It’s a big a week for Counter-Strike fans with there being three big Counter-Strike tournaments happening this week. There is the Qi Bana Luka 2019, the 2019 Dreamhack Open Sevilla and the Counter-Strike tournament we will be discussing today, the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019.
Of all the tournaments that are happening this week, you might consider the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019 to be the biggest one of the three and this is reflected in the prize pool that is up for grabs – $500,000. However, 350,000 of that will go to the team that comes out on top and wins this Global Final event over the next couple of days. As such, the participants aren’t looking to compromise and everyone is after that top prize.
We already have some idea of how the teams are looking and the form they are in as the series is already been going on across the globe since as far back as May. There are now just four teams remaining who are eligible for that top prize. Without further ado let’s take a look at these teams, their journey’s so far and how you can watch them in action this weekend!
How to qualify for the main event
Qualification for the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019 has via the BLAST Pro series that has been on-going since early this year, with the first of the events happening in Sau Paulo in March. Since then, there have been 7 events happening on a monthly basis across the globe where between 6-7 teams have been battling it out against one another in a group stage, then a series of head-to-head rounds. At the end of each of these series’ events, the best performing teams have reached the top spots and have received cash payouts as a result.
However, alongside these payouts, points have been acquired for getting the top spots. This has been reflected in the rankings of the tournament, overall. Along the way, for various reasons, teams have not been able to participate in all so wild card or qualified teams having appeared in their stead. These teams though were not eligible for points. With only the 7 main teams in the series that were eligible for qualification to the finals.
The series has come to an end now, with the final event in Copenhagen last month. By the end of this, the top four spots were achieved and these will be the teams that have earnt the right by which to battle it out in the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019 this week. While for the remaining 3 teams, their journey in this year’s tournament is over.
Tournament format
While the series that has led-up to the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019 is fairly complex and works on a point system, now that is over, the 4 remaining teams are left to battle it out in a more linear progression format. There will essentially be just 4 more match-ups to play out. With the team who finished first playing against 4th place finisher in the series, and 2nd playing 3rd.
The winner of these two matches will go on the grand finale, while the two losing teams will go into the lower bracket final. It will be Grand Final winner though, who takes home that big money prize of $350,000 and this will be decided by the end of the weekend.
The tournament will playoff in the form of a Double-Elimination bracket with all matches being Bo3. These matches will be showmatches played on the new BLAST Standoff Aim Map, hence the name of the tournament. With The format being as follows:
– Five 1v1 aim duels, with different players for each match-up.
– Every match-up is played with a different weapon (in order):
– The first player to 7 kills wins their match-up.
– The team with the most kills wins (most match-up wins if a tie occurs).
List of Teams
The four remaining teams in the process will be household names among esports fans with them consisting of biggest names in the sport. They are as follows:
– FaZe Clan – consisting of players from across the globe, FaZe clan finished the series on top of the pile and took home the 1st place spot with 30 total points.
– Team Liquid – Made up entirely from players from North America, i.e. Canada or the US, these finish 2nd, just two points shy of FaZe clan.
– Astralis – in 3rd, the Danish Astralis, who started off strong with a win in Sau Paulo depleted slightly over the tournament but still finished with a respectable 26 points.
– Ninja’s in Pyjamas – The only team not to win an out-right series event, they still comfortably qualified for the finals, thanks to a consistent albeit mediocre performance so far.
Predictions
While teams are very evenly matched on paper, it has to be said Astralis is always looking the most comfortable team to bring home victory. However, FaZe Clan, after a slow start in Sau Paulo, they have stormed into a successful series winning two of the series events and coming 2nd in the other. Their only challenge would be either Astralis or Team Liquid who they seem likely to meet in the final, but who had a poor final event in the series, who otherwise would have come out on top. It will be tight but FaZe look the most likely currently, with NiP not showing the same caliber as either team in the top spot.
Schedule
Thursday, December 12
13:00 CET – FaZe vs. NiP
17:00 CET – Liquid vs. Astralis
Friday, December 13
13:00 CET – Upper bracket final
17:00 CET – Lower bracket final
Saturday, December 14
13:00 CET – Consolidation final
16:45 CET – BLAST Stand-off
18:00 CET – Grand final
Where to stream BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019
There will a whole host of different websites online to stream, including esports specialist streaming sites like Twitch.tv, as well as most likely on YouTube too!
While another good option, particularly if you looking to bet on the action, is to find an esports betting site. On these, permitting you to bet on the event, you will be given access to a live stream of the action too so you can watch it unfold in real-time and see if your bet comes home.
Streaming on esportsguide.com
One of the best sites for watching the game. The perfect guide for users that are new or already into esports. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Whatever you choose, make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to see who brings home that $500,000 in winnings.
