BLASTPremier
LIVE: BLAST Bounty Malta 2026 Season 2, LIVE DRAFT SHOW - Quarter-Finals
07-29-2026 · 1h 04m
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Welcome to the bounty, a new, bold counter strike format where every round raises the
stakes.
Here's how it works.
The prize pool is a justice at the end.
It's distributed as bounties.
Each team starts with a bounty based on their seed.
Lower seeds can give you a zero, but can still strike it big by hunting bounties from higher
ranked teams.
In a match, and you secure 50% of your opponent's bounty as a guaranteed payout, the other 50%
it carries forward, growing the stakes for the next round.
After each round, the lower-seeded teams pick their opponents from the higher-seeded pool.
This happens during the live draft shows, taking place before the tournament first begins
and after each round of play.
Bounty hunters can choose from the most wanted teams, deciding if they want to choose their
opponent based on strategy, past history or simply going for the biggest prize available.
This is Counter Strike like never before.
Are you ready to go bounty hunting?
because I've never had you on my desk yet.
I'm feeling great. I was watching, I was hearing tales of the late desk cat and Maui.
I was hearing very good things.
That was going to be my follow up, but hopefully it was good and you're excited for it then.
Are you going to miss James though? Aren't you going to miss him?
I will never miss that man.
Why?
Just kidding, I love that.
What about yourself Maui? It's nice to get to see you again.
Obviously it's great to be here in Malta, to be obviously seeing you both in the flesh
and also getting to see the teams play in person.
I think everybody knows that land CS is really where men are made.
Yeah, it's another level.
It's taken up a whole different notch there,
but we want to have a look back at exactly all the fun
that Blast Bounty has given us.
And it's because of this format, right?
We've had 28 VRS invited teams,
along with four wildcard teams
that definitely threw some spanner in the works.
A week one was all online.
That's where we went from 32 teams,
playing in a round one, a round two,
where we got our top eight,
be cream of the crop, someone say,
but only be best of the best.
These are the eight best teams in the world.
Nat, Maui, I think you can agree,
these are the top eight teams.
I mean, I think we could look at the teams
and maybe beg to differ.
Maybe agree to disagree
that we've got all the best teams here.
What do you say,
vitality would be in your best eight, Maui?
I'd say it's very likely, yes,
I don't think that's really a hot take.
We might get to those later.
I'm not sure if I can disagree with you.
I mean, it's not like you're
definitely in the top. It's
wacky, though. It's actually
wacky. How many underdogs made
it through? Yeah, it was fun
because the whole point of
last bounty having you know the
highest seed having so much
money to their name is they
wouldn't necessarily be losing
it right now. They should be
putting it in their back
pockets, but instead we did
see some of those big dogs
give away quite a large amount
of bonus cash for some of the
teams that did make it to top
eight, which I feel like is the
point of the bounty at the end
of the day. Okay? I can, you
all those favorites that did make it.
They all had great seasons.
That's why they are favorites,
but the bounty is one of the few events in the system,
in the ecosystem that allows teams
that are outside really the top 24
to even have a puncher's chance
to face some of those upper echelon teams.
So I'm glad that they actually were able
to relish that opportunity
because remind their last bounty or was it two ago,
the first round had zero upsets.
So this is actually a huge aberration.
Yeah, I mean, whatever you're gonna say
about online counter strike,
I think you're a little surprised to see this many upsets happening.
But it is the first event of the season.
I think you're expecting some upsets.
This is not the most crazy thing of all time.
It's the exact way the upsets happen to see six or eight upsets.
It's whatever to see liquid beat vitality.
Hundred things beats Falcons.
That's why it's crazy.
Yeah.
The perfect storm was created and we all got to enjoy it.
But maybe you guys at home didn't catch all of the action, but that's OK.
Because we have a recap video for you having a look at what was around one and
two of our draft shows.
I'm gonna get you straight into it. Can you give us who 3d max is picking you get the lucky position to take whoever you want from this
We're gonna be picking magic of face. I'm already we know the players. We know how they approach the game
They're higher enough your shrinking therefore more points to gain. What do you guys would like to see?
If you got Brazilian players, I feel like you you want to take on a furia whenever you can just just just to see what you're made of
Okay, I'll make it for you. So let's pick Firde.
It was already chosen. I mean, it was super hard.
Any of them would be super hard, but then it's the Brazilian guy.
I think it makes it more interesting. They're awesome.
So let's try to face the Giants.
We're going to pick Vitality. We really want to test our new team against the best opposition
and we think Vitality is a great opponent to do that.
Who are you picking, please, there?
We worked with the logic that there was a team that won the Major, that if we win against
them then we basically also win one of the Major, so I think we will pick Falcons.
Who exactly are you guys picking?
We are going to pick Paine with them two seasons ago as well, so we kind of want revenge for that game.
Which team are you picking from the most wanted for round number two?
So we are picking the Mongols.
Yeah, I think we have a chance to play against Mongols.
