BLAST announce Rivals S1 team list

2-4-2025 14:38

Vitality, MOUZ, and Spirit are heading back to Copenhagen's BLAST Studios.

BLAST have announced the eight teams that will attend Rivals Season 1.

Initially planned to take place in Monterrey, Rivals has been moved to the Copenhagen BLAST studios that hosted Bounty's top eight and Open's group stage.

The event used the March 3 invite global standings and features five of the top six teams after The MongolZ declined an invite.

Other notable absentees include Liquid, who were top of the North American and Asian regional ranking on March 3.

BLAST Rivals Monterrey moved to Copenhagen

Vitality, MOUZ, and Spirit will all attend, however, joined by world number five FaZe and European wildcard Falcons.

paiN, Wildcard, and FlyQuest then complete the team list as wildcard invites from their respective regions.

Assuming Liquid and The MongolZ declined invites, the regional wildcards all come from the top of their region's ranking on March 3.

Rivals is the spiritual successor to World Final, with eight teams, two GSL groups, and a six-team playoffs.

When BLAST first announced the format, the plan was to invite the world's top eight teams directly before Valve rule changes led to its redefinition as a wildcard event with four world ranking invites and four wildcard regional ones.

The final team list is:

paiN (SA Wildcard)

Falcons (EU Wildcard)

Wildcard (NA Wildcard)

FlyQuest (Asia Wildcard)

W pain

2025-04-02 14:39

OMG FINALLY NO ETERNAL FIRE

2025-04-02 14:40

9 replies

they weren't invited because they'd probably play in this too lmao

2025-04-02 14:41

8 replies

are you having a fight club moment?

2025-04-02 14:54

3 replies

a man can't say 2 things nowadays

2025-04-02 15:02

1 reply

if we speak we are in big trouble

2025-04-03 13:17

bro really forgot to switch accounts

2025-04-02 15:46

they rejected cuz they are above faze

2025-04-02 15:06

Only The MongolZ rejected; as you can see on the post this used this ranking to give out the invites: github.com/ValveSoftware/counter-strike_.. and FaZe is 5th here and EF are 7th

2025-04-02 15:11

sry thx

2025-04-02 15:18

this uses last month ranking, so they were not. in fact, they were also below Falcons, that got the invite as EU "wildcard"

2025-04-02 15:12

of course Falcons gets invited lmao

120

When you have big pockets full of $ you can pretty much get all wildcard invites lmao

2025-04-02 14:42

Since the Mongolz decline they were next in line in the ranking... since the March invite ranking they have slid down to 9th place, but the were 6th at the time.

2025-04-02 14:56

4 replies

When it comes to Mongolz, it only applies Asia wildcard invite, so it doesn't have to do anything with Europe wildcard invite. Also are you sure they were next in line? Wasn't EF for the whole time infront of Falcons in rankings? Cause if we are talking what's next in line, why hasn't EF been invited for Europe invite. They clearly stated that they will play everything that it is possible this year.

2025-04-02 15:04

That's incorrect, the Mongolz were in line for one of the 4 global spots which they declined. That moved a European team up into one of the top 4 spots opening a place for the Falcons who were 6th place on the invite ranking. Yes, I am sure: github.com/ValveSoftware/counter-strike_..

2025-04-02 15:09

2 replies

Okay weird that Ef was below Falcons. Assuming Falcons farmed a lot of points in PGL tournament. Thanks for clarification though

2025-04-02 15:10

Yes, they had picked up a good amount of points at that time. That is no longer the case as Eternal Fire are now ranked 5th and Falcons are 9th on Valve's ranking.

2025-04-02 15:13

actually besides vitality spirit and faze there are not many better options to invite.. could've been navi maybe. then g2 falcons vp astralis ef all similar level

2025-04-02 15:05

no they're not similar level

2025-04-02 15:41

Saudi invests so much into esports and the leagues (like Blast, ESl, and PGL) that Falcons get auto bids to almost all of them (free vrs points) while other top teams don't have those ties. So basically Falcons is farming VRS points right now

2025-04-02 21:50

Copenhagen Studios let's go!

Donk? More like Drink. Dude has an alcohol abuse problem.

2025-04-03 13:18

Wildcard instead of Liquid? wtf? ...

i think they declined right?

2025-04-02 15:29

as opposed to NA/EU Wildcard

no navi g2 mongolz or ef but invite falcons and flyquest nice blast

12 replies

"When BLAST first announced the format, the plan was to invite the world's top eight teams directly before Valve rule changes led to its redefinition as a wildcard event with four world ranking invites and four wildcard regional ones."

