Vitality Crowned BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 Champions After Dominant Final

Vitality took the BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 title in style, sweeping NAVI 3-0 and showing why they are the team to beat right now. This story covers the final, ropz’s MVP form, and Vitality’s hot streak. Read on for the full recap.

How the 3-0 Victory Over NAVI Played Out

The grand final ended with Vitality taking Inferno 13-7, Anubis 13-10, and Dust2 13-10, completing a clean sweep in a best-of-five that never reached NAVI’s final two comfort picks. During veto Vitality removed Ancient, NAVI removed Overpass, Vitality chose Inferno, NAVI answered with Anubis, and Vitality locked in Dust2 as the third map.

Inferno Put Vitality in Control from the Start

Inferno gave Vitality the early edge and set the tone for the whole final. They won the opener 13-7, where a 7-5 lead at the break gave apEX’s side the platform it wanted, and once NAVI won the second-half pistol only to lose the next force-buy, the map tilted sharply toward Vitality. Even after NAVI grabbed the second-half pistol, Vitality hit back in a budget round and never let the map slip. That early punch put NAVI on the back foot and gave Vitality full control of the series.

These numbers show why Inferno felt like the moment the final started to lean hard in Vitality’s favor.

Anubis and Dust2 Closed Out the Championship

Vitality finished the job on Anubis and Dust2 without letting NAVI take control. On Anubis, Vitality built an 8-4 lead by halftime and kept their edge even when NAVI tried to come back, closing the map 13-10. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri had impact rounds, but Vitality’s stars kept landing the round-winning plays, from Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut’s opening pick off a creative boost to Shahar “flameZ” Shushan’s key retake and the final clean-up from Robin “ropz” Kool and William ”mezii” Merriman.

Dust2 followed a similar script. Vitality came out sharper, won the first half 9-3 on the T side, and never gave NAVI enough room to fully recover. NAVI did show life after the switch and made the score respectable at 13-10, but the comeback never felt fully alive. Across the final, ropz led all players with a 65-40 K-D, 99.4 ADR, 84.8% KAST, and a 1.56 rating, while Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy was NAVI’s highest-rated player at 1.14.

Why ropz Became the Standout Figure of the Event

Robin Kool became the face of this title run because his best games came when the event got tougher. Early in the tournament, ZywOo and flameZ drew more attention, but the playoffs changed that. ropz averaged a 1.54 rating in the arena, was the best player on three maps, finished the event with a 1.32 rating, and became the first Vitality player other than ZywOo to take the MVP medal. In the final against NAVI, he was the difference-maker again with a 65-40 K-D, 99.4 ADR, and a 1.56 rating.

• vs Aurora Gaming in the semifinal: 32-20 K-D, 86.0 ADR, 1.53 rating in a 2-0 win.
• vs Natus Vincere in the grand final: 65-40 K-D, 99.4 ADR, 1.56 rating in the 3-0 title win.
• Tournament result: first MVP for ropz on team Vitality, built on his playoff form.

Vitality’s Winning Streak Grows with a Third Straight Trophy

Rotterdam pushed Vitality’s run from impressive to alarming. The title extended the team’s active streak to 16 straight series wins and 22 consecutive map wins at big events. It was also the third trophy in a row after victories at IEM Krakow in early February and PGL Cluj-Napoca later that month. In Rotterdam alone, Vitality beat 9z, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora, and then swept NAVI, who had arrived as the ESL Pro League Season 23 champions.

That is why this result carries extra weight. NAVI were not a weak finalist, and the server still looked tilted from the first map onward. Vitality collected $150,000 in player prize money and another $100,000 in club share for first place, but the bigger takeaway sits ahead of the next stretch of the season. ropz said the team’s goal is to win the Grand Slam before the Major, and nothing about Rotterdam sounded unrealistic.