G2 Esports has recorded an unexpected run at BLAST Open London 2025, taking down Team Vitality to lift its first trophy of 2025.
Taking place at the OVO Arena Wembley, G2 defied odds by making a comeback in the Grand Final after losing two of the first three maps, bringing home $150,000 (~£110,933) as a result.
For Team Vitality, its search for another trophy continues as the team hasn’t won a tier-one event since the BLAST Austin Major in June 2025.
Before this weekend’s victory, G2 Esports had recorded a rather inconsequential 2025 campaign, often finishing somewhere close to the top eight at international tournaments. The only final the team took part in before BLAST Open London was PGL Bucharest, where it lost 3-0 to Team Falcons.
What makes the win so sweet for G2, aside from being their first trophy of the season, is the way the roster was able to defeat Team Vitality. The team recovered when it was one round away from dropping the series on map 4, forcing overtime before taking a convincing map decider on Train with a 13-6 record.
Outside of Counter-Strike, G2 Esports also secured the Worlds qualification in League of Legends, making it a perfect weekend for the organisation.
Peak Viewership Drops by 200,000 Compared to 2024
According to data from Esports Charts, this year’s BLAST Open Fall saw a major decrease in peak viewership compared to last year’s tournament, stopping the count at 701,545. In comparison, last year’s BLAST Premier Fall grand final between G2 and NAVI recorded over 900,000 viewers, and even the average viewership was higher by nearly 100,000 people.
That being said, the tournament had more hours watched due to its longer tournament format, and the additional 40 hours of airtime compared to the previous year had a significant impact on the reduced average viewership.
Major Shakeups Coming to the VRS
BLAST Open London will have major repercussions for the VRS. Placed 15th as of September, G2 is expected to gain a few places in the next month’s rankings if performances continue. It’ll also be interesting to see if Team Vitality can gain back first place in October’s rankings, considering Team Spirit’s failed qualification to the offline LAN event.
The next BLAST tournament will be the BLAST Rivals Fall, taking place in Hong Kong at the AsiaWorld-Expo in November. The offline event will feature four invited teams from the VRS Global Rankings in October, as well as four wildcard teams from Europe, North and South America and Asia.
