ZywOo edges flameZ as Vitality sweep BLAST Rivals opener

At the BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 playoffs in Fort Worth, Vitality’s Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut narrowly beat teammate Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan for the event EVP. Vitality placed three players among the event EVPs and collected several All-Star selections while winning the tournament, their fifth consecutive title of 2026.

ZywOo finished 0.02 points ahead of flameZ in map-win rating (ZywOo 1.31, flameZ 1.29) and posted two maps rated above 2.00. Voters favored ZywOo on combined statistics and big-match peaks. In the mixed zone, ZywOo commented, ‘I thought it was ropz or flameZ who were going to get it,’ and added a joke about taking the award from his teammates.

Robin ‘ropz’ Kool was Vitality’s second EVP after a playoff performance that raised his tournament rating to 1.22 from 1.08 in the group stage. Ropz recorded seven clutches, earned Player of the Match on Anubis and an EVP on Dust2, and led Vitality’s comeback from 0-11 on Nuke in the final. A quieter semi-final and a 0.98 group-stage rating kept him out of the top MVP conversation despite his playoff impact.

Natus Vincere contributed the other two EVPs. Ihor ‘w0nderful’ Zhdanov reached the final with several high-rated maps, finishing with a strong map-win rating and a +11.4% swing in round wins; his kill differential per round (+0.25) ranked second among event contenders. Drin ‘makazze’ Shaqiri posted a 1.40 median map rating and delivered a 27-frag map on Anubis in the final, offsetting a 10-25 K-D on Nuke and securing his EVP slot.

Honorable mentions included William ‘mezii’ Merriman, who posted a 1.22 playoff rating but a lower kills-per-round in wins; David ‘frozen’ Čerňanský and Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner, who had solid showings but underperformed in key knockout matches; and Nikita ‘HeavyGod’ Martynenko, who provided consistency for G2 with a high floor across maps and a positive round-win swing. Álvaro ‘SunPayus’ García recorded a 1.16 rating in his best event for G2 despite the team’s quarterfinal exit.

All-Star selections reflected the EVP results. ZywOo and flameZ were included, and ropz’s playoff performances secured him a spot. A three-player-per-team rule opened an anchor slot that went to HeavyGod. The in-game leader slot was awarded to Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen after a 69.2% offensive win-rate with Natus Vincere, edging out other candidates; another notable statistic was a 55.4% T-side win-rate for Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken compared with 42.2% on CT.

Vitality players collected multiple event awards and All-Star spots. Natus Vincere finalists and contributors from G2 received individual recognitions based on map ratings, round-win swings and match-by-match performance.