Team Falcons advanced to a 2‑1 series victory against Lynn Vision Gaming on Thursday, opening Group B play at the BLAST Open Fall event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In other Group B upper‑bracket quarterfinals, Legacy beat FUT Esports 2‑0, MOUZ dominated 9z Team 2‑0, and IC Esports dispatched Team Vitality 2‑0.
The $1.1 million Counter‑Strike 2 tournament features 16 teams split into two groups for a double‑elimination opening stage. Group winners move to the playoff semifinals, while group runners‑up become high‑seeds in the quarterfinals. The two third‑place teams enter the quarterfinals as low‑seeds, and the remaining teams are eliminated.
All group‑stage matches are best‑of‑three.
The single‑elimination playoffs begin September 4 in Porto, Portugal, and will consist of best‑of‑three quarterfinals and semifinals, followed by a best‑of‑five grand final on September 6.
The winning team takes home $250,000 – split $150,000 for the players and $100,000 for the club – plus three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens.
On Thursday, Falcons secured Inferno 13‑4, then fell 13‑10 on Ancient before closing out Dust II 13‑9. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led Falcons with 58 kills and a +28 kill‑death differential, while Qihao “C4LLM3SU3” Su paced Lynn Vision Gaming with 48 kills and a +5 K‑D.
Legacy overcame FUT Esports 13‑10 on Ancient and 13‑11 on Dust II, thanks to Argentina’s Santino “try” Rigal’s 42 kills and a +20 K‑D. Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko contributed 34 kills and a +2 K‑D for FUT Esports.
MOUZ rolled over 9z Team 13‑4 on Cache and 13‑7 on Nuke. Hungary’s Adam “torzsi” Torzsas posted 36 kills and a +16 K‑D for MOUZ, while Uruguay’s Franco “dgt” Garcia and Argentina’s Luciano “luchov” Herrera each recorded 23 kills for 9z Team.
IC Esports beat Team Vitality 13‑8 on Anubis and held on for a 16‑13 overtime win on Cache. Arseniy “cptkurtka023” Derevinskiy posted 43 kills and a +13 K‑D for the Ukrainian squad, and Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool contributed 36 kills and a +3 K‑D for Vitality.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday
Group A upper‑bracket semifinals: Team Spirit vs. G2 Esports; FURIA vs. M80
Group A lower‑bracket quarterfinals: DENDELE CS vs. Aurora Gaming; paiN Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
Saturday
Group B upper‑bracket semifinals: Team Falcons vs. Legacy; MOUZ vs. IC Esports
Group B lower‑bracket quarterfinals: Lynn Vision Gaming vs. FUT Esports; 9z Team vs. Team Vitality
BLAST Open Fall prize pool: 1st place $250,000 ($150k players, $100k club) + 3 BFFT; 2nd $160,000 ($60k/$100k) + 1 BFFT; 3‑4th $115,000 ($40k/$75k) + 1 BFFT; 5‑6th $75,000 ($20k/$55k) + 1 BFFT; 7‑8th $50,000 ($10k/$40k); 9‑12th $32,500 ($7.5k/$25k); 13‑16th $20,000 ($5k/$15k)
