Vitality beat Falcons 2-0 to secure a playoff berth at BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 2. Both maps, Anubis and Dust2, ended 13-10. Inferno had been left as the decider but was not needed.
The match was a rematch of the teams' meeting at ESL Pro League Season 24, where Falcons won Anubis before losing Dust2 and Mirage. This time Vitality returned with Dan "apEX" Madesclaire in the lineup and shut down an excellent opening map from Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov.
On Anubis, Vitality dominated early, but Falcons recovered thanks to m0NESY and strong openings from The Flash, though pistol round losses left them trailing 10-5 at the half. A triple from Robin "ropz" Kool helped Vitality regain control at 10-10 and close out the map.
On Dust2, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut led a flawless 5-0 start for Vitality. Falcons took the rest of the half, but Vitality came back after the swap with proactive defensive setups and heavy grenade usage. ropz led the server with a 1.46 rating, ZywOo had 1.24, and m0NESY topped Falcons with 1.27.
Falcons will now face Legacy in the lower bracket of Group A, hoping to reach the playoffs in Hong Kong. Last year they reached the final there, losing to FURIA in a five-map series.