10 replies

yes so 4 tier 99 teams and 4 tier 1 teams atp we just know who qualifies further

2025-04-02 14:43

6 replies

dont say "nice blast" when its valve changing the rules that makes the format this way

5 replies

I'm not sure what rule change they are referring to. I think maybe it's just the minimum number of teams that you have to invite to be considered tier 1 and BLAST wanted to keep this is a small event, so they have to classify it as a Wildcard event (and get an exception to do so). There is no rule that says they have to invite a team from Asia or anywhere else, other than once they announce that a spot is for a region they can't change their mind later.

2025-04-02 15:55

its literally blast's decision to invite those teams

2025-04-02 22:39

bro work on your reading comprehension please

2025-04-02 22:43

blast chose the wildcard invites, that is what is being criticized

2025-04-03 03:14

chose? they are the top teams from each region as required

2025-04-03 06:11

okay, but why Faze is there?

2025-04-02 14:51

i would assume faze was top 4 at the point of invites, or the other teams declined the invite

2025-04-02 14:52

your flair rejected the invite and faze was next on the VRS

Do you not know how invites work

how much falcons paid?

No Na'Vi - no viewership.

no navi - no 0-2 exit

2025-04-02 14:45

From who? Who cares about wonderfool and all of the twats lmao.

2025-04-02 14:47

pro.eslgaming.com/tour/2025/03/annual-cl.. pro.eslgaming.com/tour/2025/03/annual-cl.. Despite underperforming in the last several months, they were still the most viewed team in Katowice and the second most viewed team in Pro League. Objectively, they are one of, if not the most popular teams in the game. Remember - the hyper engaged viewers on HLTV like you and me are the absolute minority - most people choose to view teams if they're from their country/region, or if they find the players likeable, or whatever.

Why would CIS residents watch Counter-Strike, if they can play it IRL??

2025-04-02 23:06

ESL posted their viewership numbers and Navi was easily the most viewed team this year.

2025-04-02 16:18

no navi - no annoying navi fans (hopefully)

flyquest !!!!

Not inviting The MongolZ, Navi, EF, G2, Liquid seems funny to me, If the goal is rivals being a top tier event for only the best, what is the point of inviting random af teams

zzzz flyquest instead of TYLOO/MONGOLZ/LV

flyquest with nettik is an interesting team

2025-04-02 14:44

#23

Another studio event?

Mongolz declined and you have to at least win an event to be invited as a wildcard. I guess the justification for flyqiest is that they won that esl challenger event eons ago.

not quite, the rules say you don't have to be a wildcard team to be invited using a wildcard invite, you can just grab the next team from the given VRS list so FlyQuest is Asia #2, Asia #1 (Mongolz) declined so FQ can be invited using a wildcard invite since it's the next team on that VRS list

MongolZ declined the regular invite, though? Also the way the rule is worded I'm pretty sure they'd have to invite a team from global VRS

I'm just speculating, but I think this is what they are doing: #70

2025-04-02 15:24

Mongolz would have been VRS #4, not Asia #1. What this basically does confirm is that siuhy is replacing jks on Liquid, because Liquid were the ones that had accepted the Asia invite when they were first done.

2025-04-02 17:40

Falclowns ?

For them i think because the roster has 3 individuals in top 8 or 12 before i forgot

I think BLAST may have fallen back to using the regional VRS lists instead of Wildcard invites. Both Falcons and paiN should have been ineligible for Wildcard invites: "3.6.3 A Roster shall only be eligible for a Wildcard Invite if it is ranked lower than 12 on the Global VRS list and it fulfills at least one of the following requirements as of the Invitation Date" I think they may be using this rule: "3.6.2 If Tournament Operator chooses not to make use of previously announced Wildcard invitations, they may invite the next highest ranked Rosters from the VRS lists already announced for the Tournament." It's not 100% clear, but they announced the spots as being region locked, so I'm guessing that counts as being "from the VRS lists already announced for the Tournament."

EDIT: I forgot that second place teams can be invited as well and Falcons did place second at PGL Cluj-Napoca. I don't see where paiN would be eligible though. "3.6.3 b) It has placed first or second place in any Tournament, of equal or lesser tier than the one issuing the invite, during the preceding 6 months."

