Team Vitality’s roster has further cemented its place in Counter-Strike history after their IEM Rio 2026 victory secured the team’s second ESL Grand Slam.
Vitality makes history with Grand Slam victory
The roster became the first team to secure two Grand Slams with a 3-0 Grand Final victory over Team Spirit. The question was not if Vitality would win the Grand Slam again, but when, and they did so on the first time of asking at IEM Rio.
The roster will now begin their chase for an unprecedented third Grand Slam at IEM Atlanta in May. With four ESL events remaining in 2026, Vitality can theoretically win another Grand Slam this year, provided there are no rule changes to the Grand Slam requirements.
The most important of those tournaments will be the IEM Cologne 2026 Major, where Vitality will hope to equal Astralis’ record of three Majors in a row, and four in total for the organization.
Intel/ESL Grand Slam winners:
- Vitality – 2: Season VI, Season 5
- FaZe – 1: Season 4
- NAVI – 1: Season 3
- Liquid – 1: Season 2
- Astralis – 1: Season 1
Robin ‘ropz’ Kool became the first player to secure three Grand Slams following the victory, combining his two gold bars from Vitality with FaZe’s Grand Slam, which they secured in 2023.
The chasing pack feels no closer to Vitality
Coming into the event with a shaky win against G2, Vitality looked more vulnerable at IEM Rio as they chased the Grand Slam.
That feeling was cemented by Vitality’s first defeat since January, as they lost 2-1 to Falcons in the Upper Final, breaking their 18-series win streak.
That feeling of vulnerability completely dissipated once Vitality entered the server on the stage, blowing NAVI away, before breaking Brazilian hearts in the Semi-Final.
Spirit were much improved in this tournament, but they still could not reach the heights of Vitality’s eminence.
While Vitality still did not look their commanding best at the IEM Rio Grand Final, their floor was still unreachable to a Spirit roster who suffered from their star, Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets, not showing his usual individual level.
It continues a pattern of Vitality dashing the hopes of improving rosters, as NAVI felt that same pain at IEM Rio and BLAST Rotterdam.
Andrii ‘B1ad3’ Horodenskyi joked to the ESL broadcast that NAVI should simply avoid events Vitality attends, but they are unfortunately locked in with Vitality for the American swing of the calendar, both attending BLAST Fort Worth, then IEM Atlanta.
Spirit, on the other hand, will be looking forward to time away from Counter-Strike’s most dominant roster, attending PGL Astana instead of Atlanta from May 9-17.
Those events will be proof enough of whether their IEM Rio growth was concrete or ephemeral, as the Major looms large.
For Falcons, the event felt their most positive event since BLAST Bounty Season 1, which they played with a stand-in, but it ended in an equally brutal way with Spirit dismantling the team.
It is likely the last time we see this roster, with rumours of Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen’s arrival all but confirmed. They will also avoid Vitality at Astana and the CS Asia Championships, a potentially perfect honeymoon period for the Falcons roster.
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For more news, see FalleN’s retirement announcement at IEM Rio 2026.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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