NiP and Astralis off to quick starts at BLAST Global Finals

Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated FaZe Clan 2-0 today, while Astralis easily took down Liquid.

After a year’s worth of best-of-ones, fans finally saw two real series on the opening day of the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals. The tournament showcased a Ninjas in Pyjamas team that beat the odds by taking down FaZe Clan in just two maps. Astralis versus Team Liquid wasn’t as competitive as most had hoped, as the Danes took down TL 2-0.

Ninjas beat the odds, Astralis cover in early matches

FaZe Clan was favored heavily in BLAST’s Global Finals by oddsmakers, but the Ninjas didn’t care. They were led by Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg’s performances on both maps.

The recent rumors of f0rest’s possible move to Dignitas could have affected the team’s dynamic, but instead gave f0rest an incentive to play his best. A player like him won’t check out just because he’s potentially checking into a new team. The rest of NiP did their part as well, like in this triple kill from Lekr0 on Vertigo. 

Astralis versus Liquid wasn’t competitive on Nuke, but Inferno was much closer when TL moved over to the CT side. Still, Astralis looked solid coming in against Liquid and their win pits them against the Ninjas in Pyjamas tomorrow at 11:00 AM EST. 

The Danes are heavily favored in this matchup, and it’s a much safer bet against NiP than it was against Liquid.

FaZe, Liquid to lower bracket, TL early favorites

Team Liquid didn’t look bad against Astralis today, but they didn’t look great either. Astralis was clearly more composed and more prepared, especially on Nuke and even more so on Inferno’s CT side.

Their performance today hurts their chances tomorrow, but they’re still early favorites to win against a FaZe team that needs to make a change. Only EliGE and NAF showed much of anything today, and that could prove to be bad news for the North Americans as the tournament progresses.

FaZe has the biggest names in CSGO on its roster, but no one bats an eye when players like Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer disappear for entire games these days. Coach Janko “YNk” Paunovic’s hasn’t significantly improved the team, and the organization may need to look for a change at the coaching position after this loss and many others like it.

Tomorrow has two more matches on the schedule for the BLAST Global Finals. The upper bracket final betweem Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas takes place at 7:00 AM EST, and Team Liquid will face FaZe in the lower bracket at 11:00 AM EST.

 will want to take a close look at the odds on FaZe Clan versus Team Liquid. TL should put away FaZe Clan, but if the odds are too heavily skewed towards the North Americans, FaZe makes an attractive option. Astralis and NiP won’t light the world on fire in their series, but NiP definitely has the potential to take a map off of Astralis in Bahrain.