Before BLAST Premier World Final 2024, we spoke to Pimp about some of the biggest narratives surround each team in the tournament.
With the event proving to have many unexpected results and the RMRs now in full swing, we caught up with Pimp again to see if any of his thoughts on those teams have changed.
Vitality looked strong despite playing with a stand-in. Given that there has already been rumours about their roster for next year, how do you think their performances in Singapore may affect their team and any potential moves over the next couple of months?
Vitality looked somewhat decent in Singapore for sure. I don’t think anything that happened in Singapore will affect their team directly. If anything it was a freebie to test out some things, which they hopefully can use at the Shanghai Major.
I think that tournament, however, will be very defining for Vitality. It’s strongly rumoured already that changes will happen, Spinx is perhaps on his way out, as it was the case during the summer break as well.
If they don’t do well at the Shanghai Major it could potentially lead to even more changes, so a very important period for Vitality coming up.
ultimate was poor again at World Final, before the event you said he needed to learn to adapt to tier one to perform again, how long would you give him to do that and what would you look to do if he can’t?
It’s a good question, cause it is starting to get a bit worrisome for ultimate. He has slowed down to a point where all conversations about him being a diamond and difference maker for Liquid has faded away.
What can not happen is him being a liability, which is a fine line to draw. I’d still give him some time, cause we did see that when hitting his flow state, he is a very aggressive and decent AWP player. It’s not over for ultimate yet, but we need to see some re-confirmation of the level he entered liquid with.
Prior to World Final you said the break between Rio and World Final should be enough for NAVI to recharge, do you consider what then happened in Singapore to be worrying at all or would you still consider them the best team in the world?
It’s always a bit worrying when you exit a tournament in last place, let alone after such a strong period for NAVI. However, they’ve build enough good-will for me not to worry too much. It was a poor showing no doubt about it, and something they’d like to wash away ASAP naturally.
I still consider NAVI to be the best team in the world yes, but the power ranking landscape between them and the rest of the top five field is narrow.
How are you looking at Astralis now that the star trio have shown they can benefit from the cadiaN system and they picked up a decent placing?
I think Astralis showed great potential during Singapore, which makes the whole device situation so god damn unfortunate for everyone involved.
I feel for device first and foremost, cause I bet you he out of everyone is the one hating this the most. That, however, does not change the fact that it has severe consequences for the rest of the team, and that’s a bummer after what we saw in Singapore.
cadiaN can pick up the AWP role and stand-in just fine, but is device's health situation sustainable for Astralis in the future? You’d argue yes because device is fantastic, but it does harm the team an awful lot.
You said before World Final that you could see changes on the horizon for FaZe if they don’t make deep runs, what do you think they need to do at the Major to avoid those changes and failing that, what would you look to change?
For me, FaZe needs a grand-final appearance for them to properly consider not changing anything moving into 2025. Obviously, a semi-final at a major in their current state is still a great result, but we are talking about a team that’s supposed to win stuff.
It’s also strongly rumoured that changes and players may or may not have already been approached, so i’m curious to see what FaZe will look like during the Major.
I don’t think they’ll win it, but you can never count out FaZe, and especially not with a potential “dead team buff”. They’re legends of the game for a reason, and even under the circumstances of being a “dead” team they can perform. We saw that with Twistzz last year.
Spirit had an encouraging placing at World Final but failed drastically in the final, do you think the way that game played out was an anomaly or do you think it suggests something more worrying about their gameplans?
It was a step in the right direction for Spirit, getting to the final and all. Slightly disappointing they couldn’t make up more of a fight, but still overall a great showing for Spirit.
It’s hard to tell what’s been going on in the Spirit camp, but facts remain: They stuck together with the goal of performing at the Shanghai Major, and rediscover some of the early 2024 form.
If they fail in Shanghai, Spirit will have to evaluate their roster once more, and I’m almost certain changes then will happen. There’s a lot of CIS talent to pick from.
During the event the G2 CEO suggested that malbsMd is the future-proofing for NiKo’s eventual departure, with that in mind, how would you look to complete the roster in 2025 if/when NiKo departs?
I honestly don’t know, there’s so many aspects in play for G2 when NiKo leaves. People who think malbsMd can cover 1:1 for NiKo are people who perhaps forget what NiKo is all about. Dictating the game, vocal player, initiative, all things he’s worked for years and years to master.
malbs from a mechanical POV can replace NiKo and do well, no doubt. Which in itself is a massive statements to malbs qualities. However, nobody in the world seems well versed enough to replace the communication NiKo brings to G2, which they will suffer under to begin with.
You were unsure on MOUZ prior to World Final, how do you feel about them now?
Slightly better. It’s a goddamn good team, but there’s just so many players on that team that’s needed on bigger teams. I’m very interested in seeing if MOUZ as an organisation can keep the team together.
Even more so if not, what happens if one player decides to move on? Will the rest stick together and field a new player or will it all end? MOUZ is prime entertainment at the moment.
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