The new CS:GO season brought multiple new faces into the scene, with BLAST Premier ‘23 Spring Groups putting the new members of our partner teams to a demanding test of their potential to become the future legends of Counter-Strike.
If you followed the Spring Groups matches, you know that our BLAST Premier newcomers passed that test hands down, showing that they certainly have what it takes to compete with the elite.
If you need a quick review, here’s how our rookies performed in the tournament.
Although it might have taken Astralis a couple of maps to get comfortable on the server, they ultimately did, showcasing the strength and capabilities of the Danish revamped roster that everyone was so curious to finally see in action.
The returning legend dev1ce is known as a guy that never puts a foot wrong, and that’s exactly how he showed up in Spring Groups, following his year-long hiatus from competitive play. In a powerful display of individual form, he activated his god mode when needed to give us the CS we love, providing pure impact instrumental in Astralis’ success.
Meanwhile, Buzz too was doing his part to help the team claim that precious ticket to DC. He might not have been the most visible in the initial games, but as the competition progressed, the young player too started showing character, especially with pistols. Sure, there’s still a lot to work on, but despite the hardships, Buzz managed to find it in himself and make an impact in ever-important situations to prove he’s there to do the hard work.
Ninjas in Pyjamas’ latest roster addition headtr1ck clearly showed he’s capable of merciless shooting, topping the kill statistics on multiple occasions. With the first signs of dominance on display, he came into the field with a fair portion of confidence, good instincts, and decision-making; making sure to establish himself as a vital component of the Nordic team.
Another new gun on the server, who stood in for hampus during the tournament, turned out to be arguably one of the biggest surprises of the event. For the first time on LAN and with only one day of practice, maxster marched into the battle against NAVI seemingly fearless, absolutely shining through and showcasing the impact he can do even in mission-impossible scenarios thanks to his quick thinking and ability to stay calm in critical situations.
Despite having advanced to the Spring Final, it’s not a secret that Natus Vincere are struggling right now and that the current roster has a still long way ahead in order to reach heights similar to where they were about a year ago.
To achieve this goal, however, npl will have to build a better defense with b1t because that’s what seemed to be insufficient on occasions when s1mple needed to trust his defense just a bit more. That said, npl showed quite a decent performance on a handful of maps, even topping Inferno against NIP with 22 frags. Plus, with NAVI evidently working hard towards improvement, we might soon get to see them climbing back to the top.
EG's roster move heading into the 2023 season was the removal of Cerq for new AWPer wiz. It was clear to see that wiz and EG were still finding thier feet at Spring Groups and would need more time to adjust after changing a player who'd been at the organisation since 2019.
Picking up a notable win against Heroic in the opening match, wiz dropped 20 frags against the Danes on overpass and pulled a 1vs3 clutch on the opener of inferno to showcase what he could do against the world no.1 team at the time. Sadly this opener was the only matchup wiz and EG would win, winning a map off Heroic in the later rematch but falling to Complexity.
Spring Groups proved tricky for wiz and he couldn't really get the AWP rolling but he'll return to the server at the Spring Showdown, fighting for redemption and a ticket to the Spring Final on home soil.
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