Team Vitality gets off on the wrong foot for IEM Sydney 2023

The first Level 1 event in the Counter-Strike 2 era, the IEM Sydney, is already underway, and different matches of the Group Stage are currently being played. However, in just a few hours, we have witnessed some surprises in terms of results.

Team Vitality, the current #1 team in the Counter-Strike world ranking, lost in their tournament debut against BetBoom Esports. There is no doubt that this is a totally surprising result, considering that Vitality is one of the favorites to win this tournament.

However, we can also highlight that this new era will surely bring new teams that will shine at the highest level. In addition, we can also highlight the victory of GamerLegion against FaZe Clan, which had to be defined in several rounds of Overtime.

From what we have seen in the first matches, we can be sure that we will have an IEM Sydney full of emotions and that the least favorite team can give a big surprise in the tournament.

Now, without further ado, let’s see how Team Vitality’s terrible debut in the CS2 era in IEM Sydney was.

Team Vitality can’t beat BetBoom Esports

Admittedly, this match was one of the last matches of the first round of the group stage. However, there is no doubt that we were all looking forward to what would happen in Vitality’s debut with Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam as the new Head Coach and, of course, in their start in the CS2 era.

Team Vitality took on BetBoom Esports in their debut, a Russian team that, although they have not been in the main tournaments this season, has some very experienced players. We are talking about the likes of Pavel “s1ren” Ogloblin, Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko, and Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov.

The match took place on Mirage, one of the iconic maps of Valve’s shooter, which we will surely see a lot of in the early stages.

Game Recap

It all started with Team Vitality showing great play on their T Side, thanks to the excellent play of Emil “Magisk” Reif and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan. As a result, Vitality took a comfortable 8-4 first-half victory. Also, let’s remember that this new era of CS2 brings the format change to MR12, so now teams must win 13 rounds instead of 16 to take the map victory.

Molly fail?

No problem @MagiskCS 😎 pic.twitter. com/cyDW5NwlqF

— Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) October 16, 2023

Then, at the change of sides, the Russian squad relied on Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin and Danil “danistzz” Roslyakov to start the comeback bit by bit. Team Vitality won the first round to take a 9-4 lead. However, BetBoom won 8 rounds in a row to take a 12-9 lead. Finally, Team Vitality was able to react to send the map to Overtime.

We’ve got the first #CS2 OT on LAN right here at #IEM, and of course it’s on Mirage! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OeOytjh3rh

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 16, 2023

Finally, after 6 rounds in Overtime (2-4), BetBoom took the 16-14 victory to send Team Vitality to the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals of Group A.

Header: ESL