ESL Pro League S22 Semifinals: FaZe Clan vs Team Vitality Preview and Prediction

10 Oct

Ganesh Jadhav

If you thought the ESL Pro League Season 22 surprises were over, FaZe Clan is here to change your mind. After sweeping heavy favorites Team Spirit, they’ve secured a semifinal spot against Team Vitality.

Tomorrow, October 11th, the two teams will clash for a Grand Finals spot following the game between Team Falcons and MOUZ.

A Lil Bit of FaZe Magic

FaZe’s journey at EPL S22 started with a management fiasco, followed by them going 0-2 down before Round 3. But in classic FaZe fashion, they brought it back—taking down Astralis, Inner Circle, and Aurora to clinch the Playoffs.

While the first two wins were convincing, the Aurora game did not instill confidence for a deeper run. Moreover, Team Spirit, with donk at the helm, is always a tough team to beat.

But completely against expectations, FaZe Clan tapped into their innate magic to destroy Team Spirit 2-0. The two maps played were Nuke and Mirage, and on both, FaZe Clan played exceptionally solid Counter-Strike—securing a strong lead and closing it out in the second half. In both games, donk was kept in check by the FaZe members, limiting Spirit to single-digit rounds.

The FaZe Magic now faces Team Vitality’s upward trend—and if they can keep up this performance, anything’s possible.

Team Vitality is Back!?

After winning the Austin Major 2025, Vitality entered a bit of a slump. But with a 2nd-place finish at BLAST Open Fall and a 3-1 EPL S22 Stage 2 run, it feels like they’re slowly crawling back to top form.

This climb was truly challenged today. FURIA, one of the trophy contenders, started the series by winning their map pick of Overpass convincingly. But in the second and especially the final map, Vitality turned their game up a notch, completely dominating their opponents.

Nuke was a callback to peak Vitality, where they secure advantages and force opponents to overextend by avoiding mistakes. FURIA, despite their form, succumbed to the pressure, losing the series 1-2.

With the win, Vitality secure another semifinals of a tournament, but the job is not done.

FaZe Clan vs. Team Vitality Preview and Predictions

Both competitors playing in the second EPL S22 semifinal are on a run. For FaZe Clan, it’s about giving rain the farewell he deserves. For Vitality, it’s about reclaiming the top before the Budapest Major.

While it’s referred to as FaZe Magic, it isn’t a fluke. In both games, they shut down donk and Spirit. On defense, they disrupted all of Spirit’s plans, securing early advantages and crucial rounds. The T-side calling from karrigan, aided by Twistzz, was exceptional. So were the performances from broky and frozen—and if they want to secure the win tomorrow, they have to keep it up.

The defending Major Champions are once again trying to reach their peak form. They’re once again a team that’s hard to break and even harder to take down. The synergy that was off for a while is finally back. Meaning, if you miss a step, you’re getting punished. If you wait for Vitality to make a mistake, you’ll lose on time. If they can keep this up, it’ll be hard to favor any opponent against the (not-so) French Giant.

Map Veto

For starters, FaZe Clan and Team Vitality will veto their permabans—Train and Ancient, respectively.

FaZe Clan will likely choose Mirage as their map pick. While they look exceptional on Nuke, Mirage is more scrimmage-friendly and relies more on individual form. Vitality will favor the prep-heavy Inferno, especially since FaZe is likely to struggle on the map.

FaZe, favoring Dust II or Nuke, will veto Overpass. Vitality can definitely play both maps at a high level, but seeing FaZe’s comfort on Nuke, they’ll likely veto it, leaving Dust II as the series decider.

Prediction

Going into the series tomorrow, irrespective of the FaZe Magic, Team Vitality are the favorites on paper. Especially if they keep up their strong form, FaZe will have a hard time breaking through Vitality’s heavily repped maps.

But FaZe can’t be counted out—especially on Mirage and Dust II, where karrigan can outcall apEX. Especially, if the new three musketeers—broky, Twistzz, and frozen—perform like they did today, and rain can support effectively, their run continues.

Neither team will want to relinquish the series and will look not just to tomorrow, but to lifting the trophy as well. Based on form, tactical depth, and the individual talent on both squads, we expect a close 2-1 series tomorrow. We do favor Vitality slightly but the series can truly go either way.

Catch the Semifinals action live on YouTube | Twitch | ESL Website tomorrow starting 10:30 am CEST. Follow ESL Pro League Season 22 on Strafe for live score, latest news and more.

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Featured Image Credits: ESL

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