Sep 13, 2019 17:37 UTC The ultimate guide to BLAST Pro Series Moscow 2019 BLAST Pro Series Moscow on September 13-14 is starting now and as the final touches are added to the VTB Arena, we are ready to serve you the ultimate guide for the entire event. The first installment of BLAST Pro Series in Moscow will feature three teams from the CIS region, two of them coming from the second-ever BLAST Qualifier, and the event in the Russian capital will thus have three local teams for the crowd to support as they go up against the international competition in the exciting BLAST format. Whether you’re watching online, at the VTB Arena or on your TV alongside fans in 129 other countries and territories, here is anything you need to know! In our guide, we’ll answer the questions you might have about: • AVANGAR and forZe, the two teams joining us from the Qualifier • The competing teams at BLAST Moscow 2019 • The 2019 BLAST Season • Full schedule and formats for both days THE BLAST QUALIFIER In order for BLAST Pro Series to feature another local team, BLAST Pro Series Moscow features the second-ever BLAST Qualifier. With the process starting in August, 140 teams signed up to play the open qualifier, with the eventually two best teams, Gambit Youngsters and buAksib, finding their way to the closed qualifier in which Winstrike, Vega Squadron, Team Spirit, Nemiga Gaming, forZe and AVANGAR awaited them. Following this process the two latter teams are now ready to play on stage in the VTB Arena, joining the invited teams for the BLAST Pro Series Moscow round-robin group stage. TEAMS AND PLAYERS AVANGAR Country: Kazakhstan With their sensational run at the Berlin Major, AVANGAR come in hot for Moscow. Following the addition of former Major MVP Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev, AVANGAR has picked up the mantle and secured a spot in the grand final of the Major last weekend which they lost to Astralis. The Kazak team also brings the Russian player Ali “Jame” Djami, one of the more profiled AWP’ers out there. AVANGAR is currently in 6th place on the world rankings following last week’s success. Roster: Timur “buster” Tulepov, Rifler Alexey “qikert” Golubev, Rifler Ali “Jame” Djami, AWP’er, In-Game Leader Sanjar “SANJI” Kuliev, Support Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev, Rifler Dastan “dastan” Akbaev, Coach / Second In-Game Leader forZe Country: Russia The Russians from forZe have fought their way to BLAST Moscow after a strong summer. Captain Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov has been with the team for two full years alongside Dmitriy “facecrack” Alekseyev and Almaz “almazer” Assadulin and with their newest addition, coach Anatoliy “liTTle” Yashin, the team saw themselves win the CIS Minor and as a result participate in the just concluded Berlin Major, ending on the 17th-19th place out of 24 teams, just missing out on the New Legends Stage. They will hold the underdog role for this event but will surely give it all they’ve got for the home crowd. Roster: Dmitriy “facecrack” Alekseyev, Rifler Almaz “almazer” Assadulin, Support Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov, In-Game Leader Bogdan “xsepower” Chernikov, AWPer Evgeny “FL1T” Lebedev, Rifler Anatoliy “liTTle” Yashin, coach NAVI Country: Russia The home favorites NAVI are not just playing for the BLAST trophy, but for the glory of their fans in the arena when they come to BLAST Pro Series Moscow. Furthermore, the team looks to secure legendary player Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko a great final memory as he has announced that he will retire following BLAST Moscow. The CIS team recently replaced the long-time player and founding member of NAVI Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev with the 20- year old Russian talent Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov. The roster still includes Ukrainian superstar Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev who never ceases to amaze the fans of Counter-Strike. One of the most anticipated battles because of those two players. Coach Mykhailo “kane” Blagin will also leave the team’s roster following this weekend’s events. Roster: Mykhailo “kane” Blagin, Coach Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov, Entry Fragger Egor “flamie” Vasilyev, Rifler, AWP Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, AWP, Rifler, Entry Fragger Denis “electronic” Sharipov, Rifler Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, In-Game Leader, Support ENCE Country: Finland ENCE return to BLAST for the first time since their historic victory against Astralis in the Grand Final of BLAST Pro Series Madrid 19. Generally keeping a solid level lately, ENCE placed top 8 at the just finished Major in Berlin, second at IEM Chicago, second at DreamHack Dallas, but didn’t manage to go far at IEM Cologne. Despite that, ENCE have proven themselves to be a consistent top team in 2019 and a