The world’s best team is in the playoffs of the Major after a doubtful start to the tournament.
Amongst the destruction enacted by Daniil ‘donk‘ Kryshkovets, Methieu ‘ZywOo‘ Herbaut is quietly also reaching new levels of dominance. Thanks to him, a weakened Vitality is in the Cologne playoffs.
Vitality took on BetBoom in the 2-1 match of the IEM Cologne Major. Vitality suffered an upset loss to 9z, while BetBoom got beaten by FURIA.
Vitality closed out the series in two maps, slowly reaching the form they have been known for in 2026.
ZywOo continues peak form on Overpass
BetBoom came into Overpass in good form, managing a strong CT-side. The beginning of the half was marked by Vitality’s fast pace, getting a 4-0 start.
Then, BetBoom replied with a streak of six consecutive rounds, setting up a strong defense. That was only broken by Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, who ended the half with a 3k, getting Vitality to six rounds.
On the CT-side, ZywOo was the unplayable demon he has been all tournament. Picking apart BetBoom with the help of Dan ‘apEX‘ Madesclaire in bathrooms, BetBoom had no chance.
Strong CT-side wins Vitality Nuke
Nuke, BetBoom’s pick, did not start as desired, as Vitality continued their hot streak from Overpass. Going up 7-2, it looked like a done and dusted victory for Vitality.
But it was BetBoom’s pick for a reason, and in spite of a poor start they managed to grind out four rounds before the end of the half.
BetBoom moved to their CT-side, but lost the pistol and the following rounds to Vitality. Once they got rolling, they lost a crucial force buy thanks to a saved AK-47 from William ‘mezii‘ Merriman.
Once down 6-12, BetBoom mounted a comeback that made Vitality start to sweat. They couldn’t find solutions as their players found form.
Eventually, Vitality found a solution, closing out the map and the series, with a brilliant attack onto the A-site from all sides.
Player of the match: ZywOo
The best player across all of 2026 is making an MVP case for this Major, even with the arrival of Daniil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets into the year.
He posted 53 kills in the series, with 30 on Nuke, a close map that went the distance. He had 20 more kills than anyone else on Vitality. He also had eight opening kills – the most on the server.
