MOUZ come back against Astralis and meet Spirit in the final
MOUZ ground out a tough 2-1 comeback against Astralis in the semi-final of BLAST Bounty Summer 2026, played in Attard, Malta, and booked a place in the grand final against Team Spirit. The Russians got there after eliminating FaZe Clan by the same score on the other side of the bracket.
How MOUZ turned it around
Astralis opened the series in total control, closing Ancient 13-6 and taking the lead. But MOUZ’s answer came quickly and consistently: 13-9 on Mirage and 13-9 on Dust II, two maps won under pressure that ended the Danes’ run in Malta and pushed them into the third-fourth place bracket alongside FaZe.
Curiously, Astralis’s choice of MOUZ as their semi-final opponent was reportedly a calculated move to avoid meeting Spirit before the final. The plan backfired. The decision became a talking point among analysts following the shape of the BLAST Bounty Season 2 bracket.
Torzsi, the name of the week
Adam “torzsi” Torzsas was the standout of the series with 54 kills and a 1.29 rating – the best individual performance across the day’s two semi-finals. It was precisely on the comeback maps that he showed up strongest, practically deciding the direction of the tie.
The player had already been named MVP in the quarter-final against 3DMAX, a hard-fought 2-1 that went to overtime on Nuke. The run of strong showings cements torzsi as the thread running through MOUZ’s campaign in Malta. xertioN, Spinx, xelex and PR completed the side with timely contributions, helping the team close out tight maps all week.
Spirit arrive at the final more battle-hardened
On the other side, Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov led Spirit with 49 kills and a 1.24 rating in the 2-1 win over FaZe. After losing Cache 9-13, the Russians went for Anubis even while trailing 5-7 at half time and closed it 13-11. That kind of response under pressure is exactly what makes Spirit favourites for Sunday.
The final is worth a significant slice of a total purse of 740,000 dollars, of which 410,000 has already been distributed among the participants in the knockout stages, in a tournament that gathered 32 teams before narrowing to the eight in Malta. Beyond the money, the champion takes three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens, currency that counts towards seeding at future BLAST Premier events; the runner-up gets one token. FaZe and Astralis, out at the semi-final stage, each bank 28,125 dollars in individual prize money and 40,000 dollars as a team share for third-fourth place.
Spirit go into the decider as the side more tested under pressure and with a favourable head-to-head record. The best-of-five format, which rewards map depth rather than isolated strikes, has historically favoured teams with that kind of composure. MOUZ had to win practically every tight map of the week to get here; Spirit had to survive a deficit against a FaZe side that had every chance to knock them out. The grand final is set for Sunday 2 August at 12:30 (Brasília time, subject to the local time zone) in Attard, Malta.
