BLAST The Draft Season 1 - Indian Qualifiers: Day 1 Recap

The much-awaited Indian qualifiers of The Draft by BLAST and Nodwin Gaming have kicked off with all the top six teams fighting for a slot at February's Super Six LAN event in Kuala Lumpur. The teams competing in the CS2 Indian qualifiers are Enigma Gaming, Gods Reign, Marcos Gaming, True Rippers, Firedup Gaming and 2ez Gaming. Firedup Gaming and 2ez Gaming qualified for the Indian qualifiers via Open qualifiers. 

The first day of The Draft Season 1 CS2 Indian qualifiers featured three best-of-two matches. The matchups for the day were True Rippers vs Marcos Gaming, Enigma Gaming vs Gods Reign, and Firedup Gaming vs 2ez Gaming. Let's look at what went down between the top CS2 teams on the first day of The Draft - Indian Qualifiers. 

Also read: Enigma Gaming Won Esportz Premier Series 2023 CS2

True Rippers And Firedup Gaming Started Their The Draft By BLAST Campaign With A Victory

For the first match of the Indian qualifiers, True Rippers went against Marcos Gaming in a best-of-two series. True Rippers started strong, with Gh0sTTTT leading the team's attack on the first map of Ancient. Gh0sTTTT dominated the lobby with 27 frags to his name, which helped True Rippers secure a 13-9 victory on Ancient. The second map of the Overpass was closer than expected, resulting in an overtime. While Ember and reV3nnnn tried to win Overpass to tie the scores, Gh0sTTTT continued his domination to win the game in overtime with a 16-14 scoreline, securing a 2-0 win in their first series. 

The second match of the day was between the goliath of Indian CS2, Gods Reign, and Enigma Gaming. Gods Reign showcased a consistent team performance on the map of Anubis, with CycloneF, clouda, and Crazy Gamer leading the kill chart, resulting in a 13-9 victory in favor of Gods Reign. The Esportz Premiere Series CS2 champions, Enigma Gaming, did not give up and bounced back on the map of Mirage. BENZENE from Enigma secured Mirage for his team by going on a killing spree and grabbing 23 kills, helping Enigma win the map with a 13-8 scoreline. With Enigma's victory on the second map, the best-of-two matchup between Gods Reign and Enigma Gaming resulted in a tie.

In the third game of the day between Firedup Gaming and 2ez Gaming, Firedup looked hungry for victory. The best-of-two series started on Inferno with Firedup decimating 2ez. 2ez Gaming struggled and couldn't secure more than two rounds, resulting in Firedup Gaming's victory with a 13-2 scoreline on Inferno. While 2ez Gaming was looking to tie things up, only bb1 came through but more was needed. bb1 secured 25 kills, more than anyone in the lobby, but due to a lack of support from his team, Firedup Gaming found ways to counter their opponent's strategies. Firedup Gaming won the map of Nuke with a 13-7 scoreline, helping the team secure their first victory of The Draft: Indian qualifiers.