Tournament organizer BLAST has released information on how qualifying for the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown will be handled. Qualifying matches will begin next month in five regions. Teams from North and South America, as well as Europe, divided into three regions. will compete for the right to participate in the tournament with a prize pool of $162,000.
Earlier, at the end of last year, BLAST already announced that the Spring Showdown tournament will be focused on European and American teams. In the fall, for the first time in the history of the league, qualifications will also be held for teams from Asia and Oceania.
A representative of BLAST Premier commented on further plans for the tournament's development as follows: «The expansion of the qualification stage – is further confirmation of our commitment to creating a Counter Strike competition that will open up new opportunities for a wide range of teams. In total, more than 1,500 bands will have the chance to prove themselves at the BLAST Spring Showdown, to go up against the world's leaders on the global stage if successful». He expects that the new format of the qualifying series will help to attract more local teams that have good prospects of succeeding at the professional level.
It is already known that the first qualifying matches will take place in mid-March. Regional winners will receive a $25,000 team development prize and have the opportunity to compete in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown in April.