2023 was a year to forget for OG in Counter-Strike but with a fresh lineup to open the new year, hopes were high for a bounce-back of epic proportions. At least, they were—until OG ran into Vitality at BLAST Premier yesterday.
Now OG holds the unsavory record of being the first squad held to zip on LAN in 2024, with the reigning Major champs wasting no time in their BLAST Premier Spring Groups opening match earlier today. Vitality came out guns blazing on Mirage, with newly-crowned 2023 MVP ZywOo notching 17 kills in the brutal 13-0 rout.
Four players landed double-digit kills in the opener with Vitality walking 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.
Further complicating this week’s appearance at BLAST Premier, Casper “ruggah” Due was unable to travel with the team due to family commitments, leaving the squad without their veteran coach for their first offline appearance.
It’s not the ideal start to 2024 that OG was hoping for on LAN. Last year the squad slipped quickly out of relevance as the squad struggled for consistency, with swift exits at each major offline tournament the team attended. The departure of Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski last January and Nemanja “nexa” Isaković both in February (for personal reasons) and November (to G2 Esports) played havoc with the lineup, leaving a lasting impact on a team that held its own throughout 2022.
On the upside, OG passed its first test during last week’s qualifiers for the PGL Copenhagen Major EU RMR, booking its spot for the main qualifier after posting wins over JANO, 3DMAX, and Nexus Gaming. While that wasn’t a convincing performance by any stretch, OG is now three series wins away from the Copenhagen Major.
It won’t get any easier for OG this week with a lower-bracket matchup against Falcons penned in for Jan. 23. The Saudi-backed project struggled in their own 2024 LAN debut vs. Astralis, with both teams desperate to post an offline win as the season rolls on.
