Vitality took out NIP in the IEM Winter Group A semi-final to secure a playoff spot at the event in Stockholm after defeating MOUZ in their opener, and they will next play the winner of G2 vs. Liquid for the top seed in the group.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut shined in Vitality’s victory on Inferno, breaking the 2.00 rating barrier with a 2.13, but it was Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van who took over on Mirage to get their team over the line 2-0.
Vitality will now fight to make it straight to the semi-finals
Astralis, meanwhile, live to fight another day after their opening loss to NIP, as they creamed MOUZ in the first elimination match. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and company won a one-sided Ancient, which they took 16-6, before bringing it home on their map pick of Nuke, 16-10.
Up next for the Danes will be the loser of the aforementioned G2 vs. Liquid match in the second round of the Group A lower bracket, a series that will give the winner one last shot at making the playoffs in the LB final.
Astralis bounced back after their opening loss to NIP
Vitality and NIP went at it on the Scandinavian team’s map pick of Inferno to start things off, but it was actually the Frenchmen who threw their weight around starting on the CT side and winning a second round forcebuy before dominating 12-3. NIP won the all-important second pistol round to stay alive, but that would be pretty much it, as Vitality cruised to a 16-6 victory.
apEX and company then got off to a 4-0 lead on Mirage, with the French in-game leader spearheading his team’s attack while NIP struggled to keep up. The Swedes were only able to win four rounds of their own in the half before winning the second pistol round cleanly, after which they once again threatened the possibility of a comeback but fell short of even reaching double digits, 9-16.
The elimination match between Astralis and MOUZ kicked off on Ancient, where the Danes got off to a commanding position on the defense, winning round after round after a 3-2 start all the way to a 13-2 half. The international squad won the second pistol round to stay alive, but only momentarily as gla1ve and company took the map 16-6.
Astralis took the lead with an A hit in the opening pistol round of Nuke, after which they continued to set the pace in the series winning round after round to an 8-2 lead. MOUZ then put in a few round of their own, but couldn’t stop the Danish squad from hitting double digits before the half. Robin “ropz” Kool and company then fought their way back into the match, but were unable to turn things around falling 10-16.
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