Vitality became the second team to reach the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 24, coming from a map down to beat Falcons 2-1 in the 2-0 pool, HLTV reported. Falcons took Anubis 13-9 before Vitality won Dust2 13-4 and Mirage 13-8.
It was the teams’ first meeting since the quarter-finals of the IEM Cologne Major, which Falcons won on the way to their first Major title. The result ended a run of five straight losses to Falcons for Vitality, whose previous series win in the matchup came in the final of ESL Pro League Season 22, almost exactly a year earlier.
Speaking to the broadcast after the match, Vitality’s Dan “apEX” Madesclaire singled out the Cologne defeat as one that stung, according to HLTV, saying the team’s other losses to Falcons had often come at events Vitality cared less about or in lower-stakes matches.
Falcons’ win on Anubis was built on opening duels. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov went 10-1 in opening duels and posted a 1.87 rating on the map, and Falcons converted the win after Vitality had closed the gap with a pistol-round win.
Dust2 went the other way. Shahar “flameZ” Shushan recorded a 2.10 rating, apEX contributed both calling and kills, and Falcons’ Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin struggled across the first two maps as Vitality won 13-4.
On the Mirage decider, kyousuke improved, but HLTV wrote that it came too late. Robin “ropz” Kool and William “mezii” Merriman held Vitality’s defense, Falcons rarely found a way onto the bombsites, and the scoreline tightened only after a pistol-round win before Vitality closed out the series.
