Legacy: The Story of the BLAST Austin Major’s Unlikely Underdogs

Legacy’s Cinderella run at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 has come to an end, bringing to a close the presence of any Stage 1 teams in the competition. The lone survivor. The 0:3 Pick’Ems fodder, long past their expiry date. It was an admirable run, one that I want to try to make sense of.

A controversial qualification

Legacy’s journey to the BLAST.tv Austin Major will not be forgotten anytime soon. After failing in the MRQ at the final hurdle, Legacy were braced to watch the Major from the comfort of their homes. However, like any professional esports organization, preparation was made to sort out visas in the event of any last-minute issues elsewhere. After all, “fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

BLAST tv Austin Major Update 📌

We regret to announce that @bestia_corp will no longer be participating in the upcoming BLAST tv Austin Major, as the team was unable to secure the required U.S. visas for a sufficient number of eligible players.#BLASTPremier #BLASTtvMAJOR pic.twitter.com/qyjwiOIMVm

— BLAST.tv (@BLASTtv) May 21, 2025

As it turns out, their luck was in. BESTIA failed to receive visas in time for BLAST’s deadline, and Legacy were invited in their place. Despite an extended social media campaign from BESTIA’s CEO, including pressure from figures outside the game such as Sergio Aguero, BLAST held firm, and Legacy were on the way to Austin with all eyes on their performance. If they bombed out, then social media reaction would not have been pretty.

Warming up in Stages 1 and 2

So Stage 1 began at the BLAST Austin Major, and it wasn’t exactly a hot start for Legacy. They headed into the best-of-three matches in the 1:2 bracket, facing brawls against Imperial and Wildcard for survival. But survive they did. Comfortably, too. Once those best-of-threes got going, we saw a new side to Legacy, and their spot in Stage 2 was secured. For those who saw Legacy as an easy 0:3 in their Austin Major Pick’Ems (me), this was already a massive overperformance.

Stage 2 it is. But surely, the fun stops here… right? Of course not. Stage 2 was a doozy for the Brazilian team, who dominated MIBR, Inferno, and most impressively, FaZe Clan to go through a swift 3:0 bracket. At this point, they had established themselves as some of the biggest trash-talkers at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, underlining every win with piercing screams across the room to their opponents. 21-year-old rifler dumau was at the heart of it all – a player who has been seen as a strong talent in Brazil but has struggled to realize his potential, now front and center as Legacy continued to justify their place in Austin.

Breaking the Vitality streak

Coming into Austin, Vitality were arguably the biggest favorites coming into the Major ever. That’s no hyperbole – after six consecutive trophy wins, Vitality were on a 30-match winning streak and were expected to make short work of the biggest event of the year. To open the best-of-ones, they were drawn against Legacy, who had already played eight series at the tournament. What happened next was magic.

Legacy didn’t just beat Vitality and end the streak. No. They utterly dominated them 13:3, making what is a pretty comfortable map for Vitality in Inferno little more than a waking nightmare. If you weren’t paying attention to Legacy before, you certainly were now.

The next few matches weren’t quite as pretty – a loss to Virtus.pro was followed by FaZe avenging their Stage 2 defeat, leaving Legacy on the verge of elimination again. They were no strangers to the 1:2 bracket, and they proved they were prepared for the fight by battling past Lynn Vision to make it 2:2.

Buckling under the pressure for Playoffs

That left Legacy just one match away from the Playoffs of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. A team not even supposed to be there, on the verge of a top-eight finish. It was the stuff dreams were made of. So, who stood between Legacy and a historic moment for Brazilian Counter-Strike? Only MOUZ, a team that had started their Stage 3 run in terrible fashion, despite being among the favorites to win the entire event. So, yeah, just MOUZ. No big deal.

Despite the odds, it was a roaring start to things for Legacy. A 13:4 map win on MOUZ’s map choice of Ancient had them in dreamland. Just one more map was needed to complete the upset. One more map for Playoffs and the chance to play in front of the crowd in Austin. Next up was Inferno, a solid map for both teams. Compared to Ancient, Inferno was more of a war of attrition, the two teams trading blows back-and-forth before Legacy eventually gained the upper hand. 10:6 was the scoreline, and Legacy were in touching distance of the promised land of the Playoffs.

Yet, they couldn’t do it. MOUZ showed tons of resilience, while some critical missed shots from AWPer saadzin condemned Legacy to a map three. The job should have been done there and then, really. It was Nuke or bust for both teams.

What happened next was arguably most unfortunate of all. Legacy got off to a dream start in the map three decider, heading into half-time at 9:3. Loud rifler dumau had caused chaos with several multi-kill rounds, and MOUZ were staring down the barrel of a calamitous elimination. But, just like on Inferno, the pressure got to Legacy. Where MOUZ had been here before, this was uncharted territory for the Brazilians. Their limp T-side hits failed time and time again, and the gap on the scoreboard drew ever closer. It wasn’t long before MOUZ had overtaken Legacy, and their Playoff dreams slowly began to slip away.

Momentum was fully in MOUZ’s favor at this point, and the favorites took control of the series. 13:10 was the final score, completing the reverse-sweep even in adversity. It was disappointment for Legacy. Not because they lost. Because they should have won, and the pressure of overcoming the odds was ultimately too much to handle at this point in the roster’s development.

Still, Legacy can walk away from the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 with their heads held high. From a team expected to watch the event from home, to surpassing all expectations and going life-and-death with a tournament favorite, Legacy are now a team we’ll all be keeping an eye on at Tier 1 LANs going forward.