Update May 22, 6:38PM: After the publication of this article, BLAST said in an official statement to the media that the deadline to obtain the U.S. visas was on May 21 and that BESTIA only has “visa appointments, not confirmed visas”, unlike what the BESTIA CEO said. BLAST also said that Valve “validates” the decision, so this decision is probably final. You can read the original story below.
BLAST announced on May 21 that Brazilian team Legacy will replace BESTIA at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, due to the Argentinian team being unable to secure U.S. visas in time. The decision was met with criticism by the majority of the CS2 players and fans as BESTIA claimed the visas would be “ready” on Monday, May 26.
BESTIA qualified for the BLAST.tv Austin Major over Legacy in the final match of the South American Major Regional Qualifier (MRQ), and for the first time, an Argentinian-majority lineup would attend Counter-Strike’s flagship event. BESTIA, however, has had trouble securing visas for Luciano “luchov” Herrera and Martín “tomaszin” Corna, two of their Argentinian players.
The team even released an emotional video on May 17, in which the players and the CEO Alejandro “PapoMC” Lococo, begged the international CS2 community to spread their message so they could get necessary help from the authorities. Along with the video, BESTIA kickstarted a campaign on X with the hashtag #ArgentinaAlMundial.
When everything looked over for BESTIA, its CEO announced that BLAST would replace them with Legacy despite luchov and tomaszin’s visas being ready on Monday. The Argentinian team understands that they have enough time to arrive in the U.S. and play the BLAST.tv Austin Major as the competition only starts on June 3.
CS2 pros make plea for BLAST to let BESTIA play the Major instead of Legacy
apEX has been supporting BESTIA since they released that emotional video. Credit: Enos Ku | © ESL
CS2 pros from all over the world are rallying on X and using the hashtag #ArgentinaAlMundial to show their support for BESTIA in this matter. The list includes over 60 pros, including the likes of FaZe’s Finn “karrigan” Andersen and Aurora’s İsmailсan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş. We highlighted some of the messages below.
Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, the captain of Vitality — who are the best CS2 team in the world — was one of the first pros to support BESTIA.
“BLAST, wait a bit please,” he wrote on X on May 21. “It’s needed, they deserve.”
FURIA’s captain Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, also asked BLAST to wait a little longer.
“BLAST, revisit the decision if they can get the visa in appropriate time,” the Brazilian wrote on X along with the hashtag #ArgentinaAlMundial.”
However, it remains to be seen if all these protests will be enough to convince BLAST to take a U-turn and wait for BESTIA until Monday, May 26. The tournament organizer has already invited Legacy for the BLAST.tv Austin Major in BESTIA’s place, so a change of plans would naturally hurt the Brazilian team.
In the meantime, Valve is yet to join the discussion and say something publicly. In theory, the developer has enough power to intervene in BESTIA’s favor. But Valve rarely engages with the esports side of CS2.