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Team Vitality Are Your EPL Season 16 Champions

It all began in August when 24 teams gathered at ESL Pro League Season 16. The stakes couldn’t get higher with not only $200k on the line but also direct qualification for BLAST World Final 2022 as well as IEM Katowice 2023. After weeks of relentless hard work and a determination to pick up the title, Team Vitality are the unbeaten champions of ESL Season 16.

Roster

Dan “apEX” Madesclaire (IGL)

Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut

Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen

Emil “Magisk” Reif

Lotan “Spinx” Giladi

Team Vitality’s Road To Becoming Champions

Group Stage

Team Vitality started off in Group A along with the likes of Fnatic, Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, NIP and Endpoint. Fair to say that were already paired up with some tough teams but they passed the group stage with flying colors. Vitality easily picked up wins on all five of their group stage encounters conceding a map each to only Natus Vincere and Fnatic. Thanks to their top spot in Group A, they directly qualified for the quarterfinals.

Playoffs

In the quarterfinals, Vitality faced The Outsiders who beat FURIA 2-1 to make it there. The Outsiders showed some resistance by forcing the second map into overtime but Vitality seemed to be too strong. Vitality won the series 2-0 and went on to the semifinals against G2. Team Vitality absolutely bulldozed over G2 on Mirage and picked up Inferno in overtime to make it to the finals. It was now only Team Liquid in between Team Vitality and a shot at becoming champions.

The Finals

This is how the best of 5 series went down in the grand finals between Team Liquid and Team Vitality.

Map Picks & Bans
  • Liquid removed Nuke
  • Vitality removed Ancient
  • Liquid picked Inferno
  • Vitality picked Dust2
  • Liquid picked Mirage
  • Vitality picked Overpass
  • Vertigo was left over
Map 1 (Inferno)

Inferno was the first playground selected by Team Liquid. Liquid started off their map pick just the way they envisioned it by winning the first five rounds straight. The boys from NA dominated the first map finishing the first half ahead by 10-5. The second half started in their favor as well as they won the two pistol rounds. At this point, Team Vitality could do very little to turn the match around. And so, the first map was won 16-7 by Team Liquid.

Map 2 (Dust2)

It was time for Team Vitality to respond on the classic Dust2. But Liquid picked up the pistols on Dust2 as well. But Team Vitality responded well as they won five rounds straight to overtake their opponents. Some back and forth was witnessed but the first half ended in the favor of Team Vitality. From the start of the second half, Vitality seemed to be invincible. They only lost one round to pick up the map quick winning 16-7 on Dust2.

Map 3 (Mirage)

It was Team Liquid’s second map which seemed have been Vitality’s. Team Vitality picked up both the pistols and wreaked havoc in the first half on Mirage. They won 11 out of the 15 rounds in the first half and left little room to breath for Team Liquid. Disaster struck when Team Vitality was least expecting it. Liquid recollected themselves in the second half and kept picking up rounds, including some sweet site retakes. They managed to get on level with Vitality and force the map into an overtime. In overtime, both the teams were going back and forth. Thanks to the relentlessness of the two teams, we witnessed not one, not two, neither three but six excruciating overtimes. In the end, Team Liquid won on Mirage with a staggering 25-21 scoreline.

Map 4 (Overpass)

Vitality’s pick of Overpass started off the best possible way for them. They were dominant from the get go winning the first six rounds. But Team Liquid imitated the same and leveled the scores 6-6. The first half ended barely in favor of Team Liquid at 8-7. In the second half, the map kept going back and fourth with both teams picking up consecutive rounds. With the score settling at 15-15, it was time for yet again another overtime. Team Vitality couldn’t let this overtime slip as well and they did not. The overtime ended 19-17 in favor of Vitality and we were down for the final map which was Vertigo.

Map 5 (Vertigo)

Vertigo was the final map and the decider for who gets crowned the champion. Team Vitality put their game faces on and made the best start on any map of the finals. They won 8 straight rounds without flinching even a bit. Team Liquid managed to pick up a few rounds in the first half but still it finished 10-5 in favor of Vitality. Vitality made sure to win the pistol rounds in the second half as well. Liquid showed effort to make a comeback but it was too little, too late. Vitality picked up three rounds straight and won the map 16-11. And with that, they are now the undisputable champions of ESL Pro League Season 16.

 

There’s very few that can say that Team Vitality doesn’t deserving becoming the champions of ESL Pro League Season 16. But the show’s not over yet for the Road To Rio starts soon!

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