No trouble for favorites as more teams secure BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 LAN spots

As we get deeper into the action at BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026, the favorites looking to be in contention for the trophy are finally heating up. We saw most of the top teams in action today, with the likes of Spirit, Vitality, and FURIA all emerging victorious to secure their spots in the LAN portion of this BLAST Bounty event. Here’s how they did it.

Spirit off to a quick start as donk dominates

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Spirit may be operating with their brand-new roster featuring the return of magixx and zont1x, but it was donk and sh1ro running the show as they defeated Inner Circle to secure their spot in the BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026 LAN. The duo managed a whopping 83 kills combined across the two maps, in which Spirit never felt troubled. Given their previous T-side woes with chopper at the helm, it was good to see Spirit come to the table with some new ideas, but their CT-side was equally solid.

Take nothing away from this young Inner Circle lineup, which clearly has a lot of quality. But on the day, the gulf in class showed, and Spirit were able to lock in a 2:0 without all too much trouble. The defending BLAST Bounty champions stay in the fight to remain the only ever team to win the tournament.

Vitality fend off EYEBALLERS scare to eliminate JW and co.

After EYEBALLERS defeated JW’s old foe karrigan in their last BLAST Bounty matchup, the team opted to take on another nostalgic nemesis for the Swedish AWPer by picking into apEX’s Vitality. It had been over 13 years since JW and apEX first faced each other on the server, but this time, it was a step too far for a largely youthful EYEBALLERS, who fell 2:0 to Vitality.

The 2:0 scoreline does a slight injustice to EYEBALLERS‘ efforts in this one. They went for an opportunistic pick of Anubis, hoping to catch Vitality off guard following the map’s time out of Active Duty. It was a plan that worked to near-perfection, but EYEBALLERS ultimately fumbled three map points before eventually losing in double overtime. Overpass was a little more plain sailing, but EYEBALLERS still put up a respectable eight rounds against the best team in the world. If nothing else, it was a showcase series for both maxster and bobeksde, who offered hope that Swedish CS might have a bright future yet. But on the day, the better team emerged victorious, and Vitality are still in with a chance of getting their first trophy of 2026 on the board at the first opportunity.

FURIA make tough work of FUT

It was a much more labored day at the office for FURIA, who were dragged to a third map by a spirited FUT, who looked likely to take the series before collapsing at the finish line. An early Anubis win for FURIA made it seem as though it was business as usual, but a masterclass Overpass from FUT put the series on level pegging.

Step up, molodoy. On Dust2, FUT took a commanding 9:5 lead, and a win here was beginning to look like a real prospect. Likely, even. But, as so often happens with underdogs, they were unable to keep calm, as molodoy came alive to take over the server. It felt as though the young AWPer was the only one contributing for FURIA, but he was all they needed to take a 13:11 win on the decider. It was the kind of match that earns a ton of respect for FUT, especially dziugss, who looked more than comfortable at this level of play. Ultimately, though, you have to take your chances at this level. FUT couldn’t capitalize, and FURIA are off to Malta for the remainder of BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026.