Are Vitality’s CS2 Glory Days Over? The Esports World Cup Will Tell

Despite dominating the Counter-Strike 2 scene in the first half of the year, Vitality have now suffered disappointing losses at both IEM Cologne 2025 and BLAST Bounty season 2. With fans declaring their era as “over” – is it time to be concerned about Vitality?

The team gets its Esports World Cup CS2 campaign underway against Team Liquid today.

What Goes Up, must Come Down

Vitality’s dominance in the previous season was unprecedented in the CS2 era.

In an era where Team Spirit’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets terrorises each and every opposition player in his way, Vitality has managed to put together a team that rose above all others in terms of firepower.

The team went on an unbeaten streak that seemed destined never to end. Every team has to lose eventually, and that loss came in a shock defeat to Legacy in their opening game of the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Although it seemed like it might be the first crack, the team dusted themselves off and went on to win the event anyway, cementing its place atop the Counter-Strike rankings.

However, since the return from the player break, Vitality haven’t looked like the same team. Teams that they were easily brushing aside are now able to put up a fight, and those that previously could challenge them are managing to pick up wins here and there.

Before the Major, a game against MOUZ or The MongolZ was a foregone conclusion. Neither team could match Vitality’s firepower or tactical depth. Since the return to action, Vitality have fallen to both teams, and in the case against MOUZ, never looked like winning the game.

Unfortunate timing may have cost them a comeback in their match versus The MongolZ, but even then, the team’s overall performance was akin to comparing apples and oranges when considering what we had all grown accustomed to in the first half of the year.

Even Team Liquid, a team that has struggled so much this year that they risk failure to qualify for the StarLadder Budapest Major, managed to force two overtimes against Vitality.

Liquid consistently found ways to win rounds through chinks in the armour that simply weren’t present prior to the player break. The roster will be looking to go one further in Riyadh, today.

Are Vitality Done and Dusted?

The simple answer is “no”.

Although Vitality may no longer be as convincing as they once were, they’ve still placed in the top four of two large events this season. The team’s form still has them as one of the most elite teams in Counter-Strike, even if individual levels may have dipped slightly.

The reality of the situation is that you just can’t win everything, and Vitality knows that themselves.

Although it may be frustrating for the team and fans alike, the current attitude towards them is nothing more than a consequence of setting the bar unrealistically high this year. It’s the price of success.

Until Vitality starts actively crashing out of events and not going deep in tournaments, there really is no need to worry. And who knows? With the Esports World Cup set to kick off today, we could be talking about them lifting their eighth trophy of 2025 by the end of the week.