They have two new players and they have a pretty close game.
That's also Bijel Bucharest.
Which team 3D Max would like for round number two?
We decide to pick FUT.
In the past, we beat them twice.
I think it's a good veto for us.
And we like to play them which team from the most wanted you guys gonna be picking for on two
We pick Astralis we know how they're playing and they're not in good shape
I would say because new coach they trying some stuff in the game
So I would say it's kind of comfortable for us
So that's yeah, who exactly are the four remaining teams left is focus gonna be going up against
Yes, so I really enjoyed my time in the France game with my ex Ash, so I think we will be
picking or I know we will be picking a mouse with PR as my new opponent.
Game leading is checked off, not by me, but Ash is checked off now by me and now I need
to go for PR the last guy standing.
Kofalo, who exactly is Dendeley going to be picking?
We're going to pick FaZe.
We had a small talk and we preferred to play against them, it's just like that.
Who is it that you guys are going to be playing in round 2?
Yeah, we are going to go with G2.
I think it's going to be an exciting game, it's obviously an established team, G2 is.
They also made a change in the off-season, so I'm excited, I think it's going to be a good game.
It was a lot of fun, some of the gambles that the teams took there really did pay off for themselves for others, not so much.
We're looking all the way back at round number one where we did get to see six of our bounty hunters take home that bounty
It was massive for them. Yeah, incredibly surprising to see the results the way they were as I mentioned hundred thieves beating falcons
I mean by transitive property Maui that makes them the major champions, of course then delay fury on maybe a
Regional matchup a little bit less surprising, but then liquid vitality. I mean, that's insane
That's why I keep up the transitive property even moving forward that now spirit of the major champions for beating hundred thieves
I'd say something that's kind of a fun additional fact regarding the early round here though
Is that yes?
There were six bounty hunters, but that was seeded more or less based off of VRS from from months ago
Yeah, if people care about something that's a little bit more present. There were actually eight upsets by just today's HLTV ranking
That's just the most we've ever seen in about any which of the other two teams that were classified then as the upsets
I think it was wild card taking down alliance there and the other one might have been that's a great question
That's right
I'll let you think about it now because I know it's deep in that knowledge of brain of yours
I kind of did it because I honestly you normally do actually have the answers
So I do feel a little bit guilty
But instead we have a look at that recap right the one that you just mentioned that falcons being beaten by a hundred thieves
And you're kind of rightly so they really put them to the test and they looked amazing during what was their best of three
I think Gizmy is one for the present.
One Gizmy is insane.
And when you look at that, I think the Falcons 100 Thieves
might be one of the less surprising ones of the three
we're going to really focus in on,
because Falcons win the major.
Nico has completed CS, people might say.
I think you have oftentimes that team comes into the next season
and they're a little bit flat on their feet.
They are not playing at their best level.
I think if they were firing on all cylinders,
that one looks a little different.
Have to agree.
also think that it's tougher to play against a Gizmi led team as other teams, other IGLs,
have talked about already. I think Magix actually gave him props in the post-game interview
when they faced off against them. And even though 100 Thieves aren't finding the most
success across all the qualifiers, that was a huge scalp that now they can be already proud of
and see that there is proof of concept coming into the season. It's a shame that it wasn't
enough to put them in a position to have a better round two to even potentially see them here in
in Malta for the team that took down Vitality.
Well, we are getting to see them on land.
You're going to be seeing them soon when they do come out
to pick that draft.
It's liquid.
And it wasn't just, oh, they bested them in at best,
you know, best of three.
They two-ohed them.
They just came in and kind of really showed them
what was up after a play break.
I mean, more than two-ohed them.
They went down five or six-one starting
on the first half of the first map.
I almost checked out mentally when I saw that.
I'm like, this is Vitality.
They're back.
They had the struggle at the major.
They're coming back into the first event of the season,
ready to play, and then Liquid managed to come back
from the deficit, from that, you know,
tough situation they were in, close out map one,
and then dominate map two as well.
That, the start of the game, the fact that they didn't
just run away with it and touch vitality flat footed,
I think is the most impressive part of that.
That's a definitely interesting aspect.
Also, I've always, I felt like watching that series
that the teamwork was surprisingly on point,
even though Elise did pop off the page scoreboard wise,
it wasn't a performance where I thought,
okay, that's unsustainable,
because we've seen a leech be a star in the past.
We've seen him be a star when he's played under JT in the past.
So this wasn't some kind of huge outlier
in terms of performance.
This was just seeing him sort of reclaim the form
that he had the last time he was united with that captain.
Well, you guys have already put, you know,
the Liquid Vitality Series as the biggest upset.
So I do wonder what our next upset ranks
in the grand scheme of what we're talking about here.
It was Dendeley being able to take the best of three
off of Furio, one that you actually put together, right?
Now you can take ownership and property of that one.
Well, I felt like the Vito also really played into the favor of Dendeley, that they had
already shown through other online qualifiers what they are capable of on cash.
