Vitality in pole position in IEM Krakow playoffs - Preview

The first ‘proper’ S-tier LAN event playoffs of the year is so nearly upon us, and we couldn’t be much more excited.

If one handpicked the top six at an event, one would be hard pushed to pick better than this. You might want Falcons over Aurora, but given how Falcons crumbled in OT against MOUZ (and lost against Aurora!) they are a capable deputy in their stead. While we won’t suggest that we wouldn’t be excited to see FURIA vs Falcons again, FURIA vs Aurora remains a very fun match-up on paper.

soulfly is the only new player this season out of both teams, a theme that will continue throughout this article. He’s run pretty hot and cold, but importantly has been hot in the big games and helped Aurora in some very tough match-ups that they were losing with jottAAA. FURIA started extremely slowly, and do not look like the unbeatable behemoth of a few months ago, but are gradually re-finding their form, and by the end of the group stage resembled something like the trailblazing team of 2025. Aurora will not have a better chance to beat them, because it won’t be long before we see FURIA blowing teams out of the water again.

In the other semi-final, you have two teams who stood still in the roster storm (albeit, in a teacup), in G2 and MOUZ. These are two teams in relatively similar positions, though MOUZ are pretty objectively the better version; they are very, very good teams who probably lack a genuine superstar X factor player. HeavyGod is world class at what he does, but he’s not the type to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and have his way with it.

Is that a weird thing to say?

MOUZ have several players who are top 5 in their roles (one could argue everyone but Brollan, if one was so inclined), but nobody who is top 2, probably. xertioN is among the best in the world without ever really challenging donk. torzsi is damn good, but he isn’t m0NESY or ZywOo. Spinx and jimpphat are in similar positions. Brollan is still learning, and has the building blocks to be a top tier IGL, but as of yet isn’t quite there.

Which… completely tracks to huNter-, too. malbsMd and Jimpphat have both sacrificed themselves for the greater good despite being very handy players on their own. The difference between them is likely to be xertioN, who is a better opener than MATYS for our money, although it’s not a complete whitewash.

If xertioN gets going, MOUZ win this game - but it won’t be a simple one for them.

Waiting in the semis is both Spirit and Vitality, who look to be back to their best…ish. Spirit are notoriously up and down because they rely so heavily on their twin stars, and Vitality are an efficient machine who do look like the best team in the world again.

There’s a certain inevitability about Vitality at their best, where they feel truly unchallengeable, colossal, indomitable. They’re not quite there yet, but if they win here without dropping a map we’re ready to enter another era, not least because the other top teams feel so squishy.

Spirit are an excellent team who can beat Vitality a handful of times out of 10, but Vitality are so consistently good and will always be elite, and if you’re ever not at your absolute peak (as Spirit so often aren’t), Vitality will crush you.

We expect Vitality to win here, and it’s usually easier too; else you’ll so often be disappointed.