Preview: There's a reason to look forward to BLAST Groups again

BLAST's expansion of the Groups has breathed new life into a dying circuit.

The BLAST Groups have always had one thing going for them. They’ve been a place for some of the top teams to shake off ring rust from the tournament break and often featured multiple teams debuting new rosters, giving them their first test in a lower-pressure environment and the audience a taste of what’s to come further in the season.

However, they have never been the most prestigious tournament on the calendar. It is a persistent point of criticism that the Groups are closed off for the franchise teams, and rather than a standalone event they’re more of a glorified qualifier for the seasonal Finals — and not a very cutthroat one at that with half of the field making it through and the other half getting another chance.

The tournament was also getting worse each year since its inception in 2020. The original 12 partners were a solid selection at the time, but by the Fall 2023 event the competition ranged from the elite all the way to the laughable (you know the one). For 2022 it went from simple double-elimination groups to a Frankenstein monster of an inflated, dragged out, uncompetitive and hard to follow format.

But as we approach the 2024 Spring season, BLAST addressed some of the event’s core issues and there is a reason to be looking forward to the Groups again, for what is expected to be the final year of the circuit as we know it before Valve put franchises to the sword.

The organizers have expanded the first phase of their circuit to 16 teams, bringing in Virtus.pro, Falcons, Spirit and GamerLegion as new affiliate members as well as Cloud9 as a full-fledged partner to replace the now-defunct Evil Geniuses, may they rest in peace.

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BLAST expand partner list with Virtus.pro, Falcons, Spirit, GamerLegion

Along with this came a change in format, which, as BLAST put it, removes “all redundant matches.” Questions about why we had to endure redundant matches in the first place aside, it is a significant improvement. No more half-meaningless first phase and staggered second (and previously even third) where teams could slack off half of the time. Back to a simple double-elimination group stage from where the top teams go straight through to the Final and second-placed teams play one another for two more spots.

Slackers beware, there are no more sleeper matches in the BLAST Groups

You can rightly argue the new teams weren’t all the best BLAST could get with MOUZ not being included and GamerLegion squeezing through despite their poor run at the end of the year. However, keep in mind that the pre-existing partners wouldn’t have agreed to a more difficult path to the Finals if there wasn’t something in it for them, and that not every team is willing to throw around hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few guaranteed spots. Is that ideal? Obviously not, but this is a business, after all.

Other than that, the new additions are a slam dunk. Considering the names Falcons garnered, Virtus.pro’s great run of form in the past few months and the addition of Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov to a rising Spirit squad powered by a superstar in the making in Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, you’d be hard-pressed to find better candidates.

The Groups now boast eight out of the current top 10 teams, four more from the top 20, and two new lineups that you can make an easy case for being at least top 10 contenders in Liquid and HEROIC. That’s competition on the level of a proper Big Event.

Group A
Vitality
Falcons
Astralis
OG

Group C
G2
Natus Vincere
Complexity
Ninjas in Pyjamas

Group B
FaZe
Spirit
Liquid
GamerLegion

Group D
Virtus.pro
Cloud9
HEROIC
BIG

The main point about the BLAST Groups’ prestige and meaning remains. It’s still a low-pressure tournament compared to Big Events despite the harder competition, more difficult path to the Finals and a less forgiving format, but that’s what makes it a good season-starter.

Following a particularly active rostermania period, it once again allows us to get a proper first look at several new teams and an update on those who looked shaky with new players at the end of 2023.

Chief among them are Falcons, who are the only ones yet to show their cards, skipping Major qualifiers after snatching away the former ENCE core. Their seeding into Group A is somewhat poetic, giving Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen a chance to get one over on their former organizations as they’ve been pitted against Astralis in their debut and possibly Vitality later on.

Liquid and HEROIC have already shown glimpses in the PGL Major Copenhagen and IEM Chengdu qualifiers and neither looked particularly convincing.

So far, so okay for the new Liquid, but NA is the least of their problems

Though it is hard to fault them given they got the job done, Liquid had multiple close shaves and one bad map against competition consisting solely of North and South American teams, and it remains to be seen if the stacked lineup can live up to the hype against the might of Europe.

In the meantime, HEROIC’s new roster boasting Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz, Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi, and Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski went through the second open qualifier for the Europe RMR but have been struggling in the closed qualifier on account of overtime losses to MOUZ — a tough draw — and KOI.

Spirit also didn’t have the easiest of times in the closed qualifier, but they have all but guaranteed a place at the RMR off the back of the donk nonetheless. Unfortunately, their LAN debut with the full lineup will have to wait until IEM Katowice after donk and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev have been ruled out of the BLAST Groups over visa issues, putting a damper on expectations for the tournament in Copenhagen.

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donk, magixx ruled out of BLAST Spring Groups due to visa issues

It is difficult to put OG, the final team coming into BLAST fresh off changes, in the same conversation as all the aforementioned names. The organization’s continuous shift away from proven players has produced a mishmash lineup with Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne as a first-time IGL leading a mix of youngsters who are yet to show they can hang with the best, so they stick out like a sore thumb from a Group A boasting so many giants of the game. But at the very least that means the pressure is off them, especially now that they’ve all but qualified for the Europe RMRs. Silver linings.

Looking outside of the debutants, eyes should be on the teams whose first appearances with new players late last year left something to be desired. Astralis’ additions of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard came with all the drama and flare, but that has yet to translate to the server. Cloud9’s honeymoon phase following Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov’s arrival lasted one tournament before issues with their AWP-less system began to crop up.

The jury is also still out on G2 with Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković instead of Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage and Natus Vincere, who have had Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev’s seemingly inevitable return looming over them ever since the superstar took a break late last year.

All in all, there is lots to learn from the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, which will run over the course of next week from January 22-28. With IEM Katowice just around the corner, it is the one and only chance for everyone to wake up from the slumber and get ready for the new year.

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BLAST Premier Spring Groups teams, format, schedule, prizes, talent