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MOUZ and Team Spirit have booked their places in the BLAST Open Spring semifinals with emphatic 2-0 victories, dismantling G2 Esports and Natus Vincere (NaVi), respectively, in a pair of one-sided quarterfinal affairs in Lisbon.
In a repeat of their ESL Pro League S21 clash just two weeks ago, MOUZ once again had G2 Esports’ number.
Coming in as favourites with esports betting sites, Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin’s side delivered on expectations, sweeping the series without breaking a sweat.
SEMI-FINALS SECURED FOR @MOUSESPORTS
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(@BLASTPremier) March 28, 2025
Dorian “xertioN” Berman was the clear standout in the Counter-Strike 2 series, putting up a monstrous 1.83 rating and 120 ADR across Inferno and Nuke.
He dominated banana control on Inferno with 10 opening kills, repeatedly outdueling Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, and carried that form into Nuke with several high-impact multi-kills.
“For me, it’s about confidence, about putting in the work,” xertioN said on the broadcast.
“I’ve grown a lot this year – mentally and in-game – thanks to the people around me.”
G2, meanwhile, looked far from their usual selves in their first arena match with the new lineup.
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov showed brief signs of life but couldn’t single-handedly turn the tide.
Costly mistakes – like throwing away man-advantage rounds on both maps – and stage nerves proved too much.
“We weren’t the same team as usual,” admitted Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski.
“There were misunderstandings, maybe some stress on the stage.”
With the win, MOUZ move on to face Eternal Fire in Saturday’s semifinal – a clash between two of 2025’s biggest risers and their first meeting this season.
Team Spirit looked every bit the title contenders in their 2-0 dismantling of NaVi (Dust2 13-7, Anubis 13-6), picking up a third win against Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen’s squad already this year.
Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets and Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov once again proved to be the unstoppable engine of this Spirit side, combining raw firepower with clinical execution.
SEMI-FINALS SECURED FOR @TEAM__SPIRIT
— BLAST Premier
On Dust2, Spirit’s B-heavy approach carved open the NaVi defence, while Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev’s P250 triple in the second half shut down a potential comeback.
NAVI’s pick of Anubis backfired badly – a map they’d barely touched in recent months – and their rusty showing saw them fall behind early and never recover.
Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy, usually a reliable anchor, endured the worst LAN event of his career with a 0.79 rating, and even Mihai “iM” Ivan – their highest-rated player – managed just 0.95.
“We didn’t find that spark,” Aleksib admitted post-match.
“It felt like we were two steps behind the whole game. They just played better than us.”
Next up for Spirit is a daunting semifinal against a red-hot Vitality squad riding a 14-match win streak.
The BLAST Open Spring semifinals will take place on Saturday, when Eternal Fire clashes with MOUZ before the mouthwatering series kicks off between Team Vitality and Team Spirit.
