Tier-one teams FaZe Clan and G2 Esports could wave goodbye to CS:GO in a catastrophic way with early eliminations from the BLAST Paris Major Legends Stage. In the meantime, though, lesser-known squads such as GamerLegion, Into the Breach, and Apeks are close to making history and reaching the playoffs of a Valve-sponsored event for the first time.
Thankfully for French fans, Vitality are not in the same boat as FaZe and G2 and actually qualified for the playoffs with a 3-0 record alongside Heroic. ZywOo, the superstar of Vitality, weighed in on why we’re getting so many upsets at the BLAST Paris Major in an interview with HLTV after booking the Champions Stage spot.
“I feel like the smaller teams want it more than the big teams,” ZywOo said. “Maybe because it’s the last Major, but yeah, in my opinion like, Into The Breach, Monte, GamerLegion, they want it more than G2 or FaZe, that’s why they lost. You can feel when they’re playing, they scream, they’re really enjoying it. That’s the best part about it, I think that’s why the biggest teams are struggling right now.”
ZywOo said Vitality prepared for the BLAST Paris Major for six months. And although he and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire had to deal with the pressure of qualifying for the playoffs to play in front of the home crowd, Vitality actually enjoyed their run in the Legends Stage and made jokes during games to keep the mood high, according to ZywOo.
Should all the underdogs—Monte, Into the Breach, GamerLegion, and Apeks—win one more match and qualify for the playoffs, half of the teams in the Champions Stage will be tier-two squads, which could have a negative impact on the competition’s viewership numbers as it wouldn’t have as many big-name rosters.
