Team Vitality crowned BLAST.tv Austin Major champions

After three weeks of world-class Counter-Strike 2 action, Team Vitality has been crowned the champions of the BLAST.tv Austin Major, the 22nd Major tournament in Counter-Strike esports.
The French esports organisation defeated the Mongolian organisation in front of a capacity crowd at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

The opening half of Mirage was a back-and-forth contest between the two remaining teams, with The MongolZ locking in a 7-5 lead at the end of the first half. The Mongolians showed no signs of slowing down on Team Vitality’s map pick, dominating the second half to take the opening map 13-5, putting the side on the verge of a historic victory.

Team Vitality resorted to a Dust II pick and immediately showcased its defensive prowess with six consecutive rounds to take the early lead. The MongolZ answered back with a few offensive round wins to end the half with a 9-3 deficit to claw back.

The French organisation put its foot on the gas, extending the advantage to 12-4 before wrapping up its map pick with a comfortable 13-4 win to force a third and final Inferno to determine the winner of the Austin Major.

Inferno kicked off with The MongolZ securing the opening pistol round with some excellent utility use to take control of the A site. Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut and Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire led the Team Vitality resurgence, pulling away to an 8-3 lead, leaving The MongolZ struggling to break through the defence. The lead extended to six rounds, with Vitality closing out the first half with a 9-3 advantage. 

The second half of Inferno saw Team Vitality grab the second pistol round, earning the side’s 10th round, leaving The MongolZ with a huge mountain to climb. Despite the best efforts of the Mongolian side, Team Vitality locked in its twelfth round and nine championship points.

A ray of hope emerged in round 17, with The MongolZ defence holding strong thanks to a Sodbayar ‘Techno4K’ Munkhbold one-versus-two clutch which laid the foundations for a potential comeback. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough as Team Vitality breached The MongolZ defence once again to lock down Inferno with a 13-6 and a 2-1 series win to round off the first half of 2025 with the Austin Major trophy in hand.

With Team Vitality crowned champions, the final results for the 22nd Counter-Strike Major are as follows: 

With the Austin Major concluded, the Counter-Strike esports circuit takes a short break before attention turns to the inaugural edition of FISSURE Playground. The 16-team invitational event will see teams compete for a $450,000 (~£334,373) prize pool.

Afterwards, all eyes point towards the IEM Cologne, where several teams from the Austin Major will attempt to stop Team Vitality’s quest to win an eighth consecutive trophy.