Blast Premier (stylized as BLAST Premier) is a Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) (previously Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) professional esports league launched in 2020. It is primarily based in two regions: North America and Europe.
 Official logo | |
| Formerly | BLAST Pro Series |
|---|---|
| Game | Counter-Strike 2 |
| Founded | January 2020 |
| Owner(s) | Blast ApS |
| No. of teams | 32 (Bounty) 16 (Open) 8 (Rivals) |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Continents | Worldwide |
| Most recent champion(s) | G2 Esports (World Final) |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Official website | blastpremier |
The Danish esports organisation, RFRSH Entertainment, announced the series as a successor to the BLAST Pro Series in 2019.[1] The 2020 Blast Premier Series experienced disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the transition of all events except the Spring regular season online and reduced prize pools for many of the events. This disruption continued into the 2021 season, with both the Spring Groups and Spring Showdown occurring online.[2]
Format
editThe Blast Premier series is divided into two seasons per year: Spring and Fall. Each season lasts around four months with 16 regular season partnered teams participating in the Group stage, ending with a season finals for the 6 top teams from the group stage.[3] The season finals are also open to two teams from each season's Showdown events, which are open to a much broader array of organizations, including those that did not advance in the regular season. Non-partnered teams usually qualify for the Showdown events via invites or via regional tournaments (One such example being the ACE North American Masters for teams from North America). The winner of each season's finals goes on to participate the Global Finals at the end of the year, as well as winners of other prestigious non-BLAST Premier events and those that rank highest in the BLAST Premier Global Leaderboard, a standings of the top events of the year from multiple leagues and tournaments.[4]
In August 2023, Counter-Strike developer Valve announced that the partnership system that Blast Premier used would be abolished in 2025, forcing all tournament organizers to pivot to an open circuit or an invitational system using Valve's rankings.[5] In order to prepare for the change to an open circuit, Blast announced that the 2024 Blast Premier season would feature 16 partnered teams: the previous 12 partnered teams that, with the exceptions of 100 Thieves, MIBR and Evil Geniuses (who had their spots sold to BIG Clan, Heroic and Cloud9 in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively),[6][7][8] had been partnered since Blast Premier's inception, and four one-year affiliate teams, those being GamerLegion, Team Falcons, Team Spirit and Virtus.pro.[9]
BLAST announced their plans for 2025 and beyond during the 2024 Spring Final in London. To align with Valve's new rules forcing their partnership system to cease, BLAST will use three formats - Bounty (a 32-team invitational tournament where teams receive bounties for winning matches against their opponents), Open (a 16-team tournament mimicking the Intel Extreme Masters), and Rivals (where the top 4 teams in the Valve rankings, plus the next-best teams in Europe, the Americas and Asia) will play each other in the old Final format). With this, 2024's World Final was the last BLAST Premier World Final.[10]
Partnered teams
edit| Team | Year joined | Year ended |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Thieves | 2020 | 2021 |
| MIBR | 2022 | |
| Evil Geniuses | 2023 | |
| Astralis | 2025[5] | |
| Complexity Gaming | ||
| FaZe Clan | ||
| G2 Esports | ||
| Team Liquid | ||
| Natus Vincere | ||
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | ||
| OG Esports | ||
| Team Vitality | ||
| BIG Clan | 2021 | |
| Heroic | 2022 | |
| Cloud9 | 2023 | |
| Team Falcons | 2024[a] | |
| GamerLegion | ||
| Team Spirit | ||
| Virtus.pro |
- ^ Joined as affiliate partner.
