Team Spirit were expected to finish in the top four, but they were definitely not the favorites at the start of IEM Cologne 2025.
However, because MOUZ managed to end Team Vitality’s incredible win streak, Spirit had a much easier opponent in the Grand Final. In theory, MOUZ should not have been easy to beat.
Nobody would have predicted a 3 – 0 result ahead of the match. But it turned out that, just like in NAVI’s case, MOUZ’s strategies do not work well against this particular opponent. Almost everything they tried on all three maps, Mirage, Ancient, and Nuke, proved to be insufficient.
Ancient was MOUZ’s best chance to beat Spirit and maybe force a favorable 5-map series. This was the second map of the match. After the 13 – 7 disaster on Mirage, MOUZ desperately needed a win to equalize the series, and they came close to achieving it.
The score in the first half was 4 – 8 in their favor. But the second half was a complete disaster, ending 9 – 3.
Overall, MOUZ suffered from a lack of individual prowess. Instead of peaking at the most important moment of the tournament, all of them played unusually badly.
Meanwhile, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets was phenomenal again. His 62 – 41 score speaks for itself.
Tournament Lessons
The professional CS2 scene has become a bit more unpredictable following IEM Cologne. A few weeks ago, Vitality looked unstoppable for the remainder of the year. But now that they have finally lost, it’s no longer clear who, if any, will take their place in the coming months.
MOUZ showed us just how high their ceiling is. But they also showed us just how low their floor can be. Under pressure, they perform in very unpredictable ways.
Natus Vincere is clearly getting stronger. Their 3rd – 4th place in this tournament is a testament to the fact that Drin “makazze” was an inspired signing.
