Evil Geniuses announced that it would withdrawl from the BLAST Premier Showdown scheduled to start on November 24.
EG revealed that its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team would not participate in the Showdown, BLAST’s version of a second chance qualifier for teams who failed to make the cut for its Fall finals.
As the global condition worsens by the day, EG’s withdrawl makes plenty of sense from an organizational standpoint, much like when Team Liquid declined its spot at the BLAST Premier Fall regular season tournament, deciding instead to take an automatic spot in the tournament’s alternative qualification method.
CS:GO Schedule Update
We are sad to share with our fans that due to COVID-19 related restrictions which are limiting the team from traveling to Europe, we are putting a hold on all immediate upcoming travel with our Counter-Strike team. pic.twitter.com/iaah2aWymP
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) November 23, 2020
Evil Geniuses had already spent several months in Europe over the past several months, honing its skills against some of Europe’s best teams. But now, it seems like either the organization has made an executive decision to protect its players or international travel regulations are getting in the way of EG’s travel plans.Â
That said, it may be for the best. Both Team Liquid and EG lost their matches on the opposite sides of the IEM Beijing playoff bracket. EG’s loss to Chaos Esports Club was much easier for fans to stomach than Liquid’s loss to Triumph, but the change in plans means another team will step in to take EG’s place.
Unfortunately for the other teams attending the Showdown, BLAST has chosen Team Heroic to fill the empty slot.
Heroic has been one of 2020’s most improved teams, especially since the addition of in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller to its roster in April 2020. SInce then, Heroic has managed to grab four first-place finishes in some of CSGO’s most prestigous events.
BLAST Showdown takes the bottom teams from the BLAST Premier Fall regular season and pits them against several teams who qualified for the second-chance event. The eventual winners move on the BLAST Premier Fall finals. Heroic’s addition spells bad news for the other attendees, as the team is currently ranked number two in the world after thier impressive fall run.
BLAST Premier’s Fall Showdown is scheduled to start on November 24 with a match between North America’s FURIA against thier Brazilian counterparts in Isurus Gaming at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Heroic’s initial matchup in Group B is slated to start at the same time against the UK CSGO squad Endpoint.
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