Falcons and PARIVISION set up BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Grand Final clash

Falcons and PARIVISION are set for the BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Grand Final, after outlasting Vitality and FURIA in two dramatic Semi-Final matches. Going into the event, few would have expected these two teams to be our finalists – here’s how they made it happen.

NiKo Mirage masterclass takes Falcons to victory over Vitality

When Vitality picked Falcons in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 Semi-Finals draw, few expected them to be inadvertently sealing their own fate. Vitality were hoping to take advantage of Falcons’ stand-in situation, with kyousuke’s visa issues ongoing and NucleonZ still substituting. Even despite FURIA’s shaky start (Vitality’s other possible draft choice), it was simply the choice that made sense. It would be unfair to call it hubris – just confidence in their ability to beat a team with an academy stand-in. Oops.

Starting on Inferno, Vitality were on the back foot thanks to a stellar showing from Falcons IGL kyxsan. He was rock-solid on the B site on CT, holding it admirably alongside NucleonZ. A second-half Vitality resurgence was halted after a NiKo ace 1v2 clutch round, after which Falcons stole away the momentum to take a 13:10 win. Map two saw one final trip to the old version of Anubis, which is still in play at the end of BLAST Bounty. That was where we saw the very best of Vitality in this series, a quick 13:4 win made possible by massive showings out of flameZ, ZywOo, and mezii.

The scoreline on the Mirage decider doesn’t really capture the story of what an absolute stomp it was. Spoilers: Falcons won 13:6. But this was on the back of an 11:1 CT side, Vitality just completely unable to break through the defense. This was made possible by a 20:3 CT-side from NiKo, who was an impenetrable force for his team. However, a 20:10 showing across the entire map from rookie NucleonZ is also worthy of appreciation here. Although Vitality pulled a few rounds back right at the end, it was merely a cosmetic comeback that spares them some blushes here. The real concern was ZywOo, who put on a 0.56-rated disappearing act as Vitality were eliminated from the event.

This first loss shouldn’t come as a huge worry to Vitality. After all, they lost both BLAST Bounty events in 2025, once at the start of their remarkable year and once in the middle of it. Call it teething problems to enter 2026. Be disappointed, sure. But concerned? Not yet.

PARIVISION deliver shock blow to eliminate FURIA

Never bet against Jame, folks. He asked to face Tier 1 competition, and his PARIVISION side are delivering on every single level. FURIA are their latest scalp, having defeated them in a clean 2:0 sweep to spark some real concern about their start to the year.

First up was Mirage, a map where PARIVISION are always a threat. An even first half led us to believe this was a true contest, but a comprehensive PARIVISION CT side completely shellshocked FURIA. Even molodoy struggled to find his usual impact, which so far in 2026, has been a near-mandatory win condition for the team.

Map two of Inferno was an unfortunate tale for FURIA. With a 9:5 lead at one point, they looked all set to tie up the series. But once again, those PARIVISION holds on CT became impossible to break, as Jame and his team of young riflers battled right back into the action. zweih led the way in the fragging department with 21, but putting any one player on a pedestal for this Inferno would downplay what a colossal team effort this was.

Now, PARIVISION find themselves in their first-ever Tier 1 Final. If this isn’t a sign of progress, then I don’t see what is. And for FURIA, another Semi-Final berth is okay, but perhaps not where they wanted to be coming into this event.

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