This Sunday, we’ll witness the grand finale of the biggest tournament of the season — the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Grand Final, where the tournament favorites Vitality will take on the surprise underdogs The MongolZ. Both teams followed different paths to reach this point, but now they will clash for the championship title. In this preview, we’ll break down their current form, map pool, head-to-head history, key players, and deliver a detailed prediction for the final.
Current Form
Vitality
Vitality are heading into the grand final in phenomenal form. Over the past three months, the team has played 58 maps and won 46 — an impressive display of consistency at the top level. In the last month alone, they have won BLAST Open Spring 2025, IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, IEM Dallas 2025, and were crowned Intel Grand Slam Season 5 champions.
In their last five matches, Vitality have convincingly beaten NAVI, Nemiga, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro, and MOUZ, showcasing dominance and depth across the roster.
The MongolZ
The Asian sensation of the tournament, The MongolZ, are also showing solid results. Over the past three months, they have played 62 maps and won 36. Their most notable performance came at IEM Dallas 2025, where they finished in the 3–4th place.
In their last five matches, The MongolZ claimed four wins — against FaZe, G2, Lynn Vision, and Liquid, with their only loss coming in a rematch against FaZe. These results confirm their capability to challenge even the top-tier teams.
Map Pool
The final will be played in a bo3 format, with each team banning and picking maps in turn. Based on recent statistics and tendencies, we can expect Vitality to start by banning Ancient, a map they rarely play and generally avoid. In response, The MongolZ are likely to remove Train, which is their usual permanent ban.
When it comes to map picks, Vitality are expected to choose Nuke — a map they’ve played 12 times with an impressive 83% win rate, and one where they’ve historically performed well against The MongolZ. On the other hand, The MongolZ are most likely to select Mirage, which has been their most played map (15 times) with a 67% win rate, making it their most reliable option against top-tier opponents.
In the second round of bans, Vitality will probably eliminate either Inferno or Ancient, depending on The MongolZ’s first pick and perceived threat level. Meanwhile, The MongolZ may opt to ban Dust2 or Anubis, as Vitality have looked particularly strong on both maps in recent tournaments.
This means the decider map could end up being either Inferno or Dust2 — two maps that are relatively balanced for both teams and promise a thrilling conclusion to the final series.
Head-to-Head Record & Key Players
The last four meetings between these two teams have all gone in favor of Vitality:
- IEM Katowice 2025 — 2:0 (Mirage 13:7, Nuke 13:9)
- ESL Pro League S21 — 2:1
- IEM Melbourne — 2:0 with dominant scorelines (3:13 on both maps)
- IEM Dallas — 2:1
This clearly shows Vitality’s historical dominance over The MongolZ.
In terms of individual form, ZywOo is playing at an exceptional level, boasting a 1.49 rating. He consistently delivers round-winning plays and currently leads the MVP race for the tournament. His presence on the server has been a decisive factor in Vitality’s success. Alongside him, ropz is also showcasing elite performance with a 1.25 rating, winning the majority of his duels and frequently stepping up in clutch situations.
For The MongolZ, the standout performer has been senzu, who leads the team with a 1.3 rating. He has made a significant impact both in entry fragging and clutch rounds, providing much-needed stability. Their AWPer, 910, has also been crucial to their run, holding a solid 1.16 rating and often delivering multi-kills in high-pressure moments.
Match Prediction
Vitality enter the grand final as clear favorites. Their experience, recent form, deep map pool, and perfect head-to-head record all give them a significant edge. The fact that they’ve defeated The MongolZ in all four previous encounters — often in dominant fashion — makes their position even stronger.
That said, The MongolZ have already made history by becoming the youngest team ever to reach a Major final, and they’ve proven time and again that they can rise to the occasion. But to overcome Vitality, they’ll need a flawless performance across all aspects of the game.
Prediction: Vitality to win 2–0 or 2–1, depending on how much impact The MongolZ can generate on their map pick.
