ESL Pro League Season 24 ended with Vitality lifting the trophy. The tournament, held in Katowice, Poland, from October 3 to 11, featured 16 teams and delivered plenty of unexpected results — from Spirit’s struggles and NAVI’s early elimination to MOUZ’s impressive run to the final and yet another incredible performance from ZywOo.
In the decisive match, Vitality gave MOUZ little chance, winning the series 3–0, while Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut not only emerged as the star of the grand final but also received the tournament MVP award.
Here is what made ESL Pro League Season 24 memorable.
The tournament featured a Swiss Stage, where teams needed three victories to advance to the playoffs.
Vitality and MOUZ handled that task better than anyone else, with both teams finishing the Swiss Stage with perfect 3–0 records.
Vitality began their campaign with a 2–0 victory over 1win before defeating NAVI and Falcons 2–1. MOUZ looked even more convincing, not dropping a single map against M80, FURIA, or Spirit.
Their first meeting with Spirit was particularly interesting. Spirit entered the tournament as the No. 1 team in the world according to the VRS ranking, but MOUZ swept them 2–0. As it turned out, this was only the first chapter of their rivalry at ESL Pro League Season 24.
One of the biggest surprises of the group stage was Spirit’s struggles.
The team began the tournament with two victories, defeating ShindeN and PARIVISION, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. Spirit first lost 0–2 to MOUZ before suffering a surprising defeat by the same scoreline against 1win.
As a result, one of the tournament favorites went from being on the verge of quickly securing a playoff spot to facing elimination with a 2–2 record.
Spirit eventually recovered in the decisive series, defeating M80 2–0 and securing their final opportunity to continue the fight for the trophy.
1win, meanwhile, became one of the biggest revelations of the Swiss Stage. After an opening loss to Vitality, the team went on to defeat G2, Legacy, and Spirit, unexpectedly finishing the stage with a 3–1 record.
For Natus Vincere, ESL Pro League Season 24 ended before the matches at the Spodek Arena.
NAVI started the tournament well with a 2–0 victory over G2 but then lost to Vitality. A win over 9z moved the team to a 2–1 record, leaving them just one victory away from the playoffs. That final victory never came.
NAVI first lost 1–2 to Falcons before falling 1–2 to PARIVISION in the decisive match at 2–2.
As a result, NAVI finished ESL Pro League Season 24 in 9th–11th place and missed the playoffs. It was one of the tournament’s biggest disappointments, especially considering that after their first three matches, they were just one win away from advancing.
After the Swiss Stage, Vitality, MOUZ, Falcons, Aurora, 1win, FURIA, Spirit, and PARIVISION remained in contention for the championship.
The quarterfinals immediately highlighted the difference between the group stage and elimination matches.
Aurora comfortably stopped 1win’s surprising run with a 2–0 victory. Vitality defeated PARIVISION by the same scoreline, MOUZ once again handled FURIA convincingly, while Spirit did not drop a map against Falcons.
That set up two fascinating semifinals: Vitality vs. Aurora and MOUZ vs. Spirit.
The semifinal against Aurora did not start according to plan for Vitality.
The Turkish team took Anubis, with woxic producing an incredible second half of the map. However, Vitality completely turned the series around from that point.
On Cache, ZywOo became Aurora’s biggest problem. The French superstar finished the map with a 2.36 rating — his best performance on Cache at that point. Vitality tied the series before completing the comeback on Mirage.
The series ended 2–1, with ZywOo finishing as Vitality’s highest-rated player with a 1.44 rating.
The second semifinal brought a rematch between MOUZ and Spirit. This time, Spirit managed to put up a much stronger fight.
MOUZ took Dust2 13–7, while Spirit responded with a 13–9 victory on Mirage, meaning the second grand finalist would be decided on Nuke.
That was where PR became one of the main heroes. The Czech player recorded 27 kills on the deciding map and played a crucial role in MOUZ’s 13–11 victory.
MOUZ had therefore defeated Spirit for the second time at the same tournament and secured their place in the grand final.
After the match, PR told Players that MOUZ’s coaching staff had prepared the team well for Spirit and that the players had a clear understanding of how they wanted to counter donk.
Following their defeat to MOUZ, Spirit still had a third-place match against Aurora.
However, they were unable to finish the tournament with a victory.
Aurora defeated Spirit 2–0 to claim third place at ESL Pro League Season 24. Spirit, who entered the tournament at the top of the global VRS ranking, finished the event in fourth place.
For Aurora, the bronze medal was a fitting conclusion to a strong tournament. They went 3–1 in the Swiss Stage, defeated 1win in the quarterfinals, and forced Vitality to come back from a 0–1 deficit in the semifinals.
On paper, the clash between Vitality and MOUZ promised to be the perfect conclusion to the tournament.
MOUZ had yet to lose a series at ESL Pro League Season 24. They went 3–0 in the Swiss Stage, defeated FURIA in the quarterfinals, and beat Spirit for the second time in the semifinals.
But there was very little suspense in the grand final.
Vitality swept MOUZ 3–0 — 13–8 on Cache, 13–7 on Inferno, and 16–12 on Dust2.
MOUZ started Cache well and took a 5–1 lead, but Vitality quickly seized control. From that point on, apEX and his teammates never allowed their opponents to regain control of the series.
MOUZ still attempted to keep the final alive on the third map, pushing Dust2 into a close finish, but Vitality eventually closed out the series and lifted the trophy.
If Vitality were the champions of the tournament, ZywOo was undoubtedly its biggest individual star.
The Frenchman finished the grand final with 64 kills and 33 deaths, 90.3 ADR, and a 1.65 rating.
But his dominance was not limited to just one match.
ZywOo finished ESL Pro League Season 24 with the tournament’s highest average rating at 1.43. In the playoffs, he recorded a 1.66 rating against PARIVISION, 1.44 against Aurora, and 1.65 against MOUZ.
The Frenchman also led the tournament in kills per round with 0.86.
For his performance, ZywOo received the HLTV MVP award. It was already his sixth MVP medal of 2026 and the 34th of his career, extending his own all-time record.
The victory in Katowice became Vitality’s second consecutive title following their triumph at StarSeries Fall in September.
And that may be the biggest takeaway from ESL Pro League Season 24.
After Vitality’s incredible period of dominance in 2025, the team is constantly expected to perform at the same level. Any dip in form immediately raises questions about whether this roster is capable of returning to its very best.
In Katowice, Vitality provided a convincing answer.
The team went through the Swiss Stage undefeated, recovered from a difficult start against Aurora in the semifinal, and then gave MOUZ virtually no chance in the grand final.
And once again, ZywOo stood above everyone else.
ESL Pro League Season 24 delivered 1win’s surprising playoff run, another disappointing tournament for NAVI, two MOUZ victories over Spirit, Aurora’s bronze-medal finish, and PR’s outstanding performance in the semifinal. But the final word belonged to Vitality.
A 3–0 victory in the grand final, a second consecutive trophy, and another MVP medal for ZywOo — Vitality leave ESL Pro League Season 24 with a clear message to their rivals: they are building momentum once again.
As a reminder, PR: “We have a great team atmosphere and the right mentality” — on MOUZ’s victory over Spirit and their qualification for the ESL Pro League grand final.
