Can Spirit continue their strong momentum? – BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Quarter-Finals Preview

We’re well into the swing of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 at this point, and the Playoffs are set to get underway. The first order of business is the Quarter-Finals, with eight teams remaining to fight for Counter-Strike’s biggest prize of all.

My BLAST Austin Major Pick’Ems might be well and truly in the bin, but that’s not going to stop me from taking a look at the four matches awaiting us, and making some predictions on who I think is going to make it through to the Semi-Finals!

Spirit vs. MOUZ

Spirit vs. MOUZ is undoubtedly one of the big-ticket games of the BLAST Austin Major Quarter-Finals. The storylines are immense – donk out to claim his second Major at his third-ever attempt, and MOUZ on the other side, looking to shake off their reputation as chokers after crawling through Stage 3 by the skin of their teeth.

The head-to-head numbers are favorable for MOUZ, having beaten Spirit twice already in 2025. Both matches ended 2:1 at ESL Pro League Season 21 and BLAST Open Spring 2025. However, that was during a mid-season lull for Spirit, and a particularly strong run of form for MOUZ. The fact that these series still went all three maps is actually a bad omen for MOUZ, considering current form.

MOUZ are in a very tough moment. Things just aren’t clicking as they’re supposed to, while Spirit have looked stronger than they have in a while at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. With donk in top form, it’s not hard to see how their previous results simply go out the window in this one. Give me Spirit in a nail-biting series.

My prediction: Spirit 2:1 MOUZ

FURIA vs. paiN Gaming

FalleN? In a Major Playoff? With a very real route to the Final? I’m sorry, what year is it? Six years since The Professor last graced the big stage of a Major at IEM Katowice 2019, he’s back and representing Brazilian Counter-Strike in FURIA’s colors. To go any further, he will have to take down his national compatriots on paiN Gaming in the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Quarter-Finals.

FURIA keep defying expectations, with a Major rookie in molodoy and YEKINDAR, who most had written off as washed. I’ve been impressed. More than impressed, actually, and there’s a very real route to the Grand Final of the BLAST.tv Austin Major on their side of the bracket. Fundamentally, they’re looking pretty solid, and the injection of international talent has rebalanced the makeup of the team with some aggression on the server. There’s a lot to like.

Then, there’s paiN Gaming. Now, it would be unfair to say paiN Gaming don’t deserve to be in the Quarter-Finals of the BLAST Austin Major – they were 0:2 down in Stage 3, and battled all the way back to qualify. However, if you were in that situation, I’m pretty sure that Nemiga, 3DMAX, and Virtus.pro would be the three Stage 3 teams you’d want to face in best-of-threes to save your skin. That’s the run paiN Gaming had, and I reckon they’ve hit their wall. This one should be FURIA’s, and convincingly so.

My prediction: FURIA 2:0 paiN Gaming

NAVI vs. Vitality

The Vitality streak may be over, but there’s no doubt that they’re still the big favorites to win the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. Their first test will come against NAVI, a team stricken with terrible form in 2025. For them, a Playoffs berth is arguably not a bad result, whereas for Vitality, anything less than a Major win would be a stain on what has been the most remarkable of seasons.

Ignore the Legacy kerfuffle – that was best-of-one nonsense. Vitality have still looked very good at the BLAST Austin Major. ZywOo is the event’s highest-rated player at 1.58. The team’s lowest-rated player is mezii, still maintaining a respectable 1.03 for his position. All of this is to say that they should be okay in this one.

Still, I can’t help but think NAVI could make things difficult here. Not reasoning – just a hunch. There’s so much pressure on Vitality to get the job done at this Major, and it could be enough to see at least one map go NAVI’s way.

My prediction: NAVI 1:2 Vitality

FaZe vs. The MongolZ

I can’t quite believe that FaZe have made it to Playoffs. After their torrid 2025, all they had to do was pull the CS:GOAT out of his quasi-retirement and give him the platform to showcase his talent again. They’ve made it look so easy in Austin, and now, a very real route to the Final awaits. First up is The MongolZ, a team with well-defined performance issues the second they step foot on stage.

I really want to think The MongolZ can win this one, but they always seem to make life hard for themselves of late. They ran the gauntlet in their deciding Stage 3 match against G2, playing out a 53-round Dust2 before finally getting the win. Not to mention the fact that FaZe have already beaten The MongolZ at this very event.

I’m banking on FaZe’s wealth of experience in this one. Across the board, each of these players has played in a Major Final, with most having appeared in multiple across their careers (only EliGE has played in one). They may not all have won a Major, but the fact that FaZe have all this under their belts should make this BLAST.tv Austin Major Quarter-Final child’s play.

My prediction: FaZe 2:0 The MongolZ