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Esports

BLAST brings CS2 Major to US alongside changes to 2025 circuit

The 2025 BLAST Major is set to take place in the United States in Austin, Texas and will be the largest esports event ever held in the country.

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BLAST Austin Major

BLAST to bring 2025 major to Austin, Texas

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BLAST is bringing their 2025 Counter-Strike 2 Major to Austin, Texas at the Moody Center in the summer and will be featuring a prize pool of $1.2 million in prize pool. The event is set to be the largest esports event ever held in the United States.

“We look forward to showcasing the best of esports to a global audience and making a positive impact on the local community,” said the CEO of BLAST, Robbie Douek. The Mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, and Executive Director at the Austin Sports Commission, Drew Hays also expressed a similar sentiment.

New pro circuit by BLAST

With Valve removing partnered teams from CS2 next year for more open events aimed to provide a chance to more teams, BLAST has now adopted a new circuit for their events and 2025 is looking stacked. 2025 is divided into two seasons, with the Austin Major after the first season featuring three events.

Season 1 will feature BLAST Bounty, BLAST Open in Lisbon and BLAST Rivals and will run from January to April. This will be followed by BLAST.tv Austin Major. Season 2 will be featuring the same format as Season 1 with the BLAST Open Taking Place in London.

Also Read: ZywOo and flameZ combo takes down Faze at BLAST Premier Spring Finals

BLAST Bounty

The BLAST Bounty will feature 32 teams, out of which 2 will be invited and the remaining 30 through Valve rankings. These teams will first compete online in a single elimination bracket. Eight teams reaching the quarterfinals will compete on LAN at BLAST Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark.

However, there is a twist at the event. As the name suggests, each team will have a bounty depending on their seed. The team winning a match will secure 50% of the bounty as a cash prize, while the remaining 50% will be added to their bounty.

Lower-seed teams will get a chance to choose their opponents. They can either go for more bounty on stronger teams or choose other low-seed teams to survive for longer, as high-seed teams will likely be much stronger opponents.

BLAST Open

This one is your regular event, featuring 16 teams, 12 making their way through Valve rankings and the remaining four through regional qualifiers. Teams will be divided into two groups and play in a double-elimination bracket, with the top three from each group moving to the playoffs.

The first event will take place in Lisbon from March 17 to March 30 while the next one will take place after the Major in the second half of 2025 in London starting August 25 to September 7.

BLAST Rivals

The BLAST Rivals is the fight of champions where the top eight Counter-Strike teams as per Valve rankings will face each other. These teams will start in a single elimination bracket, moving forward, two teams will return home after the conclusion of each round until two reach the grand finals.

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