It’s time for another S-tier Counter-Strike 2 tournament, with BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 set to begin shortly.
All the best CS2 teams in the world will be in attendance, including the likes of Team Vitality and Team Falcons, who opted to skip out on ESL Pro League Season 23. Can someone finally challenge Vitality and make themselves a contender? Only time will tell.
Here’s our BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 preview.
| Event | BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 |
|---|---|
| Start date | March 18 |
| End date | March 29 |
| Prize pool | $400,000 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Format | GSL group stage into single-elimination playoffs |
| Venue | Blast Studios, Copenhagen (group stage). Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Netherlands (playoffs) |
Can Jame lead PARIVISION to another BLAST trophy in 2026? Image credit: © BLAST
BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 will be a 16-team event from March 18–29 with a total prize pool of $1,100,000. The winner is set to walk away with $250,000.
The Group Stage will run from March 18–23 at the BLAST studio in Copenhagen, Denmark. The playoffs, on the other hand, will take place from March 27–29 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Teams are divided equally into two eight-team groups to be played out in a double-elimination bracket format. Three teams from each group progress to the playoffs, with the winners of each group advancing straight to the semi-finals.
The playoffs are set up in a single-elimination bracket, with two quarterfinals, two semifinals, and the grand final, which will be a best-of-five series. All the other games at the tournament will be best-of-three.
Image credit: © BLAST
The field at BLAST Open Rotterdam is stacked. All the fan favorite best CS2 players will be in attendance. The only glaring omissions from the team list are perhaps Astralis, G2, and FUT.
Despite their absence, there is still plenty of action to look forward to, including the debut of Team Liquid’s new roster following their G2 player swap.
It will also be interesting to see how some of the tier-one fringe teams that qualified for the tournament fare against the world’s best. Maybe one of Ninjas in Pyjamas, 9z, NRG, or TYLOO could have a surprise run at the event.
Here are all the teams in attendance at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026:
flameZ is confident about Vitality’s chances at this event. Image credit: © BLAST
It’s no surprise that Vitality are the clear CS2 betting favorites to lift the BLAST Open Rotterdam trophy. But who else could pose a challenge to the juggernaut in the Ahoy Arena?
One of the teams in contention are definitely Falcons. They are the only team to have beaten Vitality this year, doing so in the semifinals of BLAST Bounty. After an event off, they should be fresh and hungry for victory in Rotterdam.
Another team that fans have to take into consideration is NAVI, which just claimed the ESL Pro League Season 23 title. They are yet to play Vitality this year, so who knows what would transpire in that matchup.
There’s also a question of whether some of the top dogs who had a disappointing EPL; like FURIA, PARIVISION, Spirit, and MOUZ, bounce back at this event. It would be great to see any of them go toe-to-toe against Vitality in the playoffs.
Here are the BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 opening matchups and predicted playoff teams:
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Featured image credit: © BLAST
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