Team Spirit suffered a devastating 3-0 loss to Vitality at IEM Katowice 2025, with coach hally citing mental preparation and energy management as key factors in their defeat. The loss was particularly surprising given Spirit's previous 54% win rate and recent victories over Vitality.

Vitality dominated the series, winning nearly every pistol round across all three maps (4 on Mirage, 5 on Nuke, 3 on Dust2). Spirit managed to secure only one force round throughout the entire series.

Vitality's strategy focused on neutralizing Spirit's star player donk, who finished with a subpar 0.88 rating and 69 ADR—significantly below his usual performance. ZywOo explained their approach: "If you play together as a team, donk cannot do what he's doing."

Team Spirit players expressed their disappointment openly. Chopper kept his message brief, promising to train harder, while donk admitted to "Bad communication, bad decisions, bad aim, bad everything." The team removed their silver medals after the match, reflecting their frustration.

Despite this setback, Spirit remains a top-tier team with two major trophies this season (Perfect World Shanghai Major and BLAST Bounty). They now have a three-week break before ESL Pro League Season 21 begins on March 7, giving them time to address their mental game and strategic weaknesses.

Coach hally emphasized the need for improvement: "We've won two and lost two finals, but we can't afford to lose like this. We've got work to do on our psychology. It felt like we wasted a lot of energy in the semifinal against NAVI. We need to learn how to recover before a best-of-five final."

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