The semifinals for BLAST Open Spring 2025 are set and fans can look forward to an explosive match between Team Vitality and Team Spirit.
The two top-ranked teams in Counter-Strike are coming together, but not in the finals of BLAST Open Spring. Instead, they’ll face off in the semifinals to face the winner of MOUZ vs Eternal Fire.
The stakes of this match are clear just from the fact that it’s in the playoffs of a big tournament. But there are some less tangible stakes as these two are effectively playing for the honor of being Counter-Strike 2’s best team right now.
QUARTER-FINAL! Spirit vs NAVI – Official Highlights – BLAST Premier Open Lisbon 2025
Vitality and Team Spirit will face off in the semifinals of the BLAST Open Spring playoffs on March 29, 2025. The match is a best-of-three with the winner advancing to the finals. The loser is eliminated but takes home one of the $40,000 third-place prizes.
Team Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 21 and didn’t slow down during BLAST Open Spring. The team blazed its way through the group stage by beating Astralis, Virtus.pro, and MOUZ without dropping a single map. That earned the team a direct spot in the semifinals.
ZywOo remains the star of Vitality’s roster:
Â
Vitality is undefeated on Dust 2, Inferno, and Train in 2025 so far, going 9-0 on both maps. It’s also 5-1 on Nuke and 4-1 on Mirage. The closest thing to a “bad map” for Vitality is that it’s 4-3 on Anubis. Vitality also routinely bans Ancient.
Team Spirit was looking for redemption after losing to MOUZ in ESL Pro League Season 21. It got an easy win over The Huns Esports to start BLAST Open Spring, but took another loss to MOUZ in the group stage. It stayed alive in the tournament by beating FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro to get a quarterfinals spot. It then beat NaVi to earn this match against Vitality.
The Team Spirit roster remains the same crew that has been ranked as CS2’s best for months, even if the results haven’t been the same:
Team Spirit has a winrate above 60% across all maps, and is willing to play anywhere. As of this writing, over the last six months, it has a winrate between 63% and 67% across all maps except Dust 2 and Train. Its winrate on Dust 2 is 86% while it’s 3-0 on Train so far.
In Counter-Strike 2 esports’ short history, Team Spirit and Team Vitality have played against each other four times. Both teams have won twice. However, their most recent match came in the finals of IEM Katowice 2025, which Vitality won 3-0.
Team Vitality is a decisive favorite over Team Spirit. While many rankings still have Team Spirit standing as the best Counter-Strike team in the world, bookies see it different. Vitality is a 1.6 favorite while Spirit is a 2.3 underdog.
WINNER TO SEMI-FINALS! MOUZ vs Vitality – Official Highlights – BLAST Premier Open Lisbon 2025
Team Vitality should be able to defeat Team Spirit and advance to the BLAST Open Spring finals. While a case can be made that Spirit should still be ranked as the best team in the world, the games get played for a reason. Vitality looks like the better team right now.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
