The 2026 season kicks off with an online qualifying stage. This is intended as a practice round for top teams, but also offers a chance for newer, less-established teams to make a strong first impression.
The off-season saw major player moves, an unusual change in which maps were played, and a celebration of top CS2 esports players. These elements are building excitement for the online qualifiers for BLAST Bounty Winter 2026.
This competition will reveal how new players impact team performance, which maps are most frequently chosen or banned, and whether Team Vitality, the top team of 2026, can maintain its dominance in professional Counter-Strike.
The BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 qualifier is generating a lot of excitement online. You can find everything you need to know about this stage of the tournament here – including the live stream, scheduled matches, results, and other key information.
Where to watch the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 qualifier: Stream
You can watch all the matches from the online qualifier on the official BLAST Premier channels on YouTube and Twitch. The BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 stream is also available here, and you can find it right above.
Schedule of matches
The qualifying rounds will be held from January 13th to 18th. Each day will include several Counter-Strike 2 esports matches. You can find the specific schedule in the table below.
| Estimated start time | Matches |
|---|---|
| 12 p.m. CET / 6 a.m. ET, Jan. 13 | FUT vs OG |
| 2:30 p.m. CET / 8:30 a.m. ET, Jan. 13 | FaZe vs EYEBALLERS |
| 5 p.m. CET / 11 a.m. ET, Jan. 13 | Astralis vs Fnatic |
| 7:30 p.m. CET / 1:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 13 | Aurora vs HOTU |
Qualifier results at CS2 esports BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
Thirty-two teams are competing for a spot in the LAN Finals, but only eight will qualify.
BLAST’s tournament series has a unique way of determining prize money. Instead of a fixed amount, teams earn rewards based on the strength of the opponents they beat.
Qualifier standings
| Placement | Teams and their prize money | LAN Finals |
|---|---|---|
| 1st–8th | TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD | + |
| 9th–16th | TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD | – |
| 17th–32nd | TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD | – |
Starting matchups
During the initial round, the highest-ranked teams will play against those with lower rankings. This creates the potential for surprising wins and exciting, but risky, betting opportunities for esports fans.
Every match in the Counter-Strike 2 BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 tournament is a do-or-die game – one loss and you’re out!
The top 16 brackets: Qualification matches
This is the last round of qualifying for the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 tournament. Teams that placed lower in the first round now get to pick which opponents they’ll face.
The winners advance to the main event. The losers are out.
| TBD vs TBDTBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBDTBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBDTBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBDTBD vs TBD |
Warm-up or breakthrough: Favorites and underdogs
In theory, this qualifier should be an easy warm-up session for the top CS2 teams.
Vitality dominated the HLTV Awards 2025, winning most of the top prizes. We’re excited to see how they perform when the new season begins.
FURIA played exceptionally well in several tournaments last year, including IEM Chengdu 2025. However, they didn’t perform as well in the Budapest Major Playoffs.
NAVI needs to play more consistently. While doing well is good, their fans really want to see them win championships!
Despite showing good teamwork at events like BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong, Team Falcons didn’t achieve the success they hoped for in 2025. Meanwhile, Team Spirit changed their player lineup in an effort to improve their performance.
FaZe Clan had a remarkable run at the Budapest Major, making it all the way to the championship match. Rising talent Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski is expected to perform even better now that he has more experience playing on a large stage.
Underdogs at the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 qualifier
Several underdog teams have an opportunity to make an impact, either with newly assembled lineups or because they finished 2025 strongly.
Inner Circle Esports shone at ESL Pro League Season 22.
It’s so interesting to see Astralis compete for the first time since they lost Magisk and dev1ce! I’m really excited to see how Love ‘phzy’ Smidebrant and Gytis ‘ryu’ Glušauskas fit into the team now that they’re officially on the active roster. I’m eager to see how they perform!
B8 and Passion UA were among the best underdogs at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.
paiN Gaming and fnatic start the CS2 esports season 2026 with roster changes.
I’m so hyped for the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 finals! It’s going down from January 22nd to the 25th, but it’s a bit of a bummer it’s happening at the BLAST studio and won’t have a huge live crowd like some events. Still, I’m ready for some awesome CS!
Okay, so the first massive Counter-Strike 2 LAN of 2026 is going to be Intel Extreme Masters Krakow. It’s happening from January 28th to February 8th, and it’s a big deal because they’re moving it from the usual Katowice spot – that arena was legendary, so this feels like a real change!
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2026-01-13 15:12