Four teams will enter Fortress Melbourne this weekend with a single goal in mind: to secure Oceania’s first slot in the illustrious BLAST Circuit at the Fall Showdown, set for mid-October.
- OCE’s top four all in attendance
- Vertex, Rooster, Encore all hunt to topple Grayhound
- Action kicks off today; GH v Encore, Rooster v Vertex
OCE’s top squads are back on LAN for the first time since COVID lockdown as our best and brightest hit the Alienware Arena at Fortress for the BLAST OCE Masters.
Grayhound Gaming is OCE’s top dog and, with Declan “Vexite” Portelli back in action, are clear favourites to take out the event and the international opportunity it comes with; a single slot at the BLAST Fall Showdown.
Against the likes of Vitality, Astralis and Heroic, our Aussie reps will shoot for the starts — a top two finish in October will see qualification to the Fall Finals and a shot at $200,000 USD.
In Grayhound’s way — arguably the next-best three in the region in Vertex, Encore and Rooster, who will be out to grasp at their chance to take on the best overseas.
Vertex will be looking to build upon their stage appearance at DreamHack as they push for their second international gig this year.
Should Encore make it out of the single-elimination bracket, it’ll be another stamp in their rapidly filling passports, as well as Aaron “AZR” Ward and Sean “Gratisfacton” Kaiwai’s return to the international stage.
Rooster’s qualification would mean Oceania will send a record fifth international squad overseas after Grayhound, Encore, Vertex and Mindfreak.
We’re covering everything BLAST OCE Masters: streams, schedule, squads and more.
BLAST OCE Masters Streams
BLAST OCE Masters streams live on Twitch via the official Fortress Melbourne channel. Missed the action? Full match VODs are live from the channel page following the matchday’s conclusion.
Fortress Melbourne – Main Stream
BLAST OCE Masters Schedule & Results
BLAST OCE Masters is a best-of-three single elimination bracket, with both semi-finals taking place on Saturday 17/9. The best-of-three grand final kicks off on Sunday 18/9.
All match times are in AEST.
BLAST OCE Masters — Schedule
| Match | Teams | Time (AEST) |
| Saturday, Sep 17 | ||
| Semi-Final 1 | Grayhound v Encore | 4:30pm |
| Semi-Final 2 | Vertex v Rooster | 8pm |
| Sunday, Sep 18 | ||
| Grand Final | Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 | 6:15pm |
BLAST OCE Masters squads
Grayhound welcome back Declan “Vexite” Portelli, who had to sit out ESL Challenger Melbourne at DreamHack last fortnight due to roster lock rules.
Encore’s veteran duo of Aaron “AZR” Ward and Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai will make their long-awaited return to offline OCE action, while the bulk of the Rooster squad make their LAN debut in the Alienware Arena.
Vertex are yet to announce their official fifth, with Marvin “Forleks” Tran standing in for the squad once more.
| Team | Squad | ||||
| Grayhound Gaming | INS | Sico | aliStair | Liazz | Vexite |
| Encore Esports Club | HaZR | sterling | SaVage | AZR | Gratisfaction |
| Vertex Esports Club | pz | BRACE | malta | ADDICT | Forleks |
| Rooster | chelleos | dangeR | asap | TjP | viridian |
