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IEM Katowice 2025 is gaining momentum. The group stage of one of the most prestigious tournaments is coming to its logical conclusion.
Most of the spots in the play-offs have already been played, and Vp and Vitality have already earned theirs. However, that doesn't mean that their match doesn't mean anything, because at stake is seeding in the main stage and passage to the semifinals.
Let's try to figure out who of the Vitality - Vp pair will be stronger in this match and go straight to the semi-finals of IEM Katowice 2025.
Let's go.
Vitality's form
Let's open the Vitality vs Vp match with an analysis of Vitality's form. In this match they play as clear favourites with odds to win at around 1.4.
After the triumphant Paris Major a Vitality said goodbye to Dupreeh, and flameZ took his place. The "newcomer" Vitality has already had time to adapt and looks good: the young Israeli has KDA 1.09 and this is the third result of the team. He, by the way, started his ascent on the big stage with OG.
- Vitality roster: apEX, ZywOo, mezii, ropz, flameZ.
In their debut match at IEM Cologne 2023 Vitality only confirmed their status as one of the main favourites of Group B. OG tried, but were defeated 16-6 by Mirage and 16-13 by Anubis.
After defeating OG, Vitality took on MOUZ, who were dealt an even bigger blow by the Bees, 16-4 and 16-5.
In the match for seeding in the play-offs Vitality met another top club - G2 Esports. A nerve-wracking game where Vitality pulled out a 19-17 win on Inferno in the extra time, but then lost 10-16 to Vertigo and 8-16 to Mirage.
Starting the play-offs from the first round stumbled Cloud9. "Cloud9 tried to fight back and almost succeeded on the second map, but ZywOo and company were undeterred: 16-11 Mirage and 19-17 Inferno. However, this was the end of Vitality's stay at the tournament: they met ENCE in the semi-finals and lost with 1-2 score and dropped out of the championship.
The top 4 at IEM Cologne did not embarrass Vitality at all, on the contrary - it fuelled them. Before the end of the year they pocketed 3 more wins at title tournaments: they took revenge on ENCE in the Gamers8 Grand Final and beat FaZe twice at BLAST tournaments (Fall Final 2023 and World Final 2023).
Before playing at PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024: European RMR B played BLAST Premier: Spring Groups, where they passed the group stage without any problems and at IEM Katowice 2024, where they failed very unexpectedly, finishing top-12.
At the PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024: European RMR B Vitality stomped GamerLegion and Heroic without any problems, giving up a total of 5 rounds in two maps. And then it was worse - a loss by C9, but a win over ENCE allowed Vitality to reach the Major.
Vitality attended the first Major tournament of the season - PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major 2024, where they managed to reach the top 4, but Ledge and FaZe Clan. Later they played at ESL Pro League Season 19, where they again started very cheerfully and easily made it to the grand finals, but there they were swept by MOUZ.
At the IEM Dallas 2024 Long Season, they started with a very difficult win over Monte, and then closed G2 Esports dry. But in the match for seeding in the play-offs quite unexpectedly Ledge and 9z Team 0-2. The play-offs IEM Dallas 2024 started much more confidently, closing Heroic with 2-0. Then a confident win over Spirit, but a loss to G2 Esports in the grand finals.
Before appearing at Esports World Cup 2024, Vitality attended Blast Premier: Spring Final, where they reached the Top 4. At EWC 2024, Vitaltiy Long Sogpeg started off with a solid win over M80, which allowed them to go straight into the play-offs.
At the "Major in Riyadh" Vitality finished in the top 8, which is hardly a good result. They were quickly rehabilitated by winning the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024. At the end of the season they visited PW Shanghai Major 2024, where they reached the main stage, but failed against FaZe in the first round.
Long Cologne 2025 season started with an appearance at BLAST Bounty Season 1, where they managed to reach the final stage, but not beyond the first round: defeat by Eternal Fire and final top 8.
At IEM Katowice 2025 Vitality started their performance right from the group stage. They defeated 3DMax and FaZe in turn, which gave them passage to the final of Group A and a slot in the play-offs.
Vitality mappool
The best Vitality map is Nuke. There are 4 matches and 4 wins.
Anubis (7 matches, 85% wins), Mirage (4 matches, 75% wins) are very good. In general, Vitality doesn't have any bad cards that they play. Vertigo - 71% wins in 7 matches, Inferno and Overpass - 3 wins in 5 matches.
Ancient is not played.
Vp Form.
Let's continue the Vp vs Vitality match with the analysis of Vp's form. In this match the team is playing as the number two with odds to win around 3.7.
Vp played in three TIR-A tournaments at the beginning of last year. These were BB Playlist. Urbanistic, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A, and also BB Playlist. Freeddom. At the two "home" championships from BB Vp were in the top 8, but at the European RMR everything was even less happy - top 14.
Then Vp made a breakthrough by winning at ESL Challenger Katowice 2023. The victory there allowed them to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 18.
Among the victories, CCT Online Finals #2 is also worth mentioning. They beat Team Spirit in the grand finals and earned $100,000, which is pretty good.
- Vp lineup: FL1T, fame, electroNic, FL4MUS, ICY.
