With the first and last CS: GO events of the year, and a CS: GO Major, 2023 is a BLAST year.
BLAST has carved a special place for itself in the CS: GO calendar year, and this year is going to be no different. The tournament organizer will host the first and last event of the year, starting with BLAST Spring Groups and ending with the BLAST World Global Finals. Today, BLAST has revealed the schedule and format for the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023.
"We’re excited for what the BLAST Premier 2023 season has in store in its fourth year," said Charlotte Kenny, Managing Director of BLAST Premier. "2023 will be the second year running where we have all of our finals in packed-out arenas in leading locations around the world. We’re excited to deliver another 12 months of next-level entertainment and follow up on the success of last year’s arena events in Lisbon, Copenhagen and Abu Dhabi. “
This year BLAST aims to broadcast 345 hours of top-tier CS: GO across its seven events culminating in the World finals in December.
What is the BLAST Premier schedule for 2023?
The Spring and Fall groups will feature best-of-three formats with the group winners advancing directly to the Spring and Fall Final arena events. This is in contrast to last year when the tournaments featured bo matches. After considering feedback from the community as well as pros, the format change is a welcome one. The remaining three teams in each group get placed into Gauntlet, the three winners of the Gauntlet also book their place in the Spring and Fall Final, while the losing six teams get placed into the Showdown events.
The Showdown events will take place online and will have two tournaments - Showdown Europe and Showdown Rest of the World. The rest of the World will take place on North American servers with teams from other regions being flown into the region to ensure a level playing field.
The Showdown events will be the perfect opportunity for several teams to get an opportunity to compete at the highest level via the BLAST Premier regional qualifiers. And of course, winning the Showdown events will catapult them to play against better teams in the Arena events at the conclusion of each season.
BLAST has several partner teams that get an opportunity to compete in these events, a headstart if you may. However, the BLAST circuit is set up in such a way that any team can potentially reach the World Finals via the two Showdown events.
With more LAN events this year - the Spring and Fall Groups will take place at the org's Copenhagen studios - fans will get to watch even more action this year. The Spring and Fall Finals will also take place on LAN, although the venue announcement will come at a later date.
BLAST to host the first and last event of 2023
The BLAST premier World Final will be the final Tier 1 CS: GO event of 2023, similar to 2022. The million-dollar event will feature teams from various events throughout the year with teams’ performances determining their qualification for the World Finals.
If a team were to win multiple events a spot will be added to the Race To World Final each time. Two teams are guaranteed to qualify via the “Race to the World Final Leaderboard” and the remaining six slots will be filled by winners of the following events:: BLAST Premier Spring Final, BLAST.tv Paris Major, BLAST Premier Fall Final, Valve Fall Major, ESL Pro League Season 17, and ESL Pro League Season 18.
BLAST has 12 partnered teams - Astralis, BIG, Complexity, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, G2, Heroic, Liquid, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OG, and Vitality.
BLAST will also host the BLAST.tv Paris Major in May this year. The Major will feature 24 teams and run for 14 days with a $1.25 million prize pool.
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