B8 have knocked Vitality out of contention at the Esports World Cup, winning their series 2-1 to claim a playoff berth. HLTV called the result the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
The first two maps were close. Vitality clawed back a steep deficit to take Mirage in overtime, and B8 answered by doing the same on Inferno. The Dust2 decider was not close at all: Vitality, on a map that has historically been reliable for them, were comprehensively outplayed.
B8 came into Mirage on a run of seven straight losses on the map, but Danylo "s1zzi" Vinnyk and Dmytro "esenthial" Tsvir carried them to a five-round T side and an 11-7 lead before Vitality won nine of the next ten rounds to force overtime and close it out.
Inferno went the other way. Vitality recovered from a lost pistol to lead 9-3 on defense, then lost the map after the switch, with Artem "kensizor" Kapran anchoring the A site and B8 using utility in Banana to shut down Vitality's attack. Errors compounded for the French side, including an apEX overpeek in a 4v3 and a whiffed Robin "ropz" Kool flank in a 2v2.
We are very happy obviously, everyone, because we felt before the tournament we were in very good shape. We had very good pracs, we even had one prac against Vitality on Dust2, which helped us a little bit.
The defeat continues a poor stretch for Vitality, who failed to reach the top eight at the IEM Cologne Major and have opened their season with losses to Liquid and now B8. Paternity leave is also pending for William "mezii" Merriman and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, which will further disrupt the roster.
On Dust2, B8 read Vitality's offense with little difficulty and punished individuals who could not find the firepower that usually makes the roster dangerous. HLTV credited B8 with capitalizing decisively on Vitality's individual errors, and with reading in-game leader Dan "apEX" Madesclaire throughout much of the series.
B8 advance to the Esports World Cup playoffs.
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