BIG defeat OG to progress through BLAST Premier Fall Finals upper bracket

The German squad looked shaky on Inferno, starting 5-10 on the CT side, but were able to turn the map around on the attack to close the series out 2-0.

BIG and OG, who have seen plenty of each other this year with six head-to-head series and a 3-3 record, faced off in their opening BLAST Premier Fall Series, which went the way of the Germans as they took revenge on OG after their recent Flashpoint 2 playoffs loss at the hands of the Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen-led squad.

A typical veto between the two teams resulted in Dust2, Inferno and Mirage as the maps left standing, the only three maps they have played in their previous match-ups, but the decider wasn't needed as BIG took their map pick, Dust2, thanks to a strong CT side, and turned around a 5-10 deficit on the defending side of Inferno into a 16-14 victory to claim the map and series.

BIG now proceed through the tournament’s upper bracket and will play G2 in the semi-finals, while OG will have to face FURIA in a lower bracket elimination match.

Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne downed three players in the opening round of Dust2 to close out a 3vs2 afterplant situation on the attack as BIG then went up 3-0 before the first gun round, and although they gave up the first round against OG’s rifles, they retaliated to go 4-1. OG didn't fall off, however, and started to throw their weight around, tying it up 4-4 before taking the lead and getting ahead 8-6 before the last round, which they were able to win with a double by Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and three AWP kills by Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski.

The second pistol round went the way of OG as Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad and Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså turned around a 2vs5 situation, but the German squad took the forcebuy to stay in the game and start to even things out. The two teams were tied by the 22nd round, but BIG’s defense was proving too much for OG to tackle as they fell behind late in the map and the German squad took it 16-12.

An aggressive play by BIG on the CT side of Inferno gave them the first pistol round of the map, going up 4-0 before a B play by OG got them on the board. The two teams then traded rounds before NBK- and company fought their way to a 5-5 tie. Now on a roll, the European mixture tore through the German squad’s defenses time and time again, unable to do any wrong, on their way to a 10-5 lead at the half.

BIG jumped right back into the map on the attack, winning the pistol round and quickly setting the pace, giving up the first gun round before making it 9-11. OG were then unable to contain the attacking squad and BIG made made it 12-12 before taking the lead with a high tempo play on the B site. It all came down to the last round of the map as both teams brawled, but BIG pulled off a 3vs4 afterplant defense with no utility to secure the series and secure a spot in the upper bracket semi-finals.