100 Thieves Eliminate Falcons at BLAST Bounty Season 2 in Shock Upset

Falcons are out of BLAST Bounty Season 2 after 100 Thieves took the series 2-1 on 23 July 2026, ending the Cologne Major champions’ first tournament back before it properly started. The decider on Anubis swung on a 3-9 halftime deficit that 100 Thieves erased with eight consecutive rounds, and closed with a 1v3 clutch from William “sirah” Kjærsgaard that denied overtime.

The win made 100 Thieves the second successful Bounty Hunters of the day, following HOTU’s sweep of GamerLegion. G2 and FaZe took the day’s other two series, beating Nemiga and EYEBALLERS respectively.

How 100 Thieves Turned the Falcons Series Around

Falcons opened dominant. Nuke went 13-4 their way with Nikola “NiKo” Kovač lethal on the defence, and nothing in that map suggested the series would go three.

The reversal came on Falcons’ own Dust2 pick. Alex “poiii” Nyholm Sundgren produced a masterclass, Håvard “rain” Nygaard added multi-kills, and Nicolai “device” Reedtz took three clutches, handing 100 Thieves the map 13-7. Finn “karrigan” Andersen’s side won six rounds off the back of both pistols and only a single gun round on top of that, a split that shows how little of the map they controlled once the buys evened out.

Anubis looked settled early. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov posted a 2.21 rating in the first half and Falcons led 7-0, then 9-3 at the break. After the swap, 100 Thieves’ new in-game leader Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen called a near-flawless T side, taking eight straight rounds to reach match point. Two back-to-back triple-kill rounds from karrigan pulled Falcons back within range of overtime before sirah’s clutch ended it 13-11.

Falcons occupied the top two rating slots and three of the top four, yet lost the series. Gizmy finished on 0.95 with a 31-45 kill-death line and still called the half that decided it, the clearest sign that the Anubis comeback came from utility and structure rather than firepower.

“It feels really good, it’s a nice win to have,” rain said in a post-match broadcast interview, praising Gizmy and comparing his calling style to that of his long-time teammate karrigan.

FaZe Sweep EYEBALLERS to Open the Day

FaZe took the opening series 2-0, repeating their XSE Pro League Guangzhou win over EYEBALLERS and avoiding a rerun of the Swedes’ Bounty result earlier in the year that triggered the American organisation’s downward spiral.

EYEBALLERS played without their full lineup. Simon “yxngstxr” Boije stood in for Max “maxster” Jansson, who had been granted leave for a vacation booked before the team accepted its BLAST Bounty invite. They still led 9-6 on Mirage before a 1.65-rated map from Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski dragged FaZe to map point and then through overtime, 16-12. Dust2 followed at 13-8 after FaZe converted an 11-3 lead.

G2 Reverse-Sweep Nemiga on r1nkle’s Debut

Nemiga drew first blood on Anubis, taking it 13-9 to put G2’s debut with Artem “r1nkle” Moroz in immediate trouble. Slow starts on Mirage and Ancient followed, but Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač’s side recovered both to take the series 2-1 with matching 13-8 scorelines.

r1nkle averaged a 0.85 rating, the worst on G2 and the second-lowest of anyone in the series. He was unbothered by it in a pre-match interview with James “BanKs” Banks.

“Last year was pretty tough for me to enjoy the game. Towards the start of 2026, I started to get on the right track, I started to put in time, and work as hard as I can. And yeah, all good right now.”

He added that he needs time to be implemented into the system, but that Eetu “sAw” Saha and huNter- have given him freedom to play how he wants. “You’re gonna get a r1nkle that plays how he wants to play, a r1nkle that is going to enjoy the game,” he said.

HOTU Claim the First Bounty of Season 2

HOTU were the first team to successfully collect a bounty this season, sweeping GamerLegion 2-0 on the same day GamerLegion debuted their re-signing of Timur “FL4MUS” Marev. The Russian rifler was in form on Dust2, but a 1-7 hole proved too deep and HOTU closed the map 13-11 in round 24.

Ancient was more one-sided. A takeover by Dmitry “mizu” Kondratev and Aleksandr “dwushka” Pakhnevich produced a near-lockout on the defence that conceded a single round, and HOTU used that cushion to absorb GamerLegion’s second-half push and take it 13-8.

Where BLAST Bounty Season 2 Goes Next

Falcons leave the tournament having played one series in their return to competition after the Cologne Major, with m0NESY and Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin both above a 1.25 rating across three maps and nothing to show for it. 100 Thieves, HOTU, FaZe and G2 continue into the next stage of the Bounty format as the tournament rolls on.