to happen when you win the half 15-0. They took the pistol and the anti-eco, before Tarik and CeRq swapped themselves for three on B to give EG a lead in round three. 

OG got the plant on B but couldn’t get the kills, and importantly, handed Ethan an SG. He shut them down on A with three kills from connector, and another shut down got EG up to six, followed by a clean sweep on the anti-eco. 

Ethan once again was causing headaches for OG, pushing into popdog and taking out Aleksib before the round can even get going, and despite mantuu and valde popping heads with the Deagles on B, OG still couldn’t close out the round for nine.

CeRq picked mantuu at ivy and closed the round out with a perfect molotov on B, before stanislaw won a 1v2 with a stolen Krieg. He snapped and headshotted one before mindgaming Aleksib on the bomb train.

Brehze started styling on ‘em, swivelling round to snipe down three on the A site. OG responded by rushing B, but with the bomb down they could only muster one kill. stanislaw hopped down popdog to flank the waiting valde for 15-0.

EG couldn’t get through ivy, getting smashed by NBK a few times, but they closed out 4v5 on the B hit for the 16-4 win. 

Mirage was the complete opposite - mantuu started on fire, plucking two T’s as they entered into A,  and the anti-eco was similarly clean. EG got the first gun round despite losing two to NBK’s jumping MAG-7, but OG got back-to-back sweeps to take a commanding lead.

Despite losing a man early, OG stacked A and EG walked into it, leaving a 2v2 which OG converted. Not deterred, EG went back into A twice more, winning the first and losing the second, but NBK kept them out from B to make it 7-2.

Ethan picked off the CT aggression, but that was the last time EG showed any life on Mirage. ISSAA slowed down the rotate back to A after the B split broke down, and it was his clever flank that crushed the A split once more later on. In the final round of the first half, valde pushed up underpass and found himself three.

The T side was pretty short and sweet, a few B hits from OG went well and they ended on an A hit that saw Aleksib get a UMP45 trio for 16-3.

Inferno was much, much closer. Brehze baited his team to win the pistol round after OG pushed up mid, but NBK struck back with a sick Deagle quad. Two players popped out of apts and got beat down, before two beautiful headshots kept the A site under his spell.

Straight away, the split through CT with pistols saw EG take control again, and they got a free plant in the 5v5 in the anti-eco to go 3-1 up. OG won at A, but the smokes at B kept them locked out of their own site and left Aleksib isolated and headshotted by Ethan for 4-2 to EG.

valde took over at B, holding it solo for two rounds in a row with some heroics over the coffin and a solo 3k from the same spot the round after. stanislaw won a tense 1v2 on the A site, but OG took over with back-to-back-to-back-to-back rounds, with ISSAA closing out one hiding in the corner of A.

EG got their 6th on B, before running down mid as OG did on their pistol - ending similarly disastrously, with Aleksi picking up a dastardly triple in the post plant. Once again, the force was won though, with CeRq finding an absurd Scout headshot through the smoke and Tarik tidying up with the CZ75. 

Brehze went crazy two rounds in a row, with a four kill round from pit and an important role in the threeway crossfire that held A down. valde popped open the defence with his Deagle, but Tarik closed the gap with a rifle in the next round, but OG were not out. 

They found the weakness at B, with EG getting caught reaggressing and then getting found out again playing safer, and once more with pistols. Brehze and CeRq valiantly pulled off the Alamo on A site as a duo, but CeRq died first next time leaving Brehze all alone. 

EG pulled off a 2v2 out of nowhere to nick a round they didn’t deserve, and equalised the score at 14-14. It was NBK and Aleksi, though, who pulled off double kills to allow OG to run away with the 30 round victory.

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This left them facing G2, who came in looking hot immediately. kennyS started off with three kills, which included a knife kill and a falling glock headshot - on the CT side. OG got the plant with just glocks, which looked ominous for G2, but they were not bothered.

huNter nailed the 1v1 and got the defuse with almost no time remaining, and he teamed up with JaCKz to keep lane terrorist-free. kennyS found the pick in second mid, and his team traded out for round six.

G2 got their seventh as the B hit was crossfired out, and they got eight by surviving a dangerous mantuu at the back of B who nearly skewered them with the AWP. They finally lost a round as kennyS missed his shot, and a flustered G2 lost a 2v1 on time after swapping guns for too long.

NBK saved OG with his A sided lurk, and OG got into B next, but G2 took over, and took it in turns to take three kills. AmaNEk, JaCKz and then nexa got three kills a piece to put G2 firmly in the drivers seat, and they put pedal to the metal for 15-4.

G2 gave up a few, but closed out on nexa finding an AWP pick on low HP to get them into the B site and every player on low HP for G2.

ISSAA started Dust 2 by popping three heads with the USP, and this was the start they needed after a disappointing first map. Once the guns came out, though, kennyS got his claws into the game, finding an opening pick and then taking another two lives the round after to facilitate the B split.

OG were able to repel the next B split, and G2 ran out of time on A despite AmaNEk’s best efforts. mantuu then decided the A site was his, and he was sharing it with nobody. He traded the final kill with low HP to win, before several rounds where he held A single-handedly with his big green fun. 

OG got ten as kennyS executed his teammate, and it seemed like G2 needed a miracle - which they got, with nexa getting a full blind double through smoke and a bombplant with 0.5s left. They got one more before half time, but OG were more than comfortable in closing it out with five T rounds, despite a lovely three kill round from nexa on the CT side.

Nuke had everything resting on it, and NBK looked like he was gonna do everything from round one, taking out three to win the fake, but OG were sloppy and let AmaNEk and huNter steal the eco round, before huNter took two with a grenade on the next round.

OG struck back and started taking outside and ramp control, grabbing them a few rounds, but they just couldn’t penetrate the A site. huNter again a thorn in their side, taking three names on A, and then OG just couldn’t get out of squeaky door.
kennyS and huNter combined for rounds 7 and 8, and an outrageous kennyS collateral got G2 up to 9-4. AmaNEk sprayed down three with a stolen Krieg, and all was going well - 11 rounds well - for G2.

valde swiped over a head to take away the pistol round and the anti-eco was converted for OG, who looked to claw back into it. mantuu, who had been so reliable, made an error in heaven and was punished, but bailed out next round by another stupid NBK deagle round, taking three with him to hell.

valde again brought death from above, this time on B, but three sick rounds from G2 got them to 15. A ramp and secret split saw them clean out B site, before an interesting lower fake got them into A with very little resistance. 

There needed to be a stupendous comeback for OG to get to OT, 15-9 down, but valde holding ramp solo and ISSAA flanking out ramp was flooding doubts into G2 fans’ heads. mantuu pushed outside to snipe down two from close range, and OG made it 15-14.

In the final round, though, it was G2 who made the final push, taking lower control and strangling out OG after they lost Aleksib early on A, with AmaNEk holding the line on the post plant.
 

Images via BLAST.