BLAST Pro Series Moscow Tournament preview

The BLAST Pro Series Moscow is the first LAN event after the Starladder Berlin Major. The tournament has a prize pool of $250,000 and will take place at the VTB Arena in Moscow. 

With many teams undergoing roster changes, this tournament will give us a glimpse into the next few months. 

Ninjas in Pyjamas: One Last Hurrah!

TACO and Get_Right exchanging jerseys. Image Credit: NIP

The Swedish superstar player Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund will play two more events for NiP starting with the BLAST Pro Series Moscow. While it is good news for GeT_RiGhT fans, the roster itself is on a deadline as NiP continues their search for their elusive fifth player. 

The Ninjas could not win a single match at the Berlin Major going 0-3 in the New Legends stage.

While BLAST Pro Series is not technically Get_RiGhT’s last tournament, it would make for a fitting farewell to one of the all-time greats in CS:GO. GeT_RiGhT will also play for NIP at the V4 Future Sports Festival in Budapest. 

The Ninjas are not the strongest team at the tournament and the chances of them winning the entire event are slim to none. 

AVANGAR: The Major Grand Finalists

AVANGAR’s team stayed together after the Berlin Major. 

Image Via prosports.kz 

The Berlin Major Grand finalists have a mixture of young talent in players such as Dzhami “Jame” Ali, Alexey “qikert” Golubev and Timur “buster” Tulepov and the experience of Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev, the PGL Krakow Major winner. While AdreN is not the top fragger on the team, he brings a winning mentality to the team, something crucial to their performance at the Berlin Major. 

 AVANGAR have a good map pool including their trump card in Vertigo. However, the BLAST Pro Series has fixed maps for the Group stage which negates this small advantage and evens the playing field. As one of the few teams with no roster changes, AVANGAR is the only proven roster in this tournament. 

 They can leverage their stability and synergy to prove that their Major Finals appearance was no fluke. 

ForZe: The Kingmaker

The Russian roster (along with AVANGAR) received a direct entry into the main event due to Vitality’s decision to withdraw from the tournament. Vitality announced their decision to withdraw from the event due to an incomplete roster.

ForZe is the weakest team present at the BLAST Pro Series and they do not pose a challenge for a spot in the finals. However, since the tournament has BO1 matches in the Group stage, Forze can play the kingmaker and spoil other team’s chances in the tournament. 

Any team caught sleeping on ForZe will have to learn from their mistakes and this team is not a walkover. 

ENCE: Life without AleksiB

The ENCE roster reached Top Eight at the Berlin Major. Image Via @ENCE

ENCE’s decision to replace Aleksi “AleksiB” Virolainen with Miikka “suNny” Kemppi was as surprising to the fans as it was to AleksiB, their former In-Game Leader. AleksiB’s leadership has been a crucial reason for the Finnish team’s rise in CS:GO. After their excellent performance at IEM Katowice 2019, where they lost to Astralis in the Grand finals, ENCE’s inconsistency in results prompted this roster change. 

BLAST Pro Series will be the first tournament with the new lineup, and a tough challenge for the young Finnish players. Their opening match is against ForZe as the inaugural match of the event. 

MIBR: A New Force with kNgV-

MIBR added kNgV- to their CS:GO roster. Image Credits: Starladder

MIBR added Vito “kNgV-” Giuseppe- to replace Marcelo “coldzera” David on their team. There is no doubt about the player’s skill; however, his attitude has been a thorn in his career. Despite reaching the PGL Krakow Grand Finals, kNgV-‘s story is one rough ride for the 26-year-old player. 

Coldzera’s frustration with the team’s lack of results is justified as the Brazilians could not support him even after a strong year for the player on an individual level. Despite Coldzera being #10 in the HLTV Top 20, MIBR did not win a single event of any importance in 2018. 

Natus Vincere: A new IGL with New Opportunities

Boombi4 will take on the role of an IGL for Na’Vi. Image Credits: ESL

Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko announced his retirement from professional CS:GO and Na’Vi is on the search for a fifth player. The BLAST Pro Series Moscow will be the last event for Zeus and he will hope to go out with a bang. Na’Vi have nothing to lose in this tournament because their roster will change after Moscow.

Zeus is the In-Game Leader for the team, however Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov is the designated In-Game Leader for Na’Vi in the future. Initial reports suggest Na’Vi aims to bring back Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács to their CS:GO roster, which could free Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev to take on the role of a rifler.

The BLAST Pro Series Moscow is a two-day event and kicks off on September 13. All matches will be streamed live on the BLAST Pro Series Twitch Channel.

Credit: Rohan Samal