Pimp on BLAST Bounty Summer 2026: “I have no doubt that Spirit will give it their all to win this event.”

It doesn’t bother me that we have different formats. And I’m not bothered by the fact that competitive online Counter-Strike is just one aspect in which a team needs to be skilled. Sometimes you need to be able to play well in best-of-1 matches; that’s also part of the process, because the more versatile a team is, the stronger it is. If we look specifically at the current BLAST Bounty, I would, of course, prefer if the first matches featuring the rosters updated after the break were held in the atmosphere of a LAN event rather than online. There’s a certain sense of something missing when Gizma’s first game with his new club or JT’s debut with Team Liquid take place in this format. It’s as if you’ve seen it all, but at the same time, you haven’t, so you have to wait for their full-fledged performances on stage.

Many people know that I work for BLAST from time to time, so I want to share my thoughts on the format of the Bounty series events in general. I actually really like the idea that teams can choose their own opponents. It’s fun, unlike anything else we’re used to, and overall a really cool way to kick off the competitive season. This system helps create interesting storylines and build rivalries between clubs. On top of that, it motivates weaker teams to pick stronger opponents, and such decisions lead to unexpected outcomes, as we can see in the current event. The only downside, in my opinion, is precisely that everything is played online, but I can understand why that’s the case. After all, organizing a LAN event with a full-scale structure and bringing all 32 clubs there would cost far too much money. It doesn’t make much sense, since most teams would have to go back home after their very first loss.

Team Spirit already showed last season that they’re interested in this series of events and in performing well at them. That was magixx’s debut as captain and zont1x’s return to the starting lineup, and the organization likely wanted to give them as much experience as possible on the big stage right away, which makes perfect sense. Considering how the team is playing right now, how it performed at the last Major, and donk’s current form—who seems to be is starting to feel comfortable again after the roster changes, I’d guess that the “Dragons” should add some new trophies to their collection this season. Whatever anyone may think of BLAST Bounty, it’s still a respectable Tier 1 tournament, so I have no doubt that Spirit will give it their all to win this event.