Team Vitality’s CS:GO roster, a star-studded mix of French and Danish talent, has finally reached the semifinal of a premier tournament after a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over ENCE today at the BLAST Premier Spring Finals.
Vitality came out on fire on their own pick of Overpass, punishing ENCE via an overwhelming T-side in the first half and jumping out to a 7-0 lead before ENCE called a timeout. ENCE only got their first round off an unlikely force buy but were able to string together a few CT rounds to close out the half trailing 9-6. Vitality claimed the CT pistol round to increase their lead, though, and held off another ENCE run thanks to a strong performance from apEX, taking map one 16-10.
Nuke began with what looked to be another strong performance from Vitality, this time on the CT side. Misutaaa fueled the hot start, posting 10 kills in just the first six rounds. But ENCE bounced back in a big way, going on an impressive T-side run, taking advantage of poor defensive positioning by Vitality. Despite trailing 5-1 at one point, ENCE finished the first half with a 9-6 lead. ENCE took the second half pistol to increase their lead, but Vitality showed signs of recovery on their own T-side and rallied back to tie the map at 11-11. Even when ENCE took a 15-11 lead, Vitality rallied again with four straight to force overtime.
Vitality took an early 2-1 advantage in overtime, eventually reaching match point in the final round of the first OT period. And then theyy secured a series victory with a brutal crossfire setup on the A site.
The Vitality roster, featuring superstar ZywOo and multi-time Major winners Magisk and dupreeh, have underperformed since their formation at the beginning of 2022. They posted a losing record in the ESL Pro League and failed to make the playoffs of the PGL Antwerp Major. But now, they’ve secured their highest placing since their formation and could go further with a semifinal win over G2.