So when you saw Fury, you played this one out.
First of all, the Anubis stuff was great from Dendeley to get off on that.
But the cash win where it got down to the nitty gritty showed that Fury's playbook
might be a little bit more shallow than Dendeley's, where Fury were just trying to spam these
mid to B splits and didn't really work out.
Dendale caught on.
They rotated players a little bit earlier,
and tactically, they just looked more ready to play that map.
I think it makes sense from a furia
where you have a lot of older school players.
You play cash the way you used to play it.
You go for the mid control consistently.
You can go into the execs both sides of the map,
but at the end of the day, I think Dendale actually
have a really great idea of how to play cash as well.
It's not just that furia have these good mid controls.
I think you're right.
The rotates getting on the right side at the right time
was very impressive from Dendeley and I think they're looking at the new meta of
cash and seeing if they can get they can advance things. I would have loved to
have seen them as well be that other team that we could have talked a little
bit more about seen in this round number three here but unfortunately when we
look at round number two and what happened when we did have our top 16
teams is they ended up picking phase for themselves and for you guys who might
not be aware they then ended up being a team that played the final best of three
in a round of 32 to being the first team to play in a round of 60.
I mean, the problem is that they're aware of that and that could have played into it, into their pick.
Maybe they think that FaZe didn't have time to prepare for them.
But unfortunately, as you're alluding to, I think it's the opposite.
I think they struggled with that. They might not have had someone actually tell them.
They're in their organization, inform them that this is how it goes,
because they did look like they just didn't have the right preparation at least.
That and also I think some of the players who looked hotter in the furious series didn't show up in the phase one
Which is expected when you have to play a match what 12 hours later?
Yeah, Max core was not the same guy from day one to day two there
He was kind of stealing the show against Furia not really anywhere to be found against phase clan
So that's obviously gonna hinder the individual level as they have very little time to sleep prep eat everything else
And I know that we were looking at all the upsets from that round number one
But this time around in round two, it was only two about bounty hunters that were able to get a win for themselves.
And what kept popping up in all of our draft shows was Mongols seeming like a easy target.
People wanting to pick them, even though there were lower seated teams still available, Mongols really showed up.
Then new players really showed up for them.
I mean, they're looking like much better than I think people were expecting, especially 9-10.
You could argue if he's looked like the most impressive offer so far at this event.
I think he's been taking over games himself.
He's been showcasing how well he can play.
Since Senzu's left, I only think he's been kicking it up a notch.
So to see them, I still expect them, unfortunately,
to be picked pretty early on here.
But I do think that they're impressing.
And the new players take a walk.
I think Darkmeister is looking credible.
They've really been showcasing their skill.
We're seeing glimpses of the new guys
and what they're capable of.
And I think that it's still going to be a tough task for them
to find more wins here in the quarter finals of the bounty
regardless of who decides to pick them.
But I think that it is already a testament to how well
the Mongol system actually works,
that they're serviceable,
that they actually haven't just completely blown it.
Because those guys were playing with five officials
under their bell.
I think Tick-A-Wock or Darkmeister,
one of them only had five games on HLTV
before joining this tournament.
And to still be able to hold his own,
to actually top frag one of the maps
that were played already in the opening rounds,
that's just super impressive.
I mean, at the end of the day, numbers are just, well, stats are just numbers, right?
And wins are still wins. They're the things that really matter there.
And I don't know if your whole Mongols won't get another win is a hot take.
If it's lukewarm, if it's the most mild thing people have ever seen in their lives.
But I'm now going to put you on the spot.
I would love to know what your hot takes are.
I'm going to start with you, because I feel like I haven't gotten that spice from you yet.
I think the bounty hunters are going to win at least 50% of their games.
And by at least 50%, I mean exactly 50%.
I think the others are going to wait 50% of their games.
Mongols are going to get taken down.
And Astralis, they're going to lose the pain.
Oh, OK.
All right.
I like it.
I like it.
I think I'm buying it.
I think, yeah, it's got some heat.
What, like level two spice at a Thai restaurant?
OK, OK, OK.
Let's see what your level five spice I'll take is then.
Come on, Vali.
All right.
This is a little bit of hopeium, copium, whatever it is.
I'm smoking them, OK?
I like what I've been seeing from Liquid.
They have the last pick in this draft show.
They're probably going to get spirit, but I think they're at least going to win a map, okay?
We got to still maintain credibility with some of our takes, okay?
It can't go overboard too quickly here, okay?
But no, what they showed versus Vitality versus G2,
I believe enough that there is something to work with.
I think there will be a map where Elige will humble Donk.
Let me hit you with a counter-hot take, Maui.
I think this will be Donk's highest-rated event ever.
ever. He is going to humble Elise, JT, NAF. They're going to be humble. Even if they
get a map win, he's going to carry on it. He's going to go into the semis. He's going
to dominate whoever that is. And in the finals, he's going to take Miles down. No problem.
