Vive la France: Vitality crowned Champions of Blast.tv Paris Major
La domination française à Paris
As the halls of the Accor Arena came alive with the sound of Counter Strike, it was Team Vitality, led by former Major Winner Apex, along with the French prodigy ZywOo, the Danish Champions Dupreeh and Magisk, and the young gun Spinx, who lifted the coveted title of the Last CSGO Major at the Blast.tv Paris Major.
The Final Stage:
Vitality were against GamerLegion in the Grand Finals, where both the teams duked it out for the trophy. Even though Vitality managed a clean 2-0 sweep, the matches were anything but one-sided.
- GamerLegion removed Anubis
- Vitality removed Ancient
- GamerLegion picked Overpass
- Vitality picked Nuke
- Vitality removed Mirage
- GamerLegion removed Vertigo
- Inferno was left over
Even though GL managed to take the pistol round on Overpass, it was Vitality who showed a dominant CT-side. They managed to push their lead to 11-3 in the first half. But siuhy brought some life back into the Legion, as he managed to win a 1v2 clutch in the last round of the half to end the half 11-4 in favor of Vitality. GamerLegion again won the pistol round, off the back of siuhy getting a 4k with the USP-S. But Vitality were not having any more of this, as they shut them down, and took the map 16-6.
Moving on to Nuke, it felt like GamerLegion had gotten Vitality’s number. They dominated the Golden Hornets in the first half. acoR started the map off with a 1v2 clutch on the pistol. From then on, GL built quite the momentum, as they ended the first half 10-5 on their CT-side. But Vitality were not fazed by this. They kept their calm, and made the comeback possible. They allowed GL to win only 3 rounds in the second half. Just as GamerLegion had managed to bring themselves to 13, Vitality brought out a 5 round win streak to take the lead, and ended the map 16-13.
Once again it was ZywOo who took the top spot, and the title of Major MVP, as he stands above the rest at 48 kills, 25 of those from the AWP, with 11 first kills, most damage dealt at 97 ADR, and a 1.54 rating.
Watch the full event of the Grand Finals HERE.
The Legacy:
As Team Vitality lifted the Blast.tv Paris Major trophy on home soil, they have managed to create history. They have created records and attained accolades which will remain untouchable, and have cemented their names into the world of CSGO.
Apex has won his second Major, and got the chance to lift the trophy in his home country, which very few people have. He has wiped away all doubts about him as an IGL from people's minds.
ZywOo, regarded as a prodigy, the chosen one, probably the best Counter Strike has to offer at the moment, has finally won his first Major. And this is hopefully the start to his journey to the top of CS2.
Spinx became the first Israeli player to lift a Major trophy. This gives hope to an entire country and will bring forth more youngsters into this game.
Magisk stands better than the rest, as he has equalized with his former Astralis teammates gla1ve, dev1ce and xyp9x. He has won his fourth Major. And joins the list of players to have won a Major with 2 different teams.
Dupreeh stands on a pedestal of his own. The most decorated player in Counter Strike history, the Dane has attended every single Major held in CSGO, and has managed to win 5 of those. A poetic ending to an amazing game, and a record that will be hard, if not impossible to break.
We have to give a special mention to Zonic, who, using his experience as a player in CS 1.6 has crafted and built champions. As a coach, he has won 5 Majors. He has shut down his haters, and silenced any argument about the best coach in CSGO.
Although GamerLegion could not win this time, they have shown the world that they are not to be taken lightly. They have managed to beat some of the best teams in the world. And this performance will be remembered for years to come.
The End:
As the curtain falls on Counter Strike : Global Offensive, we all were given one last look at how this one single game has managed to bring the entire world together. We have seen upsets, we have seen hilarious plays, we have seen some of the best CS:GO gameplay that the world has to offer. In this game, there were no boundaries, no borders between countries. All of us united with a single passion.
Although we don’t know how CS2 will change the current competitive landscape, we can be sure that the fans and all the people involved and working behind the scenes will make it just as exciting, just as amazing, and just as special.
We from the Strafe team would like to thank everyone for staying with us along this journey, and hope to see you in the next Major, which will be the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Until then, we wish you all Good Luck, and to Have Fun.