Blast Group A Recap
Today's article gives a detailed summary of Group A at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. In the event, two of the four teams in each group qualify directly for the Fall Finals, while the two remaining teams have to compete in the Showdown. Find out which teams qualified in Group A and how each match played out down below.
Opening Round Match 1
The opening round of Blast Premier Fall Groups 2021 commenced with Astralis taking on Evil Geniuses, where Magisk lead Astralis their way through to the upper brackets. The first map took us to EG’s pick of Dust 2. MICHU’s heroics assisted his side to secure 8 rounds against a defensive Astralis. However, things quickly crumbled for them as Astralis won 9 of the 12 rounds in the second half to take us to the second map, Nuke.
Nuke witnessed some of the finest individual performance from Magisk, as he secured a K-D of 34-17, his best individual performance in a map in 2021. The Danes thrashed the defense as they notched 11 rounds in the first half. In the next half, Astralis managed to convert yet another pistol win, taking the tally to 4 out of 4 pistol wins which were converted to three rounds. EG came back with 3 rounds of their own, but the lead was just too much for them to take down, and the map ended with a 16-10 score line boosting Astralis to the upper bracket. Magisk was the most successful entry with 16 first kills on the map.
Nuke witnessed some of the finest individual performance from Magisk, as he secured a K-D of 34-17, his best individual performance in a map in 2021. The Danes thrashed the defense as they notched 11 rounds in the first half. In the next half, Astralis managed to convert yet another pistol win, taking the tally to 4 out of 4 pistol wins which were converted to three rounds. EG came back with 3 rounds of their own, but the lead was just too much for them to take down, and the map ended with a 16-10 score line boosting Astralis to the upper bracket. Magisk was the most successful entry with 16 first kills on the map.
Opening Round Match 2
The second match witnessed an in-form Vitality taking on North America’s pride Team Liquid. With a 71% win rate, Liquid chose Inferno to be the first map of the series. However it was the French who got off to a flying 7-0 start as they crushed Liquid’s offense. After giving up 11 rounds in the first half, Liquid just couldn’t manage to get anything going for them on the defense either and the map ended with a 16-6 score line in favour of Vitality.
Next was Vitality’s pick of Vertigo, which was a surprise pick as it’s their second least played map in 2021. Things didn’t work out as planned for the French as Liquid put up a monstrous 12-3 lead as CTs in the first half. FalleN and EliGE combined for 50 kills as Liquid closed out the map after giving up only 8 rounds.
The third map took us to Mirage where Zywoo reminded us why he was the Player of The Year for 2 years, as he finished the map with a K-D of 25-15. Vitality’s leader apEX showed some great form on the map as he boasted an ADR of 101 with 23 kills. Vitality conquered the third map with a comfortable 16-11 score.
Next was Vitality’s pick of Vertigo, which was a surprise pick as it’s their second least played map in 2021. Things didn’t work out as planned for the French as Liquid put up a monstrous 12-3 lead as CTs in the first half. FalleN and EliGE combined for 50 kills as Liquid closed out the map after giving up only 8 rounds.
The third map took us to Mirage where Zywoo reminded us why he was the Player of The Year for 2 years, as he finished the map with a K-D of 25-15. Vitality’s leader apEX showed some great form on the map as he boasted an ADR of 101 with 23 kills. Vitality conquered the third map with a comfortable 16-11 score.
Upper Final
The second day of Blast Premier Fall Groups 2021 started with the upper brackets as Vitality and Astralis went head to head for a spot in the final. Starting off with Vitality’s pick of Overpass, the French won both the pistol rounds. Vitality looked in control for most of the map as they clinched 9 rounds on T-side. It took them 13 more rounds on the CT side to find the remaining 7 rounds to close out the map.
Nuke turned out to be a nail biter of a match. Starting off on the T-side, Astralis managed to secure 11 rounds after converting the pistol. dupreeh had one of his finest showings on the T-side as he had a K-D of 24-11. Victory started to look even grimmer for the French when they lost the second pistol, taking the score to 12-4. However, a splendid performance from shox, misutaaa and zywoo helped Vitality make a comeback and win by a 16-14 score line.
Nuke turned out to be a nail biter of a match. Starting off on the T-side, Astralis managed to secure 11 rounds after converting the pistol. dupreeh had one of his finest showings on the T-side as he had a K-D of 24-11. Victory started to look even grimmer for the French when they lost the second pistol, taking the score to 12-4. However, a splendid performance from shox, misutaaa and zywoo helped Vitality make a comeback and win by a 16-14 score line.