Well, I do love the hot takes, but I also feel like you guys are skipping a step. You're
putting a lot of assumptions out there that we're going to be seeing liquid up against
spirit. Maybe there's another team out there in the bounty hunter side of those four teams
that is willing to take on that challenge. Well, I just say before and now, we hope you
I'm smoking. That's it. I'm
going to be on that train right
now because there is a potential
chance that we're going to see
our draft show change a little
bit shape up in an unexpected
way. But the person to bring us
all that action is going to be
James Banks. Thank you very
much, guys for that breakdown
as we get ready to dive into the
draft show and the draft show
can always be a little bit of
fun. It gets harder as we have
less teams here at the bounty,
but we've moved from on the line
into land and that's where some
And that's where some of these teams have got a point to prove, and others may do their best work.
Remember, Titans have fallen throughout this. It's the start of the season.
Anything can happen, upsets can happen, things can get a little bit crazy.
But we do like it when Counter-Strike gets crazy like that.
So let's talk a little bit more about our teams.
And starting with that, we're looking at Spirit.
Spirit are really the kings of the bounty.
After surviving the upsets and a grueling online starts at a season,
while the rest of the elites, they stumbled.
they stumbled. The dragons have never faltered and now they arrive with one goal to remind
everyone who's on top.
Maus, a rookie in-game leader, an academy star promoted, and a familiar face that had
a little bit of time elsewhere comes back to the team. The mighty Maus have embraced
change and now it's time to find out if this new era is ready to deliver from day one.
The Mongols, Fresh Faces, Two Young Stars, Dark Leicester and Tick-A-Wack, they impressed
in their first taste of Top Tier Counter Strike.
Now though, it gets tough.
They don't have their coach behind them, so can they keep that fearless fighting spirit
alive, especially when it matters most?
Astralis is coming up next.
No roster changes for this team, just a new perspective.
A fresh support of players behind the scene helping them out this time round.
Nioh is going to be the coach,
Ursula is coming to help with the mentality
and the performance.
Astralis have another opportunity
to put one of Counterstrike's greatest names
back on the right path.
Pain have had slip-up after slip-up.
They've tumbled down the rankings
and out of the biggest events.
But Safe had a good reborn refresh onto the AWP
and he could be the safest pair of hands in Brazil
to help them finally have a difference
and stop all the bleeding here.
For FaZe, they are looking better and maybe it is time to start believing in them at once
again.
Some new players, some fresh blood mixed in with that old style that we know and love
coming out of twists and frozen.
But now they have a point to prove.
They've done it online, can they now do it on LAN?
3D Max trusting their former IGL to take it back over once again.
They have also turned an AWPer into a Rifler.
We've also given a form of vitality talent, another chance if you remember Masuta from
all the way back then, and with a two-time major champion guiding them from behind the
scenes could this finally be the time to put French Counter Strike back on the map.
And last but certainly not least, Liquid, you could call it a honeymoon, you could say
it was only online when they were going through these results, but they did dismantle Vitality
and G2.
Now, people need to start paying attention to this team, especially with what we saw.
JT has them flying.
Djorko is making a leap opposition look positively.
Djorko, ha ha.
And with that being said, I've had my fun.
The teams certainly will be ready for this one,
but it is maybe a bit easy to predict how some of this can go.
Will we get some spice this time on the bounty?
We'll have to wait and see.
But first of all, let's bring our players
and coaches onto the stage.
Thank you very much, everybody.
Thank you very much everyone for joining us for our live draft show.
Magics, I'm going to start with you.
A nice start to the season.
Why you look surprised when I'm going to start with you?
Why?
You don't get to pick anyone, so I'm just going to talk to you, you know?
You just have to wait for this all to happen.
Yeah, I know.
Last time around, you got to predict yourself right before you kind of understood exactly what was going to happen.
Will you share how you think it's going to go with me this time?
I have no idea.
You have no idea?
You didn't plan this through?
No.
Okay, I'm a little bit disappointed.
Where's Jab-Jabic?
He's fired.
He's fired?
I hope so.
Okay, maybe you should sell him to another team.
He's got good personality.
Maybe Falcons.
Alright, alright.
Magics, thank you very much.
Cyclone, I like the little changes we saw.
A bit of a surprise.
No JL, PR comes in as well.
But you know, he wasn't a mouse jersey.
Mouthed XT jersey once before.
What's it been like having him come back?
He's grown a lot,
But I think he's still a young kid, you know, and now we have a couple of them, so it's a very new dynamic for us.
And what about Zershin and the IGL? He's still fragging out pretty well.
Have you been impressed with what you've seen to how the season started?
Definitely. I think there will still be some growing pains throughout the season for sure.
But he was always a big voice in our team.
Very vocal, good at organising, facilitating, also really into the nerdy side of watching a lot of games and stuff.
You want that in your IGL as well, very positive.
Techno, hello, how are you doing?
