All teams qualified for BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023

With BLAST Premier Fall Showdown now over, we have final confirmation of all the teams attending BLAST Premier Fall Final.

The tournament, set to take place in Copenhagen from November 22nd until November 26th, has a $425,000 prize pool and features some of the very best teams in the world.

With 8 qualified teams, let's give each team a quick rundown and see how they got there.

Group winners

With six of our qualified teams coming from BLAST Premier Fall Groups, three of them did so by winning their group. Teams who either did so by meeting or exceeding expectations, one of them was the losing finalist at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022.

FaZe Clan

Let's start with the losing finalist at Fall Final 2022 then. One of four teams already qualified for BLAST Premier World Final 2023 thanks to their victory at ESL Pro League Season 17, FaZe have had an inconsistent 2023 thus far.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Winning Pro League secured them their Intel Grand Slam win, but that was their only event win this year. They missed out on playoffs at both IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne, but secured the quarter-finals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major thanks to a barn-burner of a series against NAVI.

They qualified for Fall Final after wins against OG, G2 and Liquid. They had to defeat one of the best teams in the world to make the event.

A team that knows what it takes to win, their individual peaks are some of the highest in the game, and they could easily take the trophy in the Royal Arena.

Heroic

Finalists at IEM Katowice and winners of BLAST Premier Spring Final, no one really knows what to expect of Heroic right now. Currently down to four players following the benching of their talismanic captain cadiaN, they could have a very different lineup by the time Fall Final rolls around.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Qualifying for the event thanks to wins against BIG and NAVI twice, given the changes those teams made, it could be said they profited from playing against new teams. However, we'd say that it was simply Heroic, flexing the stability that made their roster so strong in the past couple of years.

That stability may be gone with the departure of their leader, but Heroic's story is far from over, and we're sure they'll dig as deep as they ever have to create a return performance of their win at Fall Final last year.

NIP

When we said a team at Fall Groups exceeding expectations, we meant NIP, but that's only because they had Major winners Vitality in their group. Beating Vitality to win the group was impressive, though, and it rounded out their comeback after losing to Complexity in their opening game.

Photo: Michal Konkol

NIP have had trouble since Fall Groups. They finished in last place at both IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League Season 18, as well as failing to IEM Sydney, but that doesn't mean they can't turn it around to be a dangerous prospect in Copenhagen.

Buoyed by long-standing member REZ and prodigal AWPer headtr1ck, they have more than enough skill within their roster to become champions, and with it being six years since their last tier one LAN trophy in Counter-Strike, Fall Final might just be their time.

Group runners-up

Group winners aren't the only teams to qualify for Fall Final from the groups, 3 teams also advanced to Fall Final thanks to victories in the single-elimination, gauntlet stage of Fall Groups.

Astralis

The second Danish team to qualify for the event in their home country, Astralis have been impressive since the arrivals of Staehr and b0RUP before Fall Groups.

Semi finalists at IEM Cologne, they got that far thanks to wins against NAVI and Heroic, and have since also made the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 18.

Photo: Michal Konkol

After opening Fall Groups with losses against BIG and NAVI, Astralis followed up those defeats with dominant victories against Liquid and Complexity, and those victories will carry them to being a force to be reckoned with at Fall Final.

Very few teams can boast even one star-like device or blameF, but Astralis have two. They could well be more than enough to see them claim the trophy in front of their home crowd.

NAVI

People were unsure when NAVI decided to go international before Fall Groups following the signings of iM, jL, and Aleksib, but with wins against Astralis, BIG, and G2 at Fall Groups, the following months have shown this NAVI team can be competitive.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Since then, NAVI have cleared all doubts about their roster. Runners up at ESL Pro League Season 18, they were also a step away from the playoffs at IEM Cologne and would have made it if not for an all-timer from Buzz.

With s1mple on the team, anything is possible, and when you combine that with the brains of Aleksib and the skill of iM, b1t, and jL, NAVI have everything it takes to win any event.

Vitality

The Counter-Strike world was rocked in the last week when it was announced that legendary coach zonic would be leaving Vitality to join Falcons, but that won't affect Vitality come Fall Final.

Photo: Michal Konkol

The best team in the world since winning IEM Rio and the BLAST.tv Paris Major, Vitality contain the best player this year in ZywOo, as well as one of the best rifle cores the game has ever seen in Spinx, Magisk, and flameZ.

Despite their loss to NIP in their group final, Vitality looked as strong as ever as they dominated EG, Complexity, and BIG. The level of skill in their squad is immense, and they're a favourite for any event they attend, zonic or not. They'll be one of the most feared teams come November.

Showdown winners

The final way to qualify is through the Showdown, a single-elimination bloodbath that decides the final two places at both BLAST Premier Spring Final and Fall Final.

With 16 teams spread across two events, anyone can make it from the Showdown, and the Spring Americas Showdown winners, Imperial made it all the way to the top four at Spring Final.

Cloud9

Cloud9 won both Spring and Fall Showdown this year in Europe, but it didn't go well for them at Spring Final as they finished in last place. Considering the changes to the team since then, we'll hazard a guess that they'll do better this time around.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

Results have been up and down for Cloud9 since the arrivals of Major winners Perfecto and electroNic, but with H0bbit taking up the mantle of IGL at Fall Showdown, things seem to be on the up for the Russian superteam.

The word superteam gets thrown around a lot nowadays, a by-product of the international era, but it has arguably never meant as much as with Cloud9. Teams consisting of players like electroNic, Perfecto, sh1ro, and Ax1Le don't come around all too often, and Fall Final is the perfect opportunity for them to start showing why.

Complexity

Ever since Liquid chose to switch from having an NA core to a European one, Complexity have been vying to prove themselves as the best team in NA. Given their absolute demolition job of Liquid in the Showdown final, it seems they've finally earned that title.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Bolstered by the arrival of EliGE, they were never going to be an overnight success, but having now made playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 18 and a win at Showdown, they look ready to make their region proud.

It'll be tough for them to win at Fall Final, but EliGE knows what it takes to win, and it's about time NA had something to shout about again.

The complete team list