BLAST Premier World Final: Astralis, G2 advance to semifinals while NAVI, Liquid go home

Image: BLAST

To everyone's surprise, tournament favourites NAVI were among the first two teams to get eliminated.

The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 in Singapore concluded its Group Stage with the first two teams getting eliminated and the Playoff bracket becoming set. 

Natus Vincere (NAVI) and Team Liquid were knocked out in 7th-8th place after falling to FaZe Clan and Team Vitality, respectively, in their groups' Elimination Matches. Meanwhile, Astralis and G2 Esports earned direct berths to the Playoff semifinals after they defeated MOUZ and Team Spirit in their groups' Winners Matches.

Here's how all the action went down on day two of the BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 Group Stage:

Group A

Elimination Match

Natus Vincere1-2FaZe Clan

NAVI were seen by many as the biggest favourites to become this year's BLAST Premier: World Final champions, adding to their incredible run of dominance in 2024 so far. But after falling victim to a massive upset by Astralis in the opening day of the tournament, NAVI's woes continued as they were defeated by FaZe and became the first team to be eliminated from the BLAST Premier World Final 2024.

NAVI looked like their usual dominant selves as the series opened in Inferno, where they built up a 8-4 lead after the first half as the CT side. While FaZe managed to score two rounds after the side switch, NAVI comfortably closed out the first map of the series with a 13-6 score.

Game two at Mirage saw NAVI once again lead by halftime, this time going up 7-5 as the T side. However, FaZe stormed their way back into the series by racking up seven straight rounds before NAVI could answer in round 20. A clinical round 21 win then allowed FaZe to claim the 13-8 win in Inferno and force the series to a decider.

FaZe continued rolling in map three at Ancient while NAVI seemed shaken by their game two loss. FaZe kicked off the action by winning the first five rounds as the CT side before ending the first half with a commanding 9-3 lead. FaZe carried their momentum into the second half by winning the first three rounds to get within series point, though NAVI did show signs of life by winning three straight rounds of their own. Even so, FaZe denied their opponents any chances of a comeback by closing out the win in Ancient in 19 rounds.

Winners Match

Astralis2-0MOUZ

The second match of the day saw an Astralis squad, still fresh off their huge upset over NAVI in day one, continue their fiery start to the tournament by sweeping MOUZ and securing a semifinals berth in the Playoffs.

Astralis were firing on all cylinders to start the series, as they pulled out the surprise Vertigo map pick and proceeded to build a dominant 10-2 first half lead as the T side. Astralis won the first two rounds of the second half before MOUZ struck back with a five-round streak, though the Danes still comfortably closed out the map with a 13-7 score. 

MOUZ put up a better fight in game two at Nuke and won five out of seven rounds of the first half as the T side. However, Astralis answered with five straight round wins to be the ones leading at 7-5 by halftime. MOUZ struck back to start the second half by tying things up at 7-7, but Astralis surgically won six of the next eight rounds to secure the 13-9 win in Nuke and a spot in the semifinals.

Group B

Elimination Match

Team Liquid1-2Team Vitality

The action then moved to Group B, where Vitality defeated Liquid in three games despite not having their full roster. With William “mezii” Merriman electing to skip the event in order to be present for the birth of his child and Audric “JACKZ” Jug tapped as his stand-in, Vitality superstar Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut proved instrumental in his team's march to the Playoffs.

Both teams looked evenly matched as the series started in Anubis, where the first half ended with the two sides in a 6-6 deadlock. However, a five-round streak from Liquid on the T side allowed them to take the first map of the series with a 13-10 score. ZywOo notably put up 23 kills on 13 deaths in the loss.

Vitality were quick to shake off their game one loss and dominate Liquid in Dust2, even with ZywOo not having his usual impact. Vitality opened the map by winning the first five rounds as the T side and building a commanding 9-3 lead by halftime. They then racked off four straight rounds in the second half to force the series to a deciding third game.

The decider at Nuke started out with Liquid on the T side leading 3-2 after the first five rounds, only for Vitality to answer with six straight wins to finish the first half with a 8-4 lead. Vitality then got within series point by round 18 before Liquid threatened a comeback with a five-round streak. However, Vitality closed the door on them in round 24.

ZywOo finished Nuke with 23 kills and six assists on 11 deaths, bringing his series totals to 53 kills and 16 assists on 31 deaths. 

Winners Match

G2 Esports2-0Team Spirit

The day then closed with G2 taking down Spirit in a rather competitive sweep, which included a 29-round overtime thriller in Anubis.

Both teams entered the series with all guns blazing in Anubis, though it was G2 on the T side that came out ahead with a 7-5 lead after the first half. They then carried their momentum over to the second half, where they won the first four rounds to extend their lead to 11-5. However, Spirit answered with five straight round wins before G2 got within map point in round 22. Even so, Spirit won the next two rounds to force the series' opening map into overtime.

Spirit looked like they could complete the comeback by winning the first overtime round, only for G2 to clutch out four straight rounds to secure the 16-13 win in Anubis.

Game two at Mirage saw G2 start strong by winning the first four rounds as the T side, though Spirit matched their opponents' firepower to force a 6-6 tie heading into halftime. G2 then surgically pulled off a 6-1 run to start the second half to get within series point after round 19. Spirit looked to force overtime once again as they won three rounds to get within 12-10, only for Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa to best Danil “donk” Kryshkovets in the clutch of round 23 to help G2 secure the 2-0 series sweep.

With the day's results, NAVI and Liquid exit the BLAST Premier World Final 2024 in 7th-8th place and will take home $15,000 in consolation.

The Playoff bracket has also been set with the Quarterfinals on Friday (November 1), featuring Spirit taking on FaZe and MOUZ facing Vitality. The Semifinals on Saturday (November 2) will then see Astralis and G2 go up against the winners of the Spirit-FaZe and MOUZ-Vitality matches, respectively, for the two spots in the grand finals on Sunday (November 3).

The BLAST Premier World Final 2024 features eight of the best CS2 teams in the world fighting for their cut of a $1 million prize pool, taking place from October 30 to November 3 at the Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa, Singapore. For everything you need to know about the BLAST Premier World Final 2024, check here.