Vitality demolish BIG to earn grand final spot in BLAST Premier Fall Finals

The French team sent out a statement with a comfortable victory after losing the opening map.

Vitality came back from a map down to defeat BIG 2-1 and secure the first spot in BLAST Premier Fall Finals's title decider. The French team stuttered at first, then moved into high gear, recovering from a Vertigo loss with flawless performances in the rest of the series as they dropped just three rounds across Inferno and Dust2 for an emphatic victory.

Vitality, who brought Nabil "⁠Nivera⁠" Benrlitom on for the final two maps, will go into Sunday's grand final brimming with confidence, though Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon noted that the team must cut out their slow starts if they want to build on their IEM Beijing-Haidian victory.

"We need to play at our best level since the first round of the first map," the 28-year-old said after the match. "This is definitely something we have been missing for some months. It's going to be an important detail for tomorrow if we want to get a second trophy."

Vitality brushed BIG aside on Inferno and Dust2

The series began at a frantic pace, with Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy and shox giving Vitality an early lead on Vertigo with a 2v4 clutch in the pistol round before BIG responded with nothing but Desert Eagles. The German team, who had won four of their previous five games on this map, put some rounds together, but their lead wouldn't last long, as Vitality established a foothold once guns came out. Things were looking bright for the Frenchmen as they bagged four rounds in a row, but then BIG took control of proceedings and went into the break up by one.

Now playing on the CT side, BIG went further into the lead through a 1v2 clutch from Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne. That was the start of a dominant half by the German team, who kept the Terrorists at bay with a tight defense, dropping just two rounds en route to a commanding victory.

Inferno began in the same manner as the previous map as Vitality pulled off another 2v4 clutch, this time by Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Nivera - who had been brought on for shox. But that is where the comparisons end: BIG were mere spectators for the rest of the game and never got into their stride defensively or in attack as the French side ran out comfortable winners.

ZywOo, who had barely witnessed any action on Inferno, lit up the server on Dust2, racking up 21 frags as Vitality cruised to a 13-2 lead. Any hopes that BIG might have had of a comeback quickly vanished as shox pulled off a sensational 1v2 clutch with just 22 hp in the pistol round, with Vitality following that up with the next two rounds to wrap up the series and put an end to the German side's misery.

BLAST Premier Fall 2020 FinalsBest of 3 VitalityMatchpage 2 1 12th December 2020 BIG 9Vertigo 16 16Inferno 1 16Dust2 2

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	53 - 36	+17	95.7	1.39
Nabil 'Nivera' BenrlitomNivera	26 - 19	+7	72.4	1.25
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	47 - 41	+6	81.3	1.19
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	40 - 39	+1	80.8	1.11
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabiermisutaaa	28 - 27	+1	75.1	1.08
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	29 - 25	+4	66.3	1.04

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Florian 'syrsoN' RischesyrsoN	49 - 40	+9	73.1	1.14
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	39 - 48	-9	83.9	0.98
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	40 - 47	-7	71.0	0.96
Nils 'k1to' Gruhnek1to	26 - 41	-15	62.8	0.89
Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschtiziaN	33 - 47	-14	60.2	0.81

BIG #5 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşNils 'k1to' Gruhne Cédric 'RpK' Guipouy Age: 31 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 1450 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.68 Vitality #1 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 20 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.28 Maps played: 752 KPR: 0.86 DPR: 0.62 Nabil 'Nivera' Benrlitom Age: 19 Team: VitalityS Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 171 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 Richard 'shox' Papillon Age: 28 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1777 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.66 Nils 'k1to' Gruhne Age: 22 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 908 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69