BIG cast OG down to BLAST Fall Showdown

BIG will now face Vitality on Sunday for a chance to earn a BLAST Premier Fall Final berth and avoid their own trip down to the Showdown.

BIG live to fight another day at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups after besting OG in a three-map series in the do-or-die knockout stage. The German-majority roster went down early following an opening defeat on Mirage (11-16), but answered back after a superb CT-side comeback on Overpass (16-13) before keeping OG at bay in a back-and-forth affair on Ancient (16-11).

Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz and company will subsequently face off against Vitality on Sunday at 15:00 for a chance to earn a place at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, set to play out on November 22-26 in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023
23/07/2023	Vitality 15:00 BIG	Match

As for OG, their loss to BIG marks the end of their debut outing with their new-look lineup. The team underwent a major overhaul over the off-season, signing Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen, Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne, and Iulian "⁠regali⁠" Harjău while also bringing Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković back from the sidelines.

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Official: OG add trio; nexa returns

The European roster struggled in their first test against tier-one opposition, however. They recorded three consecutive losses — two of which were to top-five sides FaZe and G2 — to bow out of the Fall Groups in joint-last place and instead require a successful run through the Fall Showdown, an online competition that will go live on October 4-8 and offer two berths to the Fall Final in November.

The best-of-three bout between the two recently-revamped rosters began on OG's pick of Mirage, though it was BIG who got off to the better start. The Germans managed to put seven rounds on the board to nexa and company's one, with Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski — who was playing versus his former home of two years — and Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein providing the bulk of the heavy lifting for their team with 24 kills between them. It was only when FASHR, who was 3-10 at one point in time, had a sudden uptick in form that OG mounted a piercing comeback; the Dutchman ended the first half at the top of his team's scoreboard with a 12-12 K-D ratio, and even won a crucial 1vs1 clutch to nab OG their seventh.

OG kept their foot on the gas once it was their turn to defend, with k1to and regali taking turns to put quad kills on the board to power the international roster into the lead, 11-10. BIG did pull a win out of their hat in round 23, but were otherwise unable to crack through OG's stubborn defensive lines. The international roster used this advantage to full effect, stringing together four rounds in a row en route to an all-important 16-11 victory, this coming despite a massively lackluster 6-17 and 0.63-rated performance from nexa, the team's in-game leader.

OG's dominant posture on the CT-side carried over into BIG's Overpass pick, powered by a 180-degree change in performance by nexa. The Serbian captain racked up 12 kills to just three deaths midway through the half, presiding over an OG who were leaving BIG little room to work with in their blitz to a commanding 8-2 opening scoreline. The majority-German squad came online towards the tail-end of their T-side, however, being able to add a hat-trick of round wins to their tally thanks to double-kill rounds from their new Polish AWPer to prevent a complete blowout and trail by a more manageable 5-10 deficit at the half.

This late-half recovery ultimately proved to be worth its weight in gold once BIG swapped to the CT-side. The Germans kept piling on the pressure, and it didn't take much effort for the tabseN-led ensemble to win six of the first seven rounds and tie things up at 11 rounds apiece. This dominance from BIG persisted for the remainder of the map — only interrupted by a short-lived two-round spree from OG — and the German-Polish hybrid soon raced to a 16-13 victory to force a trip to Ancient, helped out by a superlative 28-kill performance from Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa, who also posted an ace and quad kill in the final two rounds.

It all came down to Ancient, where BIG, still brimming with confidence following their Overpass comeback, halted OG's ideal 3-0 start early to prevent the European cohort from running away with things. The Germans went on to set the scoreboard alight, winning six in a row courtesy of a standout performance from s1n and slowly but surely taking whatever wind was left out of OG's sails. The team around nexa were only able to win another two rounds by the end of the half, with every player of the quintet notably sitting on a negative K-D.

The second half was a back-and-forth bloodbath from start to finish, neither side able to chain together more than two rounds at a time and instead relying on individuals — like a 1vs2 clutch from s1n in round 20 or Maciej "⁠F1KU⁠" Miklas' triple kill with the Five-SeveN in round 24 — for rounds to be put on the scoresheet. In the end, BIG's lopsided advantage in the first half proved to be key in allowing the German-Polish side to clinch victory, with the scoreline ending 16-11 to send OG down to the Showdown.