Vitality Beat Aurora 3-1 at StarSeries Fall 2026 to End Their Trophy Drought Before the Singapore Major

Vitality are champions again. On Sunday, September 20, the French organisation beat Aurora 3-1 in the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 grand final in Barcelona. It was their first title since BLAST Rivals on May 3, and it came from a side that had spent months searching for its best form.

Vitality, long regarded as the top team in the world, had been dealing with a dip in results and with William "mezii" Merriman's absence on parental leave. They arrived in Barcelona with their usual five-man lineup and left with the trophy, just as the Singapore Major approaches.

A long day that ended the right way

The win came with a heavy workload attached. Earlier on the same day, Vitality beat FURIA in the consolidation final, so they played six maps in one afternoon before lifting the trophy. Long days like that can go badly for a team short on confidence. Vitality looked sharper as the day went on.

Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut was the reason. He finished the grand final on a 1.51 rating with a 71-44 kill-death record and 95.3 ADR, well clear of everyone else on the server.

Fixing Anubis was the turning point

The final was a rematch. The day before, Aurora had beaten Vitality in the upper final, powered by strong CT-side performances on Nuke and Anubis. On Anubis they won 13-7, and Vitality took just eight rounds on the T side.

Shahar "flameZ" Shushan said afterwards that his team knew what Aurora would try.

The Anubis rematch bore that out. Vitality built a 9-3 lead, with an eco-round win in round six swinging the momentum, and finished it comfortably on the T side. The final score was 13-4. mezii went into the break with a 2.24 rating for the half. The T-side collapse from the day before had turned into a clean finish, and Aurora never recovered their earlier form.

Wicadia forces a second map, then Vitality shut it down

Aurora's best spell came on Inferno. Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalçın anchored the B-site defence and won his duels against ZywOo in Mid and Long on the T side. Aurora went up 11-5, and Vitality fought back. A flameZ 1v2 kept the map alive and pushed it towards overtime. Wicadia then produced a triple kill of his own, and Aurora closed it out 13-11 to level the series at 1-1.

That was the end of Aurora's threat. On Mirage, which was Aurora's second map pick, Vitality won 13-4, and ZywOo played with the assurance of someone who had already decided how the series would end. Cache followed the same pattern. ZywOo opened the map with a 1v2 and added a 3k out of Mid as Vitality won 13-7 to take the title.

Aurora's stars go missing

Aurora's numbers show how hard it was for them to win the two remaining maps. Wicadia was the only Aurora player rated above 1.00. Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo had been a pre-final MVP candidate, but he finished on a 0.81 rating. Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş was lower still at 0.69. Beating Vitality twice in two days required contributions from all five players, and Aurora did not get them.

The KAST numbers show the gap. Four of Vitality's five players finished at 74% or higher, while none of Aurora's five reached 66%.

What comes next

For Vitality, the title comes at a useful time. They have had a difficult stretch, and a win like this, built on a strong defensive fix and a ZywOo performance, gives them something to carry into Pro League. It also sets them up for the Singapore Major. Aurora, having beaten the champions once in the event, will have plenty to review from the rematch.