BLAST Season recap: A look back at highs and lows

Now that the player break is upon us, the entire scene can breathe a collective sigh of relief following a crazy six months of Counter-Strike. We’ve seen players go through all the highs and lows over the course of the last season, with us here at BLAST.tv even experiencing one of the highest highs possible as we hosted the finals CS:GO Major in Paris. With all that being said, it’s time to take a look back at what went down over the first six months of this year.

BLAST Spring Groups

With the Spring Final being pencilled in to take place in Washington D.C. there was a lot on the line for North American teams at the Spring Groups. Unfortunately, it would be a slow start to the year for both Liquid and Evil Geniuses, who would finish last place and be sent to the NA Showdown. It was a routine affair for three of the favourites at the time, as G2, Vitality, and FaZe all locked in their spots at the Spring Final by topping their respective groups.

Spring Groups set the tone for the season. Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

NAVI, Heroic, and Astralis booked their ticket to the Capital of the USA in the elimination bracket, and it was no easy task for any of them. NAVI had to take down the only remaining NA team at this stage Complexity, with all thirty rounds being needed to decide the affair on Overpass.

BIG took Heroic all three maps as well, but the Germans were unsuccessful in their endeavour, with Heroic securing a spot in the tournament that they would go on to place incredibly well at. Spring Groups was rounded out by another Danish side in the shape of legendary Astralis who confirmed their trip across the Atlantic against OG in a nailbiting overtime finish on Ancient.

Spring Showdown

Two final spots remained to be claimed in D.C. following the conclusion of Spring Groups. The winner of the respective Showdowns would claim the remaining places, and these brackets were stacked to the brim with talented teams.

Over in Europe, CIS juggernaut Cloud9 were heavy favorites to qualify and showed the world why their odds were so favorable by beating Copenhagen Flames and Ninjas in Pyjamas on their way to the final. On the opposite side of the bracket, BIG took down the Chinese side Rare Atom, and conquered the Poles from 9INE on their way to a finals face-off with C9. Despite taking first blood on Inferno, BIG could not withstand the might of C9 as they crumbled to a 16-3 defeat on Mirage after previously losing Vertigo.

Cloud9 ran the gauntlet. Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

As for the NA side of things, the favourites were far from the final as there were upsets galore. Replacing the main Evil Geniuses team at the Showdown, EG Black instantly overperformed in round one by defeating the favourite FURIA in a barnburner.

Imperial would make it to the final by breaking NA hearts twice, first with Complexity and then with the conquering heroes at EG Black.

Elsewhere, up-and-coming Brazilian team paiN swept aside their Brazilian brethren MIBR before ensuring no NA teams would make it to Washington D.C. by knocking out Liquid. Although Liquid failed to qualify, they would be there in spirit as their former IGL Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo secured the final spot at Spring Final with Imperial.

BLAST.tv Paris Major

Before we made it to the Spring Final this year, we had an extraordinary pitstop in the City of Light. BLAST.tv was honoured to host the final CS:GO Major in Paris, where 24 teams competed for the holy grail one last time in Global Offensive.

The Challengers stage was a rollercoaster from the get-go. Heavy hitters such as MOUZ and Liquid found themselves in the doldrums after day one, with both teams staring down the barrel of elimination at 0-2. While Liquid would recover, MOUZ were sent home without a single win, and we all knew this would be no ordinary Major. Both GamerLegion and Liquid would reverse sweep from their 0-2 starts into 3-2 finishes, progressing onto the Legends stage alongside a mix of familiar faces such as FaZe, NiP, G2, and ENCE, as well as some new blood in the tier one scene in the shape of Apeks and Monte.

Things got even more unpredictable in the Legends stage, with Brazilian giant FURIA immediately bombing out 0-3 in a similarly shocking result comparable to MOUZ previously. Strong contenders failed to live up to expectations as both ENCE, and heavy favourites to win the whole thing, G2 crashed out 1-3, missing out on the chance to play on the big stage. We were treated to a heartbreaking thriller in the 2-2 matches, as NAVI took on FaZe with the implication that only one of them could progress to the stage. The European giants came out on top in an arduous affair, requiring double overtime on the final map to vanquish NAVI and the GOAT Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev.

FURIA bowed out early. Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

Tournament favourites Heroic and Vitality both progressed with straightforward 3-0 records, while Liquid was accompanied by surprise packages Monte and GamerLegion in the 3-1 column. Rounding out the final playoff bracket was even more surprising teams as Apeks joined Into the Breach, who became the first UK team to ever make the top 8 of a Major.

Heroic dispatched FaZe in the quarter-finals to set up a date with GamerLegion, who overcame Monte in their big stage debut. On the lower side of the bracket, the French heroes of Vitality sent ITB back over the English Channel while Apeks stunned Liquid.

GamerLegion would continue to shock the world in the semifinals, taking down Heroic who many had pegged to win the whole thing, while Vitality marched into the finals with a comfortable win over Apeks.

GamerLegion had performed admirably to make it to the final of the last CS:GO Major, but unfortunately for them, it was just written in the stars for Vitality. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire led his team to the promised land, lifting his second Major title, while Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut claimed the MVP and lifted the trophy for the first time. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen broke the record for winning an unprecedented fifth Major, while Lotan "Spinx" Giladi broke a record of his own as he became the first Israeli to win the big one.

An emotional win in Paris. Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

BLAST Spring Final

Returning to regularly scheduled programming after the Major, the eight teams who fought hard to make it to the US for Spring Final had their work cut out for them if they wanted to lift the title.

Not many people would have given Imperial a chance, as they had missed out on the Major and were the lowest-ranked team in attendance. The Brazilians didn’t seem to get that memo, however, Taking down the newly crowned Major champions Vitality and falling just short of beating out G2 in Group A.

Over in Group B, Heroic was on the warpath after missing out on the Major title in Paris. The Danes easily dispatched Complexity and FaZe, but it was anything but easy when they ran into Imperial in the semifinals. Going the distance with all three maps, Heroic had to dig deep to vanquish Imperial, but it would be the Danish giants who progressed after an overtime encounter on Nuke.

Recovering after their initial loss to Imperial, Vitality would also progress to the final by beating Cloud9 in the lower bracket of Group A, before beating out FaZe and G2 to set up the Grand Final against Heroic, the final that we had all expected in Paris.

While Paris was Vitality’s destiny, Spring Final was Heroic’s. After losing so many Grand Finals since their last big success in the Royal Arena at BLAST Fall Final in late 2022, the Danes finally got their big win, beating out the world champions 2-1 and finishing out the final spring season of CS:GO by lifting the trophy in Washington D.C.

Heroic finally got their hands on another trophy. Photo: Stephanie Lindgren