Dan “apEX” Madesclaire received a new powerful weapon to his already strong arsenal when Vitality announced the signing of ENCE’s star rifler Lotan “Spinx” Giladi in mid-August. A signing that already looks to have improved the squad immensely.

Spinx and his impressive 2022-season have meant that the 22-year-old Israeli has been given unrestricted freedom on the server, apEX has explained in a [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRQI0nFMlNs","isNewTab":true,"text":"34-minute-long video"}] on Vitality’s Youtube.

- Of course, Lotan [Spinx] is not the same player as Kevin [misutaaa], so there are quite a few positions that change. He also has to find his place in the team. I try to give him a lot of confidence and a free hand in everything. He can do what he wants. He is as free a ZywOo I would say, apEX said and continued:

- Changing a player is not the most complicated thing in CS, but all of us need to adapt. Because it’s not role for role, there are a lot of changes on a lot of maps. Position changes on CT and T, so it complicates things on a lot of maps.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"notable-cs-go-transfers-2022","isNewTab":true}]

“One of the best riflers in the world”

Spinx also features in the video, where he touches on his goals after signing with Vitality.

- My goal, in the long run, is to show everyone that I’m one of the best riflers in the world, playing for one of the best teams in the world. For now, you have this FaZe/NAVI era with only two teams. I want [Vitality] to be a part of these two teams. I want us to be the team that everyone is trying to beat, Spinx stated. 

The entire behind-the-scenes video can be seen right here.

You can also find our own interviews with apEX and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. Both our talks with the Vitality players also focus on Spinx and what his arrival has meant or will mean for the French squad. Check them out in the articles below. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"sitdown-with-apex-need-stable-top-5-team-no-matter","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"dupreeh-fixed-90-positions-with-spinx-coming","isNewTab":true}]

Spinx

Misutaaa

apEX

Team Vitality

ENCE

Falcons have confirmed their signing of Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier and Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt. The signings comes shortly after a report from [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142278-nbk-amp-misutaaa-close-to-join-falcons","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}] who stated what they will be joining Falcons.

The two new signings will be replacing the benched Keoz and Kyojin. Falcons have spent their last season playing in lower-tier competition, where they played some good counter-strike and found success, winning ESL National Championship France Spring 2022 and ESL Challenger League Season 41 Europe, but when they played in higher tier events, they failed to show their mark.

NBK- will bring a lot of experience to the roster, with his 14 Major appearances and 94 LAN tournaments. The other signing misutaaa will bring high-level experience, having won several titles in just two years of playing for Vitality. 

NBK-

Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier has announced on his Twitter account that he will be parting ways with Team Vitality. The news comes short after the [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/nbk-misutaaa-join-falcons","isNewTab":true,"text":"report"}] that the young Frenchmen will be on his way to another French squad, Falcons. The departure of misutaaa, comes as no surprise for the CS:GO community as Vitality has been hunting for the ENCE star rifler Lotan "Spinx" Giladi.

misutaaa joined Vitality back in 2020 where he replaced the outgoing IGL Alex "Alex" McMeekin. Since the young Frenchmen joined the team back in March 2020, Vitality won three trophies, BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2020, IEM Winther 2021, and IEM Beijing-Haidian. A run to the final of BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 was not enough for the french squad, which now seeks Spinx as a replacement for misutaaa.

Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier are set to join the French team Falcons, according to [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142278-nbk-amp-misutaaa-close-to-join-falcons","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}]. NBK- and misutaaa are going to replace the two former Falcons players in Keoz and Kyojin. After the team was signed by the Falcons back in February, they achieved some reasonable results such as securing victories in the ESL National Championship as well as peaking at No.27 in the world rankings. 

28-year-old NBK- will bring his wealth as a tier-one experienced player, having won two Majors as well as 22 lan events in CS:GO. The young gun misutaaa also brings top-level game experience with him, after having spent two-and-a-half years with the French/Danish Team  Vitality under the wings of Danny "zonic" Sørensen. Here misutaaa won three top-tier events in that period of time. Vitality will be replacing misutaaa with Lotan "Spinx" Giladi from ENCE.

