Nearing the end of its BLAST Pro Series, BLAST has announced plans for CS:GO in 2020. The BLAST Premier will span the year, with US$4,250,000 in total prize pool.
BLAST has announced the BLAST Premier, a US$4,250,000 CS:GO circuit for 2020. (Image via BLAST)
How Does It Work?
BLAST Premier will be split between Spring and Fall. Both seasons will feature twelve teams divided into three groups. Each group will play for a single week, with the top two teams advancing to the season’s Final, and the bottom two teams going to the Showdown.
The Showdown will feature the six bottom teams plus four extra teams. The top two will advance to the season’s Final, joining the top six teams from the season itself.
Did you catch all that? Here’s a handy video from BLAST explaining it:
Show Me the Money
BLAST will hand out $300,000 for the three weeks of each season, another $325,000 for the season’s Showdown, and $750,000 for the Final. This is a total of $2,750,000 for both seasons.
The Global Final will have a prize pool of $1,500,000, with $1,000,000 going to the winner.
Devil’s in the Details
There are obviously still a fair number of question marks here. Which twelve teams will compete? Currently, seven teams are competing in the BLAST Pro Series: Team Liquid, Astralis, FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, MIBR, Natus Vincere and Cloud9. While it might be safe to think some number of these, if not all, will continue into the Premier circuit next year, we just don’t know yet. There’s also no indication yet of how the four extra teams who can compete in the Spring Showdown and Fall Showdown will be selected.
What about exact format for each week and stage of the competition? Again, we’re not sure yet. BLAST is promising best-of-threes though, so adjust your expectations accordingly.
The BLAST Pro Series ran into some controversy in 2019 for scheduling issues, and with the ESL Pro Tour, expect there to be some jockeying around for dates in 2020. We’ll update as the tournament schedule is finalized.
