Vitality Out of the Top Four for the First Time in Two Years
Vitality dropped 188 VRS points in two months, falling out of the top four for the first time since 2024. The three events that broke them, and what comes next.
The August update to Valve's rankings landed on August 4, and for the first time since 2024, Vitality are not in the top four. A team that led the world in spring and won event after event has shed 188 points in two months and slipped to fifth. Right after that, the club announced apEX and mezii are going on paternity leave. Here's how the champions arrived at this August.
The three events that did it
The slide didn't start with a collapse. It started with a streak ending. At IEM Atlanta in May, Vitality lost 1-2 to Natus Vincere in the quarter-finals, ending a run of 21 consecutive events with a top-four finish stretching back to early 2025. It also ended another streak: 28 straight playoff wins on Anubis.
Next came the Cologne Major. Vitality arrived as reigning two-time champions chasing an unprecedented third title in a row. Instead: another quarter-final, another 1-2 defeat, this time to Falcons, their fourth loss in a row to the same opponent. Final placing: 5th-8th.
The third blow was BLAST Bounty, where the team went out during the online stage, losing 0-2 to Liquid and never reaching the Malta finals. Three events without a semi-final was all it took for Spirit, Falcons, MOUZ and 9z to move past the French side.
How the top looks now
| Rank | Team | VRS points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spirit | 2011 |
| 2 | Falcons | 1950 |
| 3 | MOUZ | 1873 |
| 4 | 9z | 1847 |
| 5 | Vitality | 1836 |
For context: on June 1 Vitality topped this same ranking with 2024 points. The gap to fourth place right now is just 11 points: one good playoff run puts them back.
Paternity leave and a stand-in
On the same day, August 4, Vitality announced jL: for two specific events, for two different reasons. He replaces mezii at BLAST Open Porto in late August and apEX at PGL Masters Bucharest in October, as both players go on paternity leave.
"Another Major MVP joins the hive! jL will join the main roster for BLAST Porto & PGL Bucharest while apEX and mezii are on paternity leave!" — from Vitality's official announcement.
jL is no random pickup: a Major MVP and fifth in HLTV's top 20 players of 2024. He left Natus Vincere on July 1 by his own decision, and before that played on loan for MOUZ, taking two bronze finishes. The absences are staggered across events, so the lineup only ever changes by one player at a time.
The situation isn't unique: HLTV already drew the parallel with Astralis, when Xyp9x and gla1ve took breaks in turn and the team had to rebuild itself.
What fifth place puts at risk
A Valve ranking position isn't about prestige. It's about invitations. The lower a team sits, the later its turn comes for events with narrow invite lists. Vitality are confirmed for ESL Pro League in October and IEM Beijing in November, but they're not on the published invite list for September's FISSURE Playground 3: eight of its sixteen slots are still unallocated.
The good news: a long run of big events sits between now and the Singapore Major (November 25 – December 13), starting with the Esports World Cup happening right now, where, incidentally, the French play their full roster: the leave starts after Paris.
What about the players
ZywOo was named HLTV's player of the year for 2025 (his fourth in a row, beating s1mple's record), with ropz third and flameZ seventh. The roster hasn't aged out or fallen apart; it has simply stopped winning the decisive matches. After the loss to Falcons, ZywOo himself admitted the team lacks confidence in its own game right now.
Settings and configs for all five, as always, live in our Vitality profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Vitality fall out of Valve's top four?
Three consecutive events without a semi-final: a quarter-final exit at IEM Atlanta, another at the Cologne Major, and an online-stage exit at BLAST Bounty. Over two months the team lost 188 VRS points and dropped from first to fifth.
Who is replacing apEX and mezii in the Vitality roster?
jL, formerly of Natus Vincere and a Major MVP. He plays BLAST Open Porto in place of mezii and PGL Masters Bucharest in place of apEX, while both go on paternity leave. At the Esports World Cup the team fields its regular lineup.
Can Vitality return to the top four before the Major?
Yes: the gap to fourth is only 11 points. Before the Singapore Major they still have the Esports World Cup, BLAST Open Porto, ESL Pro League, PGL Masters Bucharest and IEM Beijing; one strong playoff run is enough to reclaim the spot.
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