(Photo credit: Nick Oza/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
FURIA rallied to a 2-1 win over HEROIC and Team Falcons outlasted Team Liquid 2-0 to kick off the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 event Thursday in Attard, Malta.
Eight teams are competing at the $452,500 event, having advanced to the single-elimination bracket via closed qualifiers. The quarterfinals and semifinals are best-of-three, while Sunday's grand final will be best-of-five.
Final payouts will be determined at the end of the tournament. $47,500 was awarded to teams in the closed qualifier. The winning team will also pick up three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens, whereas all other participants will receive one.
On Thursday, HEROIC kicked things off with a 13-3 romp over FURIA on Mirage. But FURIA answered in kind with a 13-2 rout on Dust II before winning 13-9 on Nuke. Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko of Kazakhstan finished with a match-high 47 kills (plus-21 K-D differential) to lead FURIA.
Falcons prevailed 16-14 in overtime to beat Liquid on Nuke before finishing the sweep with a 13-8 result on Dust II. Russia's Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov racked up 50 kills on a plus-19 K-D differential for Falcons.
The tournament continues Friday with two more quarterfinal matches:
--Team Vitality vs. GamerLegion
--Team Spirit vs. PARIVISION
--Field Level Media
