Vitality will go on to face familiar nemesis MOUZ, but in unfamiliar circumstances.
Vitality took on FURIA in the semi-final of BLAST Open Porto with a stand-in in their ranks, winning after a terrible start on the first map.
FalleN rolls back the years against Vitality on Nuke
It was apparent the crowd was on FURIA’s side since the start of Nuke, where Vitality had no chance.
FURIA was unstoppable on their CT-side. Vitality repeatedly tested FURIA’s A-hold, where their players took turns shutting down Vitality. Even Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo had his moment in the sun, having the highlight of the map pushing through a molotov to catch Vitality with their pants down.
Vitality had nobody firing against FURIA’s defense, not even Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, who had three kills on the server by the time FURIA was at 10-2.
Vitality managed to win the pistol round, but FURIA’s lead was enough for FalleN to work with, winning 13-6.
Kaike ‘KSCERATO’ Cerato top-fragged for FURIA, teaming up with FalleN for 24 kills between them on the CT side.
Reawakened Vitality claws back Cache
Vitality brought a different level to the second map, FURIA’s gamble pick of Cache.
After losing the pistol round, Vitality won seven rounds in a row, with Robin ‘ropz’ Kool showing up on the server with 14 kills, topping the board.
Besides the pistol, FURIA were stumped to find solutions, given a taste of their own medicine. Vitality took the half 8-4, but it was far from over.
Vitality squeak out a win
On the switch of sides, FURIA began gaining steam, winning their second pistol round of the map.
Daniil ‘molodoy’ Golubenko got an AWP in his hands, making the possibility of a comeback real.
The map was tied at 10-10, with ZywOo making his mark on the map, including a timely kill on the aforementioned molodoy in mid. He topped the server with an astonishing 2.23 rating on the T-side.
Vitality grinded their way to a 13-11 win on Cache, thanks to a timely performance from ropz and ZywOo, and the stand-in Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius showing up.
Vitality finish the job on Dust2
Vitality completed their first big win playing with their stand-in, jL, with a dominant win on Dust2. FURIA started strong with a pistol round win, but it quickly fell apart from there.
Vitality, after losing themselves on their home map of Dust2, came through to show some of their best here. On the B-side of the map, ropz was a constant thorn in their side, as Vitality was varied in their tactics.
Vitality won round after round, eventually breaking FURIA’s economy at 4-6. To cap it off, ropz found a double kill right away on two pushing FURIA players, helping Vitality close out the half 8-4.
Vitality then switched to their CT-side, cleaning up what was left of FURIA, winning dominantly 13-4.
MOUZ-Vitality in the semi-final
Vitality will face MOUZ in the semi-final, a classic from 2025, where Vitality almost always got the better.
However, now MOUZ find themselves on the rise after two new signings, and Vitality is playing with a stand-in after a dropoff.
