ESL Pro League Season 24 will begin for Vitality and 1win with a head-to-head match in the Swiss Bo3 group stage. Both teams start with a 0:0 record: the winner will move to the 1:0 group, while the losing team will drop to 0:1. The gap in the world ranking is significant — Vitality are in second place, while 1win are in 42nd position, so the European roster approaches the opening series as the clear favorite.
ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 24 — FORMAT SPECIFICS
ESL Pro League Season 24 takes place in Katowice with 16 teams participating. The group stage uses a Swiss Bo3 format: three wins are needed to advance, while three losses end a team’s run. Vitality and 1win start in the 0:0 group, so the winner will receive a positive 1:0 record, while the losing team will continue the tournament at 0:1.
The total prize pool of the tournament is $1 million, of which $300,000 goes to the player share and $700,000 to the club share. After the Swiss Stage, the tournament will continue in the Single Elimination Playoffs: the main matches will be played in Bo3, while the Grand final will be Bo5. For Vitality, the opening series is an opportunity to immediately confirm their status as one of the main contenders, while 1win will get a test against an opponent of a completely different level.
HEAD-TO-HEAD — THE TEAMS HAVE NOT MET YET
According to the presented statistics, Vitality and 1win have not yet played head-to-head matches. This means the teams do not have a current matchup history that could be used to evaluate their direct stylistic compatibility in a Bo3.
At the same time, the difference in experience at the highest level remains significant. Vitality have been competing among the leading teams in the world for a long time, while the current 1win core has only recently climbed into this part of the ranking. Therefore, the key factors of the first head-to-head series will be the veto and 1win’s ability to adapt to the favorite’s tempo.
CURRENT FORM
- Vitality — return to victories after an unstable stretch
Vitality’s recent results include victories over Aurora 3:1, FURIA 2:0, magic 2:0, and another win over FURIA 2:0. At the same time, the team lost to Aurora 1:2 and MOUZ 0:2. Despite individual losses, Vitality continue to regularly play against opponents from the upper part of the world ranking and approach ESL Pro League after winning a Bo5 series.
ZywOo has the best presented individual numbers with a 1.35 rating over the last three months. He averages 0.82 kills per round, has only 0.59 deaths, 76.5% KAST, a 1.31 multi-kill rating, +3.83% round swing, and 86.4 ADR. Together with ropz, flameZ, mezii, and apEX, he forms a roster with very high individual potential.
- 1win — unstable form before the tournament
1win approach the match after a run of mixed results. The team lost to HEROIC 1:2 and B8 0:2, then defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas 2:1, but later lost to Nemiga 0:2 and FOKUS 0:2. This stretch shows that the team is capable of taking series against strong opposition, but has not yet demonstrated the necessary stability.
Ax1Le has the best presented individual numbers with a 1.17 rating. He averages 0.71 kills per round, has 0.64 deaths, 75.5% KAST, a 1.12 multi-kill rating, +1.14% round swing, and 81.5 ADR. Together with ArtFr0st, fame, nafany, and BELCHONOKK, he forms an experienced core, but against Vitality, this level of individual play may not be enough.
MAP POOL & VETO
Statistics over the last 3 months (Vitality | 1win):
- Cache: 80% | 50%
- Dust2: 80% | 67%
- Mirage: 57% | 67%
- Inferno: 50% | 75%
- Nuke: 57% | —
- Ancient: — | 56%
- Anubis: 43% | 33%
Expected veto:
- Vitality can logically remove Ancient. The team has no presented matches on this map, while 1win have played Ancient 16 times and have a 56% win rate. There is little reason to give the opponent their most practiced map by sample size.
- 1win, in turn, should limit Dust2 or Cache as much as possible. Vitality have an 80% win rate on both maps — ten matches on Dust2 and five on Cache. Dust2 looks especially dangerous, where 1win also have a significant sample, but trail in win rate — 67% against 80%.
Likely maps:
- Vitality may bet on Dust2. The team has an 80% win rate across ten matches, while 1win show 67% across 27 maps. Cache is also a strong direction for the favorite with 80% against 50%, so it will be difficult for 1win to fully close both options in the veto.
- 1win may answer with Inferno, where they have a 75% win rate across four maps against Vitality’s 50%. Mirage also looks like a competitive option with a 67% to 57% advantage. If the series reaches a third map, Anubis could become one of the potential deciders, where Vitality have 43% and 1win have 33%.
KEY DUELS
- ZywOo vs Ax1Le — a clash between the most productive players according to the presented statistics, where ZywOo has a significant advantage in rating, KPR, multi-kill rating, and round swing.
- ropz vs fame — a rifle duel between players on whom the stability of trades and control of key positions in the middle of rounds will largely depend.
- flameZ vs BELCHONOKK — an aggressive battle for space that may be especially important on Dust2, Mirage, and Inferno.
PREDICTION
1win have potentially comfortable directions on Inferno and Mirage, while the experience of Ax1Le, fame, nafany, and ArtFr0st gives the team enough individual resources to create problems for a stronger opponent. The veto will be especially important: if 1win can remove one of Vitality’s best maps and get Inferno, their chances of taking a map will noticeably increase.
However, Vitality have a much more stable foundation, sit second in the world ranking, and gain a significant advantage thanks to ZywOo’s form. Strong numbers on Dust2 and Cache also give the team several comfortable directions in the veto, while 1win have recently been regularly losing Bo3s. Based on the presented data, Vitality have more arguments in this series.
Projected result: Vitality 2–0 1win
