Vitality became the first team to lock in a BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 semi-final spot after edging G2 2-1 in the Group A upper-bracket final on 30 April. The 13-3 finish on Dust2 made the scoreline look comfortable, but the series itself was anything but — Vitality had to overtime Mirage 16-13, drop Overpass 11-13, and only then close the deal on the decider.
Mirage set the tone — and the scare
The opener was Vitality’s invitation to coast. They built a 10-2 CT half on Mirage with flameZ and ZywOo carrying the structure, only for SunPayus to drag G2 back into the map almost single-handedly with the AWP. G2 forced overtime, but Vitality steadied and won 16-13. Under the BLAST format, group winners skip a playoff round entirely, so the result is doubly costly for G2 — they now drop into the quarter-finals.
Overpass was G2’s best moment
Map two saw G2 squeeze Vitality’s economy on the CT side and convert pressure into a 13-11 win. Coming off the Mirage near-miss, it was the kind of pushback that suggested a deeper series. It didn’t materialise. Dust2 was a 13-3 demolition where Vitality’s T side looked the way it has all season — disciplined, aggressive, and almost impossible to read.
What it means for the bracket
Vitality’s reward is rest. While G2 grind through an extra round, the world No. 1 side wait in the semi-finals with a fresh map pool. After a recent Falcons series broke their 18-match winning streak at IEM Rio, this was a useful reminder that they can win ugly — not just dominantly. For G2, SunPayus’s level on Mirage is the building block; the Overpass win shows the structure is there. The quarter-final draw will tell whether they can build on it.
