After eight days, the Group Stage of BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 is now over and we now know the first three teams to have booked their places at Fall Final.
With the two remaining Group Finals played today, they may not have provided a shock in the same manner as Group A's, but they did at least bring the excting Counter-Strike action we all know and love.
Kicking it off with Group C, let's go back over how FaZe overcame Team Liquid to qualify for Fall Final.
When the two teams faced off earlier in the event, it came as a mild surprise that it was Liquid who managed to come away with the victory. A result FaZe wouldn't let happen again, it was IGL karrigan who stepped up to top the scoreboard over the series and send Liquid down to the Gauntlet.
Liquid's struggles began on map one of Overpass. Star player NAF only managed to accumulate 3 kills in the 16-7 loss, and that was too much of a bad omen for Liquid to have any success. ropz continued his strong event with 22 kills, and FaZe's 10 T rounds prevented Liquid from having any real chance in the map.
There was more hope for Liquid on Ancient, a map that so far they'd displayed their best performances are, but karrigan was having none of it. One of the best IGLs of all time, he gave his opposite number YEKINDAR another masterclass in calling, and a forcebuy win at 13-11 secured the map victory for FaZe 16-11.
As the winners of BLAST Premier Spring Final, qualifying for Fall Final without the need to play in the Gauntlet was the minimum expectation for Heroic at Fall Groups. The dominant force in their group up to the Group Final, NAVI gave them their toughest match yet as both teams looked to qualify.
Opening up on Mirage, things were relatively even going into the second half. An 8-7 scoreline, NAVI quickly tied the score thanks to winning their CT pistol. That wouldn't be enough for them to take the lead, however, as jabbi's 17 T side kills carved holes in their defense and allowed Heroic to take the map 16-11.
NAVI fought back on Inferno thanks to a strong team performance. s1mple, b1t, iM, and jL all finished with positive KDs, while only stavn on the side of Heroic could manage a positive KD of his own. A 16-14 scoreline by the end, a forcebuy win from NAVI late in the second half broke Heroic's economy and gave the newly international side an easy run back into the game.
While winning a map showed growth from NAVI, it wouldn't be enough for them to win the series. Heroic returned fire on Nuke, and a strong T side half spearheaded from cadiaN saw the AWPer claim 15 kills and his team win 11 rounds. NAVI had a strong T side of their own, their 8 rounds providing cause for concern, but they came too late as Heroic won the rounds they needed to close it out 16-12.
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