The BLAST Premier Championship will be returning next year with the tournament organizer set to introduce a new qualifying series and changes to how teams secure their place in the highly anticipated World Final at the end of 2021.
The tournament series will be the first and last event of the CS:GO calendar year taking place from February to December where BLAST will look to unite all major tournaments, offer opportunities to all regions and crown the world champions of Counter-Strike.
The BLAST Premier Championship will be open to all CS:GO teams from around the globe making it the most inclusive and competitive series of events on the scene – teams will be able to qualify for these tournaments via the new worldwide BLAST Premier Qualifying Series.
Teams that succeed in these regional qualifying events will earn a spot in the BLAST Premier Spring and Fall Showdowns with the ultimate aim of progressing to the Spring and Fall Finals and World Final, to compete against the best teams with some of the biggest prizes up for grabs.
Both Showdowns will be open to all regions, but the Spring Showdown will focus on Americas and Europe while the Fall Showdown will focus on Europe, Asia and Oceania. In a new change, non-member teams that compete in BLAST Premier events will also receive a participation fee upon completing their attendance.
Up to 32 teams will take part in the seven BLAST Premier events next year with potentially 80 teams competing in the qualifying events, meaning the 2021 season could see up to 286 matches take place across the calendar year.
The tournament series will mirror this year’s setup with slight changes to the names of events to help bring clarity to the year-long storyline and battle to be crowned World Final winners. BLAST Premier tournaments will have a combined prize money of $2,475,000.
Like this year, next season will be split into two halves: Fall and Spring Seasons with three BLAST Premier tournaments in each half of the year with every match being a Bo3 – all leading to the World Final in December.
12 BLAST Premier Member Teams will automatically earn a place in the Fall and Spring Groups before progressing to the Showdown and Finals depending on performance and progression. Winners of the BLAST Premier Spring and Fall Finals, Flashpoint 3 and 4, ESL Pro League 13 and 14 and Valve Fall Major – will qualify for the World Final. The last place will go to the Race to the World Final Leaderboard, if a team has already won one of these events then another spot will be made available through the leaderboard.
The Race to the World Final Leaderboard is a qualifying mechanism for the World Final and points scoring system for competing Counter-Strike teams in 14 of the leading tournaments around the world, teams with the best six scores from each tournament earn points by winning matches and progressing as far as possible in these selected events. Teams will qualify for the World Final via the leaderboard and through their performances across the calendar year.
Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST, said: “BLAST Premier will be back for 2021 with fans set to enjoy more top tier CS:GO than ever before. We will unite all leading tournaments and performers from across the calendar year, with all roads leading towards December’s World Final where $1million in prize money will be up for grabs and a chance to be crowned the world’s best Counter Strike team.
“Next year’s format will be the most inclusive on the Counter-Strike scene and offer teams from regions all over the world an opportunity to compete in our highly-anticipated events, thanks to our new qualifying series.
2021 season dates:
- BLAST Premier Spring Groups – $150,000 (4-14 February)
- BLAST Premier Spring Showdown – $162,500 (13-18 April)
- BLAST Premier Spring Final – $425,000 (15-20 June)
- BLAST Premier Fall Groups – $150,000 (26 August – 5 September)
- BLAST Premier Fall Showdown – $162,500 (12-17 October)
- BLAST Premier Fall Final – $425,000 (23-28 November)
- BLAST Premier World Final – $1,000,000 (14-19 December)