Before ESL Pro League Season 18 Vp visited Gamers8, where they didn't get further than the top 8, and Dunav Party LAN, where in the grand finals they got revenge for their defeat on CCT by Spirit.
In the first match at EPL Season 18, Vp's opponent was Team Liquid. The match, as expected, ended in a full-fledged, combative Bo3 with Vp winning 2-1.
Next up, VP played G2 Esports and legitimately Ledgeili, though they fought back and took the map. The defeat sent Vp to the lower grid, where they first beat Eternal Fire and then outplayed Liquid again, thus reaching the EPL play-offs.
Vp did not manage to play in the main stage. Vp lost their first match against 9z Team, which was a rather unexpected result. At the end of the EPL S18 Vp finished in the top 16.
Things are going well at the Roobet Cup. Vp won the first match against their compatriots from Spirit with a score of 2-1. Next up was a battle with Movistar Riders to qualify for the Roobet Cup 2023 play-offs, which ended 2-0 in favour of Vp, a solid 2-0.
The Roobet Cup 2023 itself was the pulse of Vp's triumph. They beat Monte 2-1 in the grand final, earning their first major win in a long time. Later was Thunderpick World Championship 2023, where Vp also reached the final, but failed to beat FaZe and as a result - 0-2.
Before playing at BB Dacha Vp played at ESL Challenger Winter. There they reached the top 4, losing in the semi-finals to the future champions from Monte. BB Dacha itself was a very successful event for Vp: there they reached the finals and lost to Spirit 2-3 in a close series.
Just before the BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, where Vp were partnered with BLAST, they played the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta 2023, where they won the championship, beating Apeks 2-0 in the grand finals.
On their way to the Group D finals, Virtus.pro defeated BIG and Cloud9. The former with a 2-0 score, the latter with a 2-1 score. In the grand final of their group at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, Vp beat BIG again and again with a score of 2-0, thus earning themselves a place at the spring finals. Next up was IEM Katowice 2024, where Vp failed, finishing in the top 20.
Vp made it to PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen, finishing in the Top 2 at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A. In addition, they made it to IEM Dallas 2024.
Directly at the World Championship Long Competed from the Elimination stage. First lost to Imperia, but then beat paiN and Heroic, which brought them to 2-1. Next, they lost to Eternal Fire and G2 Esports, which led to Vp's elimination from the Major tournament.
IEM China 2024 Vp are doing quite well. In the top set of Group B, they took turns beating American teams Wildcard (13-1) and then FlyQuest (2-1). In the play-offs seeding match, Vp lost to the best team in the tournament, Astralis, 2-0.
In the main stage of IEM China 2024, Vp played against G2 Esports and lost, thus finishing in the top 6 of the tournament.
After the top 6 at IEM China 2024 Vp attended three more tournaments, two of which were very prestigious. Thus they played ESL Pro League Season 19 at TOP-8 and IEM Dallas 2024 at TOP-12, and in between they made it to the Top-6 at BB Dacha.
In Group B at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2024 Vp played to a top-3 finish, which got them into the playoffs. Next, they made it to the top 4, but there Ledgeili NaVi.
EWC Vp started with a match against Complexity Gaming, where they won 2-0. Making it to the play-offs the team faced Vitality and came out stronger, winning 2-1. Next up was a match against G2, a loss and top 4 in the end.
Vp played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, where they failed miserably: top 16. Later, they "consolidated their success" at IEM Cologne 2024, making it to the Top 16. They also played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, where they took TOP-4. Played at ESL Pro League S20, where they failed everywhere and everywhere, finishing the tournament in the top 16. They also played at the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024, where they finished in the top 6.
At the Thunderpick World Championship 2024, OG Long Sogpeg were defeated by OG and then knocked out of the tournament by Falcons. However, OG went on to get revenge and knocked Vp out of the tournament. At the end of Thunderpick World Championship 2024, Vp finished in the top 12.
Vp made it to PW Shanghai Major 2024 through PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B, winning it 3-1. However, the tournament itself failed miserably, finishing in the top-24.
They started the 2025 season with a performance at BLAST Bounty Season 1, where they lost in the first round. Then - IEM Katowice 2025 and Long Corner at Play-In: loss from paiN with a crushing score (7-13) and (2-13), but comeback in the lower net and victory over sAw and MIBR. In the group stage, Vp played more collected, which led to a deserved result. After beating G2 and Eternal Fire, they made it to the play-offs.
Vp Mapple
The best map for Vp remains Ancient, where Vp won 3 maps out of 3 played. The most played map is Overpass, where Vp played 11 maps and won 9 of them.
In the pool there is a good Anubis (3-1 on maps), Mirage (6 wins in 9 matches) and Inferno (7 wins in 11 games).
The worst choice for vp is Vertigo. It has 44% wins with 9 matches.
History of head-to-head meetings between Vitality and Vp
This will be the 4th match between the teams recently. Vp have won twice before, but in the season 2025 Vitality won cleanly.
Predicted result of the match Vp - Vitality at IEM Katowice 2025
In this match my bet is on Vitality. Despite the good performance of Vp in the group stage, I think Vitality is one of the most uncomfortable opponents for them. I don't rule out a full-fledged Bo3, but I give the victory to the French.
Bottom line: Vitality wins.