Team Vitality is the winner of ESL Pro League Season 22, beating Falcons with a dominant scoreline of 3-0. Starting the event with a surprising loss, Vitality’s resurgence in form has been nothing short of surprising. Vitality cements its first trophy for the second half of the year and announces itself as the dominant force right ahead of the Major.
VETO
- Vitality removed Ancient
- Falcons removed Overpass
- Vitality picked Inferno
- Falcons picked Train
- Vitality picked Dust2
- Falcons picked Nuke
- Mirage was left over
Map 1: Inferno; Pick: Vitality; Winner: Vitality
After going 3-0 up on their offense, Vitality lost momentum but later regained control with a 4-round streak. The first half saw both teams match up pretty well to switch sides with the score tied. Vitality started their offense with a 5-0 score line, sent Falcons on the back foot, and despite attempts at a comeback later in the half, they managed no more than 2 rounds as Vitality closed the map with a tight 13-10 score line. With ZyWoo dropping form, flameZ stepped up with 25 kills with 1.71 IR that put Vitality in an early lead.
Map 2: Train; Pick: Falcons; Winner: Vitality
2-0 start for Vitality met a 3-round streak as a response from Falcons. As they got themselves into a lead, the Falcons dropped the ball, allowing Vitality to rack up an 8-4 lead on their defense. Vitality extended the lead with an 11-4 score line. Falcons hit the first round on the board with a full gun-round and cut the lead in half with a streak of rounds. As soon as the Falcons were on the verge of pushing the game to overtime, they fumbled their only chance at overtime by losing to a fast-paced eco from Vitality. Back-to-back banger maps from flameZ, who is putting a strong case for himself as a contender for the MVP with 23 kills and 1.42 IR to win the map 13-9.
Map 3: Dust2; Pick: Vitality; Winner: Vitality
A 5-0 start for Vitality had the Falcons completely crushed in the first half, as the super team managed to secure only two rounds in the first half. After switching sides with a 10-2 deficit, the Falcons clawed back with 3 early rounds on offense. Still, the first gun-round saw Vitality snatch the momentum back, leading to the Falcons getting bullied into submission. 13-5 domination of Falcons was rounded off by mezii, who dropped 19 kills to bring home the first trophy of the season for Vitality.
The Falcons machine has once again crumbled at the final hurdle, and with a plethora of problems across the board, it becomes difficult to point out an Achilles heel. m0NESY’s return to form was the biggest reason the Falcons performed well until the Grand Finals, but the absence of a proper supporting cast let him down once again.