Team Vitality has won the ESL Pro League Season 21 championship after defeating MOUZ with a commanding 3-0 sweep in the Grand Finals this Sunday.
The French CS2 organization dominated the tournament from start to finish, going undefeated throughout the event and dropping only one map along the way. Their performance in the finals was particularly impressive, as they controlled all three maps against MOUZ with ease.
Dominant Grand Finals Performance
On the first map, Dust2, Vitality quickly recovered from losing the pistol round by winning a crucial force buy. This momentum shift allowed them to dominate the first half, leaving MOUZ with just three rounds. Despite MOUZ winning the second pistol round, Vitality regained control once proper weapons came into play, closing out the map 13-9. Shahar “flameZ” Shushan led the charge with 21 frags.
The second map, Nuke, was MOUZ’s pick but Vitality showed no respect for their opponent’s map choice. Replicating their first-half performance from Dust2, Vitality secured nine rounds on the CT side while MOUZ managed only three. Despite Nuke traditionally favoring CT players, MOUZ could only win a single round on their defensive half as Vitality’s fast-paced offense proved unstoppable. The final score was a one-sided 13-4.
On the final map, Inferno, the pattern continued. After MOUZ won the pistol round, Vitality’s force buy with Desert Eagles quickly evened the score. Vitality then surged to a 9-1 lead before finishing the half 9-3. With victory in sight, Vitality methodically closed out the map 13-5 to secure the championship.
Road to Victory
Vitality’s journey to the title was nothing short of remarkable. They maintained a perfect record (3:0) throughout the Group Stage, advancing to the playoffs without a single match loss.
In the quarterfinals, they faced Team Liquid and secured a comfortable 2-0 victory with identical 13-9 scores on Anubis and Dust2. Robin “ropz” Kool, who recently joined Vitality from FaZe Clan, led the scoreboard with 46 kills and a +21 kill-death differential.
The semifinals against The MongolZ proved slightly more challenging. Vitality won the first map Anubis convincingly at 13-4 but suffered their only map loss of the tournament on Nuke with a close 14-16 score. They bounced back immediately, crushing The MongolZ 13-2 on Inferno to advance to the finals. FlameZ delivered an outstanding performance with a +26 kill-death differential, while star player Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut added significant firepower with a +24 differential.
Star Performances
ZywOo was named the tournament MVP for his exceptional play throughout the event. His consistent impact across all maps reinforced his reputation as one of the world’s best CS2 players.
Robin “ropz” Kool‘s recent move from FaZe to Vitality has already shown promising results. As the team’s new lurker, he demonstrated his value with dynamic rifling and strong impact across the maps, particularly on Nuke where he achieved an impressive 1.54 impact rating with 17 kills.
Looking Ahead
This victory marks Vitality’s second premier CS2 tournament win of 2025, following their triumph at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice earlier this year. As Fabien “Neo” Devide, President and co-founder of Team Vitality noted, “This victory confirms Team Vitality’s place as one of the undisputed leaders on the Counter-Strike 2 scene. It also leaves us with a strong chance of winning the Grand Slam and joining the very select club of teams to have won all the major international awards.”
With this momentum, Vitality will now set their sights on the upcoming BLAST Open Spring tournament later this month, followed by Intel Extreme Masters Melbourne in April.
According to Esports Charts, the Grand Finals drew an impressive 571,000 viewers, highlighting the popularity of both teams and the tournament itself.
Discover more from Gaming Foodle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
