BLAST Premier: Spring Group C: NaVi Have to Win This!

There is no doubt that Natus Vincere have to take over this BLAST group. All the opposing teams are either weakened or newly formed, and Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev has kicked off his 2021 campaign with great performances already. Following a first-place finish at the BLAST Premier: Global Finals, they now have to show that they can maintain this level throughout the year.

With the exception of an 0-2 loss to Team Liquid, Natus Vincere were by far the best team in attendance at the Global Finals. In the Lower Bracket, they successfully powered through matches against Complexity and G2 Esports, until they faced Liquid again. This time around, they secured a 2-0 victory. In their duel with Team Vitality, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and his men didn’t stand a chance, which led NaVi to the Grand Finals. There, they dismantled Astralis on two straight maps. So NaVi obviously pack the skills to make this group their own. But what are the chances of Liquid, MIBR, and FaZe to make a dent?

REMADE IN BRAZIL

The new Brazilian lineup isn’t exactly what the fans had asked for. After Vito “kNgV-” Guiseppe was quite successful with his roster and posted some promising results, the Brazilian viewers wanted to see this lineup maintained. Instead, MIBR severed their ties with the players and signed BOOM Esports.

A fourth place at Flashpoint Season 2 ended up becoming a tenth-place finish at cs_summit 7. They only narrowly scraped past a weak FaZe Clan, whom kNgV- and his men had soundly defeated previously. Maybe this lineup needs more time to grow, but it is apparent that the team packs less skill than the roster iteration we saw in December of 2020.

Now, they’ll have to square off with Natus Vincere in the Opening Match already. The former team might have had some upset potential going into this, but now, MIBR shouldn’t stand a chance. Their descent to the Lower Bracket seems all but inevitable, where they’ll face either Liquid or FaZe and have their fair share of struggles as well.

FAZE + TWISTZZ

Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken left the Liquid lineup in December, after announcing his decision to a surprised IEM Global Challenge audience. Since then, his move to FaZe Clan was in the works, which was eventually confirmed two weeks ago. With Marcelo “coldzera” David, Håvard “rain” Nygaard, and Helvijs “broky” Saukants on board, the lineup boasts incredibly talented players – so much so that a rise to the top is almost bound to happen. Finn “karrigan” Andersen will be tasked to lead the team moving forward, but that won’t be possible at BLAST Premier: Spring just yet. They’ll still have to play out this group with Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer as a substitute.

Without a proper in-game-leader, the Twistzz debut might not go down exceptionally well. In their first match, they’ll have to face Team Liquid already, who have had preliminary success with Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo at the helm. The Clan’s chances depend entirely on coldzera’s ability to lead them into the fight against his former IGL, and how well Twistzz has been integrated into the roster. On a purely individual level, they should be able to contend with Liquid, NaVi, and MIBR.

DID FALLEN HAVE ENOUGH TIME?

Roughly 20 days have passed since Liquid debuted Fallen. Back then, they managed to score an upset victory over Natus Vincere in their first official match, which ultimately was brought back by s1mple and his colleagues. Still, they moved past Evil Geniuses and got close to taking down Team Vitality. With a fourth-place finish, they positioned themselves right behind the Astralis-Vitality-NaVi trio that had dominated the latter half of 2020. For their first tournament, this was quite a success.

But now they’ll have to add more victories to their tally. They haven’t had a real chance to prepare for FaZe, as this constellation of players hasn’t existed before. The Clan will continue to field this lineup until karrigan’s contract with mousesports runs out. So this confrontation will likely be held on a more individual level, where Liquid don’t really have a decisive upper hand. This encounter will reveal how much of a foundation Fallen has already established with his new Liquid colleagues.

NAVI SHOULDN’T FEEL SAFE

Natus Vincere have a tendency to start into events cold. This happened at the Global Finals and last year, they often had to warm up before they could actually start sweeping the tournament. MIBR, however, should be a feasible challenge even on an off day. On a purely tactical level, FaZe Clan will not stand a chance against Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov and his peers. Liquid, on the other hand, might actually have some upset potential.

The Opening Match of the Global Challenge is still in living memory. Since then, Liquid have had the chance to grow and improve. NaVi’s victory over the team later on was by no means decisive or dominant. Fallen is intent on reviving his rivalry with Natus Vincere, which dates back to the Luminosity Gaming days. Even though s1mple and his men have the biggest shot at making first place, they should not underestimate Team Liquid.