The CIS superstars of Gambit continued their dominance this weekend as they defeated Natus Vincere for the second time this tournament and became the BLAST Premier Spring Champions. Dropping only a single map in their entire championship run, the squad now earns 225,000 dollars and a qualifying spot at the World Finals later this year. Gambit joins their rivals of Heroic for a shot at becoming BLAST champions and earning a whopping 500,000 to boot. This tournament win also nets the roster an earned one million dollars in prize pool earnings from this year alone.
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The MVP race in this tournament was a tight race between sh1ro and Hobbit. The continuous bailouts and impact found by the Kazakh, however, was something that could not be ignored by HLTV. Hobbit has now won his third career MVP title alongside the CIS organization and boasted an impressive 1.21 rating across Gambit’s nine maps of play. Hobbit took to Twitter to thank the site for his award and stated that his compatriot sh1ro deserved it more for his communication and teamwork behind the structure of the organization. Even though the Russian sniper claimed a better rating, Hobbit had showcased veteran leadership, brilliant entry fragging, and continued chemistry with his sidekick, Ax1le.
Although the team won convincingly, Gambit may have some chinks in their map pool armor heading into IEM Cologne. Ancient was stolen away from them against Natus Vincere in their first series. A potential punish pick could be on the horizon with Cologne more than two weeks away from the scene. The onus is on the roster to shake off the LAN jitters that await them and contest a potential IEM Grand Slam victory.
One million dollars on the line, the young titans face their toughest challenge yet and will truly test their greatness to its limit. Na’Vi, Heroic, G2, Virtus.Pro, Mousesports, OG, and so many more threats lie before the Gambit goliaths. The question is not the hunger that these challengers have to knock the champions off their perch. It is the capability of this storied online roster to rise above and squash any rebellious efforts of the scene and begin their tour of the LAN circuit in destructive fashion.
The IEM Cologne Play-ins begin July 6th. Make sure to tune into the TGH CS:GO page and follow our coverage.
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