Fnatic replaces HEROIC at BLAST Open London

Tournament organiser BLAST announced over the weekend that Fnatic will replace HEROIC at the upcoming BLAST Open London event.

The Norwegian esports organisation is the fourth team to be replaced at the event, which is taking place in England’s capital city this September.

The tournament organiser says the organisation has been replaced as a result of it being unable to field three of the five players that represented the team when the initial invitation was distributed.

Additionally, BLAST says that the returning Yasin ‘xfl0ud‘ Koç couldn’t secure a visa in time, meaning HEROIC could field only two of the five players.

As a result, Fnatic will make its return to Tier 1 Counter-Strike esports for the first time this year. The last time it competed at a top-tier international tournament was the 2024 Perfect World Shanghai Major, where it scored a top-24 placement.

The UK-based organisation has a chance to build on its impressive offline form if it can advance through the qualifiers. In June, it won the Conquest of Prague 2025 event before finishing second at Glitched Masters 2025.

HEROIC isn’t the only team to be replaced ahead of the event, which begins with closed qualifiers running from August 27th to September 1st. Throughout August, Aurora Gaming, PaiN Gaming, and The MongolZ have all been replaced due to travel ineligibility and breaches of Valve’s tournament rulebook.

As a result of HEROIC being replaced by Fnatic, below is an updated list of teams competing in the closed qualifiers for BLAST Open London:

With teams looking to cement a place among the top 32 of the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the BLAST Open London qualifiers feature some of the very best teams in the world.