Frokat
As we’re nearing the final days of 2021, the crown jewel of BLAST Premier draws ever so close. The offline Danish series located in Copenhagen is scheduled to begin on the 14th of December. Sporting $1 000 000 in the prize pool, the S-tier event draws the attention of eight participant teams: Gambit Esports, Heroic, Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis, and Team Liquid. An appropriate field of fray in a best-of-3, double-elimination format awaits the competitors.
The organizers of the BLAST Premier series have revealed the opening matches of the event starting on December 14th. The CS:GO tourney’s playoffs kick off with a game of Natus Vincere against Team Liquid, followed by Heroic squaring it off against Gambit Esports. As for the next day, we’ll see G2 Esports vs Ninjas in Pyjamas, followed by Astralis vs Team Vitality.
HERE IT IS!
The World Final schedule is ready for you ?Opening matchups:@natusvincere vs @TeamLiquidCS @GambitEsports vs @heroicgg @G2esports vs @NIPCS @TeamVitality vs @AstralisCS #BLASTWorldFinal pic.twitter.com/9XkVlTWrV1
— BLAST Premier World Final in 6 Days ? (@BLASTPremier) December 7, 2021
Interestingly, 7 out of 8 participant teams have chosen to participate in the ongoing Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI days before BLAST Premier. Only Natus Vincere decided to abstain – possibly using the precious time to rest and practice.
2021 has been quite a year for the CS:GO professional scene. Recovering from the long period of online-only events, the pro scene has seen old kings fall and new ones arise in their place this year. Without a doubt, we will see a fitting end to this professional season in the form of BLAST: World Finals. Although the year’s final installment of BLAST Series was announced not to have the live crowd attending it due to unfortunate circumstances around public safety, the star rivalries surrounding the cast will make up for it tenfold.
Speaking of the cast: it is no wonder that the year’s final showdown will have the best teams in the world competing for the #1 spot. So let’s go over them one by one to figure out where they stand.
Gambit Esports
The CIS-based team has finally hit their stride in the 2020-2021 seasons. At one point called “NaVi’s kryptonite,” the team went blow-for-blow with the year’s favorite, Natus Vincere, before the fateful encounter in PGL Major Stockholm 2021 semi-finals. Nevertheless, sporting eight golds in 2021’s S-tier and A-tier series, plus finishing the year in second place of BLAST Premier World Leaderboard 2021 is an undisputable success.
Taking away two grand finals from Natus Vincere in 2021 should alone be enough of a reason to respect the current Gambit lineup. Yet, Gambit are not satisfied by simply being the #1 rival of the #1 team in the world by laying claim on the championship belt itself with their performance in IEM Winter 2021.
After defeating Fnatic in the opening match of the series, Gambit Esports were unfortunately dropped into the Lower Bracket after their encounter with Virtus.pro. However, the Russian organization did not let this get to them as they proceeded to eliminate both FaZe Clan and Fnatic on their ways to the Playoffs, successfully advancing into the quarter-finals.
However, their encounter with Team Vitality in the first round of playoffs did not go the team’s way. Drawing the series out to the third map, Gambit was eliminated from IEM Winter after a grueling overtime battle on Mirage, 17:19. Still, their overall performance indicates that they’re indeed worthy candidates for the BLAST Finals crown.
Heroic
The top-2 team in the world based on some analytics’ and pro players’ input, the Danish esports organization was reckoned to have the clearest shot at taking down the reigning champs after their extremely close matchup with NaVi during ESL Pro League.
If you're not a fan of watching Heroic are you even a fan of Counter-Strike? Enough said.#BLASTPremier
— Thorin (@Thorin) November 28, 2021
Although this claim might be a little outdated, seeing that Heroic are approaching the end of the year with some bad blood with their former coach, HUNDEN. These changes in the analyst team may be behind the team’s latest lackluster performance, but it does seem like a long shot.
However, after witnessing Heroic’s IEM Winter 2021 struggle where they were eliminated in just two rounds losing to Godsent (16:13 in a Bo1), and then to Faze (2:0 in a Bo3), this claim seems even shakier. Even though Heroic vs NaVi is a very close technical matchup historically, what good use is it if you can’t reach them?
Natus Vincere
The previous two teams had one thing in common: their ability to put NaVi’s dominance to the test. “Test” being the main point – and NaVi have aced every single one of them in the second half of 2021. The freshly established dynasty, NaVi are currently holding all the keys as they’re universally considered the clear favorites in the BLAST Premier: World Finals. Scoring a record for the first flawless Major run in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in PGL Major Stockholm 2021, NaVi are showing no signs of stopping as they barrel towards the year’s ultimate event.
s1mple with PGL Major Stockholm trophy.
