CS2: BLAST World Final 2024 Preview

The arrival of CS to Singapore in a stacked tournament means we've got to discuss what it means for each team.

It’s hard to draw stars in low resolution.

Preamble

As the final tournament before the Major cycle kicks in for good (RMRs into Major), the BLAST World Final is uniquely placed in this season’s calendar. You don’t need it for rating points, but it does carry a great prize pool and some level of prestige, and while the adage of ‘saving strats’ is a little overused, you wouldn’t want to show your entire hand before the Major. Each team has a unique little spin, and before the tournament kicks off, I wanted to run a little preview and prediction. For more thoughts (not just about CS!), follow me on Twitter!

The Teams

Team Spirit

It’s no secret that Spirit are in flux. For a period of a few months you could be fooled into believing they had unlocked the secret of CS2, allowing each individual to excel in their role. People (including myself) were touting hally’s coaching prowess in turning chopper into a reasonable caller and bringing up rookies who could hold it together and win a tournament like Katowice. However, recent results have exposed their tactical weaknesses, lack of cohesion, and reliance on donk (who is still extraordinary beyond belief).

For Spirit, this is their chance to not bomb out - but more importantly to ensure they still have what it takes to be a tournament winner. They will be looking to instil confidence in the team and individuals - roster moves are on the table depending on their performance in the Major, and this is their chance to show a better overall game. I wouldn’t focus too much on the result in the tournament, but in the eye test map to map - it’s more about the recovery of team play and depth. I think their group is easier, so they should get a stage game, but I doubt they’ll win the tournament.

Team Vitality

There’s not much to go off of here, because mezii is anticipating the birth of his child (congratulations) and is thus not playing. JACKZ is no stranger to standing in for Vitality and apEX purports to be able to pull more out of him as a player than meets the eye, but I automatically count them out of many matchups and certainly can’t rely on them to win the tournament, especially considering the CT side impact that mezii can have compared to JACKZ.

I also suspect that Vitality won’t be showing much of their playbook and will be keeping their cards close to their chest, perhaps experimenting, as a result of their circumstances. Another ZywOo EVP and a “go next” in my books.

Team Liquid

The glaze over my eyes is lifting off sooner than anticipated for Liquid. As a fellow delusional jks supporter, it has to be said that his T side impact is some of the worst I’ve ever seen right now. It isn’t helped by Twistzz’s calling, new though he is to the role of IGL, which lacks complexity and relies on one-dimensional openers.

Speaking of openers, YEKINDAR is the eternal talking point - he can’t leave due to the RMR points (if I remember rightly) but has been unable to find any individual form. Considering how strong aggressive riflers can be in CS2, YEKINDAR’s performance is unforgivable. ultimate has also been slightly figured out and needs to add another layer to his game - I’ve been convinced he has individual skill, but the number of early duels he takes are unsustainable.

For Liquid, this should be another step in building the team. Not quite the “first test”, but this time around I’m expecting them to have substance if they truly have the makings of a top team. Keep your eyes on their T sides and ability to stave off comebacks, as these are some of the easier to deduce aspects of their game that they lack right now.

G2

What can be said that isn’t already known? Snax is nowhere near the level of IGL necessary for this team, malbsMd is individually talented but is stuck in CT roles that limit both his output and the team’s synergy, and NiKo is leaving at the end of the year.

The team may well win the entire event or bomb out. The up and down cycle reached a trough in IEM Rio, where they lost to Eternal Fire and Heroic - so naturally I expect they’ll turn it up and win a few games here, even reach the final. However, I don’t believe in them to win the tournament.

I look forward to seeing m0NESY perform regardless, as he is being withheld from showcasing how dominant he can be due to the team’s performance. If G2 was a little more consistent then I suspect we’d be talking about m0NESY more than we are right now - and he may get a losing MVP if the team makes it to the final.

MOUZ

MOUZ are silently collapsing and I’m not fooled by their IEM Rio resurgence. Brollan has been fool’s gold the entire time, and the team quietly disappears in important circumstances - I believe that the days of Jimpphat carrying alongside fluid tactics called by siuhy (not that either of them are getting worse) are over for the team.

