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We continue to review what's happening at BLAST Open Lisbon 2025. BLAST's spring tournament features a $400,000 prize pool, and among the contenders are most of the top 10 HLTV teams and the entire "light" of modern Counter-Strike 2.
Spirit and MOUZ are among them, and they will play each other in the second round of Group A, at the top of the grid.
Let's try to find out who of the Spirit - MOUZ pair will be stronger and will secure their way to the play-offs of the tournament.
Let's go.
Team Spirit uniforms
Let's open the Team Spirit vs MOUZ match with an analysis of Team Spirit's form. In this match, the Dragons play as favourites with odds of 1.5.
The 2023 season has been a busy one for Spirit. The Serbian club played wherever they could, but they failed to produce any significant results.
They started the previous season with an appearance at IEM Master Katowice 2023, where they finished in the top 12. Then there was the local CCT Central Europe Malta Finals 2023, where they finished in the top 6.
One of the biggest tournaments of the 2023 season for Spirit was ESL Pro League Season 17, where the Dragons finished in TOP-28. They tried to make it to the Major in Paris, but again all in vain.
From the middle and up to the end of the year Spirit played at local events of small calibre. And they were quite successful, it is worth mentioning: TOP-1 at CCT North Europe Series #6, TOP-2 at CCT Online Finals #2, victory at Dunav Party LAN and Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #2.
- Team Spirit roster: chopper, zont1x, sh1ro, donk, magixx.
At the end of the year, they won the BB Dacha. In 2024 BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2024 was the first big event of the Dragons. Spirit played frankly poorly there: they finished in the top 16 at their debut BLAST Championship, advancing to the Spring Showdown.
At IEM Katowice 2024 Spirit started their performance at the Play-In stage. There they beat Apeks 13-0 without a chance, and then confidently (except for 2 maps) beat MongolZ 2-0, thus qualifying for the group stage. The group stage was not a problem for Spirit either: after giving up only 1 map to NaVi, they easily made it to the play-offs by beating CoL and FaZe Clan 2-0. The IEM Katowice 2024 play-offs confirmed Spirit's dominance, as they easily shut down Falcons (2-0) and it was even easier against FaZe in the grand finals (3-0).
After the triumph at Katowice 2024, Spirit went to PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024, where they managed to reach the play-offs, but Ledge and FaZe Clan in the first round of the main stage. Spirit took the top 8.
Spirit had a kind of successful performance at BB Dacha, but a 0-3 loss to MOUZ in the grand finals spoilt the feeling a bit.
At IEM Dallas 2024 Team Spirit had a very easy time in the group stage, not giving up a single map in the B basket. However, they didn't manage to beat everyone in the play-offs: Vitality intervened at the TOP-4 stage and knocked Spirit out of the tournament.
Later Spirit won the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024. And then came a string of poor performances, including Top 8 and Top 16 at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024.
ESL Pro League Season 20 Team Spirit started with Group B, where they defeated Ledge and MIBR in the second round of the upper grid and after dropping below, they had no trouble beating The MongolZ and 3DMAX, which allowed them to advance to the play-offs, where they beat FURIA 2-0 in their first match. Later they ran into NaVi, after their defeat they finished the pro league.
Spirit played at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024, where they did not find success either. They only finished in the top 6.
At BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 Spirit started their journey from Group B, where they fought against G2 Esports, Team Spirit, Vitality and Liquid. They went 1-1, beating Vitality but losing to G2 in the playoffs seeding match. In the play-offs itself, Spirit made it directly to the grand finals, but there they were defeated 0-3 by Ledge and G2 Esports.
Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B Long They started with a win over B8. Then they lost to Passion UA, beat Aurora, lost to G2, but in the last match they beat Sashi Esports. At the Elimination Stage Spirit Long Sogpegos started with a loss to FURIA, but then defeated Wildcard and NaVi. Then in a match to advance to the full bo3, they handled Heroic. Spirit opened the play-offs of PW Shanghai Major 2024 with a win over Liquid. In the semi-finals of Shanghai Major 2024 they defeated MOUZ. In the grand finals they defeated FaZe, thus becoming world champions for the first time in the club's history.
BLAST Bounty Season 1 Long They started the qualifying round with two confident victories against Fnatic and FlyQuest. In the play-offs they also beat Heroic without any problems. Next - the expected victory against NaVi and triumph in the grand finals against Eternal Fire.