Editions
editPartner league
edit| Edition | Date | Venue, Host city | Champions | Runners-up | Prize pool | MVP | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2020: Regular Season | January 31–February 16, 2020 | 3 Mills Studio, London | FaZe Clan Natus Vincere G2 Esports |
OG Esports Complexity Gaming Team Liquid |
US$300,000 | Not awarded | [11] |
| Spring 2020 Europe Showdown | June 1–15, 2020 | Europe / Online | Vitality ENCE |
Ninjas in Pyjamas | US$182,500 | [12] | |
| Spring 2020 Americas Showdown | June 1–7, 2020 | North America / Online | MiBR Furia Esports |
Evil Geniuses | US$142,500 | [13] | |
| Spring 2020 Europe Finals | June 15–21, 2020 | Europe / Online | Complexity Gaming | Team Vitality | US$500,000 | Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut | [14] |
| Spring 2020 Americas Finals | June 16–21, 2020 | North America / Online | Evil Geniuses | MiBR | US$250,000 | Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov | [15] |
| Fall Series 2020 | October 15–31, 2020 | Europe / Online | OG Esports Team Vitality G2 Esports |
Natus Vincere BIG Clan Astralis |
US$300,000 | Not awarded | [16] |
| Fall Showdown 2020 | November 24–29, 2020 | Furia Esports mousesports |
Cloud9 Team Liquid |
US$150,000 | [17] | ||
| Fall 2020 Finals | December 8–13, 2020 | Team Vitality | Astralis | US$425,000 | Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut | [18] | |
| Global Final 2020 | January 19–24, 2021 | Natus Vincere | Astralis | US$1,000,000 | Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev | [19] | |
| Spring Groups 2021 | February 4–14, 2021 | BIG Clan Complexity Gaming Natus Vincere |
Ninjas in Pyjamas Evil Geniuses FaZe Clan |
US$150,000 | Not awarded | [20] | |
| Spring Showdown 2021 | April 13–18, 2021 | G2 Esports Gambit Esports |
Team Spirit Heroic |
US$162,500 | [21] | ||
| Spring Finals 2021 | June 15–20, 2021 | Gambit Esports | Natus Vincere | US$425,000 | Abay "Hobbit" Khassenov | [22] | |
| Fall Groups 2021 | September 16–26, 2021 | Natus Vincere Ninjas in Pyjamas Team Vitality |
FaZe Clan BIG Clan Astralis |
US$150,000 | Not awarded | [23] | |
| Fall Showdown 2021 | October 12–17, 2021 | Heroic Team Liquid |
OG Esports MAD Lions |
US$162,500 | [24] | ||
| Fall Finals 2021 | November 24–28, 2021 | Royal Arena, Copenhagen | Natus Vincere | Team Vitality | US$425,000 | Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev | [25] |
| World Final 2021 | December 14–19, 2021 | BLAST Studio, Copenhagen | Gambit Esports | US$1,000,000 | [26] | ||
| Spring Groups 2022 | January 28–February 6, 2022 | Europe / Online | Team Vitality OG Esports Faze Clan |
G2 Esports Natus Vincere BIG Clan |
US$117,500 | Not awarded | [27] |
| Spring Showdown Europe 2022 | April 27–May 1, 2022 | Europe / Online | ENCE | Astralis | US$67,500 | [28] | |
| Spring Showdown North America 2022 | North America / Online | PaiN Gaming | Furia Esports | US$67,500 | [29] | ||
| Spring Finals 2022 | June 15–19, 2022 | Altice Arena, Lisbon | Natus Vincere | Team Vitality | US$425,000 | Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev | [30] |
| Fall Groups 2022 | August 19–28, 2022 | BLAST Studio, Copenhagen | OG Esports Natus Vincere Team Liquid |
FaZe Clan Ninjas in Pyjamas G2 Esports |
US$117,500 | Not awarded | [31] |
| Fall Showdown Europe 2022 | October 19–23, 2022 | Europe / Online | Heroic | Astralis | US$67,500 | [32] | |
| Fall Showdown North America 2022 | North America / Online | Fluxo | MiBR | US$67,500 | [33] | ||
| Fall Finals 2022 | November 23–27, 2022 | Royal Arena, Copenhagen | Heroic | FaZe Clan | US$425,000 | Helvijs "broky" Saukants | [34] |
| World Final 2022 | December 14–18, 2022 | Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi | G2 Esports | Team Liquid | US$1,000,000 | Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov | [35] |
| Spring Groups 2023 | January 19–29, 2023 | BLAST Studio, Copenhagen | Team Vitality Faze Clan G2 Esports |
Natus Vincere Heroic Astralis |
US$117,500 | Not awarded | [36] |
| Spring Showdown Europe 2023 | March 29–April 2, 2023 | Europe/Online | Cloud9 | BIG Clan | US$67,500 | [37] | |
| Spring Showdown North America 2023 | March 29–April 2, 2023 | North America/Online | Imperial Esports | PaiN Gaming | US$67,500 | [38] | |
| Spring Final 2023 | June 7–11, 2023 | Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington D.C. | Heroic | Team Vitality | US$425,000 | Casper "cadiaN" Møller | [39] |
| Fall Groups 2023 | July 13–23, 2023 | Copenhagen | FaZe Clan Heroic Ninjas in Pyjamas |
