Vitality Fall At First Hurdle At BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026 To New-look Liquid
It’s panic stations at Vitality. And if it’s not, it should be. A 2:0 loss to Team Liquid has seen their BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026 run end at the first hurdle, a third consecutive disappointing tournament result for the team still looking to stake their claim as the best in the world – and of all time.
Vitality eliminated from BLAST Bounty Season 2 2026
There was nothing to lose for Liquid coming into this series. A new IGL and a young, inexperienced AWPer coming into the lineup. Against Counter-Strike’s raid boss, Vitality, in a brutal single-elimination format. Their odds weren’t great, but their pick of Anubis offered hope from the outset that they had immediately improved their fortunes.
A solid 6:6 CT side on Anubis kept Liquid competitive here, before they took control of the series on the T side and secured a 13:10 victory. New IGL JT led the way in the fragging department, showing some of his players exactly how it’s done. It was a tough showing on the other side of the server for mezii in particular, who mustered just five kills across the 23 rounds of play.
But with Vitality, you always expect them to thrive in the face of adversity. And with their Nuke pick up next, you had every reason to believe they’d bounce back in style. But EliGE and malbsMd proved to be impenetrable on the CT side, putting Liquid in control of the match with an early 7:5 lead. Vitality’s T side never really got going, and the underdogs were able to claim a 13:9 win and eliminate the tournament favorites with a clean sweep. ZywOo, invisible here, with only flameZ giving a good account of himself.
.@TeamLiquidCS HAS TOPPLED @TeamVitalityCS 2-0
WHAT HAVE WE JUST WITNESSED 🤯 #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/SsW35VsceZ
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 24, 2026
If you’re Vitality, it might be time to start worrying about the current run of form. Between Atlanta, Cologne, and BLAST Bounty, that’s three straight events where they have looked distinctly mortal throughout. It’s perhaps too early to call it the end of an era, but if it was, this is probably what it would look like. The silver lining that they need to hold on to is that the Bounty format has never been kind to Vitality. They’ve never won the event, and haven’t ever come close. Bounty always kicks off the season, and Vitality’s best work usually comes when they’re warmed up into the action. But it’s time for them to find some form, or real cracks may truly start to appear.
Let’s take nothing away from Liquid, though. They did not win purely on Vitality’s form alone. The overhauled squad looked legitimately strong here, and were good value for their 2:0 victory. JT’s reunion with EliGE couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, with both looking solid on the server. And Jorko, for all his inexperience, looked every bit the Tier 1 AWPer Liquid will be hoping he is. The true test of any great AWPer comes when teams have adapted to your methods further down the line, but for now, we can praise Jorko for what he’s shown against Vitality.
