MOUZ make third final in a row by beating EF

Brollan's troops have made light work of their side of the bracket.

MOUZ have made their third final in three events since adding Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi to their lineup after a 2-0 win over Eternal Fire.

It sets up a Sunday grand final against Spirit or Vitality in a straight shootout between the three most in-form teams in Counter-Strike for the Lisbon trophy.

MOUZ have beaten Spirit twice in a row but have a 0-7 record in maps against their kryptonite of Vitality, making it clear who they will be rooting for in the second semi-final.

Date	Matches
BLAST Open Lisbon 2025
29/03/2025	Vitality 21:20 Spirit	Match
30/03/2025	MOUZ 17:30 Vitality	Match

Nuke, MOUZ's trusty pick, was all about the T sides as Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin called his team to a 9-3 first half. But Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli repaid the favor with a 7-1 streak in the second half as the game was brought to 11-11 — only for consecutive A pops to fail as a relieved MOUZ closed it out.

Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás's play was full of confidence throughout, finding a crucial quad kill 3v5 in one of the team's only CT rounds, and it was fitting that he ended the match with a knife and a noscope.

Dust2 was a more even affair, going back and forth throughout as the teams shared pistols and we reached 10-11 once again. Then, Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman triple entried out Mid-to-B and the grand final was secured.

"It feels amazing," torzsi said on broadcast after being asked about reaching the lineup's third final in three attempts. "We are getting exhausted by the travel and a lot of playing but it's always nice to get a step closer to the trophy. I'm sure tomorrow we're going to lift this one."

XANTARES ends the series on a 0.76 rating

Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş was 4-11 at the start of Nuke, and 2-9 at the start of Dust2. The Turkish superstar has the ability and talent to recover those scorelines, but if Eternal Fire are to break into the elite permanently they need more from their star. A 0.76 series rating is the opposite of a win condition.

He has even dropped behind Ali "⁠Wicadia⁠" Haydar Yalçın and Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker in rating since February, sitting at a 1.09 average a full 0.11 behind Wicadia.

Eternal Fire in their three arena games in 2025

In 2025, XANTARES has been the team's best overall in arenas (having a good MongolZ series in Katowice) but he is a key cog and a 1.02 rating is still below par for someone of his talent.

If he cannot do more, there is pressure on young guns Wicadia and Samet "⁠jottAAA⁠" Köklü to step up and echo a MOUZ-like fragging committee — and the duo did so today, the former's multi-kills a key part of what made the game so close in the first place.

Brollan's calls make the difference

The decision to make Brollan take over as in-game leader from Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek was one the community received with puzzlement.

The reserved 22-year-old, from the outside, did not seem like a natural born leader but has put early doubts to bed with some fantastic calling – even under pressure in arenas, where siuhy's side often fumbled.

On Nuke, MOUZ manipulated EF very well, wandering into an undefended B site twice before converting post-plants. And on Dust2, it was at 10-10 when Brollan lurked out Long and called his team back to A at the perfect timing for a crucial swing round that all but secured the final.

With Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth behind him instead of usual coach Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen, it was even more impressive that Brollan's team found the solutions under scrutiny.