FURIA will replace 100 Thieves in this month’s BLAST Premier Fall Series (October 26th-4th November) – with all 12 competing teams to be based from Europe.
The Fall Series will throw up some of the most exciting match-ups this year with Americas-based teams FURIA, MiBR and Evil Geniuses now able to rekindle old and new rivalries against Europe’s leading Counter Strike teams.
100 Thieves have been replaced for the Fall Series by FURIA after announcing plans to pull out of Counter Strike earlier this week. Teams competing in the BLAST Premier Fall Series include: Astralis, NiP, G2 Esports, OG, Vitality, NAVI, FaZe Clan, Complexity, FURIA, MiBR, Evil Geniuses and BIG. New groups will be announced tomorrow.
BLAST has worked closely with the three Americas-based teams over the last few weeks to help facilitate safe travel, set up accommodation and create the best possible playing and training conditions ahead of the Fall Season taking place. The tournament represents one of the first major Counter Strike events since earlier in the year that European and Americas teams will be able to face each other.
Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST, said: “We’re over the moon that we’ll be able to bring the 12 BLAST Premier Fall Series competing teams to Europe and welcome the exciting additions of FURIA and BIG – the Counter Strike scene has been crying out for both regions to renew rivalries in recent months and we’re delighted that we can deliver this for fans.
“The additions of BIG and FURIA will bring two hugely talented rosters into the Fall Series with both teams ranked in the top ten. This will be the first time in months that CS teams from Europe and Americas will compete against each other and represents a positive step forward for the ecosystem.”
Jaime de Padua, CEO of FURIA, said: “We’re delighted to be taking part in the BLAST Premier Fall Series, the chance to go up against some of the world’s top CS teams was too good to turn down. The prospect of being able to base the team in Europe and compete against our friends from various European organisations is also hugely exciting. We wanted to ensure the players’ safety and welfare came first and with the help of BLAST we’ve been able to ensure that happens.”
Other BLAST Premier partner Team Liquid have been replaced in the Fall Series by BIG. Team Liquid will be joining for the Fall Showdown, which is taking place in Europe on November 23rd-29th. BLAST has agreed with Team Liquid that they will not travel to Europe for the Fall Series to limit the amount of cross-continental travel for players during COVID-19.
The tournament organiser plans to have all competing teams based in Europe for the Fall Showdown (November 23rd-29th) and the Fall Final (8th-13th December). This will include any teams from other regions of the world that receive direct invites or qualify via other competitions.
Winners of the Fall Series and Showdown will qualify for the Fall Final. The eventual winners of the Fall Final will join Complexity, Team Vitality and Evil Genuines in confirming their place in January’s Global Final.
Dates for each group during the BLASt Premier Fall Series include:
- Group 1 (26th – 28th October)
- Group 2 (29th – 31st October)
- Group 3 (2nd – 4th November)
