Action got underway Wednesday with eight Counter-Strike 2 teams competing in the $1 million BLAST Premier Rivals 2026 event in Hong Kong.
The top three teams from each four-team group will advance to the single-elimination playoffs. Group winners advance directly to the semifinals, while the runners-up are the quarterfinal high seeds and third-place teams are the quarterfinal low seeds. All matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final, with the winner taking home $250,000.
Group A opened with FURIA sweeping Legacy and Team Vitality sweeping Team Falcons. FURIA won 13-10 on Inferno and 13-7 on Mirage, while Vitality prevailed 13-10 on both Anubis and Dust II.
Both opening matches in Group B went to a third map. Team Spirit sandwiched a 13-9 win on Cache and a 13-5 win on Ancient around FUT Esports’ 13-0 shutout on Nuke. After MOUZ opened with a 13-7 win on Nuke, G2 Esports rallied with a 16-14 win on Ancient and a 13-7 victory on Inferno.
Thursday’s schedule:
–Group A elimination match: Legacy vs. Team Falcons
–Group A winners match: FURIA vs. Team Vitality
–Group B elimination match: FUT Esports vs. MOUZ
–Group B winners match: Team Spirit vs. G2 Esports
BLAST Premier Rivals 2026 prize pool:
1. TBD, $250,000 ($125,000 player prize, $125,000 team share)
2. TBD, $200,000 ($75,000, $125,000)
3-4. TBD, $130,000 ($40,000, $90,000)
5-6. TBD, $85,000 ($25,000, $60,000)
7-8. TBD, $60,000 ($10,000, $50,000)
–Field Level Media
