The Blast Premier Fall Showdown is already underway and has provided some entertaining games. With the round of 16 continuing until Thursday, the semi finals will be played Friday and Saturday followed by the finals on Sunday. This tournament features teams from the upper echelon of the scene as well as some representing tier 2 CS competing for a $162,500 prize pool. Though there are tier 2 teams, the tournament does seem to be fairly even across the board. Here are some of our predictions and key storylines to look at.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Schedule

© BLAST Premier

Heroic on a frenzy

Heroic is currently going through a tumultuous time. Their old coach, Hunden, is still dragging their names through the mud in a desperate attempt to burn down everything he can on his shameful exit from the CS scene. After having been caught cheating and suspended, Hunden then went on to share Heroic strategies with Astralis, their direct rival. Hunden was released and is now being investigated for further cheating. Though there has been zero hard evidence linking the Heroic players to the scandal, Hunden has started a barrage of hate from the community towards the current players at Heroic. Even through all of this public scrutiny, they continue to push forward and have been playing very well. Should they keep their momentum in this tournament, they are the clear number one favorite to win it.

Dark Horse Teams: MAD Lions and Evil Geniuses

Neither of these teams have won anything in recent memory. Though they now have a bracket which could pave the way for their success. Whoever wins this series could upset G2 and gain a spot in the finals. G2 of late have not been looking good. Now is the time to be making some gameplay changes as they sharpen their blades going into the major. This is the time to take them out. MAD Lions and EG have the talent to take down these elite teams, it has simply been a question of performance. Should either of these teams show up to play, they are both dark horses.

Pick one of these two teams as your dark horse pick to win the tournament.

Watch out for Movistar Riders

After having dropped their star AWPer Smooya, Movistar Riders looked to be in a long rebuild phase. However, the opposite has proved to be true. With massive wins against tier 1 teams, these guys look to prove their worth at this tournament. Their recent success has surprised everyone in the scene and their current slot at #14 in the world on HLTV was predicted by nobody. They are a team who has everything to prove and all of the tools to do so.

Take Movistar Riders to win the tournament if you have faith in an explosive and exciting team trying to get their break.

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