The BLAST Premier:
World Final 2023 concluded in Abu Dhabi, marking the final tier-S event of the year for Counter-Strike 2. It gathered 361.9 thousand concurrent viewers at its peak, slightly trailing behind the previous year’s series finale. The overall outcome could have been higher, but several factors hindered it.
The BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 featured eight European teams competing for a total prize pool of one million dollars. Just before the tournament, many teams underwent reshuffles in preparation for the upcoming season. For instance, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, and ENCE had new players joining them less than a month ago (some even days before the tournament). There were also changes in coaching staff: the Abu Dhabi tournament marked ENCE’s first event with a new coach.
After the group stage of BLAST Premier:
World Final 2023, ENCE and Heroic exited the tournament, while Team Vitality and FaZe Clan emerged as leaders in their respective brackets. These same teams clashed in the tournament’s grand final, where Vitality defeated their opponent with a score of 2:0.
For Team Vitality, this marked their third victory at a major international tournament in 2023, having previously claimed the championship titles at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and Gamers8 2023. As for individual awards, ZywOo emerged as the best player of BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 — he now boasts 18 MVP medals.
“It’s a good feeling to play at the Etihad Arena in front of a lot of people. It was an amazing atmosphere. It was kind for everyone to come and enjoy the show,” Team Vitality captain Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire told Khaleej Journal as huge crowds filled the Arena on Yas Island.
The final was hosted in Abu Dhabi for the second consecutive year, and it was a bigger edition with plenty of off-stage entertainment and activities too.
Madesclaire noted that Abu Dhabi has been an ideal place to host the esports tournament final this winter.
“It’s zero degrees right now in Europe. So, coming here, certainly, this is the best place. We like to be in flip-flops, shorts, and T-shirts because back home we cannot do that. And then, of course, everything has been well here. Everyone is kind and we just enjoy it so much to be here,” he said as Team Vitality nailed a thrilling encounter to end the year as the world’s best Counter-Strike team.
