BLAST Porto Bracket Sets Aurora vs. G2 and Vitality vs. Inner Circle

Group A also features Spirit, DENDERLE, Natus Vincere, M80, FURIA, and paiN, while MOUZ, 9z, Legacy, FUT, Falcons, and Lynn Vision make up Group B.

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The BLAST Open Porto group-stage bracket is out, with Aurora facing G2 and Vitality meeting Inner Circle in two of the opening matches. The full draw was shared in an r/GlobalOffensive post. The group stage will take place at the tournament organizer’s studios in Copenhagen from August 26-31, before six teams advance to the playoffs at the Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal.

The 16-team field includes 10 teams also competing in the Esports World Cup playoffs, along with M80, Lynn Vision, 9z, and paiN after their group-stage eliminations. DENDERLE and Inner Circle complete the field after falling short in the EWC open qualifier.

Group A opening matchups

Group A includes Aurora, G2, Spirit, DENDERLE, Natus Vincere, M80, FURIA, and paiN. Its opening round will feature on August 26:

11:00: Aurora vs. G2
13:30: Spirit vs. DENDERLE
16:00: Natus Vincere vs. M80
17:30: FURIA vs. paiN

Vitality leads Group B

Vitality headlines Group B alongside Inner Circle, MOUZ, 9z, Legacy, FUT, Falcons, and Lynn Vision. It will begin Group B against Inner Circle on August 27 at 11:00. The match will also mark Justinas “jL” Lekavicius’ first appearance for Vitality in the event, as he stands in for William “mezii” Merriman while Merriman steps away on paternity leave. The temporary roster move was covered in Vitality’s earlier stand-in announcement.

The rest of Group B’s opening schedule features MOUZ against 9z, Legacy against FUT, and Falcons against Lynn Vision:

11:00: Vitality vs. Inner Circle
13:30: MOUZ vs. 9z
16:00: Legacy vs. FUT
17:30: Falcons vs. Lynn Vision

Each group has an upper and lower bracket

Each group winner will advance directly to the semifinals, while the runner-up and third-place teams from each group will take the remaining quarterfinal spots through the lower bracket. Opening-round losers therefore have another path instead of being eliminated immediately.

Share your thoughts on the BLAST Porto matchups in the comments, and stay connected on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Counter-Strike 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer tactical first-person shooter developed and published by Valve. Released in September 2023, it is the fifth main entry in the Counter-Strike series and serves as a direct replacement for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam. Two teams, Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, compete in objective-based rounds across modes such as bomb defusal and hostage rescue. Built on the Source 2 engine, the game introduced volumetric smoke physics, revised weapon handling, and a new sub-tick server architecture. It inherited all cosmetic items from its predecessor and features both a map-specific Competitive mode and a numerically ranked Premier mode.