The history of BLAST in Lisbon
BLAST is set to undergo some exciting changes next year with the introductions of BLAST Bounty, Open, and Rivals.
The second of those new tournament formats, Open, will see 12 of the best teams in the world joined by qualifying teams from the four major regions battle it out for six available spots at the arena playoffs.
The first location for those arena playoffs is the MEO Arena, Lisbon, a city that BLAST has a long history with.
With Portugal's capital being the third city BLAST ever visited way back in 2018, we thought now was a great time to go down history lane and look at the history of BLAST in Lisbon.
BLAST Pro Series Lisbon 2018
The first time BLAST headed to Lisbon was for the fourth BLAST Pro Series event.
Innovative competitions that saw six teams simultaneously compete in BO1s, BLAST Pro Series offered something completely different in a jam-packed tournament calendar.
Two teams would advance to the grand final, while two teams teams would play in the BLAST Pro Standoff, a feature of 1v1 matches that would see the winners pocket an extra $20,000.
Photo: Kirill BashkirovThe Standoff at that event was competed between Cloud9 and FaZe, somewhat of a grudge match considering two members of Cloud9 had defeated FaZe in the ELEAGUE Boston Major earlier that year.
That time, FaZe were the victors, earning themselves the bonus cash prize thanks to 1v1 wins by rain, NiKo, and karrigan.
The actual winners of the event was Astralis, their final trophy win of what was an incredibly dominant year for the Danes.
They took down NAVI in the final, a banger game in which they came back from a map down in style with two map wins in which they were completely in control.
The MVP award was won by Magisk, a well-deserved accolade after an incredible 1.39 rating across the eight maps he played at the event.
Photo: Rich LockBLAST Premier Spring Final 2022
The next time we ventured to Lisbon Counter-Strike was in a very different place. Astralis were no longer the dominant team, and instead, they had been replaced at the top by FaZe and NAVI who were having a phenomenal battle for the title of the world's best team.
So, with that said, it's fitting that we didn't actually get to see them contest the grand final. We did get to see them face off in the quarter-final though, a match that NAVI managed to win 2-0 thanks to a 16-6 and a 16-1.
Bar a small blip against OG in the group stage, NAVI were in fine form at the event, and that's no surprise considering they ended up winning it.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThey blitzed both BIG and FaZe, got revenge on OG in the semis, and then took down Vitality with another dominant 2-0 in the final.
Vitality themselves had followed a similar route to the grand final, losing their opening game against G2 before beating paiN, ENCE, gaining revenge over G2, and ultimately falling short in their final match.
Unsurprisingly, s1mple was the MVP of the event, he put up a monstrous 1.37 rating on his way to the award. However, the more special thing about that MVP award was the fact that it meant he broke the record for most MVPs as he claimed his 20th, a number he has since added just one more to.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe future of BLAST in Lisbon
The third time we head to Lisbon will in March next year.
An event we couldn't be more excited for, not only will it be the culmination of the first-ever BLAST Open, it will also be the first time we see BLAST CS in front of fans in 2025.
With the playoffs set to take place between March 28th and March 30th, six worthy teams will battle it out to become the first BLAST Open champions.