The good, bad, and ugly of BLAST Premier Spring Series Group 2

BLAST Premier Spring Series Group 2 has been a highly anticipated group since its announcement, even being deemed the group of death. This group pitted together three of the best teams in CS:GO, and Complexity. The group didn't disappoint and gave us some of the best matches of the year so far. But, not quite in the way that anyone expected. 

The good

Well, I think the apparent good here is Complexity's Cinderella run at Group 2. They did end up losing in the final to our other good team in Na'Vi, but I don't think anyone predicted them to qualify for the BLAST Premier Spring Series Final, or even win a map. Complexity was more than an underdog coming into the group of death. No one had them winning a series, much less 2-0ing Astralis and Vitality. More time will tell us if this was due to their ability to practice and strategize without being scouted and catch teams off guard, or if they are a real contender for the 2020 season.

Na'Vi looks to be the top team we have always wanted them to be despite a very new roster change. They lost at ICE Challenge to mousesports the day before Group 2 began, but the Na'Vi that showed up on day two and three of Group 2 was a different team. Day one made it seem like Na'Vi were going to get the boot down to BLAST Showdown in quick fashion, but they didn't let that happen. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev is back, and he won't be taking a backseat to rival AWPer Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut in the 2020 season. 

The bad

Vitality did the exact reverse of Na'Vi at Group 2. They came out strong on day one but looked pretty bad on days two and three. ZywOo didn't have that great of a showing in Group 2, which unfortunately seems to be Vitality's win condition. Though Richard "shox" Papillon and Cédric "RpK" Guipouy did have some great moments, those moments needed to be matches. The four members of Vitality without ZywOo seem to be doing a better job at carrying their weight, but they still have a way to go. 

The ugly

Astralis lost both of their series in Group 2. No, that is not a typo. Astralis were the uncontested number one team at the end of 2019 and coming into this event. This title and their ridiculous ability as a team had everyone thinking that at the very least, they would qualify for the BLAST Premier Spring Series Final, but they didn't even make it past day two. Astralis did take an extended vacation, about 58 days, before coming back to play CS:GO. This vacation probably plays a part in this horrible showing, but even with that, their performance in Group 2 was nothing short of disappointing. 

BLAST Premier Spring Series Group 3 kicks off on February 14. The four teams competing in Group 3 are 100 Thieves, G2, Evil Geniuses, and OG. Group 3 will conclude the group stages for BLAST Premier Spring Series 2020.