BLAST Premier groups draw, schedule, and format revealed

After a live drawing on the BLAST Entertainment Twitch channel, fans now have a breakdown of the groups that BLAST Premier will use throughout the spring series. As of now, fans only know one part of the format. Unlike previous BLAST events, all matches in BLAST Premier will be played as best-of-threes. 

Group A

• Team Liquid
• FaZe Clan
• MiBR
• Ninjas in Pyjamas

Group B

• Astralis
• Natus Vincere
• Team Vitality
• Complexity

Group C

• Evil Geniuses
• 100 Thieves
• G2 Esports
• OG

Group A seems like TL has a decent chance of making it out, but the other three are wildcards. Group B will end up a fight for second place, but Na`Vi is a favorite for the second spot behind Astralis. gla1ve even took the time to express his confidence in Astralis’ performance in Group B.

Finally, Group C will be the most unpredictable of the groups, given EG’s recent slump and the inconsistency of G2. OG could also throw a wrench in the mix with CS Summit 5 and a month’s work of practice.

BLAST Premier Spring London dates and format

BLAST Premier’s first stage of the Spring series starts off on January 31 in London. According to BLAST, fans will be up close and personal with the pros, suggesting an event with an emphasis on the live fan experience like BLAST trialed at 2019’s BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles. 

The tournament has a decent $300,000 prize pool, but the real treat is when a team finishes in the top two in their group. The leading two teams from each group move on to the Spring Finals, where another $750,000 is on the line.

For the teams that finish last in each group, there’s still hope for them. The bottom teams from the three groups move on to the BLAST Showdown, where they will face off against another four teams for the final two spots at the Spring Finals.

Those other four teams will make their way to the Showdown through an open qualifier process. Tickets for the BLAST Premier are affordable, running at 10 Euro per ticket, which translates to about $13. The ticket includes access to the live matches and a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the BLAST production.