The 30-year-old Kazakhstani skipper will be replaced by analyst Pavel “PASHANOJ” Legostaev at the team’s next event, the BLAST Premier Spring Final.
— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) May 30, 2024
Dastan had managed Virtus.pro since 2019, when the organization acquired the AVANGAR roster that won BLAST Pro Series Moscow.
He stood behind the team through all their victories, including Flashpoint 2, CS_summit 7, IEM Rio Major 2022 (under Outsiders), and ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023.
The shake-up in Virtus.pro’s ranks comes after a rough first half of 2024, despite the recent inclusion of star player Denis “electroNic” Sharipov.
The Russian squad has not made it past the quarter-finals at any event this year and crashed out of IEM Katowice in the play-in stage and in the Copenhagen Major’s group stage.
Virtus.pro’s recent struggles in events such as ESL Pro League Season 19, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, and now IEM Dallas have prompted the organization to take action.
The team��s analyst, Pavel “PASHANOJ” Legostaev, will step up as the coach at the upcoming BLAST Premier Spring Finals, starting on June 12 in London.
Fans eagerly anticipate how the team will perform under their new temporary coach at the OVO Arena Wembley.
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The organizer took to its official Twitter page to break the news and welcome the four new partners to its commercial roster. The new brands include Hewlett Packard��s (HP) gaming outfit, OMEN, the Unilever-owned ice cream company, Magnum, customer experience company Teleperformance and lifestyle outfit MOCHE.??
Welcome to the show, OMEN, Magnum ice cream, MOCHE and Teleperformance!
#BLASTPremier
— BLAST Premier (@BLASTPremier) June 15, 2022
??The Commercial Director for BLAST, Oliver Clarke expressed his joy about the addition of four partners to the commercial roster. He also commended the Portuguese esports community, addressing them as one of the ��most enthusiastic and passionate�� esports fan bases in the world.
??��We��re delighted to welcome on board four leading and diverse brands in OMEN, Magnum ice cream, MOCHE, and Teleperformance, as we make our long-awaited return to Lisbon this week,�� Clarke said. ??
��Four years ago the Portuguese esports community showcased why they��re one of the most enthusiastic and passionate fan bases in the world. We look forward to building on that experience with the help of our partners, to engage and excite the thousands of fans in the Altice Arena and the millions watching from home.��??
The branding of each of the four partners will be displayed around the Altice Arena throughout the span of the event. Fans will be given the opportunity to partake in giveaways sponsored by sponsor brands, alongside some in-person activations. ??
While this is Magnum��s second time collaborating with BLAST Premier, the ice cream brand collaborated with the esports tournament organizer in September 2021. MOCHE and OEN are also returning partners as they were present in the 2021 circuit commercial roster. ??
It is, however, Teleperformance’s first partnership involvement with BLAST. But the customer experience company has played its role in the development of the esports industry, having launched its �1.2 million esports arena earlier this year in Lisbon.
??The acquisition of the four partner brands comes on the back of a media-rights partnership with DAZN. The partnership will see the BLAST Premier circuit, including the Spring Final covered exclusively by DAZN in over 100 territories. The media deal will surely give the partner brands more visibility asides from that which is attainable in the arena. ??The deal has also given rise to the increase in Spring Final partners to a total of nine with Betway, CS.MONEY and EPOS (audio equipment brand) are also on the lineup as partners of the event.
??The Spring Final which commenced earlier today saw FaZe Clan defeat paiN Gaming in the opening game of the tournament. G2 got the better of Team Vitality in the second game of the day.
]]>“Set your alarms, back your bags, WE’RE COMING FOR YA LISBON. BLASTPremier Spring Final Schedule 15-19 June,” they announced via Twitter.
Set your alarms, back your bags, WE'RE COMING FOR YA LISBON
#BLASTPremier Spring Final Schedule 15-19 June pic.twitter.com/UhrKcM4RuN
— BLAST Premier
(@BLASTPremier) May 31, 2022
In April, BLAST revealed that the tournament will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Altice Arena. This latest update includes for the new format to be used at the tournament, which kicks off on June 15.
The eight teams that will be participating in the 2022 edition have been decided through the Spring Groups and the Spring Showdown in both regions – Europe and America.
