{"id":26172,"date":"2025-05-30T09:36:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/?p=26172"},"modified":"2025-05-30T14:26:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T14:26:04","slug":"blast-austin-major-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/cs-2\/blast-austin-major-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs\/","title":{"rendered":"BLAST Austin Major Overview: Format, Teams, Schedule, Favorites and Underdogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Austin Major Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BLAST Austin Majo<\/strong>r is a <strong>Counter-Strike 2<\/strong> major event that will be held in <strong>Austin <\/strong>from <strong>June 3<\/strong> to <strong>June 22<\/strong>. The total prize available is <strong>$1.25 million<\/strong>, and there will be 32 teams competing to find out which team is the best. While eight teams like <strong>Vitality<\/strong>, <strong>MOUZ<\/strong>, <strong>Spirit<\/strong>, <strong>Natus Vincere, <\/strong>and others deserved an invite straight to <strong>Stage 3<\/strong>, the rest must go through one or two stages before they get to the main stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The real question is, can <strong>Vitality, <\/strong>who are on their 30-match and five tournaments win streak, win the most significant event, or will someone finally stop them? We will have to see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tournament Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 1 (June 3 &#8211; June 6)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>16 Team Swiss System Format<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All other matches are Bo1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top 8 Teams proceed to Stage 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bottom 8 Teams are eliminated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 2 (June 7 &#8211; June 10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>16 Team Swiss System Format<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All other matches are Bo1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top 8 Teams proceed to Stage 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bottom 8 Teams are eliminated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 3 (June 12 &#8211; June 15)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>16 Team Swiss System Format<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All other matches are Bo1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top 8 Teams proceed to the Playoffs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bottom 8 Teams are eliminated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playoffs (June 19 &#8211; June 22)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Single-Elimination bracket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches are Bo3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 1<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"275\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-1024x275.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-1024x275.png 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-300x81.png 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-768x206.png 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-150x40.png 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-450x121.png 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1-1200x323.png 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage1-1.png 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 1<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>HEROIC<\/td><td>OG<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>NRG<\/td><td>Imperial<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Metizport<\/td><td>Fluxo<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nemiga<\/td><td>Legacy<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>BetBoom<\/td><td>B8<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Chinggis Warriors<\/td><td>Lynn Vision<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Complexity<\/td><td>TyLoo<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>FlyQuest<\/td><td>Wildcard<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 1 &#8211; Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 2 Invited Teams<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"135\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-1024x135.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26178\" style=\"width:780px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-1024x135.png 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-300x39.png 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-768x101.png 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-150x20.png 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-450x59.png 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1-1200x158.png 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage2-1.png 1362w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 2<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Falcons<\/td><td>FaZe<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3DMAX<\/td><td>Virtus.pro<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>paiN<\/td><td>FURIA<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MIBR<\/td><td>M80<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 2 &#8211; Invited Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 3 Invited Teams<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-1024x140.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-1024x140.png 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-300x41.png 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-768x105.png 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-150x21.png 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-450x62.png 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1-1200x164.png 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/stage3-1.png 1367w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 3<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Vitality<\/td><td>Spirit<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MOUZ<\/td><td>Aurora<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Natus Vincere<\/td><td>G2 Esports<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Team Liquid<\/td><td>TheMongolZ<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Stage 3 &#8211;  Invited Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Favorites and Underdogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This stage&#8217;s outcome seems mostly predictable since some teams are clearly &#8220;above the league.&#8221; Teams like <strong>HEROIC<\/strong>, <strong>Complexity<\/strong>, <strong>B8<\/strong>, <strong>BB Team<\/strong>, <strong>and TyLoo <\/strong>had some good results against elite-level teams, and they will have the experience advantage over most of the teams in their stage. We expect those five teams to go through and the rest of the teams to fight to get the three remaining spots at <strong>Stage 2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Eight teams invited to<strong> Stage 2<\/strong> are waiting for eight more teams to make it through <strong>Stage 1<\/strong>, and there are some clear favorites among the invited teams.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Falcons <\/strong>will be the main favorite to make it through <strong>Stage 2<\/strong>. They&#8217;re one of the best teams in the world, and they had the closest games against unbeatable <strong>Vitality<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teams like <strong>FaZe<\/strong>, <strong>Virtus.pro<\/strong>, and <strong>FURIA <\/strong>also look like they will have an advantage against other teams because of their experience and recent results. If, as expected, <strong>HEROIC <\/strong>makes it to <strong>Stage 2<\/strong>, they will be on the same list as those three teams, as they&#8217;ve been looking at the same level in past tournaments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s where it will get hot. <strong>Vitality <\/strong>will have all the pressure on them as they&#8217;re the best team in the world with a 30-match win streak and are the clear favorites to win this tournament. Teams like <strong>MOUZ<\/strong>, <strong>Spirit<\/strong>, and <strong>Falcons <\/strong>(who expected to make it to this stage) were the ones who got somehow close to stopping <strong>Vitality <\/strong>before, and they will try their best at the most important event here.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other five teams, <strong>G2<\/strong>, <strong>TheMongolZ<\/strong>, <strong>Aurora<\/strong>, <strong>Natus Vincere, <\/strong>and <strong>Team Liquid, <\/strong>will have a lot to prove to show that they still deserve to start directly from <strong>Stage 3<\/strong>. They&#8217;ve been in some kind of slump recently, and all the teams named above were ahead of them. If <strong>FaZe<\/strong> and <strong>HEROIC <\/strong>make it to this stage, they will be on the same list as these teams, as they are trying their best to come back to the top level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening Matches Stage 1 Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-1536x864.webp 1536w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-150x84.webp 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-450x253.webp 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1-1200x675.webp 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/blastschedule-1.webp 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BLAST Austin Major &#8211; Opening Matchups Schedule<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">June 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Complexity <\/strong>vs. <strong>OG <\/strong>and <strong>HEROIC <\/strong>vs. <strong>Chinggis Warriors <\/strong>starting at<strong> 17:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>B8 <\/strong>vs. <strong>Imperial <\/strong>and <strong>BetBoom <\/strong>vs. <strong>Nemiga <\/strong>starting at <strong>18:15 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>TyLoo <\/strong>vs. <strong>NRG <\/strong>and <strong>Lynn Vision <\/strong>vs. <strong>Legacy <\/strong>starting at <strong>19:30 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wildcard <\/strong>vs. <strong>Metizport <\/strong>and <strong>FlyQuest <\/strong>vs. <strong>Fluxo <\/strong>starting at <strong>20:45 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Watch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>BLAST Austin Major <\/strong>will be shown live for people worldwide to enjoy. You can watch all the action from your home, office, or even out and about. The official website, <a href=\"http:\/\/blast.tv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BLAST.tv<\/a>, offers live updates, detailed stats, and fun features to improve your viewing experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There also will be official <strong>Twitch <\/strong>and <strong>YouTube <\/strong>streams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/BLASTPremier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BLAST Twitch Official Primary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/BLASTPremier\/live\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BLAST YouTube Official Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/blast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BLAST Twitch Official Secondary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Keep up with our coverage for more insights on the latest esports news and updates.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Major Overview BLAST Austin Major is a Counter-Strike 2 major event that will be held in Austin from June 3 to June 22. The total prize available is $1.25 million, and there will be 32 teams competing to find out which team is the best. While eight teams like Vitality, MOUZ, Spirit, Natus Vincere,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":26181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-26172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cs-2","8":"tag-cs2","9":"tag-cs2-tournaments"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26191,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26172\/revisions\/26191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}