Falcons and FURIA progress in first BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Quarter-Finals

Falcons and FURIA have become the first teams to lock down their spots in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Semi-Finals, after eliminating underdogs Team Liquid and HEROIC. The Bounty format has delivered some impressive upsets this time around, but it wasn’t to be this time as the favorites took charge to stay alive in the single-elimination Playoffs.

For one team, this was a relatively comfortable victory. For another, this was anything but. We’ve got the lowdown on the full first day of action in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Quarter-Finals.

Falcons survive with NucleonZ despite kyousuke absence

During the BLAST Bounty draft heading into the Quarter-Finals, Liquid picked into Falcons, knowing they were without kyousuke due to visa issues. Instead, they hoped to exploit the presence and inexperience of Falcons Force academy talent NucleonZ, who was playing his first match on the main lineup.

If that was their main plan, it was an ill-advised one. The youngster immediately stood up to the pressure, putting up serviceable numbers on his debut while the rest of the team thrived. This BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Quarter-Final required an initial overtime to settle the first map, where m0NESY shone bright in the sea of stars.

Dust2 was more of a m0NESY and NiKo double act, the pair topping the board with identical 23:12 scorelines to take Falcons home with an easy 2:0. The Semi-Finals await, while Liquid are left to lick their wounds. The woes of ultimate were really on display throughout this series, with the AWPer whiffing tons of opportunities to get crucial kills in key moments. Instead, he sits with a 0.60 rating in this series, and Liquid must be wondering whether there’s more to life than Roland from Poland on the Big Green.

FURIA outlast HEROIC despite slight scare

FURIA arrive into this year on the back of a great end to 2025, Major aside. However, it feels as though the cracks have been starting to show a little in the first few games of 2026. The opening Mirage was a 13:3 clinic in favor of HEROIC in this BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Quarter-Final, and it looked as though FURIA were in real danger of elimination.

But there’s a reason FURIA are now one of the most consistent CS2 teams in the world right now, and they had some tricks of their own heading into Dust2. FURIA pulled off a 13:2 masterclass of their own, with molodoy again leading the way on the scoreboards. Nuke was a similar story in terms of the molodoy carry, although HEROIC were able to put up more of a fight in a 13:9 defeat.

For a moment, HEROIC had us believing, but it wasn’t to be. Still, taking FURIA so far is a great sign of things to come for HEROIC. A top-eight finish is a good showing considering their 2025, and with a young roster, they have plenty of room to grow.

The BLAST Premier Bounty S1 is the second BLAST CS event hosted in Malta as part of their multi-year deal with GamingMalta.