The paradisiacal capital of esports has opened its doors once again to receive another edition of ESL Pro Lea… oh sorry, it’s the BLAST Bounty now.

After years of hosting ESL’s format, Malta switched things up, now serving as the stage for the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals.

Honestly, we couldn’t care less where it’s happening - unless it’s in some godforsaken timezone. We just want tier 1 CS on LAN. God, online CS is absolute garbage.

Now, if you’ve forgotten how this format works, here’s a refresher: the draft system lets teams pick their opponents, with cash on the line, opening the door for mind games and cheeky moves. That is, if the VRS points didn’t kill half the drama…

Anyway, the lower seeded teams made their choices, and the Stage 1 matchups were set: Aurora picked The MongolZ, Astralis picked MOUZ, Virtus.Pro picked Spirit, and Liquid picked Vitality. We wouldn’t wish this on our worst enemy…

In the first of day one’s two games, MOUZ took on Astralis, and despite some flashes of resistance from the Danes, MOUZ closed it out with a clean 2-0. The bright spot for Astralis came on Nuke, where Staehr - now in star roles since HooXi’s arrival - looked semi-comfortable.

But then came Mirage… and that’s where things fell apart. If you’re an Astralis fan, it was rough. Luckily, we’re not, so it was actually kind of fun watching torszi and the boys tear them apart.

Okay, before anyone accuses us of being ugly haters, we’ll say this: Astralis needs time. This wasn’t a great look - especially that Mirage T-side - but given its MOUZ, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Just start cooking soon, please. Or not, we don’t actually care.

But the best was yet to come.

The second series of the day saw Aurora face The MongolZ, and after a tight Dust2 that went MongolZ’ way, the real show started on Mirage.

Aurora stormed out to an 11-0 CT lead… and then proceeded to put on a monumental choke that would make G2 proud, only winning a single round in the T-side. Overall, it just looks like Mirage T-sides aren’t really their thing…

In OT, The MongolZ kept the momentum going with the help of this sick bLitz spray transfer, sealing the comeback and sending the Turks home.

And just like that, the trip to Malta was over. Astralis and Aurora didn’t even get to enjoy the sunny shores, as they were already booked on the next flight home.

They’re gamers, after all. It’s not like their skin’s seen a meaningful dose of vitamin D in the past decade anyway.