Vitality have locked-in their third trophy of the year, after an exciting sweep over NAVI at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026. The team dominated on Inferno, before denying back-to-back comeback attempts from NAVI in the subsequent maps. Ultimately, though, Vitality’s firepower proved overwhelming for NAVI, and the world #1 took to the throne once more.
Team Rosters – Vitality vs. NAVI – BLAST Open Rotterdam
| Vitality | NAVI |
|---|---|
| Dan “apEX” Madesclaire | Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi |
| Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut | Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen |
| Shahar “flameZ” Shushan | Mihai “iM” Ivan |
| William “mezii” Merriman | Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov |
| Robin “ropz” Kool | Drin “makazze” Shaqiri |
| Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (C) | Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (C) |
Match Recap – Vitality vs. NAVI – BLAST Open Rotterdam
- Vitality removed Ancient
- Natus Vincere removed Overpass
- Vitality picked Inferno
- Natus Vincere picked Anubis
- Vitality picked Dust2
- Natus Vincere picked Mirage
- Nuke was left over
Inferno – ropz’s 27 kills obliterate NAVI – 13-7
Makazze started off the grand finals with a crisp headshot down Banana, but a simple long-wrap gave Vitality the pistol round win. A proactive defence from NAVI whittled Vitality down to just 22 hp between two, allowing the Kosovar rifler to clutch out the force-buy. With both teams struggling to control the economy, it came down to individual brilliance from ZywOo and ropz to make the difference, giving Vitality the lead. NAVI still made the half competitive, punishing Vitality’s occasional mistakes, but the latter led 7-5 at halftime.
Heads-up Counter-Strike was the gameplan in the second pistol, with NAVI going for every peak they could to win the round. That pistol win should have allowed NAVI to tie up the scoreline early, but a flury of frags from the stars of Vitality quickly shattered the T setup on B. That powered up Vitality’s CT side, and the team never looked back, closing the map out 13-7.
Anubis – NAVI comeback crushed by ZywOo triple boost – 13-10
Anubis gave Vitality their first pistol round of the series, but this time it was NAVI who looked far more comfortable once rifles came out. Both Makazze and b1t were taking control of their extremities, stopping their opponents well short of bomb plants. A round eight pocket-play finally broke NAVI’s stronghold on A, allowing Vitality to find another round despite their weaker weaponry.
That round forced NAVI back into the shell, holding safer positions in the bombsites that apEX could exploit for a series of victories. By the time NAVI finally tested the waters again, Vitality were fully fired up and easily shut the aggression down.
Much like Inferno, NAVI picked up the second pistol win, but were struck with disaster in the form of ZywOo’s MP9 that clutched up against three rifles. That success was parlayed into double digits, and it could have spelt a won map too had it not been for Makazze outduelling ZywOo’s big green with an AK. That moment of heroism from the Kosovar star turned things around for NAVI, as they now started to roll over the CT defence with confidence. Round after round, Vitality was forced into saving rifles as NAVI brought their deficit down to 10-11.
With their classic tactics being tested, Vitality pulled out something special, setting up a triple-boost for ZywOo’s AWP to perch upon for an opening kill. That sniper shot, combined with three rapid kills from flameZ (who had been notably silent on Anubis thus far) finally allowed Vitality to secure match point, and the map win followed 13-10.
Dust2 – Valiant comeback from NAVI falls just short of OT – 13-10
Anubis’ second half was thrillingly close, yet the start of Dust2 was anything but. ropz kicked things off with four kills on short in the pistol, before ZywOo hit a blinder through mid doors with his scout in the second. Vitality’s grasp on Dust2 was simply too tight for NAVI to truly challenge, and the world #1 side took a 9-3 lead in the half.
Despite the beatdown, Makazze’s aim had not dulled, and the youngster once again cracked open a bombsite in the pistol. But control of the map still rested with Vitality, as apEX and co. replied with a force-buy to lock-in match point at just 12-4. A comeback was once again needed for NAVI to stay alive in the series, and round after round Makazze found double kills on the opening routes that Aleksib called. That unstoppable force, combined with w0nderful and b1t’s level-up, allowed NAVI to extend all the way to double digits. Unfortunately, Vitality just needed one round, and the map closed out 13-10.
Series Statistics – Vitality vs. NAVI – BLAST Open Rotterdam
| Players | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIT ropz | 65 | 10 | 40 | 99.4 |
| NAVI w0nderful | 48 | 16 | 44 | 69.1 |
| NAVI makazze | 48 | 9 | 52 | 72.9 |
| VIT ZywOo | 47 | 18 | 32 | 76.2 |
| NAVI b1t | 45 | 14 | 50 | 81.3 |
| VIT apEX | 44 | 22 | 47 | 72.8 |
| VIT flameZ | 42 | 15 | 45 | 67.9 |
| VIT mezii | 40 | 15 | 42 | 70.7 |
| NAVI Aleksib | 37 | 16 | 46 | 69.7 |
| NAVI iM | 28 | 14 | 49 | 60.5 |
