- The majority French team dominated their Russian counterparts
- Both teams played with substitutes but Vitality proved to have the superior one
- OG was not able to surpass double digits on either map
With a dominating 2-0 victory over OG on Anubis and Vertigo, Vitality continues forward to the EPL Playoffs.
Vitality Defeat OG
Team Vitality has qualified for the upper bracket final of the EPL after inflicting a devastating defeat upon OG. The majority French team will go up against FaZe Clan while OG have been relegated to the lower bracket where they will have to face off against paiN.
Both Vitality and OG came into the EPL with stand-ins. The former play with Audric “JACKZ” Jug who substitutes for Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen due to the Dane being on parental leave for at least the remainder of the group stage. Meanwhile, OG have to play with Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen in the spot of Nemanja “nexa” Isaković who stepped down from his position of in-game leader due to personal reasons last month.
Vitality’s best performer during this match was once again Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, who showed an impressive 1.71 rating against OG. Temporary replacement JACKZ also showcased a good 1.15 rating despite being away from tier-one competition since departing G2 in August of 2022.
How Did the Game Go?
Vitality did not leave OG much room to breathe in both maps played, denying their opponents to win double-digit rounds in either one. The game started with OG’s pick Anubis but Vitality quickly gained the initiative thanks to a 1vs2 clutch in the pistol round by Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. The team then quickly gained a massive five-round lead.
However, JACKZ then uncharacteristically picked up a second AWP which proved to be a bad financial decision as it put a strain on Vitality’s eco. This allowed OG to reduce the deficit to a 4-6, only for them to lose the momentum, allowing Vitality to regain the initiative and end the first half of Anubis 10-5.
Thanks to his play with the P250, ZywOo once again allowed Vitality to lead from the pistol round with his three kills. Substitute JACKZ came alive on the offense after a quiet first half with several entries and multi-kills to secure his team a flawless T side. OG did not manage even a single round in the second half with Vitality ending Anubis with a massive 16-5 lead.
OG finally woke up at the beginning of Vertigo, winning a second-round force buy courtesy of Maciej “F1KU” Miklas's Deagle triple-kill, which gave them a 3-1 lead. However, they could once again not keep up the momentum and Vitality quickly equalized the score to 3-3 before running away with a 9-4 lead.
OG had some more hope in the face of Abdul “degster” Gasanov who killed four with a well-timed flank with the AWP. Ending the half with 19 kills, the Russian AWPer had more than any of his teammates. The first half of Vertigo ended with a 6-9 and hopes that OG would overturn the result in the second half.
However, that never came as Vitality kept the lead throughout, something that was helped by the fact they won a round with unarmored pistols at 12-8. Unable to stop the French roster’s momentum, OG could muster enough strength for just one more round and the map quickly ended in a 16-9 in favor of Vitality.
Vitality will now proceed to the EPL Playoffs where they will face FaZe Clan.
