It’s a familiar sight at this point. So familiar, it’s almost boring. Vitality are champions again, picking up their sixth consecutive trophy on a run that now spans as far back as IEM Katowice 2025. Remember that? Feels like a distant memory that ZywOo was humbling donk on Counter-Strike’s biggest stage. Incredibly, they haven’t lost a single match since. Now, new champions have lifted the trophy at IEM Dallas 2025.

Vitality peerless as they dominate IEM Dallas 2025 Final

Vitality maul MOUZ in 3:0 beatdown

After all the anticipation for the IEM Dallas Final, wondering whether MOUZ could be the ones to finally crash the Vitality party, it all felt like a bit of an anticlimax, really. Three maps were all that was required for Vitality to put a swift end to this Grand Final. Sure, MOUZ got 11, 9, and 8 rounds respectively, but the flow of the matches all felt like they were hurtling towards their inevitable conclusion – more Vitality glory.

It was a real beatdown, asserting Vitality’s dominance over the rest of the scene in an impressive way. Nothing quite showed this like apEX charging onto Inferno’s B bombsite and instantly headshotting three MOUZ players in a solo effort – just watch for yourself.

What more can you say about this team? They keep winning. They don’t look like stopping anytime soon. 30 wins in a row in a scene that is more competitive than ever. If we’re not already talking about this lineup as one of the best CS2 teams of all time, it surely can’t be long. For my money, they’re right up there already. A Major win in a few weeks’ time isn’t a necessary component to cement that for me, but in the eyes of the masses, it’s pretty fundamental that they see it out from here. I get it. After so much success, it would be the anticlimax to end all anticlimaxes if they now don’t go on to win the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

MOUZ face their own struggles

MOUZ at IEM Dallas 2025
Image via Viola Schuldner | ESL

It would be beyond unfair to call MOUZ “stage chokers” for committing the crime of losing to the best Counter-Strike team in the world by a distance. However, it doesn’t absolve them of all criticism, as there’s no doubt that they weren’t totally at the races in this one.

For me, much of the disappointment comes down to two players: xertioN and torzsi. At 0.96 and 0.86 ratings respectively, this duo played well below par across this entire series. Prior to the match, torzsi was among the highest-rated players at IEM Dallas, only to tumble down the ratings after a very tough showing. These are two players who are a huge win condition for MOUZ, especially against teams at the pinnacle of Counter-Strike. It has to be frustrating on an individual level, mainly because they know how capable they are of playing better.

It’s a conundrum that MOUZ need to solve. They’re on the precipice of greatness, yet they’re in danger of taking what is an excellent lineup on paper and doing very little with it in practice. The Major awaits, and we all know that anything can happen at the Major.