Vitality a step away from maiden CS2 trophy
The first semi-final of the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023 saw Vitality take on Cloud9 as both teams with their new rosters were looking to make it to their first CS2 Grand Final.
Getting the series underway was Cloud9's pick of Mirage. Cloud9 started with a 3-0 after Ax1Le kicked things off with an incredible 1v5 in the pistol round. But it was Vitality who pulled it back to a 7-5 lead in their favour with apEX leading from the front with a strong half.
Source: BLASTPremier
Vitality took the second pistol and the conversion to go 9-6 up before Cloud9 found their footing on their CT side. Both teams kept trading rounds as the match went to overtime but in overtime it was ZywOo stepped up and pulled his team across at 16-13.
Vitality's pick of Nuke started with a tied opening half at 6-6 with Vitality starting on the T side. Cloud9 picked up the second pistol and ran away to a 10-6 lead. Vitality secured a couple of defensive rounds but with electroNic powering up and BoombI4 calling a stellar T side, Cloud9 won Nuke 13-9.
A ZywOo quad-kill got the series decider on Inferno underway and with ZywOo and Spinx starting strong, Vitality got things going with a 6-1 lead before Cloud9 salvaged it at 7-5 albeit in Vitality's favour. Cloud9 started with the the second pistol and it was BoombI4 and co. putting the pressure on Vitality but apEX and co. hung and managed to scrape by at 13-11 to take the series 2-1.
The win secures Vitality a place in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023 and they are one win away from their first ever CS2 trophy.