As the four remaining teams prepare for semifinal day at the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals in Malta, the stakes go beyond the trophy itself. The LAN finals at BLAST Arena Studios distribute a $740,000 prize pool, meaningful VRS ranking points, and the tournament series' signature Frequent Flyer Tokens.
Format Recap
Eight teams qualified for the July 30 - August 2 LAN finals via the Bounty online qualifier:
- Spirit, MOUZ, The MongolZ, FaZe, Astralis, paiN, Liquid, and 3DMAX
The bracket is single-elimination: best-of-three quarterfinals and semifinals, best-of-five grand final. Four quarterfinals wrapped up Thursday and Friday. Two semifinals play today (August 1), followed by Sunday's grand final.
Semifinal Matchups Today
- 12:30 CEST — FaZe vs Spirit
- 15:30 CEST — Astralis vs MOUZ
Prize Pool Stakes
The $740,000 pool is one of the largest for a Tier 1 CS2 event outside of Majors and the Esports World Cup. Beyond cash, the winner accumulates:
- VRS ranking points — critical for Valve Regional Standings positioning and Major invitations
- BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens — a rewards mechanic tied to future BLAST event invitations and seeding
What This Tournament Means for the Season
With the Esports World Cup 2026 looming in Paris from August 12, teams that go deep at BLAST Bounty carry momentum — and ranking points — directly into a tournament with a $2 million prize pool. A trophy in Malta for Spirit would cement their status as the world's most in-form roster heading into Paris. An upset run by FaZe, MOUZ, or Astralis would radically reshape the top 15 heading into the Major cycle.
Quarterfinal Recap
- Spirit 2-0 Liquid — Dust II 13-7, Anubis 13-5 (donk 42-20, +1.76 rating)
- MOUZ 2-1 3DMAX — Dust II 10-13, Nuke 22-18 OT, Inferno 13-3 (torzsi 67 kills, +1.38 rating)
- FaZe 2-1 The MongolZ
- Astralis 2-1 paiN
