Vitality win IEM Cologne 2024 over NAVI in thrilling Grand Final

Counter-Strike

August 19, 2024

Daniel Morris

It’s difficult to believe, but this clash between NAVI and Vitality was the first time these two teams have played each other in 2024. It was well worth the wait, as Vitality stormed to a 3:1 series win over NAVI in the best-of-five final at IEM Cologne 2024, including one of the best Grand Final maps ever played.

Read on to find out more about all of the key storylines in Vitality’s long-awaited conquering of the LANXESS Arena at IEM Cologne 2024!

Third time’s the charm for apEX

Credit: Michał Konkol | © ESL

Vitality vs. NAVI was one of the most important matches of apEX‘s career. The French captain has suffered heartbreak in Cologne twice before: in 2015 with EnVyUs, and in 2019 with Vitality. This was his third time to capture the biggest prize that eluded him during his storied Counter-Strike career, and this time, he wasn’t about to let it slip.

NAVI stood no chance with apEX looking sharp like this. He’s one of the CS greats, and he was a man possessed as he called and fragged his team to victory here. With victory here, apEX has gone one step further to completing his trophy cabinet. Now, there’s just a small matter of Katowice to attend to before the set is complete…

ZywOo stakes his claim to the CS2 throne

Credit: IEM on X.

You might think m0NESY is the best CS2 player in the world. You might even think donk still sits atop the throne. In the IEM Cologne 2024 Grand Final, this was ZywOo staking his claim to the title, putting in a spectacular performance on Counter-Strike’s biggest stage of all. Matches don’t get bigger than in the LANXESS Arena, but ZywOo showed everyone why he’s one of the best to ever touch the game against NAVI.

While the first map was quiet by his standards, he was the driving force beyond this point as Vitality brawled for every round with NAVI. With w0nderful whiffing several shots on the other side of the server, we got a glimpse of the difference a truly world-class AWPer can make in big situations. ZywOo finished the IEM Cologne 2024 Grand Final on 100 kills in total, a ludicrous figure for just four maps of play. We’re just glad to see a player of his brilliance finally begin to amass the trophy cabinet to back up his remarkable abilities.

NAVI lose another best-of-five

There’s no two ways about it – NAVI have had a successful 2024. Victories at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and EWC 2024 have ensured that already, but losses at the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024 and now IEM Cologne 2024 have denied them a real era. Best-of-fives have notoriously proven impossible for IGL Aleksib, and his losing run in this format continues. It’s a stat he won’t want to look at any time soon, even though he’s bound to break this streak at some point.

For NAVI here, the energy just ran out. That 22:20 triple-overtime Mirage was an all-time great map, so to lose it in the slimmest of margins really took the wind out of their sails. From that point, map four was a formality for Vitality, as they romped to an early lead that even the greatest of comebacks from NAVI couldn’t overcome. For this NAVI lineup, this could prove to be a crucial learning experience. We know we’ll see this team in more Grand Finals in the future, so they need to take heart in knowing they’ll be here again for another shot at the trophy.

IEM Cologne always brings the heat

There’s something about IEM Cologne that just makes Counter-Strike magic. Back in 2022, we saw the legendary FaZe vs NAVI Grand Final, with many calling that the best match of CS ever played. Two years later, we have NAVI vs. Vitality, a match that is sure to go down as a classic. Those first three maps when things were on a knife’s edge? Absolute cinema. Map three of Mirage was sublime, filled with heroes and villains in every single round.

Sure, the final map felt like an anti-climax, but we had all the action we needed in those first three games. IEM Cologne 2024 showed that the magic of the Cathedral of Counter-Strike is alive and well, and the rest of the 2024 CS2 schedule has a lot to live up to.