BLAST Premier: World Final Favorites

BLAST Premier: World Final is the last S-tier CS:GO event of the year. With $1 million in prize money, this tournament is almost as important as a Major and could be regarded as the Champions Stage of one.

The teams that take part in the competition are exceptional. Even OG, who are regarded by many as underdogs, have a decent chance of reaching the playoffs. The competition takes place between December 14-18 and seven of the eight teams have a realistic chance of winning it.

Team analysis

Looking at the eight teams, it’s really hard to pick one. But based on what we’ve seen from each of them in recent months, it’s hard not to assume that FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, and Outsiders will do well at the tournament.

Right now, the number one team in the world are Heroic, but they will play with a stand-in at this tournament. This means that they should not be regarded as one of the favorites. We already saw what happened last year when they did the exact same thing.

FaZe Clan, despite their disappointing result (15th-16th) at IEM Rio Major and the Grand Final they lost against Heroic at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, are still a formidable team that could easily win the tournament.

For Na’Vi, this will be a serious test. And the result will likely determine the future of Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev. He has played with Na’Vi for most of 2022, but the team’s results have not been as good as they were in 2021. Not even close.

For a player like Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, the thought that his team isn’t winning important trophies while he and other of his teammates are giving it their all is unacceptable. Something needs to change and fast! But if Na’Vi finish the tournament in first or second place, sdy might be allowed to stay for another season.

Outsiders are the winners of IEM Rio Major but it’s hard to believe that they kept their training regimen intact after winning such an important trophy. And therefore, even though they’re one of the favorites, Outsiders might fail miserably at this tournament.

But if they repeat their IEM Rio performance, then it’s clear that we have a new leader in CS:GO.

For G2 Esports,  Team Vitality, and Team Liquid, this tournament is an excellent opportunity to end the year on a high note. All three of them did poorly in recent months and are probably disappointed with their results. If they want to keep their rosters intact, they should at least qualify for the playoffs.

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