IEM Melbourne is set to wrap up with a match between top-ranked Team Vitality and the fast-rising Team Falcons, and it’s an interesting one to bet on.
Team Vitality is on an epic winning streak that has the team looking like it’s one of the new Astralis or Ninjas in Pyjamas-like dynasties. Meanwhile, Team Falcons may have finally bought itself the kind of team it has always searched for. On top of pride and rankings, the Intel Grand Slam system adds some big money to the stakes of this match.
So who should you bet on?
SEMI-FINAL! Vitality vs TheMongolz – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Melbourne 2025 | CS2
IEM Melbourne will conclude with a Team Vitality vs Team Falcons grand final. The match will take place on April 27, 2025. Unlike the other matches at IEM Melbourne thus far, the grand finals is a best-of-five series.
The top prize is $125,000 but the Intel Grand Slam $1 million prize is also in play here. This means Vitality could take home an additional $1 million, while Falcons gets a $100,000 bonus if it wins.
Team Vitality has continued to blaze its way through the competition in IEM Melbourne. The team is on a 20-match winning streak and has only lost six maps during that stretch. In IEM Melbourne, Vitality has beaten FlyQuest, Team Liquid, Team Falcons, and The MongolZ.
The Team Vitality roster really clicked after the addition of Robin “ropz” Kool:
Vitality bans Ancient and it doesn’t have any weak map. Its weakest map is officially Anubis, where it has a 66% winrate, and everything beyond that sees the team win at least 80% of the time.
Team Falcons has looked very good in IEM Melbourne. It earned a spot in the playoffs with wins over SAW and NaVi, and pushed its way to the finals by beating GamerLegion and MOUZ. The only hiccup along the way? A loss to Team Vitality in the group stage.
Team Falcons’ current roster includes these players:
Throughout 2025 Falcons has been middling to solid on most maps, while banning Anubis. It has a losing record on Train and Inferno and has been at its best on Dust 2 and Inferno. However, the addition of m0NESY may bolster the team’s chances on some or all of those maps.
Vitality has only played against Falcons once since its January 2025 roster reboot. That once came a few days ago in IEM Melbourne’s group stage. Team Vitality won the match 2-0, taking a 16-13 overtime win on Mirage before closing the series 13-8 on Inferno.
Vitality is a big betting favorite against Team Falcons in the IEM Melbourne grand finals. The moneylines stand at 1.24 against 4.00. Though bookies clearly like Team Falcons’ current roster and even had the team even against MOUZ, they clearly view Vitality as a cut above The MongolZ, Falcons, and everyone else.
SEMI-FINAL! MOUZ vs Falcons – HIGHLIGHTS – IEM Melbourne 2025 | CS2
Vitality should be able to defeat Falcons in the finals of IEM Melbourne. It’s getting harder to deny Falcons as an elite Counter-Strike esports team. Even still, Vitality has been a step past elite this year. Falcons needs to prove it’s on that level before picking them.
Think you know who will win? Place your bets here!
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
