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Team Vitality have been crowned champions of the Counter-Strike ESL Pro League Season 21, with player mezii and CS2 team manager Aphi shining as UK talent once again.
Vitality topped stage 2 with three wins, before beating Team Liquid, TheMongolz and Mouz in the playoffs, winning 2-0, 2-1 and 3-0 respectively.
Following almost three weeks of competition among 24 of the world’s top Counter-Strike teams, Team Vitality showcased their dominance throughout the tournament, ultimately securing the lion’s share of the $1m total winnings and the EPL trophy.
Led by finals MVP Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, the team delivered a top performance in the Grand Final, defeating Mouz 3-0.
It comes after Vitality tore through the Group Stage and Playoffs, while dropping just two maps.
This victory marks Vitality’s second consecutive ESL Pro Tour (EPT) win after Vitality triumphed over Team Spirit at IEM Katowice 2025 last month, bringing them another valuable point in the fifth Grand Slam race. They also won IEM Cologne 2024 last year, meaning they are just won ESL win away from the Grand Slam.
The ESL Grand Slam awards $1m to the first roster that wins four top-tier ESL events during a window of 10 consecutive events.
Vitality now also set their sights on the upcoming Blast Open Spring later this month, followed by Intel Extreme Masters Melbourne in April.
Vitality player Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire said:
“Now we can talk Grand Slam because we have five chances to get it. As soon as we can, we’ll be better… So for us now, if we can get it in Melbourne, we’ll be happy.”
apEX, Team Vitality
“We’re going to work hard because this team deserves everything we have right now. They’ve been working as much as they could, and we’re altogether a great team, so I hope it’s gonna keep going like that.
”We have this hungriness to just destroy everyone.”
Vitality’s winning CS2 roster is formed of Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, Robin ‘ropz’ Kool, Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan and William ‘mezii’ Merriman.
While ZywOo was named finals MVP, ropz was named DHL MVP for the whole ESL Pro League season.
“This victory in the ESL Pro League Season 21 crowns an exceptional start to the year for our team,” added Fabien ‘Neo’ Devide, President and co-founder of Team Vitality.
“It’s an immense source of pride to see the hard work, determination and talent of this roster rewarded in such a wonderful way. A special mention must go to our own ZywOo, who has become even more of a legend by becoming the most successful player in the history of the game. His career has been nothing short of monstrous, and we’re incredibly proud of him.
“Following our success at IEM Katowice, this victory confirms Team Vitality’s place as one of the undisputed leaders on the Counter-Strike 2 scene. It also leaves us with a strong chance of winning the Grand Slam and joining the very select club of teams to have won all the major international awards.”
ESL Pro League Season 21 saw a record-breaking Group Stage with a peak viewership of over 550,000, and an overall peak viewership of over 571,000, according to Esports Charts.
What happened in the ESL Pro League Season 21 – a quick recap
Stage 1
The 21st season of the world’s biggest Counter-Strike league kicked off on March 1, as 16 qualified teams went head-to-head in a Swiss Tournament Format for a chance to advance to Stage 2 of the competition.
GamerLegion and Saw set the tone early as they were the first two teams to showcase their resilience and advance to Stage 2 with flawless 3-0 victories. Close behind, Eternal Fire, 3DMax, and MIBR followed with strong 3-1 performances.
Meanwhile, Furia, Tyloo and Pain pushed through the lower bracket and claimed the last two spots at Stage 2 of EPL. While the Chinese powerhouse Tyloo had one of the most difficult runs of this stage, they managed to upset two of the strongest contenders from the group, Eternal Fire and 3DMax, proving they won’t give up a chance for the trophy without a fight.
Stage 2
Stage 2 of the competition took place on March 7-11 and brought together the eight qualified teams from Stage 1 and eight directly invited squads, all vying for a spot in the Playoffs.
Team Vitality and Team Spirit dominated this stage with a 3-0 score and advanced to the Playoffs without dropping a single map.
Navi, The Mongolz and Mouz didn’t stay far behind, as they fought to earn 3–2 wins and claim their place in the last stage of the competition. Eternal Fire, G2 Esports, and Team Liquid battled through the lower bracket, securing the final spots and keeping their chances at the trophy alive.
Playoffs
The Playoff stage of EPL Season 21, held on March 13-16, kicked off with the quarter-finals. The first clashes saw Team Spirit against Eternal Fire and G2 face Mouz.
Team Spirit and Mouz held their nerve and claimed their spots in the semi-finals. The remaining two semi-final spots were secured by Team Vitality swooping in and eliminating Team Liquid in a 2-0 game, and The Mongolz smoothly took away a chance from Navi to extend their dynasty as the EPL Champions with a quick 2-0 win.
In the Semifinals, Team Spirit went up against Mouz, and The Mongolz, the first-ever Asian team to reach this stage of EPL, were pitted against Team Vitality. When tension was at its highest, both Team Vitality and Mouz managed to continue their winning streak and secure their spots in the Grand Final.
Grand Final
The EPL Season 21 Grand Final saw a repetition of Season 19 as Mouz once again clashed against Team Vitality.
From start to finish, Team Vitality controlled the whole game, and didn’t allow for their opponents to get an upper hand. Mouz, despite their best efforts, had no other choice but to give in to their opponent’s unstoppable performance as Team Vitality stormed through the whole Grand Final and secured a swift 3-0 victory. This marks Vitality’s first EPL win in almost three years – the last time being at EPL Season 16 when they came out victorious against Team Liquid.
The ESL Pro Tour for Counter-Strike continues with IEM Melbourne on April 21-25, as the world’s 16 top squads battle it out for an IEM trophy.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
