PARIVISION lifted the BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1 trophy in Malta, marking a turning point in Dzhami “Jame” Ali’s redemption arc - a veteran who refused to let a rough patch define him. His team swept Falcons 3-0 in the grand final, closing out a run that saw PARIVISION drop only one map across five series and leaving many to ask: Is Jame truly back?
Jame - From Major MVP to Question Mark
Jame’s story entering 2026 needs to be framed through his Virtus.pro years, where his reputation, for better and worse, was built. His approach to the game was heavily based on playing the percentages and not taking any unnecessary risks, which often meant choosing to save weapons rather than attempt rounds at a man disadvantage.
Although his philosophy of the game made him one of the most distinctive figures in top-tier Counter-Strike, it also drew heavy criticism. Virtus.pro were considered a “boring” team to watch, with viewers trying to make their matches more interactive by constantly spamming “Jame time” in the Twitch chat, along with other “copypastas”. The meme quickly turned into a running joke among fans, who would mock Jame whenever he chose to save instead of going for the round.
Even with this conservative approach, Virtus.pro were consistently strong under pressure, frequently pushing maps to the limit or into overtime, with Jame himself being a reliable clutch presence in those moments. The peak came at the IEM Rio Major 2022, where Jame led the Virtus.pro core, competing as Outsiders due to organizational restrictions, to a Major title. In Rio, Jame was not just surviving rounds - he was completely controlling them both tactically and individually, earning a major MVP and cementing his status as one of the smartest leaders of his era.
However, the seasons that followed Rio proved far less stable. As CS:GO evolved and eventually transitioned toward CS2, Virtus.pro struggled to maintain the same level of consistency. The team’s methodical style became easier to read, firepower gaps widened against faster, more explosive rosters, and a series of roster changes gradually chipped away at the system that had once made Virtus.pro so effective. Results declined, play-off appearances became sporadic, and Jame - once untouchable as the team’s centerpiece - increasingly found himself under scrutiny. By late 2024, Virtus.pro opted to bench him.
When Jame formally departed in early 2025, his options were limited. With few established Russian-speaking teams available, the choice was between joining a roster of known but non-elite players, or gambling on a rebuild. By choosing PARIVISION, a young and largely unproven lineup, Jame embraced the harder task: becoming the architect of a new system built from scratch.
StarLadder Budapest Major: Lessons Learned
PARIVISION’s BLAST Bounty success didn’t come out of nowhere. Their run at the StarLadder Budapest Major in late 2025 proved to be a crucial step in the team’s development. Entering the major, they were largely viewed as complete outsiders - a lineup of mostly unknown players with no LAN experience, with Jame as the lone proven name.
In Budapest, they exceeded expectations by advancing all the way from Stage 3 to Stage 1, proving they could survive multiple phases of Major competition. While their campaign ended with a 0-3 elimination in Stage 1 - losses that came against MOUZ, NAVI, and 3DMAX - the results told only part of the story. PARIVISION consistently looked competitive against far more established teams, showing structure, resilience, and flashes of brilliance.
Even without reaching the play-offs, the experience of playing on a Major stage accelerated the squad’s growth. The team left Hungary with confidence, experience, and a clearer understanding of top-tier standards, lessons that would pay off just a month later in Malta.
How PARIVISION actually won: The road in Malta
PARIVISION’s BLAST Bounty run was anything but a fluke; it was calculated, disciplined, and increasingly confident with every series played. Their path through the bracket saw them dispatch ENCE and Astralis early, which were respectable wins, but more importantly warm-ups for the real tests to come.
The tournament truly pivoted in the quarterfinals, where PARIVISION eliminated Team Spirit. For Ivan “zweih” Gogin, that series carried extra weight, as the rifler has been benched by Spirit shortly after the Budapest Major and largely written off at the top level. Now, zweih found himself knocking out his former organization alongside Jame. It was a symbolic moment that highlighted PARIVISION’s identity as a team built around second chances.
As the tournament reached its later stages, the entire roster delivered. The semifinal against FURIA, while not a blowout, further validated the run and highlighted their ability to withstand pressure and close out rounds with composure - a signature of Jame-led teams at their best. What stood out was not individual star power, but cohesion - five players aligned in their roles, executing a shared game plan.
That cohesion culminated in a 3-0 grand final win over Team Falcons. While the scoreline looks convincing on paper, both the second and third maps went all 24 rounds, making it hard to ignore how significant kyousuke’s absence was for Falcons. As a key player in that roster, his presence could have swung the series in a very different direction.
Matej “NucleonZ” Trajkoski, who stepped in as a replacement from Falcons’ academy team, had a rough showing and struggled to make an impact, which only reinforces the feeling that Falcons had a real chance to take this final if they had been at full strength. That said, even without kyousuke, Falcons remain a top-tier superteam, and PARIVISION’s victory deserves recognition.
Why it feels like a redemption - and why it matters
Jame didn’t take the easy path back to relevance. He committed to a small project with limited expectations and, together with his longtime partner and coach, Dastan “dastan” Akbayev, shaped it into a disciplined team capable of competing at the highest level. This title proves that his leadership still works in modern CS2, despite being questioned on multiple occasions. Even Vitality’s rifler and 3rd best player of 2025 in Robin “ropz” Kool considered it impressive and congratulated Jame on X.
We’re living in an era where underdog runs are becoming really uncommon, as teams invest heavily in players with superstar potential and prioritize raw firepower over leadership. PARIVISION’s victory serves as a reminder that teams built on hard work and structure can still win titles, even if they fall short in terms of pure firepower.
What comes next
For PARIVISION, this Blast Bounty title is a huge step in the right direction. Their VRS ranking significantly increased after the event to 4th place worldwide, and because of that they will be invited to more S-tier events in the future, getting multiple opportunities to prove themselves against the very best. That leaves us with only one question: Will Jame’s boys become a consistent threat for the likes of Vitality, Falcons or FURIA, or was this simply a one-off reminder that he still got it?