All news: Blast Premier

The championships of the BLAST series in relation to other IEM-type title series have emerged recently. The first championship under the aegis of “blast” was held in 2020.

At the beginning of its formation, the tournaments used the system of invitations to the championship standard for most events in the CSGO discipline, but over time it grew into a franchise league.

BLAST in 2020 and fundamental changes due to COVID-19

The first championship of the BLAST series was the Spring 2020 Regular Season. Then 12 teams received invitations to the event: 100 Thieves, Astralis, Complexity Gaming, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, MIBR, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pajamas, OG and Team Vitality.

The teams battled for 16 days to share the 300,000 prize pool and, more importantly, to qualify for the next round of the BLAST global tournament lineup. The first six teams at BLAST: Spring 2020 Regular Season went to the spring finals, and the rest of the participants went to the Spring 2020 Showdown.

BLAST's kickoff year was in danger of ending in fiasco as the Spring 2020 Showdown and Spring 2020 Finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the event organizers continued to move according to the plan and held a number of events with logical names in Europe and America: Spring 2020 European Finals, Spring 2020: Americas Finals.

Similar competitions, but without regional distributions, were held in the autumn season. At the end of the year, the final BLAST tournament in 2020 - Global Final 2020 - took place.

At the global BLAST finals in 2020, 1,000,000 dollars were raffled off. The winners of BLAST 2020: Global Final are NAVI, who beat Astralis 2-0 in the grand final.

BLAST in 2021 and transition to a franchise model

In 2021, BLAST series tournaments received a key change: the league is moving to a franchise model with partner teams. In total, 12 teams became BLAST partners.

BLAST Premier partner teams

• Astralis
• BIG
• Complexity Gaming
• Evil Geniuses
• FaZe Clan
• G2 Esports
• MIBR
• Natus Vincere
• Ninjas in pajamas
• OG
• Team Liquid
• Team Vitality

Another change - now the teams were not divided according to the regional principle. Nominal representatives of America represented by CoL, EG and MIBR and Liquid performed on the European stage.

The championship series switched to a franchise model, but getting into the ecosystem without being a partner was a feasible task. Showdown tournaments brought together teams from various third-party BLAST event partners.

For 2021, the structure remained the same: during the regular seasons, the teams competed for tickets to the season finals and Showdowns. The year ended with a championship under the auspices of the World Final.

The winners of 2021 at BLAST are again “born to win”. Natus Vincere won Fall Groups 2020, Fall Finals 2020 and sealed the streak by winning the World Final, where they beat Gambit 2-1 in the final.

BLAST in 2022

In 2022, BLAST series tournaments will return to the principle of regional division. The teams are again divided into the American and European regions.

However, the return to the principle of competition in 2020 meant only the division of the Showdown championships: into American and European. The rest of the tournaments, such as the regular spring and autumn leagues, were left untouched.

At the spring finals of BLAST 2022, NAVI took another victory into their piggy bank. Having taken 5th place at Spring Groups 2022, the “born to win” bounced back at the final spring tournament within the BLAST ecosystem.

Heroic became the triumphant of BLAST Premier 2022: Fall Finals. Having won the BLAST Premier 2022: Fall European Showdown, the Danish team became the champion of the Fall Finals, which was held in Copenhagen.

BLAST Premier 2022: World Final will be the final tournament of the competitive CSGO season in 2022. At the event, 8 teams will share $1,000,000 and the title of the champion.

What is BLAST Premier World Leaderboard

Another aspect of the BLAST Premier franchise is the BLAST Global Leaderboard and BLAST Premier Points. They allow teams to qualify for BLAST: World Final status tournaments. BLAST points are awarded by teams for participating in series events, as well as third-party championships, including majors.

8 teams take part in the annual finals. The number of participants has increased since 2020.

In 2022, the distribution of BLAST: Global Finalists is as follows:

• Spring Final Winner (Natus Vincere)
• Fall Final Winner (Heroic)
• Champion of ESL Pro League S15 and PGL Major (FaZe Clan)
• Champion of IEM Rio Major 2022 (Outsiders)
• Champion ESL Pro League Season 16 (Vitality)
• Three teams from the global standings (G2 Esports, OG and Team Liquid)

There are many ways to get to BLAST, but they are all laborious. This is what makes BLAST a desirable championship for the best teams in the world.

All BLAST Premier Champions

The extensive system of BLAST tournaments allows a large number of teams to declare themselves. However, BLAST Premier has developed its own traditions and has its own victors who become champions with a fair amount of frequency.

All champions of BLAST Premier: Season Finals, BLAST Premier Showdown and BLAST: Global Finals

• Team Vitality Fall 2020 Finals
• NAVI-Global Final 2020
• Gambit Esports – Spring Finals 2021
• NAVI Fall Finals 2021
• NAVI – World Final 2021
• NAVI – Spring Finals 2022
• Heroic-Fall Finals 2022

NAVI remains the undisputed leader in terms of the number of BLAST Premier trophies.