dupreeh, ZywOo step up as Vitality reverse-sweep C9; advance to IEM Rio grand final

Vitality clinched a spot in the IEM Rio grand final after recovering from a 3-12 deficit on the second map of Vertigo.

Vitality are the first team to earn an IEM Rio grand final berth after taking down Cloud9 in a four-hour best-of-three series, 2-1 (Inferno 6-16, Vertigo 19-16, Overpass 16-9).

You would have been forgiven for thinking Cloud9 were closing on an easy victory at one point, as the Russian-majority lineup sat 12-3 up on Vertigo and required just four rounds to eliminate their opponents from the competition in what would have been a one-sided 2-0 affair.

Alas, a heroic 39-24 performance from Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen — his best on LAN since joining the Bees — allowed Vitality to flip the script and steal Vertigo from the jaws of defeat before the Franco-Danish roster went on to seal the deal with a more convincing showing on Overpass, advancing to the IEM Rio grand final and sending Cloud9 packing in 3-4th place in the process.

The best-of-three was one of separate individual heroics for Vitality, with dupreeh coming alive in the nick of time on Vertigo to help equalize the series. The Dane ended the second map with 39 kills to his name — 12 frags more than Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, his closest teammate — and a 1.83 rating, with the vast majority of these coming during the squad's recovery on the T-side.

Over on Overpass, it was Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut who woke up to power his team to certain victory. The Frenchman won five clutches over the course of the map — some of which were near-impossible 1vs3s and 1vs4s — and ended Overpass with a 31-11 K-D and 1.96 rating, leaving Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson to exclaim that he was the "absolute best to ever touch this game."

"Well, I don't know what to say, that was a hell of a game," Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire began in a post-match interview on stream. "We couldn't wake up for one map and a half, and then after the comeback on Vertigo... we took over. We were too sleepy today, that was pretty insane. But then I think our individuals stepped up and helped us to go through [to the grand final].

"We had a big word with our mental coach and I think that from the beginning of the year even though we didn't show up enough, because we lost two quarter-finals — two quarter-finals that we should have won," the Vitality captain continued. "And I think we are improving on that aspect because Vitality 2023 is really different than Vitality 2022. We are giving a lot and I think it works."

Vitality have less than a day to prepare for their title-deciding matchup at IEM Rio, with the apEX-led roster set to play the eventual winner of the series between HEROIC and Natus Vincere on Sunday at 19:00 .

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IEM Rio kicks off next Intel Grand Slam season

Should the Franco-Danish-Israeli ensemble triumph in that bout, it would be their first Big Event trophy since their gold-medal finish at ESL Pro League Season 16 back in October 2022. It would also earn the squad the first notch on the newly-started Intel Grand Slam Season 5 belt, which will notably carry over into Counter-Strike 2 when Valve's new shooter takes center stage upon its release in the summer.

Date	Matches
IEM Rio 2023
23/04/2023	Vitality 19:00 HEROIC	Match