It seems as though OG’s poor run of form in Counter-Strike in 2023 seems to have spilled over into 2024 despite the new lineup that the team set up for the new year.
Hopes were high for a better outing for OG with the shuggle but after facing Vitality at BLAST Premier on Tuesday, OG may be needing more than that. The team is now the first squad that will be beaten to zip on LAN in 2024 by the reigning Major champs.
The reigning Major champs wasted no time in their BLAST Premier Spring Groups opening match on Tuesday, coming out guns blazing on Mirage, as newly-crowned 2023 MVP ZywOo recording 17 kills in the brutal 13-0 rout.
Four other Vitality players did double-digit kills in the opener as they walked away with the CS2 series 2-0 after a 13-7 scoreline on Inferno. While Bram “Nexius” Campana and Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko had their moments across both maps, all eyes were on German veteran Nils “k1to” Gruhne, who landed just a single kill on Mirage.
OG’s situation at this week’s appearance at BLAST Premier was further complicated by the inability of Casper “ruggah” Due to travel with the team for their first offline appearance due to family commitments, thus leaving the squad without their veteran coach.
It’s a poor start for a team that lost relevance almost instantaneously lost relevance and remained inconsistent, and didn’t stay long in almost all the offline tournaments they attended.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom after OG passed its first test during last week’s qualifiers for the PGL Copenhagen Major EU RMR. The win helped them book a spot for the main qualifier after victories over JANO, 3DMAX, and Nexus Gaming, putting them three series wins away from the Copenhagen Major.
Later this week, OG will play a lower-bracket matchup against Falcons penned in for Jan. 23.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