definite contender to win BLAST Pro Series Moscow 19. BLAST Moscow also marks the debut of Miikka “suNny” Kemppi whom recently joined the Finnish line-up. Roster: Slaava “Twista” Räsänen, Coach Aleksi “allu” Jalli, AWP Miikka “suNny” Kemppi, In-Game Leader, Rifler Jere “sergej” Salo, Rifler Jani “Aerial” Jussila, Rifler, Entry Fragger Sami “xseveN” Laasanen, Rifler, Support MIBR Country: Brazil MIBR has been going through somewhat of a rough patch lately, after key player Marcelo “coldzera” David announced his departure from the legendary roster. The Brazilian team has acquired Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles in a loan swap deal and has finalised the roster with Vito “kNgV-”Giuseppe, debuting in Moscow. The team is a bit up in the air at this point and can be hard to predict. They haven’t been in the greatest form recently, but Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo is a fierce leader and has created success from virtually nothing before. MIBR were unable to reach the semifinals of BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles 19 but they pulled off their second BLAST Stand-Off victory against Renegades. Roster: Wilton “zews” Prado, Coach Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, In-Game Leader, AWP Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, Rifler, Entry Fragger Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles, Rifler, Support Epitácio de Melo “TACO” Pessoa Filho, Rifler Vito “kNgV-” Giuseppe, Rifler Ninjas in Pyjamas Country: Sweden This legend among Counter-Strike teams has undergone a lot of changes since their glory days where they set the world record for most match wins in a row, 87. Ninjas in Pyjamas were ahead of their time but other teams quickly caught up to them. The Swedes are still trying to tweak the recipe for success in the modern age of Counter-Strike. The team has had mediocre placements in recent premier tournaments but won the BLAST Stand-Off against Vodafone Giants in Madrid. In Moscow, they’ll be looking to bring back some of that old-fashioned NiP-magic. Roster: Patrick “f0rest” Lindberg, Rifler, AWP Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora, Rifler Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, Rifler, Lurker Frederik “REZ” Sterner, Rifler Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson, In-Game Leader, AWP Faruk "pita" Pita, Coach The Season Leaderboard We are well into the 2019 BLAST Season, and BLAST Moscow will be the second to last regular event in the BLAST Calendar before the Global Final in December. A Top-4 placement in the Season Leaderboard will secure a spot in the Global Finals so MIBR and NAVI will fight hard to secure more points in Russia. For the Brazilians, it’s their final attempt as all teams will play in four tournaments this year. The Global Final will crown the 2019 BLAST Pro Series Season Champion, who on top of the trophy will win 350.000 US dollars of the 500.000 US dollars in the total prize pool for the 4 top teams. Full Schedule for BLAST Pro Series Moscow 2019 Friday, September 13 19:30 CEST, Show Start 19:45 CEST, Round 1 ENCE vs. forZe AVANGAR vs. NiP NAVI vs. MIBR 21:15 CEST Round 2 NiP vs. MIBR forZe vs. AVANGAR NAVI vs. ENCE Saturday, September 14 12:00 CEST, Opening show 12:30 CEST, Round 3 NAVI vs. AVANGAR ENCE vs. MIBR forZe vs. NiP 14:50 CEST, Round 4 NAVI vs. forZe MIBR vs. AVANGAR NiP vs. ENCE 16:10 CEST, Round 5 forZe vs. MIBR ENCE vs. AVANGAR NAVI - NiP 17:30 CEST, BLAST Stand-Off Group Stage 3rd Place vs. The Crowd’s Chosen Team 18:30 CEST, GRAND FINAL (Best of Three) Group Stage 1st vs. Group Stage 2nd Tournament format, BLAST Stand-Off, and prize distribution In the initial group phase, all 6 participating teams face each other in a best of one map format. All teams will play at the same time, resulting in 3 matches running at the same time on stage, and 5 rounds of matches played in total. The first 2 rounds are played the day before the main arena event day. The top 2 teams from the group stage qualify instantly for the Grand Final, which is played in a best of 3 map format. 3rd place in the rankings will challenge one of the remaining teams, in a showmatch format called BLAST Stand-Off. BLAST Stand-Off The BLAST Stand-Off map offers a wide range of fun, casual elements for lighthearted competition. 3rd place in the rankings will face off against one of the remaining 4th to 6th placed teams, in the $20,000 BLAST Stand-Off showmatch. The BLAST Stand-Off will be played in a 1vs1 duel format on the BLAST Stand-Off Map, a map created specifically for BLAST Stand-Off, currently sitting at more than 100.000 subscribers on the Steam Workshop. Each duel is played first to 7 kills, of which the kills per duel are added to the team total. After 5 duels the team with the most kills win the match. The teams provide the tournament referees with their players numbered 1 to 5, corresponding to the matchup they are set to play.