A brief guide to BLAST Rivals Spring 2025

Following Open and Bounty events in early 2025, the BLAST Premier series will kick off its third Counter-Strike tournament of the year tomorrow.

Here is everything you need to know about BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, taking place from April 30th until May 4th.

BLAST Rivals will see eight top Counter-Strike teams from across the globe compete for a $350,000 (~£261,000) prize pool. The event was initially to be held in Monterrey, Mexico. However, it was later moved to BLAST Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, due to ‘unforeseen logistical challenges’.

Like other tournaments in the BLAST Premier circuit, Rivals Spring will be divided into a Group Stage and a Playoffs bracket. Two double-elimination format groups will each see four teams face each other in best-of-three (BO3) matches.

The top three squads from each group will then be placed into the Playoffs bracket based on the Group Stage performance. Group leaders will advance to the Semifinals. Meanwhile, the runner-ups and 3rd place teams will take the high and low seeds in the two Quarterfinals.

On May 2nd, the single-elimination Playoffs will commence, featuring BO3 matches except for the best-of-five (BO5) Grand Final.

Tournament organiser BLAST has already confirmed all eight teams for the Rivals Spring event. Four rosters have been invited based on their VRS Global rank as of March 3rd. The remaining four teams were qualified as regional Wildcard invites with high VRS ranks within their respective region.

Here is the full list of BLAST Rivals Spring 2025 teams:

Counter-Strike fans can look forward to intense competition with close matches, as many of the invited teams have already proven themselves on the game’s international stages this year. Team Spirit and Team Vitality have won the recent BLAST Bounty and Open events.

Team Falcons might also be a strong competitor, having secured the PGL Bucharest trophy in April. Falcons will now attend BLAST Rivals with its updated roster, featuring former G2 Esports player Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov.

BLAST Rivals Spring will kick off at 10 am CET (11 am BST) with Team Vitality versus Wildcard. However, all Playoffs days, including the Grand Final day, will start at 4 pm CET (5 pm BST).

Fans can tune into official English and Ukrainian broadcasts via Twitch or YouTube.