At ESL Pro League (EPL) Season 22, held inside the ESL Studio in Stockholm, 24 of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) teams battled for a slice of the $1 million prize pool. The event delivered nonstop action across three stages, culminating in a best-of-five Grand Final between two heavy-hitters.

Let’s relive the best moments from ESL Pro League Season 22, focusing on the journeys of the finalists and the ultimate resurgence of Team Vitality.

Unpredictability Reigns In EPL Season 22 Stage 2

Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of ESL Pro League Season 22 were filled with surprises. In Stage 1, underdogs HOTU and Inner Circle stunned fans after topping the leaderboard with 3-0 records, while heavyweights FURIA and G2 Esports barely survived with narrow 3-2 finishes.

Stage 2 was even more unpredictable, with the world’s #1 team on the VRS at the time, The MongolZ, eliminated alongside Turkish powerhouse Aurora Gaming and G2 Esports. Meanwhile, Team Falcons (#5) and Team Vitality (#3) secured direct invites to Stage 2 due to their VRS standings.

Team Falcons’ 3-0 Performance In Stage 2

Team Falcons impressed right from the start of Stage 2, going 3-0 to secure a top seed going into the Playoffs.

Smashing through Astralis with a 2-0 score (13-8 on Inferno, 13-6 on Mirage), NAVI with a 2-0 record (13-2 on Nuke, 16-14 on Ancient), and MOUZ with a 2-1 score (13-9 on Ancient, 3-13 on Inferno, and 13-7 on Nuke), Team Falcons claimed a top seed in the Playoffs.

Team Vitality’s 3-1 Performance In Stage 2

In the opening match of Stage 2, Gentle Mates shocked fans as they smacked Team Vitality around for a decisive 2-0 win (13-6 on Nuke, 13-11 on Train). Team Vitality bounced back from the surprising loss, crushing GamerLegion with an incredibly clean 2-0 (13-3 on Overpass, 13-1 on Dust).

Team Vitality went on to beat HOTU 2-0 (13-8 on Overpass, 13-5 on Dust2) and G2 Esports 2-0 (13-2 on Inferno, 16-13 on Mirage), to claim a spot in the Playoffs.

Team Vitality’s Magnificent Comebacks

After their shocking loss to Gentle Mates in Stage 2, it was clear that Team Vitality still had a few cracks in their armor, with their journey to the Grand Final of ESL Pro League Season 22 being far from smooth.

In the single-elimination Playoffs, the squad was pushed to their absolute limits in best-of-three matches that ran the distance. In the Quarterfinals, an on-form FURIA won the first map, Overpass, with a 13-9 score, putting Team Vitality on the brink of elimination.

Rallied by IGL Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, Team Vitality won Inferno 13-7 after a close 6-6 first half to force a decider. On Nuke, Team Vitality powered up to take a massive 10-2 lead and finish off the map 13-7 to complete the 2-1 reverse sweep.

For FaZe Clan, the Semifinals of ESL Pro League Season 22 marked the last dance of Håvard “rain” Nygaard. The squad delivered a beautiful performance against Team Vitality, winning the first map, Mirage, with a 22-20 score after triple overtime.

On the brink of elimination yet again, Team Vitality proved their big match temperament, beating FaZe Clan 13-9 on Inferno and 13-8 on Dust2 to complete another reverse sweep comeback and secure a spot in the Grand Final.

Team Falcons Advance To Grand Final

With a dominant performance in Stage 2, Team Falcons had momentum on their side heading into the Playoffs. In the Quarterfinals, French side 3DMAX drew first blood, with a decisive 13-9 win on Inferno for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

However, Team Falcons managed to push back hard on Ancient with a convincing 13-7 victory. On the deciding map, Nuke, the teams were inseparable in regulation (12-12), but Team Falcons pulled ahead in overtime to win 16-13, completing the reverse sweep comeback.

In the Semifinals, Team Falcons faced MOUZ. The squads traded blows on the opening map, Inferno, for a 12-12 score in regulation. Team Falcons stabilized in overtime to win the map 16-13. With momentum on their side, Team Falcons won Ancient with a solid 13-7 score to eliminate MOUZ 2-0.

With their victory over MOUZ, Team Falcons secured their first-ever Grand Final appearance, led by rising prodigy Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin.

A Dominant Grand Final Performance

In the best-of-five Grand Final, Team Vitality powered up, showcasing their prowess on LAN. After a tied first half (6-6), Team Vitality won their map pick of Inferno with a 13-10 score to claim an early 1-0 lead in the series.

Team Falcons’ map pick of Train went Team Vitality’s way, with apEX’s men taking an early 8-4 lead on the CT side. The teams traded blows in the second half, but it wasn’t enough for Team Falcons to make a comeback. Team Vitality won Train 13-9 to secure a 2-0 lead.

