The first major event on the Counter Strike: Global Offensive calendar is about to come to an end, with the Blast Premier Spring Groups 2023 reaching their conclusion on Sunday.
The S-Tier tournament is the first of the Blast-associated events of the year and has featured 12 teams competing for a prize pool of just over $177,000 in Copenhagen in Denmark.
More importantly, though, the best performers at the event also secure spots at the Blast Premier Spring Finals in Washington this June.
The event started with a group stage featuring three double-elimination groups, with the winners of each section automatically securing their places at the Spring Finals.
In Group A, it was Team Vitality who came out on top, while FaZe Clan won Group B and G2 Esports won Group C.
The remaining nine teams in the tournament then dropped into the play-in stage to battle it out for the last three Spring Finals berths and Natus Vincere have already secured a spot.
That leaves only two remaining places in the Spring Finals and they will be determined by the winners of Sunday's matches - Heroic v BIG and OG v Astralis.
Heroic can make added tournament experience count
| What | Heroic v BIG |
| Where | Copenhagen |
| When | 14.00, Sunday 29th January 2023 |
| How to watch | Blast Premier Twitch channel, bet365 Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds | Heroic 3/10, BIG 12/5 |
BIG defeated Team Liquid 2-0 in the first round of the play-in stage to set up this clash with Heroic but that result really said more about the state of Team Liquid right now, rather than the quality of the German side.
In the initial group phase, BIG looked unconvincing, losing both of their matches 2-0 against G2 Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas to drop into the play-in stage and it is hard to see them causing Heroic too many problems.
Heroic are currently top of the HLTV world CS:GO rankings and it would certainly be strange for them not to make the Blast Premier Spring Finals 2023.
They came close to winning Group A, losing 2-1 to Team Vitality in their final match, and will once again be looking to make the most of playing on their own patch.
Heroic also have the edge in experience over BIG, having ended 2022 with a handful of strong performances at major events.
In October, they came out on top in the Blast Premier Fall Showdown Europe before going on that extraordinary run at the IEM Rio Major, in which they finished second.
They followed that up by winning the Blast Premier Fall Finals in November and a 2-0 win for them looks the right betting approach for this contest at 11/10.
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OG look a solid bet to progress to Finals
| What | OG v Astralis |
| Where | Copenhagen |
| When | 17.30, Sunday 29th January 2023 |
| How to watch | Blast Premier Twitch channel, bet365 Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds | OG 8/11, Astralis 1/1 |
Another Danish side looking to win in Copenhagen and book their spot in the Blast Premier Spring Finals is Astralis, but a strong OG side will be standing in their way.
Astralis, who are 18th in the world CS:GO rankings, lost both of their matches in Group A against Heroic and Team Vitality, so dropped down to the play-in stage.
They steadied the ship in the play-in stage with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas but they could be denied a Spring Finals spot by OG.
OG made a strong start to their section, beating Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper-bracket semi-finals but they were unfortunate to have drawn juggernauts FaZe Clan in Group B.
They lost to FaZe Clan in the upper-bracket final but put up a fight, losing 2-1, and then bounced back with another 2-1 win over Team Liquid.
That saw them through to the final, but once again it was FaZe Clan who stood in their way and sealed a 2-0 win.
OG certainly showed promise in their section and were just unlucky to have been dealt a bad draw and at 8/11 they are the team to side with in this one.
They should not be taken lightly, having made the top four in the Blast Premier World Final - one of the most prestigious CS:GO events - in December.