Natus Vincere Team Vitality Astralis |
US$177,500 | Not awarded | [40] |
| Fall Showdown 2023 Europe | October 4–8, 2023 | Europe/Online | Cloud9 | BIG Clan | US$67,500 | [41] | |
| Fall Showdown 2023 Americas | October 4–8, 2023 | North America/Online | Complexity Gaming | Team Liquid | US$67,500 | [42] | |
| Fall Final 2023 | November 22–26, 2023 | Royal Arena, Copenhagen | Team Vitality | FaZe Clan | US$425,000 | Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut | [43] |
| World Final 2023 | December 13–17, 2023 | Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi | US$1,000,000 | [44] | |||
| Spring Groups 2024 | January 22–28, 2024 | Copenhagen | Virtus.pro FaZe Clan Natus Vincere Team Vitality |
Astralis G2 Esports |
US$190,000 | Not awarded | [45] |
| Spring Showdown 2024 | March 6–10, 2024 | Online | SAW Team Spirit |
OG Esports Metizport |
US$135,000 | [46] | |
| Spring Final 2024 | June 12–16, 2024 | Wembley Arena, London | Team Spirit | Natus Vincere | US$425,000 | Danil "donk" Kryshkovets | [47] |
| Fall Groups 2024 | July 29–August 4, 2024 | Copenhagen | Team Liquid G2 Esports Team Vitality Team Spirit |
Astralis Natus Vincere |
US$190,000 | Not awarded | [48] |
| Fall Showdown 2024 | August 21–25, 2024 | Online | FaZe Clan Team Falcons |
OG Esports Virtus.pro |
US$135,000 | [49] | |
| Fall Final 2024 | September 25–29, 2024 | Forum Copenhagen | G2 Esports | Natus Vincere | US$425,000 | Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov | [50] |
| World Final 2024 | October 30–November 3, 2024 | Singapore | Team Spirit | US$1,000,000 | [51] |
Open circuit
editIn August 2023, Counter-Strike 2 developers Valve banned tournament organizers from having "unique business relationships" with teams.[52] As a result, Blast revamped their tournament format starting in 2025.[53]
| Edition | Date | Venue, Host city | Champions | Runners-up | Prize pool | MVP | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bounty Season 1 | January 13–26, 2025 | Online Copenhagen (Finals) |
TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Open Lisbon 2025 | March 17–30, 2025 | Copenhagen (Groups) Lisbon (Finals) |
TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Rivals Season 1 | April 28–May 4, 2025 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Bounty Season 2 | August 4–17, 2025 | Online Copenhagen (Finals) |
TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Open London 2025 | August 25–September 7, 2025 | Copenhagen (Groups) London (Finals) |
TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Rivals Season 2 | November 10–16, 2025 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
World Team Of The Year
edit| Year | Role | ID | Name | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021[54] | IGL | apEX | Dan Madesclaire | Team Vitality |
| AWP | s1mple | Oleksandr Kostyliev | Natus Vincere | |
| Entry | NiKo | Nikola Kovač | G2 Esports | |
| Support | Perfecto | Ilya Zalutskiy | Natus Vincere | |
| Lurker | Hobbit | Abai Hasenov | Gambit Esports | |
| Coach | B1ad3 | Andrii Horodenskyi | Natus Vincere |
| Year | Role | ID | Name | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | IGL | karrigan | Finn Andersen | FaZe Clan |
| AWP | s1mple | Oleksandr Kostyliev | Natus Vincere | |
| Entry | YEKINDAR | Mareks Gaļinskis | Team Liquid | |
| Support | Perfecto | Ilya Zalutskiy | Natus Vincere | |
| Lurker | ropz | Robin Kool | Faze Clan | |
| Coach | B1ad3 | Andrii Horodenskyi | Natus Vincere |
References
edit- ^ "BLAST PREMIER announced with format changes and $4,250,000 prize pool for 2020". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- ^ Fitch, Adam (2020-09-16). "BLAST Premier revises prize pool distribution to greater benefit organisations". Esportsinsider. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
- ^ Pete, Alex (2020-01-30). "Formats, schedule and information on Blast Premier Series". EsportsJunkie.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- ^ Fitch, Adam (2019-09-15). "BLAST Premier announced with $4.25M prize pool for 2020". Esportsinsider. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- ^ a b LucasAM (3 August 2023). "Valve to end team and tournament organizer partnerships starting in 2025". HLTV.org. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Professeur (27 January 2021). "BIG announced as BLAST Premier Member Team". HLTV.org. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Striker (21 April 2022). "Heroic acquire partner slot in BLAST Premier circuit". HLTV.org. