BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 Final Review | Cloud9 and Complexity Crowned

It’s official – we’ve finally seen the last competitive CS:GO match in Tier-1. Over the last few days, 16 teams have competed in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 across a European and Americas bracket, playing for their place in the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2023. Here’s what happened as the final games played out on the server!

Cloud9 Close Against BIG

Both BIG and Cloud9 made short work of their BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Semi-Final opponents, setting up an exciting clash here. It was Cloud9 who eventually emerged on top, with 13:16 and 12:16 maps providing slim margins.

On Cloud9’s side, the HObbit IGL experiment seems to be working a treat. We can immediately see an improvement in both results and electroNic’s fragging, the two main departments the roster has been lacking in since it came together in July.

BIG will be disappointed to go down in two maps here, but there’s still plenty for them to be positive about. They were always outsiders at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023, so a final appearance here alongside improved results at ESL Pro League Season 18 leaves the German roster in a strong place going forward.

Complexity Stomp Liquid

NA is truly alive! Over in the Americas bracket of the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023, Complexity walked over Liquid in 2:0 fashion. When all was said and done, the maps were 16:4 and 16:2. Don’t let the scorelines fool you though – it was never that close.

This was a serious display of where these teams are right now. Not a single Liquid player went positive across the two maps, while every Complexity player did so. You have to feel sorry for daps standing in from his coaching role, as he shouldn’t really be competing on the server after his retirement three years ago. The fact that he needed to during this tournament tells you everything you need to know about Liquid at the moment.

Take nothing away from Complexity though. This was a real statement performance, especially from hallzerk who went 40-17 across the series. Now, it’s up to the NA roster to keep this up as we move into Counter-Strike 2. We’ll see how they do when IEM Sydney 2023 kicks off later this month!

What’s Next?

It’s exciting times ahead for competitive Counter-Strike. First up, there’s IEM Sydney 2023, starting October 16th. That will give us our first look at how the pros play CS2, making it a must-watch event.

On the BLAST side of things, BIG and Complexity have secured their place in the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2023, kicking off on November 22nd in Copenhagen’s famous Royal Arena. With the new game, it’s a fresh start for teams seeking esports greatness.