Friendly Campers to Replace NRG at BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1

Friendly Campers to Replace NRG at BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1

Organizers of the BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1 Counter-Strike 2 event have confirmed that Polish team Friendly Campers will take the place of NRG, one of the originally invited teams, in the opening online stage of the tournament. 

According to BLAST Premier’s official announcement, Friendly Campers will now face HEROIC in the first round of the event, after stepping in for NRG under the tournament’s replacement rules. 

The BLAST Bounty format gives the lower-seeded teams the advantage of choosing higher-seeded opponents during the initial round of competition. With this replacement, Friendly Campers assume NRG’s seeding and matchup slot.

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🤝 Why NRG Withdrew

BLAST and NRG have not issued a detailed public statement explaining the exact reasons for NRG’s withdrawal, but multiple reports indicate that the North American organization chose to skip the event to focus on other competitions. According to a Portuguese esports news article, NRG stated that their full attention will be on IEM Kraków, which begins later in January — suggesting scheduling and travel priorities factored into the decision. 

Before withdrawing, NRG had planned to travel to Europe and begin a bootcamp ahead of the event. With less than a day to go before BLAST Bounty’s start, BLAST announced the change via social media. 

Although this was the official storyline, community discussions on esports forums also reveal a variety of fan speculation — including discussions about travel logistics, conflicting tournament schedules, and NRG’s previous commitments — but none of these have been confirmed by the team or organizers. (Note: community speculation is not used as factual reporting.) 

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🇵🇱 Who Are Friendly Campers?

Friendly Campers is a Polish CS2 squad that has shown promising results in recent competitions. Most recently, the team participated in Urban Riga Open Season 2, where they finished in the 5-6th place bracket, falling to MOUZ NXT in the quarterfinals. 

Prior to that, this roster competed under the name ESC before being acquired by an unnamed organization in November 2025 — details of which have not yet been publicly disclosed. 

The full Friendly Campers roster generally consists of:

• Kamil reiko Cegiełko

• Dawid SaMey Stańczak

• Wojciech bajmi Strzelczyk

• Patryk olimp Woźniak

• Bartosz moonwalk Mikołajczyk

• Kacper kapibe Burda (listed alongside the others)

Friendly Campers will be heading into BLAST Bounty as underdogs, but their recent results show they can compete at a strong level — and an upset victory over HEROIC would push them into the tournament’s Round 2 as the lowest remaining seed. 

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📅 BLAST Bounty 2026: Broader Context

BLAST Bounty is one of the first high-profile CS2 events of 2026, featuring a mix of top international squads alongside rising teams. The event has a unique format where lower-ranked teams pick their opponents from higher-ranked squads at certain stages, making for unpredictable and often story-driven early matches. 

For example, other key matchups scheduled at BLAST Bounty include perennial fan favorites and established CS2 organizations like fnatic vs. Astralis, as part of the Stage 1 online rounds. 

BLAST Bounty continues the trend of hybrid formats that combine online stages with LAN finals, offering teams opportunities to gain competitive experience and ranking points early in the year. 

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🧠 What This Means for the Teams

For NRG:

• Skipping BLAST Bounty may allow the team to refine strategies ahead of major LAN events like IEM Kraków.

• It also avoids an online-only opening match after long travel and bootcamp plans.

For Friendly Campers:

• This is a significant opportunity to test themselves against a top-tier opponent like HEROIC.

• A strong showing could raise their profile in the CS2 competitive scene.

For BLAST Bounty:

• The event retains legitimacy by filling the slot, ensuring all scheduled matches proceed smoothly.

• The replacement rules demonstrate BLAST’s flexibility in dealing with last-minute withdrawals.

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📌 Summary

• Friendly Campers replace NRG at BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1. 

• They will play HEROIC in the opening round.

• NRG withdrew likely due to scheduling priorities with IEM Kraków. 

• Friendly Campers’ roster has competitive experience and could make noise early in the tournament.