EN DE CN BR ES RU
Image
Icon

Vitality Going Up Against EG, G2, Complexity in BLAST Group B

The BLAST Premier: Spring Group B is packed to the brim with top teams who are looking to keep... Fabio | 8. February 2021

The BLAST Premier: Spring Group B is packed to the brim with top teams who are looking to keep up with Vitality. What are the chances for G2 Esports, Evil Geniuses, and Complexity to actually compete with Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and his men?

COMPLEXITY IN SHAMBLES

The recent months have been a turbulent time for Complexity. Valentin “poizon” Vasilev left the active roster following an emergency operation and stayed away for multiple events. While they did win some matches with Jakob “JUGi” Hansen on board, it wasn’t enough to mount any deep tournament runs. Now, poizon is back from his health-induced break, but we shouldn’t expect the team to immediately play to their former level.

It obviously doesn’t help in the slighest that they will have to face Vitality in the Opening Match. At the BLAST Premier: Global Finals 2020, the Frenchmen only narrowly missed the Grand Finals. So Complexity are at risk of dropping to the Lower Bracket early on already, but even last place wouldn’t be such a shame for them. After all, they haven’t had a lot of time to prepare with a stable roster, unlike the rest of the playing field.

EG HAVE TO PROVE THEMSELVES

On January 22, Evil Geniuses took a fatal blow from Team Liquid. Their only victory at the Global Finals was a 2-1 win over FURIA, who had to play with a new sixth man. For a team that spent the majority of last year at the top of the North American scene, they have some serious catching-up to do. But will they even get an opportunity to do that?

G2 Esports may already be a task too tall to handle. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač can singlehandedly turn matches around, and Nemanja “nexa” Isaković has most certainly learnt from the Global Finals experience. Getting so close to actually taking down Astralis, their victory over Evil Geniuses seems all but inevitable.

This means that Complexity remain as the enemy to beat here. Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz has to prove that he and his men can actually defeat a team whose current roster hasn’t played together in months.

G2 ESPORTS – WHEN WILL THEY FIND SUCCESS WITH NIKO?

When nexa came to G2, he and his colleague Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač propelled the team to new heights. At IEM Katowice 2020, they reached the Grand Finals and only fell short to Natus Vincere. Ever since then, however, their results have been lacking.

In signing NiKo, they intended to change this, but G2 are still struggling to consistently defeat Top 10 opponents. Obviously, we shouldn’t expect them to take down Vitality in a Best-of-Three match, but Complexity and EG need to be on the table for them. In their Opening Match versus Evil Geniuses, they can prove that they have gained form since the Global Finals.

VITALITY HAVE THE BIGGEST SHOT

It’s plain as day that ZywOo and his men are gunning for first place of BLAST Premier: Spring Group B. After all, they made third place at the BLAST Premier: Global Finals 2020 just a few weeks ago, whereas Complexity, G2, and EG exited the tournament much earlier.

But even though their chances are great, their victory is by no means guaranteed. In Group A, BIG and NiP proved how close the top teams are in terms of skill and form, and how quickly these upsets can take place. Even Astralis or Vitality won’t be entirely safe. Additionally, Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom had a really bad showing at the Global Finals. We have never seen the young Belgian play like this before and now he has to show that his most recent event was only a winter break induced fluke. If he and ZywOo can play to their best abilities, there’s hardly a chance for G2, EG, and Complexity to aim for first place.