Lower Final
After a frustrating defeat at the hands of Vitality, Liquid reached the lower brackets to find a crippled EG. Liquid made quick work of EG as they finished EG’s map pick of Mirage and their map pick Vertigo with score lines of 16-6 and 16-7. Everyone on Liquid showed up as neither of them had a negative K/D. EliGE was the star of the series as he had the highest kills (38) and the highest ADR (94.8). This embarrassing defeat ended EG’s Blast Premiere Fall Groups run.
Consolidation Final
In the Consolidation Final, Astralis faced Liquid to contest for a rematch against Vitality. Starting off with their pick of Vertigo, Liquid looked very comfortable throughout the first half as they secured 11 rounds on the T-side. The second half started with Astralis converting the pistol round. However, their momentum was short lived as Liquid won 5 out of the 7 rounds to end the map 16-9 for them.
Next up was Nuke. Starting off as Terrorists, the Danes eviscerated the defense of Liquid as they notched up 11 rounds. Throughout the T-side Astralis kept going outside and Liquid had absolutely no answer. Liquid started off their T-side well as they won 5 rounds in a row. However, the lead proved to be too high for them as Astralis closed out the map 16-11 in their favour.
The deciding map of the series was Dust 2 where it went back and forth for both sides. Astralis got a good start to the map as they won the first 4 rounds. After that, it was The EliGE show as the American took Liquid from 0-4 to 10-5. To further extend the lead, Liquid managed to win the pistol round as they kept three players alive. Unfortunately for them, it only went downhill from that point on. Astralis won 11 out of the 13 rounds and conquered Dust 2 by 16-13. With a K-D of 28-14, it was the Danish AWPer surged to life to make the comeback possible.
Next up was Nuke. Starting off as Terrorists, the Danes eviscerated the defense of Liquid as they notched up 11 rounds. Throughout the T-side Astralis kept going outside and Liquid had absolutely no answer. Liquid started off their T-side well as they won 5 rounds in a row. However, the lead proved to be too high for them as Astralis closed out the map 16-11 in their favour.
The deciding map of the series was Dust 2 where it went back and forth for both sides. Astralis got a good start to the map as they won the first 4 rounds. After that, it was The EliGE show as the American took Liquid from 0-4 to 10-5. To further extend the lead, Liquid managed to win the pistol round as they kept three players alive. Unfortunately for them, it only went downhill from that point on. Astralis won 11 out of the 13 rounds and conquered Dust 2 by 16-13. With a K-D of 28-14, it was the Danish AWPer surged to life to make the comeback possible.
Group Final
After defeating Liquid, Astralis faced the final boss Vitality in the group final. Even though Vitality trounced Astralis on Nuke, the Danes chose the map as their first pick. This time, they looked much better as they were comfortable on both the T-side and the CT-side. The map ended with a 16-10 scoreline for Astralis. Except dupreeh, every member on the Astralis side boasted an ADR of over 80.
Interestingly, Vitality decided to pick Vertigo instead of Overpass. Their gameplay clearly reflected their confidence on the server as they secured 11 rounds as Terrorists. They didn’t take much time to wrap up the series as the map concluded with a score of 16-10 in the favour of the French. The In-game-leader stepped up for Vitality, as apex ended the map with a K-D of 22-10. Surprisingly, ZywOo finished the map at the bottom of the scoreboard with only 12 kills.
The final map took us to Dust 2, which has been the most successful map for Astralis in 2021. Vitality were unfazed by Astralis’ win record on the map as they made quick work of the Danes. They won the first half by a 9-6 score. Their T-side looked even more deadly as even after losing the first two rounds, they won 7 out of 8 rounds to conquer the map. The underrated Kyojin finished the map with a stellar 22-10 K-D to take home the trophy.
Interestingly, Vitality decided to pick Vertigo instead of Overpass. Their gameplay clearly reflected their confidence on the server as they secured 11 rounds as Terrorists. They didn’t take much time to wrap up the series as the map concluded with a score of 16-10 in the favour of the French. The In-game-leader stepped up for Vitality, as apex ended the map with a K-D of 22-10. Surprisingly, ZywOo finished the map at the bottom of the scoreboard with only 12 kills.
The final map took us to Dust 2, which has been the most successful map for Astralis in 2021. Vitality were unfazed by Astralis’ win record on the map as they made quick work of the Danes. They won the first half by a 9-6 score. Their T-side looked even more deadly as even after losing the first two rounds, they won 7 out of 8 rounds to conquer the map. The underrated Kyojin finished the map with a stellar 22-10 K-D to take home the trophy.
Conclusion
Vitality and Astralis qualified directly for the BLAST Fall Finals, while Liquid and Evil Geniuses will face teams such as Dignitas, Movistar Riders and ViCi as well as the remaining third and fourth-placed BLAST Fall Groups in the showdown. The event is played as a single-elimination bracket and is known for surprise victories. With the group win, Vitaltiy secured a better seeding in the finals.
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