The review of BLAST Pro Series Miami 2019

The second BLAST Pro Series tournament was full of unexpected things, about which we will tell you further in today’s material.

The teams, which have disappointed

Natus Vincere

Very few people expected the victory from Natus Vincere but one message focused the public’s attention to the representatives of the yellow-black tag. After their victory at StarSeries & i-League Season 7 CS:GO Invitational, the team’s coach Mykhailo ‘kane’ Blagin said on his Twitter account that the team would go to the championship in Miami only to win. A part of viewers, which was skeptical about this statement, was right. Natus Vincere prevailed against MIBR and Cloud9 at the group stage. Natus Vincere lost matches with such teams as Astralis, Team Liquid, and FaZe Clan. The team finished its participation in the championship at the group stage, having placed 4th in the standings. Na’Vi has earned a money reward in the sum of $15,000 and 4 BLAST Pro Series Points for their efforts. The organizers have invited MIBR and Cloud9 to BLAST Pro Standoff but Natus Vincere was left out of duel matches.

Astralis

The status of the main disappointment is owned by the brightest representative of the Danish CS:GO scene for a reason. The team, which had created a new level and new standards at the professional stage, was the most obvious favorite to win the championship. Astralis had a series of two victories. They became the best at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice Major 2019 first and at BLAST Pro Series São Paulo 2019 after that. The Danes don’t just come to championships. It so happened in the last half a year that if they visit an event, they are likely to win it. All tournaments, hosted in the last 6 months, reflect this. The Danes have achieved victory at all championships, in which they have taken part since November, except one. They held the second place at iBUYPOWER Masters IV, having lost to their eternal opponents Team Liquid. The majority of viewers also expected the victory from gla1ve and his teammates at this championship but everything happened even worse than it had been expected. Astralis didn’t lose in the final, they simply didn’t reach it, the team even didn’t play at BLAST Pro Standoff. The team has prevailed only in the match against the main outsider and the weakest participant, Cloud9. Astralis have been defeated in all other matches.

The teams, which have performed in accordance with expectations

Cloud9

Cloud9 came to the tournament as the main outsider. The American team successfully confirmed its status and showed that it had been considered so for a reason. Astralis, Natus Vincere, MIBR, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid didn’t allow to beat them. They lost four matches at BLAST Pro Standoff. Only RUSH prevailed in a 1x1 match. The rest of the players won 5 rounds at least but it was not enough to win a duel series. It’s worth to notice the fact that Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim had been inactive for more than three months due to health issues, which brought the team to the expected result.

MIBR

The Brazilians from MIBR can’t get a necessary gaming shape and start showing good results. They were luckier at this tournament than at previous two, however, their performance can be called successful at a stretch. The team beat Astralis and Cloud9, made a draw with FaZe Clan and lost in matches against Team Liquid and Natus Vincere. As a result, MIBR played at BLAST Pro Standoff against and they managed to prevail in duel matches. All players, except felps, defeated their opponents and earned a money bonus in the sum of $20,000. Due to the Brazilian esportsmen’s efforts, MIBR has placed 3rd in the standings and earned a money prize in the sum of $25,000 (+$20,000) and 6 BLAST Pro Series points. This result is better than at previous tournaments but if the Brazilian team continues working on its gaming shape, it will perform even better at the next championships.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid has played well as usual. They were not able to achieve victory this time but the second place at the tournament after another getting to the final is just what viewers expected. The only thing, which could surprise them is that the final was lost in the match, not against Astralis and FaZe Clan. If you check the statistics of Liquid’s performance at various tournaments, you can notice that they are “the honored kings of the second place” and this means that the silver prize place at BLAST Pro Series Miami 2019 is the most obvious result for them, especially considering the level of the opponents, which have taken part in the tournament.

The teams, which have surprised

FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan is the only team, which have managed to surprise viewers in a good way. In our view, the team came to the tournament as one of three outsiders, which had few chances to win. At the group stage, the European team defeated Cloud9, Natus Vincere, and Astralis and also made a draw with MIBR. They lost the match against Team Liquid. When FaZe Clan made it to the final, viewers divided into two “camps”: the first one thought that the Europeans had to win because Team Liquid placed second at championships of any complexity and the representatives of other half stated that FaZe would not win a rematch against Team Liquid. To everyone’s surprise, NiKo and his teammates beat Liquid on the first map, having lost only 6 rounds, and finished the match, having achieved victory on the second map with a score 16-12. Due to their efforts, FaZe Clan has held the first place in the standings and earned a money reward in the sum of $125,000 and 10 BLAST Pro Series points.