While not being able to repeat their flawless success at the Major during the BLAST series, NaVi nevertheless are still dominant as they can be. After all, they simply wanted to play more games if we believe s1mple – and who would dare doubt him?
As Natus Vincere are the only team to take a breather before BLAST World Finals 2021, they will have a practice time advantage over their competitors.
G2 Esports
According to ESL Pro Ranking leaderboard, the titans of the CS:GO esports scene, G2 Esports, enter the end of the year as the top 3rd competitor. The finalists of PGL Major Stockholm, the European squad is shaping up to be one of the main competitors for the final event of the year.
The long-standing organization has shown an incredible performance during IEM Winter 2021. Advancing into semi-finals without dropping a beat during groups, G2 have proven themselves to be a worthy challenger after taking down Team Vitality in the group’s final round. Not to mention: the French CS:GO legend kennyS joined the team for the duration of IEM Winter 2021! Dispensing justice with his trusty AWP, who knows – perhaps he is here to stay.
Advancing to the semi-finals right off the bat due to their group stage performance, G2 have issued a powerful statement in IEM Winter 2021. Defeating the likes of TYLOO, Team Liquid, and Team Vitality on their way to the trophy, the legendary G2 squad is a force to be reckoned with.
Team Vitality
The French organization ranked #2 in ESL Leaderboards, Team Vitality are approaching the end of the year in an odd position. As they are rumored to have a massive player migration at the start of 2022, it seems that BLAST Premier: World Finals 2021 will be the last time we see the 5-man French squad we’re all used to seeing. Richard “shox” Papillon, Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van, and coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam are said to be soon replaced by currently Astralis’ trio of Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif, and their coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen. For this reason, questions about player morale in their final event on the team seem to be concerning.
Nevertheless, the squad does not go quietly into the night – indicated by their performance and hunger to win in BLAST Premier: Fall Series, where they reached the finals, and IEM Winter 2021. After defeating MOUZ, NiP, and eliminating Gambit Esports from the series, Team Vitality are looking to end the year in a dominant fashion.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
The ancients of the professional CS:GO scene, this Swedish-based organization have had quite a turbulent year so far. Their tough quest of forming an optimal roster reached its conclusion (for 2021, at least) in November when they acquired es3tag from Complexity Gaming.
The Ninjas have had quite a quiet year this season. Their rather mediocre showing during BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, where their run was cut short by Team Liquid leaving them in the 7-8th place. However, the new addition on their roster was proven to be of help, as they advanced to IEM Winter 2021 playoffs from the lower bracket after their victories over OG and Team Liquid. Advancing from quarter-finals after their 2:1 victory over GODSENT, NiP’s calls for a rematch against G2 were satisfied in the semi-finals.
Astralis
2021 had been quite a disappointment for the Danish favorite. Seeing the team’s mediocre results so far, it’s hard not to get nostalgic about the 2018-2020 era. The team has seemingly lost their dynamite coming into this year, failing to achieve any significant trophies – a stark contrast to their previous dominant years. Like many other teams on this list, Astralis underwent substantial changes in November – benching two of their star players, dupreeh and Magisk, and their coach, zonic.
Astralis’ MagisK.
The team’s disastrous run in the PGL Stockholm Major has left many fans questioning the roster. Astralis’ most recent performance at IEM Winter 2021 failed to bring any good news for the team, either, as they were eliminated from the Group Stage by Team Liquid, ending their run in 9th-12th place.
Team Liquid
The only North American team on the list is also the most curious one. Dubbed by the pros and fans as the “walking dead” team, Team Liquid seems to be on the brink of massive changes. In November, the brewing internal issues were made public in Stewie2k’s and EliGE’s HLTV interviews. After that, everyone expected TL to fall apart in the next series – the morale inside the team seemed at all-time low.
However, Team Liquid have managed to spring back into the fight following their weak debut in BLAST Premier: Fall Finals. Although eventually eliminated by Heroic, the NA-based squad managed to put a dent into their opponent’s defenses against everyone’s expectations. Repeating their placements, Liquid put up a fight in IEM Winter 2021 playoffs by defeating OG and Astralis before ultimately falling short in the match against the updated NiP roster and being eliminated from the event.