Vitality sweep Gambit for a semi-finals spot at EPL

Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov's squad are knocked out after an 0-2 defeat to the Frenchmen.

Vitality seem to improve after every match as they book a ticket to the semifinals of ESL Pro League Season 14 after a 2-0 sweep of Gambit and maintaining their perfect record against the CIS squad.

"Overall I feel like we played good today," said Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire in regards to his team's performance in the series. "We know Gambit very well because we practice them a lot." When talking about their tight victory on Vertigo, he stated there was not a doubt Gambit could come out on top. "We knew they were always going to be in."

Now the French squad set their sights on the semi-finals, where they will face OG on Saturday.

The series was kickstarted on Inferno, Vitality's map pick. The Frenchmen set the early tempo, taking the pistol round and continuing to dominate their T side, leading to an 8-3 advantage that seemed to seal the half. However, a resilient Gambit managed to string together four rounds in a row to close the gap 7-8 despite a vintage performance by Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut throughout the half.

The CIS squad was unable to carry their momentum to the second half, and Vitality took their second pistol round of the map and from then it was plain sailing to a 14-7 lead. A short-lived Gambit resurgence saw them briefly come back in the game, but a Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier 1v2 clutch sealed Inferno for his team 16-11.

Vertigo was a close affair, Gambit opened up their map choice by picking up the pistol round thanks to a heroic play from Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov. Failure to convert the anti eco meant the CIS squad quickly faced a 2-4 deficit but after finding their footing they were soon able to take back the initiative and win six rounds in a row. A 1v2 clutch from ZywOo allowed Vitality to come back and close the half 7-8.

Gambit seemed to have retaken control of the game in the second half, with a series of successful CT rounds enabling them to extend their lead 13-9. Facing defeat and the prospect of a third map, Vitality executed a series of brilliant individual plays allowing them to close the gap and eventually take the lead, securing the map 16-14 and the series 2-0.