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ king_dempz (12 December 2023). "Cloud9 acquire EG's BLAST Premier slot". HLTV.org. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Sumljiv_Model (5 January 2024). "BLAST expand partner list with Virtus.pro, Falcons, Spirit, GamerLegion". HLTV.org. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Draik (14 June 2024). "BLAST announces 2025 circuit changes". HLTV.org. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Series 2020". HLTV. January 16 – February 16, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring 2020 Europe Showdown". HLTV. June 1–15, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring 2020 Americas Showdown". HLTV. June 1–7, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring 2020 Europe Finals". HLTV. June 15–21, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring 2020 Americas Finals". HLTV. June 16–21, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Series 2020". HLTV. October 15–31, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Showdown 2020". HLTV. November 24–29, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring 2020 Europe Finals". HLTV. June 15–21, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Global Final 2020". HLTV. January 19–24, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Groups 2021". HLTV. February 4–14, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Showdown 2021". HLTV. April 13–18, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Finals 2021". HLTV. June 15–20, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Groups 2021". HLTV. September 16–26, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Showdown 2021". HLTV. October 12–17, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Final 2021". HLTV. November 24–28, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier World Final 2021". HLTV. December 15–19, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Groups 2022". HLTV. February 4–14, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Showdown 2022 Europe". HLTV. April 27 – May 1, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Showdown North America 2022". HLTV. April 27 – May 1, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "Blast Premier Spring Final 2022". HLTV. June 15–19, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ "Blast Premier Fall Groups 2022". HLTV. August 19–28, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2022 Europe". HLTV. October 19–23, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2022 North America". HLTV. October 19–23, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022". HLTV. November 23–27, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ "BLAST Premier World Final 2022". HLTV. December 14–18, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023". HLTV. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2023 Europe". HLTV. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2023 Americas". HLTV. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023". HLTV. June 7–11, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023". HLTV. July 13–23, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 Europe". HLTV. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 Americas". HLTV. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023". HLTV. November 22–26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier World Final 2023". HLTV. December 13–17, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024". HLTV. January 22–28, 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2024". HLTV. March 6–10, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024". HLTV. June 12–16, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024". HLTV. July 29, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2024". HLTV. August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024". HLTV. September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ "BLAST Premier World Final 2024". HLTV. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
- ^ Nordland, Jake (3 August 2023). "Valve set to overhaul Counter-Strike esports ecosystem with major tournament rule changes". Esports Insider. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Nicholson, Jonno (17 June 2024). "BLAST Premier Counter-Strike 2 circuit revamped for 2025". Esports Insider. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "World Team Of The Year". BLAST Premier. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.