Team Vitality is the winner of Intel Extreme Masters Krakow 2026, beating FURIA with a 3-1 scoreline. Building on an extraordinary 2025, Vitality has opened the new season by winning the first Premier tournament in style, as not only did they retain the trophy. Furthermore, the Vitality era into the new year. With no intention of slowing down, the core Vitality roster has all the tools they need, and given the difference in form, Krakow will not be the only place in which they will lift a trophy.
VETO
- FURIA removed Dust2
- Vitality removed Ancient
- FURIA picked Mirage
- Vitality picked Inferno
- FURIA picked Nuke
- Vitality picked Overpass
- Anubis was left over
Map 1: Mirage; Pick: FURIA; Winner: FURIA
Splitting on the A site made sure FURIA got off to the winning ways before a quick 3K from apEX’s Five-Seven levelled the scoreline. Vitality maintained a near-perfect defence up until the 7th round after FURIA managed to hit their second on the board, having finally gotten into the B site after failing to get the better of the A site defenders, only for Vitality to win the next and build on it before FURIA, with a half buy, won the final round of the half to switch sides with the Brazilians trailing by 9-3. Winning the first round of the second half, FURIA cut the deficit in half before Vitality won two in a row, with flameZ clutching a 1v2 in the second, before FURIA regained control of the game with a force buy. Breaking the Vitality economy, FURIA went on to rack up a couple of rounds with their double AWP defence doing most of the heavy lifting until molodoy’s stunning 1v2 to retake the A bombsite, levelling the scoreline 11-11. With momentum on their side, FURIA bulldozed Vitality in the final two rounds of the map, starting the series with an unthinkable comeback and winning Mirage 13-11. flameZ’s 1.59 IR worth of heroics failed to give Vitality the much-needed edge as the young gun of FURIA in molody came in with the impact with the rest of the supporting cast behind him.
Map 2: Inferno; Pick: Vitality; Winner: Vitality
A quick split of the A site started the map with a Round win for Vitality, and beating the force buy made sure they went up to 4 before FURIA could answer. In an attempt to split A site on the 5th round, Molodoy and Yuurih put FURIA on the board with a solid hold. FURIA won their second round, losing one more, only for their streak to be stomped by ZyWoo and flameZ converting a 2v4 to get Vitality their 6th. The FURIA defence recovered with back-to-back 2 rounds before ZyWoo clutched a 1v2 in the final to give his side the narrow lead of 7-5. His solid performance continued on the defence as Vitality secured the pistol round, with him turning the FURIA lead on its head, winning the first round, and following it up with a second. The FURIA offence fell flat as Vitality ran away with the second half to quickly close the game with a 13-8 scoreline, levelling the series.
Map 3: Nuke; Pick: FURIA; Winner: Vitality
Starting strong on defence, Vitality kicked off stunningly with a 9-0 start before FURIA could even see a round. With FURIA focusing heavily on the inside, Vitality had more inside every time the Brazilians went for it. With a rock-solid defence for almost the entirety of the half, Vitality had a read on everything FURIA threw at them, only for them to slip the final few rounds of the half, leading FURIA to win 2 rounds as they walked away with a double-digit score. Winning the pistol round to kick off the second half, Vitality sealed the fate for FURIA as the following two rounds went effortlessly, as Vitality hit series point with utter dominance over FURIA. With stars of Vitality showing up, the trusted hands of meizii stood out as the best performer with pristine riflework.
Map 4: Overpass; Pick: FURIA; Winner: Vitality
A 5-0 start to the game sent Vitality on the winning ways before FURIA raced up with 5 rounds of their own to level the scoreline. KSCERATO pulling off a 1v2 clutch in the A bombsite put FURIA on the board as two teams putting up streaks of their own showed individual stages of domination, with them being inseparable till the conclusion of the first half. FUIRA got back to their winning ways after converting the pistol in the second half, only for Vitality to grab back control of the game with the first proper gun round. Making B the prime focus for the FURIA side, Vitality had little to no issues in stopping the rushes and executed as if they had a read for everything the Brazilians had in store for them. After a bit of back-and-forth by the end of the second half, ZyWoo 4K put Vitality on series point, and another 4K put Vitality over the line to win back-to-back IEM Karkow, with him posting his best performance of 2026 on one of the most prestigious stages of Counter-Strike.
FURIA performed brilliantly against some of the teams who, on their day, could have been in their place in the finals, and that goes to show the level this team is playing at. Losing one event early on works in their favor, given it hands them the time to fix the gaps in their strats with more important events coming up espeically the Major in mid-year. As they walk away, giving up Krakow, they will be watching over Vitality, as there will be plenty of chances of revenge in the coming days.