Dignitas stun Liquid, move on at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown

Impressive performances from Ludvig "⁠HEAP⁠" Alonso and Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson kickstarted Dignitas' campaign in the tournament with a massive scalp.

Dignitas have advanced to the quarter-finals of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown after securing a stunning 2-0 victory over Liquid (Nuke 16-5, Vertigo 16-13). The Swedish side has added a huge upset to their impressive resumé with the newest addition Lekr0, who played a key role in the opening win alongside HEAP.

"I'm feeling really confident right now," Lekr0 said shortly after the match. "I have a new role, I should be able to frag more than I did before considering the role and the positions I play. I'm really happy with how I'm playing."

"We beat Liquid today, so I think that shows what teams we can beat. I know it's a really good team, and the last really good team we played against was EG, and it was a game we should have almost won, as well. We perform better against tier-one teams."

It was to be expected that Dignitas would pick Nuke, the map where they had seen so much success after Lekr0's arrival with an 11-3 record, but few could have foreseen the level of dominance the Swedish-Norwegian squad would display on the opener against a team of Liquid's stature.

With HEAP in the spotlight, Dignitas put together a stunning offense, conceding just one round to a Deagle buy as they kept capitalizing on the mistakes of the North American team, who found themselves without answers even in advantageous situations. There was little hope for Liquid in the second half in spite of a pistol round victory, and it was all over just a few rounds later, when Dignitas secured map point with just pistols and ended their adversaries' misery at 16-5.

Vertigo turned out a much closer battle after the Swedes got off to another solid start, with Liquid going on a big streak on the offense in the middle of the first half to take their first lead in the series. Momentum swung again with a Deagle win going Dignitas' way, however, and the underdogs went on to pick up an 8-7 half on the back of two triples from Håkon "⁠hallzerk⁠" Fjærli on the AWP.

After sides switched, the North American team regained the lead but soon lost it again to yet another pistol buy from Lekr0 & co. The pressure mounted on Liquid as the map reached the late stages, and they managed to keep their opponents within reach thanks to Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's defensive AWPing on A, but ultimately some key multikills from HEAP put the series to rest at 16-13, 2-0.