Prediction for BLAST Premier World Final 2024: Top Contenders, Underdogs, and Dark Horses
The BLAST tournament series is nearing its conclusion, and soon we will know the champions who will lift the trophy and take home a hefty prize of $500,000. The total prize pool is $1,000,000, which certainly qualifies it as a tier-S tournament. Another major advantage of this competition is that only eight teams, invited for their victories at major events or based on BLAST’s internal ranking, will be fighting for the title of the best team. Now, we will categorize the participants into three groups, briefly discuss each team, and evaluate their chances of winning.
Underdogs: Their Time Hasn't Come Yet
The obvious underdogs of this tournament are Astralis and Team Liquid. Ironically, based on the draw, both teams are in different groups, and most likely, they will end up occupying the last spots. Let’s break down why these teams seem weaker than the others and why expecting a miracle from them is unrealistic.
Astralis
The legendary Danish tag made a very experimental roster change, which, admittedly, wasn’t by choice. The core of the current lineup not only failed to achieve decent results throughout the year, but also couldn’t establish consistent gameplay. Device took on the role of captain, and despite maintaining decent individual form, he hasn’t been very successful in managing his responsibilities. The organization decided to bring in an experienced Danish captain, cadiaN. However, Casper Møller had to change roles and give up his primary AWP duties. This move was mostly aimed at easing the psychological pressure on stavn and jabbi, who had played with Casper in a rival Danish team and left under controversial circumstances.
It seemed like all the pieces were coming together, but the management didn’t manage to register the new captain for the previous BLAST Fall Finals, resorting to some trickery, for which they faced another wave of backlash. One wave of negativity replaced another, making it very difficult to work under such conditions. As one might guess, the team first needs to resolve its internal issues, and it’s hard to believe they’ll do that in such a short time. This year, some of the best players of 2023 lost their confidence, and it’s unlikely they’ll regain it overnight. They’d be better off focusing on the RMR and qualifying for the Major, even at the cost of a big tournament like the BLAST World Finals.
Liquid
Things are less dire for this young team compared to the Danes, and they are more likely to surprise. Despite this, their past performances and the clear gap in gameplay level compared to the other participants prevent them from being labeled as dark horses. Every other team in the tournament has reached finals and claimed at least one major trophy in 2024.
The current Liquid roster is less than four months old, and their individual play still leaves much to be desired. Their chosen style heavily depends on the form of young sniper ultimate and the success of early-round actions alongside YEKINDAR. We doubt they’ll try to change anything in such a short time, and more experienced teams will have no problem preparing for them.
Dark Horses: Don't Count Them Out
Vitality
The IEM Cologne 2024 champions didn’t perform convincingly at EPL and IEM Rio, so some of that power and incredible form has been lost. On top of that, the team will arrive in Singapore with a roster change (JACKZ will replace mezii). There’s no doubting the Frenchman’s experience, especially since he has played for Vitality alongside ZywOo and apEX a few years ago. But it’s unreasonable to consider a lineup with a forced substitution as one of the favorites.
When you have one of the best players in the world on your team, you never risk confidently predicting their downfall. ZywOo can find his rhythm and single-handedly shut down opponents in any given matchup. To win the tournament, they’ll need to secure only four victories, and they’re more than capable of doing so, even with a stand-in.
Team Spirit
Team Spirit is in a similar situation, as they too have a contender for the best player of 2024. The team’s previous performances set donk back slightly, and he’s eager to get back into the race for HLTV’s individual top-1 spot.
This young squad already took a much-needed break after a series of tournaments, which is why they missed IEM Dallas in the summer of 2024. Their next event after that was BLAST Premier Spring Finals, which ended with a convincing victory. The scenario leading up to the World Finals is quite similar (the team skipped IEM Rio due to a packed summer schedule), and it’s possible that the Dragons will spread their wings once again.
FaZe Clan
The superstar team has long seemed like a spent force, but their past achievements are so significant that it’s never safe to count them out in any BO3 series. Karrigan’s squad has staged multiple comebacks from 1:11 and 2:10 deficits, consistently proving their status on the world stage. However, the hard facts show that the team hasn’t beaten top-tier opponents in quite some time, and there won’t be any lower-tier teams at this tournament.
The boys need a reputation-boosting Last Dance with a strong performance in the two remaining tournaments of 2024, and they certainly don’t plan on exiting without making it to the stage. It’s possible they’re capable of more, but believing in that for the eighth major tournament in a row seems overly optimistic.
MOUZ
After a disappointing group-stage exit at EPL S20, the young roster regrouped and showed solid CS in Brazil. They handled the pressure of playing on stage in front of local fans, and that’s one of their main victories in 2024. Now, they can beat any team, and to become true favorites, MOUZ only needs consistent performances from each player.
They have everything necessary to win – map pool, practiced defaults, individual skill, good synergy. But even a well-oiled machine requires every cog to work perfectly, and despite previous guarantees from the manufacturer, no one offers returns if something breaks. That’s why we won’t place MOUZ among the favorites, but we’re keeping everything mentioned in mind.
Favorites: Why Two, Not One?
G2
The Samurai arrive at the tournament as the BLAST Fall Finals champions. The last tournament was so short that no one even remembers their presence in Rio. So we’ll focus on their result in Copenhagen, and based on that form, there’s no question about their status as title contenders. Their main kryptonite, NAVI, was defeated, and that should give the players much more confidence than any lingering frustration from Brazil.
It’s unlikely that NiKo will deliver two consecutive subpar tournaments in his career, and he’ll be ready for the event in Singapore. BLAST has traditionally been a favorable event for the Bosnian, and surely he wouldn’t mind winning it for the fifth time. There’s no need to sing praises to m0NESY or malbsMD – everyone knows what these players can do on the server.
NAVI
The team has played in six finals across six major tournaments in a row. That alone is enough of an argument, but we’ll add three victories, the number one spot in all global rankings, and an incredible team structure. The players’ form is also at its peak, so only someone who hasn’t followed the pro scene in the past six months would exclude NAVI from the list of favorites.
Right now, they are the most stable team, and compared to the rest, their only potential weakness is motivation and fatigue from the dense tournament schedule. This could be said about any of the participants, though, so eliminating repetitive factors, you’re left with a team without weak points.
Final standings:
- 1st place — NAVI
- 2nd place — G2
- 3rd-4th place — MOUZ, Vitality
- 5th-6th place — Spirit, FaZe
- 7th-8th place — Astralis, Liquid
