BLAST.tv Austin Major grand final as it happened in live updates
- apEX: "I'm sorry Magisk, but +ropz is the best move of all time"
- flameZ and mezii lift the Major trophy
- apEX tops the rating charts for the grand final
- Vitality win the Austin Major
- 910 delivers wild ace
- apEX shares video of him flipping off the crowd
- Fans gather in Ulaanbaatar despite 03:30 AM local kick-of
A disappointing end to a still fantastic Major playoffs for Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch.
Thoughts on the series: "First map, we expected to win our map pick. Everything went smoothly, but after the second map, I don't know what went wrong. For myself, I just underperformed."
If winning crossed his mind: "After the first map, I think I was imagining in my head lifting the trophy. I think that was the wrong thing to do."
If he is proud of the team's performance: "Finalist at the Major is something [to be] proud of. Brick-by-brick, maybe next Major."
On next season: "I think [this result] gives us a lot of confidence, making the final at the Major. Maybe next season we pull a thing like Vitality did this season."
Shahar "flameZ" Shushan on the desk post-game: "It is unthinkable. Trophies were far away from what I was thinking about [in OG] but then I won Gamers8 [in Vitality] and suddenly I believed that any tournament we came to might be the one."
On the stress: "The most stressful game was Falcons at IEM Melbourne. This one was very stressful before the game but we talked with each other, 'it's fine to be nervous, it's the Major final.' We need to be glad that we are nervous because other teams would wish to be as pressured as us in this situation.
"But it was very stressful on Mirage. They were shooting very well, we couldn't fit in the game with them on Mirage, but when we lost I felt a relief. We had nothing to lose, and that's exactly what happened."
"apEX is the best leader I've played with," flameZ says. "How he hypes us up, we wall want to say 'it's good guys,' but it's not good, we need to step up. That's one of his strengths. He'll shout, 'focus up,' and when he has a map like that full carrying it's great."
"Seven trophies in seven tournaments. What else can you do? You can already see the best team of 2025"
| Vitality |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 - 33 | +1.79% | 94.1 | 79.6% | 1.37 | |
| 47 - 33 | +1.39% | 88.3 | 75.9% | 1.32 | |
| 41 - 38 | -2.18% | 81.0 | 77.8% | 1.17 | |
| 37 - 34 | +1.58% | 78.3 | 79.6% | 1.17 | |
| 44 - 33 | +2.91% | 75.5 | 81.5% | 1.13 |
| The MongolZ |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 - 41 | +0.36% | 95.3 | 77.8% | 1.26 | |
| 31 - 37 | +2.83% | 61.3 | 66.7% | 0.96 | |
| 33 - 47 | -6.86% | 72.0 | 59.3% | 0.88 | |
| 35 - 46 | +0.26% | 72.5 | 61.1% | 0.83 | |
| 26 - 42 | -2.32% | 55.1 | 63.0% | 0.71 |
That ZywOo 1v2 has changed the tone. The MongolZ finally get a full buy down 1-4 and they don't even get one kill. 1-5.
In-game might have taken a turn but, at 05:37 local, people are still believing back in Mongolia.
We told you about the FACEIT match between these two, and mezii has gone from top of the board last night to bottom in the final; despite that clutch early on.
It's just as bad, and far more shocking, for ZywOo, who had a -4.9% round swing.
Dust2 is a chance to reset. They need to take it.
The MongolZ have already made history as the first Asian team to make a Major final.
Their previous best of 3rd-4th was matched by Renegades at Berlin 2019.
They'll have the crowd on side today as they attempt to go one further, and win the region's first-ever Big Event (No, YaLLa doesn't count.)
A classic, sandy, trio. Inferno could get spicy after what Legacy and MOUZ did to Vitality this event. Let's hope we get there.
"Those [early underground] LANs were dog-eat-dog contests," The MongolZ said on X about Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch. "Winning was a necessity.
"[910] usually only had enough money for a one-way ticket. If he lost, he had no money for food, no place to sleep, and no way to get back home."
The current list reads:
dupreeh - 5 device - 4 Xyp9x - 4 gla1ve - 4 Magisk - 4
flusha - 3 JW - 3 pronax - 3
apEX - 2
Senzu has a 0.93 rating in Big Event playoffs this far into his young career.
But that trend is reversing, with a 1.12 at Dallas and 1.27 after four maps of the grand final.
The MongolZ need that graph to keep ticking up.
Only Marcelo "coldzera" David and Nicolai "device" Reedtz have won two Major Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards.
Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut already has one from Paris, and is the heavy favorite to take a second tonight.
Another award would be his seventh MVP in 2025, tying device in another record of Big Event medals in a calendar year (7 in 2018) just six months into the year.
More stats can be found on the MVP Page.
A fairly obvious favorite, we must admit.
ZywOo: 1.49 rating (1.42 playoffs)
ropz: 1.25 (1.18)
Senzu: 1.30 (1.27) 910: 1.16 (1.42)
The desk are discussing just that, and here are Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg's four criteria:
They're a Major away, if you think Vitality are already meta-defining.
