Astralis defeated Team Liquid and became the great champion of the BLAST Pro Series São Paulo 2019, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) tournament. The Danish team defeated the Americans 2-1 and won the US$ 125,000 prize. The dispute took place at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium, in the state capital.
MIBR, who represented Brazil with their Brazilian lineup, performed poorly in the championship and finished last. The cries of the Brazilian fans at the Ibirapuera Gym were a shiver, but it was not enough for MIBR to win a win against Astralis and continue the fight for a place in the final.
The BLAST Pro Series is a tournament league of CS: GO that came out in 2017 and has since passed through many cities around the world. The São Paulo edition was the first to take place in Brazil and awarded a total of US$ 250,000.
The competition was very strong in the event. Astralis, the Danish three-time world champion team has come as a big favorite. Team Liquid (USA), FaZe (Europe), ENCE (Finland) and Ninjas in Pajamas (Sweden) are also among the current top ten teams.
Leading online bookmaker Betway has entered into an annual contract to sponsor the BLAST Pro Series, which includes eight events around the world during the year. Three of them - São Paulo, Miami and Madrid - kick off the 2019 Series, with more events expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Betway Group is a leading provider of high-quality entertainment offering sports betting, casino, bingo and poker. Founded in 2006, the company operates in several regulated online markets and has licenses in the United Kingdom, Malta, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. Based in Malta and Guernsey, with support units in London, Isle of Man, Stockholm and Cape Town, the Betway team consists of more than 1,000 people.
BLAST, the arm of the Danish company Refresh, has invested heavily in the Counter-Strike market. So far, the event has twice packed the Royal Arena in Copenhagen (with 12,000 seats), the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul and the Altice Arena in Lisbon (both with 6,000 seats). After São Paulo, where the 6,000 tickets also sold out in just four hours, the tournament will go to Miami and Madrid in April and May.
Steen Laursen, brand communications director, explained that the company's mission is to bridge the gap between eSports and the traditional market. "It is no longer a niche. Research shows that the young American under 20 identifies more with electronic sports teams than traditional sports. Our goal is to help strengthen this sector," he said.
Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter (FPS) game where two five-member teams face each other in up to thirty round matches. Whoever makes 16 points wins first. There are two sides, terrorist and counter-terrorist. The first must plant a bomb in the opponent's field or eliminate all enemies. Defenders, on the other hand, must protect their territory or defuse the bomb in less than 40 seconds. In the competitive scenario, matches can be played on seven different maps.
Source: GMB
