The preview of BLAST Pro Series São Paulo 2019

The first of eight scheduled BLAST Pro Series tournaments will be held on March 22-23. Six invited teams will divide the general prize pool in the sum of $250,000.

The general information

The following teams have been lucky to receive invites this time: Astralis, ENCE eSports, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, MIBR, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The prize pool and the format remain the same. The general prize pool will amount $250,000. The champion will earn the main money prize in the sum of $125,000, while the silver medalist will earn $50,000.

BLAST Pro Series São Paulo 2019 will begin with the group stage, in which all participants will be put in one group and play by a Round Robin system. They will determine the top two participants who will advance to the playoffs, the grand final. Two worst participants will be eliminated from the competition and two more teams will fight in Pro Standoff. In this stage, the representatives of two teams will have duel matches on various weapons, namely, M4A1/M4A1-S, Desert Eagle, AK-47, CZ-75, and AWP.

The analisys of teams

Astralis. The odds of winning: 1.65
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #1)

The Danish team is the main favorite to win the championship. Last year, Astralis showed an incredible performance and became the most successful CS:GO roster in the esports history. On March 3, they achieved victory at the third Major tournament in a row and earned the main money prize in the sum of $500,000. The Danes have proved that they are still the best team in the world and have increased the lead from their nearest opponent in the rate by HLTV. In theory, some participants can beat Astralis at the tournament and outrun them in the standings, however, this objective will be almost impossible due to the Danes’ actual gaming shape. We think in general that the question is not about Astralis to make it to the final but who will become the finalist of BLAST Pro Series São Paulo 2019, besides the Danes. Bookmakers, just like the majority of viewers, are sure about the victory of Astralis at the upcoming tournament and offer odds in the sum of 1,65 on them.

The roster of Astralis and the players’ rate:

Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz — 1.23
Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen — 1.17
Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth — 1.27
Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander — 1.13
Emil ‘Magisk’ Hoffman Reif — 1.25
Danny ‘zonic’ Sorensen — a coach

Team Liquid. The odds of winning: 4
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #2)

Team Liquid’s recent results can hardly be called goo. They made it to the playoffs at the recently finished Major tournament but lost there in the quarterfinal to the Finns who advanced to the final as a result. After that, Team Liquid took part in Esports Championship Series Season 7 Week 1 where lost the first match against Rogue who won the event, by the way.

Generally, Team Liquid is not a weak team, which has to show interesting matches, however, other strong opponents will take part in BLAST Pro Series who have deserved invites to the tournament in one or another way. Due to this, it will be difficult for the Americans to advance to the final but according to viewers and bookmakers, Liquid is the second obvious contender to make it to the final, besides Astralis. In our view, Team Liquid doesn’t stand out among MIBR and ENCE eSports. Despite this, it’s not worth to forget that the roster was assembled at the end of last year and the esportsmen have been playing together for three months. This time should be enough to create a synergy in an appropriate way. It’s worth to remind that the American achieved victory at iBUYPOWER Masters IV on January 20 where their prize amounted $100,000. By the way, Team Liquid is still on the second place of the rate by HLTV.

The roster of Team Liquid and the players’ rate:

Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella — 1.08
Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski — 1.14
Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken — 1.14
Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic — 1.16
Jacky ‘Stewie2K’ Yip — 1.03
Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag — a coach

MIBR. The odds of winning: 6
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #5)

MIBG is one more reasonable favorite of the event. The reason for this is a venue for the championship and its viewers. The tournament will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, which is the most populated in the Southern hemisphere. BLAST Pro Series will be visited by many viewers who will mostly root for MIBR and support their fans. Many teams have admitted that when they are playing at a home arena and feel the public’s support, it gives them strength due to which results will be better than they have been expected. MIBR is not a weak team and the viewers’ support will have to become a great help for FalleN and his team.

