M80 eliminate Virtus.pro in BLAST Open London groups: reverse sweep, clean Mirage finish, and VP’s struggles laid bare

M80 knocked Virtus.pro out of the BLAST Open London 2025 online groups with a 2–1 win, sending the CIS side home at the 13–16th mark and keeping the North American team alive in the Group A lower bracket. The series swung from a heavy VP win on Overpass to decisive M80 victories on Dust2 and Mirage. HLTV’s match page lists the full veto—Overpass (M80 pick), Dust2 (VP pick), Mirage (decider)—and the exact scores: 4–13, 13–6, 13–9. 

How the series unfolded

• Map 1 — Overpass (4–13): VP’s opening half set the tone and they closed comfortably to take the lead.

• Map 2 — Dust2 (13–6): M80 answered with a dominant T side, leveling the series and seizing momentum.

• Map 3 — Mirage (13–9): The decider tilted toward M80 after a mid-half surge; Jadan “HexT” Postma delivered a pivotal 3v5 round that pushed M80 over the line. HLTV’s report also notes that Lake topped the server for the winners.

The result capped a grim two-match run for Virtus.pro in London: they had already fallen to GamerLegion in their opener, then dropped to M80 to exit the tournament. Russian-language recaps and opinion pieces published the same day underscored the trend—highlighting VP’s weak T-side rounds across both series and lamenting the underperformance relative to the roster’s individual talent. 

What it means for the bracket

M80 stay in Group A’s lower bracket and must string together wins to reach Wembley. The BLAST schedule outlines a lower-bracket path culminating in a Group A LB final—the winner of which secures a quarterfinal berth at the LAN Finals. HLTV’s hub and match listings show Group A’s upper bracket running in parallel (e.g., Vitality vs. GamerLegion and FaZe vs. NAVI), while LB rounds continue through August 31–September 1. 

Event structure, dates, and stakes

BLAST set the groups as a 16-team online stage (Aug 27–Sep 1) split into two eight-team, double-elimination brackets; three teams per group qualify for London’s OVO Arena Wembley (Sep 5–7). The LAN playoffs are single-elimination (bo3) with a bo5 grand final; prize money across the event totals $400,000—$330k at Wembley and the remainder tied to the season structure. HLTV’s event guide and the Finals page detail the format and prize distribution; OVO/Wembley listings and BLAST materials corroborate the dates and venue. 

Virtus.pro’s London campaign in brief

• Opening loss: VP dropped their first match to GamerLegion, dropping straight to the lower bracket.

• Elimination: They then fell 1–2 to M80 (4–13 Overpass, 6–13 Dust2, 9–13 Mirage) and exited in 13–16th. Independent recaps emphasize persistent T-side issues and an inability to close mid-round advantages.

Related results in Group A

Elsewhere in the lower bracket, fnatic swept ECSTATIC 2–0, mirroring the pressure cooker many teams face with only three Wembley spots available from each group. Those results set up a dense final two days of elimination matches for the London tickets. 

Why M80’s win matters

For M80, the victory shows resilience after recent mixed showings against elite European opponents and keeps a realistic Wembley path intact—two more series wins would punch their ticket. HLTV and Dust2.us both flagged the reverse-sweep nature of the victory and the decisive Mirage closeout, with HexT’s impact round singled out as a momentum breaker. 

The road to Wembley

• Online groups: Aug 27–Sep 1 — two groups of eight, all bo3, three qualifiers per group.

• LAN Finals at OVO Arena Wembley: Sep 5–7 — six teams, single-elimination bo3, bo5 grand final.

• Qualification math for M80: survive the lower bracket to reach the Group A LB final; win it to reach Wembley quarterfinals.

Bottom line: M80’s 2–1 over Virtus.pro is a textbook lower-bracket revival—resetting after a rough first map, stabilizing on Dust2, and closing Mirage with conviction and a clutch at a critical moment. For VP, the early exit compounds a difficult summer and raises fresh questions about solving their T-side and mid-round calling as the calendar races toward autumn’s biggest events.