BLAST Announce Spring Groups Opening Matches

BLAST have announced opening matches for the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024. The event will be the first BLAST Premier to feature 16 teams with the 4 new slots being opened up. Here are the four groups:

Group A:

• Vitality vs OG

• Astralis vs Falcons

Group A kicks off with current world number one, Vitality taking on OG. Vitality are coming off a brilliant 2023 where they were consistently on top with a variety of rosters. Now with a full bootcamp under their belt, they come in as an absolute favorite not just for this match but for the whole event. With OG's mixbag roster with a smattering of tier 3 pieces, Vitality should have a cake walk here.

The other opener will be Astralis taking on Falcons. Astralis' new roster with stavn and jabbi is absolutely stacked on paper, but the role balance is all over the place. Given Falcons' already set core with Snappi, SunPayus and maden and Magisk's ability to fit nearly every role, the Saudi-owned squad is a favorite for the match. Still Astralis will always have a punchers chance as BlameF and device give the team a solid floor to work with.

Group B:

• FaZe vs GamerLegion

• Team Spirit vs Team Liquid

Moving over to Group B, the other best CS2 team, FaZe, takes on perhaps the most unexpected new partner, GamerLegion. The team has shown it's commitment to CS with their buy-in but lacks the firepower to actually compete with a behemoth like FaZe. frozen's bound to be getting comfortable now and FaZe should realistically smash GL out of the server, especially given the lack of siuhy's masterful IGLing.

The second game however, is a lot more exciting. Team Spirit already showed their incredible scouting with Patsi, s1ren and Magixx in the past, but donk is on another level. The kid has been dropping 1.30 ratings left right and centre. And now he has sh1ro alongside him for the best 1-2 punch money could buy. Money that Spirit have put where their mouth is with their entry into BLAST.

While Spirit's 1-2 are amazing, Liquid have 4 bonified superstars of CS alongside a young talent. Twistzz, NAF and YEKINDAR is a rifle trio that vies to be the best in the world, and cadiaN is not only a solid AWPer but one of the best IGLs of this era. Spirit could be a step to far this early in the squad's existence, but it all comes down to cadiaN, just what the Dane usually likes.

Group C:

• G2 vs Ninjas In Pyjamas

• NaVi vs Complexity

Is NIP better than their hampus-REZ-brollan clash era? 100%. Are they good enough to take down G2? Probably not. Not only does G2 have the best rifler in the world, but m0NESY keeps improving every year and always brings a plethora of new tactics to the server. hunter is a solid 3rd who always starts a year strong, giving G2 enough firepower to hang with the best. HooXi and nexa have some of their work cut out for them when it comes to matches against FaZe and Vitality, but against NIP, the team will smash through with ease.

NaVi going up against Complexity is an incrdibly interesting matchup. On name value alone, you'd immediately give NaVi the win, but in CS2, Complexity have been monsters. Not only has the grim-floppy duality largely solved itself as they no longer have to carry games, but hallzerk and ELiGE as a star duo is working miracles. The latter so far has a shout to be one of the best CS2 players in the world. Their usual weakness, jT's fragging, has also largely resolved itself in CS2. Still NaVi aren't a pushover, so this will a tough matchup that the North American squad, for once, come into as the favorite.

Group D:

• Virtus.Pro vs BIG

• Cloud9 vs Heroic

Virtus.Pro may be a team tier 1 fans haven't seen recently as the squad has been playing smaller LANs since coming into CS2. But with the addition of mir they have slowly snuck up to #5 on the rankings. The firepower is stronger than ever and jame's style still holds up especially with the slower AWP meta. BIG have their upsides, but with their tactical focus, they have their work cut out for themselves up against VP. tabseN will have to go huge both as a fragger and as the leader to get the German side a win.

Finally, we have Cloud9 vs Heroic. Once the battle of "onliners", both teams have transformed significantly in the years since 2021. Cloud9 now sport the 2021 NaVi core and Heroic have gone with a mixbag international roster. The formerly Danish side has done the best it could, and NertZ is definitely their biggest draw. But given what we saw from Spinx post-Snappi, NertZ's performance isn't a guarantee. Meanwhile Cloud9 have slowly fixed their flaws with the addition of Boomb14 and will look to put up a mega showing at their first BLAST.

BLAST Premier Spring Groups kick off on 22nd January, with G2 taking on NIP.