The opening matches of the BLAST Bounty Season 2 offline qualifiers began with intense battles and impressive individual performances. In this unique format, lower-seeded teams got to pick stronger opponents, with an additional $15,000 up for grabs for beating them. Some favorites barely escaped upsets, while underdogs impressed with solid play. The most heated clashes, standout players, and key moments — in our recap.
FUT vs B8
The first offline qualifier match took place between FUT and B8. As per the format, the lower-seeded team (FUT) picked a stronger opponent (B8), with a $15,000 bonus awarded for a win. FUT came close to success, but B8 secured a 2-0 victory. The first map — Dust2 — ended in overtime with a score of 16-12, while the second — Mirage — finished 13-11. The best player of the match was alex666, who racked up 44 kills and a 1.42 rating. Notably, npl, who recently officially joined the team, recorded the highest ADR — 88.4.
ESTATIC vs Liquid
Team Liquid are going through a rough patch. Painful losses to Sashi in the ESL Pro League Season 22 qualifiers and to VP.Prodigy in the fight for a BLAST Open London spot hit the team’s morale hard. In this match, Liquid once again found themselves on the brink: the first map, Train, stretched into four overtimes before they scraped out a 28-26 win. The second map — Ancient — was a much smoother ride for the North American side, ending 13-9. Despite the loss, the best player was sirah from ESTATIC, with 66 kills, 100.5 ADR, and a 1.32 rating.
Nemiga vs G2
G2 were pushed to their limits by a surprisingly tough Nemiga side. The first map — Ancient — ended 13-10 in G2’s favor, but it was far from easy: Nemiga showed structure and pulled off several flashy rounds. The real thriller came on Mirage — a back-and-forth affair that went into overtime, where G2 had to dig deep to edge out their opponent 22-20 and take the series 2-0. The standout player was G2’s newcomer MATYS, who finished with 55 kills, a 92 ADR, and a 1.26 rating.
FaZe vs BetBoom
To be fair, BetBoom didn’t choose the easiest opponent. Nevertheless, they put up a decent fight. The first half of Mirage ended 7-5 in FaZe’s favor. BetBoom showed resilience in the second half but ultimately lost 10-13. The second map — Ancient — saw FaZe take full control, cruising to a 13-6 win and a 2-0 series victory. The best player of the match was EliGE, who delivered 38 kills, an 88.1 ADR, and a 1.44 rating.
The BLAST Bounty qualifiers run from August 5 to 10 and will determine the eight teams that advance to the LAN finals in Malta. Many exciting matchups are still ahead, with the fate of prestigious event slots hanging in the balance.
