The epic conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 17 yesterday between FaZe and Cloud9 has given us the first attendee for BLAST Premier World Final in December.
Following over a month of competition, Finn "karrigan" Andersen’s squad emerged victorious in the Best of 5 final, claiming the prestigious title and the Intel Grand Slam to boot. Alongside their EPL and IGS victories, FaZe are also the first team to qualify for the BLAST World Final in Abu Dhabi later this year.
karrigan carries FaZe to Abu Dhabi
Throughout 2022, FaZe were a consistent dominant force, with their Intel Grand Slam success yesterday securing their legacy as one of the greatest rosters to play CS:GO. Victorious at ESL Pro League Season’s 15 and 17, as well as IEM Cologne, IEM Katowice and the PGL Antwerp Major, the American based organization have nearly won all there is to win in the Counter-Strike circuit. Nearly.
One honour that has eluded this iteration of FaZe is a BLAST trophy, coming closest at Fall Finals in 2022 where they fell to Heroic in the Royal Arena. Already locked in for World Finals, Spring Finals in Dallas and the RMR for the Paris Major, karrigan and co. will be hoping to add even more titles to their trophy cabinet.
How qualification to BLAST World Finals works
In case you missed it, we posted an article giving you the run down on everything we know so far about BLAST World Finals. As you may have guessed, winning ESL Pro League was one avenue to qualify, with the second EPL of the year providing another opportunity.
The winners of both BLAST Spring and Fall finals will also guarantee their spot in the climatic event of the year.
The winner of the one and only Major this year, the BLAST.tv Paris Major, will also earn an opportunity to claim the lion's share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. The final three places in Abu Dhabi will go to the three highest ranked teams in the BLAST rankings, where defending champions G2 qualified from last time around.
Taking place from the 13th-17th of December, there is still a long way to go until we make it to BLAST World Finals, but until then, make sure to stay up to date with us here for everything BLAST!