Team Vitality continued their remorseless run through the 2026 Counter-Strike calendar, dispatching NAVI in the grand final of BLAST Rivals Fort Worth 2026 to claim yet another piece of silverware in what is shaping as the most dominant year a CS2 roster has ever produced.
NAVI had arrived in Texas billed as the team most likely to break the Vitality stranglehold, with the Rotterdam Major loss still fresh and a roster reshuffle aimed squarely at the French juggernaut. The casters even framed the match as a 'redemption' moment for a NAVI side promising to return 'slicker, quicker, and more dangerous than ever'.
It did not unfold that way.
Vitality's superstar duo of Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut and Shahar 'Flamez' Shushan once again set the tempo. Flamez opened the grand final with what casters described as a 'clinical triple tap', signposting that Vitality's pistol prowess was very much intact under the AG2 update. NAVI's Aleksib responded with a clutch P250 hold to claim the second round, but the early storyline was decided by Vitality's calmness in scrappy duels.
Makaz produced one of the standout individual showings of the series, drawing widespread praise across the broadcast for relentless aggression and clean entry-fragging. 'Macaz has been an animal in this second map of play,' the casters said as he chained multi-kill plays through Vitality's smokes. But, as has become a pattern across 2026, NAVI's individual efforts could not bridge the team-play gap.
Flamez and ZywOo combined for the decisive trade rounds. 'You cannot touch this Vitality and they will end it on this round,' the casters declared as the teamfight broke open. The handshake came moments later. GG. GG.
Vitality's in-game leader Mathieu 'apEX' Lipari afterwards became the focal point of post-match celebrations, with rifler Mezii later admitting the squad's ability to lift trophies had not lost any of its sheen.
'It doesn't get old lifting trophies,' Mezii said. 'It's a fun thing. I mean, I think a lot of people may be getting bored of it, but we definitely don't.'
The Fort Worth win caps another remarkable stretch in which Vitality have looked impervious to roster updates, weapon-balancing patches and event environments. With IEM Rio already on the mantelpiece, BLAST Rivals adds another major piece to the season's haul.
NAVI, for their part, will leave Texas needing to find answers fast. The Cologne Major looms, and despite a strong tournament run, the world No. 2 once again ran into the buzzsaw of a Vitality side that simply does not relent.