The tournament treated us to close battles and showcases of dominance. Some teams at ESL Pro League Season 22 surprised everyone, while others disappointed their fans.
ESL Pro League (EPL) Season 22 was an interesting and important Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports tournament. It revealed the current state of all the main teams ahead of the Budapest Major, with the competitive format similar to that of a Major itself. Two weeks of the event were filled with spectacular battles, including big upsets, a 0:13 map, and wild overtimes.
Team Vitality achieved a meaningful victory at EPL Season 22. It feels like they’ve recovered after a few shaky events, especially with the play Vitality showed in the grand final. It might be early to start talking about the return to the tournament win streak from the first half of 2025, but the tendency is certainly promising.
Vitality take the second step towards the ESL Grand Slam VI
The tournament had a disturbing start for Vitality. The team joined ESL Pro League S22 with Stage 2, and the first match was against one of the underdogs, Gentle Mates. It was a 0:2 match, including a 6:13 on Nuke.
On the stream, apEX explained this loss as a warm-up season: the opponents played in Stage 1 and were already in tournament mode.
Previously, Vitality had a similar experience at the Austin Major, where they lost to Legacy but won the event.
The rest of the Swiss Stage at EPL S22 went much more smoothly for Team Vitality. However, they obviously did not face proper opponents. Only G2 in Round 4 were around the same league, thanks to their win at BLAST Open Fall 2025.
At the EPL Season 22 Playoffs, Vitality had decently close matches versus FURIA and FaZe Clan. Arguably, the most interesting map was Mirage versus FaZe: Vitality lost it with 20:22. This was the longest overtime in the final brackets.
The grand final was Vitality versus Falcons, and despite some expectations, it wasn’t too competitive. Falcons took some good rounds, but in the end, Vitality totally destroyed them.
With this win at EPL S22, Team Vitality takes their second step towards claiming $1,000,000 of the ESL Grand Slam VI. Vitality already won IEM Dallas, and it sure is worth following their run at the remaining ESL events.
FaZe were good?
One of the biggest surprises of Stage 2 was the return of Håvard "rain" Nygaard after being shockingly benched right before the ESL Pro League Season 22. Bringing this Counter-Strike legend back turned out to be a happy occasion for FaZe Clan.
The team has been in their shaky-performance arc since ages. FaZe even played with s1mple as a substitute to try to fix team coordination. The problem was still there.
In a way, the CS community used to see FaZe Clan having rollercoaster tournaments. Win streaks are replaced with bitter losses in rounds and matches.
- Not only did FaZe reach the Playoffs at EPL S22, but they also defeated one of the big favorites: Team Spirit in the quarterfinal. Moreover, FaZe looked really good in the match versus Vitality. That 22:20 win on Mirage is one for the history books!
Falcons rise and crush hopes
After purchasing two star players at the beginning of 2025, Team Falcons substantially boosted the tournament results. The matches against Vitality at IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, and IEM Dallas 2025 were epic!
Then, the team fell as low as 20th–22nd at the Austin Major. A few recent tournaments feel like a nice recovery, but Falcons still can’t deliver the final blow.
- Team Falcons looked very strong in the Swiss Stage 2. Their wins include matches over the favorites: NAVI and MOUZ.
- In the Playoffs, Falcons defeated MOUZ once again, and the fans raised their hopes for the tournament win.
- The EPL S22 grand final against Vitality crushed those hopes, though. That wasn’t the performance of the tournament-winning level. Still, the reason could be Vitality’s form, so we need to witness Falcons at the next big CS2 esports event.
FURIA and the top stability
This might sound like a brave statement for a team that finished only in the top 8. However, it’s a stable improvement in top-level tournaments for FURIA. At the EPL S22 Playoffs, they were stopped by Team Vitality, and FURIA gave quite a fight to these mighty opponents.
This year is generally good for FURIA, including the first big tournament win, at FISSURE Playground #2.
Nothing new for NAVI, MOUZ, and Spirit
These teams have been following their most recent trends, and that is not a very good aspect of their performances.
- NAVI have been landing around the top 8 a lot recently. They were in the top 4 at IEM Cologne 2025. NAVI won StarSeries Fall 2025, with no big opponents at the tournament. But then, Natus Vincere couldn’t even qualify for the final events of BLAST Bounty and Fall. At ESL Pro League Season 22, NAVI barely advanced to the Playoffs and then lost in the very first match.
- Spirit reflected their general inter-tournament experience at EPL S22: from winning events to being outside the top 8. This time, Team Spirit marched through the Swiss Stage confidently. Then, they got destroyed by FaZe.
- MOUZ brought nothing too new to the event in terms of their results. The team has been regularly reaching the top 2 and the top 3, but their tournament wins are like a mirage in the desert.
Some big teams will be playing at the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 event from Oct. 15 to Oct. 19. The lineup includes FURIA, NAVI, and The MongolZ.
The entire top party of CS2 esports gathers at Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2025, from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9. It’s the last big rehearsal before StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.