Falcons will be playing in the Major qualification when the IEM Road to Rio Open Qualifiers begin, and will also play in the ESL Challenger Leauge season 42 which starts on August 16. 

Falcons will look as follows if the transfers become reality. 

Jake “Stewie2K” Yip, one of the most popular and profiled figures in the North American CS:GO scene, has decided to leave competitive Counter-Strike, the 24-year-old revealed on Twitter. The Boston ELEAGUE Major winner will from now on focus on streaming both Valorant and CS:GO.

- I’m hype to announce that I’ll be streaming Valorant & CS for Evil Geniuses Creator Collective. For now, I’ll be stepping away from competitive CS and focusing on streaming. Thanks to those who tagged along and to many more! My future isn’t determined.

The news comes only one day after the publication of several reports stating that Evil Geniuses is about to pick up Kevin “misutaaa” Rabier and Sanzhar “neaLaN” Iskhakov. With the ladder looking like a likely replacement for Stewie2K as the in-game leader.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"surprise-transfer-way-eg-pick-misutaaa-k23-rifler","isNewTab":true}]

Stewie2K

neaLaN

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses is reportedly looking to sign Kevin "misutaaa" Rabier from Vitality and K23’s Sanjar "neaLaN" İshakov, according to a report by [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142390-misutaaa-to-bounce-back-with-eg-which-is-also-signing-nealan","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}]. The news comes after several reports stating that misutaaa has lost his spot at Vitality to Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, which only strengthens the likelihood of the 19-year-old Frenchman joining the North American squad.

neaLaN is more unknown to the typical CS:GO fan, with the 21-year-old Kazakhstan only having represented tier-2/3 teams in Syman Gaming and most recently K23. The fact that he’s an in-game leader could mean that Jake “Stewie2k” Yip is on the way out of the door at EG. That's also something which is reported in the article by 1pv.fr that neaLaN will take over the captaincy and IGL role.

{cflag:BG} Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov 

{cflag:US} Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"report-stewie2k-rush-benched-eg","isNewTab":true}]

The rumored transfer of Lotan “Spinx” Giladi to Vitality is closing in, with the French organization being in advanced talks with ENCE for a potential deal, [link:{"url":"https://www.dexerto.com/csgo/sources-vitality-close-in-on-spinx-deal-1885292/","isNewTab":true,"text":"Dexerto"}] and [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142366-spinx-close-to-join-vitality","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}] states in a recent report. It was last week where the rumors began stating that Vitality was targeting the ENCE star as a replacement for Kevin “misutaaa” Rabier.

Neither of the parties involved in the transfer has disclosed anything official about the transfer.

In our latest "Deep Dive" episode, we asked Niels Christian "NaToSahpiX" Sillassen to take a look at Spinx and whether he will be a good fit for Vitality. Here NaToSaphiX studied Spinx's playstyle but also compared him with his alleged predecessor in misutaaa. Check it out down below. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"is-spinx-solution-vitalitys-struggles-feat-natosaphix","isNewTab":true}]

{cflag:DK} Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen

According to a [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142142-vitality-target-spinx-as-misutaaa-replacement","isNewTab":true,"text":"report"}] by the usually trustworthy CS:GO insider neL, Vitality is on the market to sign ENCE's Lotan "Spinx" Giladi to help them fight their way back to the top. The player who is set to give up his spot will allegedly be the 19-year-old Kevin "misutaaa" Rabier.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"is-spinx-heading-vitality","isNewTab":true}]

The Israelian has much better stats than misutaaa in 2022, but will he fit in with Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and the French-Danish roster?

That’s something we asked Niels Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen in our latest episode of “Deep Dive”. Check it out down below, and feel free to give your opinion in the comments.

Going into 2022, the Frenchmen from Vitality revealed the signing of Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif and Danny “zonic” Sørensen as they initiated a new French-Danish super roster.

