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Team Vitality Clashes with The MongolZ for the Major Trophy: BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Grand Finals Preview and Prediction
We’re finally here.
Three weeks, four stages, and 30 teams later, only two remain to battle for the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 trophy.
Team Vitality enters as the undisputed titans of 2025, having won six of the year’s ten S-tier tournaments. Their challengers? Asia’s brightest stars — the MongolZ — the youngest squad ever to reach a Major Grand Final.
A win for the MongolZ would put Asia back on the Counter-Strike map, reigniting the region’s competitive fire. For Team Vitality, this is more than just another trophy — it’s the final jewel in their crown, a coronation for the kings of Counter-Strike.
The stakes have never been higher. The pressure has never been greater.
Tomorrow, at the Moody Center, Texas, two teams will take center stage. Only one will walk away with ultimate glory.
Let’s look at what the final day has in store for us.
The Youngest Squad at a Major Grand Finals
With an average age of just 20, The MongolZ are the youngest squad to ever stand on the Major Grand Finals stage.
For the longest time, their biggest hurdle was handling the pressure of the big stage—especially for Senzu, the supposed star of the Mongolian lineup.
But in the Playoffs, first against crowd favorites FaZe Clan and today against paiN Gaming, they all showed up—Senzu included.
Against paiN, The MongolZ played with confidence, strength, and determination, crushing both games 13-5 to book their spot in the Grand Final.
Tomorrow, under the brightest lights, The MongolZ will look to bring the same fire, and with the crowd behind them, take on the toughest challenge Counter-Strike has to offer.
The Best Counter-Strike Squad of All Time?
After the 87-0 Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Vitality has had the most dominant run heading into a Counter-Strike Major. With just two series dropped since the start of 2025; they’ve been the final challenge for every team dreaming of lifting the trophy.
But at the Austin Major 2025, they’ve looked the most beatable. They dropped their first series in nearly five months and were dominated on Inferno—their former stronghold—twice, first by Legacy and today by MOUZ.
Yet, just like in Stage 3, they bounced back stronger. Once again, they proved you can push them to the brink, but you can’t put them away for good.
Tomorrow, they step onto the Grand Finals stage—their seventh and biggest of the year—looking to cement themselves not just as the strongest team of the year, but as the greatest Counter-Strike team of all time.
The Fifth Clash
The MongolZ and Team Vitality will face each other for the fifth time tomorrow. So far, the Mongolian squad has never managed to win. But in their most recent encounter at IEM Dallas 2025, The MongolZ pushed the super team to the limit.
Across all four previous meetings, the biggest hurdle for The MongolZ has been their inability to perform under the bright lights, consistently cracking under pressure. Senzu, the star of their Austin Major 2025 Playoffs run, had gone missing in all their prior stage appearances.
This was most evident in Dallas, where both Senzu and Techno4k failed to step up on stage, ultimately leading to a narrow loss in the decider.
Making History – Team Vitality vs The MongolZ
Tomorrow presents a unique chance for both teams to etch their names into Counter-Strike history. If The MongolZ win, they will become the first Asian team to lift a Major trophy. If Team Vitality wins, they will complete the most dominant season the Counter-Strike world has ever seen.
While The MongolZ might not be the toughest opponent Vitality could have faced in a Grand Final, if they can bring their semifinal form into the match, this won’t be an easy ride for Vitality.
Especially in terms of individual talent, this young MongolZ squad has some of the best raw skill to go toe-to-toe with Vitality. Sure, bLitz is less experienced than apEX, but he understands his teammates just as well—if not better—helping him make the right calls when it matters most.
910 is quickly developing into an AWPing superstar who, unlike many of the new-age AWPers, brings much-needed stability to the role. Mzinho and Senzu provide blazing firepower, while Techno4k brings the balance and composure this young squad needs.
As challengers, the MongolZ’s best play is to stick to what they do best. If they start over-respecting Vitality, they’ll quickly find themselves in a hole that’s hard to climb out of.
For Team Vitality, their biggest enemy isn’t necessarily The MongolZ—it’s the pressure. The pressure of winning the Major. The pressure of doing it in front of an arena packed with fans rooting against them. If they let that pressure creep in, it will cost them rounds, those rounds will snowball into maps, and a single map could be the difference between lifting or losing the Major trophy in the end.
Map Veto
Based on both teams’ preferences, the initial bans will be:
- Train (The MongolZ)
- Ancient (Vitality)
The expected map pool:
- Mirage (MongolZ pick)
- Inferno (Vitality pick)
- Nuke (Decider)
Final Verdict
If The MongolZ want to win, they need to play like winners from round one. That said, Vitality still stands as the heavy favorites. They are historically the better team and have the strongest shot at claiming the trophy.
The MongolZ have a better chance than most would expect, but this still feels like Team Vitality’s Major to lose.
Before the final series of the third Counter-Strike Major gets underway, the Stream Team and Team USA will take the stage for a showmatch. Catch the Austin Major 2025 Grand Finals action live starting 12:00 pm CDT // 10:00 am PT on BLAST Twitch/YouTube.
Follow BLAST on X for the latest update on the Major. You can also follow the tournament on Strafe.
Featured Image Credit: Valve
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