In the quarterfinals of the BLAST.tv Austin Major, Spirit will face off against MOUZ — two teams with a history of tense battles. MOUZ has beaten Spirit twice this year, but Spirit now enters the match in dominant form. Can donk and sh1ro put an end to this losing streak, or will MOUZ find a way to win once again? Let’s break down team form, map pool, and key players ahead of this showdown.
Current Form
Spirit enters the playoffs in top form. Over the past three months, they’ve won 32 out of 42 maps and recently claimed the PGL Astana 2025 championship, defeating elite teams along the way. In Stage 3 of the BLAST.tv Austin Major, they cruised through the group stage with a 3-0 record, not dropping a single match. Their latest wins against NAVI, Lynn Vision, paiN, Astralis, and FURIA show they are currently operating at an elite level.
MOUZ, while solid, has been slightly less consistent. The team has won 35 out of 60 maps in the past three months and finished second at IEM Dallas 2025. In their last five matches, they defeated Legacy, Aurora, and Liquid, but lost to FaZe and VP, indicating some vulnerability against the top contenders.
Previous Encounters Between the Teams
These two teams share a rich history of matchups. Over the past two years, their first encounter took place at the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024, where Spirit claimed a 2–0 victory. MOUZ later took revenge in the same tournament, defeating Spirit with the same 2–0 scoreline in their favor.
Their paths crossed again in the grand final of BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024, where MOUZ dominated with a clean 3–0 sweep. However, Spirit got their revenge in the second season of the same tournament, winning 2–1. Spirit followed this up with another 2–1 win at the Shanghai Major 2024.
After that, MOUZ responded with two consecutive 2–1 victories — first at BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, and then at ESL Pro League Season 21.
Overall, this rivalry shows just how closely matched the teams are, though statistically, MOUZ hold a slight edge in head-to-head results.
Map Pool
This matchup promises an intriguing map veto phase, given both teams’ preferences.
First bans: Spirit typically removes Inferno, while MOUZ tends to ban Anubis.
Picks:
- Spirit will most likely choose Dust2, boasting a 91% win rate and frequent usage.
- MOUZ, with a strong 75% win rate on Mirage, are expected to pick that map.
Second bans: Spirit could ban Train to deny MOUZ a comfort pick. MOUZ are likely to ban Ancient, considering their past struggles against Spirit on that map.
Decider: This leaves Nuke as the most probable decider — a map both teams play well and have already battled on in past encounters.
Predicted map veto:
- Spirit ban Inferno
- MOUZ ban Anubis
- Spirit pick Dust2
- MOUZ pick Mirage
- Spirit ban Train
- MOUZ ban Ancient
- Decider: Nuke
Head-to-Head and Key Players
In the last six months, MOUZ has defeated Spirit twice in best-of-three series — at ESL Pro League Season 21 (2:1) and BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 (2:1). However, those wins were hard-fought, with scores like 16:13 on Nuke and 25:22 on Ancient, showing the closeness of the matchups.
This time around, Spirit brings two superstars in peak form. donk boasts a 1.54 rating, while sh1ro, one of the most consistent AWPers in the world, holds a 1.42 rating. In comparison, Spinx and xertioN, MOUZ’s top performers, lag behind with tournament ratings of just 1.10 — a factor that could prove crucial in high-pressure rounds.
Match Prediction
While MOUZ holds the edge in head-to-head results, Spirit clearly looks stronger this time — both in terms of form and individual performance. donk and sh1ro are dominating opponents, and their team’s consistent map pool makes them a tough challenge for anyone.
Prediction: Spirit to win 2–0 or 2–1, depending on how Mirage plays out. The team appears simply too strong to stop at this stage of the tournament.
