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Picture Credit: Twitter

Zywoo-led Team Vitality took down Team Liquid to win the Grand Final of ESL Pro League Season 16 with a score of 3-2. The France-based team were a map down and registered a monumental comeback with crucial wins in Overpass and Vertigo to clinch the title. Vitality took home $175,000 and secured their slot for the BLAST World Final 2022 and the IEM Katowice 2023. Liquid took $70,000.


Vitality remained undefeated in the tournament as they were 5-0 in Group A before defeating Outsiders and G2 Esports in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Whereas the North American Team Liquid edged into the playoffs by finishing third in Group D. They made a run from the Round of 12 to the grand final but had to settle for a second-place prize of $85,000.

Liquid opened the match with a 16-7 win on Inferno, and Vitality immediately retaliated with a 16-7 Dust II victory. Liquid once again held their nerves to beat French Organisation 25-21 in overtime on Mirage and take a 2-1 lead. Vitality pulled one map back with a 19-17 overtime win on Overpass before they clinched the title with a 16-11 win on Vertigo completing the comeback.


The undoubtedly start of the show was Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut. The Frenchman finished the series with a record-breaking 143 kills and was far and went on to win the Most Valuable Player of ESL Pro League Season 16. This accolade also ended his 10-month streak without an MVP medal. 


This is Zywoo’s only MVP award of the year and the first since IEM Winter 2021. This also takes his career MVP tally to 13. ZywOo's otherworldly performance throughout the tournament allowed him to comfortably beat stars like Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, and Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis to the award.


After the ESL Pro League Season 16, the next big CSGO event will be the IEM Rio Major which will start on 31 October. The regional RMR qualifications for the Major will start on 4 October.