However, throughout the first season, the star-studded team has struggled to live up to the expectations struggling to find an identity and a decent level of CS, which they now seem to take consequences of.

Because according to [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142142-vitality-target-spinx-as-misutaaa-replacement","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}], Vitality is looking to replace long-standing member Kevin “misutaaa” Rabier.

The report states that Vitality is looking through the market with ENCE’s Lotan “Spinx” Giladi being the alleged first pick. The Israelian rifler has also been one of the revelations this year, being a top performer and strong pillar for ENCE and their impressive year so far.

Where misutaaa on the other hand has struggled heavily to find his form, presenting his worst rating throughout his career.

misutaaa in 2022 | 0.93 Rating / 63.7 ADR / 0.88 K-D Ratio

Spinx in 2022 | 1.15 Rating / 80.9 ADR / 1.17 K-D Ratio

[slugORMA:{"slug":"zonic-have-been-struggling-with-firepower","isNewTab":true}]

The tale of the Vitality roster ever since they went international and picked up three important pieces from the previous Astralis roster has been a sad one. With everyone expecting incredible results almost from the beginning of the new-look roster it has been difficult for Vitality to find their groove on the server. This might be about to change as they managed to take down the in-form ENCE roster in their first Bo3-series of IEM Cologne 2022. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"vitality-move-past-ence","isNewTab":true}]

The victory against ENCE means that Vitality will get the chance to get revenge against a Movistar Riders roster that beat them in the Play-In event. If Vitality managed to move past Movistar Riders this time around, they will be looking at a secure spot in the playoffs of IEM Cologne 2022. When asked about the prospect of Vitality in the playoffs, "misutaaa" said the following: 

To hear the rest of our conversation with a confident "misutaaa" after their victory against ENCE, you can watch the exclusive interview down below: 

While we wait for the playoffs to begin later today we have gathered some of the best clips from the tournament in Lisbon.

[twitchClip:VastCogentEggJebaited-5euhE3CjqeNaG8F2]

[twitchClip:FancyProudMallardBudBlast-BHJleoVkNCYIBiLY]

[twitchClip:SparklingMoistChickenPunchTrees-Ut4Flhqbdjvd31Vk]

degster has been a superb stand-in for OG. His good chemistry with flameZ has been visible through the many hardcore slaps, that he gives out to his new teammate.

[twitchClip:ExpensiveColorfulLaptopGivePLZ-EQweY0IC__RVcPHJ]

How about a running headshot entry from huNter?

[twitchClip:CarefulOutstandingCurryKappaRoss-A62Jbe3tzOx29Dk_]

Magisk made magic happen with his insane spray on Dust2.

[twitchClip:PiercingRichPorcupineHeyGuys-dvltsnR7obtpm5Uf]

BIG may be out of the tournament, but their wholesomeness belongs to the top!

[twitchClip:ManlyTardySheepPMSTwin--lkxAybvcWFtzpFG]

A beautiful ace from Misutaaa rounds of this list.

[twitchClip:VibrantSpunkyDogeUnSane-VkOPVSUw1g0UrcPY]

m0NESY

Magisk

huNter

degster

So many storylines were present when the Danish Astralis and the French/Danish Vitality butted heads in the last match of day 1. It was the first time that "dupreeh" and "Magisk" went against their old team, who they went through so much with. It was two teams who had been struggling recently despite massive potential and expectations. On top of that, they had destroyed their first opponents earlier in the day, Vitality winning 16-1, and Astralis 16-2.

The teams took to the grounds of Mirage to decide this Bo1, a map that both teams have a history of struggling on.

The two powerhouses were neck-and-neck in the early stages of the first half with "blameF" taking heads for the defense of Astralis, and "misutaaa" being an unstoppable force on the offense. Vitality managed to go on a five-round streak towards the end of the half and ended it with a small lead of 9-6.

As soon as Vitality hit the CT-side, "ZywOo" stepped up in a big way and as a result, the French/Danish mix started pulling away from their opponents. "blameF" was still doing damage, but the rest of his team had a hard time keeping up and as a result, Vitality ended up running away with the map.

