try stars as 9z stun Vitality in BLAST Premier Showdown

The South American side came back from a map down to pull off a major upset.

9z eliminated Vitality from the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown on Thursday following a 2-1 win in the first round of the single-elimination bracket. The Argentine side, ranked only 88th in the world and playing with a stand-in, piled more misery on the French team - who cut a frustrating figure in their last match with Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy - to set up a quarter-final clash against the red-hot HEROIC on Saturday at 15:30 .

"I'm still shaking right now, I'm so happy," Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima said in the post-match interview. "I had a good feeling when I woke up today, but to be honest, we didn't know what to expect because we were playing Vitality and ZywOo after all."

The Brazilian veteran said that this was his biggest result in CS:GO and that he is glad to be guiding 9z. "I'm in a good place right now, these young guys trust me a lot, it's a good feeling."

9z picked Nuke, their best map in the last three months (6-0 record in South America), but they quickly witnessed how strong a team Vitality can be. The French side displayed a near-flawless CT side (12-3) as Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon, Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire, and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut combined for 50 frags in the first half. BIT's troops put up a good fight in the second half, but Vitality were too far ahead for it to make a difference.

Even though 9z were off to a bad start on Overpass, they took control of the half once they got rifles, especially due to Maximiliano "⁠max⁠" Gonzalez and Santino "⁠try⁠" Rigal's defensive efforts on the A site. The pair caught Vitality's players off-guard on more than one occasion, helping the team to a 9-6 lead. Now on the attack, the South Americans didn't lose control of the game, even after shox's ace clutch to tie the score in the 22nd round. They remained a close unit, trading effectively and making great mid-round calls to win the map 16-11.

9z carried that momentum into Inferno and strolled to a 9-0 lead on their T side, completely outclassing the French team, who would muster only two rounds in the half. Vitality found a lifeline after winning the second pistol and several clutch situations to stay, but the South American side closed the map once they started playing proactively and taking aim duels, fueled by the AWP plays of try.

"To be honest, try has got talent and he's very dedicated," BIT said. "A year ago, he was just playing CS for fun."