In this special series of articles, Esports News UK’s coverage of the Blast Spring Final 2024 is in collaboration with the betting partner GGBET UK | Photo by Jonathon Yau
Vitality knocked out G2 Esports after three maps in a 2-1 win in the Group B lower bracket final, as UK player William ‘mezii’ Merriman’s side secured a spot in the Blast Premier Spring Final playoffs.
This means G2 are knocked out, and Mezii has become the third British Counter-Strike player to compete in front of the Wembley Arena crowd.
Vitality will face long-time rivals Faze in the quarter-finals, while Astralis will play Virtus Pro in the other Friday game.
The winner of Vitality and Faze will go on to play Group B winner Spirit, while Natus Vincere await whoever is victorious in the second quarter final.
G2 and Saw crashed out in the group stage where two of the eight teams were eliminated, meaning that G2 finished a poor tournament season with only one trophy at IEM Dallas.
Story of the day as Blast Premier Spring Final playoffs teams are confirmed
Two teams were eliminated on Thursday as the group stage came to an end in best of three elimination matches.
Saw were the first casualty in London as they were eliminated from Group A with a loss to an Astralis who were simply a cut above.
The world #28 gambled by choosing Dust 2 – a map that they have only won one game on out of five since it was reintroduced to the competitive pool in late April.
Saw took a chance but Astralis battered them in the opening map 13-6, and the Portugese side fell even further behind on map two on Inferno as Astralis won 13-3.
This win meant that Astralis booked their spot in the quarter final, where they will face the runner-up of Group B, Virtus Pro.
Related interview: Astralis dev1ce on his IGL style and playing in London at the Blast Premier Spring Final
Titans clashed in the Group B lower bracket final, as Vitality bested G2 in a close-cut 2-1 series.
After having to use coach Wiktor ‘TaZ’ Wojtas as a stand-in yesterday, which saw them lose 2-1 to Spirit, G2 were back to their main five-man roster for the first time since March 9th.
They may have won IEM Dallas without their full team, but they would not be as successful in London.
The series went to Mirage as a decider, making it the first time that G2 would play the stalwart map since IEM Katowice 2024 in early February.
Dan ‘apEX‘ Madesclaire was too much for G2 to handle, with the in-game leader practicing what he preaches with 18 kills on the board – firing his side to the quarterfinals with a dominant 13-5 win.
Mezii will now have his homecountry welcome against Faze in front of the Wembley Arena crowd, St George’s Cross keyboard and all. See more about Mezii’s unique keyboard and jersey at the Blast Premier Spring Final.
In the upper bracket finals, we saw a fantastic opener that pitted Faze against Natus Vincere in a series that also went all three maps.
As spoiled above, Navi did take the win, and Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen‘s side immediately put Faze on the back foot by starting strong and stomping them 13-5 on Dust 2.
That was only the second time Faze had played the map pool’s newest addition in official competition since September 2022.
Faze moved back to familiar territory by picking Nuke, a map that they have won 60% of their games on over the last three months – they continued winning ways by beating Navi 13-9.
But it was the PGL Copenhagen Major champions who came out firing in the third map, and Navi narrowly bested Faze in a 13-10 contest, booking their spot in the semifinals.
Finally, Spirit picked up the win over Virtus Pro in a back and forth series.
Spirit made it look easy on Ancient, picking up a 13-4 win, and carried the momentum forward to close out the series with a nail-biting 13-11 win on Dust 2.
Both teams had already secured their spots in the playoffs regardless of this final result, which was something not guessed by many of our pundits in our Blast Premier Spring Final predictions.
Related article: GG.BET to run on-site activities at Blast Premier Spring Final GG.BOOTH
Reece is a sports journalist who has previously worked with the likes of BBC Radio Solent, Southern Daily Echo, Salisbury Radio, VAVEL and many more. He is currently studying a degree in Sports Journalism at Solent University.
