BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023, the first tournament after the summer break, has come to a close. As a result, six teams have qualified for the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 in November. Let's recap the event and discuss the remaining six teams.
Winners who made it to the Fall Finals:
Heroic, FaZe, and NIP secured the first place in their respective groups. While many had faith in the Danish team Heroic, NIP's triumph over Vitality came as a complete surprise. All of NIP's matches were closely contested, including their battles against EG and Complexity, but they managed to come out on top. Now, fans will have to wait and see how NIP performs at IEM Cologne 2023 to gauge their current form.
Regarding FaZe, even though the team lost their coach just a few days before the event, the lineup managed to pull together when it mattered most and got their revenge against Liquid to win their group.
The other three slots for the Fall Finals were claimed by Vitality, Astralis, and NAVI. During the offseason, these three teams made changes to their lineups, with Vitality replacing one member, Astralis two, and NAVI three. apEX and his teammates didn't give their fans any reason to worry, as they confidently won all matches except against NIP. Astralis and NAVI had a more challenging time but their performances were intriguing to watch. It will be worth keeping an eye on these revamped lineups in future championships.
The losers who will participate in the Showdown are as follows:
Complexity with EliGE started the tournament promisingly by defeating NIP but couldn't go further. Nonetheless, their performance was better than that of Evil Geniuses – despite EG's revamped lineup not managing to beat G2, they don't appear to be contenders for major titles at the moment.
G2 seems to be entering a crisis phase, and their peak form has disappeared. If we don't witness a full recovery from them at IEM Cologne 2023, the chances of roster shuffles will increase significantly.
The new rosters of Liquid and BIG look interesting and have significant chances of qualifying for the Fall Finals through the Showdown. These two teams have the potential to make a strong impact on the tier-1 scene. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for OG yet, as they are still struggling to find their rhythm and form.
Distribution of the prize fund
Final Group Grid and Play-In
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 took place July 13-23. Teams played for a prize pool of $177,500 and six slots to BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023. Tournament statistics and results are available on the event page.
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