Fans expected Natus Vincere and Team Spirit to breeze through the qualifiers for BLAST Bounty Fall, but both teams showed signs of weakness early in the bracket.
Despite both entering as solid favorites, Na’Vi and Spirit both dropped maps to much lower-ranked teams on their way to the $500,000 LAN. On August 6, 2025, Na’Vi dropped a shock map to Team Next Level to start its tournament run. Meanwhile, Spirit lost its own signature map pick to Passion UA. Both teams come fresh off big finishes at IEM Cologne, with Spirit winning the prestigious trophy and the $400,000 grand prize. The online qualifiers continue to rage, with three more days of competition determining the roster for the main event starting on August 14.
Na’Vi drew its match against TNL for the first round, and fans expected a blowout. HLTV ranks Na’Vi the 5th best CS2 team in the world. TNL falls much lower at rank 31, just below BIG and M80. However, map one on Ancient immediately went awry with a pistol win for TNL and an ensuing 3-0 score. The underdog earned five T rounds before the switch. The second half featured a massive rally for TNL as it scored five CT wins in a row, eventually forcing overtime. Stellar play by rifling duo Davyd “Dawy” Bibik and Artem “cairne” Mushynskyi secured the upset.
Image Credit: Team Next Level
The analyst desk immediately dissected a sound clip of Na’Vi’s players arguing over utility plans during the heated match. Despite communication issues, the team proved that Ancient was a fluke and soundly won the next two maps, quelling the nerves of Na’Vi fans everywhere.
Team Spirit’s map drop was even more shocking, as the IEM Cologne champion matched up with Passion UA, rank 33. This time, Passion served Spirit the dishonor of losing on its own map pick. Starting CT on Dust, the all-Ukrainian side earned only four rounds as expected. Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov even picked up a beautiful one-on-three clutch for the highlight reel.
However, Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk exploded on T side with 14 kills and 156.4 damage per round. HLTV rated his T side performance on Dust 2 at a mind-boggling 2.41. Passion would end the half 9-2 to guarantee a full series. Spirit handily took the rest of the match 13-3 on Mirage and 13-4 on Ancient.
Image Credit: Passion UA
While neither favorite lost their series, both Na’Vi and Spirit dropping maps early on is a worrying sign. It’s possible that its related to the online nature of the tournament, as lower-ranked teams get more online event practice while top-tiers spend more time on LAN. There’s also the Cologne slump, as Na’Vi comes straight off a deep run while Spirit is the defending champion. Assuming both teams win their qualifying matches, they’ll have until the main event starts on August 14, 2025, to shake out their nerves.
