Steven R. April 12, 2019
RFRSH is looking to establish the BLAST Pro Series as one of the biggest circuits in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and is throwing down a lot of money in order to make that happen.
The organizer revealed the plans for the rest of its 2019 season in a press release. It also gave some details on the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019, the event which will crown the series' first champion.
The Global Final will take place in December. Though no specific date or location was given for the event, RFRSH stated that it will feature a $500,000 prize pool with the first-place team winning $350,000. That brings the series’ total prize pool to $2.25 million.
The series will include seven events in total, including the recently completed BLAST Pro Series: Sao Paulo and the ongoing BLAST Pro Series: Miami. The series will move on to Madrid in May and to Los Angeles in July. It will also feature events in September, October, and November, though no specific dates or locations were given.
Astralis, Cloud9, MiBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, and FaZe Clan are the only teams included in the circuit thus far, with each team receiving a total of five invitations to BLAST events. To this point, each event has had six slots with gaps being filled with either regional qualifiers or “Wildcard Invites,” depending on the event.
BLAST Pro Series: Miami is currently ongoing with six of the seven teams set to compete. Meanwhile, BLAST Pro Series: Madrid will include five invited teams alongside an Iberian Peninsula qualifier, with teams from Spain and Portugal competing for the last slot on the card
The seven teams in the circuit receive points for each event they participate in, with first-place receiving 10 points, second receiving eight, and so on. The four teams that receive the most points by the end of the season receive an invitation to the Global Final in December. Wildcard teams and qualifier winners do not receive points.
Astralis are currently the frontrunners in the series with 10 points, courtesy of the team’s first-place performance in Sao Paulo where it defeated Team Liquid in the grand final.