BIG send Heroic to Showdown after scrappy brawl

The German side triumphed in a back-and-forth battle littered with mistakes by both teams.

BIG have kept themselves alive at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups with a 2-1 victory over HEROIC, recovering from a loss on Vertigo (12-16) with wins on Nuke (13-9) and Anubis (16-14).

Neither team inspired confidence with their play throughout this series. Both squads struggled to coordinate at times, lost multi-man advantages, and suffered from poor decision making, such that the broadcast team repeatedly emphasized how unlikely it was for either HEROIC or BIG to make it out of this group.

HEROIC have an excuse for their showing: they are a brand new team trying to mesh together a blend of disparate parts, with some of their players never having featured on an English-speaking lineup before. Their raw skill was on display in brief flashes, but a lack of depth to their strat book and clear communication seemed apparent, particularly on their T side.

By contrast BIG have been together as a lineup for some time and ended 2023 in fantastic form, winning back-to-back online events. You would not have guessed so based on their start to 2024, considering they recently failed to qualify for the European RMR, and their shaky level continued in this match. The substandard coordination that was on display at times on their offensive halves was particularly concerning.

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Fortunately for the majority-German side Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz dragged them through the first two maps of the series, with a bit of assistance from David "⁠prosus⁠" Hesse on Nuke, before Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa awoke to be the difference maker on Anubis.

BIG's win has earned them a matchup against Cloud9 in the Group D consolidation final, and they will need to improve significantly on today's showing if they are to have a chance against the Russian squad.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024
26/01/2024	Cloud9 20:55 BIG	Match

Vertigo was a contest to see who could have the worse T side, but neither team was able to take that crown in regulation. Untradeable deaths abounded as both sides stumbled on their offensive halves, largely relying on individual moments to get the rounds on the board. HEROIC outclassed BIG in overtime, but it was due to individual prowess from the likes of René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen and Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz rather than a coherent tactical approach.

HEROIC were far improved on the T side of Nuke, recovering from an 0-3 start with some clever mid-round calls that embodied a better understanding of how to approach the map as a team, as well as improved coordination. Unfortunately for HEROIC their CT side was lacking, particularly their defense of outside, and BIG took advantage of the gap to even up the series.

Anubis began with a proactive defensive approach from BIG and it paid dividends, allowing them to take a lead into the second period. The second half devolved into utter chaos as bizarre decision making and whiffs in key moments plagued both teams, but eventually Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi's AWP did enough to send the map to OT.

The combination of BIG's superior comfort on Anubis and a much improved Krimbo performance shone through in OT, such that despite a magical 1v3 AWP clutch by Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck, BIG clinched the map and the series.