HEROIC Make it to Malta for BLAST Bounty Playoffs

published 20 January 2026

We might be playing with two new players, a stand-in and no AWPer, but HEROIC have made it to the LAN playoffs of the first Tier 1 event of the year, BLAST Bounty 2026, without dropping a map!

In classic HEROIC fashion, Alkaren was hit with visa issues which prevented him from playing the event meaning familiar face, yxngstxr, was brought back into the lineup to fill in - a big thank you to him for answering the call (and even picking up the AWP a few times). We're not sure what it is about our luck with this tournament, but that means that HEROIC have now played in all 3 seasons of BLAST Bounty with a stand-in, but have still made playoffs twice so we're not complaining!

And this result is a testament to the impressive performance put up across the board by the squad, coming in as the 4th highest-rated team (which is above Vitality by the way) in 32-team bracket. Extra props to nilo for putting up a 1.59 HLTV rating, making him the 3rd best player of the group stage!

The Group Stage Breakdown

Game 1 was against Friendly Campers. On their map pick of Nuke, xfl0ud and nilo dominated in a swift 13-2 win, with the latter posting the 2nd-highest rating of his career. Mirage was more competitive, but xfl0ud continued his incredible form whilst our new captain, Chr1zN, pulled off a 1v4 clutch causing the Poles to fall apart and a 13-8 victory was secured.

In game 2, HEROIC faced paiN on a repeat map pool. This time on Nuke, it was yxngstxr taking the reigns by knocking any hope of momentum out of the Brazilians' hands in 2 separate 1v2 clutches. HEROICoverwhelmed paiNon both halves to finish 13-6, keeping morale high heading onto Mirage.

paiN stepped up considerably on map 2, tieing the game up at the half with impressive plays from nqz and snow. It was nilo stepping up again across both halves for HEROIC to keep us competitive, with susp helping push the game to OT on the defense from a 12-10 deficit. A flawless CT half in OT gave us 3 chances to close the game, and despite losing a 4v2 post-plant to an impressive clutch, the game ended 16-14 in our favour. HEROIC had made it to Malta.

Find out who out who HEROIC faces next by tuning into the BLAST Bounty Draft Show tomorrow at 20:00 CET, and if you want to come and see us play in front of a crowd, make sure to grab your tickets to the event in Malta here. We hope to see you there!