We're good.
Good to hear.
You guys have got two very young players coming in, rookie players, Tychoak and Darkmeister.
Can you just maybe say some things about how it's been with them early on coming into the
team, just what are your thoughts on them?
Because we're all just learning about them at this moment.
I think they threw themselves.
Everyone was thinking we're not going to qualify.
Yeah.
We're here now.
You're here now?
And you're not going to end in the first game right, no matter who picks you.
You believe even without Mara, you can still get it done, you can go further.
Yeah, but we have a lot to do, but we're confident for us.
You're always confident that is very key.
Nio!
I'm just...
Oh my God, I can't...
It's real, I am checking, it is real.
It does look different.
Kind of similar colors though, you have to keep it a little bit red.
You think red looks good on you, right?
You look good.
But tell me, how is it going in terms of obviously having to come in and coach a new
team it's so early in a season line. What do you try to even change or do is it more observing and
just looking at what's happening? I mean I've learned my lesson in the face but still it's a
new environment they already have like the same lineup so I need to get to know them and
see how they operate and that's a process. And how much does it mean though early on to just
be in this stage where you can make it to the LAN playoffs here in Malta? It feels great looking
forward to my first game offline with the team.
All right, and just one last thing for you.
Many people seem to think that it could be like you guys being picked first.
Do you have that same thought in your head?
It might be a simulation as well, we'll see.
It might be, it might be.
We'll have to wait and see.
Big Izera!
Hello.
How are you?
Very good.
Did you have some good vacation time with family back home in Brazil?
I know it's very important for your mentality and what you bring into each season.
Yeah, I think I need more time.
Yeah, it was okay. We always need more time. I understand that with you as well
Talk to me a little bit about safe right now because I was worried at one point that maybe he didn't have it
Like what it took to fill the shoes for NQZ, but in this online stage, oh, he was owning he was doing real good
So are you starting to see his development his improvements?
Yeah, I think he's a kind of player that
He has like a lot of ideas. So it's difficult sometimes in a short time to keep
this kind of ideas in the whole system.
So right now I know his way to play and his ideas.
And also you get to pick first today when we get to that.
That's the best position to be in, right?
Yeah, I think so.
Let's see how it goes.
NKJ, thank you very much for being here.
Welcome to the draft show.
Looking good in that phase, Jersey.
But you already had a couple of outings with this team already.
already. Jabo and obviously a very big name on what he's been able to do, but
how are you trying to coach and manage him a little bit, especially with how
aggressive he can be? How much do you let him be free? What do you want to see from
this event? I just want him to be as free as possible. I just want him to be the
j-bone that he grew up to be, you know. Not really that many handcuffs given to
him, you know. He can do whatever he wants, but he needs to learn his lessons.
Hopefully he did so in China last couple weeks. Yes, yeah. I saw the vlog as
well, right? He was very deflated after China, but he still performed very well.
Yeah, most certainly he did really well. He did not only surpass my expectations, but most certainly his own and this is the most important thing.
Very good and very positive for the development. Wazink, how are you?
Good.
Now, looking at this, you guys took an AWPer and turned him into a rifle and he was looking pretty crispy in game.
Was it a risk when you asked him to do that or did you already always know that he could be capable with the rifle?
No, I know he's a good player, a true team, and we know in France like he was a really good rifle, so I expect him to be here and he has to improve.
And for you guys, right, you've obviously had a couple of changes. Besuta came in in February, right, now you're at Inkerzi.
How much has that slowed down the team being able to be comfortable and like be able to get back to where you were before because you're bleeding a lot of VRS points right now.
Yeah, but we had a group like leaving together playing together since maybe three or four years
So we had to bring fresh blood. Yeah, we know it's long process
Unfortunately, it's like it's bringing a lot of lose, but now we're better and better. Just question of time
Hopefully you continue to show it here as well
Flashy, you're also here for just a bit of fun, right? Because you don't get to make a choice in this really you just get whoever's
left over. Let me first ask you this though. Scheduling. You're all good with the scheduling,
everything's all understood right now, no more problems? No more problems, we've solved it.
You've solved it, you've solved it nice and easy. When it comes to you though, right, are you just
expecting to face Spirit given where you're at right now? You've already had all the tough games
and you've done it very well. Yeah, might as well continue, right? I think, yeah, that's the expected
scenario but who knows, maybe we'll get surprised. And just tell me, what is it that is so impressive
about this team clicking from the beginning. The names you took down were no joke and it's the
way you've been able to do it as well. I think there is just a lot of belief in the team and trust
towards each other and our chemistry has been really strong from the get go. Very positive and
it's all working out but with that we've had a nice little opening conversation for everyone.
It is time for the draft show to begin.
And with that Mr. Biggisera, smile on your face right now.
yeah this is a good position to be in yeah was it a hard decision to make don't
give me the name just yet but like did it take some sitting down what did you
guys talk about as a team how did you make this decision to be honest we were
just thinking about the map beats and what the map pool would be better for us
and also thinking VRS points so okay something that is so important right now
and we know that when a match in LAN is so important so yeah basically.
