BLAST Pro Series Moscow viewer's guide

As we approach the kick-off time for BLAST Pro Series Moscow, we have put together a viewer's guide with everything you need to know about the tournament, which will have $250,000 on the line.

The fifth BLAST Pro Series event of the 2019 season will take place this Friday and Saturday at the VTB Arena, where six teams - three of them part of the BLAST circuit - will square off for the grand prize of $125,000.

After introducing best-of-three semi-finals for the event in Los Angeles as part of the Front Row Experience, BLAST organisers RFRSH Entertainment are reverting back to the traditional format, with only two teams progressing from the round-robin stage.

One of the biggest talking points surrounding BLAST Pro Series Moscow is the impending retirement of Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko, who will put an end to his career after the event. The tournament will also mark the debut of the new ENCE and MIBR line-ups, featuring Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi and Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe, respectively.

Following the withdrawal of Vitality due to roster issues, RFRSH Entertainment decided to invite the two teams that were due to play the CIS Play-In match, AVANGAR and FORZE, to the main tournament, which will have the following sides in action:

Below is the complete schedule for the tournament:

Friday, September 13

Round one
19:45 - ENCE vs. FORZE | BO1
19:45 - Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. AVANGAR| BO1
19:45 - Natus Vincere vs. MIBR | BO1

Round two
21:15 - Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. MIBR | BO1
21:15 - FORZE vs. AVANGAR| BO1
21:15 - Natus Vincere vs. ENCE | BO1

Saturday, September 14

Round three
12:30 - Natus Vincere vs. AVANGAR | BO1
12:30 - ENCE vs. MIBR | BO1
12:30 - FORZE vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas | BO1

Round four
13:50 - Natus Vincere vs. FORZE | BO1
13:50 - MIBR vs. AVANGAR| BO1
13:50 - Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. ENCE | BO1

Round five
15:10 - FORZE vs. MIBR | BO1
15:10 - ENCE vs. AVANGAR| BO1
15:10 - Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas | BO1

16:30 - BLAST Pro Series Stand-off

17:30 - Grand final | BO3

Tres "⁠stunna⁠" Saranthus returns to the BLAST desk after running the show from the stage in Los Angeles, with Adam Savage taking over as the main host. Frankie "⁠Frankie⁠" Ward will be conducting interviews on the sidelines, while a quartet of analysts will help to break down the games and three casting pairs will be taking viewers through the action.

The complete on-air team for the event looks as follows:

Adam Savage - Stage host
Tres "stunna" Saranthus - Desk host

Frankie Ward - Interviewer

Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez - Analyst
Halvor "vENdetta" Gulestøl - Analyst
Christine "potter" Chi - Analyst
Jacob "Pimp" Winneche - Analyst

Daniel "ddk" Kapadia - Commentator
James Bardolph - Commentator
Hugo Byron - Commentator
Harry "JustHarry" Russell - Commentator
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan - Commentator
Mohan "launders" Govindasamy - Commentator

In addition to prize money, teams will compete for points in the 2019 BLAST circuit. After all regular BLAST events are over, the points will be tallied up, and the four best teams will be invited to the $500,000 BLAST Pro Series Global Finals, to be hosted at an as-of-yet undisclosed location at the end of the year.

The $250,000 prize pool will be distributed as follows:

1. $125,000 + 10 BPS Points
2. $50,000 + 8 BPS Points
3. $25,000 + 6 BPS Points
4. $15,000 + 4 BPS Points
5. $10,000 + 2 BPS Points
6. $5,000

BLAST Pro Stand-off winner: $20,000

BLAST Pro Series season leaderboard:

1. Liquid - 26 points
2. Astralis - 22 points
3. FaZe - 20 points
4. Ninjas in Pyjamas - 10 points
5. MIBR - 8 points
6. Natus Vincere - 6 points
7. Cloud9 - 6 points