While Spirit as a team are looking at roster moves, the individuals on MOUZ are highly in demand and rumours regarding their possible destinations are circulating. That kind of pressure seems like it would dissolve a team, rather than invigorate them to fight together. The organisation is happy running a stable business and will be selling players if the deal makes sense.

I predict a last place exit - their group is fairly difficult and I can see them losing to Astralis or FaZe (not to mention NaVi).

Astralis

The Danish squad has had quite some time to cook up strats and showcase what they are worth. Compared to Liquid, who have had a little longer, I place less emphasis on the result but find myself strangely drawn to the potential that this team can have when cadiaN has time to establish his system.

My primary concern is what will happen to device. In my podcast, The Brain Jar, I believed that cadiaN will eventually take over the AWP as his calling is familiar to him on the sniper. I still think this is possible, but in the short term you’d be a fool not to try to make device a star on the AWP - but he did struggle in the recent games. I saw enough from the calling to believe that it will improve tournament by tournament, and thus my concerns are mostly related to cadiaN’s form and device’s comfort levels.

I can see Astralis beating MOUZ and scraping a playoffs berth, at which point it becomes matchup dependent. FaZe and NaVi seem unbeatable for their current level, but most other teams seem entirely possible - in any case I don’t think it’s a last place angle.

FaZe

FaZe are a rare case where the 5-6th rank actually matches their current form. karrigan recovered from a rough individual patch to maintain his usual stats, but the rest of the team are far from their peaks and while frozen is a strong performer, he can struggle to find impact in key games despite the stat page.

I don’t believe in them to win tournaments until changes happen (of what kind, I could not predict) but they could make a 5-6th placement and continue being a sub-top contender as they have been. I’m looking towards ropz to return to a semblance of star form, as despite what his comments may suggest, he should be vying for individual domination the likes of which we saw briefly in early CS2.

Meanwhile, rain continues to be the same player he has been for the past year or two (minus the Major MVP) where he can have a strong map but is otherwise a 1.01 rating player. I’d call him an “eye test merchant” in some ways, because you can be fooled into believing he’s as strong as he ever was if you look at his perspective. FaZe are still liable to be blown out by any team that can have firepower on a good day given that they themselves lack that capacity so frequently.

NaVi

This team speaks for itself with recent results. Alternating first and second places and perhaps the only true tactical team we have seen in CS2 so far, Aleksib’s squad (despite the theoretical lack of individuals) continues to impress, and I would continue to believe in them to win. They’ve shown that even in the circumstances where they don’t have time to prepare, they still have enough of a foundation at this point (alongside iM’s return to stardom and jL’s consistency) to beat out every other team.

It’s hard to find negative talking points, but I’m looking to w0nderful in the big games and checking up on his shot-to-shot accuracy. He has missed a few crucial shots in high pressure rounds that he definitely has the individual capacity to land - we will see if his mental is continuing to improve as the team continues winning.

Group Predictions, Winner Predictions

I’ve discussed them separately but to bring it together - Group A should have NaVi making it through the upper bracket, beating Astralis and FaZe, while MOUZ lose to Astralis in the lower bracket decider. Group B has G2 beating Liquid while Spirit beats Vitality, and Liquid beating Vitality in the decider game while G2 beats Spirit.

This way the playoffs would start with Liquid vs FaZe (the classic, where I believe Liquid beats their demons) and Astralis vs Spirit (where Spirit will scrape past Astralis). Spirit then gets dusted by NaVi while Liquid loses to individually fired up G2 only for G2 to lose to NaVi in the final, giving m0NESY the MVP but NaVi the trophy.

Afterword

Thanks for reading my article to the end! I have been rather busy and will admit this is a substitution for a larger idea that would take longer to execute or write, but the consistency is important to keep me going. I continue to stream regularly on Twitch, ranging from Pokemon nuzlockes to ranked Deadlock, so if that’s interesting to you feel free to follow!