Credit: Stephanie Lindgren, BLAST

Vitality takes last semi-final spot at IEM Winter

Gambit is eliminated from IEM Winter 2021

2021-12-05 | @undefined

The last semi-final spot was up for grabs when Vitality and Gambit clashed. This was anything but a classic match-up, as the teams have only faced each other in two series prior to this one. But one thing those two series had in common was that it was the Frenchmen to emerge victorious both times. This time was no different.

Vitality were the first to choose a map, and with that choice, they went the way of Dust2, a real classic when it comes to French CS.
It was the French side that got off to the best start as “misutaaa” led them to several round-wins with a flurry of impact frags coming out of the young Frenchman’s rifle. Gambit did manage five rounds in a row in the middle of the first half but were not able to do any more than that, and the halftime score was 10-5.
The second half did not bring any more luck for the CIS squad as the French steam engine was not to be stopped on Dust2. Vitality took a convincing 16-5 win and put themselves ahead in the series.

For the second map, Gambit went to Vertigo, a map that they for a long time looked unbeatable on.
The map started perfectly for Gambit who comfortably put themselves ahead 6-0, led by a hot “Ax1Le”. This is when things started going a little bit awry for them, as they lost against the French who were armed with nothing but deagles. As a result, Vitality were able to make a small comeback in the half and bring themselves to halftime at 9-6 in favor of Gambit.
The second half saw Vitality even the score at 9-9, suddenly blowing the map wide-open. This was the last time we saw signs of life from the French, as Gambit started meticulously tearing them apart. Especially the Russian support player “interz” had an amazing performance on the CT-side, which allowed Gambit to take the map win 16-9.

To determine the fate of the match, the teams would have to show their very best on the third and final map, Mirage. Vitality started on the CT-side, which most teams prefer, while Gambit, of course, started as the terrorists.
The map had a bit of a clumsy start with a real force-buy war, where the teams just kept trading rounds. Finally, Vitality were able to string two rounds together and put Gambit on the backfoot. This trend continued throughout the first half, where the CIS squad couldn’t really find a way through the defense of the French. Vitality led by IGL “apEX”, and his superstar “ZywOo” kept the pressure up and went to halftime with 11 rounds to their name.
Gambit started the second half in a promising fashion. They had a long way to go to make the comeback a reality, but slowly they moved closer and closer to the Frenchmen. Unfortunately for the Gambit boys, it was still the French side that reached match point first at 15-12, but Gambit managed to stand their ground and pull it into overtime. In the end, it was the French squad that was able to pull it over the line in the closest fashion possible: 19-17.

The result means that Gambit is eliminated in 5th-6th, while Vitality moves on to the semi-final where they will face Virtus.pro.

Highlight of the BO3-series: