BLAST confirm 12 CSGO teams for BLAST Premier 2020 season
BLAST have announced the 12 partnered teams that will take part in the first BLAST Premier series for the 2020 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive season.
BLAST have made their mark in the CS:GO scene by putting on their unique Pro Series events, which sees a smaller number of teams than normal competing in a different format than they’re used to.
They planned to take things one step further in 2020 with the $4,250,000 BLAST Premier, which was announced back in September. Since then, things have been a little quiet but the tournament organizers have now confirmed the first 12 partnered teams as well as pulling back the curtain on how the season will be run.
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As expected, many of the teams that have taken part in Pro Series events have found themselves with Premier spots – as well as some teams with new line-ups that have yet to make their mark on the CS:GO scene.
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Astralis, Team Liquid, and Evil Geniuses are the clear heavy-hitters taking part, with MiBR, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, 100 Thieves, and G2 also being added to the list of teams.
The list is rounded out by Ninjas in Pyjamas – who have shuffled their roster in recent months – as well as the new-look Complexity and OG esports, who only entered the CS scene for the first time in December.
Welcoming in a new decade of Counter-Strike. Twelve partner teams, two seasons, $1M prize for the Global Final Champions.
This is #BLASTPremier
These are your teams pic.twitter.com/1qzrGthf7A— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) December 14, 2019
The dates for the schedule and subsequent host locations have yet to be confirmed by BLAST, with only a ‘studio series’ in London set to start things off in the Spring.
Despite that, we know that the announced teams will be split into three groups of four, with each group taking playing in a specified week – seemingly similar to ESL’s current Pro League set-up, with best-of-three’s also promised.
The top two teams from each group will move on to the Blast Premier finals, while the bottom two will play in the ‘BLAST showdown’ – which may seem like relegation, but it’s currently unknown as to what the showdown means.
Regardless, there will be some serious money on offer for the teams involved, with the winners getting the biggest slice of the $4,250,000 pie.