EYEBALLERS look to take down Vitality in the round of 16 draft: BLAST Bounty RO16 matchups and RO32 recap
The opening round of BLAST bounty is now over, and boy, did it throw up some surprises.
We had EYEBALLERS beating FaZe, Inner Circle getting one over on 3DMAX, and even NAVI falling to Monte as new rosters debuted left, right, and centre.
It's now time to move forward, though, as the bounty hunters have once again picked their opponents as we head into the round of 16.
The round of 16 matchups
Saturday January 17th
All times in CET.
- HEROIC vs paiN - 12:00
- Liquid vs Gentle Mates - 14:30
- Aurora vs GamerLegion - 17:00
- Falcons vs Monte - 19:30
Sunday January 18th
- PARIVSION vs Astralis - 12:00
- Inner Circle vs Spirit - 14:30
- EYEBALLERS vs Vitality - 17:00
- Monte vs Falcons - 19:30
Photo: Michal KonkolAll the action from the RO32
Day one
The action got underway with a close game between OG and FUT, where OG fans will be reassured by the progress shown in the early days of their new cadiaN-led lineup.
EYEBALLERS then struck down FaZe after being dominated on the opening map, giving FaZe a horrible wake-up call to kick off their 2026 after ending 2025 with an unlikely run to the StarLadder Budapest Major final.
It was then time for the debuts of international Astralis and fnatic with maden, and it was the former of those teams who returned victorious as Astralis came back from a map down to close out the series in a comfortable fashion on Ancient. New man ryu looked really solid, already repaying his new organisation's faith in signing him.
The first game came to a close with Aurora vs HOTU. The Turkish squad should have had the game done in two, but failed to close out Nuke. They kept it together on Overpass, though, winning the series 2-1 in what was a nervy debut for their new signing, soulfly.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenDay two
Day two began with one of the more even match-ups of them all, Passion UA vs GamerLegion. NA side Passion UA looked like they might pull off a successful bounty hunt as they won map one, but a strong showing from hypex saw GamerLegion come back to win it 2-1.
The second game of the day saw Friendly Campers take on HEROIC, with the Polish team proving to be no match for HEROIC even without Alkaren. One of the more comfortable games of the round, HEROIC limited their opponents to just ten rounds as they advanced to the next round.
Our second huge upset of the round came in the next game as Monte took down NAVI. Two Ukrainian organisations that no longer call themselves home to Ukrainian rosters, it was UK IGL and stand-in star Rainwaker who got the better of Aleksib and B1ad3 despite starting the series a map down.
The main event of the day saw Virtus.pro take on Vitality. Although it was a spirited performance from VP, Vitality came into the year as they left 2025, winning in confidence.
Photo: Sophie BarrowcloughDay three
Day three began with a dominant win as Gentle Mates walked all over M80. A difficult international debut for M80 with their new man JBa, perhaps it was the travel getting the better of the BLAST Open London quarter-finalists, as they had looked far stronger during their win at fl0m's Mythical LAN just days earlier.
We then saw Inner Circle take down 3DMAX, despite the fact that the Ukrainians lost their star player over the Winter to NIP. A disappointing start to the year for the Frenchman, they battled hard on map two to take the series to the decider, but ultimately fell 13-6 on map three.
Speaking of Inner Circle's former star player, cairne made his NIP debut in the very next game. A solid showing from him, the Ukrainian looked dangerous as NIP fell 2-1 to Liquid, with EliGE absolutely dominating on map three as he picked up two incredible aces.
We closed out the day with Falcons vs ECSTATIC, a series where ECSTATIC saw the wrong Dane shine as TeSeS put them to the sword. TeSeS pulled out a solid 1.65 rating over the two maps they played, quickly putting the rumours of potential changes to rest as he fired his team into the new year.
Day four
The opening game of day four saw the first Anubis game of the new season, and what a game it was. It took 42 rounds, but PARIVISION ultimately got the better of ENCE in the end, with zweih putting up an impressive debut performance as he went 56-45 across the two maps played.
Spirit then made their debut with their new roster, with SINNERS putting up a much better performance than was expected from them, as donk needed a 1.88 rating to drag Spirit over the line on map one. Map two was a formality, though, with Spirit taking down SINNERS 13-5 on Nuke.
Match three saw paiN demolish Betboom in what was a solid debut for their new lineup. piriajr was particularly impressive; he went 39-18 as they limited BetBoom to just 12 rounds across Mirage and Nuke.
The round closed out with FURIA's first game of 2026, a solid display of CS as they took down 9INE. YEKINDAR said on stream that he "didn't know what 9INE were expecting when they picked us," and it showed - FURIA's win was never in doubt as molodoy kicked off the year with a 1.48 rating.
