Vitality crush NAVI to become BLAST Open Rotterdam champions

Vitality are your BLAST Open Rotterdam champions, having defeated NAVI 3-0 in the grand final. The win sees them lift their second BLAST Open trophy, with them lifting the very first against MOUZ in Lisbon last year.

As with all of their performances throughout the event, the final was a dominant victory, with Vitality limiting NAVI to ten rounds or less on all three of the maps played.

The reigning Major champions didn’t drop a map throughout the event, and now head home with their third trophy of the year and $150,000 plus $100,000 club share.

Vitality win again

Vitality kicked off the series well, putting themselves 7-5 up after a confident T side on their pick of Inferno. NAVI then failed to get started on their own T side, seeing Vitality close out the map with ease at 13-7.

The map also spelt doom for NAVI, because although makazze managed to keep up his form and go 18-14, ropz put in a monster performance, ending the map 27-13.

Heading into Anubis, Vitality once again found themselves starting out the map on the T side, and once again, they managed to go into the break with an advantage as they picked up eight round wins.

NAVI fared much better in the second half this time around, though, recording six T side rounds of their own, but ropz keeping up his form and mezii stepping up allowed Vitality to pip them to the post at 13-10.

NAVI had their backs against the wall on Dust2, and the map started out in disastrous fashion.

Thanks to the continued heroics of ropz and the always-unstoppable ZywOo, Vitality enjoyed their most dominant first half yet, going into the break at 9-3 thanks to a strong T side.

NAVI did then put up a fight on their own T side, huge impact out of b1t saw them win seven rounds, but Vitality’s lead was too great, and they closed out the series 13-10.

For his heroics in the playoffs, ropz was awarded the MVP for the event. The Estonian was stellar in the arena, and ended the grand final with a 1.83 rating to snatch the award away from ZywOo and flameZ.