Heroic best Vitality 2-1 and remain undefeated

The match of the day, and perhaps even the event insofar, was set to be an intense brawl between the Danes of Heroic and the French Vitality. In the rankings, the two teams are neck and neck with Heroic ranked as the eighth-best team in the world and Vitality as the ninth. This should mean a close Bo3-series between the two rosters. And close it came to be. The series started off with Heroic absolutely dominating Vitality on Vertigo, however, on Nuke we saw a different Vitality roster taking the second map. This all led to the third and final map of Inferno, and what a showcase of tier-one CS:GO it was. Each team refused to give away the series and it was impossible to tell who had the upper hand for a very long time. Ultimately, however, it was the Danes of Heroic to finish what they had started on Vertigo and take home the Bo3-series with a 2-1 victory.

The first map was the pick of Vitality. The Vitality boys opted for a “punish pick” and tried to surprise Heroic, instead of picking their own strongest map. The first map of the series was Vertigo, a map that Heroic have spent very little time playing. However, the Heroic roster was more than ready to play Vertigo it seemed. Coming flying out of the gate it was the Danes to take control. Thanks to extraordinary team play and an incredible performance from “stavn” on the secondary AWP, the Danes were able to walk away with a scoreline of 13-2 at halftime. It seemed impossible for Vitality to come back in the second half, and it proved to be exactly that. At the scoreline of 16-7, it was Heroic to take home the first map of the Bo3-series.

The second map of the series was Heroic’s map pick. The Danes opted for Nuke as their map pick, a map that has proven to be home ground for Danish teams such as themselves and Astralis. And Heroic didn’t fail to post a great performance on Nuke, however, so did Vitality this time. Exchanging rounds back and forth it was difficult to grasp which team had the upper hand. With “ZywOo” finally hitting some shots it seemed a completely different Vitality roster than what we had seen on Vertigo. A confident Heroic tried their best to outmaneuver their opponents, however, the French had woken up and they were not going down without a fight. Ultimately it was Vitality to retaliate against the Danes and take the map of Nuke at the scoreline of 16-12.

The third and final map was set to be played on Inferno. It quickly became clear that both teams were now warm and ready to fight. With “apEX” leading the charge in the Vitality camp, both fragging and calling the shots, the French posted a great T-sided half and had the slight edge going into the second half at the scoreline of 8-7. The second half kept on going as the first had ended, with either team giving their opponents an inch to work with. Ultimately, however, it was the Danes to pull away from Vitality in the dying stages of the game. After closing out Inferno at 16-13 Heroic remains undefeated with 9 points to their name in the ESL Pro League Season 14.

Map 1 – Vertigo

16-7 Heroic | TeSeS 1.53 Rating / 102.8 ADR / 19-15 K-D

Map 2 – Nuke

16-12 Vitality | ZywOo 1.50 Rating / 92.3 ADR / 26-14 K-D

Map 3 – Inferno

16-13 Heroic | ZywOo 1.32 Rating / 73.8 ADR / 25-15 K-D 

Highlight of the BO1-series

MVP

Mathieu ”ZywOo” Herbaut | 1.25 Rating - 65-49 K/D - 80.5 ADR - 72.5% KAST