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After a long picking process which took place on Wednesday evening, the BLAST Bounty Season 1 Playoff matches have been confirmed. With the conclusion of BLAST Bounty Season 1’s online phase a few days ago, teams have been kept in the dark about who their next opponents would be. Remember, the nature of this format means that teams get to pick their own opponents based on seeding, resulting in some fascinating matchups.
Credit: Stephanie Lindgren | BLAST
BetBoom pick G2
To open up proceedings, BetBoom picked into G2 at BLAST Bounty Season 1. This was essentially the result everyone expected – BetBoom are coming into the Playoffs with two stand-ins due to visa issues, and of the four teams available, G2 have looked by far the shakiest in its early outings. This, combined with G2’s position as number one seed, made this the only real pick.
paiN choose NAVI
Realistically, paiN were never going to face an easy choice. To kick off their Playoffs run, they chose NAVI, which may be a closer matchup than it seems on paper. NAVI haven’t exactly looked their best to start the new season, facing a particularly shaky debut against Imperial fe. Could we see a big upset at BLAST Bounty?
Eternal Fire take on Vitality
When it was down to the final two, Eternal Fire faced a difficult choice: Spirit or Vitality. They went with the latter, with IGL MAJ3R describing it as like “choosing a fight between Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.” It’s a great headline quote, but we fancy Eternal Fire’s chances a little better than we would MAJ3R’s in the previous hypothetical matchup. EF have looked solid since bringing in young blood jottAAA, and if we had to pick one match to see an upset, it would be this one.
Heroic left to face Spirit
Yeah, we saw this coming. With the rest of the teams already picked, Heroic were left with the unenviable task of facing Spirit and donk, who have picked up right where they left off from their Major-winning run to end 2024. Heroic will be without tN1R, the talented rifler who lit up the server online in the earlier stages on LAN, instead relying on stand-in maden to make it further in the tournament. Whether they can slay the giant remains to be seen.
To recap, the full list of matches in the first Playoffs round at BLAST Bounty Season 1 is as follows:
BetBoom vs. G2
paiN Gaming vs. NAVI
Eternal Fire vs. Vitality
Heroic vs. Spirit
