Vitality silences LOUD to earn playoff spot

A matchup between two of the hottest teams in Shanghai lived up to the billing, with Team Vitality downing LOUD thanks to a marathon map two that is now immortalized as the joint-longest map in an international event.

The 2-0 win was the ultimate all-round performance from the EMEA superteam, with every member of the squad going positive with more than 40 kills.

The series was played out on Vitality's Ascent and LOUD's Summit, leaving the decider map of Lotus unnecessary. In the map veto, Vitality banned Sunset and Abyss, while LOUD banned Split and Haven. VIT won Ascent 13-7, and won Summit 19-17.

Play began on Vitality's Ascent, a map that it has played just four times this year and clearly had something cooked up heading into today. The team adopted the Sage-Chamber double-Sentinel comp that has been popular worldwide, with Yoru as the lone Duelist. As LOUD stuck with its permanent ban of Split, it was forced to play Ascent, where another adjusted comp was seen. A throwback "mosquito comp" with Yoru-Waylay was rolled out, but it saw struggles immediately off the bat.

Vitality got out to a 7-1 start to the map, thanks in no small part to a blistering start from Controller player PROFEK . The Pole ended the half up 8-4 with a 17/6 scoreline, leading all players. The more contact-heavy attack side, traditional of EMEA squads, proved to be difficult to go up against for LOUD. The second half, to quote New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek, was barbecue chicken. After dropping the pistol and anti-eco, Vitality was nearly perfect through the rest of the map, claiming a relatively smooth 13-7 win.

Chronicle finds four to shut down LOUD's would-be bonus.

Entering the event, LOUD was one of the best Summit teams in the entire world. Using a comp centered around Sage, Chamber, and Neon that played to the players' strengths, LOUD had picked up wins over G2 Esports and 100 Thieves in regional play and dominated EDward Gaming in its opening series in Shanghai.

Vitality, after banning Summit five times through EMEA Stage 2, seemed to have settled into an identity on the map following its decider win over Global Esports last week. With a comp that had Harbor as the lone Controller, Vitality came out with a Neon-Phoenix comp with one adjustment made, with Sayonara 's Sova switched out for Fade.

Again, it was another dominant start for the EMEA crew. Another 7-1 beginning to the map made life tough for LOUD, which again managed to claw back a few rounds, but entered halftime down 9-3. With a long road ahead, LOUD chipped away at the VIT lead, fueled by well-coordinated retakes and tkzin being tkzin.

While Vitality reached map point at 12-11, a long overtime ensued following a 1v2 clutch from tkzin. After having more success on defense, both teams kicked off the overtime period with successes on attack. A tactical back-and-forth followed, with both teams alternating between winning attack rounds and defense rounds. After a defense-side win in Round 35, Vitality and LOUD threw everything at the wall. The result was Vitality shutting down tkzin in a 1v2, the very same number scenario that occurred 12 rounds earlier, to close out the map and the series 19-17.

By the thinnest of margins, Vitality escapes.

Consistency was king for Vitality in this series. Every member of the team went positive, finishing north of 40 kills with Sayonara 's 1.15 rating and PROFEK's 1.13 pacing the team. In the losing effort, lukxo and tkzin dropped 54 and 47 kills, which would have been team highs on Vitality.

In its second-ever Champions event, Vitality advances to the playoffs for the first time, while LOUD will be sent to Group B's Decider match, awaiting the winning team between Global Esports and EDward Gaming.

From the Press Room

tkzin on the long overtime: "Overall, I really enjoyed going through this overtime period. I like feeling the pressure and the adrenaline when we go through these kinds of situations. I believe that despite the result, it was a very good experience for us. We learned from this. Unfortunately, we couldn't win, but I'm sure we're gonna learn. I really enjoyed this."

PAL : "We made it bloody close, which we didn't need to do, but I think that's just the nature of playing at a tournament like this. I think that's probably the biggest positive to take away. Even when there was a big comeback, even when the pressure was on, the guys were able to close it out."

Up Next

Champions Shanghai will continue with the following matches:

• 100 Thieves vs. FUT Esports (Group A Winners)
• TYLOO vs. Team Liquid (Group C Elimination)
• Xi Lai Gaming vs. Nongshim RedForce (Group D Elimination)
• Global Esports vs. EDward Gaming (Group B Elimination)
• T1 vs. JD Gaming (Group A Elimination)