flameZ ascends to superstardom: BLAST Open Rotterdam semi-finals recap

March 28, 2026

8:17 PM

CS analyst and commentator Pimp tells his story in the new documentary series Away From Keyboard

After a stellar first day of playoff action in BLAST Open Rotterdam, we were left with just four teams remaining.

Those four teams didn’t disappoint either, putting on five banger maps as both NAVI and Vitality secured their places in tomorrow’s grand final.

flameZ shines against Aurora

Plenty had been said about the form of ZywOo heading into the first semi-final, but the Frenchman had a quiet day by his standards as flameZ became the star for Vitality.

Even by his own incredible standards thus far in 2026, the Israeli entry shone, going 37-22 across the two maps as he put the hurt to Aurora and helped limit the Turkish te ams own aggro star, XANTARES, to just 14 kills.

Vitality dominated on the CT side of Inferno, ending the first half with a monstrous 10-2 advantage. apEX had some absolutely insane utility damage in that time, too, leading to a B hold that was simply impenetrable for the Turks.

The first map ended quickly at 13-5, and it didn’t take long for Vitality to soon have another 13-5 win under their belts to wrap up the series on Nuke. A dominant showing from the world’s number one team, they now go into the grand final as expected favourites.

NAVI overcome PARIVISION with strong third map

Heading into the second game of the day, it really was anyone’s guess who would end up the victor, and both teams had their fair share of chances to book a place in the grand final.

Ultimately a 2-1 win in favour of NAVI after the two teams traded map picks, the struggles of makazze were felt during NAVI’s 13-8 defeat on Inferno, but the young gun was in full swing on both Dust2 and Mirage, leaving PARIVISION with no hope in hell as he put up a 19-7, 2.38-rated CT side to grant NAVI and 11-1 lead on the final map.

The perfect confidence builder for NAVI’s young star heading into the final, he’s continued his MVP-worthy form from ESL Pro League Season 2023, and now looks to be the perfect candidate to bring the Vitality dominance crashing to a halt and insert NAVI into the “seriously elite” conversations.