This is what it's all been building up to.

It's the end of the year, and the end of the BLAST cycle, and two titans remain with their own storylines, their own paths here and their own claim to the throne.

But by the end of the day, only one will remain.

Credit: Stephanie Lindgren

The story of Team Vitality

Vitality came into the year as a strong team, but they were not the de facto best team in the world at first.

A disappointing finish to IEM Katowice after failure at the Rio Major had some questioning their credentials as champions - but when they flew back to Rio to clean up at IEM Rio, they flew home for a Major in their home country.

Well, apEX and ZywOo's home country, at least.

Vitality of course romped to victory in Paris, losing not a single map and getting dupreeh his fifth Major in CSGO - before they made a ruthless move.

They aimed to stay on top by changing before the fall, and dupreeh found himself benched for flameZ, a tenacious, aggressive piece who is an IGL's dream. Replacing dupreeh is tough, but flameZ is about as good as they get in that regard.

dupreeh's fellow Danes zonic and Magisk left of their own accord shortly after, but that has just allowed Vitality to bring in the revered XTQZZZ and the finest slab of British beef, mezii.

Magisk is similarly difficult to replace, but mezii offers near-unrivalled versatility, a cool head under pressure and good vibes, most importantly.

mezii's first event was in Copenhagen at Fall Final, and while he was slow to get going, he did enough as an aggressor to open up space for his stars. Vitality, as you probably know, went all the way to the final and beat today's opponents FaZe.

Now, here in Abu Dhabi, they're a level above even that. mezii has elevated to the point that he is in the conversation for MVP at World Final, and Vitality have another big threat to add to the growing list.

ZywOo is still probably the best player in the world, though there is an argument for one player on the opposition, and Spinx maintains a steady level of superstardom.

apEX has grown into an elite leader, making this team the favourite even against CS2's frontrunners.

Vitality won in Copenhagen against FaZe, and it'd be hard to bet against them doing it again.

Credit: Michal Konkol

FaZe's path to glory

FaZe Clan started CS2 as the frontrunners and have shown no signs of slowing down.

Only today's opponents Team Vitality and GamerLegion have beaten FaZe Clan on LAN so far in the new game, and FaZe have won event after event.

However, the first part of that sentence is the kicker. FaZe Clan are brilliant, but Vitality might be even better.

There is a twist in the tale, though; a wildcard, if you will. FaZe's acquisition of frozen in the place of Twistzz might just be the sort of move that can change their fortunes.

Twistzz is without a doubt one of the greats, and finding a 1:1 replacement is just not possible - so FaZe did the next best thing and found a superstar.

frozen on MOUZ was a phenom, and has worked with karrigan and ropz in the past. He's a superb player capable of being an elite level lurker or aggressive piece in the same system, but is stylistically different to Twistzz.

While Vitality have glided to the final, FaZe have grinded a bit harder. That seems like a negative - but it's those difficult moments, the pressure cooker moments, when the chips are down, that FaZe really excel.

If this final gets close, if overtimes start rolling in, if it needs the perfect call under pressure - that's when FaZe Clan will strike, and that's how they can cut Vitality down.

Whatever happens, this is going to be spectacular.