M80, Passion UA, and NRG claim invites to BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1

Fresh off the ending of the StarLadder Budapest Major, the three teams that represented North America in M80, Passion UA, and NRG will compete in the online portion of the next BLAST season.

The three teams join a stacked 32-team field that once reduced to just eight teams will move offline to BLAST's studio in Malta.

Several of the highest ranked teams that competed in the Major's playoffs will be in attendance, including Vitality, FURIA, FaZe, Spirit, and Falcons, but a small handful have declined to attend. Three of the Brazilian teams that NA contends with in the Americas region in Legacy, MIBR, and Fluxo have all declined, as have MOUZ, The MongolZ, G2, and several others.

This has opened the door for teams that landed outside of the top 32, including EYEBALLERS, OG, 9INE, and ENCE, to compete in their place. Unfortunately for NA, there's really no team in the region close to even being considered a replacement for a 32-team global event. The closest NA team outside of the three invited, according to the current VRS rankings, is #65 SkinRave and #66 Marsborne.

Here's the full list of teams that have accepted the initiation to compete at BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1: