Falcons explain their refusal to participate in BLAST tournaments

Falcons' Counter-Strike 2 team manager explained why the squad refused invites to two upcoming BLAST tournaments – BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 2 and BLAST Open London 2025. This decision was made because of Maxim "kyousuke" Lukin.

Kyousuke is 17 and hasn't really traveled before, which makes getting a Schengen visa a bit harder. We'll get them, but at first it'll only be for 30 days. That means he'll need to reapply between events. With the processing time from application to approval, it takes quite a while, so we might not be able to play every Schengen event.

The VRS impact of BLAST will be minimal compared to the time commitment since most of it is online and less 'exciting' to play.

BLAST Open London 2025 will take place from August 27 to September 7, 2025. The first part of the event will be held in a GSL format online. The best teams will advance to the playoffs, which will play out in London. The prize pool for the competition will be $400,000.

The online stage of BLAST Bounty Season 2 will be held from August 5 to 10 in a Single Elimination format. The eight strongest rosters will go to Malta, where the LAN final will take place from August 14 to 17. The prize pool for the tournament will amount to $500,000.

Origin: www.hltv.org