BLAST Rivals Hong Kong: Passion UA Take Down The MongolZ on Day 1

Looks like Passion UA has buckled up for BLAST Rivals Fall, as they take down VRS’ Top 5 The MongolZ. While the vaunted controlez wasn’t up to his usual antics, the outcome of the game, I feel, was largely influenced by the grit shown by  Passion UA. 

A tricky start

The T-side of the first map, Overpass, didn’t start on the right foot for Passion UA, who were down 6-1 at one point. But they clawed their way back in regulation, although only to lose the game by a 14-16 margin in Overtime. While pulling off a comeback on the T-side wasn’t much of a testament to their resilience, overturning a 4-8 deficit to win the second map Inferno certainly fueled the narrative. 

In what ended as an extremely close series, Inferno was equally unpredictable. Both teams had significantly more success when on the T side, with Passion taking 9 rounds to MongolZ’s 8. A 13-11 scoreline in favor of Passion UA didn’t mean The MongolZ were down and out but their lives were a lot more difficult than they needed to be.

It came down to the last

It all came back to the final map Nuke, where The MongolZ’s 3-0 start was opposed by the individuals on Passion UA. While Grim started off hot, hallzerk also chimed in with a 1v3 clutch to push Passion UA to a lead. And even when hallzerk and Grim went down early, like on round 8, Kvem and others were there to pick the pieces up, and end the half with a 7-5 lead for Passion UA.

Losing the pistol spelled troubles for Passion UA, but if their was one thing we learned from the match, it was that the players on Passion UA don’t give up easily. As the half grew tense, two back-to-back 1v1 clutches from Passion UA put them right back on track. And then, from an even keel of 10-10, individual heroics from Kvem. 

The final round came down to mzinho against the world, which wasn’t enough for The MongolZ. In the end, Passion UA were just too strong, and have now punched their ticket to the Playoffs at BLAST Rivals.