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BLAST Premier Fall Final started with a lot of predictable results. The least strong teams in the tournament suffered two consecutive defeats against their formidable opponents. Meanwhile, the top two teams in the world won their groups, displaying their skills in jaw-dropping fashion.

Natus Vincere beat Falcons and G2 Esports in group A. They were challenged but not sufficiently. Not a single one of their maps had more than 23 rounds.

Team Vitality did even better in their first match, defeating Astralis 13 – 0 on Inferno and 13 – 4 on Dust II. But against Team Liquid, they struggled from start to finish. The scores speak for themselves: 16 – 12 on Anubis, 13 – 11 on Nuke.

The second map should have belonged to Liquid, who finished the first half 3 – 9. But Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan managed to turn things around.

Team Falcons’ Elimination

Team Faclons were not far from advancing to the playoffs of BLAST Premier Fall Final. In the elimination match against FaZe Clan, they lost the first map 11 – 13 and won the second map 22 – 20. Then came the third map, on which the score was 6 – 6 after the first half. But in the second half, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and his squad succumbed to pressure and lost 0 – 7.

Astralis’ Elimination

Astralis lost in a dramatic way in the elimination match against Team Spirit. On the first map, it looked like they would win with ease. The score was 13 – 3 and nobody suspected what would happen next. But as soon as Dust II started, we knew something wasn’t working properly in their approach. They lost 5 – 13.

On the third map, Liquid had the lead and came close to winning but simply couldn’t win two more rounds, or at least one, to push the fight into overtime. The final score was 11 – 13.

Both eliminations were anticipated just several days ago.

BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 has begun and everyone is eager to see what happens next.

Natus Vincere won ESL Pro League S20 just several days ago but will need to prove themselves again against very strong competition.

Astralis were allowed to compete with their new IGL, Casper “cadiaN” Møller, a decision that stirred some controversy and a negative reaction from the other teams. But for spectators, it will only make the tournament more exciting to watch.

Dates, Location, And Prize Pool

BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 takes place in Copenhagen between September 25 – 29. The event features eight of the world’s best CS2 teams and offers $425.000 in prize money. The winner qualifies for BLAST Premier World Final, which will take place five weeks from now.

Participants And Format

Here are the eight teams that compete in the tournament:

• FaZe Clan
• Team Falcons
• G2 Esports
• Natus Vincere
• Astralis
• Team Liquid
• Team Spirit
• Team Vitality

The first four of these teams start in group A while the bottom four in group B. In both groups, the winner advances to the semifinals. The 2^nd and 3^rd place teams advance to the quarterfinals. The bottom team is eliminated.

Group A Favorites

Group A will likely be dominated by Natus Vincere but both G2 and FaZe have a decent chance of winning as well. For Team Falcons, who finished EPL S20 in 21^st – 28^th place and were eliminated by RED Canids, this group seems impossible to survive.

The format is double-elimination and the requirement is simple: win one of the two matches. The team that wins both of them wins the group.

Group B Favorites

In group B, Astralis and Spirit are likely to lose their opening matches and then compete against each other for a playoffs spot. But it won’t be easy.

There are three teams in this group that finished 5^th – 8^th at ESL Pro League S20: Vitality, Liquid, and Spirit. All three of them could easily win the group but the strongest seems to be Vitality.

In Astralis’ case, it’s hard to be optimistic so soon after their big roster change. Teams usually need months to integrate new players.

But maybe cadiaN can find a successful strategy much faster in this particular case because, after all, he’s playing with two former teammates from HEROIC, as well as one of the best AWPers in the world.

The coach and players of Natus Vincere were seriously tested at ESL Pro League S20. Many of the opponents they faced are among the world’s best CS2 teams. But in the end, after a 3 – 2 Grand Final against Eternal Fire, they claimed their third S-tier trophy in 2024.

Group Stage Results

In the group stage of ESL Pro League S20, Na’Vi started with a rough match against Lynn Vision Gaming, who nearly won map 1. The score on Dust II was 14 – 16. After that, the battle was easy to win.

Ninjas in Pyjamas didn’t put up much of a fight and were quickly defeated: 6 – 13 on Ancient, 9 – 13 on Dust II.

