Spirit went through the BLAST Open Porto 2026 group stage flawlessly, defeating DENDELE, G2, and FURIA without dropping a single map. However, Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia is in no hurry to call his team the best in the world: the Ukrainian believes that Spirit still lack consistent big results for such a status.
Even after a perfect group stage, Spirit see problems
From the outside, the group stage looked almost flawless, but inside the team, the assessment is much more restrained. According to zont1x, Spirit are still facing certain problems, and not all players are currently at their maximum individual level.
I think our level is very high, but we are still facing different problems. I would say that not everyone is currently in their best individual form.
At the same time, the group stage was very comfortable, so if we fix the problems we faced, we should play well further.
This makes Spirit’s result even more interesting: even without showing, by their own assessment, their maximum, the team went through the group without dropping a map. In the playoffs, the main question will no longer be Spirit’s ability to win, but how much they can improve compared to the group stage.
Cache is no longer an obvious weakness
During the group stage, opponents regularly tried to test Spirit specifically on Cache after the team’s problems on this map during the Esports World Cup. However, this time the idea did not work — Spirit won Cache every time opponents left it in the series.
I think the Cache problem was the same as before with Train. It is a new map, and you do not necessarily immediately understand exactly how you need to play it.
After a certain amount of practice, we were able to find the style in which we want to play it.
zont1x also admitted that more experienced players may have had a slight advantage due to being familiar with the old version of Cache. But in his opinion, this factor quickly loses importance — after several months of practice, all teams get enough time to form their own understanding of the map.
zont1x does not want to call Spirit the best in the world
After strong results at recent tournaments, Spirit naturally ended up among the main candidates for the status of the best team in the world. However, zont1x is quite skeptical of the concept itself and believes that right now there is no such obvious dominator in CS2 as Vitality could previously have been during their winning streak at big tournaments.
If you look at our last four or five tournaments, you can say that we are the best team because of average results. But we lost to JiJieHao, had a very close game with BIG, lost to MOUZ in the final. So it is very difficult to say.
I do not think we need to think about it right now. Just watch who wins tournaments, and then you can decide.
For zont1x, a concrete result is much more important than a conditional status between tournaments. If Spirit win in Porto, he is ready to allow such a definition, but at the same time questions how long it even remains relevant after a month-long break or before the next big championship.
A longer distance is needed for the status of the best
zont1x’s main argument against loud conclusions remains the lack of long-term dominance. Spirit regularly make deep runs and show a high level, but at the same time they have individual losses and difficult matches that do not allow the team’s current form to be compared with unconditional domination.
We do not have a streak of 20 won maps to talk about it. We lost to JiJieHao, had a lot of close matches, lost to MOUZ.
We do not yet have such significant results to say that we are the best.
The loss to MOUZ remains especially telling for him. Even if Spirit had won all the following maps after that, in zont1x’s opinion, they would still need to beat their direct competitor again before unquestionably claiming first place.
His openness in interviews does not bother him
The reaction to zont1x’s previous comments about motivation, which received wide attention, became a separate topic. The player does not regret his directness and does not plan to change his communication style just because some phrases may be interpreted differently from how he intended them.
I do not care. If it bothered me, I would simply not say such things. I know exactly what I mean.
The media constantly try to change your words in a way that makes it more convenient for them to use them, so I do not care.
At the same time, zont1x admitted that teammates or representatives of the organization sometimes discuss such situations with him. This has not become a serious problem inside Spirit, and the player himself clearly does not intend to give up his direct manner of answering questions.
Spirit are looking only at the next result
Despite all the reservations about the status of the best team in the world, zont1x does not doubt Spirit’s ability to win BLAST Open Porto 2026. The group stage has already shown that even with internal problems, the team remains one of the most dangerous participants in the tournament.
But it is the trophy that may become the argument currently missing from the discussion. Spirit already have form and consistently high placements, but zont1x wants to see concrete victories over their main competitors — and only after that is he ready to seriously talk about the status of the best team in the world.
