Gambit clinch grand final spot with close 2-0 victory over Vitality

Gambit managed to do something they haven't done all year to make it to the grand final, beating Vitality in what was a close series.

Gambit finally triumphed over their nemesis for the year, Vitality, taking down the French side 2-0 after two close maps, 16-13 on Vertigo and 19-17 on Dust2. The Russian squad suffered three defeats to Vitality prior to this game, finally breaking the hoodoo in their final event of the year.

The series opened with Gambit's choice of Vertigo, a map that has treated them well throughout 2021.

Vitality started on the CT side and seemed to struggle after winning the first two rounds, Gambit finding success both at A ramp and with Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov working B solo, getting to a 5-2 lead. Once the Frenchmen found their feet they did not look back, winning seven of the next eight, the B defence settling in and blunting Ax1Le's impact while Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut began to find success with the AWP towards ramp, a 9-6 half falling in Vitality's favour.

The second half began much like the first, with Vitality winning a pistol round before Gambit take control and look like they may run away with the half, the Russian squad taking an 11-10 lead before the Frenchmen could respond. A back-and-forth battle ensued from this point, rounds being traded with each team teetering on the edge economically, before Gambit finally broke Vitality and ran the advantage all the way to a 16-13 map win.

In the end ZywOo's 1.55 rating wasn't enough to drag his team to a victory, largely due to Jayson "⁠Kyojin⁠" Nguyen Van managing a measly 6 frags over the course of the map.

Next up was Vitality's pick of Dust2, a map that is excellent for them and that their opponents have had mixed fortunes on as of late.

The Russian squad started on the CT side, and yet again it was a storming start to the half that stuttered to a halt for Gambit, getting to a 5-1 lead but only winning two more, Vitality taking a slim 8-7 lead into the second period.

The second half was a wild affair,as Gambit took an early lead and getting to 12 before Vitality mounted serious resistance coming off the back of a spectacular deagle ace from ZywOo on A site. That play from the French superstar seemed to shift the momentum of the game, taking Vitality all the way to 15, but Gambit found three in a row at the end of regulation to take it to overtime.

The tight battle continued into the first portion of OT, with Gambit taking their T half 2-1, but unfortunately it was at this point that Vitality's resistance faltered. They couldn't muster anything on their T side, as Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov picked up two AWP kills in middle early on in the final round to kill the game, and it ended 19-17. Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov deserves special mention for his great performance across the series.