Vitality take down Heroic 2-1, advance to the semi-finals of IEM Chicago

Vitality have sent HEROIC home after a close 2-1 victory (16-7 Mirage, 12-16 Dust2, 16-9 Overpass), securing themselves a spot in the semi-finals of IEM Chicago.

With the first map, Mirage, underway the battle between HEROIC and Vitality started out with a swift pistol round victory for the Danish side, which they then used to gain a 3-0 advantage. However, once Vitality's players had rifles in their hands, HEROIC's T-side started to fall apart. Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin and his French army began to run away with the map as they won six rounds in a row. Despite the scoreline, the players of HEROIC kept their heads held high and largely thanks to the rifle of Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg, were able to capitalize off the few mistakes the French side made to earn themselves three more rounds before the half was over.

Vitality took full advantage of their 9-6 lead once the second half started and thanks to three kills from Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt during the pistol round quickly found themselves at double digits. Precise opening kills from Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and the rifle of Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy easily shut down any efforts the CT side made to keep control of either bombsite as Vitality quickly found themselves on map point. With HEROIC unable to answer back, the French team finished off the map 16-7.

HEROIC came into Dust2 with confidence and it was clear that they weren't about to let Vitality walk all over them again. After losing the pistol round, the Deagles of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen made quick work of Vitality as they won the second round off of a force buy, tying the game 1-1. HEROIC gained a 3-1 lead after that before the French team managed to get rifles into their hands, and from there it was an all-out brawl. The seemingly perfect executes of Vitality were met with just as precise retakes from the CT-side and soon the game was tied up at 7-7, with HEROIC ending the half just barely ahead by one round thanks to a 3k from stavn.

The Danish team used their momentum from the first half to turn their one-round lead into three before Vitality was able to answer back. With rifles now in play on both sides, HEROIC were unable to contest either bombsite and soon the game was tied 10-10. Much like the first half, the rounds continued to go back and forward between Vitality and HEROIC before a spray down by Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer put his team in the lead and gave them the confidence needed to close out the map 16-12.

friberg began map three, Overpass, with three crisp head-shots to secure his team the first pistol round. However, HEROIC's success didn't last for long as Vitality broke their economy in the third round thanks to the work of RpK and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire. From there the French team was able to gain a 6-2 lead before HEROIC managed to get a third on the board. Aggressive pushes from stavn and excellent site holds from the entirety of the roster quickly brought HEROIC back into the game, as they won six rounds of their own to close out the half 8-7.

The second half began with a much-needed pistol round win for the French side and they quickly turned things around as they made their way to double digits. Despite their impressive comeback during the first half, HEROIC looked lost on the T-side as they were unable to step a foot onto either site before being sprayed down by the rifles of Vitality and where soon down 13-8. Even after an impressive four-kill round from friberg to secure their first T-side round, ALEX and co were quick to strike back and it was clear that Vitality had no plans to give up the series. The next few rounds were won with ease as Vitality closed out the final map of the series 16-9.