Astralis - Vitality 0-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

8-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:DK} blameF - 1.71 Rating / 25-12 K-D / 117.2 ADR

blameF

ZywOo

Astralis

The $1,000,000 tournament is starting next week. Here 16 teams will fight to make it into the Legends stage of the Major.

The Finnish Organization will be one of the hottest going into the Major. Their win at BLAST Spring Showdown underlined their perfectly timed form. In the Challengers stage, ENCE will face 9z Team in the first round.

Player to watch: Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is playing some of the best Counter-Strike in his career. If the Israeli can perform on the big stage, he could be one of the best players in the tournament.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/trace_wmbh2k","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

trace has been promoted as headcoach on a permanent basis after several good performances.

The four-time Major winners are beginning to look good again. The signing of Asger "farlig" Jensen on the AWP and Martin "trace" Heldt as a coach has been a revelation for the Danes. For the first time in a year, it is actually looking promising for Astalis, who was only bested by ENCE in the Grand Final of BLAST Spring Showdown last week.

Player to watch: If Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke can deliver consistently on a high level, then Astralis will be a dangerous team at the Major. With Benjamin "blameF" Bremer already in excellent shape, it could be real fun for the fans of Astralis if k0nfig also fired on all cylinders at the event.

The French/Danish roster had one of the most difficult routes to Antwerp with matches against #1 and #2 in the world. In the end they still qualified and it did look better for the team. Most notable was the rise of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, who finally showcased his great talent on the new roster.

Player to watch: All eyes will be on the young Frenchman Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier. The 19-year-old rifler has suffered the most from the switch from the all-French roster to the new international one. With four events in row below 1.00 rating there will be talks about replacing misutaaa on the team, if doesn’t deliver at PGL Antwerp.

The Grand Finalist from the 2021 Major in Stockholm are looking shaky in 2022. They started well with the second place at IEM Katowice, but since then the performances on the server have not been impressive. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač is the only player on the team with consistent performances. The alarm bells were ringing after they lost their opening match against Anonymo at the RMR qualifier, but in the end they got the job done with a win against Astralis in overtime on the decider map. We could easily see G2 make a slow start to the Challenger Stage but still qualify.

Player to watch: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov will be playing his first major at the age of 17-years-old. There will be a huge pressure on the young AWP’er to perform on the biggest stage. So how will he do? We are looking forward to seeing him at the Major.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Imperial_FalleN_nmarvi","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

FalleN with his new teammates at the RMR tournament.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo’s new project got off to a great start qualifying for the Antwerp Major and then went on to also qualify for IEM Dallas. The Brazilians took down MIBR at the Dallas qualifier to prove, that they could be the second strongest team from South America after FURIA.

Player to watch: Lincoln "fnx" Lau has one of the most crazy stats in all of CS:GO. The 32-year-old Brazilian have won two Majors in his career but have only ever attended two. He has a 100% win-rate at Majors, so who wouldn’t have him on their team at a Major?

There are a lot of teams in contention for the last three spots. The Swiss Group Stage format can be brutal for teams in this echelon. Eternal Fire got the taste of it at the European RMR tournament, where they were paired with FaZe and Team Vitality along their way. This time they will face Bad News Eagles in an early key match. A win will most likely give the Turks a big boost towards qualifying for the Legends stage.

Player to watch: Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş is back at a Major for the third time in his career. The Turkish rifler is coming in hot at the event with several huge performances during 2022 for Eternal Fire.

They looked really good at the Americas RMR tournament, but the big question is if that was a one-off. Since they qualified for Antwerp MIBR has lost to both Imperial and paiN. Their opening match against Outsiders will be pivotal. MIBR rarely plays against Europeans, so it is hard to predict the faith of the Brazilians at the event.

Player to watch: Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian has never played against a top 20 team in the world! So how will he do against tougher opposition?