2025-04-02 15:59

Must be some other reason cuz basically no Asian team could be invited other than mongolz then

SemperFi and Gods Reign have both won events: hltv.org/events/8311/dfrag-invitational-.. hltv.org/events/8442/dust2-india-1xbet-m.. However, I'm speculating in this case that at least some of these invite spots got converted to use regional VRS invites instead: #70

2025-04-02 15:34

Wildcard (NA Wildcard) LOL

Faze going dead last you heard it here first

boring event. only few top teams. And no arena.

2025-04-02 14:46

LOL what is this tournament? 4 top teams vs random invites? Just cancel the whole thing .

MVP farm for whoever gets the memest bracket wtf...

2025-04-03 05:10

flyquest bout get farmed so hard here that they will disband

2025-04-02 14:49

Literally every team except the top 3 gonna get destroyed

2025-04-02 16:46

is stew playing? or was PGL the end

Which audience is this supposed to attract with 4 top tier teams and 4 tier 168 teams without any arena?

2025-04-02 14:50

no mongolz sadge

hltv.org/team/6248/the-mongolz#tab-event.. A lot of events

i am a greedy man :(

2025-04-02 14:53

yalla compass :D but at least it's more than ef and both think they're tier 1

2025-04-02 15:07

what is faze doing here?

A sign for BLAST that they should focus on running real tournaments with real qualifiers instead of trying to run things like this.

"announnce"

2025-04-02 15:00

Same teams over and over again

Finally EF isn't attending here, thanks god

zzzzz

2025-04-02 15:08

YAY mongolz goats taking some break :)

Valve shouldn't've let this tournament happen

Considering that Valve had to allow an exception for this event... I think I agree. BLAST Rivals: "May run one Wildcard event after two Tier 1 events instead of three."

2025-04-02 15:27

we don't want wildcard events at all

2025-04-02 15:38

wildcard is wildcard? wow

huh, another vita v mouz final again

2025-04-02 15:39

Inviting Falcons while Navi, EF and G2 are there is stupid. Fckng Saudi money works everywhere unfortunately. EF is already participating in every tournament so at least Navi should be invited.

2025-04-02 15:57

Boring af, my boi ropzicle aka headshot matchine wins it all anyways, just give the trophy to Vita and move on

2025-04-02 16:19

Unpopular opinion, but I would have preferred the original idea which was the Top 8 teams through Valve Ranking, it is "RIVALS" after all.

2025-04-02 16:25

Wildcard (NA Wildcard) is perfect

2025-04-02 16:27

Wildcard NA (NA Wildcard) would be even better!

2025-04-02 16:34

most teams likely reject because it would leave nearly no time between melbourne and astana.

2025-04-02 16:45

based on the march 3 ranking, only liquid refused apparently

2025-04-02 16:47

why are we using a month old ranking if the invites are announced today?

2025-04-02 16:52

If this tournament is supposed to be world final, why there are two of them in the year? Also, what the hell is this invite system.

2025-04-02 17:00

Shouldn't this be spiritual successor to Spring Final? Not World Final.

2025-04-02 17:28

Propably worst invites ever

2025-04-02 17:29

pain, wildcard and flyquest XD

2025-04-02 17:31

team liquid no asia means that they will have siuhy by then

2025-04-02 17:38

an actual wildcard but some of the wildcard invites ehh

2025-04-02 18:10

just invite vitality, mouz, spirit and give money to other teams

2025-04-02 18:13

This is terrible.

2025-04-02 18:42

They had the option to not invite falcons and still chose to do so. What a disgrace

2025-04-02 19:41

LETS GO PAIN !

2025-04-02 20:13

what is difference between blast rivals and blast premier?

2025-04-02 21:02

Wildcard (NA Wildcard) XD

2025-04-02 21:49

Blast, Just make 12 spots to invite then playoffs with 8 teams.

2025-04-02 22:34

Pain instead of FURIA is great!

2025-04-02 22:48

Welcome guys to BLAST Copenhagen Number 347!!

2025-04-03 04:42

So instead of top 8, we got this?!

2025-04-03 05:15

Absolute snoozefest of a tournament

2025-04-03 05:31

Whats the point of this tournament. U have 3 tier1 teams vs tier3

2025-04-03 09:02

I was expecting a real S tier tournament among the top 8. If it was like that, it would be the most respected tournament. Because it would be a real test for the top 8 teams. We would probably watch a very competitive and good counter strike. Now, no competition, no good cs.

2025-04-03 09:16