Image via BLAST Premier

Four takeaways from Day 1 of BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown

Featuring plenty of upsets and close calls

Zain Merchant

Published: Apr 13, 2021 03:50 pm

On Day 1 of the BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown, OG upset Astralis, G2 Esports took down Endpoint and Dignitas edged past Team Liquid. Here are four takeaways from April 13’s matches.

G2’s new setup

Since the departure of Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, G2 have been struggling to have a constant primary AWPer. In their debut match for the Showdown, the AWP was passed around between Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and François “AmaNEk” Delaunay, with an outstanding clutch by NiKo with the AWP. However, the team also proved that they didn’t need an AWP to succeed with a strong terrorist-side approach.

Astralis looking weak

In their match against OG’s new roster, Astralis looked weaker than ever. Despite bringing in Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen for Map 1, Astralis looked lost, with Bubzkji still relegated to playing a support role rather than his primary rifler role. As a result, OG dominated Astralis with Valdemar “valde” Vangså and Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski looking better than ever. OG swept Astralis and eliminated the Danish team.

In a post-match interview with HLTV, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz said, “It is to be expected that some things might change,” in regard to Bubzkji’s fit with the team. With Valve’s ruling about six-man rosters, Astralis had to “rethink the whole idea of a six-man roster.” Clearly, they are still trying to figure out what they are planning to do.

Endpoint might be a future contender

While G2 eliminated Endpoint from the tournament, Endpoint still proved that they have what it takes to perform at a high level. On Map 1, Inferno, Kia “Surreal” Man top-fragged the server with his rifling skills. Also, Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel consistently delivered opening picks with his close-quarters AWPing. However, with NiKo and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač performing on a high level and clutching rounds for G2, Endpoint lost the map. On Map 2, the Kovač brothers continued their domination and lost 2-0.

ACEEEEEE for @G2huNter @BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/UqY2VfmYkR

— G2 Esports (@G2esports) April 13, 2021

Dignitas eliminate Liquid

While many expected Team Liquid to crush Dignitas, Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson’s addition to the team revolutionized Dignitas, and they looked terrific against Liquid. On their T-side of Nuke, Dignitas dominated with Lekr0 getting opening kills, Ludvig “HEAP” Alonso cleaning up the rounds and Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg clutching rounds for his team. While the opening kills for both teams were approximately even, HEAP closed out each and every round and left Liquid with only one round on their CT side. Over on Vertigo, the same story continued but the scoreline was closer. Nevertheless, Dignitas took down Liquid 2-0 to eliminate them from the Blast Premier Spring Showdown.