Vitality defeat NIP to take second win at BLAST Fall Groups

The European squad impressed again with their new lineup as Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut pulled another great performance.

Vitality secured their second win at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 following their 16-12 victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas on Inferno. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's men have locked in their spot in Group A's upper bracket final and will look to guarantee a better position in the Knockout Stage.

Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi had a quieter match compared to his debut against OG earlier in the day, but still impressed in his first outing on Inferno since July 2021.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are relegated to the lower bracket and will face the winner of Astralis vs OG later on Friday for a chance to claim a better seed in the next phase of the event.

Vitality opened up Inferno with a quick pistol round on the A site, but their advance was quickly stopped by Ninjas in Pyjamas's force buy. The European mix took a while to get back on their feet, failing to convert several hits on A as Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner kept them at bay each time. Eventually, ZywOo took matters into his own hands and powered Vitality to a late comeback, taking five consecutive rounds to edge the half 8-7.

The apEX-led squad continued their winning streak after switching sides, securing the first five rounds of the second half before Ninjas in Pyjamas got on the board. The Swedes managed to string together a handful of rounds late in the half, but were unable to turn their streak into a comeback and eventually conceded the game 12-16.

ZywOo continued with his usual shenanigans on the CT side and ended the match with a 30-17 K-D. It was a brilliant follow-up as the AWPer continued his great form seen in the first match against OG in which he registered a fantastic 1.68 rating.