Counter-Strike 2 developer Valve gets another tidy result to file away – fnatic beat ECSTATIC 2-0 at BLAST Open London on 29 August 2025. The Europeans closed out Ancient 13-8 and Mirage 13-7, with Cai “CYPHER” Watson turning in a ridiculous individual performance.
fnatic kept their BLAST Open London 2025 run alive with a composed, sometimes clinical display against Denmark’s ECSTATIC. The series never really threatened to turn — fnatic’s T sides were solid, and CYPHER simply refused to lose fights, finishing the match with 49 – 23 and an eye-watering 1.92 rating across both maps.
Ancient went 13-8 to fnatic after the visitors controlled the tempo on their T half and limited ECSTATIC’s chances on retakes. Mirage followed much the same script – ECSTATIC picked up a few rounds, but fnatic closed the book at 13-7 and made the Danes’ path back into the event impossible. The result knocks ECSTATIC out of the competition and sends fnatic into the lower bracket, where they’ll face the loser of the Vitality vs GamerLegion match.
Stat lines tell the blunt truth: fnatic had several positive performances besides CYPHER. CYPHER led the charge, fear and jambo chipped in reliably, and even KRIMZ had his moments. ECSTATIC’s scoreboard was respectable at times but too often drowned out by rounds lost to the clock or by winning fights they shouldn’t have won.
There were a few highlight reels worth rewinding: CYPHER’s ace and multiple four-kill bursts had casters shouting, and fnatic avoided the sloppy mid-series collapses we’ve seen from them before. Who saw that coming? Mildly surprising, given fnatic’s rollercoaster form in other events… oh, and yes, there were round losses to the clock that kept things entertaining for the neutrals.
For context, fnatic now move on in the lower bracket and will face a tougher opponent next, needing to keep CYPHER and the rest firing if they want to make LAN finals. ECSTATIC’s run ends here, but the individual pieces on that roster still showed enough promise to keep a few scouts interested.
Clip from the match:
More in-match clips:
Ancient (13-8) and Mirage (13-7).
If you missed it live, CYPHER’s performance is worth watching for its aggressive AWPing and entry duels that landed when needed. The scoreboard says the story plainly, but it was the tempo control and clutch wins that actually closed rounds for fnatic. Discuss it in the comments below and tell us if you think fnatic can keep this up in the lower bracket.
Drop your hot takes on X and Bluesky and tell us who impressed you most tonight.
