Groups announced for BLAST Premier Fall

The fall season's first international LAN will see the debut of several exciting new lineups.

BLAST have announced the three groups for their BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 event, the first international LAN after the summer tournament break. The 12 partner teams will take the field in Copenhagen, Denmark between from July 13-23 to compete for six spots at the Fall Final in November.

The teams have been evenly divided into three groups of four with a double-elimination format and best-of-three fixtures. The winners of each group will advance to the next stage of the BLAST circuit while the remaining nine teams will battle it out in a single-elimination bracket, effectively making it a triple-elimination group stage. Three more teams will advance to the Fall Final from said knockout stage, while the rest will be relegated to the Fall Showdown.

Spring champions Heroic could face Danish rivals Astralis in the group

Group A

Vitality
Ninjas in Pyjamas

Complexity
Evil Geniuses

The first group is headlined by reigning Major Champions Vitality, who will take the field with Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan following the rifler's arrival in the off-season to replace Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen. Complexity and Evil Geniuses also share the group, forming the North American presence at the event in Denmark. Ninjas in Pyjamas will round up Group A and will compete with returning in-game leader Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser after the Swede's return from his competitive break.

Read more

hampus returns to Ninjas in Pyjamas, Aleksib benched

Group B

HEROIC
Natus Vincere

Astralis
BIG

Group B will host the two best Danish teams as spring champions HEROIC share the stage with a brand-new Astralis. Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold's team enacted radical changes in the lineup during the summer, benching Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander to add Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup and Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr.

Natus Vincere are also expected to take the field with their new roster, featuring Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen, Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan, and Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius while BIG debut with their promoted academy prospects and Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski.

Read more

BIG sign mantuu; promote s1n, prosus in major roster overhaul

Group C

FaZe
G2

Liquid
OG

The last group will be one to watch as it contains top-five teams FaZe and G2 alongside the new European Liquid featuring Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov and Aleks "⁠Rainwaker⁠" Petrov. OG are also in the mix, and are expected to compete with a brand-new squad composed of Iulian "⁠regali⁠" Harjău, Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne, and Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen.