Vitality beat OpTic to qualify for ECS Season 7 Finals

Vitality have locked a spot at ECS Season 7 Finals after topping week three in Europe, defeating OpTic 2-1 in the grand final (Inferno 16-11, Overpass 7-16, Nuke 16-6).

After over a month-long break since the second tournament, the third week of play in European ECS saw Vitality attempt to redeem themselves after losing out on the finals on the previous occasion, having lost to North in the spot-deciding series.

This time, the French side passed Virtus.pro and Valiance with flying colors, securing both series without losing a map before taking on OpTic, who made it to the grand final on the other side in their first appearance during the seventh season, beating G2 and AVANGAR.

Facing little resistance from the Danes at the beginning of Inferno, Vitality got off to a flying start in the grand final with an 8-2 lead on the Terrorist side, but OpTic got back on their feet to save the half with the remaining five rounds. It did them little good, after all, as Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt's team seized control on the defense with a pistol round win and never let their opponents catch up, securing the opening map 16-11.

Overpass was more closely contested at the start, but it soon slipped away from Vitality, as OpTic went on a six-round streak to put themselves in a comfortable position before switching over to CTs, leading 11-4 at halftime. The French side could only delay with a pistol round win, as Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's squad picked up a convincing 16-7 victory to force the deciding map.

When it came to Nuke, Vitality were in the driving seat from the start. Starting on the Counter-Terrorist side, they only conceded one out of the first ten rounds as OpTic struggled to get the bomb down. An eventual 12-3 half gave them a cushion to finish off the map comfortably at 16-6 to clinch a spot at the finals.

The updated team list of ECS Season 7 Finals, which will run from June 6-9 in London, United Kingdom, looks as follows:

Two more tournaments are left, taking place on May 13-16 and 21-24, with the last regional spot going to the team who earned the most prizemoney across all five weeks.