Esports tournament organizer BLAST has revealed the twelve teams competing in the BLAST Premier Counter-Strike circuit, set to begin in January of 2020. The team list includes returning names like Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FaZe Clan, who have participated in BLAST Pro Series events since 2017. They will be joined by world-class sides Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses, along with newcomers Complexity and OG.
The BLAST Premier circuit will see twelve teams fight for $4,250,000 in prize money over the course of the year. The circuit kicks off in January, with a studio series in London. The partnered team list is headlined by legendary names like Astralis and Team Liquid, who have competed in BLAST events throughout 2019. Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves will make their BLAST debuts under their new organizations. FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, MIBR, and Natus Vincere will return, each team having attended multiple BLAST tournaments over the past two years.
Team Vitality will take part, the circuit being their first BLAST attendance after dropping out of a Pro Series event in Moscow earlier this year. G2 will also link up with the tournament organizer once again, having only participated in the first-ever BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen in 2017. The team list is rounded out by newly-formed rosters Complexity and OG Esports, neither of which have competed in a BLAST tournament before. Some prominent names are missing from the partnered team list, though the tournament organizer has assured that the twelve listed teams will not be the only ones participating in the circuit.
BLAST announced the BLAST Premier earlier this year as a revamped tournament circuit. The first stage of the Premier will split these twelve teams into three groups of four. Each group will compete over one week, the top two teams advancing to the BLAST Premier Final. The bottom two will go to the BLAST Showdown, where they will have another chance to move through the circuit. The top two teams from the Showdown will qualify for the BLAST Premier Final. The Premier Final will see eight qualified teams split into two groups, competing over one week for a $1,500,000 prize pool. This circuit will be played through twice in 2020, once in Spring and again in the Fall. The circuit will conclude at the end of the year with the BLAST Global Final, the champions of which will receive $1,000,000, the highest single prize ever in CS:GO.
Scheduling and additional tournament location information is yet to be released. The BLAST Premier CS:GO circuit will begin in January of 2020.