The upper bracket Final was another tough match, played against the same team that would challenge Na’Vi in the Grand Final: Eternal Fire. The scores, 20 – 22 on Anubis and 5 – 13 on Mirage, speak for themselves. EF had a great opportunity to take the lead but lost it, and then couldn’t focus on the second map.

Playoffs

Thanks to winning group A of EPL S20, Na’Vi advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they waited for their next opponent. In the end, Team Spirit won their first two playoffs matches and looked perfectly capable of beating Na’Vi again.

The two teams had faced each other four times in 2024 and Spirit won every match. But this time it was different. With Danil “donk” Kryshkovets slightly out of shape and Na’Vi’s players playing at nearly maximum capacity, the fight quickly turned in Na’Vi’s favor: 13 – 5 on Dust II, 13 – 9 on Mirage.

In the semifinals, G2 Esports tried for the 8^th consecutive time to defeat their nemesis but failed again. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov did a good job but his team did not provide him with enough support. The scores were 8 – 13 on Inferno, 13 – 11 on Nuke, and 6 – 13 on Ancient.

In the Grand Final, Eternal Fire made a second attempt at beating Na’Vi at this tournament and it was a bit too close for comfort. But in the end, they failed again: 13 – 8 on Nuke, 11 – 13 on Anubis, 11 – 13 on Ancient, 13 – 4 on Inferno, and 10 – 13 on Dust II.

Justinas “jL” Lekavicius was named the MVP of the tournament.

This edition of ESL Pro League has been full of surprises. Great teams like Astralis and MOUZ were eliminated in the group stage, while FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro did not survive the first round of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, underdogs like Eternal Fire and MIBR are just one step away from the Grand Final. Both teams have had a very impressive performance so far. Eternal Fire already won an important S-tier trophy in 2024 by defeating Team Liquid in the Grand Final of CCT Season 1 Global Finals.

For MIBR, reaching the semifinals of ESL Pro League S20 is already their best result in more than four years. The trophy they won back in April 2024 at DreamHack Melbourne doesn’t come close to a top-four performance at an S-tier competition that features all of the best teams in CS2.

Eternal Fire’s Victories

EF started EPL S20 with two decisive victories. One against FlyQuest, and the other against Sangal Esports, who had defeated FaZe Clan in the first round.

In group A’s upper bracket Final, Eternal Fire lost against Natus Vincere 0 – 2. The first map, Anubis, ended with a score of 20 – 22, which shows just how close the Turks were to taking the lead and potentially winning the group.

In the playoffs of ESL Pro League S20, Eternal Fire’s victories were even more impressive. First, they defeated The MongolZ, a team that’s currently ranked 14^th. Next, they defeated the number 1 competitor in CS2, Team Vitality. Needless to say, both matches were difficult to win and had plenty of tight map scores.

MIBR’s Victories

MIBR started their journey with victories against 9z Team and Team Spirit. The fact that the Brazilians managed to win against the 3^rd best team in CS2 at the moment was a huge surprise. In the group’s upper bracket Final, G2 Esports finally ended this madness, winning 13 – 8 on Anubis and 13 – 8 on Inferno.

In the playoffs, MIBR defeated HEROIC and M80, confirming that their group stage results were not flukes.

Eternal Fire vs. MIBR

It’s hard to tell who will win the battle of the underdogs in the semifinals, but Eternal Fire seem to be just a bit stronger. A 2 – 1 result is the most likely outcome.

Six months ago, Astralis replaced Benjamin “blameF” Bremer with Alexander “br0” Bro and gave the IGL role to Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz.

Immediately after this change, the team started to play much better, finishing 3^rd – 4^th at four consecutive S-tier events: IEM Chengdu, ESL Pro League S19, CCT Season 1 Global Finals, and YaLLa Compass. These results were then followed by a 5^th – 6^th place at BLAST Premier Spring Final and another 5^th – 6^th place at BLAST Premier Fall Groups.

But then something happened and Astralis’ results started to suffer. Whether their defeats were caused by unfavorable match-ups, poor performance, or simply bad luck, it’s hard to tell. But what we do know is that at IEM Cologne, one of the most important CS2 events of the year, they were 9^th – 12^th.

Then, at ESL Pro League S20, they were eliminated almost from the start and finished 21^st – 28^th. Immediately after this defeat, Casper “cadiaN” Møller was officially signed and br0 was benched.