On their second map pick of Dust2, Team Vitality found a massive 10-2 lead on the T side. Despite a solid effort from Team Falcons, with AWPer m0NESY hitting incredible shots, it wasn’t enough to make a comeback on Dust2, which Team Vitality won 13-5.

Team Vitality put up a dominant performance at the ESL Pro League Season 22 Grand Final, winning with a clean 3-0 score to lift the trophy and claim the lion’s share of the prize pool.

For Team Vitality, it wasn’t superstars Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut or Robin “ropz” Kool who stood out. Instead, it was Israeli rifler Shahar “flameZ” Shushan who topped the scoreboard with a K-D of 62-41, and a massive 1.60 rating across all three maps.

Which Team Won ESL Pro League Season 22?

Team Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 22, claiming their first trophy since the BLAST.tv Austin Major in June. After an unprecedented run of seven consecutive S-Tier CS2 titles, Team Vitality finally hit a bump at IEM Cologne 2025, settling for a 3rd-4th place finish—a rare slump by their standards.

In their first match, alarm bells were ringing as underdogs Gentle Mates beat Team Vitality with a 2-0 score. However, Team Vitality shook off the early loss to beat GamerLegion, HOTU, and G2 Esports with 2-0 scorelines to secure a spot in the Playoffs.

🏆 @TeamVitalityCS HOIST THE #ESLProLeague TROPHY 🏆 pic.twitter.com/VofH1yYWr7

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 12, 2025

Team Vitality kept us on the edge of our collective seats, reverse sweeping FURIA 2-1 in the Quarterfinals, and reverse sweeping FaZe Clan 2-1 in the Semifinals to earn a spot in the Grand Finals.

While Team Falcons looked incredibly strong in Stage 2 and the Playoffs, Team Vitality dug deep to dominate their opponents with a clean 3-0 sweep to win ESL Pro League Season 22.

Team Vitality roster:

• Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
• Shahar “flameZ” Shushan
• William “mezii” Merriman
• Robin “ropz” Kool
• Dan “apEX” Madesclaire (IGL)
• Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Coach)

MVP Honors

Although ZywOo was named the DHL MVP, the real MVP of ESL Pro League Season 22 isn’t one of the Team Vitality players—at least not in our view. Instead, the honor goes to Team Falcons’ Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.

Despite Team Falcons losing 0-3 in the Grand Final, the young Russian AWPer put up an outstanding performance, posting a 1.38 rating across 15 maps played, compared to ZywOo’s 1.28 across 17 maps.

In the Grand Final, m0NESY was the second-highest-rated player (1.29), with only flameZ (1.60) having a better day on the server.

ESL Pro League Season 22 Final Standings

Here are the final standings and prize pool distribution for ESL Pro League Season 22, including Player and Club share portions.

Place	Team	Player Share	Club Share	Prize Money
1st	Team Vitality	$100,000	$150,000	$250,000
2nd	Team Falcons	$50,000	$75,000	$125,000
3rd	MOUZ	$28,000	$60,000	$88,000
4th	FaZe Clan	$22,000	$50,000	$72,000
5th-8th	Team Spirit FURIA Esports Natus Vincere 3DMAX	$18,000	$40,000	$58,000 (each)
9th-11th	Aurora Gaming G2 Esports The Mongolz	$13,500	$25,000	$38,500 (each)
12th-14th	Gentle Mates HOTU Inner Circle Esports	$10,500	$10,000	$20,500 (each)
15th-16th	Astralis GamerLegion	$8,500	-	$8,500 (each)
17th-19th	B8 Esports ENCE Legacy	$6,500	-	$6,500 (each)
20th-22nd	Fluxo HEROIC M80	$4,500	-	$4,500 (each)
23rd-24th	NRG Rooster	$3,000	-	$3,000 (each)

FAQs

When was EPL Season 22 held?

EPL Season 22 kicked off on September 28 and ended on October 12, 2025.

Who won EPL Season 22?

Team Vitality won EPL Season 22, defeating Team Falcons with a 3-0 score in the Grand Final.

What was the biggest upset of EPL Season 22?

At the start of EPL Season 22, The MongolZ were the favorites to win, sitting at #1 on the VRS. However, the Mongolian side fell flat in Stage 2, losing to underdogs HOTU (#35) and Inner Circle (#36), which led to their early elimination by NAVI in the final Stage 2 match.

Which player stood out the most at EPL Season 22?

Despite losing in the Grand Final, Team Falcons’ young Russian AWPer, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, was the highest-rated player at the event, with a massive 1.38 rating.

What was the EPL Season 22 prize pool?

EPL Season 22 had a total prize pool of $1 million, split between a player share of $400,000 and a club share of $600,000.