BLAST Bounty S2 Finals team list finalized with just one top-10 team

<p>With the last online qualifier matches complete on July 26, the eight-team BLAST Bounty Season 2 Malta Finals field is finalized: FaZe, Spirit, Liquid, Astralis, MOUZ, paiN, 3DMAX and The MongolZ. Notably, Spirit — ranked No. 4 — is the only side inside the world top 10.</p><h3>An unusual field</h3><p>Bounty S2's format, which rewards lower-ranked teams for taking down higher-ranked opponents, produced exactly the kind of upset-driven bracket the format was designed to enable. Falcons out early, Vitality falling to Liquid on debut, and FURIA out to a rebranded Sharks/DENDELE roster — the top-tier casualties defined the tournament.</p><h3>MOUZ as second-highest ranked</h3><p>MOUZ (No. 11) is the second-highest ranked qualified side. That places world Nos. 4 and 11 as the two highest seeds — a compressed range unusual for a tier-one LAN Finals.</p><h3>Astralis's NEO-led debut arrival</h3><p>Astralis's qualification under new coach NEO — hired just nine days before their qualifying series — will be one of the most-watched storylines at Malta. Astralis (No. 12) enter as a Tier-2 seed with legitimate championship aspirations.</p><h3>Format and prize pool</h3><p>Malta runs July 30 to August 2 with a $1.15 million prize pool and a single-elimination bracket. The compact format means every match is a knockout, favoring individually strong sides that don't need multiple maps to warm into a series.</p><h3>Storylines to watch</h3><p>Key storylines: donk's peak form after his 2.84 Dust2 performance; Astralis under NEO; Liquid's new JT-led project; misutaaa's individual momentum for 3DMAX; tikuak's Tier-1 continuity for The MongolZ. A tournament with almost no top-tier presence has turned into one of the most tactically interesting Finals of the year.</p>

Sources

• https://www.hltv.org/news/45190/blast-bounty-2026-season-2-finals-team-list-comp...
• https://insider-gaming.com/blast-bounty-season-2-finals-preview/...