Vitality beats FUT 2-1, clinches BLAST Rivals playoff spot

Vitality defeated FUT 2-1 on the opening day of the Fort Worth stage at Dickies Arena, securing a place in the BLAST Rivals Season 1 playoffs regardless of their next group match. FUT played with head coach András “coolio” Fercsák in the lineup after Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea withdrew for health reasons.

Vitality closed the series with wins on Mirage and Nuke while FUT took Dust2. On Mirage, Vitality controlled the CT side and raced to a 9-3 lead. William “mezii” Merriman recorded a 2.25 rating and a +16.43% round swing as Vitality shut down FUT’s attempts to string rounds together. Vitality lost the pistol in the second half but finished the map quickly.

Dust2 produced the most back-and-forth action. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut went 16-6 in the first half, posting a 2.04 rating and a +8.66% round swing, and the half ended 6-6. Dan “apEX” Madesclaire delivered an angry halftime reprimand to his teammates. FUT answered with two three-round runs in the second half and reached map point. Vitality forced a final 5v5 retake attempt but FUT held on, ending Vitality’s 17-match winning streak on Dust2; their last loss on the map came on November 14, 2025.

On Nuke, Vitality recovered after losing the opening pistol. The team put together an 11-0 run on the CT side. FUT fought back from as far behind as 11-1 and came close to completing a comeback, but a costly error in a 5v3 situation against a low buy left FUT short and Vitality closed the match in the final regulation round.

Individual totals reflected a tight series. ZywOo finished the event day with 69 kills and 37 deaths, a 1.38 rating and 91.5 ADR. apEX posted a 52-43 line with a 1.27 rating and 89.2 ADR. For FUT, Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko led the team with 53 kills and 44 deaths and a 1.36 rating; other FUT players contributed but could not force a deciding map win.

Vitality coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam called the performance poor, saying, “We played really badly. Not disciplined at all. We threw away many rounds on Nuke and Dust2. We didn’t play together. It was too individual. It was a really bad game. It’s still a win, but not happy at all.” The team will return to Dickies Arena on Thursday to face the loser of Astralis vs G2 for group positioning.