Vitality secure grand final spot over Astralis

Vitality made the ESL One Cologne final after beating Astralis on Dust2 (16-8), Inferno (19-22), and Overpass (16-9), where they will face the winner of the Liquid vs. Natus Vincere semi-final.

Vitality won the first pistol round on Dust2 despite four kills by Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen in a 4vs4 afterplant situation, as they managed to burn enough time off the clock for the bomb to go off. On the fourth round it was once again dupreeh who came in big with a triple on the B site, this time getting Astralis on the board.

That would be the only round Astralis would get early on, however, as Vitality kept opening up rounds and winning the advantageous situations all the way to a 7-1 lead. Doubles by Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth got Astralis back on the board, but the French side immediately got back to winning ways. A double AWP setup which saw dupreeh and Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz take down two each made it 4-10 before Vitality closed the half out 11-4.

Doubles by Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin kept Vitality’s momentum from the first half going as Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt killed two Astralis players who force bought rifles with a SSG 08 on the second round. Down 4-13, the Danes kept trying to forcebuy, which worked out, as they were able to win two close rounds on A before winning an anti-eco, but four kills by apEX the following round made it 14-7. The two teams then traded rounds, as Vitality got on match point. The French team were then able to close it out, 16-8, against a pistol buy.

Inferno started off with Vitality once again winning the pistol round on the attacking side off the back of a triple by apEX. On the fourth round, with guns in their hands, Astralis were finally able to get on the board thanks to doubles by Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander, with the AWP, and Xyp9x. The Danes then started to get back in their comfort zone, winning four in a row to get ahead 4-3, but Vitality adapted and took the lead back, making it 6-4 after ten rounds. After taking a timeout, the Danes were able to stop a B play to keep it within one. Winning four of the last five of the half, Astralis managed to take a slight lead before the switch, 8-7.

An A hit by Astralis gave the Danes their first pistol round of the match, which propelled them to an 11-7 lead after winning against the forcebuy and the eco. device ran into B over a molotov to take control of the site after killing apEX, forcing Vitality to call a save in the first round of the second half. Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy got a four-kill round with a 1vs3 clutch for Vitality to get on the board for the first time in the second half.

Another triple by RpK kept Vitality close, but Astralis were able to win some close rounds to get ahead 14-10 and break the French team’s economy. Vitality put up a last act of resistance after Astralis got on match point, winning five rounds in a row to take the match into overtime.

Several triples were seen in overtime, as dupreeh got one to get Astralis on the lead, but three-kill rounds by apEX and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut then gave Vitality a 17-16 lead on the CT side. Having changed sides, device got an ace on the A site to tie back up. Vitality then got on series point, but were unable to close it out despite ZywOo getting two opening kills with the AWP on Banana to open up the B site.

The second overtime started out with a dominant performance by Astralis in the opening round on the defending side, but Vitality were able to win a 3vs3 afterplant on B to tie it back up. Two frags by dupreeh in a 2vs2 afterplant on B gave the Danes the lead back, 20-19 at the half. Astralis then went on to win out, 22-19, to take it to map three

Astralis started Overpass on the right food, winning their CT-side pistol round and taking an early 3-0 lead. Vitality won the first gun round, but were denied the followup. Adjusting their attack, the Frenchmen were able to bring it back to a tie, 4-4, but a solid defense on A with doubles by gla1ve and dupreeh kept Astralis in the lead. A 1HP clutch by RpK then evened it back out as the Danish side were forced onto an eco. The half stayed neck and neck, however, as Vitality closed it out with only a one round advantage.

The second pistol round went the way of Vitality as NBK- was able to win a 1vs1 against device. After losing the second round, Astralis won the following two, to bring it within one, but a double by ZywOo in a 2vs2 kept his team in the lead. Vitality then gained control of the half on the defense, keeping the Danes against the ropes. A huge triple by NBK- pushing out of A got Vitality on map point, 15-9, as Astralis called their last timeout. Double entries by ZywOo put the last nail in the coffin as Vitality closed the map out to make the final.