Cloud9
Ence Esports
Astralis
RFRSH will be organising the Blast Pro Series Madrid 2019, a CS:GO Major tournament hosted in Madrid, Spain. Six professional Counter-Strike teams will go to battle on the 10th and 11th May in the hopes of reaching the finals to win the highest reward of $125K as well as holding up the iconic Blast Pro Series trophy.
What is the Blast Pro Series?
The Blast Pro Series or also known as BPS is a world known Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition that has energized CSGO fans around the world. Seven tournaments will take place this year with the upcoming Blast Pro Series Madrid, the third event that will be awesome to watch as the best Counter-Strike teams go head to head for a prize pool of $250K. The CS event in Madrid marks the first time in the Blast Pro Series that the CSGO map Vertigo will be instead of Cache, forming part of the map pool.
The CSGO tournaments organized by RFRSH are famous for their attention to small details, which make such a gaming event an unforgettable experience. The exciting atmosphere of the cheering spectators and the engaged fans following the tournament online look forward to celebrate all that is Counter-Strike in Madrid.
CSGO Teams that won the Blast Pro Series so far
SK Gaming won the very first Blast Pro Series event took place in Copenhagen 2017. A Grand Final that saw the SK team defeat the best CS squad in Denmark, Astralis. The Brazilian team placed among the top five teams in the world winning seven tournaments. SK Gaming took home the Blast Pro Series Copenhagen trophy and the first prize of $125K.
Another team worth a mention is Natus Vincere. The grand finals of the Blast Pro Series Copenhagen 2018 saw how the Ninjas in Pyjamas fell to Navi. An intense match that confirmed a win when electronic did a triple kill hold to earn the map point on Inferno to seal the score 0-2 in favour of the Born to Win team, NaVi.
The record-breaking team to win three Blast Pro Series Tournaments are the star players of Astralis. The Danes dominated over the Brazilians, MIBR sealing the score 2-1 at the BPS Istanbul 2018. A second amazing triumph was at the BPS Lisbon that same year when the Danish gamers outplayed Natus Vincere in two maps Cache and Dust II to seal the record 2-1. The most recent achievement for Astralis worth a mention has to be Blast Pro Series Sao Paulo wining the finals against Liquid with a close score 2-1.
The latest Counter-Strike match, Blast Pro Series Miami saw Faze Clan take the iconic CS title from Team Liquid. The match began with Mirage and the followed by Dust II where the stronger team, Faze Clan won both maps to seal the record 2-0 over Team Liquid.
Blast Pro Series Madrid Tournament Format
The Blast Pro Series Schedule will kick off with the group stage, where six CS teams will compete in five rounds each with different squads. The top two teams with the most points will advance to battle in the Grand Finals in a best of three matches. Meanwhile, the third placing team will get to choose another unit to compete with in the Pro Standoff and the winner of this match will win an additional $20K on the cash prize they win.
CSGO Teams at the Blast Pro Series Madrid 2019
Five teams confirmed their participation in the Blast Pro Series Madrid 2019. These top teams are Astralis Natus Vincere, Cloud 9, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Ence. Two teams still have to play in the Iberian Play-in, a battle between Movistar Riders and Giants Gaming, the winner will get to compete on the International stage. For more information check out our news section on the Blast Pro Series Madrid 2019.
Cloud 9
The North American players of C9 have had quite a few good performances. They are a team that generally finish between the 5th to 11th place in tournaments. Cloud 9’s recent accomplishment worth a mention is Eleague CSGO Invitational 2019. The NA team managed to defeat BIG, advancing to the Grand Final with a great start with a 16-3 score on Mirage but struggled on Inferno and Train, losing to Faze Clan. Other tournaments they have competed include iBUYPOWER Masters IV, IEM Katowice 2019 and the last Blast Pro Series Miami. Overall, Cloud 9 are not a team that win an esports event but they have what it takes to surprise CSGO fans to win a match once in a while.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Over the past tournaments of the Blast Pro Series, the Ninjas have had the capability of placing much better than in Premier tournaments. Ninjas in Pyjamas have done quite well placing second at the BPS Copenhagen 2018 taking home a $50K cash prize. They have placed third at the BPS in Istanbul and fourth at the Blast Pro Series Sao Paulo 2019. Since there are six competing teams at the Counter-Strike event in Madrid, their concentration in game plays and strategies will play out better. The Ninjas in Pyjamas have shown their potential to reach in the top four places; they could easily have a trick up their sleeve.
Ence Esports
Over the past two years, Ence have definitely made a presence and name for themselves. Their great accomplishment in 2019 so far is at the IEM Katowice 2019 reaching the finals against Astralis to finish in second. Other notable wins for Ence Esports include Dreamhack Open Winter 2018, StarSeries & i-League CSGO season 6 and Dreamhack Open Montreal 2018. This CS team have certainly improved their performance to earn their rightful place at the Blast Pro Series Madrid 2018 but how far will they go?
Giants Gaming
Giants Gaming team still has to play in the Iberian Play-ins on the 10th May. In the meantime, a look into their participation in past events, the CS team have not played in a major tournament since DreamHack Open Valencia in July 2018. Although they do not have enough gaming experience in a major, it will be a learning curve for them to improve on what they already know. Will the Giants acquire their place in the Major?