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/EliGE_Shox_ouiayr","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

shox says hello to his new teammate EliGE at an event last year

The sheer amount of experience on the Team Liquid roster should be enough to see them qualify for the next stage. But the results of the new roster have not been convincing in the past couple of months. Their last match was a loss against paiN at the BLAST Spring Showdown, which again ignited the doubters of the team. The North Americans enter the tournament with a Contender status, which has given them a tough draw in the first round, where they will face G2. We still believe that the stars of Liquid find a way through.

Player to watch: Is Richard "shox" Papillon the right fit for Team Liquid? This Major will probably give us the answer. The 29-year-old veteran has always been a joy to watch, but can he still deliver for Team Liquid?

It is a tough time for all the CIS teams at the moment. The war in Ukraine has certainly had its influence on the competitive CS:GO scene as well. Outsiders (Virtus.pro) have been a shadow of themselves. They were 0.02 seconds away from missing out on the Major, while rumors are already sending their starplayer Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis away to join a new team after the Major.

forZe and Spirit could also be dark horses for a spot in the next stage, while Bad News Eagles are the last team, that we have chosen to highlight. As the only second team in history to compete in a Major without an organization, the roster from Kosovo can play without any expectations from the outside world. A fact that can make them dangerous to face.

k0nfig

XANTARES

shox

The first test for Vitality's French/Danish mix came as they faced the mostly-Swedish Dignitas, whose lineup features legends "f0rest" and "friberg". Vitality had the final say in the map veto and chose to take the Bo1 to Vertigo.

"misutaaa" had a field day early on the T-side, and was taking heads at will. The Scandinavians had a hard time stopping the Frenchman and his companions, which led to a 9-2 lead. Dignitas was able to take a couple of rounds towards the end of the half, bringing them into a more comfortable position before switching sides.

Vitality did not ease up on the pressure after the break and only allowed Dignitas to take a single round in the second half, leading to an entirely one-sided win of 16-6.

Vitality - Dignitas 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR A

16-6 (Vertigo) | {cflag:FR} ZywOo - 1.66 Rating / 21-8 K-D / 96.4 ADR

Team Dignitas

The brand-new Vitality roster is through to the next round at BLAST Premier Spring Groups following a confident 2-0 win against MIBR in the knock-out stage.

Today’s match was Magisk, dupreeh, and zonic’s first Bo3 battle with Vitality after their blockbuster transfer back in January. The French-Danish mix started out the series on MIBR’s map pick on Dust2, where the power balance quickly stood clear as Vitality went up 7-1 on the CT side.

A lead they continued throughout the entire showing on Dust2 and eventually also turned into a 1-0 map lead through a 16-10 win.

The Vitality side kept the upper hand going into Inferno and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and his troops had no intention of delaying the Brazilian butchery, as they managed to dictate round after round against an otherwise hard-working MIBR squad. The Brazilians had trouble with dealing with both Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut and Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier. The latter popped off for the first time in 2022 with an impressive 24-13 K-D score on Inferno. The match ended with a 16-5 win for Vitality, who is now set up with a much-anticipated matchup against G2.

MIBR will now need to qualify for the Spring Finals via the last chance stage on Sunday.

Vitality – MIBR 2-0 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

16-10 (Dust2) | {cflag:FR} ZywOo – 1.45 Rating / 24-12 K-D / 78.0 ADR

16-5 (Inferno) | {cflag:FR} misutaaa 1.72 Rating / 24-13 K-D / 112.7 ADR

MVP: {cflag:FR} Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut - 1.55 Rating / 44-21 K-D / 81.7 ADR

MIBR

Two weeks ago, the Frenchmen from Team Vitality broke the news about their exciting superstar team bringing in Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif and Danny “zonic” Sørensen to the roster.

