The Draft start pushed by a day

BLAST's The Draft tournament, which was set to get underway from today, January 5, 2024, 17:00 IST has been pushed back by a day and the Indian qualifier games will now start from January 6, 2024.

The Pakistan qualifiers which were also supposed to get underway from today (January 5, 2024) has also been pushed to January 6, 2024.

NODWIN Gaming, who are organising the event along with BLAST put out an update on the event's Discord channel regarding the postponement but did not reveal any further details.

The schedule for the India Qualifier can be found here

The schedule for the Pakistan Qualifier can be found here

Dust2 India reached out to NOWIN Gaming for a quote on why the Round 1 Games were shifted but did not receive on at the time of publication.

The BLAST had announced The Draft recently and even launched it globally through a special India vs Pakistan showmatch at the World Finals 2023. The tournament, made for the Indian and Pakistani teams, will have the best from both the countries battle it out against each out.

The Indian Open Qualifiers will see 64 teams battle in a single-elimination format. Two teams from the 64 will move to the Group Stage along with the four invited teams.

The Pakistani qualifier will also have 64 teams with five teams moving to the Group Stages with one invited team. The Group Stages will be a Round Robin format with three teams from the Indian and Pakistani Group Stages making it to the LAN playoffs - Super 6.

The Super 6 will see each team have 'CS Legend' drafted to join their team to compete alongside in the LAN Finals at Malaysia. The event will culminate with a Double Elimination bracket that will decide the first ever champion of THE DRAFT.