Counter-Strike Global Offensive took the gaming world by storm when it was launched in 2012 and ushered in a new era for other eSports. Today, it’s one of the biggest names in the video gaming and eSports betting industries, with multiple bookmakers offering markets for its events. One of these events is the Blast Premier Finals.
The competition, which is set to take place in June, will be covered by top betting sites. If you want to wager on it, you can start by exploring the biggest casino welcome bonus provided by Best50casino.com and find a platform with an offer that suits you. However, before placing stakes, you need a good knowledge of how the competition works and the odds of the teams that made it to the finals. Read on to learn more.
The Basics of BLAST Premier
Blast ApS launched the Blast Premier in 2020 as a professional eSports league for Counter-Strike Global Offensive. It’s based mainly in Europe and North America and is divided into the spring and fall seasons. Each season kicks off with a group stage and ends with the finals, which are open to the top six teams from the group and knockout stages. Two teams from the Showdown events also participate in the finals, making it a total of eight teams.
Each season’s champion advances to the Global Finals at the end of the year, where they will compete against the champions of other prestigious non-BLAST Premier events and the top players from the BLAST Premier Global Leaderboard. Hence, Blast Premier is one of the most anticipated events for individuals who are all about gaming.
The inaugural league competition in 2020 was disrupted due to the coronavirus epidemic and was held online instead, and the same happened in 2021. In 2022, the first physical event was held at Altice Arena in Lisbon. The 2023 event moves to America and will be held from June 7 to 11 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. It will follow the same format as its predecessors, where eight teams compete for the grand prize, which is $425,000.
Which are the Spring Finals Teams?
On January 19, the BLAST Premier Spring Group stage 2023 began with three groups of four teams, each playing a double elimination format. Group winners automatically qualified for the Spring Finals, while the other nine CS: GO teams had to go through the Knockout Stage to gain one of the three remaining spots in the Spring Finals. After a week of exciting competition, Team Vitality, Faze Clan, and G2 Esports advanced from the Group Stage.
At the knockout stage, three teams secured their spots in the finals: Natus Vincere, Heroic, and Astralis. The others moved to the showdown, where Cloud9 and Imperial clinched their spots. We’ve explored each team below, including their odds of winning the spring finals.
G2 Esports
Founded in February 2014, this is a European eSports organization based in Germany. G2 Sports sits at the top of our list with odds of 3.25, making it the most likely to win. Its active players include Kovač Nikola (NiKo) and his cousin Nemaja (huNter-), Osipoc Ilya (m0NESY), Justin Savage (jks), and Nielsen Rasmus (HooXi).
Heroic
Heroic, a Norwegian esports organization that’s best known for its participation in Counter Strike Global Offensive, has odds of 5.00. The team consists of Møller Casper (Canadian), a Danish professional player who’s also the team leader. Others include Lund Martin (stain), René Madsen (TeSeS), Jackob Nygaard (rabbi), and Rasmus Beck (squash).
Team Vitality
The French esports group Team Vitality has been around since August 2013 but only started playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at the beginning of October 2018. It has the same 5.00 odds of winning as Heroic. Players include Dan Madesclaire (apEX), Mathieu Herbaut (ZywOo), Peter Rasmussen (Dupree), Emil Reif (Magisk), and Lotan Giladi (Spinx).
FaZe Clan
Founded in May of 2010, FaZe Clan is an American esports and entertainment organization. They were the first international team to win the Global Offensive Tournament at PGL Major Antwerp 2022. As one of the teams that qualified at the group stage, it’s unsurprising that they have odds of 6.00. Players include Finn Andersen (Carrigan), Håvard Nygaard (rain), Helvijs Saukants (broke), Russel Van Dulken (Twistzz), and Robin Kool (rope).
Natus Vincere
Next on our list, with odds of 6.00, is the Ukranian-based Natus Vincere. With victories at Intel Extreme Masters IV, the Electronic Sports World Championships, and the World Cyber Games, they became the first team to sweep all three Counter-Strike Majors in a single year.
Their current roster includes Denis Sharipov (electroNic), Oleksandr Kostyljev (s1mple), Ilya Zalutskiy (Perfecto), Valerij Vakhovsjkyj (b1t), and Andrij Kukharsjkyj (npl).
Cloud9
The current odds for this American professional eSports organization are 8.00. Its active players include Ibrahim Allami (Fudge), Robert Huang (Blaber), Jang Min-soo (EMENES), Kim Min-Cheol (Berserker), and Jesper Svenningsen (Zven).
Astralis
Established in 2016, the Danish eSports organization is at the lower end of the table with odds of 16.00. Its active players are Lukas Rossander (gla1ve), one of the most accomplished in-game leaders in CS:GO, Benjamin Bremer (blameF), Nicolai Reedtz (dev1ce), Christian Andersen (Buzz), and Alexander Givskov (Altekz).
Imperial
Lastly, there’s Imperial, with odds of 32.00. The Brazilian eSports organization consists of veteran players, including Gabriel Toledo (FalleN), Ricardo Prass (Boltz), Vinicius Figueiredo (VINI), Marcelo Cespedes (chelo), and Jhonatan Wilian (JOTA).
Is It Worth Betting on the Spring Finals
If you enjoy mobile gaming and know the teams and players’ forms, betting on the spring finals is a great way to profit from your hobby. Simply find a top online bookmaker with great odds for the event, register, deposit, and place your wagers on one or more markets.
Ensure that the platform you select has great odds and wide coverage so you have multiple betting options. There should also be generous bonuses and live streaming. Most importantly, the bookmaker should be licensed and safe.
Besides Counter Strike Global Offensive, there are other eSports you can place bets on. One of these is League of Legends (LOL), a MOBA game with an annual championship where teams battle for a multi-million dollar prize. Other exciting options include Valorant, Dota 2, and Overwatch.