Br0’s Future

Despite playing for Astralis for just six months, br0 demonstrated that he is a very capable player who could achieve important results in the future with minor upgrades. At 22, he still has around 10 years to demonstrate what he’s capable of. We don’t know yet what team he will join next but it’s likely going to be one of the top 30.

A New Era For Astralis

With the signing of cadiaN, Astralis could easily become a top-five team again and even reclaim their former glory. His project with Team Liquid didn’t go exactly as planned but everyone knows that he has the knowledge and determination to lead teams to victory.

With dev1ce relieved from his IGL responsibilities, he will likely start to play much better and contribute even more to the team’s success. But now the question is: can cadiaN adapt to Astralis? Or can Astralis adapt to him?

The playoffs of ESL Pro League S20 are about to begin. Just half of the initial 32 participants are left in the race and some of them are only three victories away from the trophy.

The group stage was full of surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant. M80, a team that was ranked 46^th globally and is now ranked 23^rd, somehow managed to win group C by defeating strong competitors like Complexity and Imperial Esports. Meanwhile, Astralis, Team Falcons, ENCE, and MOUZ failed to advance to the playoffs.

The Remaining 16 Teams

Here are the 16 teams that will compete in the playoffs of EPL S20:

• BIG
• The MongolZ
• Virtus.pro
• HEROIC
• FaZe Clan
• Complexity
• Team Spirit
• FURIA Esports
• Eternal Fire
• MIBR
• Team Liquid
• Imperial Esports
• Team Vitality
• M80
• G2 Esports
• Natus Vincere

Of these 16 teams, Vitality, M80, G2, and Na’Vi are already waiting for their opponents in the quarterfinals. Because they won their groups, they get to skip the first two rounds of matches. This is a big advantage given the single-elimination format.

Round of 16 Matches

Each of the first three rounds of matches will feature four epic battles. In the round of 16, the matches will be played between these teams:

• BIG vs. The MongolZ
• Virtus.pro vs. HEROIC
• FaZe Clan vs. Complexity
• Team Spirit vs. FURIA Esports

The four favorites are The MongolZ, Virtus.pro, FaZe Clan, and Team Spirit.

Round of 12 Participants

In the second round of matches, Eternal Fire, MIBR, Team Liquid, and Imperial Esports are waiting for their opponents. It’s quite Impressive to see the likes of MIBR and Imperial Esports here. Brazilian CS2 is clearly going in the right direction.

In the case of MIBR, we could easily see them in the semifinals. Their next opponent will be either VP or HEROIC and both of them looked slightly out of shape. As for M80, they seem to be in great shape, but without a single star player on the roster, it’s hard to believe they can secure a top-four result at this tournament.

Tradeit League FE Masters #5 was an excellent CS2 tournament in which the best female teams in the game showed us what they’re capable of.

In the Grand Final, NAVI Javelins won their 3^rd trophy in this series and received $3000 for this victory. Their opponent, Imperial Female, who changed their roster at the end of May this year, played well but were not able to win more than one map in the best-of-five.

It seems that the new roster, despite getting good results during the Summer and having one of the most accomplished players in female Counter-Strike (Ana “ANa” Dumbravă), still has some work to do.

Impressions

For NAVI Javelins, this victory confirms their strength and the fact that their new IGL, Mayline “ASTRA” Champliaud, has already found a winning playstyle with the Polish trio that has been competing for NAVI for the past two years.

Marta “D7” Asensio, the other player who joined the team at the start of August this year, played slightly worse than her teammates but still had a solid overall performance.

NAVI Javelins’ Path To Victory

NAVI Javelins started Tradeit League FE Masters #5 with a victory against OneDay. The scores were 16 – 13 on Ancient and 13 – 5 on Mirage.

In the quarterfinals, the opponent was Spirit Female and the match looked relatively easy: 13 – 8 on Inferno, 13 – 6 on Ancient.

The first major test for NAVI Javelins came in the semifinals. Their opponent, NIP Impact, had finished 3^rd – 4^th at the previous two editions of Tradeit League FE Masters, so everyone knew how good they were.

The scores don’t tell the whole story but still offer an indication of just how tense each map was: 13 – 8 on Dust II (after 5 – 7 in the first half), 9 – 13 on Anubis (after 6 – 6), and 13 – 10 on Inferno (after 7 – 5).

