Spirit survive double OT thriller against OG at BLAST Bounty
Team Spirit needed overtime on the decider map to hold off a scrappy OG squad, while Aurora were eliminated by FOKUS on day three of BLAST Bounty Season 2.
Spirit hold on, barely
Team Spirit are the top-ranked team in the global VRS heading into BLAST Bounty Season 2, and on paper their match against OG on July 23 should have been comfortable. It was not.
Spirit took Cache in lopsided fashion, but OG flipped the script on Dust2. A sluggish Spirit offense allowed OG to build a 7-5 halftime lead, and despite Danil “donk” Kryshkovets starting to take over on the defensive side, some disorganized retakes and sharp calling from OG were enough to force a third map, according to reporting from HLTV.
Ancient looked like a return to business as usual when Spirit stormed out to a 9-3 lead behind a dominant CT half. Then Adam “adamb” Angstrom decided the match needed to be more interesting. The Swedish rifler caught fire in the second half, highlighted by an audacious push out of the A site that helped drag OG back into contention and force overtime. Casper “cadiaN” Moller chipped in with vital multi-frags, and OG kept pushing through well-coordinated mid-rounds.
In the end, Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich found another gear late in the map and Spirit’s offense steadied just enough. They closed it out in double OT, 19-16 on Ancient, to take the series 2-1. It was close enough to make Spirit fans very uncomfortable.
FOKUS end Aurora’s run
The cleaner story of the day was the elimination of Aurora, who had come into the tournament as a reshuffled international roster. FOKUS were also working with recent additions, having brought in Paavo “podi” Heiskanen and Jacob “jocab” Nerheden, and they used their revamped lineup to make a statement.
After Aurora took Cache, FOKUS responded with a 13-7 win on Nuke, then absolutely buried their opponents on the Dust2 decider, winning 13-4. That kind of scoreline in a map that decides a team’s tournament life tends to speak for itself. Aurora are out.
xfl0ud announces himself for FUT
For fans watching closely for debut performances, FUT’s match against SINNERS offered a good one. Yasin “xfl0ud” Koc, the Turkish rifler playing his first competitive match for FUT, posted a 2.24 rating on the day, per HLTV. FUT dropped Dust2 but came back to sweep Ancient and Mirage, taking the series 2-1. It was exactly the kind of entrance a new signing hopes for.
paiN also took care of business against a Gentle Mates side playing with a stand-in, a result that landed closer to expectations than anything else on the day.
What is coming up on day four
Four matches remain in the first stage of BLAST Bounty Season 2’s online portion, with all of them scheduled for July 24. The card reads:
- 3DMAX vs. magic at 11:00
- HEROIC vs. The MongolZ at 13:30
- Liquid vs. Vitality at 16:00
- DENDELE vs. FURIA at 18:30
The HEROIC vs. MongolZ and Liquid vs. Vitality matchups in particular carry significant weight given the teams involved. After watching Spirit get dragged to the limit by OG, anyone expecting tidy results from the remaining online matches might want to recalibrate.
What happened between Spirit and OG at BLAST Bounty Season 2?
Spirit won their best-of-three series 2-1, but OG pushed them to double overtime on the Ancient decider. Adam 'adamb' Angstrom nearly engineered a massive upset before Spirit's Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich and improved offensive play sealed the win.
Who was eliminated on day three of BLAST Bounty Season 2?
Aurora were eliminated by FOKUS, who secured the series with a dominant 13-4 win on the Dust2 decider, according to HLTV.
How did xfl0ud perform in his FUT debut?
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koc posted a 2.24 rating in his first match for FUT, helping the team defeat SINNERS 2-1 across Dust2, Ancient, and Mirage.
What matches are scheduled for day four of BLAST Bounty Season 2?
Day four on July 24 features 3DMAX vs. magic, HEROIC vs. The MongolZ, Liquid vs. Vitality, and DENDELE vs. FURIA, according to the published schedule.