Vitality earn first spot in BLAST Spring Final over Heroic

Strong performances from Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi were crucial in getting the international mix over the line.

Vitality are the first team to qualify for the BLAST Premier Spring Final after taking down HEROIC 2-1, edging out the Franco-Danish mix after a comfortable display on Mirage (16-11), conceding a hard-fought defeat on Nuke (13-16), before answering back with a more composed showing on Vertigo (16-8).

Vitality will be pleased with their composure in Denmark, successfully traversing the upper bracket and punching a ticket to the $425,000 Spring Final with just one map dropped over their three games. Spinx will also relish in his form in the series; he was one of his team's highest performers against the Danes, calling back to his world-class performances in the first half of 2022 and ending the best-of-three with a 1.24 rating and 82 ADR.

HEROIC aren't out of the running just yet, and have instead been forced down to the knockout stage, where their chances of earning a Spring Final berth rest on beating the eventual winner of the series between BIG and Liquid. A loss, however, would require the Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller-led squad to make a run through the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, which is scheduled to play out from April 12-April 16.

A triple kill by Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard got Mirage underway, but a Desert Eagle-wielding ZywOo answered right back in the ensuing round with a 4k hold of the A site to stop the Danish quintet in their tracks. Vitality made full use of this early shift in momentum, building up their economy and giving themselves a considerable buffer to work with as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead. ZywOo's prowess showed few signs of letting up for the remainder of the squad's CT-side; the Frenchman's end-of-half 18-4 K-D differential and 113 ADR powered Vitality to victory and the Franco-Danish combine conceded just two more rounds to sport a commanding 11-4 lead by the side swap.

Mirage descended into a back-and-forth skirmish at the outset of the second half. The two teams went tit for tat, exchanging rounds until Vitality were able to win three on the bounce to pull ahead and reach map point, 15-6. HEROIC were able to keep their head above water despite staring down the barrel of defeat, with consistent impact round-on-round from Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund around Connector helping to reduce the once lopsided deficit down to just five rounds, 10-15. Vitality didn't sit on map point for too much longer, though, with double-kill entries of the A site from ZywOo and Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen tearing HEROIC's defences apart to lock in a 16-11 victory in favour of the Bees.

Vitality nabbed their first pistol round of the series to kick Nuke off, but again, the map transitioned into a to-and-fro affair. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and company narrowly prevailed in this all-important skirmish, maintaining their composure as they walked cautiously to a 5-2 advantage on the T-side. HEROIC were quick to make sure they remained in contention, a strong two-kill hold on Ramp by René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen in the eighth round being the start of a five-round spree to power the Danes to a 7-5 lead. Alas, Spinx came to Vitality's rescue, a 1vs1 clutch instantly flipping the script to gift the French-Danish outfit a slender one-round advantage at halftime.

Vitality remained in control when their turn to defend rolled around, perfect utility usage and impenetrable crossfires forcing HEROIC to constantly fight an uphill battle. The Danes' biggest highlight came in round 22; a highlight-worthy 1vs5 ace clutch from cadiaN prevented an economic and map-wide blowout, the squad using the injection of energy to close out another disadvantageous 3vs5 situation just two rounds later to equalise the score, 12-12, and make the map sit on a knife edge. Superb calling from cadiaN and well-executed map control dominated the rest of the time on Nuke; HEROIC came back from less-than-ideal situations time and time again, enough to close out the map just shy of round 30, 16-13, and send the series to the decider map of Vertigo.

The Danish duo of dupreeh and Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif linked up with four kills to win Vitality the opening pistol round of the map, which the multinational lineup used to build a sizeable lead on their defensive effort. The quest to get HEROIC back into game fell onto TeSeS and jabbi's shoulders, the Danes leading the charge with 20 kills between the pair to cut the deficit to just one round, 5-6. Vitality shored up their defensive line as the half drew to a close, multi-kill rounds from ZywOo, Spinx, and dupreeh enabling the side to sit pretty with nine rounds by the break.

The final half of the three-map series was Vitality's from start to finish, the international camp conceding just two rounds before taking home the victory. Magisk answered the call, with the 24-year-old maintaining his team-leading form on the offensive side and ending the 16-8 game with 26 kills to his name and a healthy 114 ADR.