BLAST Bounty Season 2 quarter-finals set after Malta draft

A live draft in Malta determined the quarter-final matchups for the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals, with the offline bracket opening on July 30, 2026. The event will use single-elimination quarter-finals to send four teams into the semi-finals.

The bottom-four seeded teams chose opponents from the four higher seeds during the draft. The resulting first-round pairings are Liquid versus Spirit, 3DMAX versus MOUZ, FaZe versus The MongolZ, and paiN versus Astralis.

Rodrigo ‘biguzera’ Bittencourt explained paiN’s decision to pick Astralis as influenced by map matchups and VRS points, adding: “The first thing about Astralis is that their map pick is Ancient, and we don’t play Ancient. We have a lot of maps in common that I would like to play, and the last time we faced, we beat them.” paiN are 29th in the Global Standings, which factored into their choice.

FaZe chose The MongolZ, citing the extra day of preparation and the importance of VRS points. Niclas ‘enkay J’ Krumhorn said the absence of Erdenedalai ‘maaRaa’ Bayanbat from The MongolZ did not influence the pick. Sodbayar ‘Techno’ Munkhbold observed that The MongolZ’s newer players might perform with less pressure.

3DMAX opted for MOUZ rather than tournament favorites Spirit. Damien ‘wasiNk’ Dufour said the selection came down to map pool alignment and timing, stating that he had wanted to pick MOUZ since the start and that the current moment felt right after recent roster adjustments.

Liquid were left with Spirit as the remaining option after the draft. The organisation reached Malta by winning online matches against Vitality and G2. Johnny ‘JT’ Theodosiou has taken over as in-game leader and Georgi ‘Jorko’ Mitev has joined as the team’s AWPer. Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev commented that Liquid had earned respect for their online results, noting their win over Vitality.

Quarter-final play begins July 30 with Liquid v Spirit at 13:00 and 3DMAX v MOUZ at 16:00. Play continues July 31 with FaZe v The MongolZ at 12:30 and paiN v Astralis at 15:30. Teams balanced the desire for favorable matchups with the need to gain VRS points and improve their Global Standings when making selections during the draft.