Vitality crash out of BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 – is it time to be concerned?

The writing was on the wall for Vitality, really. A 2:0 victory over Team Liquid papered over the cracks at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025, but a look beyond the series scoreline told the story that, had just two rounds gone Liquid’s way yesterday, Vitality would have been sent packing a day earlier after both maps went to Overtime.

Today was a different narrative, though. A clash against a better team in The MongolZ, even if Vitality has already bested them a pretty crazy six times this year. This was not The MongolZ with a penchant for grasping defeat from the jaws of victory, here. No, this was a mature team, ready to make Vitality pay in situations they may have gotten away with murder prior.

No one beats The MongolZ seven times in a row.

Should Vitality be worried after losing at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025?

After winning seven tournaments in a row in the first half of 2025, Vitality had developed what had become an aura of invincibility. The Final Bosses. The GOATs. The way we as a community spoke about Vitality, you’d be forgiven for thinking they had ascended into immortality.

But the start of the 2025 season has been filled with rude awakenings. A swift loss at IEM Cologne at the hands of MOUZ was an early red flag, but easily waved away as rust from the break. This, though – this one might raise some real alarm bells.

Mirage got off to an even keel, 6:6 at the half. Standard fare all around, but it was T-side where Vitality’s underlying issues truly started to bubble to the surface. On map one, Vitality could muster just a single paltry T-side round. If you’re keeping count, this means The MongolZ romped to a 13:7 win.

Still, though, this is Vitality. A team on a first-name basis with adversity. They bring it home to meet the family. They’re comfortable with adversity. No, they thrive alongside it. One map down to The MongolZ? They’ve been there, done that in a Major Final, so BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 was a doozy.

Vitality started map two of Inferno on the T-side. A new battleground, but it was all the same issues plaguing their play. A lack of ideas, muddled decision-making, and just the classic problem of being unable to hit a barn door with their shots. This time, The MongolZ entered Inferno half-time at 10:2 up. 20 T-side rounds played across the two maps, yet Vitality had only managed to win three. If you take a look at their Cologne loss to MOUZ, it was six T-side rounds won out of 22 played. It’s not a pattern quite yet, but you’d have to be blind to not see it emerging on the horizon.

The CT-side of Inferno went considerably better, but the damage was done. Nothing summed up Vitality’s day better than ZywOo, with the opportunity to secure a minimum of Overtime for his team, lining up a free shot against The MongolZ’s bLitz. A shot you’d bet the house on him to hit in every timeline, every galaxy, with his eyes shut. Only for The MongolZ’s captain to accidentally duck at the perfect frame, single-handedly costing them the round.

THE CROUCH 🤯#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/vD23y9mNYr

— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) August 16, 2025

It was the superior tactics that won the day, even with a sprinkle of luck guiding them over the finish line. For Vitality, that aura of invincibility is well and truly shattered. The best CS2 team in the world? Sure, probably. But beating them no longer feels insurmountable for any of the top teams, and the scene is now more competitive for it.

So the question remains: how worried should Vitality be after BLAST Bounty Fall 2025? Not to be dramatic, but I think the answer is “quite.” The alarm bells are ringing, but the building is quite far from being set ablaze. That remarkable season has bought Vitality the benefit of the doubt that they’ll figure things out eventually. As top dogs, they’ll have been under no illusion that the chasing pack would have tricks up their sleeve to get an edge.

But the great teams react. And Vitality are among the greatest. If we sit here in two months time, and Vitality are plunging deeper and deeper into the abyss, then yeah, maybe it’s time to panic. But right now? We’ve been so spoiled by perfection that we’ve lost sight of the fact that Counter-Strike comes in ebbs and flows. BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 is one to forget, but the CS calendar waits for no one. A date in the desert awaits, as Vitality head to Riyadh for the Esports World Cup next. Let’s see how they react.