BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2019 Preview

BLAST Pro Series in Copenhagen, Denmark begins November 1. Six teams compete for a $250 thousand prize pool and BLAST Pro Series points to qualify for December’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Global Finals. This is the last event before the CS:GO final, so it’s the last chance for teams to earn a qualification spot.

Format

The group stage consists of a single round-robin with all matches as a best of one. The top two teams advance to the grand finals, a best of three series. Whoever wins receives $125 thousand, while the loser receives $50 thousand. Third-place gets to choose an opponent below to play against in the BLAST Pro Standoff. Standoff hosts five consecutive one-versus-one duels between the two team’s players with a $20 thousand bonus prize.

Participants

The six teams playing at BLAST Pro Copenhagen are:

Astralis
Team Liquid
Cloud9
Natus Vincere
FaZe Clan
Ninjas in Pyjamas

Credit to BLAST Pro.

Astralis and Team Liquid are back after their two-week breaks from LAN events. Having now qualified for the Esports Championship Series Global Final last week, they now look to secure the first seed going into the BLAST Global Finals. Both teams qualified for the event, but since only four teams will compete, seeding is important.

Astralis definitely looks more in form than Liquid, but Liquid is four circuit points up on Astralis. This means a difference of two or more placements is needed for Astralis to nab that top seed. The results at DreamHack Malmö, ESL One New York, and the StarLadder Berlin Major all go in favor of Astralis. Since June, they haven’t placed below the top four at any event.

The same cannot be said for Liquid, who struggled at Berlin and Malmö. If the North American team wants to solidify themselves as the best team in the world, they need to start here. It was announced on Twitter that Liquid will be taking a long break after Copenhagen, even canceling their trip to IEM Beijing. This is their last chance to make an impact until the ECS Finals a month from now.

FaZe Clan also secured their spot at the BLAST Global Finals, but their team is in a much different shape. They recently added Marcelo “coldzera” David and Helvijs “broky” Saukants to their lineup. FaZe has struggled heavily to get their new roster in working order. While experiencing issues during a roster adjustment is expected, they still need to show better results. BLAST Copenhagen could be the jumpstart they need.

Ninjas in Pyjamas enter this event reinvigorated. Ever since the addition of Simon “twist” Eliasson to their lineup, the Ninjas have been improving. Despite recent results being average, the Swedes show that this new roster can compete at a high level. While they haven’t officially punched their ticket to the BLAST Global Finals, they currently sit in the last qualification spot with a 10-point buffer. They would need to get last place and one of the two remaining teams would need to win the whole event. Those remaining teams are Cloud9 and Natus Vincere.

But Cloud9 has been a mess recently. They weren’t invited to any major tournaments since June and their last BLAST excursion ended in a bottom half finish. On top of that, recent drama involving Tyson “TenZ” Ngo forced C9 to change their roster again. Anything above a last-place finish here would be unexpected.

Na’Vi is likely the team with the most to play for at BLAST Copenhagen. Their recent acquisition of Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács excites everyone for what this new Na’Vi brings. A top-four finish at Malmö supported those hopes, but the recent last-place finish at StarSeries & i-League Season 8 dashed them. Na’Vi plays to show that their potential as a team is up there with the best.

How to Watch

The first match begins on November 1 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (8:00 p.m. CEST) on Twitch. Grand Finals will be on November 2 at the same time. Tune in to see what these teams have prepared at Copenhagen.