The BLAST Bounty grand final is set. Spirit booked their place following a close 2-1 win over FaZe in the day’s first semi-final, surviving a Cache comeback from their opponents before closing it out on Anubis. MOUZ secured back-to-back maps following a loss in the opening one, securing their place in the Grand Finals against Spirit.
Spirit survive a scare from FaZe
Spirit opened on their own pick, Dust2, and never let FaZe into the game. Danil “donk” Kryshkovets set the tone early with a dominant performance as Spirit closed it out 13-6 without much resistance. Despite keeping up, FaZe’s mid rounds suffered, with Spirit keeping control of the game with superior mid rounds
FaZe hit back on Cache, the one map where their lineup has looked untouchable over the past three months, and made it count. Jason “JBOEN” Boe Nielsen led the fightback, and FaZe took the map 13-9 to force a decider despite a poor start. With Cache being a new map, FaZe’s gamble paid off in ways they would have expected, as we saw them take the series to the final map.
Anubis went the distance. Spirit’s structure held up better in the closing rounds, and they closed out the series 13-11 to book their spot in the grand final, their third at this event. While FaZe lost, they managed to give Spirit a tough fight in a match many expected to be a total blowout. FaZe’s new lineup is starting to produce results, and this match is a testament to that.
Astralis and MOUZ close out the bracket
Astralis took the opener on their own pick, Ancient, 13-6, in what can be said as their most dominant performance against MOUZ in a long time. The early lead in the series gave Astralis the comfort zone, but they failed to build on it, leading to two disastrous maps as a consequence.
MOUZ responded with two back-to-back 13-9 wins as Astralis failed to get going, which goes to show how Astralis are just not ready to take on the teams at the highest level of the game. Giving a tough fight in the second map, Astralis were outclassed in the 3rd map as MOUZ’s new lineup has continued in the footsteps of the previous one.
With the Grand Final set, we will see MOUZ take on Spirit, with no clear favorites given that both teams have been showing shaky form. One can argue MOUZ’s recent form gives them the edge, but it is really anybody’s Grand Final to take.
