BLAST Bounty Season 2 starts on July 21, with 32 teams entering the online stage. The opening day is led by two roster storylines: Astralis play their first official match under NEO, while MOUZ debut the completed lineup built around PR and new in-game leader xertioN.
The Bounty format gives lower-seeded teams the right to choose opponents from the upper half of the field. That makes the first round more revealing than a conventional seeded bracket: every favorite faces a team that actively selected the matchup.
| Match | Start time |
|---|---|
| M80 vs Ninjas in Pyjamas | 12:00 UTC |
| Nemesis vs Astralis | 14:30 UTC |
| Nuclear TigeRES vs MOUZ | 17:00 UTC |
| Alliance vs Wildcard | 19:30 UTC |
Nemesis vs Astralis will be the first official test for the new coaching structure built around NEO and performance coach Xirreth.
One online Bo3 cannot show whether Astralis have solved their long-term problems. The useful early indicators will be simpler: clearer roles, more stable map-to-map execution and fewer disjointed rounds against an opponent they should be able to control.
MOUZ face Nuclear TigeRES after signing PR from GamerLegion. The move completes an academy-heavy lineup that also includes torzsi, xertioN and xelex, all former MOUZ NXT players.
The match will also provide the first competitive look at xertioN as in-game leader. Against a lower-seeded opponent, MOUZ will be expected to establish control through structure rather than rely on individual recoveries after unstable starts.
Astralis and MOUZ enter the tournament with more uncertainty than most opening-day favorites. Both organizations have changed not only personnel, but also the systems responsible for leadership and preparation.
The first matches will not determine whether either rebuild succeeds. They can still reveal whether the new projects already have a coherent starting point—or whether the same structural problems have survived the offseason changes.
Astralis appointed NEO as head coach and Xirreth as performance coach to build a stronger support structure. The move looks logical, but the team still needs to prove it can become stable after another rebuild.
MOUZ signed PR as a familiar academy-developed rifler to complete their rebuild. The move fits their long-term development model, but the new roster still needs time to prove stability.
BLAST will bring a top-level Counter-Strike event to Mongolia in 2027. BLAST Open Ulaanbaatar is scheduled for May 10–23, with 16 teams competing for a $1.25 million prize pool through a combination of Valve Regional Standings invitations and regional qualifiers.
9z finished their XSE Pro League run with a 3–0 win over PARIVISION in the grand final, claiming their first notable international LAN title. The result is important not only because of the trophy itself, but because of how the team reached it: 9z did not dominate the event from start to finish, but adapted after early losses and improved through the playoff stage.
Aurora have completed their international rebuild by signing Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski as in-game leader.
HEROIC completed their rebuild by signing Brollan and MartinezSa, giving the roster clearer roles. The team now looks stronger on paper, but its real level depends on communication and how quickly the new system works.
HEROIC’s rebuild goes beyond xfl0ud, with more changes likely coming. It may improve roles, but makes the team harder to judge for now.
