Cloud9 eliminated, Vitality avoid a scare
It was a huge shock on Day 1 when Major champions Vitality lost to Imperial, and with Cloud9s lacklustre performance against G2, the pair faced off today to keep their hopes in BLAST Premier Spring Final alive.
Continuing the trend of every game at the event thus far being a 2-0, it was the international squadron that prevailed, winning out two close games to avoid a total post-Major hangover.
Vitality bounce back on Overpass
When Vitality faced Imperial on Overpass, ZywOo and co. were embarrassed by FalleN and his boys. A 16-3 loss, it was a performance Cloud9 wrongly thought they could capitalise upon.
Foregoing their typical home map of Vertigo, Cloud9 picked Overpass into Vitality, initially starting strong as they won out the more difficult T side with an 8-7 scoreline.
sh1ro and Ax1Le were firing on all cylinders for the Russian team, but as the game moved into it's second half, the one man onslaught of 2023 ZywOo proved too much to handle.
With two kills in the afterplant in the final round, ZywOo took his tally in the map to 27 and secured the map 16-13 for his team.
ZywOo in the zone. Photo: Stephanie LindgrenA new strength for Vitality on Anubis
A map many top teams are still finding their feet on, Vitality secured their series win on Anubis. An even closer affair, both teams won their CT sides 8:7 to force an overtime to decide the victor.
ZywOo was again strong, with a snappy ace on the AK to send the map to overtime, but it was the stepping up of Magisk that allowed Vitality to take the victory.
sh1ro and Ax1Le kept up their map one performances, with the former being the highest fragger on the server, but as is typical for this Cloud9 roster, it just wasn't enough.
sh1ro trying his best. Photo: Stephanie LindgrenWhat's next?
Vitality will now advance to Friday's quarter finals, staying alive in the tournament and looking much more fitting of the team currently ranked number one in the world.
Unfortunately for Cloud9, this loss means they go home early. A difficult period for the team, we're sure they'll be back at the top again in no time.