Inner Circle defeated Vitality 2:0 in the opening round of BLAST Open Porto 2026, advancing to the Group B upper bracket semifinal. The Ukrainian collective won Anubis 13:8 before closing Vitality pick of Cache 16:13 in overtime.
The result became one of the biggest upsets of the opening stage, with Inner Circle entering the match at No. 34 in the HLTV world ranking. Vitality played with Justinas “jL” Lekavicius as a stand-in for William “mezii” Merriman, who is missing the event while on paternity leave.
Tournament context
BLAST Open Porto 2026 features 16 collectives split into two double-elimination groups. Three from each group will reach the playoffs, while the group winners advance directly to the semifinals.
Inner Circle qualified for the event through RES Showdown 4 Europe, where they defeated GenOne, magic and Virtus.pro without dropping a map.
How the match unfolded — Vitality vs Inner Circle
Series score: 2:0 in favor of Inner Circle
- Anubis (Inner Circle pick) — 13:8
Inner Circle immediately put Vitality under pressure on their own map choice. Viktor “onic” Babii collective took a 7:5 lead into the second half and gave up only three more rounds before closing Anubis 13:8.
Arseniy “cptkurtka023” Derevinskiy was the standout performer with 21–13, 101.0 ADR and a 1.64 Rating 3.0. Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov added an 18–10 K–D, while Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut finished the map with a 0.93 rating.
- Cache (Vitality pick) — 16:13
Cache was much closer. The sides were tied 6:6 at halftime and remained level at 12:12 after regulation, sending the map into overtime.
Inner Circle then won four of the five overtime rounds to take Cache 16:13 and complete the 2:0 upset. Dust2, which had been left as the deciding map, was not needed.
Player of the Match — Arseniy “cptkurtka023” Derevinskiy (Inner Circle)
- K–D: 43–30
- ADR: 90.7
- Rating 3.0: 1.58
cptkurtka023 finished as the highest-rated player of the series after leading Inner Circle on both maps. headtr1ck was another major factor, ending the match with 42–24 and a 1.37 Rating 3.0.
Vitality struggled individually throughout the series. Dan “apEX” Madesclaire was their highest-rated player at 1.08, while jL finished his debut with a 0.88 rating. ZywOo ended at the bottom of the scoreboard with 27–36, 58.4 ADR and a 0.78 Rating 3.0.
VRS results
- Inner Circle — +80 pt → 1523 pt, #24 → #18
- Vitality — -19 pt → 1714 pt, remain #7
The upset brought Inner Circle six places higher in VRS, while Vitality kept seventh despite losing 19 points.
What’s next?
Inner Circle will play the winner of MOUZ vs 9z on August 29 in the Group B upper bracket semifinal. A victory will guarantee the Ukrainian collective a place in the BLAST Open Porto 2026 playoffs.
Vitality drop to the lower bracket and will face the loser of MOUZ vs 9z on August 29. Another defeat would eliminate them from the tournament before the playoffs.