 USA |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 - 15 | +2.34% | 80.6 | 66.7% | 1.29 | |
| 20 - 17 | +4.59% | 93.3 | 75.0% | 1.27 | |
| 19 - 19 | +0.02% | 92.2 | 62.5% | 1.04 | |
| 16 - 17 | -7.06% | 66.7 | 58.3% | 1.00 | |
| 9 - 17 | -7.00% | 40.2 | 62.5% | 0.70 |
| K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating2.1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 - 13 | +17.89% | 137.2 | 87.5% | 2.07 | |
| 22 - 16 | +7.04% | 91.1 | 70.8% | 1.29 | |
| 13 - 20 | -1.68% | 65.9 | 58.3% | 0.81 | |
| 10 - 17 | -5.75% | 47.6 | 54.2% | 0.71 | |
| 4 - 20 | -10.85% | 24.0 | 41.7% | 0.35 |
Robin "ropz" Kool: "Going into the final, it's going to be clear on paper who's the favorite. It's going to be us. There's no lying in that.
On The MongolZ: "We've played The MongolZ a few times already this year and it's also been a one-sided match, but they're a very explosive team, you can never count them out."
On losing the last 2 finals: "I told the guys, if we lose, let's not do it in the final. So, playoff, semi-final, quarter-final, whatever, but please, let's not lose in the final.
"Even though CS:GO is kind of the same game, you treat them differently. Winning a CS2 Major is another thing compared to CSGO."
Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold: "It's revenge time."
"We lost so many times against Vitality, and the last time we faced them was really close too. We could have won but we couldn't end it, and it's a good time for a match against them again."
On the crowd: "The crowd is on our side now. Yesterday they were not on our side, and today it was very amazing."
On the final: "We came to the grand final, we came here to win. Just that one word: win."
Some wholesome chats, coutersy of Reddit:
mzinho: tommorow who ever wins we hug each other
flameZ: ofc
mzinho: happy birthday shushu
flameZ: tyty king
Techno4K: hbd
flameZ: gg
mzinho: ggs
Techno4K: gg
mezii: gg
mzinho: cya tmrw
We're sure BLAST have some tricks up their sleeves to make it more fair. Or maybe this is what it takes for NA to get a win these days.
Few expected The MongolZ to make it but they are here on merit, 3-2 in groups and flawless in two playoff series.
So can the world number five do what the number two, three, and four have failed to, and take down Vitality?
Let's get back to some buildup with a dose of reality. It's not looking good for MongolZ fans, even if was close in Dallas' group stage seeding game.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Katowice 2025 | ||
| 08/02/2025 |
Finished
2:0 |
Match |
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| ESL Pro League Season 21 | ||
| 15/03/2025 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Melbourne 2025 | ||
| 26/04/2025 |
Finished
2:0 |
Match |
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Dallas 2025 | ||
| 22/05/2025 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
"Last time there was a No. 5 team in a final of a NA major against a superteam, they won," EatmyAspirin (what a username that is, by the way) reminds us.
The crowd tonight will remember Boston 2018, of that we're sure.
There's a lot of talk about Genghis Khan in our inbox, so thanks for that. Jonathan E will be in touch.
But we've still got some to share:
-
Neil: "Because of ropz's CS2 major final curse. The bad karma is coming to him for leaving FaZe."
-
ryL: "I conquered France (and the rest of the world) as Mongolia in HOI4 some years ago."
-
tunnelbear: "Because apEX didn't have his croissant today, and flameZ is too focused on his birthday cake after the final." (Our favorite)
-
Jam18: "In the Dallas Playoffs, Mongolz NEARLY beat Vitality, but choked at the end of the road. However, now Senzu is online and The MongolZ aren't choking in the playoffs."
-
THENAMEISPANDA: "In Dallas, The MongolZ had Vitality on the ropes [on the decider], tying the game 11-11 and forcing Vitality onto a broken buy. The MongolZ only lost due to a late-round collapse, not because they were outclassed."
We've got a simple task for our community's finest minds:
Give us one reason why Vitality won't win tonight.
The best answers will be featured in this live post. Don't let me down.
We know apEX loves him, whiff or no, but might flameZ want something a tad more... tangible as a birthday present today?
$500,000, champion stickers, and eternal glory await the victor of tonight's match.
Plus a trophy with two betting sites' logos and one from a team that didn't even attend the Major.
A second crown for Vitality, or a first for The MongolZ?
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 | ||
| 22/06/2025 |
21:30
|
Match |
Alex 'Mauisnake' Ellenberg
| 
ali_nah
!xobilee
| 
| 
juvis
| 
galbar
nouserhere
| 
Kick_magixx_ffs
| 
CensoredByAdmin
jimbob7
musiquevol1
goatuser
| 
nvrn06
| 
yukiloveyou
| 
| 
kilda_choose
| 
czechseeker
EatmyAspirin
toxic_korean
buttadawg
| 
LasMedicinas
BradleyTD
| 
| 
Pipa27
| 
| 
trick4krg
Pepega_San
ThePr0xy
| 
Zesi
| 
DlDDY
| 
Mirospear
Darge
epicfailbro
imnewhere22222
0lerp
NightLovell_top1
| 
styxL
Rich1eG0h
| 
| 
Tyrsk
virutachl
| 
OptimusBlyad
| 
mavericko19
| 
| 
| 
OneMoreStarPIayer
Martin2310
| 
| 
| 
