The second stage of BLAST Premier Spring Final is starting today. Six of the original eight competitors are left in the race.
SAW and G2 Esports, despite their best efforts, lost both of their matches. Meanwhile, Natus Vincere and Team Spirit won their groups and will start the playoffs in the semifinals.
Group Stage Summary
The group stage of BLAST Premier Spring Final clearly showed that Natus Vincere are in much better shape than we expected. At their previous two tournaments, which took place in May, they finished 9th – 12th. But over the last two weeks, it seems that they’ve been training hard for this event.
As for Spirit, they’ve always been a formidable team in the group stage. Their weak point is performing well in the playoffs, when the stakes are high and the audience puts a lot of pressure on every player.
In group A, FaZe Clan and Astralis finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. However, they did not have to play against each other. Both of them failed versus Na’Vi and succeeded versus SAW, which doesn’t tell us very much about their current form.
In group B, Virtus.pro and Team Vitality faced each other in the first match. VP won but both teams ended up qualifying for the playoffs. In a rematch, it’s very likely that Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut’s team would win.
Playoffs Predictions
The playoffs of BLAST Premier Spring Final feature Virtus.pro vs. Astralis, and FaZe Clan vs. Team Vitality in the quarterfinals.
Astralis are definitely stronger than VP at this point, so it’s hard to believe that Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz will not find a way to win.
The second quarterfinal is much harder to predict. These two teams met each other in the semifinals of PGL Major Copenhagen and then in the quarterfinals of ESL Pro League S19. FaZe won the first match. Vitality won the second match.
Whoever wins has an excellent chance to beat Team Spirit in the semifinals. Both of these competitors defeated Danil “donk” Kryshkovets in the last three months.
On top of that, it’s well-known that Spirit tend to play a lot worse under pressure, while Vitality and FaZe excel in such moments thanks to their vast experience.
