BLAST Premier Fall Groups is almost here and as always we have an absolutely stacked field of teams looking to secure their place in September's BLAST Premier Fall Final.
A whole host of teams will be debuting their new rosters while others will be looking to continue their strong starts to the year, so it should be one of the most competitive group stages we've ever seen.
With that in mind, we spoke to Bubzkji to get his views on who will be the favourites for each group and the two underdog teams that stand a chance of securing the final two places at Fall Final.
"The best team in 2023 so far, with no signs of slowing down. The only argument for Spirit not being number one was them lacking participation in Pro League and Chengdu. But dominantly winning the BLAST Finals in London, changed that perspective for me."
"A consistent team who almost always advances from Groups.
ZywOo is the consistent factor within this team, he’s always gonna show up for these types of games.
He’s in serious need of assistance when it comes to having a worldstar duo. Spinx is no longer in the same form as last year. The most positive thing about Vitality in 2023 have been the uprise of flameZ form on CT, he’s finally shown the potential many saw of him in OG.
My personal take is that all eyes are on apEX, mezii and Spinx for the next couple of months, for different reasons each."
"It often feels like FaZe loses and wins as a team. I do think there are obvious reasons why they aren’t as dominating as earlier.
Ropz not being a superstar anymore. Broky having little impact on the CT side. Karrigan's individual form. Frozen’s passiveness at times.
But I do feel if anyone is able to execute the right strategy to get back on track it would be Karrigan. Never underestimate what he can do to a roster on all aspects, not only in game."
"The most consistent team in Group D. Many of the teams in this Group have had terrible seasons, and NAVI has placed themselves within the Top 5 of CS currently.
I just wish and desire to see more from w0nderful. You can see the raw talent is there, but he can become so distant in games. It’s mainly on T sides that I don’t see that raw instinct coming in handy in mid-round situations.
It might also add the effect, that he took over from s1mple the greatest of all time making stuff happen with rounds looked tough."
"HEROIC are in a relatively reasonable group with the likes of OG and Complexity in there.
The recent contract extension of TeSeS is crucial. Most people probably don't look at TeSeS as a major force within the lineup, but at this point, he’s proven himself as the most important player to the team currently and is outweighing NertZ on raw stats which is nothing but impressive considering his roles on the CT side of things."
"I don’t always have faith in this project., but I do feel they’re a better time when they have longer periods of break to ensure a fresh playbook.
BIG have always had this a bit too structured playstyle to my liking. And when you’re constantly in tournaments it’s hard to renew your playbook. But now they’ve had a long time to prepare - So keep an eye out for all the small details and new executes.
Rigon should also be a 10-20% upgrade over Prosus. Combine that with a relatively shaky group in the likes of Virtus Pro and Liquid. They might have a shot."
BLAST Premier Fall Groups kicks off on July 29th and will run until August 4th.
The 16 teams involved will be battling it out for the six available spaces at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024. The ten teams who fail to secure places will then fall down into BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2024.
Make sure you watch all the action right here on BLAST.tv.
BLAST ApS., Hauser Plads 1, 3., 1127 Copenhagen