MOUZ, MongolZ kick off BLAST Bounty Fall with wins

MOUZ and The MongolZ advanced to the semifinals of the BLAST Bounty Fall event with 2-0 victories on Thursday in Malta.

MOUZ swept Astralis and The MongolZ did the same to Aurora Gaming. Those losing sides were eliminated from the tournament.

The $480,000 Counter-Strike 2 tournament features eight teams selected from a closed qualifier. They are playing a single-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The grand final Sunday will be a best-of-five format.

On Thursday, MOUZ defeated Astralis 13-8 on Nuke and 13-4 on Mirage. Israel's Dorian "xertioN" Berman (34 kills, plus-9 kills-to-deaths differential) and Hungary's Adam "torzsi" Torzsas (31 kills, plus-17) led the way for MOUZ.

The MongolZ eked out a pair of narrow victories over Aurora, 13-11 on Dust II and 16-13 in overtime on Mirage. Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren of Mongolia led the winners with 47 kills and a plus-9 K-D.

The tournament continues Friday with the other two quarterfinal matches:

--Team Vitality vs. Team Liquid

--Team Spirit vs. Virtus.pro

BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 prize pool (money, Frequent Flyer Tokens)

1. TBD

2. TBD

3-4. TBD

5-8. Astralis, $18,750; Aurora Gaming, $13,750; two teams TBD