BLAST Premier Fall Showdown viewer's guide

HLTV.org has put together a comprehensive viewer's guide ahead of one of the last events before IEM Major Rio.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown kicks off on Wednesday, October 19, with 16 teams set to battle it out online for their chance at securing one of two spots up for grabs for the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, which is due to play out from November 23-27.

The 16 squads will be split into two, eight-team events — one for the European side of things and another for the Americas. Both tournaments will run a single-elimination, best-of-three bracket, with the eventual victors of the respective competitions securing a place at the Fall Final LAN event in Denmark.

Vitality and HEROIC head into the European portion of the event as the clear-cut favourites to meet in the grand finals, with the world's No. 1 and No. 9 teams placed on opposing sides of the bracket. The two rosters will also be present at the Major in Brazil, starting in the Challengers Stage and Legends Stage, respectively, and will relish working their way up to peak form before the biggest event of the season.

Also set to participate is the new-look Astralis lineup, who will continue to field academy player Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen for the time being. This move comes after the organisation recently cut ties with Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke as the 25-year-old was forced to miss the Regional Major Ranking tournament following an altercation at a club in Malta. The Fall Showdown will also be Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold's coaching debut with the roster, taking over as skipper after Martin "⁠trace⁠" Heldt was let go in the wake of the Danish powerhouse's inability to qualify for IEM Major Rio — their first Major absence in the organisation's six-year history.

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Eternal Fire will be looking to get back on track at the online event shortly after their 3-4th place run at ESL Challenger Rotterdam, where Ömer "⁠imoRR⁠" Karataş took the reins following Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli's recent removal from the roster in the wake of the Turks' own failed campaign through the IEM Major Rio Europe RMR.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Europe has the following team list:

The eight-team bracket will commence on October 19, spanning five days with the grand final playing out on Sunday, October 23.

The tournament schedule is:

Wednesday, October 19

16:30 - Vitality vs. TYLOO (BO3)
19:30 - Astralis vs. Eternal Fire (BO3)

Thursday, October 20

16:30 - BIG vs. Sangal (BO3)
19:30 - HEROIC vs. ECSTATIC (BO3)

Friday, October 21

16:30 - Semi-final #1 (BO3)

Saturday, October 22

16:30 - Semi-final #2 (BO3)

Sunday, October 23

19:30 - Grand Final (BO3)

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Over in the new world, Complexity lead the way as the highest-rated team in the qualifying tournament, the North American squad eager to make up for their inability to qualify for IEM Major Rio after letting their initial 2-0 swiss-stage buffer slip away.

Not far behind the Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou-led roster are Evil Geniuses, who have seen an upswing in form since the addition of in-game leader Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov during the off-season; the North American roster has flown through the world ranking, now sitting firmly within the top 30 — their highest placing since August 2021.

Aiming to cause some upsets during their runs through the online event are VERTEX and Sharks. The world's No. 77 and No. 167 squads will strive to prove their worth at the precursor to the Fall Final, attempting to take down some of the higher-ranked Americas competition.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown North American features:

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown North America will also begin on Wednesday, October 19, though the opening round of play will last until Friday, with the semi-finals and grand final playing out on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The schedule for the event is as follows:

Wednesday, October 19

22:30 - Complexity vs. Sharks (BO3)

Thursday, October 20

22:30 - MIBR vs. TeamOne (BO3)

Friday, October 21

19:30 - Evil Geniuses vs. Fluxo (BO3)
22:30 00NATION vs. VERTEX

Saturday, October 22

19:30 - Semi-final #1 (BO3)
22:30 - Semi-final #2 (BO3)

Sunday, October 23

22:30 - Grand Final (BO3)

A total of nine broadcast talent members will be taking viewers through the action over the course of the week. Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers will be heading up the desk, whilst Anders "⁠Anders⁠" Blume and Alex "⁠Mauisnake⁠" Ellenberg will be reuniting on commentating duties, the pair previously teaming up to provide coverage of ESL Pro League Season 16 Group C a few weeks ago.

The full broadcast talent lineup is:

Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers - Desk host

Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez - Analyst
Jacob "⁠Pimp⁠" Winneche - Analyst
Danny "⁠mahone⁠" Hsieh - Analyst

James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks - Interviewer

Alex "⁠Mauisnake⁠" Ellenberg - Commentator
Anders "⁠Anders⁠" Blume - Commentator
Conner "⁠Scrawny⁠" Girvan - Commentator
Mohan "⁠launders⁠" Govindasamy - Commentator

The two tournaments will each offer a single spot for the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, due to run from November 23-27. In addition to this, both competitions will feature $67,500 prize pools, with $20,000 of that being allocated to the respective victors.

The prize pool distribution is:

1. $20,000 + BLAST Premier Fall Finals
2. $12,500
3-4. $7,500
3-4. $7,500
5-8. $5,000
5-8. $5,000
5-8. $5,000
5-8. $5,000