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Spirit, Liquid, G2, and Vitality top BLAST Premier: Fall Groups to qualify for Fall Final

Images: ESL

While Spirit, G2, and Vitality breezed through as expected, Group D produced a surprising result with Liquid upsetting NAVI.

The second half of the 2024 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) season is now in full swing as the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups concluded its Group Stage on Sunday (August 4) with Team Spirit, Team Liquid, G2 Esports, and Team Vitality claiming the first four spots in the Fall Finals in September.

The Fall Groups featured 16 teams fighting through a double-elimination GSL format group stage featuring four groups of four teams each. Six spots in the Fall Finals were up for grabs, with four going to the top teams of each group while two more could be claimed in the event's Play-In Stage.

Spirit cruise through Group A

Group A featured Spirit, OG, HEROIC, and Complexity Gaming. Many expected Spirit to make short work of this group, a belief they reinforced as they swept the first two rounds against OG and HEROIC. Complexity were dropped to the lower bracket in the first round, but they reached the final round after defeating OG in three games and getting revenge over HEROIC in a 2-0 sweep. 

Complexity put up a valiant fight in the final round, taking the first map at Dust II after a 19-16 double overtime slugfest. Spirit were quick to shake that loss, however, as they dominated Complexity in Anubis (13-6) and Nuke (13-10) to secure their spot in the Fall Finals. 

Vitality dominate Group B

Group B featured Vitality, Astralis, GamerLegion, and Team Falcons. Vitality were the favourites to top this group, though Astralis still managed to put up a good challenge. Vitality and Astralis defeated GamerLegion and Falcons, respectively, in the opening round to set up their first showdown for the upper bracket spot in the final round, where Astralis handily won in Nuke and Dust II.

Astralis then defeated Falcons in three games to earn a rematch with Vitality for the top seed of Group B. Astralis started the series strong with a 13-10 win in their surprise map pick at Vertigo, though Vitality were quick to bounce back with a 13-10 win in Mirage. Vitality then bulldozed through Astralis in Nuke, 13-7, to qualify for the Fall Finals.

G2 top Group C

Group C was considered the most competitive group of the event, featuring four strong squads in G2, FaZe Clan, Cloud9, and Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP). With that said, many expected the Fall Finals spot to be fought over by G2 and FaZe in the final round.

G2 and FaZe both won their opening matchups against C9 and NiP, respectively, to meet in the second round. While FaZe won the first map at Ancient, 13-9, G2 scored back-to-back 13-6 wins in Nuke and Mirage to be the first team in the group's final round.

To earn a rematch with G2, FaZe first needed to defeat NiP in a match many favoured them to win. However, NiP pulled off a surprising sweep with a 16-14 overtime win in Ancient and a 13-11 closeout in Inferno to be the second team to reach the final round instead. But despite NiP's best efforts, G2 bagged the Fall Finals spot for Group C with wins in Ancient (13-7) and Inferno (13-8).

Liquid upset NAVI to claim Group D top seed

Many expected Group D to be an easy path to the Fall Finals for CS2 Esports World Cup champions NAVI. However, an upstart Team Liquid upset them in two hard-fought matches to be the ones emerging victorious in Group D.

NAVI and Liquid both swept their first round opponents in BIG and Virtus.pro (VP) to meet in the second round. Liquid then proved themselves to be worthy challengers by taking the series opener at Anubis, 13-11, before NAVI dominated Mirage, 13-2, to force a decider. NAVI looked like they would close out the series with the 2-1 victory in Nuke after a stellar 7-0 start. 

However, Liquid turned the tables by winning the next eight rounds to be the ones leading, 8-7, by round 15. Liquid continued rolling to get within match point, 12-9, by round 21 before NAVI clutched the next two rounds to get in position to force overtime. However, Liquid pulled off an incredible clutch of their own in round 24 to secure the massive 2-1 upset and become the first team in the final round.

Eager to get their revenge over Liquid, NAVI blitzed through BIG in Dust II (13-7) and Mirage (13-3) to earn the rematch for the Fall Finals spot. 

The final round saw both teams trade haymakers. NAVI opened game one in Nuke with a dominant 10-2 first half, though Liquid managed to claw their way back with seven round wins after the side switch before ultimately conceding the series opener. Game two in Anubis was another overtime banger as Liquid came back from being down 8-11 to win 16-14 and force the match to a deciding third game. 

Liquid looked like they could pull off another upset as they won the first three rounds of Inferno, but a furious NAVI racked off incredible nine-straight rounds to head into the second half with a commanding 9-3 lead. Despite the massive odds stacked against them, Liquid roared their way back into the decider with spectacular eight-straight round wins in the second half. While NAVI did manage to take round 21, Liquid simply could not be denied as they clutched the next two rounds to claim the 13-10 victory in Inferno and snatch the Fall Finals spot away from NAVI.

The Play-In picture and Fall Showdown relegations

With Spirit, Vitality, G2, and Liquid claiming the first four Fall Finals spots, the Fall Groups now move to the Play-In Stage. Those four teams have also earned $22,500 apiece out of the Fall Groups' $190,000 prize pool.

Here, the four losing teams from the final rounds of the Group Stage will get a second chance to advance to the Fall Finals in a single-elimination bracket, with NiP taking on Astralis while Complexity will face NAVI. The winners of those two matches will qualify for the Fall Finals and earn $12,500 while the losers will be relegated to the Fall Showdown and get $10,500 for their efforts.

The other losing teams from the Group Stage were also relegated to the Fall Showdown, namely OG, HEROIC, GamerLegion, Falcons, Cloud9, FaZe, BIG, and VP. HEROIC, Falcons, FaZe, and BIG notably earned $8,500 for their efforts while OG, GamerLegion, Cloud9, and VP took home $5,000.

The last two spots in the Fall Finals will be up for grabs in the Fall Showdown from August 21 to 25. That event will feature the 10 relegated teams from the Fall Groups as well as six qualified teams from the Masters tournaments in the Nordic countries, Europe, the Americas, and Asia fighting through a treacherous single-elimination bracket.

The BLAST Premier Fall Split will then conclude with the Fall Finals from September 25 to 29, where the eight qualified teams will be fighting to claim a spot in the 2024 BLAST Premier World Finals and the lion's share of a $425,000 prize pool.