And does it feel like you guys as a team have started to improve since you've been back in Europe as well
because I know you had some struggles at the beginning
but is it getting better in your eyes as the leader of what you are seeing day after day?
Yeah, always. In Europe the culture strike is much better than Brazil so we improve a lot.
At the same time, we know that we have to stay a little bit there because if you just stay in Europe, we got crazy.
But it's difficult to balance the time in Brazil and the time here, but we try our best.
Now I'm going to pop an all-important question to you, but I won't ask you to marry me. I'm going to ask you. Who are you going to pick out here?
Okay, I'm picking Astralis.
The respectful handshake from the very beginning, give me just the reason you decided to pick Astralis, please pick Azir.
Sure, as I said, Astralis has the first thing that I think about Astralis is the map pick is ancient and we don't play ancient.
So it's a big point for us. We have a lot of maps in common that we like to play.
It's another point and the last time that we face it we won them.
Helps a lot.
Counter-Strike is not like a rule and it's just more like a football sometimes and we never know.
But yeah, basically that's...
Okay, Neo was this one you were expecting? Yeah, that was one of the options. Yeah, I guess
Yeah, and they're a great team. So it's not an easy measure
But you were the team that lost on last time now you're here you can be the difference maker, right?
You can help pull that pre-plan and then make yourself ready for it. That's the plan. That's always the plan
That's always the plan. The reality is sometimes different, but we'll see. Is Huxley already preparing for this?
Yeah, probably. Probably, yeah.
He's watching me guys. Okay, it's hard to do this. I said Neo here
I've got to make sure I'm ready to get the job done but all in all from what you saw from the online stage from your boys
Like do you see a difference or maybe when you watch back some of the games when you were not there?
I would like to say so
But it's still a process. We've had a bootcamp. We've been working on our game. So
Yeah, I mean let's see on Friday. Let's see how it goes. Thank you very much guys NKJ
It's your time to look at this one. Were you gonna pick Australia so they were still left open?
Honestly, yeah
Maybe
Honestly, I mean yes or no, I mean if they were open, yeah
Yeah, we would have picked them I guess okay, okay now I've seen this so many times don't give me the answer
Just yeah, but I mean like we look at this right we see the opposition you've got you might want to challenge
You might want to try to take Spirit. They went a few maps. They went deep, you know.
Could I encourage you on going for a tougher pick?
I mean, you can try.
It's probably not going to work.
Well, let me... So, I know for a fact, right, that Magix right now is unhappy because he's here.
Yeah?
So you could use that to your advantage.
Because he'd be surprised if you picked him right now.
And then maybe they're not ready for you.
I mean, they would have to be ready no matter what for the match tomorrow, you know.
But we would have an extra day.
Yes, he could. You would have.
You know, no one would have expected you to pick them, you know?
But all jokes aside, get ready for it. Give it to me.
Who is FaZe picking?
We are going to be picking Mongols.
Mongols? Okay!
Now, a lot of teams told me before when they picked the Mongols that,
okay, they're coming in with two new rookie players, you know?
Now it's on LAN as well. Do you think that could be a factor for you guys?
Hmm, not necessarily. I don't think the LAN factor's in that much, in all honesty.
We just considered a lot of other factors just like because I was saying before the net pool
Also the starting time of the match plays in our hands right not necessarily having to play tomorrow already
But yeah on Friday and then also given the the ranking the VRS ranking there right above us one rank
I think there are four keens currently, okay, and there will be obviously decent VRS points
We could be climbing a rank
They will be losing a rank which could favor us for the oldest ranking then it did also factor in the fact
They don't have Mara here as well. No coach behind them
I don't think so, to be quite fair, it could actually be an additional kind of motivating factor for them,
not having the coach with them that they're kind of saying, hey, let's do it for him, but who knows, I cannot tell it.
Techno, tell me, how much does it hurt you guys as the Mongols not having Mara behind you, especially with two new young players as well?
We already played without Mara once or twice in this year.
Two tournaments I mean. So I think we're kind of, I'd have to do it, so I think that's not the problem.
But what about for the young players, do they not need to have someone like Mara behind to be there day after day?
Sometimes if there's a coach behind, the new players can be thrifted maybe.
Oh, okay, yeah.
Maybe. It has two sides, but coach needed it, but it has two sides.
And maybe who knows, the new two players will play their own and maybe dominate them.
There we go. We have seen them dominate already a couple of times.
They've looked good on the server, so we'll have to see how it goes.
Now we continue to move on forward. So we've got our opening two matchups.
You decide everything. For 3D Max, I wasn't even interested.
You decide in all of how this will go, because whichever pick you make now decides
who Liquid is going to get as well.
You've got Spirit, who everyone says is going to win the whole tournament.
You've got a mouse who have got some new players in, but they're still a very deadly team.
