The online group stage of BLAST Open London has concluded, and we finally know who will be gracing the stage of the OVO Arena in Wembley. Some big names weren’t cut out for London, most notably, both of last year’s finalists were knocked out before the event even reached the LAN phase. Spirit won’t be there to defend their title, and Na’Vi won’t have the chance to usurp it from them.
The Homegrown Heroes
M80 Coach Rory “Dephh” Jackson and BLAST.tv Austin Major winner William “mezii” Merriman successfully made it to the UK event. However, the two Britishmen took very different journeys to reach the playoffs and inch their way closer to the trophy
Vitlity got the job done, but they didn’t instil confidence or look like the undefeatable world beaters they were throughout the whole of the last season. Getting knocked out of IEM Cologne 2025 in the semi-finals by MOUZ and falling once again in the semis to MongolZ at the EWC, Vitality haven’t quite managed to continue their terrifying form.
mezii looks to lift a trophy on home soil
But the true hallmark of not just a good team, but a great one, is being able to dig deep and win even when times are rough. That is what Vitality has done so far to reach London. It wasn’t clean like we’re used to from the international roster, but nonetheless, they reached the playoffs of BLAST Open London without dropping a series. Placing them firmly in the semi-finals ahead of the crowd stage this weekend.
Vitality started off their campaign against M80, who shocked the major winners by taking the first map of Overpass 13-3, casting doubts on Vitality after just their first map of the event. But Vitality brought it back with two relatively close wins on Dust 2 and Inferno. Vitality had their first win in the bag. Next was GamerLegion, another team with a British coach, Ashley “ashh” Battye. Another three map BO3 where the two teams would take each other’s map picks would be decided on a nuke, where a dominant Vitality would close out 13-4.
With their win over GamerLegion, Vitality had already secured playoffs, but one more opponent stood between them and the semi-finals: FaZe. Finn “karrigan” Anderson and company looked cold in their opener versus ECSTATIC, which they eventually won after also dropping their first map of the event. They then looked much warmer against Na’Vi, winning 2-0 to claim their playoff spot and set themselves up for a match against Vitality.
ash at the BLAST.tv Paris Major
FaZe’s confidence-building win wouldn’t be enough to propel them to victory over Vitality as mezii shone with a 1.20 HLTV rating across the barn burner of a series. The two international rosters would claim their own map picks, both, however, going to overtime. Vitality then locked in for map three with a comfortable 13-5 to secure the semi-finals.
M80’s run to the playoffs was almost just as scrappy as Vitality’s. After their opening loss to mezii and co, M80 would have to go flawless to make their way to the OVO Arena, and that’s exactly what they did.
Their opening game against Virtus.pro was a thrilling reverse sweep, which saw IGL Denis “electroNic” Sharipov kicked hours after the defeat. After moving past VP, M80 were up against a weakened Natus Vincere. Na’Vi would take M80 the distance, all three maps and all 24 rounds on map three, but ultimately dephh‘s boys would clinch it to fight another day.
Finally, the BLAST.tv Paris Major quarterfinalist and aggressive British rifle, Cai “Cypher” Watson and FNATIC were all that stood in the way. This was a lower bracket final; this was do or die, the winner makes the playoffs, and the losers go home. M80 showed just how badly they wanted to play in front of a crowd, winning their home turf of ancient 13-8, whilst winning in overtime on FNATIC’s map of train to secure their spot in London.
The Big Boys
Group B hosted no British representatives, but it did contain some household names, both in organisations and players. Furia secured a semi-final birth in a near flawless fashion, dropping only one map in their entire campaign to fellow Brazilian countrymen, Legacy. Spirit, MOUZ and Legacy were bested by the predominantly Brazilian roster on their way to London.
German organisation MOUZ are also set to compete for the BLAST Open London title in Wembley. A team considered a top-three team of 2025, their surprising loss to Furia in the upper bracket final places them firmly in the quarter-finals, set to take place on Friday.
The final team from Group B to make the playoffs is G2. Coming from the lower bracket of the group, G2 had to take the long way round after losing to Mouz in the upper bracket Semis. After falling to the lower bracket, they faced FlyQuest. The Aussies were dispatched with ease, setting G2 up with a match against Spirit to make the playoffs. G2 would go on to reverse sweep Spirit, closing the series 2-1 with a dominant 13-1 on map three to guarantee a place in London.
Here is your bracket for BLAST Open London:
BLAST Open London playoff teams:
Vitality (semi-finals)
Furia (semi-finals)
Mouz
G2
M80
FaZe