IEM Katowice 2025 Spirit started with the first round of Group B. There they demolished Astralis without much trouble, giving up a total of 9 rounds. In the match for the play-offs they played against NaVi, where they lost 1-2 in a protracted Bo3 with extra rounds on the third map Nuke. Having got to the bottom net they beat Liquid and GamerLegion, which allowed them to enter the play-offs. In the main stage they defeated Vp and NaVi in turn, making it to the grand finals, but in the match for the title they were unable to oppose Vitality: 0-3 and TOP-2.
The group stage of ESL Pro League Season 21 Spirit went the way they were expected to: 3-0. Playoffs Long Sogpegov with a hard win (2-1) over Eternal Fire. But then they lost to MOUZ and dropped out of the championship in the top 4.
At the BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, Spirit Long Cogged with a 2-0 win over The Hans Esports.
Team Spirit Mapple
The best map of Team Spirit remains Vertigo, the Brazilians played there 5 times and won in 3 maps. Next comes Mirage, already with 7 games and 4-3 statistics.
The neutral choice for Team Spirit will be Nuke and Ancient. The Brazilians have 6 maps and 3-3 score on each.
The worst is Overpass (2-3) and Inferno (1-2).
MOUZ Form.
We continue the MOUZ vs Spirit match with an analysis of MOUZ's form. In this match they play as an outsider with odds to win around 2.
- MOUZ line-up: torzsi, xertioN, Jimpphat, Brollan, Spinx.
In the opening match of IEM Cologne 2023 MOUZ played against The MongolZ. An easy outing on paper ended in a nervous Bo1 on the dops, followed by a 22-19 win for MOUZ on Nuke.
Already in the match to qualify for the group stage MOUZ were much more confident. They beat NiP 2-0 (16-12 Nuke and 16-7 Inferno) without any problems.
The first match of the group stage was not a big challenge for MOUZ either. NaVi lost at Ancient with a score of 16-9 and Overpass with a score of 16-12.
After beating NaVi, MOUZ failed to gain a foothold and they lost the next two series. As a result, the "mice" at IEM Cologne 2023 took the top 12.
Before ESL Pro League Season 18, the team played at the local championship Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1. They managed to win, defeating BIG 2-0 in the grand finals.
In their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18, MOUZ faced mibr. Being the favourites, MOUZ failed to defeat the Brazilians and unexpectedly ended up in the bottom of Group B.
The group stage was a mixed bag for MOUZ, but still more successful than not. An unexpected defeat in the top set cheered MOUZ up and they effortlessly went over the heads of their opponents, Heroic among them, at the bottom of the group stage table. Having not lost a single game in the lower grid, MOUZ made it here.
In the first round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 play-offs, MOUZ seemed to be off the chain. The Brazilians from FURIA were literally stomped, and the "mice" celebrated an easy 2-0 victory, giving their opponents a total of 9 rounds per game.
In the match before that, MOUZ met another grandee of the European scene - FaZe Clan. "Mice" on a spree swept through the match and closed the series with a score of 2-0.
In the match for the exit here MOUZ met G2 Esports. They became another trophy in the Mouse's piggy bank at ESL Pro League S18.
MOUZ went on to defeat ENCE (2-1) and NaVi in the EPL S18 Grand Final with a resounding 3-0 score. Prior to the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, MOUZ played at IEM Sydney 2023, where they again faced FaZe. This time FaZe retaliated for the upset defeat and knocked MOUZ out at the Top 4 stage.
Thunderpick World Championship 2023 MOUZ ended prematurely. They lost in the first round of play-offs to FaZe, who later became the tournament champions.
Later was the CS Asia Championship 2023, where MOUZ performed well. They reached the grand finals, but there they lost to FaZe Clan with a score of 0-2.
At Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 MOUZ started their performance with a rather unexpected defeat. They defeated Apeks 16-19 in the first round of the group stage. Next up was a match with CoL for life at the event, which the "mice" won with a one-card deficit. However, they couldn't stay in the championship race for long: MOUZ crashed out at the Top 6 stage.
After that, it was BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, where the "mice" took TOP-4. This was the last tournament of the 2023 season. They started the 2024 season with a top-7 finish at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier B. Next was IEM Katowice 2024, where the "mice" took TOP-4.
