Blast Reveals ‘The Draft’ Counter Strike Tournament for India and Pakistan Teams
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Blast
Blast is one of the major Counter Strike tournament organizers in the world. After the launch of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), the Counter Strike scene in India is on the verge of revival with many events being organized for the teams and players. Blast has used this opportunity to explore the South Asian market with the announcement of “The Draft”, a Counter Strike tournament for the teams from the Indian and Pakistani regions with a massive prize pool of $50,000 USD.
Blast announces The Draft CS event for Indian and Pakistani teams
Blast, an esports entertainment company has teamed up with South Asia's leading esports and gaming media company Nodwin Gaming, to launch “The Draft”, a Counter-Strike tournament that will give teams from India and Pakistan the chance to play with tier-one players on the global stage. The tournament also boasts a massive prize pool of $50,000 USD.
The event will have online qualifiers in late January 2024 with 64 teams from each nation competing. The teams will be competing for a spot in the Pakistan and India online group stages, where each group offers 6 spots. The top 3 teams from each group stage will then qualify for the Super Six LAN event in February which is set to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each qualified team will also be given a Counter Strike legend via a special draft inspired selection process, allowing the local talents to learn from the world’s very best players.
Faye Marlborough, Brand Director, BLAST, said, “We are delighted to be teaming up with Nodwin Gaming to launch The Draft, giving Indian and Pakistan Counter-Strike teams the chance of a lifetime to play with CS legends on a global stage. Providing emerging esports and gaming markets with opportunities to play on a global stage is key to their long-term growth. The Draft will not only act as an important pathway for aspiring players but will also provide an exciting tournament for global and local fans to enjoy.”
Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming, said, “We're incredibly thrilled about our partnership with Blast to introduce The Draft to our community - a conscious effort to re energize the local Counter-Strike scene and elevate the esports landscape across India and Pakistan. More than just an esports tournament, The Draft symbolizes a tribute to skill, strategy, and the indomitable spirit of esports, offering a stage where the finest esports talents from our local ecosystem join forces with some of the biggest names in the global Counter-Strike scene, delivering a mesmerizing showcase of esports brilliance”
He also talked about the growing esports market and said, “We feel tournaments of such magnitude play crucial roles in contributing to the robustness of the gaming ecosystem within the subcontinent, and provide a global stage for talented esports athletes to showcase their abilities. We truly share our community's sentiments and cannot wait to witness some exhilarating Counter-Strike brilliance at The Draft.”
True Rippers Esports from India and Team WahWah from Pakistan will play a showmatch at the Blast Premier World Final 2023 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 16th December to celebrate The Draft’s launch.
Viewers from over 150+ territories and 28 languages are anticipated to tune in for the Blast Premier World Final 2023, while thousands of fans will also gather at the Etihad Arena for the LAN event. Notably, each showmatch team will be drafted two BLAST Premier players, selected through fan votes from BLAST.tv users.
