BIG rallied past OG and Astralis shut out Complexity Gaming to kick off the play-in stage of the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 on Friday in Copenhagen.
BIG and Astralis stayed alive for the three remaining berths on offer into the Fall Final, while it marked the end of the line for OG and Complexity.
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, with the field split into three groups of four teams.
All matches were best-of-three and the winners of each group advanced straight to the Fall Final. The remaining nine teams moved to the seeded play-in stage to compete for three more Fall Final berths.
On Friday, OG beat BIG 16-11 on Mirage to begin their match before BIG pulled out victories of 16-13 on Overpass and 16-11 on Ancient to survive and advance. Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski of Poland led BIG with 64 kills and a plus-11 kills-to-deaths differential, while Germany’s Karim “Krimbo” Moussa added 59 kills on a plus-12.
Astralis defeated Complexity 16-12 on Vertigo and 16-4 on Overpass. Benjamin “blameF” Bremer paced the all-Danish Astralis squad with 48 kills and a plus-28 K-D, while Nicolai “device” Reedtz contributed 43 kills and a plus-23.
The play-in stage continues Saturday with two matches:
–G2 Esports vs. Evil Geniuses (Round 1)
–Team Liquid vs. Astralis (Round 2)
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 Final prize pool and points distribution:
1-3. $27,500, 2,400 BLAST Premier points, qualifies to Fall Final — Ninjas in Pyjamas, Heroic, FaZe Clan
4-6. $17,500, 1,800 BLAST Premier points, qualifies to Fall Final — TBD
7-9. $8,500, 800 BLAST Premier points, qualifies to Fall Showdown — TBD
10-12. $5,666, 300 BLAST Premier points, qualifies to Fall Showdown — OG, Complexity Gaming, TBD
–Field Level Media