Vitality’s CS:GO team still has yet to show off their new recruit, Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom, but the announcement that the French side is moving to a 6-man roster may serve as a jolt for their players, who must now manage internal competition within the team. By any means, the bees are still running strong at DreamHack Open Fall. They remain undefeated and are working their way through the Upper Bracket.
Vitality beat NIP in a convincing manner, taking down the Swedes 2 to 0. Richard “shox” Papillon was completely unplayable throughout, putting up a +/- of +22 and a HLTV rating of 1.51 – the best on the team. NIP put up a good showing on Mirage (10-16), but were completely taken apart on Nuke (6-16). They must now plan for BIG on the 22th October, and if they win, Vitality will qualify for the Upper Bracket finals, just one match away from Grand Finals.
For G2 Esports, the finals of DreamHack Open Fall always seemed a step too far. For several tournaments now, the team has struggled to come together and has looked naïve during key moments. They were beaten 1-2 by BIG – a fair result – in a close match that might’ve gone the other way if they had managed decisive rounds better. It’s not all bad news for the International side however, with several players managing to pull off some incredible clutches, either in 1v2 or 1v3 situations (AmaNEk, nexa, huNter). Individually, G2 turned up to fight, but as a team they were found wanting.
In their Lower Bracket encounter with OG, G2 Esports faced the challenge of keeping Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen quiet. Led by the veteran Frenchman Nathan “NBK” Schmitt, OG had climbed to 8th in the HLTV global rankings and presented a serious threat for G2. Not only was Alexsib prolific throughout, but he was complimented by the stellar play of Issa “ISSAA” Murad, who lit up G2 across two maps for a 1.55 HLTV rating. The 2-0 OG victory contained a decisive performance on Nuke, where they took a 9-6 half-time lead on T-side to an eventual 16-9 victory, as well as a close 16-14 win on Nuke, managing to overcome a 1 round deficit from their CT-side in the process. They will now move on to face NIP, themselves 2-0 victors over FaZe after a double overtime win on Overpass.
The Spanish organisation Team Heretics has opted to keep it French moving forward in CS:GO. Following Nivera’s departure for Team Vitality, Heretics has picked up Python, another French player. While not widely known by the community, he is already familiar with several players on the roster.
Photo: HLTV
Original content by Léo "Tipsalewo" Lecherbonnier.
