BLAST Pro Series Explains Exclusion of Fnatic, Mousesports
BLAST Pro Series director of product Nicolas Estrup has revealed some of the thinking behind the tournament organizer's decision to exclude Fnatic and mousesports from its premier series.
The exclusion of Fnatic and mousesports shocked many fans in light of the two CS:GO teams' recent performances, including second and first place at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals respectively.
We've been staying private, obviously surprised by the choices of @BLASTProSeries in choosing not to add @Fnatic to the core.
— Sam Mathews (@sammathews) December 26, 2019
However seeing them publicly slate our org, the most storied in esports & a legacy in CS rivaled by few, is beyond disappointing. https://t.co/m3K2bva5eA
Speaking to HLTV on Tuesday, Estrup described the process of team selection as especially difficult.
"The hardest part about ultimately having to pick and choose was: which criteria do you do that based on?" Estrup said. "Anyone who has been in Counter-Strike for more than a couple of minutes knows that we cannot solely rely on rankings to determine who participates when we're thinking long-term."
"One important thing is that we couldn't solely be reliant around what the lineup of a team is right now, at this moment. Our dream, and I'm sure every other TO's dream, is that the setup they build is also going to last them a long time. To ensure that, the organization behind teams and all these extra parameters weigh in just as much and maybe even in some cases more because it is a long play."
Estrup declined to go into specifics about what criteria the organizer used to make its final decision about Fnatic and mousesports.