BLAST Open Fall playoffs set; Spirit, MOUZ earn byes to semis

YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. BLAST Open Fall playoffs set; Spirit, MOUZ earn byes to semis Team Spirit and MOUZ clinched byes into the semifinals of the BLAST Open Fall 2026 playoffs by winning their respective groups Monday in Copenhagen, Denmark. Team Spirit swept FURIA 2-0 in the Group A upper-bracket final, and MOUZ defeated Team Falcons 2-1 in the upper-bracket final of Group B. All four teams entered the day already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, but FURIA and Falcons must now begin in the quarterfinals. The final two playoff berths went to G2 Esports and Team Vitality. G2 rallied past Aurora Gaming 2-1 in the Group A lower-bracket final, and Vitality knocked off FUT Esports 2-0 in the same game from Group B. The $1.1 million Counter-Strike 2 event began with 16 teams divided into two groups for the double-elimination opening stage. The group winners advanced to the playoff semifinals, the group runners-up moved on to the quarterfinals as high seeds and the two third-place teams headed to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds. The remaining teams were eliminated. The single-elimination playoffs, which begin Friday in Porto, Portugal, will feature best-of-three matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The grand final on Sunday will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $250,000 ($150,000 for the players, $100,000 for the club) plus three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens. On Monday, Team Spirit topped FURIA 13-10 on Ancient and 13-5 on Cache. Danil "donk" Kryshkovets of Russia notched 39 kills to lead Spirit. The Group A lower-bracket final saw some drama, as Aurora opened with a 13-7 win on Anubis before G2 Esports pushed the second map to overtime. G2 finally prevailed 19-16 on Inferno before routing Aurora 13-1 on Mirage to clinch the comeback win. Israel's Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko paced G2 with 55 kills and Nemanja "huNter-" Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina added 51. In Group B, Team Falcons opened with a 13-6 victory on Nuke before MOUZ fought back and won by the same score on Ancient. The final map was Inferno, where MOUZ raced away to a 13-3 victory. Adrian "xelex" Vincze of Hungary had 49 kills and countryman Adam "torzsi" Torzsas added 44 for MOUZ. Vitality won 13-7 on Anubis and 13-8 on Dust II to polish off FUT Esports in the Group B lower-bracket final. Frenchmen Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire tallied 34 kills apiece to guide Vitality. The playoffs begin Friday with the two quarterfinal clashes: --Team Falcons vs. G2 Esports --FURIA vs. Team Vitality BLAST Open Fall prize pool, with money winnings (player prize, team share) and BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens 1. $250,000 ($150,000, $100,000), 3 BFFT 2. $160,000 ($60,000, $100,000), 1 BFFT 3-4. $115,000 ($40,000, $75,000), 1 BFFT 5-6. $75,000 ($20,000, $55,000), 1 BFFT 7-8. $50,000 ($10,000, $40,000) -- Aurora Gaming, FUT Esports 9-12. $32,500 ($7,500, $25,000) -- M80, Natus Vincere, IC Esports, Legacy 13-16. $20,000 ($5,000, $15,000) -- DENDELE CS, paiN Gaming, Lynn Vision Gaming, 9z Team --Field Level Media