ESL Pro League Season 22 Grand Final Preview: Falcons or Vitality?

Well, the FaZe enchantment died right at the end of the series against Vitality, meaning we won’t be seeing more of them against Falcons. But we got enough of it for this tournament, right? Instead, it is going to be either Vitality or Falcons eyeing their first trophy of the season. And it’s only fitting and fairer if you think about how much these two teams, who are arguably the best two teams right now, have been toiling this season.

Falcons will be coming into the Final after shattering the Semi-Final hex laid on them in the previous two events. And Vitality, the finest team this year, have only been to one grand final. And that narrative is quite emblematic of how high the stakes are, given the Major is a month away. And if this match still doesn’t stir as much excitement as you would want, there is another one right before.

Third Place Decider: MOUZ vs. FaZe

MOUZ have built a reputation for buckling in playoffs. But when that pressure is lifted, they are a different beast altogether. On the other hand, FaZe still lack the depth they need to be a title pretender-turned-contender. So this is going to be a good litmus test for FaZe, as MOUZ is still a top 3–4 team. There is more significance here for FaZe to get a win than MOUZ, because they wouldn’t want a reprise of PGL Cluj-Napoca.

If your memory doesn’t serve you well, after a shaky start to the year, FaZe came to Cluj-Napoca, made it to the semi-finals by beating the likes of MOUZ, Eternal Fire, and SAW. They lost to Falcons after a close second map. It was still a decent showing from a new roster, and it was a good surge of confidence for them. But a loss against Astralis in the third place decider rekindled doubts in their abilities. And that defined the tone for FaZe for the rest of the season, which we clearly remember didn’t go so well. With the Major so close, and FaZe having to start all the way from Stage 1, they need to convince themselves that they can beat any team without a struggle except maybe a top 2, which may demand a little more.

ESL Pro League Grand Final: Vitality vs Falcons

Now we come to the big match. And cutting straight to the point, who do you think wins this? The last time these two locked horns was at the Esports World Cup 2025, where Falcons beat them by winning on Nuke and Train. However, this Bo5 changes things, at least a little. Let’s start counting. Vitality are a better team than Falcons on Inferno; Falcons have the edge on Train. Which leaves us to Mirage, Nuke, and Dust2. Dust2 hasn’t really favoured Falcons all that much, but they have had a really good showing on Nuke recently, even taking into account the 13:3 win against Vitality.

If these two take these map wins, it leaves us to Mirage, which honestly, I feel can go either way. However, with all that said, I still think Vitality have a slight advantage here. I feel Vitality has a much stronger Nuke than the one they painted the last time around. So I think Vitality will basically have two chances to win this series, one at Nuke, and the other at Mirage. But well, I can only sit here and write, but I am not the one penning the actual script. I can only promise a banger in the making. To see how things unravel, you will have to catch the match that gets underway today at 5:00 PM CET.