We all knew that Team Vitality would qualify for the Grand Final of IEM Melbourne 2025. But to see Team Falcons do the same thing so quickly after changing their roster is quite impressive.
It seems that we’ve reached a point where individual talent is more important than rehearsed strategies. Just look at The MongolZ. They haven’t changed their roster in more than 18 months but simply cannot compete against the world’s best teams.
Meanwhile, Vitality and Falcons achieved great success immediately after bringing in Robin “ropz” Kool and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov respectively.
How Team Vitality Reached the Grand Final
Vitality started IEM Melbourne in group B, where they easily defeated FlyQuest (2 – 0) and Team Liquid (2 – 0). In the upper bracket Final, they encountered Team Falcons and won, but not as easily as they expected: 16 – 13 on Mirage and 13 – 8 on Inferno.
In the playoffs, they started in the semifinals and dismantled The MongolZ: 13 – 3 on Mirage and 13 – 3 on Nuke.
In the Grand Final, they are definitely the stronger team. But if m0NESY and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač play at their best, we might see a 5-map match.
It’s worth noting that this is Vitality’s 4th consecutive Grand Final this year and that they won the first three, defeating Team Spirit once and MOUZ twice.
How Team Falcons Reached the Grand Final
Team Falcons defeated SAW and Natus Vincere but lost against Vitality in group B. In the playoffs, they easily defeated GamerLegion and MOUZ, proving to be one of the best teams in the world.
All of a sudden, Danny “zonic” Sørensen has a roster he can win Majors with. He joined Team Falcons a year and a half ago but this is the first time when it feels like he’s made a good decision.
The chances that Team Falcons will defeat Team Vitality are quite slim. But if it does happen, it will be an amazing achievement for the club. They already won an S-tier trophy at PGL Bucharest 2025 just two weeks ago, so they probably have the confidence that they can do it again.
