OG upset stavn-less Heroic to earn first win at BLAST World Final

The newly-crowned No. 1 team were defeated by the lowest-ranked side at the event after a double-overtime affair on Anubis.

OG got their first win in Abu Dhabi on the board after upsetting HEROIC in a three-map series. The European mixture won their map pick of Inferno 16-11, dropped Mirage 9-16 after struggling to get anything going, before wrapping up the series after a double-overtime 22-19 showing on the game's newest map, Anubis.

OG will be pleased to kick off their run through the season-concluding BLAST World Final on the right foot. The team, who are the lowest-ranked squad attending the Emirati event, were the subject of intense scrutiny over the way in which they qualified for the tournament based on their ranking in the BLAST leaderboard. The roster has temporarily silenced the critics, however, and now advance to the upper-bracket final, where they will face off against the winner of Natus Vincere versus Vitality.

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HEROIC will lament the loss after being unable to convert a 15-10 lead on the deciding map of Anubis. The Danish side is notably fielding Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke as a substitute for the duration of the event, but they still looked like a shadow of the squad that won the BLAST Premier Fall Final in Copenhagen a fortnight ago, with their last-minute call-up also being his team's highest-performing player with a 69-65 K-D and 1.10 rating.

The action between the two teams got underway on Inferno, OG's map pick. Strong fragging from both in-game leaders helped set the stage for an early back-and-forth skirmish, with the Danish quintet and the European combine exchanging four rounds apiece to start the matchup level pegging. A crucial 1vs3 hold of the B site by Maciej "⁠F1KU⁠" Miklas in the ninth round put OG in good stead to run away with things, but HEROIC woke up just in time with a much-needed three-round spree in the dying stages of the half to eke out a one-round buffer by the interval, 8-7.

OG got back on the saddle at the onset of their defensive effort and added six rounds to HEROIC's one to retake the lead and be within touching distance of winning their map pick, 13-9. Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and company chained together two rounds to keep themselves in the running, but a determined OG was quick to shore up their defensive line, shutting down the Danes at each bombsite with well-calculated gamble stacks and set-ups to lock in their map pick, 16-11, and lead the series, 1-0.

Play made its way to Mirage for the second map, where HEROIC looked in much better shape to drum up a commanding 7-1 lead on the T-side. This Danish domination of the battlefield kept gaining steam as the half played out, with k0nfig relishing in his return to a LAN environment by putting up 15 frags en route to a 10-3 scoreline in favour of HEROIC. OG used their second tactical timeout in the 14th round in a bid to get the game back on track, something which lessened the bleeding and allowed the European roster to clinch the final round of the half and head into their T-side with a more recoverable 4-11 deficit.

The series returned to its to-and-fro nature at the outset of the second period; both teams taking turns to win a round at a time before HEROIC pulled ahead to steal the momentum and increase their lead, 14-6. Any chance of an OG comeback was soon quashed, the Danish side conceding just three more rounds on their way to a 16-7 victory to send the series to Anubis — the active map pool's newest addition and the BLAST World Final's second skirmish on the map. k0nfig stepped up on Mirage to help tie the series, leading the charge with a server-high 30 kills, his closest teammate being Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck on 16 frags.

HEROIC allowed Anubis to slip through the cracks after banning Ancient in the last round of the veto. The Danes instantly appeared to have done their homework, justifying their decision by going up 5-1 up on the T-side thanks to superb utility usage and superior map control. OG responded in kind and ate away at the deficit with a stalwart defensive line to get in front, 6-5. This lead didn't last by the turn of the half; HEROIC stole away three of the final four rounds to get back in the driver's seat and sit one round up at the interval.

HEROIC and OG couldn't be separated once play resumed after the switch, the two rosters once again trading rounds back-and-forth to have the Danes be up 12-10. HEROIC prevailed in this battle for control, however, building up a robust economy with which they used as a platform to cruise to match point, 15-10. OG suddenly switched on once staring down the barrel of defeat, brushing the Danes aside with a blistering five-round streak to force a trip to overtime on the new map.

OG continued their run of good form in the second set of extra rounds, winning two on their defense to hold a 20-19 advantage at the break. The European combine doubled down when their turn to attack came, picking up the two rounds they required to lock in a 22-19 victory and advance to the upper-bracket final.