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9z Team Stun Vitality at BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown

9z Team produced one of the biggest upset wins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history on Thursday, when they defeated Team Vitality.

9z Team produced one of the biggest upset wins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history on Thursday, April 15, when they defeated the current world no.8 team Team Vitality. Beating the French side allowed 9z to advance into the next stage of BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown, where they’ll duke it out with Heroic.

Upsets in Abundance at BLAST Premier

The first round of BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown did not disappoint chaos-hungry CS:GO fans. Out of eight games, we saw three massive upsets, yet the best one was saved for last. In what will go down as one of the biggest upsets in CS:GO history, 9z beat Vitality 2-1 to eliminate them from the tournament.

Those who bet on 9z for that match have earned payouts at odds as high as +1900. Prior to that, we saw Dignitas humiliate Team Liquid (2-0) while OG squeezed past Astralis (2-0) in the tournament opener.
Whether the quarter-finals will serve us with more upsets is anyone’s guess. However, being an online tournament, it’s definitely worth shopping around the esports bookmakers to find good odds on the underdogs.

Things Started Well for Vitality

Vitality started the series on the right foot, picking up a 16-9 victory on 9z’s map pick Nuke. But it did not take long for things to turn sour.

Vitality’s misery started on Overpass. After Vitality picked up four of the first five rounds, the Argentinians found their stride. Being 1-4 down, 9z turned on their jets and won 8/10 rounds. That secured them a 9-6 lead at HT. Vitality struck back with four straight rounds on CT-Side. Yet, they quickly ran out of steam. Trailing 9-10, the Argentinians did not give up. With strong execution on T-side, they won 6/7 rounds to come ahead.

Santino “try” Rigal was 9z’s top player in that game with a 1.78 rating. Close behind was Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez (1.61). On Vitality, Richard “shox” Papillon was the only player with a positive rating (1.12). The team average was 0.87.

Despite 9z’s shocking performance on Overpass, the biggest shock of the series came on map three – Inferno. To everyone’s surprise, 9z secured 13 rounds on T-side, allowing Vitality only two successful defends (13-2). 9z struggled a bit in the second half, dropping eight straight rounds. But it was too late for Vitality. The South American side successfully won the last three needed rounds to seal the series with 16-12.

Try, and max were again top-performers for 9z. They averaged 16.2 and 1.45 rating, respectively. Cédric “RpK” Guipouy was the only player with a positive rating (1.32). His team averaged only 0.84. This also marked RpK’s last match with Vitality. He will be stepping down in favor of Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van.

9z secured a shock win despite fielding a stand-in. They played with Rajohn “EasTor” Linato instead of Martin “rox” Molina.

The Action Continues

With half of the field eliminated, eight teams remain in the race for the largest slice of the $162,500 prize pool.

Odds for OG vs. G2 Esports match

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:

  • OG -122
  • G2 Esports +101
  • OG +1.50 -333
  • G2 Esports -1.50 +244
  • Over 2.50 Maps -101
  • Under 2.50 Maps -125

G2 Esports have done well to defeat Endpoint (2-0) but are now set to face OG, who took down Astralis. Although G2 enter this match as heavy betting favorites, they lost to OG in October at DreamHack Open Fall 2020. That match ended in a 2-0 sweep for OG, who won with 16-14 on Nuke and 16-9 on Mirage.

Odds for Team Spirit vs. Dignitas match

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:

  • Team Spirit -263
  • Dignitas +211
  • Team Spirit -1.50 +114
  • Dignitas +1.50 -145
  • Over 2.50 Maps +124
  • Under 2.50 Maps -159

These sides have never met before, but it’s easy to say how this match will go. Despite Dignitas’ upset win against Team Liquid (2-0), they don’t seem ready to take on Spirit. The CIS squad are the reigning IEM Katowice finalists and have beaten much stronger teams of late.

Odds for Heroic vs. 9z Team match

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:

  • Heroic -1250
  • 9z Team +742
  • Heroic -1.50 +312
  • 9z Team +1.50 +218
  • Over 2.50 Maps +266
  • Under 2.50 Maps -385

9z Team will hope to cause another upset on Saturday when they take on Heroic. But that seems unlikely. Heroic are the world no.3 team and the reigning ESL Pro League Season 13 champions. 9z are ranked only 88th. A lot will have to go right for 9z to upset the Danes, but you never know what will happen.

Odds for FURIA vs. Gambit Esports match

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:

  • FURIA +212
  • Gambit -263
  • FURIA +1.50 -149
  • Gambit -1.50 +112
  • Over 2.50 Maps +126
  • Under 2.50 Maps -169

FURIA are in for a tough match as they take on the reigning IEM Katowice champions Gambit. Gambit won this match in March with 2-1; however, there are no guarantees they can do it again.