Six teams qualified via the Spring Groups, which ran from January 28 to February 6. By order of performance, they are:
- Team Vitality
- OG
- FaZe Clan
- G2 Esports
- Natus Vincere
- BIG
After losing the Group C grand final in the Spring Groups, Vitality was seeded to the semifinals of the play-in stage. While a 2-0 victory over MIBR guaranteed them a spot in the finals, a 2-1 victory over G2 made them the first team to clinch a spot in the 2022 Spring Final.
OG finished Group B with an impressive 16-8 win over Astralis, earning them a spot in the play-in finals. After a closely contested bout against Ninjas in Pyjamas, they also punched their ticket to Lisbon.
FaZe squared up against BIG in the third finals match of the play-in stage, and a 2-1 victory earned them the third spot in the top three. Each of the top three teams also earned 2,400 BLAST Premier points.
The losers in the Spring Groups finals filled up the remaining three slots for the Spring Final. The remaining six participants were relegated to one of the American or European Spring Showdown events.
PaiN Gaming, who sealed a spot in the Spring Showdown through the North American Masters, took the only available slot in the Spring Final. They had to overcome Team Liquid, MIBR, and FURIA Esports to achieve that.
In Europe, ENCE punched their ticket to the Spring Final after a series of closely contested best-of-three matches. They pulled off impressive wins against Copenhagen Flames, Heroic, and Astralis.
The event will run from June 15-19, with eight teams split into two groups of four. The opening matches in both groups will take place on June 15, while the elimination and winners’ matches in each group will be played the following day.
BLAST is following a different format this year, one that has not been used in any of its previous events. The best teams in each group will advance straight to the semifinals of the playoffs, while the second- and third-placed teams will play in the quarterfinals.
2022 BLAST Premier Spring Final fixture & format
Wednesday, June 15
FaZe vs paiN
G2 vs Vitality
NaVi vs OG
ENCE vs BIG
Thursday, June 16
Group A losers match
Group A winners match
Group B losers match
Group B winners match
Friday, June 17
First quarterfinal
Second quarterfinal
Saturday, June 18
First semifinal
Second semifinal
Sunday, June 19
Grand final
The Spring Final is one of the major tournaments in the BLAST Premier series of events that give points for the World Final. Whoever wins this event will get direct seeding to the World Final and $200,000 from the US$425,000 prize pool.
Every participant will have to make their way to Lisbon to feature in this event. Although it is an offline event, fans will not be allowed into Altice Arena for most matches.
A live audience will only be admitted for the semifinals and grand finals of the tournament, with tickets already on sale. Nonetheless, fans will be able to follow the action from the group stage via Twitch.
]]>This will mark the second time the BLAST Premier will hold one of its events in the ‘White City’. The Altice Arena also played host to the 2018 BLAST Pro Series, where Natus Vincere were crowned champions with $125,000 prize money.
In 2019 we made a promise during our S?o Paulo show.
Three years later, in June, we're keeping our word… Lisbon, we're coming for you.
BLAST Spring Final Lisbon 2022
—
??The Spring Finals will consist of eight teams shared into two groups of four. Each team will feature in a best-of-three series and the top three teams within each group will advance to the playoffs.??
The prize pool is pegged at $425,000, with the Spring Final champion walking away with $200,000 in prize money. The champion also gets 4000 points and qualifications to the BLAST Premier WORLD Final, which is scheduled to hold in December. ??
The Managing Director of BLAST Premier, Charlotte Kenny, made the announcement of BLAST Premier’s return to Lisbon. He highlighted how great the first experience was with the Portuguese Counter-Strike community.
??��We are delighted to announce our return to Lisbon nearly four years since the BLAST Pro Series in 2018,” Kenny said.
“Our previous experience with the Portuguese Counter-Strike community was incredible, so this is the perfect setting for BLAST Premier��s first arena event of 2022.”
??He added: ?��Altice Arena, one of Europe��s biggest indoor venues, is a great place to welcome eight of the world��s leading CS:GO teams and our fantastic fanbase. We can��t wait to be back and to showcase what makes BLAST Premier so special.��
??Six teams have secured a spot at the Spring Final, including G2 Esports, BIG, FaZe Clan, OG, Team Vitality, and Natus Vincere. With two spots left, the remaining teams will emerge from the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.
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