Mayline “ASTRA” Champliaud, despite being the IGL, finished the match with an excellent score: 59 – 39. She was by far the best player on the server.

In the Grand Final, the first map was the most disputed of the four. Imperial Female eventually lost 14 – 16 but managed to initially recover from a 4 – 8 score after the first half. The other three maps were a bit one-sided: 6 – 13 on Mirage, 13 – 6 on Dust II, and 5 – 13 on Ancient.

Team Falcons and Astralis, arguably two of the teams that were expected to qualify for the playoffs of ESL Pro League S20 with ease, have been eliminated from the tournament after a disappointing performance.

Both of them had three tournament lives and they managed to lose all three of them despite the fact that their opponents weren’t top-5 teams.

Team Falcons’ Results

Team Falcons started EPL S20 in group D with a match against FURIA Esports. The Brazilians sent Falcons to the mid bracket after an epic battle that needed three maps to conclude: 13 – 10 on Nuke, 10 – 13 on Anubis, 13 – 9 on Dust II.

The second match of the tournament was very easy to win for Danny “zonic” Sorensen’s crew, but that’s because the opponent, ATOX Esports, is currently ranked 93^rd globally.

Immediately after this match, Falcons encountered a much better team, Virtus.pro, and lost. This defeat was painful to watch and the scores speak for themselves: 13 – 16 on Dust II, 16 – 13 on Vertigo, 13 – 11 on Ancient. On the third map, Falcons nearly came back from 9 – 3, which made the last round heartbreaking.

In the fourth match, RED Canids should not have defeated them. But, probably because of the demoralizing defeat suffered on the previous day, Falcons lost against this Brazilian team that’s currently ranked 56^th. It’s worth mentioning, however, that on RED Canids’ roster are two formidable players: Marcelo “coldzera” David and Henrique “HEN1” Teles.

Astralis’ Results

Astralis started their EPL S20 run with a defeat against Fnatic. The two teams hadn’t faced each other since November 2022. Fnatic won that match at Elisa Masters Espoo. This time, Astralis were expected to win without too many problems. But their former player, Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, had other plans.

In the mid bracket, the Danish team encountered Complexity and narrowly lost the match: 19 – 17 on Vertigo, 16 – 14 on Inferno. The two teams then met each other for a second time in the lower bracket, after Astralis defeated Rooster 2 – 0.

This time, it felt as though Complexity would win again 2 – 0. But in the end, the match needed three maps to conclude: 13 – 10 on Vertigo, 6 – 13 on Inferno, 16 – 14 on Nuke. Once again, the final map was dramatic and sad for Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, who will need to rethink his team’s strategy for the upcoming tournaments.

Astralis went to ESL Pro League S20 with high hopes and ambitions. But unfortunately for them, their first two matches in group C turned out to be much harder than they anticipated.

Fnatic defeated them 2 – 1 in the upper bracket and to add salt to injury, Benjamin “blameF” Bremer was the best player on the server.

In the mid bracket, the team led by Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz should have won against Complexity, especially after the excellent start: 3 – 9 in the first half of Vertigo. But after a long and grueling fight, the NA squad won 2 – 0: 19 – 17 on Vertigo, 16 – 14 on Inferno. Things looked pretty bad for the Danes.

Fortunately for them, however, EPL S20 uses a very forgiving competitive format, with three brackets instead of two. So they were not eliminated after the second defeat. But their spirit was almost certainly crushed.

Rooster vs. Astralis: 0 – 2

Rooster is an Australian team that’s currently ranked 102^nd. Needless to say, Astralis were expected to beat this opponent 2 – 0, and without struggling at all, which is exactly what happened.

The scores speak for themselves: 2 – 13 on Mirage, 5 – 13 on Inferno. Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard finished the match with a personal score of 39 – 15 / 105.0 / 1.82. Everyone else on the team had a positive KD ratio.

What’s Next For Astralis

Astralis need to win two more matches if they want to qualify for the playoffs of ESL Pro League S20. Their opponents could be BIG or Complexity in the first match, and then Fnatic or MOUZ in the second match.

All of these teams pose a serious threat and could easily beat them in their current form. Fnatic have already done it once at this tournament. But if dev1ce and his team manage to find their true form in the coming days, the odds are on their side.