After a long month on the road, Vitality not only beat MOUZ 3-2 to lift the BLAST Open Libson trophy, but won their third event in a row after IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League Season 21.
With William “mezii” Merriman flying the UK flag high and proud, Vitality has found eye-watering success this year. Starting on a tough note by losing their first LAN game of the year, they have been flawless ever since. This is compounded by not only winning yet another event, but winning 16 matches on LAN in a row. After this Grand Finals, Vitality currently has the fourth-longest streak in CS:GO and CS2 LAN history.
Coming out of the gates swinging in the Grand Finals, Vitality won map one 13:0 against MOUZ. After winning their two last BO5 Grand Finals flawlessly, it looked like Vitality would firmly secure their undisputed domination. However, after losing map one 0:13, MOUZ stepped up to the plate by winning the next two maps 13:11. With their backs against the wall, Vitality showed why they are the incontestable best team in the world and dominated the final two maps to win 3:2.
Not only does Vitality lift the trophy in Lisbon, but they make history by being the first team in CS2 to win a map 13:0 in a Tier 1 Grand Finals.
With records being smashed left, right, and centre, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has won his third HLTV MVP in three events. Due to this astounding success, the French AWPer now has the most career HLTV MVP awards.
The record originally occurred after their victory at ESL Pro League Season 21 when he claimed his 22nd MVP award, overtaking Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. After their win in Lisbon, ZywOo currently sits on 23 MVP awards and 17 LAN MVPs.
Looking ahead in the year, because of their IEM Cologne, IEM Katowice, and ESL Pro League Season 21 wins, Vitality are one step away from winning the ESL Grand Slam. They will have five chances to secure the ESL Grand Slam and the $1,000,000 prize, with only one victory needed at any of the following events:
IEM Melbourne 2025 — April 21-27
IEM Dallas 2025 — May 19-25
IEM Cologne 2025 — July 26-August 3
ESL Pro League Season 22 — September 27-October 12
IEM Chengdu 2025 — November 3-9
mezii lifting the BLAST Open Lisbon trophy – Credit: BLAST Premier & Vexanie
As it looks right now, we could be seeing the beginning of a Vitality era. Winning three events in a row, winning 16 matches on the trot, and looking unbeatable on multiple maps. The depth of Vitality cannot be understated as they boast a 10-0 record on Inferno, a 9-1 record on Dust2, and a 4-0 record on Train after this grand final.
With five chances to win the Grand Slam, and the major on the horizon, these are the obstacles Vitality needs to cross to solidify its legacy.
If Vitality lifts the Major trophy, this would not only mark the first time a UK player is in a Major Grand Finals but the first ever UK Major champion.
Vitality succeeding on the main stage gives a beacon of hope to all current and upcoming UK players. There will be people watching mezii lift the most prestigious trophies Counter-Strike has to offer, and they will use that as a source of inspiration. The UK scene can be doom and gloom sometimes, but mezii gives people in the UK someone to identify with and show that it is truly possible to be at the very top of the game. Seeing a UK player attain the success mezii is having will drive others in our struggling scene to aim for the highs that players from our islands are clearly capable of obtaining.
YOUR BLAST OPEN LISBON CHAMPIONS, @TEAMVITALITYCS 🏆🐝#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/EnkqsVnGns
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) March 30, 2025
