We're inching ever closer to the start of the new year of Counter-Strike, and we're blessed to be able to bring you the best teams in the world straight to your watchful eyes.

Strap in, and enjoy.

Group A: Vengeance and rivalry

There's a lot to grasp in Group A.

The best team in the world, Team Vitality, match up against the team who stole Magisk and zonic off them, Falcons, in the first group - but it's Astralis, who were the victims of a Magisk-zonic robbery of their own not too long ago.

OG have to try and topple Vitality to kick off the group, while zonic's Falcons come up against the new-look Astralis in something of a grudge match.

Credit: Michal Konkol

Team Vitality are the obvious favourite in this group.

They went to Abu Dhabi and rolled the competition, and OG, Astralis and Falcons are quite newly put together. It's a big ask for any team to take them down, never mind a new one.

Second place, though, will be interesting. We get a look at Falcons for the first time, a chance to watch device and co. play - a chance we'll never not take - and HeavyGod's debut at the top level. This group screams drama.

Group B: donk (not) on LAN

The fun thing about getting one of the first tournaments of the year is being part of the beginning of the year's narratives.

FaZe Clan were the early frontrunners in CS2, and have only been stopped by Team Vitality. Tasked with beating them are GamerLegion, Team Spirit and Team Liquid. Good luck, lads.

They're not without any hope, though. GamerLegion are one of few teams to take a game off of FaZe - albeit in a BO1 - and often go under the radar as a threat to the top teams.

Team Liquid have put together a roster of immaculate reputation and quality. If everything in this team clicks from day one, it could well be one of the best in the world. FaZe won't be looking forward to facing them, that's for sure.

Credit: Stephanie Lindgren

Nor will they be too happy should Spirit find their way past Liquid. The addition of sh1ro to what was already one of the most intriguing young rosters in the world makes Spirit one of the teams everyone has their eye on this year.

Sadly though, for Spirit to get past Liquid they will have to do so without rifle duo donk and magixx. Obviously a loss for them - and we know everyone will be sad about not experiencing donk, but it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to see the wunderkid on LAN again.

Regardless, this one will be fun.

NA vs the world

Complexity make up the only national team left in this group.

They've also been excellent so far in CS2, with JT turning into prime gla1ve and EliGE rolling back the years, and it's suddenly seeming more and more likely that they could top this group.

Their first game, though, is NAVI. Having lost s1mple, things looked a little doomed until w0nderful stepped up to replace him about as well as one can replace the best ever to do it.

NAVI, too, has been a reliable playoff team in CS2 and poses a massive threat to kick off the event.

Credit: Michal Konkol

The other opening game is G2 vs NIP, with both bringing relatively new squads to Copenhagen. nexa replaced jks to the chagrin of many a HLTV forum user, while NIP brought back es3tag and signed the exciting IGL alex.

Though alex's move might have raised more eyebrows than it did heart rates, he consistently overperformed with Movistar Riders. He deserves a chance with a big org.

G2 are, as ever, contenders for the title. Their trio of stars is basically unmatched. They do, however, always seem to have a chance to implode as much as they do explode, and predicted G2's tournaments in advance seems futile far too often.

Group D: A group of intrigue

Speaking of prediction futility...

Virtus.pro are a legacy in CS. Their style is unique, but quite how it adapts to the new game we're all excited to see. BIG can be sublime and take down the best opponents. Cloud9 will also be exciting to watch - as they don't have an AWPer - and obviously the new iteration of Heroic.

There are many reasons why this group is interesting.

Credit: Stephanie Lindgren

VP have shown they can be among the best in the world when they're on it. BIG, too. Cloud9 have a roster with an incredible amount of rifle power, and we all know the AWP isn't as good on CS2 just yet.

Heroic could be fantastic, for all we know. We know these individuals are all superb, so if it clicks, they could just outright win the group.

VP's first first game is BIG, with Cloud9 and Heroic facing off in the other game. We've got no idea what to expect from either, but we will be enjoying the show.

BLAST Premier Spring groups 2024 begins on January 22nd - and you can watch all action on BLAST.tv.