The decisive match at BLAST Open Spring 2026 has exceptional historical meaning. NAVI have reached their second grand final in a row. For Vitality, it’s a continuation of their dominant era.
In two recent Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournaments, NAVI and Team Vitality claimed the trophies. Vitality became the champions at PGL Cluj-Napoca, restarting their new win-streak after IEM Kraków 2026. NAVI celebrated victory at ESL Pro League Season 23 — however, Vitality skipped that event.
BLAST Open Spring 2026 in Rotterdam proves a nice consistency in the results improvement for NAVI. They could not reach the main event at BLAST Bounty and at IEM Kraków at the start of this year, so seeing them on top again certainly feels great for the fans. Claiming the second title in a row would be a historic achievement for NAVI, but defeating Vitality at BLAST Open Rotterdam is a tremendous challenge.
Vitality players are on the track of repeating their amazing tournament-win streak from the first half of 2025. Claiming the third one in Rotterdam would be huge even for them, and hands down — Team Vitality are the favorites against NAVI.
Team Vitality versus NAVI: The grand final at CS2 BLAST Open Spring 2026 in Rotterdam
These teams did not have direct clashes in the most recent tournaments. Vitality and NAVI were often seeded in different groups, as it was in the first phase of BLAST Open Spring 2026. Then, NAVI were eliminated, while Vitality battled for (and claimed) the trophies.
The general reputation of Team Vitality as the current CS2 esports powerhouses is indisputable. Expectations are high from them: the community and esports betting proclaim Vitality strong favorites over NAVI in the grand final at BLAST Open in Rotterdam.
Vitality 0:0 NAVI — Live score
| Banned maps | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 | Map 4 | Map 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient, VIT Overpass, NAVI | Inferno, VIT pick | Anubis, NAVI pick | Dust II, VIT pick | Mirage, NAVI pick | Nuke, decider |
| VIT 0:0 NAVI | VIT 0:0 NAVI | VIT 0:0 NAVI | VIT 0:0 NAVI | VIT 0:0 NAVI |
Casual wins for Team Vitality, with some overtime tension
During the group stage of BLAST Open Spring 2026 in Rotterdam, Team Vitality lost no maps and confidently marched to the playoffs. Their semifinal also looked casually simple.
At the same time, Vitality faced pretty strong opponents. In the groups, they defeated The MongolZ and PARAVISION. These teams managed to bring the second maps to overtime, which already feels like an achievement against Vitality.
Aurora Gaming were in the grand final at EPL Season 23 and in the top 8 at previous big events. They lost to Vitality on just two maps in the semifinal, with 5:13s.
NAVI are on a mission to rebuild confidence
The win streak for NAVI is also a real thing — however, we are talking about matches here.
Natus Vincere had a great run at ESL Pro League Season 23 and won that event. They earned three victories in the groups at BLAST Open Spring 2026, including over Team Falcons and Aurora.
In the semifinal, NAVI defeated PARAVISION, which is a big deal at the moment. These opponents won BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 and reached the grand final at IEM Kraków. PARAVISION is generally considered the most successful underdog story of this season.
Both NAVI and Team Vitality decided to skip the next CS2 esports tournament, which is PGL Bucharest 2026 from April 3 to April 11.
All the top competitors gather at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2026, from April 13 to April 19.