BLAST Pro Series Istanbul

28 September, 2018 - 29 September, 2018 Istanbul, Turkey

Blast Pro Series is a  CS:GO global world series that will be hosted by RFRSH Entertainment.

This event will be hosted in the Ülker Sports Arena, Istanbul and it will feature some of the best teams in the world and a massive prize-pool of $230,000 USD.

Preview

This invite only event shaping up to be a top tier event. Some might miss Liquid, Navi and Faceclan. But these teams are at the very top of the CS:GO scene, and have been there for the longest times. With only 6 teams attending it makes it much easier to keep track of whats going on

The only sad exception is Vitrus.Pro which should be happy with a single map win from this tournament. The only thing that might stop Astralis is the BO1 format, its not very likely though.

Breakdown of the individual teams

Astralis

What more is there to say, they are the best team. They work the hardest, have the best strategies, best grenades and lately they have even stepped up in the aim department. And they have done this as a group. Would be a very big upset if they don't win this tournament. 

Astralis prediction: Winner

 Cloud9

 After the exciting major win and losing the Stewie2k to MIBR they haven't really felt like a serious contender in any tournament they have attended. Losing Tarik certainly did not help. Its always hard predicting what kind of impact a roster change might have on team performance. Its hard to say if Styko is going back to Mousesports because they have realized his importance or Cloud9 don't consider him in their plans for the future.

I really feel that Flusha is the kind of player who will be more motivated by being benched from Fnatic, it remains to be seen if one week is enough time for practice and incorporating him into the team. The reunion with Golden will certainly make things much easier, and maybe they can feel the spark that made them champions together earlier. 

Cloud9 prediction: 2 wins 3 losses

Made in Brazil

Tarik was a great catch for them, having already switched all communication to English from their Stewie2k adventure he was much faster to fit into the team, and his strong desire to be a champion will drive them onwards for quite some time.

Trading coaches might even be more of a more impactful wining move! YNK never really felt satisfied with his achievements as a player and only retired due to a lack of commitment from the players in his region. And as an analyst he has proven how well he understands the game and the small decisions that shape a round or an entire match. When he can focus his entire energy on analyzing and the progress of his players Im sure he has even more brilliant ideas that we are only beginning to see. 

MIBR prediction: Second place

Ninjas in Pyjamas - NIP

They came so close to the legend stage and with a better luck of the draw probably would have made it. Forest certainly showed us why he is considered a living legend and still leading the way with frags. And it must have really warmed the hearts of so many old fans of the game seeing GeT_RiGhT back on the scoreboard. As long as they are not to disappointed by their loss they could be a strong contender for second place here.

But Dennis needs to bring his A-game. His skill floor is pretty low, and hasn't shown too much in terms of being a dominant rifler. Sometimes the fact that everyone can use the AWP helps them, but more often then not I wonder if they don't need one player to completely dedicate themselves to this weapon. 

NIP prediction: Third place (3 wins 2 losses)

Space Soldiers - SS

The home team, known for the longest time as a an "online" team, posting amazing results in the online leagues. But really struggling on LAN. They have since shown that they can take maps from the best of them, and maybe the home crowd can help them to greatness this time. Recent results have been a bit disappointing, with a nice exception winning the DreamHack open Austin in June.

One of the biggest home advantages for Space Soldiers must be the peace of mind they get from not having to apply for Visas, this problem has plagued quite a bit of their 2018 season. We can only hope they are able to resolve these issues in the future, only CS:GO skills should decide if you win a tournament, not the diplomatic conflicts of your country.

I hope for a positive surprise from them, but I don't really expect too much. 

Space Soldiers prediction: 2 wins 3 losses

Virtus.pro

If ever there was a team that needed a reset button its Virtus.pro. They have looked completely lost and without hope for quite some time. Snatchie is the one ray of hope, otherwise its pretty sad seeing them be invited to tournaments they are not good enough for again and again. Everyone who saw the golden five play still wants to believe that soon it will all change and Neo can bring them back to former glory. But not this event. 

Virtus.pro prediction: 0 wins and all losses 

Pro standoff aim map

The most serious aim map fighting you will probably find. The third place team will choose one of the lower placed team for a aim map showmatch. Sounds pretty fun, and to make it interesting they have a $20.000 price to the winner. Pretty good stuff.

I would consider MIBR to be the clear favorite, but I expect to see them in the final and not be elligible.

Prediction: NIP or Space soldiers should win this one.

Tournament Format

The tournament will begin with a single round-robin group stage with best-of-one matches. The top two teams from the group stage will advance to the grand final.

The grand final will be best-of-three.

The Pro Standoff showmatch will be played between the third place and the 4th or 5th place (the 3rd place decides their opponents). The players will be playing one 1v1 map each, each map will be played with different weapons. the first player to 10 kills wins the game.