Vitality march on to EPL semis to keep win streak going

It's the ninth victory in a row for apEX's troops, who have only dropped one map so far in Stockholm.

Vitality have locked up a place in the semi-finals of ESL Pro League 21 following a 2-0 victory against Liquid, extending a win streak that currently sits at nine series—during which they have dropped a map on just two occasions.

Their victory was made even more impressive as they were able to steal Liquid's map pick of Anubis, one of the few weak spots in their pool.

"Of course, we know a lot of teams are going to try and punish on this map," William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman said after the match. "We knew they were going to pick Anubis. We're doing a lot of work and trying to fix as much as we can. It's a hard map anyway."

The match provided another harsh reminder of the gulf between the very elite sides and the rest of the field. Liquid were on the back foot for most of the series, and though they made both maps competitive in the end, it felt like the outcome was never in doubt.

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken's charges will have only a few days to reset before their next event, BLAST Open Lisbon, where a tough opening round match-up against Eternal Fire awaits.

As for Vitality, they will face the winner of Natus Vincere vs The MongolZ in the next round. Questioned about which team he'd prefer to meet, Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan picked NAVI.

"We are preparing for the Austin Major," he explained. "The more competitive matches we get, the better. I'm not writing The MongolZ off, I think they're good. And without the stage, they might be more lethal and they can beat a lot of teams. But against NAVI, we have more things that we can work off. I'd prefer NAVI."

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool added: "Actually, if you think about the VRS points, The MongolZ are above NAVI. You can maximize points if you beat MongolZ."

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 21
14/03/2025	Natus Vincere 18:30 The MongolZ	Match

Vitality came out strongly on Anubis, Liquid's map pick, and drew first blood in the game off the back of a trio of frags from ropz in the pistol round. They rode that momentum to a 6-1 lead before Liquid, led by Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage, stabilized their defense.

The second half began with Vitality winning the pistol round, but there was no follow-up as Liquid responded immediately. Twistzz's troops went on to equalize the score at 8-8, but the rest of the half was controlled by Vitality, who put the game past their opponents after taking advantage of a missed molotov on the B site.

ropz took over the game in the first half of Dust2, starting with a quad-kill with a Galil in a round-two force. He racked up 15 frags on the T side, but his efforts only yielded seven rounds as Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic kept his team in the game with two crucial rounds towards the end of the half, redeeming himself from his poor showing on Anubis.

Liquid's third-map hopes took a major blow after the side switch as Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire added to Vitality's lead with a 1v2 clutch in the pistol round. Down 6-11, Liquid still attempted a comeback, but the duo of mezii and ropz sealed the victory for Vitality just as overtime loomed.