MOUZ defeated 9z 2:0 in the Group B opening round, advancing to the upper bracket semifinal at BLAST Open Porto 2026. The European collective dominated Cache 13:4 before closing Nuke 13:7 to complete the series without needing the Dust2 decider.
The victory was also a measure of revenge for MOUZ, who had lost both previous Bo3 meetings against 9z in 2026 — at BLAST Open Rotterdam and PGL Astana.
Tournament context
MOUZ entered Porto after a mixed start to the second part of the season. The collective won BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 by defeating Spirit 3:1 in the grand final, but followed the title with a 5th–8th place finish at the Esports World Cup.
9z arrived in Porto ranked No. 12 in the HLTV world ranking and No. 9 in VRS. The South American collective had already shown earlier this year that they could cause problems for MOUZ, winning their previous two series against them.
How the match unfolded — MOUZ vs 9z
Series score: 2:0 in favor of MOUZ
- Cache (9z pick) — 13:4
MOUZ completely controlled the opening map despite Cache being the choice of 9z. They produced an 11:1 first half and left the South American collective with almost no opportunity to build momentum.
Lotan “Spinx” Giladi was particularly dominant on Cache, finishing the map with 22–5 and a 1.85 Rating 3.0. Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás also had a strong performance with 21 kills and a 1.48 rating.
- Nuke (MOUZ pick) — 13:7
9z were more competitive on Nuke and stayed within two rounds of MOUZ at halftime, with the score standing at 7:5.
MOUZ took control after the side switch, however, winning six of the next eight rounds to close the map 13:7 and complete the sweep. Adrian “xelex” Vincze led the second map with 17–12 and a 1.81 Rating 3.0.
Player of the Match — Adrian “xelex” Vincze (MOUZ)
- K–D: 31–19
- ADR: 87.6
- Rating 3.0: 1.55
xelex finished as the highest-rated player across the two maps and delivered his strongest performance on Nuke.
Spinx followed closely with a 1.49 Rating 3.0 and 31–15 K–D, while torzsi recorded the most kills in the series with 36–20 and a 1.44 rating. Three MOUZ players therefore finished the match above a 1.40 Rating 3.0.
For 9z, Franco “dgt” Garcia was the only player to finish close to a positive rating, ending the series at 0.99. The remaining four players all finished below 1.00.
VRS results
- MOUZ — +38 pt → 1,863 pt, #4 → #3
- 9z — -4 pt → 1,684 pt, remain #9
The victory moved MOUZ into third place in the global VRS, while 9z remained ninth despite the defeat.
What’s next?
MOUZ will face Inner Circle on August 29 in the Group B upper bracket semifinal. Inner Circle reached the match after upsetting Vitality 2:0 in their opening series.
The winner of MOUZ vs Inner Circle will guarantee a place in the BLAST Open Porto 2026 playoffs.
9z drop to Lower Round 1, where they will face Vitality on August 29. The losing collective will be eliminated from the tournament.
