MOUZ have booked their place in the grand final at BLAST Open Porto following a decisive sweep of Vitality, claiming wins on Dust2 (13-11) and Mirage (13-7).
Headed by Dorian "xertioN" Berman, MOUZ entered the matchup carrying a dreadful 2-12 record against Dan "apEX" Madesclaire's squad spanning over 18 months. Their previous victory came 10 months prior during IEM Chengdu's group stage.
Vitality's weakened lineup, featuring stand-in Justinas "jL" Lekavicius, proved vulnerable as MOUZ capitalized on the temporary roster change. The German squad showed no hesitation, with xertioN making critical calls that exposed defensive gaps on both maps.
This marks MOUZ's second grand final appearance this season. They previously captured the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals trophy against Spirit and will now face the same opponent in Porto, seeking to add another title to their collection.
On Dust2, MOUZ established early dominance with a 4-0 opening despite Vitality's aggressive approach. While Shahar "flameZ" Shushan and apEX helped level the score, Adrian "xelex" Vincze and Lotan "Spinx" Giladi shut down their attacks repeatedly, building an 8-4 advantage. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut elevated his performance alongside flameZ to push Vitality ahead 10-8, but MOUZ relentlessly attacked B site, exploiting weaknesses in Robin "ropz" Kool and jL's defense to secure the map.
Mirage saw early success from ZywOo and ropz, but MOUZ answered with bold smoke pushes that shifted momentum. xertioN's tactical prowess gave MOUZ a 7-5 halftime lead. Vitality failed to convert crucial situations in the second half, including a 4v2 pistol round and wasting ZywOo's impressive four-kill performance. Spinx delivered a devastating triple kill on B site that crushed any comeback hopes, sealing MOUZ's dominant victory.
