BIG send Virtus.pro to Fall Showdown

The German squad played a fantastic decider after two hard-fought maps.

BIG march onwards in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups by virtue of a 2-1 win over Virtus.pro, taking Dust2 (13-11) and Ancient (13-7) either side of a loss on Mirage (10-13).

This result eliminates Virtus.pro, whilst BIG progress to a consolidation final matchup with world No. 1 Natus Vincere.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024
02/08/2024	Natus Vincere 19:45 BIG	Match

Virtus.pro have struggled to hit the heights their roster should be capable of on paper, and with the additions of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and later head coach Andrey "⁠Xoma⁠" Mironenko, they have also been undergoing a shift of playstyle.

Here at BLAST, it seemed that Virtus.pro have some way to go to get themselves in top shape. After an 0-2 loss to Liquid, the Russian side came into this matchup as heavy favorites, considering how poor BIG had been in their opening game, but floundered.

Not only did Virtus.pro scrape their pick of Mirage before being outclassed on Ancient, but their individuals struggled to produce enough firepower across the series.

BIG, meanwhile, showed a monumental improvement on their performance against Natus Vincere in their opening game. A proactive CT side clinched them Dust2, and they recovered well from a woeful defensive half on Mirage to make that map close as well.

On Ancient, the German side were a force to be reckoned with, in no small part thanks to Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro. The rifler was a wrecking ball on CT, side taking Mid control and holding down A, and helped crack open bombsites on multiple occasions on the T side as well.

Rigon "⁠rigoN⁠" Gashi continued to struggle much as he had in BIG's opener, which will be the point of concern for the German squad. rigoN has admitted in interviews on broadcast that he has to learn to adapt to his new roles, and on the evidence of this series, he still has a way to go.