BLAST Open Porto will feature 16 teams competing across Copenhagen and Porto from August 26-September 6 for a combined prize and club share pool of $1.1 million.
Teams and format
Twelve tournament spots were initially awarded through the Global VRS standings at the July 6 cutoff, while four more were secured their spots by winning the regional qualifiers.
paiN were later called up to replace BetBoom after the Russian team withdrew because of visa issues. The Brazilians were the highest-seeded runners-up from the closed qualifiers.
Vitality will also field Justinas "jL" Lekavicius in place of William "mezii" Merriman, who is on paternity leave.
- Aurora
- G2
- Spirit
- DENDELE
- Natus Vincere
- M80
- FURIA
- paiN
- Vitality
- Inner Circle
- MOUZ
- 9z
- Legacy
- FUT
- Falcons
- Lynn Vision
The two eight-team groups will compete through double-elimination, with every match played as a best-of-three. The group winners will advance directly to the playoff semi-finals, while the second and third-placed teams will enter the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will remain best-of-three, with a best-of-five series deciding the champion.
Schedule and opening matchups
The group stage will take place at BLAST's Copenhagen studio from August 26-31. Group A will open the tournament on August 26, followed by Group B one day later.
The six teams who survive the group stage will then travel to the Super Bock Arena in Porto for the playoffs.
Prizes
BLAST Open Porto has a total pool of $1.1 million, split between $400,000 in player prize money and a $700,000 club share:
1.$150,000 + $100,000 Club Share
2.$60,000 + $100,000 Club Share
3-4. $40,000 + $75,000 Club Share
5-6. $20,000 + $55,000 Club Share
7-8. $10,000 + $40,000 Club Share
9-12. $7,500 + $25,000 Club Share
13-16. $5,000 + $15,000 Club Share
Talent
Former Astralis coach Casper "ruggah" Due will join the analysis desk alongside several regulars. The English-language broadcast team is:
Hosts and interviewers
Natalie "NatTea" Mahoney James "BanKs" Banks Mike "DarfMike" Winnick (arena) Alexandre "Archarom" Maia (arena)
Commentators
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan Mohan "launders" Govindasamy Anders "Anders" Blume Henry "HenryG" Greer
Analysts
Casper "ruggah" Due Jacob "Pimp" Winneche Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg Donald "voo" Parkhurst
Fantasy
For the BLAST Open Porto group stage, a season HLTV Fantasy game run in conjunction with Hellcase is available with the following skin prizes on offer:
1.Shadow Daggers | Tiger Tooth (Factory New)
2. AK-47 | Asiimov (Minimal Wear)
3. AWP | Redline (Field-Tested)
4. M4A4 | The Battlestar (Minimal Wear)
5-10. Desert Eagle | Mecha Industries (Factory New)
paiN
Vinicius 'vsm' Moreira
Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt
Guilherme 'piriajr' Barbosa
Rafael 'saffee' Costa
João 'snow' Vinicius
Henrique 'rikz' Waku
Justinas 'jL' LekaviciusPast 3 months
Natus Vincere
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri
Anders 'Anders' BlumePast 3 months
Lynn Vision
Zhe 'Westmelon' Niu
Sike 'z4KR' Zhang
Lizhi 'Starry' Ye
Junjie 'EmiliaQAQ' Tang
Qihao 'C4LLM3SU3' Su
M80
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich
Michael 'Swisher' Schmid
Elias 's1n' Stein
Josh 'JBa' Barutt
Mason 'Lake' Sanderson
Astralis
Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen
Love 'phzy' Smidebrant
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard
Victor 'Staehr' Staehr
Gytis 'ryu' Glušauskas
François 'atkiNNs' Mahe
Falcons
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
René 'TeSeS' Madsen
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Maksim 'kyousuke' Lukin
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
William 'mezii' MerrimanPast 3 months
DENDELE
Victor 'gafolo' Andrade
João 'koala' Pfeffer
Máximo 'maxxkor' Cortina
Daniel 'rdnzao' Monteiro
Danilo 'doc' Barros
Aurora
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Özgür 'woxic' Eker
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Ali 'Wicadia' Haydar Yalçın
Alex 'Mauisnake' EllenbergPast 3 months
Inner Circle
Arseniy 'cptkurtka023' Derevinskiy
Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov
Eduard 'zeRRoFIX' Petrovskyi
Viktor 'onic' Babii
David 'Dawy' Bibik
FURIA
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Yuri 'yuurih' Santos
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato
Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko
Spirit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Mohan 'launders' GovindasamyPast 3 months
BetBoom
Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko
Pavel 'S1ren' Ogloblin
Daniil 'd1Ledez' Kustov
Kirill 'Magnojez' Rodnov
Artem 'Fierce' Ivanov
James 'BanKs' BanksPast 3 months
Legacy
Andrei 'arT' Piovezan
Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer
Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto
Vinicius 'n1ssim' Pereira
Santino 'try' Rigal
Casper 'ruggah' DuePast 3 months
MOUZ
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Adrian 'xelex' Vincze
Jacob 'Pimp' WinnechePast 3 months
Donald 'voo' ParkhurstPast 3 months
Henry 'HenryG' GreerPast 3 months
9z
Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez
Franco 'dgt' Garcia
Ignacio 'meyern' Meyer
Luciano 'luchov' Herrera
Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez
Conner 'Scrawny' GirvanPast 3 months
paiN
Vinicius 'vsm' Moreira
Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt
Guilherme 'piriajr' Barbosa
Rafael 'saffee' Costa
João 'snow' Vinicius
FUT
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç
Dmytro 'dem0n' Myroshnychenko
Aulon 'Krabeni' Fazlija
Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov
Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius
Mike 'DarfMike' WinnickPast 3 months
G2
Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač
Guy 'NertZ' Iluz
Artem 'r1nkle' Moroz
Nikita 'HeavyGod' Martynenko
Matúš 'MATYS' Šimko