According to the tournament schedule published by Dot Esports, Blast Bounty Season 2 2026 begins with a 32-team online stage on July 21 and ends with the LAN finals in Malta from July 30 to August 2.
The event is the first S-tier Counter-Strike 2 tournament since the IEM Cologne 2026 Major and the subsequent player break, and it runs on Valve’s new patch that returns caches to the map pool and modifies C4 explosion behavior. Team Falcons enters as the defending Cologne Major champions. NAVI is not competing.
Blast Bounty Season 2 2026 Schedule, Malta LAN and Format
This tournament lasts for thirteen days. The online stage runs from 21 July to 26 July, followed by a three-day break to give the top eight teams time to travel to Malta. The LAN finals are scheduled for July 30 to August 2 at the Blast Arena studios in Malta.
During the online phase, four matches are played each day. According to Dot Esports, the opening day schedule includes:
- Tuesday, July 21: M80 vs. NiP at 12:00 CEST, Nemesis vs. Astralis at 14:30 CEST, Nuclear Tigers vs. MOUZ at 17:00 CEST, and Alliance vs. Wildcard at 19:30 CEST.
- Wednesday, July 22: Eyeballers vs. FaZe, Nemiga vs. G2, HOTU vs. GamerLegion, and 100 Thieves vs. Falcons.
- Thursday, July 23: Focus vs. Aurora, Sinners vs. FUT, Gentle Mets vs. Pens, and OG vs. Spirit.
- Friday, July 24: 3DMax vs. Magic, Heroic vs. DemongolZ, Liquid vs. Vitality, and Shark vs. Furia.
Dot Esports says the schedule and results will be updated throughout the tournament.
Blast Bounty Season 2 in 2026 follows the same format as previous editions, with 32 teams competing for eight LAN playoff spots. The bottom 16 teams, often referred to as underdogs, choose their opponents through BLAST’s draft show.
Each of the top 16 teams begins the tournament with an attached prize. When an underdog beats a favorite, that team claims the reward. Half of the prize money goes into the underdog’s prize fund, while the other half becomes their reward for future matches. The goal of this system is to distribute the prize pool and VRS ranking points more evenly rather than concentrating them at the top.
Dot Esports says changes to the reward format are expected ahead of the 2027 season, but the 2026 edition maintains the basic concept.
New CS2 patch for teams, roster shuffle, and Blast bounties
Thirty-two teams are participating, many of which are coming under revised rosters. AURORA, MOUZ, THE MONGOLZ and HEROIC are among those fielding the new lineup. NAVI is a notable absence from the top five in the world rankings.
The full team list published by Dot Esports includes Falcons, Vitality, FURIA, Spirit, Aurora, G2, MOUZ, FUT, The Mongols, FaZe, GamerLegion, Astralis, Magic, paiN, Alliance, M80, Ninjas in Pajamas, HEROIC, Sharks, Liquid, Nemesis, 3DMAX, Eyeballers, Gentle Mates, Sinner, Nuclear. Tigress, Hotu, Focus, 100 Thieves, OG, Wildcard, and Nemiga.
This event is the first S-tier competition on the current CS2 patch. The cache has been added back to the map pool, and changes have been made to the behavior of C4 explosions.
Dot Esports mentions that Blast Bounty Season 2 2026 will be the first chance to see how these map updates and C4 mechanics impact professional play at the top level. Following the break following the Major, teams had limited time to prepare on the new patch.
How to watch Blast Bounty Season 2 and what to watch
The tournament is being streamed live on BLAST’s official Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as on BLAST.tv. To follow a specific match time, remember to convert the schedule from Central European Summer Time (CEST) to your local timezone, as all match times are listed in CEST.
There is discussion about whether the Falcons will be able to defend their title after winning the Cologne Major. Teams with updated rosters, including AURORA, MOUZ, THE MONGOLZ, and HEROIC, are adjusting to their first S-tier event together. The group stage shows banning and selection trends on the map as the map returns to competitive play.
Prize totals are determined prior to the LAN finals, with upset results during the online phase affecting prize pool distribution. Dot Esports has not yet published full details of the prize pool or specific prize money for each of the top 16 teams. Updated bracket standings, match results and qualifications for Malta LAN will be confirmed as the online phase continues until 26 July.
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