BLAST announce 2022 schedule; Spring Groups to take place online in late January

The first BLAST Premier season will kick off the tier 1 calendar in 2022 with the Spring Groups, played in a new format.

The organizers of BLAST Premier have announced their 2022 calendar. The opening phase of the spring season will run online from January 28-February 6, with BLAST citing travel restrictions and concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for deciding against hosting the event on LAN.

BLAST are expecting to return to LAN in time for the Spring Final, which is planned to be held at an arena location in mid-June.

The remainder of the BLAST schedule for 2022 looks as follows:

Spring Groups: January 28-February 6 (Online)
Spring Showdown: April 20-24 (Online)
Spring Final: June 14-19 (Arena)
Fall Groups: August 19-28 (Studio)
Fall Showdown: October 19-23 (Online)
Fall Final: November 22-27 (Arena)
World Final: December 14-18 (Arena)

The new BLAST season comes with changes to the Groups format. The 12 partnered have once again been split into three groups, but this time the double-elimination bracket will be played in best-of-one matches over the course of one day for every group and seed the teams in a cross-group phase.

In the second phase, played in best-of-three series, the 3rd-4th placed teams from each group will first play elimination matches against one another. The winners of those matches will then go on to play 2nd-placed teams, with the victors then facing the 1st-placed teams from each group for a spot at the Spring Final. The losing teams from the second and third set of series will compete in the Last Chance Play In stage for the other three Spring Final spots.

Changes are also coming to the Showdown phase, as it has been split into two regions: North America and Europe.

The majority of teams taking part in the Spring Groups have undergone changes during the off-season. Following recent announcements and unconfirmed reports, G2, Complexity, BIG, OG, Vitality, Evil Geniuses, FaZe, and Liquid are all expected to make their tier 1 debuts with new rosters, some of which are still yet to be revealed.

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You can find the full schedule of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups below:

Friday, January 28 (Group A)
15:00 G2 vs. Complexity | BO1
16:00 Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. BIG | BO1
17:30 Winners' match | BO1
18:30 Losers' match | BO1
20:00 Consolidation final | BO1
21:30 Grand final | BO1

Saturday, January 29 (Group B)
15:00 Natus Vincere vs. MIBR | BO1
16:00 Astralis vs. OG | BO1
17:30 Winners' match | BO1
18:30 Losers' match | BO1
20:00 Consolidation final | BO1
21:30 Grand final | BO1

Sunday, January 30 (Group C)
15:00 Vitality vs. Evil Geniuses | BO1
16:00 FaZe vs. Liquid | BO1
17:30 Winners' match | BO1
18:30 Losers' match | BO1
20:00 Consolidation final | BO1
21:30 Grand final | BO1

Thursday, February 3
13:00 A4 vs. B3 | BO3
~16:30 B4 vs. C3 | BO3
~18:30 C4 vs. A3 | BO3

Friday, February 4
13:00 C2 vs. A4/B3 | BO3
~16:30 A2 vs. B4/C3 | BO3
~18:30 B2 vs. C4/A3 | BO3

Saturday, February 5
13:00 A1 vs. C2/A4/B3 | BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)
~16:30 B1 vs. A2/B4/C3 | BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)
~18:30 C1 vs. B2/C4/A3 | BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)

Sunday, February 6
13:00 Last Chance #1| BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)
~16:30 Last Chance #2 | BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)
~18:30 Last Chance #3 | BO3 (Winner to Spring Final)