FaZe send Vitality to BLAST Premier Spring Finals lower bracket

FaZe won a two-map series against Vitality on Nuke and Dust2 to secure a spot in the last round of the BLAST Premier Spring Europe Finals upper bracket, where they will face Complexity.

The last time Vitality and FaZe met was at the last Big Event played on LAN, IEM Katowice 2020, before the coronavirus outbreak shut offline events down. There, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company were able to take a three-map series that eliminated the Frenchmen from contention in Poland. Since then, both Vitality and FaZe made changes, bringing on youngsters Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier and Aurimas "⁠Bymas⁠" Pipiras, respectively, during the current online era of Counter-Strike.

Vitality opened up their BLAST Premier Spring Finals with a big victory over local rivals G2, while FaZe took a 2-1 series against ENCE. In their upper-bracket semi-final match-up, it was FaZe who reigned supreme, winning two maps to continue their journey through the upper bracket, where they will go up against Complexity next.

FaZe will go up against Complexity in the upper bracket final

Vitality won the pistol round on Nuke as Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire get a triple and a double, respectively, to secure the A site after planting the bomb. Having lost the two subsequent rounds in disadvantage, FaZe were able to bring it back to a tie once they could make a proper buy. The European combine then kept their momentum, swinging the map in their favor as Vitality struggled to find a break in the defenses. Down 3-8 Vitality took a pause to regroup, but they were unable to turn things around as they won only one more round before the half.

The Frenchmen were poised to win the second pistol round, but a 2vs5 with four kills by Bymas put FaZe on the brink of winning the first map. Vitality won the first gun round cleanly with three entry frags by Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy, but were unable to stop FaZe from hitting match point the following round. Seven kills in two rounds by apEX kept his team alive as they tried to mount a comeback, but finally fell short as FaZe closed it out 11-16.

Vitality will start their lower bracket run against NiP

Vitality took a 2-0 lead on the CT side of Dust2, but were countered in the first gun round as FaZe took the B site with AKs and were able to secure a 3vs3 afterplant situation. This time around the French team didn’t let things get out of control, however, as they kept a 5-2 lead early on. Back-and-forth rounds ensued, however, and FaZe were able to bring it back in their favor as Vitality struggled with a weak economy, going to the half with a 9-6 lead.

Vitality closed the distance winning the second pistol round, but were unable to score the must-win anti-forcebuy. FaZe charged ahead, taking a big six round lead. Once Vitality stabilized they got another round on the board, but were instantly traded as Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants won a 1vs1 afterplant against shox on the A site. Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David then won a 1vs1 against apEX, once again in an A afterplant, to inch closer to match point, 14-8. Vitality put one more on the board, but that would be it as FaZe closed it out 16-9.

BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe FinalsBest of 3 VitalityMatchpage 0 2 18th June 2020 FaZe 11Nuke 16 9Dust2 16

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	35 - 38	-3	76.8	1.03
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	36 - 36	0	75.4	1.02
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabiermisutaaa	32 - 36	-4	62.4	0.93
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	34 - 38	-4	71.1	0.91
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	30 - 39	-9	68.5	0.83

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	44 - 34	+10	86.7	1.25
Aurimas 'Bymas' PipirasBymas	41 - 32	+9	75.6	1.17
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	41 - 35	+6	81.2	1.16
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	33 - 34	-1	76.2	1.07
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	27 - 33	-6	56.5	0.98

Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 1192 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.61 Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Age: 17 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 100 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.68 Cédric 'RpK' Guipouy Age: 30 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 1339 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.68 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants Age: 19 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 360 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 Aurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras Age: 16 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 48 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Complexity #20 William 'RUSH' WierzbaKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeValentin 'poizon' VasilevOwen 'oBo' SchlatterBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer Richard 'shox' Papillon Age: 28 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1673 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.66 FaZe #3 Nikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' SaukantsAurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras Vitality #10 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 27 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1628 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.70 G2 #1 Audric 'JACKZ' JugNemanja 'huNter-' KovačKenny 'kennyS' SchrubFrançois 'amanek' DelaunayNemanja 'nexa' Isaković Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 23 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1247 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67 ENCE #14 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiJere 'sergej' SaloElias 'Jamppi' Olkkonen