Astralis, Gambit, Vitality … sounds cool, but it’s kind of boring, right? Today we will talk about the underdogs that can perform very well at the spring BLAST Showdown briefly and vividly.
Extra Salt
The good old guys who used to play as Cloud9… Yes, even before the line-up with ALEX and HenryG in charge. Extra Salt feel great in North America – the squad is strong, time-tested, and with the arrival of MarKE, Extra Salt has received an increase in audacity and firepower.
Now the squad has arrived for a bootcamp in Serbia – the guys are waiting for a European tour lasting four decent tournaments. BLAST Spring Showdown will be the first test for Extra Salt on this journey, and this team is very easy to underestimate.
I am sure that the match with Extra Salt will not be an easy walk for Spirit. Just like for any other team.
SAW
The Portuguese are strong. The SAW tag is not familiar to everyone, but the guys periodically qualify for big tournaments. So far, SAW are still gaining experience, but with each subsequent tournament, where there are tier 1 and tier 2 teams, SAW becomes stronger.
Heroic is a tough opponent for the first round, but they can work with it. Vitality or Gambit is definitely scarier. But the main strength of SAW is in psychology. If the Portuguese beat out Heroic, then it will be very difficult to stop them further.
Dignitas
Dignitas can’t even be called underdogs, but in the eyes of the average viewer – they are definitely not favorites.
It’s simple: if you don’t follow Dignitas very closely, it’s a different team now than it was a couple of months ago.
With the arrival of Lekr0, the Scandinavians play on an another level. It’s not the “honeymoon period” of the updated line-up, but the fact that Lekr0 fits too well into the team and covers Dignitas’ needs for mid-round calls and experience. That’s what H4RR3 could not provide.
However, it was not required of him – Lekr0 was just too decent an option on the market, H4RR3 is a human pity, and you can be happy for Dignitas – we are waiting for the Scandinavians in the top 15 HLTV.
And maybe in the finals of the spring BLAST season.
Endpoint
Endpoint had just lost FlameZ, and it had weakened them, as one might say in some other reality. In fact, although FlameZ is strong, the team has lost almost nothing. Thomas returns to Endpoint, and it sounds like an equivalent replacement.
This means that Endpoint are ready to destroy. G2 is the team’s opponent in the first round of the BLAST Spring Showdown. Can Endpoint do it? Yes, of course.
Then the game with the winner of the OG/Astralis pair is also nothing impossible. In short, Endpoint was lucky with the grid, so everything is in the hands of the RossR’s guys.
The team is on the verge of breaking through the ceiling with its head and gaining a foothold on the shooting range-2 level of the game. And at the same time, get into the top 20 of HLTV.
