Vitality has had a rockstar-like year so far, winning three events in a row, 16 matches on the trot, and looking unbeatable on multiple maps.
Smashing records left, right, and centre, talisman Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut now has the most career HLTV MVP awards of any player in Counter-Strike. Alongside this, Vitality made history after winning map one in the BLAST Open Libson Grand Finals against MOUZ 13:0, the first team in CS2 to do so in a Tier 1 Grand Finals.
Heading into IEM Melbourne, Vitality are looking to extend their win streak, but there is more on the line than just trophies. Because of their win at IEM Cologne last year and their victories at IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League Season 21 this year, they are just one win away from the ESL Grand Slam.
Vitality will have five chances to secure the ESL Grand Slam (formerly the Intel Grand Slam up until EPL Season 21) and the $1,000,000 prize, with only one victory needed at any of the following events:
IEM Melbourne 2025 — April 21-27
IEM Dallas 2025 — May 19-25
IEM Cologne 2025 — July 26-August 3
ESL Pro League Season 22 — September 27 – October 12
IEM Chengdu 2025 — November 3-9
With IEM Melbourne starting in one day, no team seems to be able to best Vitality, and this could be their best chance.
Not only would it be the first time that Vitality or any of these players would win an ESL Grand Slam, but it would mark a historic point in which a UK player wins this prestigious accolade.
William “mezii” Merriman has been flying the UK flag high in 2025 and doesn’t seem like he intends to stop anytime soon.
The ESL Grand Slam is a $1,000,000 prize for the first team to win four S-Tier events organised by ESL during a window of 10 consecutive events.
Originating in 2017, the first Season was won by Astralis in 2018 after the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. It was next won by Team Liquid in 2019 after winning ESL One Cologne. The next chapter was written by Natus Vincere in 2021 after defeating Vitality in the Grand Finals of ESL Pro League Season 14. The most recent team to win the ESL Grand Slam was FaZe Clan in 2023, as they won ESL Pro League Season 17.
Now, after two years spanning across 14 events, the ESL Grand Slam is within touching distance for Vitality.
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