With the opening games of Group C concluded, let's now switch our attention to Group A.
Kicking it off is Vitality vs OG. Vitality ended 2023 as the best team in the world following wins at BLAST Premier Fall Final and BLAST Premier World Final whilst OG ended 2023 as a brand new roster, so what does that mean when the two teams meet for the very first time?
Let's get into it.
Bubzjki said he thought this series would be "easy" for Vitality, but even he probably wouldn't have predicted just how easy the openings of this map was for the BLAST.tv Major winners.
Kicking it off with a pistol-round win, the second round was incredibly short. As in, blink-and-you-miss-it short - so short in fact, Scrawny and launders barely even realised it was over.
Vitality quickly raced to a 7-0 lead on their CT side, a run in which the UK's finest mezii didn't die a single time. Despite that, he wasn't even the star, and somehow, neither was ZywOo. Instead, it was IGL apEX who topped the scoreboard, sitting pretty at 14-3 by the time the eighth round began.
The Major champions continued strong too, closing out the half 12-0 with some incredible gameplay.
Of course, in true Vitality fashion, they then closed out the game 13-0. OG almost managed to save themselves from the dreaded scoreline, but a quick 1v2 from Spinx sunk the young OG lineup.
What a way to start OG's stand-in coach Vlady's birthday...
If OG thought map two would get any easier for them, they were sadly mistaken.
Vitality raced to a 4-0 lead, kicking it off with mezii picking up a 1v2 clutch to begin map two just as map one was ended.
OG finally got their first round of the series on the board to make it 4-1, something our social media team had a lot of fun with.
Vitality responded instantly with three more round wins, but that number could've been reduced if flameZ wasn't playing like peak NiKo. As Vitality extended their lead to 9-3 at the half, the Israeli star was 16-6 and getting good use out of the peeker's advantage in CS2.
OG fought valiantly in the second half, they launched some quick rounds towards Vitality to catch them off-guard. Sadly though, it wasn't enough for them, and Vitality closed out the game 13-7.
The next games for the two teams will depend upon the outcome of the final game of day one, Astralis vs Falcons. Whoever loses that game will face off against OG to try to avoid relegation, while the other will play Vitality in hope to secure a spot in the Group Final.
BLAST ApS., Hauser Plads 1, 3., 1127 Copenhagen