FaZe returns as six teams head to Dickies Arena

Six teams will play at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth from May 1–3 for the BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 playoffs. Vitality and Natus Vincere secured top seeds and moved directly into the semifinals. FaZe, G2, GamerLegion and Astralis fill the remaining spots in the bracket.

Vitality and Natus Vincere earned their semifinal berths by winning final group-stage seeding matches over G2 and GamerLegion, respectively. FaZe reached the arena after a lower-bracket victory over FURIA. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken produced decisive T-side rounds that helped seal FaZe’s qualification; the team’s last arena appearance was at the StarLadder Budapest Major playoffs. FURIA failed to qualify, and FUT, competing without Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea, also missed the playoff field.

Quarterfinals begin May 1 with G2 facing FaZe at 19:30 and GamerLegion meeting Astralis at 22:30. Semifinals are May 2, when Natus Vincere will play the G2/FaZe winner at 17:30 and Vitality will meet the GamerLegion/Astralis winner at 20:30. The grand final is scheduled for May 3 at 17:30. The full bracket and match times are available on the event page.

G2 added Guy “NertZ” Iluz to their roster ahead of the event. G2 and FaZe last met online in ESL Pro League Season 23, where FaZe avoided a 0-13 defeat on one map but lost the series 2-0. GamerLegion advanced after FURIA’s group-stage results and will face Astralis after a heavy loss to them at IEM Krakow. Astralis return to the Rivals playoffs after that meeting.

Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen: “I don’t think any trophy without beating Vitality would be deserved.”

The event uses a three-day arena format. Seeding matches determined direct semifinal placement while lower-bracket winners filled the quarterfinal slots. The winner of the final will be crowned BLAST Rivals Season 1 champion.