At PGL Major CS2 Copenhagen 2024, they made their way from TOP-1-2 to European RMR B. At the tournament itself, Mice started off with a win over Ecstatic and then beat Eternal Fire, which gave them a 2-0 lead.
Next up was IEM China 2024, where MOUZ continued to "dial it up". This time the team managed to reach the grand final, but FaZe were stronger.
MOUZ were very confident in the play-offs of ESL Pro League Season 19. They also confidently swept through the play-offs championship and won the tournament by shutting out Vitality 3-0 in the grand finals.
MOUZ visited IEM Dallas 2024, where they finished in the top 12, which is a very difficult result for a team of MOUZ's calibre.
Esports World Cup 2024 MOUZ started with a match against Sashi Esports, where they won 2-1, which again is not very good. After making it to the play-offs they defeated FURIA Esports with a score of 2-1. The Esports World Cup 2024 MOUZ finished in the top 4, Ledgeiv beating NaVi in the grand final.
IEM Cologne 2024 Long Competed straight from the group stage, where in the first match they played against Falcons and won 2-1. And in the play-offs match they beat CoL even more confidently with a 2-0 win. In the first round of play-offs "mice" very confidently beat G2 Esports with a score of 2-0, but then lost to NaVi, taking the final TOP-4.
ESL Pro League Season 20 started with a shaky 2-1 win over Rooster. MOUZ's problems at EPL S20 came to light in the following matches, when MOUZ lost to Imperial and CoL 0-2 in succession. Fnatic won the last chance net and therefore lost to CoL 0-2, leaving ESL Pro League Season 20 without making it to the play-offs.
At IEM Rio 2024 MOUZ played in Group A. MOUZ made it to the play-offs from the bottom of the group after beating CoL and FaZe Clan. In the play-offs they beat Vitality (2-1) and FURIA (2-0). They failed to get the victory: in the grand final they lost to NaVi with the score 1-3. Later MOUZ played at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where they were ranked Top 6.
They got to the Elimination Stage of PW Shanghai Major 2024 thanks to their successful play at European RMR A, where they took TOP-1-2. Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 started with a victory over paiN Gaming. Later they lost to MongolZ and FaZe, but defeated 3DMax. In the match for life at the tournament, they outplayed MIBR. MOUZ opened the playoffs of Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 with a match against MongolZ, where they won 2-0, though not without problems. In the next match MOUZ played against Spirit, where Ledge won 0-2.
The start of the 2025 season was very hard for the "mice". The team played a very mediocre BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, finishing in the top 32 and similarly poorly in IEM Katowice 2025, failing to make it out of the group stage and finishing in 16th place.
The group stage of PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 was a bitterly contested: MOUZ Long Sogpeg started with victories over BIG and 3DMax, but then lost to Falcons and FaZe. In the decisive match they defeated Vp, which gave them a passage to the main stage. The play-offs started with a match against paiN Gaming, where MOUZ won 2-0. Next - victory over Astralis and finally victory over Falcons in the grand finals.
They started ESL Pro League Season 21 with a win over FURIA. Then they defeated Falcons, but Vitality failed to qualify for the play-offs with a score of 3-0. They got it on their next attempt by beating Liquid. In the play-offs Long Sogpegov with a win over G2 Esports (2-1). In the semi-finals, they defeated Spirit in a tough match. However, there was not enough energy for the grand final: MOUZ Ledge defeated Vitality 0-3.
At the Long Circuit BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 MOUZ played against Falcons, where they won 2-0.
MOUZ Mapple
MOUZ's favourite card remains Inferno. The Mice have played it three times in the last 3 months and won all their games there. Nuke is also doing well, with MOUZ winning 3 out of 4 Nuke games played.
Among the good options are Vertigo and Ancient, where MOUZ have 2 wins in 3 games each.
The most undesirable map is Mirage. MOUZ have played it 6 times, but have won only once.
History of head-to-head meetings between MOUZ and Spirit
Previously the teams have played each other 4 times during the year. Spirit won twice and MOUZ won 2 times.
Predicted result of MOUZ vs Spirit at BLAST Open Lisbon 2025
From this match I expect an exceptionally beautiful Counter-Strike 2 and a close game. Spirit will try to take revenge for the loss at ESL Pro League Season 21 and they may well be able to do it, but do not expect an easy ride. I will take a full-fledged Bo3.
Bottom line: total +2.5.
