Vitality break Katowice curse and secure playoff spot over fnatic

The European mix secured the victory with narrow wins on Overpass (16-13) and Nuke (16-13).

Vitality will play at the Spodek Arena for the first time in their history following a victory against fnatic 2-1 in Group B's upper semis. The victory marks Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's return to the Katowice playoffs after a nine-year wait while his team only has a match against HEROIC on Tuesday at 19:30 standing between them and a direct ticket to the semi-finals.

The defeat suffered by William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and company only relegats them to the lower bracket, but they have a tough journey ahead of them before they can play in front of the Polish crowd. fnatic will have to win two consecutive best-of-three series to reach the knockouts and play at the Spodek Arena for the first time since 2020.

fnatic came into the series opener on Overpass with confidence thanks to their 11-2 record on the map over the last six months, however, Vitality came prepared. apEX and company converted a second-round force buy to punish the Ts early on and quickly extended their lead to 7-2 while keeping their opponents' economy in check. The defenders prevented Fredrik "⁠roeJ⁠" Jørgensen from finding impact, which denied fnatic the firepower provided by their star rifler while Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif shined for Vitality. The later stages were more competitive as both teams exchanged rounds until the CTs closed the half with a 10-5 lead.

Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen and apEX powered Vitality to a 14-6 lead on the offense, before a rash decision to force buy was punished by fnatic. The T economy took a few rounds to recover, a fact which roeJ and Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi exploited to lift their team back on their feet and reduce the deficit to 15-13. Their comeback was cut short by a failed boost in connector, which gifted Vitality a 5vs3 advantage and a clear road to the 16-13 victory.

Vitality seemingly carried their form into their pick of Mirage after taking their third pistol round of the series and an early 3-0 lead, but fnatic had other plans. The defenders stole the first rifle round before extending on an incredible 12-round streak all the way to halftime. The disorganized offense could only count on Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut while fnatic's roeJ and nicoodoz were firing on all cylinders. The ex-Copenhagen Flames duo were untouchable on the CT side and ended the 12-3 half with 1.79 and 1.83 ratings for the rifler and sniper, respectively.

A short five-round streak early in their CT side almost gave Vitality a lifeline, but it wasn't long until fnatic stabilized and put an end to the comeback, swiftly ending the map 16-8. Jamie "⁠keita⁠" Hall's men had lost the only two maps of Mirage they played so far in 2023, while Vitality had won their last two against HEROIC and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

fnatic kicked off the decider on Nuke with a pistol round victory, but their streak was short-lived as Vitality immediately replied once they brought out the rifles. ZywOo was a thorn in fnatic's side throughout the whole match, and it was his 1vs4 clutch on the B site that limited his team's deficit to 6-9 going into the second half.

Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen's team truly came alive after switching sides and easily accumulated six consecutive rounds to steal the lead. While the first half was characterized by ZywOo's carry performance, the CT side saw all of Vitality's fraggers rise up to the occasion and lock down both sites. fnatic only claimed four rounds during a flat offensive performance and conceded the series after another 13-16 loss.