by in
Team Vitality have firmly planted their flag atop the Counter-Strike 2 mountain, lifting their third consecutive trophy at BLAST Open Spring 2025 after edging MOUZ in an epic five-map grand final.
It was a clash of titans at the MEO Arena in Portugal, with the red-hot French side pushed to the brink before sealing a 3-2 victory (13-0, 11-13, 11-13, 13-7, 13-7) and extending their series win streak to 16 — now the fourth-longest of all time.
@TEAMVITALITYCS ARE YOUR BLAST OPEN LISBON CHAMPIONS!
— BLAST Premier
(@BLASTPremier) March 30, 2025
The final began with a brutal reminder of Vitality’s firepower.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut led the charge as Vitality obliterated MOUZ 13-0 on Inferno — the first such shutout in a Big Event grand final.
The French side were flawless, with Shahar “flameZ” Shushan and ZywOo combining for 27 kills and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire calling a perfect game.
But if fans thought they were in for a whitewash, MOUZ had other plans.
The young squad roared back on Mirage.
Former Vitality star Lotan “Spinx” Giladi was immense, delivering a 19-6 half as MOUZ claimed their first round of the series — and eventually their first map against this Vitality roster in eight tries.
A composed 13-11 win levelled the series and flipped the narrative.
Dust2 was another nail-biter.
ZywOo showed his class again, but Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo’s clutch prowess and Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin’s sharp calling gave MOUZ the edge.
Spinx once again delivered a timely triple kill as MOUZ closed out another 13-11 victory to take a 2-1 series lead and hand Vitality their first Dust2 loss in ten games.
Facing elimination, Vitality rallied on Nuke.
Despite losing both pistol rounds, they produced a suffocating counter-terrorist hold, with William “mezii” Merriman a rock on the upper bombsite and ZywOo posting a 1.80 rating in a one-sided 13-7 win.
The decider on Train saw both teams enter with unbeaten records on the map — but only one streak would survive.
Vitality took control early on the counter-terrorist side, snuffing out MOUZ’s executes before storming to a 13-7 win behind flameZ’s 21-12, 1.59-rated performance.
ZywOo was once again in a league of his own.
Across the grand final of BLAST Open Spring, he racked up 83 kills and a +28 kill/death difference, securing his record-breaking 23rd MVP medal — pulling two ahead of longtime rival Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.
His dominance continues to be the backbone of Vitality’s success.
“This month has been exhausting, but we just wanted to prove we could win again,” said coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam post-match.
“I’m really proud of everyone.”
Captain apEX echoed the sentiment: “We lost two maps by the smallest margin, but the others — there was no fight.”
“We grinded the game hard this month, and the results show.”
With this win, Vitality have now claimed three of the five premier trophies in 2025 — IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League S21, and BLAST Open Spring.
They are now just one win away from securing the prestigious ESL Grand Slam, which they’ll have a shot at next during IEM Melbourne.
Since adding Robin “ropz” Kool at the start of the year, the French-majority squad has been almost untouchable, dropping just one series (to Eternal Fire) and only eight maps.
They’ve amassed a 10-0 record on Inferno, 9-1 on Dust2, and 4-0 on Train.
Despite the loss, MOUZ proved they’re a force to be reckoned with.
After being criticised for replacing Kamil ‘siuhy’ Szkaradek with Brollan, the team have made three consecutive finals, won PGL Cluj-Napoca, and now pushed the world’s best to five maps.
YOUR BLAST OPEN LISBON CHAMPIONS, @TEAMVITALITYCS
#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/EnkqsVnGns
— BLAST Premier
