Was Vitality’s win at BLAST.tv Paris Major undeserved?

Because Source 2 is about to replace Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, BLAST.tv Paris Major was the last Major in CS:GO. And like all other Majors, it brought together 24 teams. But unlike all previous Majors, it had numerous upsets and dark horses.

Astralis and BIG failed to qualify for the tournament. MOUZ, OG, and FORZE Esports were eliminated in the Challengers Stage. Then came the Legends Stage, where everything went wrong for many of the favorites.

FURA Esports, G2 Esports, ENCE, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Bad News Eagles, Natus Vincere, and 9INE failed to qualify for the Champions Stage. The only top teams that were left in the race were Heroic, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid. And Vitality somehow dodged all of them.

Vitality’s Legends Stage run

Thanks to their RMR performance, Vitality entered the Paris Major as one of the eight Legends. This allowed them to skip the tournament’s Challengers Stage. In the Legends Stage, they faced G2, ENCE, and Monte, and did not lose a single map.

For those who say that their run was too easy, that is actually not true. Monte went on to qualify for the playoffs with a record of 3 W – 1 L and defeated FURIA, Fnatic, and Na’Vi (2-0) in the process. These results clearly prove that Monte were underrated and should not be viewed as an easy opponent for Vitality.

G2, despite their failure (1 W – 3 L), have a formidable roster. Winning against Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and Nikola “NiKo” Kovac is no easy task. Let’s not forget that G2 won the title at IEM Katowice less than four months ago.

As for ENCE, they clearly proved their strength in the Challengers Stage, where they obtained three consecutive victories against OG, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FaZe Clan (2-1).

Vitality’s Champions Stage run

In the Champions Stage, Vitality avoided the big names. But with the exception of Heroic, those teams were not necessarily the best. Arguably, the only “easy” match for Vitality was the one against Into The Breach. If the opponent would have been Team Liquid, Heroic, or FaZe Clan, the result might have been a different one.

In the semifinals, Vitality encountered Apeks, one of the dark horses at this event. The battle was really hard, as suggested by the result on the first map: 14-16 for Vitality. Throughout the tournament, Apeks defeated opponents like Team Liquid (twice!), ITB, BNE, and NiP. So they weren’t exactly weak.

In the Grand Final, Vitality faced GamerLegion, a team that stunned everyone by defeating MOUZ, OG, FORZE, 9INE, Fnatic, Apeks, Monte, and Heroic. Even though the match looked relatively easy for Vitality, the truth is that it actually wasn’t.

On the second map, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and his teammates had to come back from a 10-5 score after the first half.

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