The first weekend of BLAST Premier won’t feature the new changes to competitive CS:GO maps introduced earlier this week.
Valve released an update for CS:GO two days ago that significantly changed maps in the Active Duty pool. The alterations may help balance the maps going forward but raised concerns on how the sudden changes would impact competitive tournaments. The first weekend of the BLAST Premier started today and Nicolas Estrup, the director of product and experience for BLAST, confirmed that the event will feature older versions of the map.
“Valve has been very helpful in the quick process of making sure that we could do a roll-back before @BlastPremier kicks off later today,” Nicolas said.
The updates to the maps mainly help T-side players execute bombsites and provide opportunities for new strategies. Mirage received the most notable changes with the addition of a bench in mid that removes the need for a second player to boost into Window and the widening of Connector, which provides a better opportunity to execute into A site.
Related: How to watch BLAST Premier Spring Series 2020
The opening of skyboxes allows players to use their utility in new unexpected ways, which could severely change the outcome of a professional match because teams have had little time to experiment and figure out counters.
The ESL Rio Major qualifiers weren’t as lucky, however. They’ll be using the latest CS:GO update in their matches today, much to the disdain of certain players.
Group A of BLAST Premier began today. Groups B and C will compete from Feb. 7 to 9 and Feb. 14 to 16.
