Details surface about BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul 2018

The BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul 2018 is set to begin at the end of next week and details have just been released about the matchmaking and other important information.

BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul 2018 format and teams

The Istanbul event will feature two main stages and a one-on-one extra one. To begin with, the Group Stage is the initial phase of the tournament and will take up at least one of the two days of the event. Six teams have been invited to the tournament and they will face off in the Round Robin format, where they all play against one another. All matches will be in the best-of-one format, with the top two teams advancing to the Finals on 29 September.

The six teams that will participate in this tournament are:

• Astralis
• Cloud9
• MIBR
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Space Soldiers
• Virtus.pro

Unlike most other tournaments, BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul 2018 will include a special bonus stage, where players from certain teams will engage in one-on-one duels on a BLAST Standoff Aim Map. These showdowns will be played with different weapons, more specifically with the M4A4 (or M4A1-S), Desert Eagle, AK47, CZ75, and AWP, in that order. The first player to score 10 kills against their opponent will win the match up. The team that brings in the most kills will win this stage and take home $20,000 from the prize pool, in addition to any other rewards from the main stage.

Speaking of the prize pool, its combined value is $250,000 and all teams will receive a share of it. However, the size of that share will depend on how well they perform and where they place in the rankings. The prize distribution goes as follows:

1st place – $125,000

2nd place – $50,000

3rd place – $25,000

4th place – $15,000

5th place – $10,000

6th place – $5,000

Standoff Winner – $20,000

Game Schedule

In addition to the tournament format, the organizers have also announced the match lineup with a full schedule for the Group Stage.

Your complete #BLASTProSeries #Istanbul 🇹🇷schedule is here. Are you ready? @Astralisgg @Cloud9 @NiPGaming @SpaceSoldiersTR @MiBR @VirtusPro

• BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) September 17, 2018

The matches are organized into rounds, in which every team participates, but never against the same opponent. More specifically:

Round 1 Space Soldiers vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

MIBR vs Cloud 9

Virtus.pro Astralis Round 2

Space Soldiers vs Astralis

Cloud 9 vs Virtus.pro

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs MIBR Round 3

MIBR vs Space Soldiers

Astralis vs Cloud9

Virtus.pro vs Ninjas in Pyjamas Round 4

Cloud9 vs Space Soldiers

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Astralis

MIBR vs Virtus.pro Round 5

Astralis vs MIBR

Space Soldiers vs Virtus.pro

Cloud9 vs Ninjas in Pyjamas