By mixing the multiple-Major winning trio with the CS:GO phenomenon Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and the smart mind in Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, the French organization has undoubtedly established a potential title-contending team going into 2022.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"official-vitality-sign-astralis-trio","isNewTab":true}]

The YouTube account called Getfight – CS:GO POVS has created a video consisting the first highlights from the new-look Vitality side. In the demo clips, you can see the Magisk and company dominate profiled pro players like NiKo, Kjaerbye, and flameZ.

dupreeh

The Frenchmen from Team Vitality has completed the blockbuster signings of Emil “Magisk” Reif, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, and Danny “zonic” Sørensen, the organization confirmed on Twitter. The superstar trio join the team after several months with heavy rumours and talks about the remarkable transfer.

The former Astralis stars will join forces with Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier, and the CS:GO phenomenon Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, creating a team possessing fresh young talents but also more experienced individuals, with more than nine Major titles under their belt.

Magisk, dupreeh, and zonic are set out to fill the void from Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon and Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam, who were discarded back in December last year. 

Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van will stay on the roster as a 6th man allowing him to explore team offers next year.

{cflag:FR} Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier

{cflag:FR} Jayson "⁠Kyojin⁠" Nguyen Van (6th man)

{cflag:DK} Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen (coach)

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-says-goodbye-legendary-trio","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"apex-vitalitys-last-dance-will-remember-rest-life","isNewTab":true}]

After Vitality's dominant 2-0 smashing over Astralis this Wednesday evening, we got the opportunity to chat with Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier after his strong showing on Nuke especially, where he ended up averaging an outstanding 2.01 Rating / 24-8 K-D / 131.6 ADR. 

In the short interview, the 18-year-old Frenchmen talks about his performance on Nuke, but also opens up about his hopes and expectations for next year. 

apEX’s men from Vitality are through to the Grand final of IEM Winter after besting Virtus.pro 2-0 in the semi-final on Mirage (16-13) and Vertigo (16-13). Next up, the Frenchmen will be taking upon either G2 or Ninjas in Pyjamas on Sunday at 16:00 (CET) in a matchup where they’ll be looking to claim the title as champions after finishing as runner-ups of BLAST Premier Fall Final.

The semi-final matchup kicked off on Vitality’s map pick of Mirage, where the Frenchmen delivered a huge comeback in the end to draw the first blood to the series. Starting on the CT-side, Virtus.pro grabbed eight rounds in total before halftime and looked as favorites to take the map after winning the first five rounds of the second half to go up 7-13 on the scoreboard. However, apEX’s men kept the faith and turned around the game completely as they went on to shut down Virtus.pro nine rounds in a row to complete the comeback 16-13 and take their map pick. Vitality’s misutaaa delivered 28 frags and a 1.33 Rating to help his team secure the first map.

Vitality closed out the series 2-0 after winning a very close game on Vertigo with another 16-13 result. In the dying stages of the game, shox and ZywOo turned around a crucial 2v5 situation to hit match point at 15-13 which ended up making the difference as it resulted in a crushed economy for YEKINDAR and company. misutaaa once again finished on top of the scoreboard with a massive 31-18 K/D this time, but it’s worth also mentioning shox who stepped up with some crucial clutches to push his team to victory and end Virtus.pro's unbeaten run at the event.

 {cflag:FR} misutaaa – 1.33 Rating / 28-17 K-D / 86.6 ADR 

{cflag:FR} misutaaa – 1.67 Rating / 31-18 K-D / 117.8 ADR

 {cflag:FR} Kevin “misutaaa” Rabier – 1.49 Rating / 59-35 K-D / 102.2 ADR / 75.9% KAST

Virtus.pro

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.

[twitchClip:esl_csgo/clip/BoredHandsomeTrayTwitchRaid-PxCxWYIG1xR6nvDl]

Vitality – Gambit (2-1) | IEM Winter 2021 

 {cflag:FR} misutaaa – 1.74 Rating / 21-7 K-D / 91.6 ADR

 {cflag:RU} interz – 1.62 Rating / 28-14 K-D / 117.4 ADR

 {cflag:FR} ZywOo – 1.61 Rating / 36-19 K-D / 103.4 ADR

 Mathieu ”ZywOo” Herbaut | 1.42 Rating / 73-52 K-D / 97.2 ADR

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

Misutaaa

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