Update to the format and new tournament schedule from BLAST

In its X account, the tournament operator BLAST announced the tournament schedule for 2027. Most of the locations are still unknown, but one of the events in October will take place in Rio, Brazil. Most likely, this will be BLAST Rivals, which is usually held as the second event of the season after BLAST Bounty.

Regarding the updated formats: after receiving criticism, BLAST decided to improve its tournaments, as the main drawback was that they provided too few VRS points for top teams. In other words, the risk for tier-one organizations was high but not justified, since a significant part of the matches took place in the online stage. Now, regarding the updates:

BLAST Bounty

• Instead of 32 teams, there will be 16.
• All matches will be played on LAN.
• Invites will be based on VRS and regional qualifiers.
• The prize pool will be increased to $1.25 million.
• The group stage will feature a Double Elimination format, while the Playoffs will use Single Elimination.
• There will be a new Bounty system, which will be announced later.

BLAST Open

• The first week will be played in a Studio format, and the second week on an Arena.
• All matches will be on LAN.
• The prize pool will be increased to $1.25 million.

BLAST Rivals

• The prize pool will be increased to $1.25 million.

BLAST also announced a record $10 million investment into its 2027 tournaments — an increase of $1.5 million compared to the previous season, aimed at supporting the ecosystem and the teams. The total prize pool will reach $7.5 million ($3 million in prizes + $4.5 million in team payouts), plus $1.8 million allocated for invitation acceptance fees and $700,000 for team expenses.

As a reminder, Team Liquid Partners with Sunderland AFC for ePremier League.