CS2 Blast Officially Affiliates Falcons, Gamer Legion, Spirit, and Virtus.pro as Teams

BLAST has announced the addition of four new affiliated teams to its Counter Strike 2 circuit – Falcons, Gamer Legion, Virtus.pro, and Team Spirit. These teams will join the 12 existing “member” structures, including Vitality, to expand the circuit to 16 teams. The move comes as BLAST faces the prospect of closing its doors in 2025 due to new rules imposed by Valve that prohibit partnerships between tournament organizers and teams.

Une arrivée pour une seule année

It is worth noting that the BLAST circuit is only scheduled to last for one more year, as Valve has decided to ban such partnerships from 2025. However, the decision of these teams to integrate into the circuit underscores the attractiveness and need for actors not to miss these tournaments. For Gamer Legion and Team Spirit in particular, this choice may be explained by a desire to fully integrate into T1, while VP seeks to regain a place of honor after a blank year in 2023.

While BLAST has not specified the difference in nature between affiliated and member clubs, it is likely that it is mainly a question of revenue distribution. Affiliated clubs have the same access rights to tournaments as members, but are expected to be less economically tied to BLAST.

The addition of these four new teams to the BLAST circuit is a significant development, and it is not surprising that Falcons has purchased a spot given the heavy investment into its CS2 roster. Virtus.pro and Team Spirit are also great additions, giving two of the best teams from the CIS region the chance to shine at more Tier 1 events. GL had reached the final of the Major in Paris, while Spirit has been on a roll since the CS2 update.

VP’s inclusion seems long overdue, given the link between the VP leadership and the Kremlin. For a time, the players were even forced to play under a neutral banner due to the war in Ukraine. It is unclear how much of an impact this affiliation will have on these teams in the long run, but it is clear that BLAST is continuing to attract top-notch organizations to its circuit.