MIBR has shown itself not from the best side at previous tournaments. At the Major tournaments, which was hosted in Katowice, the Brazilians were defeated in the semi-final, playing against Astralis and they finished their participation in the quarterfinal at the recently finished WESG 2018 World Finals, having lost the match to Windigo Gaming, which won the tournament, by the way. MIBR will have good chances to perform well and to advance to the final.

The roster of MIBR and the players’ rate:

Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo — 1.12
Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga — 1.26
Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David — 1.28
Epitacio ‘TACO’ de Melo — 1.02
Joao ‘felps’ Vasconcellos — 1.11
Wilton ‘zews’ Prado — a coach

ENCE eSports. The odds of winning: 8
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #4)

The Finns have become a sensational team at the last Major tournament. There, they managed to advance to the final where lost the match to Astralis. Due to this result, ENCE has managed to take root in the top five CS:GO rosters by HLTV, having placed fourth. Their distance in the rating standings by HLTV is pretty close to Natus Vincere, so the Finns will have to enter the top 3, having removed Na’Vi from there, after the end of BLAST Pro Series.

If ENCE continues playing in the same gaming shape as it was at the Major because they might guarantee themselves advancement to the final but they will have to work hard because there are no absolutely weak teams-outsiders among the participants.

The roster of ENCE eSports and the players’ rate:

Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli — 1.14
Aleksi ‘ Aleksib’ Virolainen — 1.05
Jere ‘sergej’ Salo — 1.14
Jani ‘Aerial’ Jussila — 1.12
Sami ‘xseveN’ Laasanen — 1.03
Slaava ‘Twista’ Rasanen — a coach

FaZe Clan. The odds of winning: 11
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #6)

Like many participants of the championship, FaZe Clan has not that good results in the recent matches as they would want to. The Europeans placed 5th-8th at The Katowice Major, having lost to Natus Vincere in the quarterfinal with a score 0-2 and the defeated Virtus.pro at Esports Championship Series Season 7 Week 1 but were not able to cope with Ninjas in Pyjamas’ pressure, having lost to the last ones with a score 1-2.

AdreN apparently will continue performing in FaZe as a stand-in. There were no loud statements about his further partnership with the European organization. FaZe Clan doesn’t have very big chances to make it to the playoffs, however, due to three out of five players of the roster have entered the top 20 CS:GO players of 2018 by HLTV, FaZe will fight well with the opponents in duels and probably will place third in the standings, only if they make it to Pro Standoff, of course.

The roster of FaZe Clan and the players’ rate:

Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard — 1.02
Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac — 1.22
Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovacs — 1.02
Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer — 0.99
Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev (a stand-in) — 1.02
Janko ‘YNk’ Paunovic — a coach

Ninjas in Pyjamas. The odds of winning: 25
(a place in the rate by HLTV — #8)

Ninjas in Pyjamas, just like the rest of participants of the championship, got to the Legends of the Major tournament, due to which received an invite to the Berlin Major by StarLadder. NiP managed to make it to the final at the recently finished Esports Championship Series Season 7 Week 1, having beaten forZe and FaZe CLan with a score 2-0 and 2-1, respectively. They had to face Astralis in the last match, which had a terrible defeat.

If GeT_RiGhT with his teammates had been preparing actively for the Brazilian championship, he will be able to perform well, however, it’s very doubtful to hope to see the final with Ninjas in Pyjamas. NiP showed itself greatly in duels at BLAST Pro Series Istanbul Pro Standoff, so it’s not worth to exclude that we will see a similar result this team. It’s worth to notice that at the moment, dennis was playing instead of draken at the team but his result in the team was the worst - he made only two kills in the confrontation with XANTARES. If it comes to BLAST PRO Standoff, draken will have to perform better than dennis.

The roster of Ninjas in Pyjamas and the players’ rate:

Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg — 1.11
Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund — 0.95
Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner — 1.11
Jonas ‘Lekr0’ Olofsson — 1.00
William ‘draken’ Sundin (a stand-in) — 1.11
Faruk ‘pita’ Pita — a coach