So did you expect already that this would be the order?
Had you predicted this?
To be honest, I don't care.
Oh, okay!
Yeah, no, really.
I like this.
It's for good teams, to be honest.
And we know, like, we trust that we can beat each team,
It depends on us, and after it's about map pool and plan, you know?
I like that, so it's a lot about the mentality right coming out from you guys and the team.
How is the mentality though in the team after obviously making it to LAN?
We're happy, we're happy, that's why I couldn't choose like the past day were not already good for us,
but we're happy about the performance, it's the first time for 3D Max to go there, so we're really happy.
Really happy, I'm sure you are with it all.
And one final question, because I've got to build some time up in this, we're waiting to get a couple of things ready.
I want to ask you about this.
Cash obviously is a map you guys started to show some love and like a bit too.
How much does MBK help with that man? He's even got a spot on the map named after himself.
Yeah, he helps us a lot about the map because me as a player I didn't play a lot in this map.
So as a coach I don't have a lot of experience, but he helps us a lot in CT more than T, but yeah, he helps.
Okay, I was expecting that. Thank you very much for the insight. All right. It's time to get into it
Who is 3d max picking you got two teams to choose from?
We pick most
Not the biggest of surprises coming in there you didn't fancy your chances against spirit
We could but I think about my pool and since the first day I want to pick most of your nest
We wanted this, we thought it was possible, but before we took another choice and it was a perfect day to take it now, and Spirit is a good team, but we know it will be between these two teams.
We have to make a choice and Mapool was better for us.
Cycron, going up against 3D Max in this one, was this one that you just expected to come down to this, that you predicted it yourself?
I'm surprised, no, but I was surprised with the earlier pick, I thought it would have
been the other way around.
Okay.
Yeah, I think it would be a good matchup.
I think for both teams a bit of a transition period, new players coming in, changing their
direction, some fresh plot as you said.
I think it's a fresh start also for this matchup.
I want to ask you, you guys often when you have to play these online tournaments play
from the mouse HQ, right?
You play in front of a crowd each time as well.
How much do you feel something like that is just helping, especially for the younger players?
Of course it helps, because it's not just that the pressure is that high in that setting,
but that's a bit of a distraction.
You need to maintain focus, things will happen throughout the day,
and you need to stay polished, right, and there's a bit of a challenge in that regard.
And what's now, obviously you guys have had your core for a long time,
but in terms of having these new five players coming in,
I remember before you were talking about the energy and the vibe you wanted, right?
Is it starting to, like, you see something different in it?
Do you see a different energy? Are you getting what you wanted?
I mean, now the direction is much more youthful, right?
The young guys, they're hanging a lot to get out.
I think also Adrian coming in with Adam, George and Célix, two Hungarians.
So, better put, there's a big brother, little brother, so then G.
OK.
And, yeah, I think it's a fresh look from us.
Awesome.
Well, I look forward to seeing more of that fresh look.
And then for this last one, well, flashy, you expected this.
You didn't have much chance.
Let me ask you this.
Did you already do your preparation for spirit?
Of course.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You just could do it in advance.
Actually, I was thinking if he's willing to pick spirit,
he said maybe.
I was a bit shaky, but.
You were like, wait, wait, oh, no.
Maybe it should have asked you.
Yeah, yeah, it's better not to know.
But you got spirit in the end.
you very prepared and ready for this as well right but you had challenges so
obviously beating Vitality beating G2 I know Spirit's another team right it's
another top team but the confidence must be there in what you've been able to
do. Yeah we are really confident and we believe we can win this match up but it
will be tough for sure. It will be tough for sure. Magics you're here for us
finally sorry you've been waiting so long but at least you're smiling thumbs up I
like this this is positive thank you very much Magics look at this you are
probably expecting to face Liquid but do they get some more respect from you and the team because
obviously they took down a Vitality, they took down a G2 already? Yeah, I feel like they definitely
earned some respect because they've beaten Vitality. Of course everyone can say that it was like the
warm-up game after the break but you know, we also could have lost earlier. Yeah, yeah. I've seen
it two times I guess and looking at this spirit has a lot of success when it
comes to the blast bounty in general two trophies already not the beginning of
this year but I mean everyone's looking at you guys as the favorites does it
feel like you are favorites do you feel like this is your tournament to take I
don't care you don't care yeah okay so if you win better just get better yeah
just get better play better that's all we all want to do in all life that's good
advice for everyone in the world no matter what we're doing but the draft show is done
we do have our matchup so guys shake hands, take your time, enjoy each other for a little
bit longer and we're done.
See you tomorrow.
Thank you.
It feels like out of the 12 people in front of the camera at least one person was surprised.
It wasn't me, it definitely wasn't Buu or Maui or Cygrian.
He's like oh the earlier pigs might have been swapped around there with the straws not necessarily
being the first team to get picked up.
But now, yeah, unfortunately, I didn't get my upset
of Spirit getting picked early in our draft show.
