Vitality are out of IEM Rio Major

This CS:GO Major has been full of surprises. Team Vitality, the winners of ESL Pro League Season 16, were eliminated in the fourth round of the tournament. Before them, FaZe Clan and Ninjas in Pyjamas followed the same path.

It seems that winning an S-tier tournament right before the Major is no guarantee that you will perform well when it matters most. CS:GO has become an unpredictable esport in which the skill difference between the teams is very small.

Even when you think that a certain team is one of the best, another one, which isn’t even in the top 10, might come out of nowhere and crush it. In other esports, this is unthinkable. But CS:GO is currently going through a period of stagnation. The meta has been decyphered and many professional teams understand it very well.

This means that it’s harder to get an edge. Some competitors manage to do it, but it is not easy to surprise your opponents these days. That is why a lot of maps have been won in overtime.

Team Vitality’s Run at IEM Rio Major

Vitality started the tournament in the Challengers Stage and nearly got eliminated. They qualified with a record of 3 W – 2 L and were fortunate enough to avoid most of the top teams. Otherwise, it would have been a mess.

In the Legends Stage, Vitality started with a defeat against Natus Vincere (25-21), followed by a dominant victory against FaZe Clan (16-6). After they defeated FaZe, it felt as though from now on, the path to the Champions Stage would be easy.

But unfortunately, in the match against MOUZ, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut had an average performance. His stats are usually off-the-charts and that’s how Vitality win most of their matches. But this time, they were only ok: 24-20 and a rating 2.0 of 1.

The final score of the match was 19-17 in favor of MOUZ. This was the second match of IEM Rio Major lost by Vitality in overtime.

The fourth match played by Vitality in the Legends Stage should have been an easy victory. But instead, it was a painful 2-0 defeat. On the first map, Vertigo, ENCE won with a score of 16-12. The second map looked much better for Vitality, but bad mistakes in key rounds sent the battle into overtime, where ENCE won 19-15.

And this is how Vitality missed another chance to prove their strength. Right now, they probably have some regrets about making so many roster changes this year and letting go of so many top Frech players.

Header: ESL