The BLAST Premier Spring Groups has ended, with the top six teams qualifying for The Spring Finals. Here’s our full recap of the event if you missed any of the action.
The BLAST Premier Spring Groups marked the beginning of the CS:GO season (at the highest level, at least), picking up where the 2022 World Final left off. BLAST’s 12 partner teams gathered in a studio setting for a ten-day event, with almost $180,000 and six spots at the Spring Final on the line.
The tournament featured a brand-new format, including only best-of-three matches, two stages, and served as an appetizer before the first major event with a crowd of 2023, IEM Katowice.
A handful of rosters made their first appearance at this event after the off-season. A lot of eyes were on the new Astralis lineup in particular as Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz makes his first LAN appearance in over a year. The event also marked Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov’s debut for NIP, and Jerric ‘wiz’ Jiang’s debut for Evil Geniuses.
Here are all the details you need to catch up on BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023, including the schedule, lineups, results, and prize money.
Contents
BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Final standings
Below you can find the prize pool distribution and the final standings.
The top six teams have qualified for the Spring Finals, and the bottom six will play in the Spring Showdown to play for additional spots at the Spring Finals.
| Placement | Team | Prize Money (USD) |
| 1-3 | G2 Esports | $27,500 + Spring Final spot |
| FaZe Clan | ||
| Vitality | ||
| 4-6 | NAVI | $17,500 + Spring Final spot |
| Heroic | ||
| Astralis | ||
| 7-9 | OG | $8,500 |
| BIG | ||
| Complexity | ||
| 10-12 | NIP | $5,666 |
| Team Liquid | ||
| Evil Geniuses |
BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Schedule & results
The BLAST Premier Spring Groups began with a double-elimination group stage, with the 12 teams split into three groups of four teams. The group winners advanced to the Spring Final, while the remaining teams are seeded into the next stage.
The Play-In stage consisted of three single-elimination gauntlets, each featuring a group runner-up, a third-placed side, and a bottom-placed side. The gauntlet winners booked spots in the Spring Final, while the other two teams qualify for the Showdown tournament.
Play-In Stage (January 27-29)
These are the match results for the Play-In Stage.
Day 1: January 27
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Round 1 | Complexity 2-1 Evil Geniuses | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Round 1 | BIG 0-2 Liquid | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 2: January 28
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Round 1 | Astralis 2-1 NIP | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Round 2 | NAVI 2-1 Complexity | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 3: January 29
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Round 2 | Heroic 2-1 BIG | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Round 2 | OG 1-2 Astralis | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Group Stage (January 19-26)
These are the match results for the Group Stage matches.
Day 8: January 26
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| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group B Final | FaZe 2-0 OG | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group C Final | G2 2-0 NAVI | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 1: January 19
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group A | Heroic 1-2 EG | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group A | Vitality 2-0 Astralis | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 2: January 20
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group B | FaZe 2-0 Complexity | 3 AM | 6 AM | 11 AM |
| Group B | Liquid 0-2 OG | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group C | G2 2-0 BIG | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 3: January 21
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group C | NAVI 2-1 NIP | 3 AM | 6 AM | 11 AM |
| Group A U. Final | EG 0-2 Vitality | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group A L. Final | Heroic 2-1 Astralis | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 4: January 22
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group B U. Final | FaZe 2-1 OG | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group B L. Final | Complexity 0-2 Liquid | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 5: January 23
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group C U. Final | G2 2-0 NAVI | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group C L. Final | BIG 0-2 NIP | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 6: January 24
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group A Cons. | EG 1-2 Heroic | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group B Cons. | OG 2-1 Liquid | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
Day 7: January 25
| Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
| Group C Cons. | NAVI 2-1 NIP | 6 AM | 9 AM | 2 PM |
| Group A Final | Vitality 2-1 Heroic | 9:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Teams & players
The BLAST Premier Spring Groups featured the 12 teams with which BLAST has partnered for its event circuit. Three of the participating teams had undergone roster changes since their last appearance at a LAN event, with Astralis being the only one to swap more than one player as they picked up superstar Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz (who has already featured for the team in online tournaments) and rookie Christian ‘Buzz’ Andersen.
Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov made his first appearance for NIP after leaving NAVI. The Swedish team hopes that the Ukrainian will help solve their chronic problems in the AWP role despite his lack of experience at the highest level. And Jerric ‘wiz’ Jiang will made his debut for Evil Geniuses’ main team, stepping into Tsvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov’ shoes on the North American side.
On January 18, FaZe announced that Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard missed the tournament due to the birth of his child. He was replaced by NIP benched player Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen.
On January 25, NIP revealed that Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser missed the rest of the tournament because of “unforeseen personal circumstances”. Academy player Max ‘maxster’ Jansson played for the team in hampus’ stead.
| Team | Region | Players |
| NAVI | Europe | s1mple, b1t, electroNic, Perfecto, nipl |
| FaZe | Europe | karrigan, ropz, broky, Twistzz, es3tag |
| Team Liquid | Americas | EliGE, NAF, oSee, nitr0, YEKINDAR |
| Heroic | Europe | cadiaN, sjuush, TeSes, stavn, jabbi |
| OG | Europe | nexa, F1KU, degster, NEOFRAG, flameZ |
| G2 Esports | Europe | NiKo, m0NESY, huNter-, jks, HooXi |
| Vitality | Europe | ZywOo, apEX, dupreeh, Magisk, Spinx |
| Astralis | Europe | blameF, gla1ve, Xyp9x, dev1ce, Buzz |
| Complexity | Americas | floppy, JT, Grim, hallzerk, FaNg |
| Evil Geniuses | Americas | Brehze, autimatic, HexT, neaLaN, wiz |
| NIP | Europe | REZ, Aleksib, headtr1ck, Brollan, maxster |
| BIG | Europe | tabseN, faveN, Krimbo, syrsoN, k1to |
BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Stream
The tournament was streamed live on BLAST’s Twitch and YouTube channels, which we’ve embedded below for your convenience.
If you’ve missed a match, you can catch up on the action with BLAST’s VOD section.
Fans were able to follow the tournament on BLAST.tv, a viewing platform launched last year. It was developed to improve the fans’ viewing experience through a range of “innovative features”, including live stats, interactive timelines, and polls.