No, not quite, not quite.
I feel like if you really want to make a distant case
for a team that could have went for a phase
because they share a permaband, maybe gives them
a little bit of an edge in the veto,
but no, everybody's just too scared of Spirit, of course.
I was kind of there with Cyclone,
even though Pain had beaten Astralis
at the most recent major and did it
in a very dominant fashion.
I thought maybe they thought that this new look Mongols was worth trying to take down.
Yeah, I think the problem is, as you said, the map pools, but they took them down at the major.
I mean, they took them out of the entire event and it looked dominant while doing so.
And as much as Astralis, you know, they've made some changes maybe in the way they're approaching the game.
It's still the most obvious pick, especially because you've seen Tick-A-Wock and Darkmeister have both had some pop-off performances for Mongols.
So you're not looking at them as like super obvious, super like weak links in the team.
We also like I wouldn't say necessarily impressed is the right word here Maui
But like intrigued as to the reasoning behind some of the picks because at the end of the day
There is that option of going with oh our gut feel is just this team is going to be better for us
Whereas it felt very logical. Oh, we share these map videos. That's a perm a band
We also don't play it the RS rankings obviously played a massive factor even though I would have liked them not to
I feel like it was more or less
I think in the earlier round like the round of 32, for example, we saw a lot more surprise picks more so because the I think the team is in sort of that 6 to 10 range sort of mess around a little bit more whereas this time around it was more just kind of worse team to best team generally speaking.
I think when you're looking at it, you take a look at who can you pick in this lineup? Picking mouths and spirit is like saying you're just you're just you're signing your own death warrant.
your own death warrant. There's no justification to pick them when Mongols and Astralis are
open at the top of the list.
That's because we have the best eight teams in the world right now.
Exactly, exactly. These are one to eight my best eight teams in the world. No caveat.
Kind of a weird power ranking to publish this. Do you want to put a byline on that or what?
Signed by Boo.
Okay.
Hey look, at least someone's willing to put a little bit of extra pizzazz out there.
Yeah, it definitely was no surprise at all. We loved the reasoning, but what do you think is going to be your most your most your most?
Finish my sentence. Do you know what I'm gonna say? My most entertaining game is gonna be liquid
Let me say this one if spirit look like they did online, which they won't but if they do if they do yeah liquid way
Oh, what how are you gonna one up my hot take before the draft?
I don't even think this is hot. If you think about how spirit looked online
Did you see that final map they played against a hundred thieves no actually I I met him black mind
Rating ever it doesn't matter how spirit look if donk looks like that on land that he will actually get
that. Yeah, that's why. Yeah,
that's why. Yeah, that's why.
Excluding excluding that math.
Okay. If we pretend that map
didn't they were warming up to
land. That's why they looked so
good back because you keep
saying not that they will look
like online spirit. But if they
did and we don't want to look at
the past anymore, we want to
look towards the future. We
want to see what our schedule
is going to be when we get into
the action. It is going to be
liquid and spirit. Our first
quarter finals. That one's
going to be starting tomorrow.
the teams they did, its phase and Mongols and then Astralis up against Payne.
Why are we starting with the hottest match now? That's just how the seed works in the schedule.
I'm pretty sure, yeah, but now I'd say that in the middle of the pack, things get pretty interesting there.
The Mongols kind of match, Astralis match. I think that's where Voo's hot take,
about there being 50% of the bounty hunters are actually going to find those most wanted heads.
That's where it's definitely most likely.
I think that's a good thing.
Yeah, I do think you also have
the benefit of the format.
You get teams picking into a
matchup that's a little better
for them. Maybe you have a bit
of a better chance of an upset,
but you at least have a better
chance of a really entertaining
game. It's going to be an
entertaining game, no matter
which one you tune into, but I
promise you want to catch all
four of them over our next two
days of quarter finals. That's
going to be it for our draft
shirt right now. I hope you guys
have had a lot of fun. I've
enjoyed talking with you guys
and so I can only imagine what
the weekend and the rest of this
event is going to bring in still
going to be those two quarterfinals tomorrow for our last bounty season two presented by
Polly Market.
Welcome to the bounty, a new bold counter strike format where every round raises the stakes.
Here's how it works.
The prize pool isn't just this at the end, it's distributed as bounties.
Each team starts with a bounty based on their seed.
The lower seed will begin with 0 but can still strike your big by hunting bounties from higher ranked teams.
Win a match and you secure 50% of your opponent's bouncing as a guaranteed payout.
The other 50%? It carries forward, growing at stakes for the next round.
After each round, the lower seeded teams pick their opponents from the higher seeded pool.
This happens during the live draft shows, taking place before the tournament first begins and after each round at play,
bounty hunters can choose from the most wanted teams, deciding if they want to choose their
opponent based on strategy, past history, or simply going for the biggest prize available.
This is Counter Strike like never before.
Are you ready to go bounty hunting?