Cloud9 acquires EG’s spot at BLAST Premier

The popular North American esports organization, Cloud9 has secured Evil Geniuses’ BLAST Premier slot following a competitive bidding process.

Cloud9 officially secured a slot at BLAST Premier, marking their entry into the CS 2 events hosted by BLAST in 2024. For Cloud9, this acquisition represents a strategic boon, alleviating the often challenging qualification routes their Russian lineup had to endure for flagship events hosted by major tournament operators BLAST. 

The team will begin their participation in January 2024 at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, where they will compete against other top-tier C2 teams from around the world. Although Cloud9 will get more exposure with the new slot, they will still miss some prestigious CS 2 events in 2024 as they are still not a part of ESL’s partnership scheme, the Louvre Agreement.

Cloud9 to get more spotlight in 2024 with a slot in BLAST Premier

Cloud9 has a lengthy history in competitive gaming, having fielded North American squads from 2014 to 2018. In addition to winning several notable competitions including ESL Pro League Season 4 – Finals, DreamHack Open Denver 2017, and iBUYPOWER Masters 2017, Cloud9 also emerged victorious in the region’s first and only CSGO major, ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018.

However, after a series of disappointing performances, C9 took an exit from the scene in 2021 but promptly returned to the game in 2022 with the signing of Gambit Esports’ CSGO roster.  Cloud9 showed great promise with their new European team, winning the 2023 IEM Dallas, Brazy Party, and BetBoom Playlist. Urbanistic. The group also achieved great success in several notable competitions, such as placing second in the ESL Pro League Season and finishing in the top 4 at IEM Rio 2023.

Excited to become a #BLASTPremier Member Team for the 2024 season 💙 https://t.co/V5XM0sD4G0

— Cloud9 CS (@C9CSGO) December 17, 2023

 

Cloud9’s tenure at BLAST Premier is limited to 2024 because, as Valve has said this year, Couter-Stike’s franchised leagues would terminate in 2025. Tournament organizers will have to decide by 2025 whether to invite teams based on Valve’s Regional Standings, a rating system that was created by the company and unveiled late last year, or distribute slots based on open qualifications.

As Cloud9 rejoices with their entry to Counter-Stike’s flagship event, Evil Geniuses says goodbye to the league, perhaps ending its involvement in esports completely. The once-famous EG brand is winding down its esports endeavors after a meteoric fall from favor in recent years. The League of Legends Championship was just withdrawn from the North American organization.

The North American team recently withdrew from the League of Legends Championship Series, dissolved its Dota 2 team, and reportedly tried to sell their VALORANT team, which emerged victorious in the VCT Champions 2023. Furthermore, Richard Lewis has reported that Evil Geniuses may soon close its Counter-Strike section and maybe sell the brand as a whole.

BLAST Premier partnered teams:

1. Astralis
2. NIP
3. G2 Esports
4. OG
5.  Team Vitality
6. Natus Vincere
7. FaZe Clan
8. Complexity
9. Team Liquid
10. Heroic
11. BIG
12. Cloud9

Header: BLAST