BIG overcome OG in BLAST Premier Spring Groups

The German side is one win away from making the BLAST Spring Grand Final.

The two top-10 teams that faced off seven times in the last eight months had another magnificent clash, with thrilling action concluding in a 2-0 victory in favor of BIG.

"It's always tough against them, but we had a good gameplan and our coaches prepared well", Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische said in the post match interview, commenting on his individual form and successful 2020 as well. "I want to be successful as last year as a team and shine as a player," the AWPer added, following a 1.35-rated showing against the European side.

The veto once again came down to the same three maps, with only Inferno and Dust2 needed this time around. Both maps were close, featuring comebacks and teams going on streaks of round won, but the German side managed to close out the series with a 16-12 and 16-13. They now advance to the upper-bracket final of Group A, where they play Ninjas in Pyjamas for a place in the Spring Finals, while OG will have to beat Astralis to avoid elimination.

OG's good start on Inferno was counteracted by BIG's strong B holds on rifle rounds, with Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne and Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz handling the pushes with ease. syrsoN also came online as the half progressed, posting a quad kill to help his team end one round ahead, 8-7.

The same player stepped up with a 1v3 in the pistol which saw BIG go 11-8 up, but OG got back into the game with Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen leading his team's efforts (12-11 OG). The European team then suffered two close round losses, which broke their economy and saw tabseN and co. close out the map, 16-12

On Dust2, OG looked rejuvenated, going on to take the lead after Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså's triple in the pistol. The European mixture was 7-1 up in no time, with all of their players firing up, but their hot streak was stopped by Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş's 3K in round 8. Then, BIG got back into the game to claim the lead before the half time switch, and extended the scoreline in their favor with the following pistol.

Back-and-forth action ensued in the second half, with neither side managing to tie together more than three rounds in a row. After Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt's 1v1 clutch to make it 13-13, BIG responded with a crucial force-buy win and pulled it across the line, 16-13.