Vitality overcome EHOME in EPICENTER opener

The first match in Moscow has been concluded with Vitality defeating EHOME 2-0 (16-12 Inferno, 16-1 Nuke), advancing to the winners' match of Group A at EPICENTER.

What seemed like a straightforward series — and started as one for Vitality on the CT side of Inferno —, got complicated as EHOME switched to the defensive side of their map pick. Vitality was struggling to get into the bombsites, the Chinese side almost equalized the scoreline, but with Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut activating and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire chiming in with some key kills, Vitality pulled through the first map and the dominated on the second, Nuke, to take the 2-0 win.

ZywOo set up Vitality for a good start on Inferno, EHOME's map pick, securing ten kills as the French side took a 4-0 lead. EHOME made use of Kelun "⁠SLOWLY⁠" Sun's entries to get their first, but Vitality bounced back to extend their lead shortly. After the score was 8-1 for Vitality, EHOME managed to win two rounds in a row, but then failed to capitalize on a low-buy from the French side, allowing Vitality to end the half 12-3 up.

A mid push worked out for EHOME, netting them a pistol and setting them up for a good start on the defense, with QingHui "⁠FIOURN⁠" Kong and JiaMing "⁠DeStRoYeR⁠" Gu doing the majority of the heavy lifting. Vitality was having issues claiming Banana control and EHOME slowly but surely came back into the game, narrowing the gap to one round, 13-12. ZywOo, who secured a 1v3 ace to give Vitality their first on the offense, was the difference-maker in the end, pushing the Frenchmen across the finish line with a 1.63-rated map, 16-12.

Things looked much more comfortable for Vitality on the T side of the next map, Nuke, edging out some close rounds to punish the poor economy of EHOME and grab a 10-1 lead. The advantage was extended with another successful A split, eventually seeing Vitality end the half with a near-perfect score, 14-1. A straightforward win in the second pistol, during which apEX picked up a knife kill, brought the game to a close, 16-1, seeing Vitality advance to the winners match of group A at EPICENTER.