Vitality survive at the Major, Evil Geniuses eliminated

In the first elimination match of the day, we have Vitality facing Evil Geniuses. The French side comes into this match as huge favorites, as the results of EG have been extremely underwhelming. The first two matchups for the American side were losses against FaZe and Copenhagen Flames, at 16-6 and 16-2. They would need a massive performance boost to survive at the Major. The first map picked by EG was Inferno, then Vertigo picked by Vitality and Dust2 would be the decider if needed.

The favorites from France started fast going up 4-0 and rapidly building their economy by only losing two players during these rounds. EG answered back with force, stringing together three rounds together before being obliterated by a sinister “shox” ace. EG managed a couple more rounds by having “Brehze” break down the Vitality defense, but the Frenchmen would go into the second half with a lead of 10-5.

The American Geniuses started out great in the second half, picking up momentum in the pistol round and converting it into seven rounds in a row, going up 12-10. That’s when the fun stopped as the Frenchmen found form and took three. Vitality were not able to put up any more resistance on their T-side and EG takes the victory on their own map pick at 16-13 and shows that they have more fight in them than they showed yesterday.

The second map would take place on the construction site of Vertigo. The map pick of Vitality would grant them the first three rounds. But EG looked solid and were able to keep the economy low for the French side. This would be crucial as the Geniuses managed to break the Vitality side and take five rounds for themselves. For a moment it looked like EG would complete the upset at 2-0, but after their five-round win-streak, Vitality totally crushed them, taking all the all every single round from that point on. Vitality takes the map 16-5, ending on a streak of 13 rounds in a row.

Dust2 was to be the final stand that would decide the fate of EG and Vitality at this Major. The Geniuses would get the first foot out the door as they took down the pistol round. Vitality shut them down fast with the force-buy and began to build their lead. The American squad struggled throughout the first half to figure out how to crack the French defense. “CeRq” was not done at this Major and helped carry his team to five rounds on the T-side.

EG would start fastest again taking the first two of the second half. The American squad kept fighting as hard as they could getting a round here and there, but it just did not seem like enough, as the French powerhouse possessed too much firepower and reached series-point at 15-9. “MICHU” managed to keep his team in contention a little longer, but it was all for naught as the Frenchmen were able to close it out at 16-12

Vitality – Evil Geniuses 2-1 | PGL Major Stockholm Legends Stage

13-16 (Inferno) | Brehze – 1.41 Rating / 24-18 K-D / 102.5 ADR

16-5 (Vertigo) | ZywOo – 1.58 Rating / 20-11 K-D / 92.5 ADR

16-12 (Dust2) | Kyojin – 1.31 Rating / 21-14 K-D / 70.4 ADR

 Play of the match by Cerq on Inferno: