CS:GO: after 5 years of waiting
A perfect story
After qualifying for the quarter-finals of the BLAST Major in Paris, with three resounding victories over G2, ENCE and MONTE. The team, made up of Frenchmen Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut and Dan 'apEx' Madesclaire, Danes Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen and Emil 'Magisk' Reif, and Israel's Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi, showed a remarkable performance from the outset, building on the success of the IEM Rio won last April.
After reaching the playoffs, Team Vitality kept its cool and put on an extraordinary show for its fans. The team, nicknamed "the bee", had never before reached the semi-finals of a major CS:GO tournament, and found unconditional support from its hundreds of "Golden Hornets" and the 60,000 spectators present during the four days of competition at the Accor Arena. After masterfully beating Into the Breach and Apeks, Team Vitality came out on top against GamerLegion.
"My joy is immense, for the whole team, our fans, our families, the staff and our partners. This roster has given us incredible emotions. For us, it's the result of a gamble we took on the international scene and with unique profiles. It's also the reward for having put together a tailor-made team to help our French talent ZywOo grow, a source of pride for us all over the world. This trophy shows that after 10 years of existence, we're still writing the history of French esports around the world!"says Fabien 'Neo' Devide, President and co-founder of Team Vitality.
"We're living in a moment of incredible happiness. We've been dreaming of lifting this trophy for years, and this team has done it. It's all the more moving because we're at home, in front of all our loved ones. We'll never forget it. It's the culmination of 10 years' work to make Team Vitality the club it is today: strong, ambitious, with lots of projects to keep the scene growing. We've just fulfilled a dream: to leave our mark on CS:GO history by closing the end of this mythical game, and achieve the greatest victory in French esports. But more than ever, believe me, we're already looking to the future. "says Nicolas Maurer, CEO and co-founder of Team Vitality.
Rocket League: On top of the world
August 13, 2023 - Following the CS:GO team's victory at the Paris Major, the Rocket League team takes up the torch and marks its game's sporting history with a perfect summer split, leading to a final victory at the World Championship, allowing zen, Alpha54 and Radosin to be at the pinnacle of their discipline.
RLCS Spring Split Major from Boston: The prelude to final victory
After winning the 3 Spring Split regionals, making Vitality the number 1 team in Europe, the aim was to show the world how dangerous the trio could be before the world championships. Alpha54, Radosin and young Zen will achieve this goal to perfection, defeating the reigning world champions in the final, BDS, by a score of 4-0.
But the start of the competition was no picnic! Indeed, for the first time since the start of the segment, the trio seemed fragile. Having struggled through the pool stages in the winner bracket, the team suffered its first defeat of the split against the same team they would beat in the final, BDS, sending them into the loser bracket.
Gradually working their way up the loser bracket to reach the grand final, Vitality's final loser bracket opponent was the trio's greatest rivals, Karmine Corp. This match between the two teams was so close that everyone agreed that whoever won this match would take the trophy in the end. After Vitality's victory in the 7th game of the match, the Karmine Corp was eliminated, and so Alpha54, Radosin and zen went on to face BDS, whom they humiliated by conceding just 1 goal in 4 games.
2019 - 2023: A new Rocket League era made in France
Following their victory at the Boston Major, it was only natural that the French Vitality trio should emerge as favourites for overall victory at the World Championships, and they're about to prove that they're right!
Unlike the Major, where the start was complicated, at these World Championships, Vitality will easily defeat each of its opponents until meeting, once again, the Karmine Corp in the semi-finals. This match was by far the most complicated of the competition, with a final score of 4-2 for Vitality, who will meet BDS again in the grand final.
In the grand final, Alpha54, Radosin and zen will meet BDS to see who will walk away with the World Champion title. Unfortunately for the Swiss team, Vitality was right up there with them, inflicting a second 4-0 defeat.
This win increases the number of World Championship victories to 2 for Vitality, following the edition won in 2019 by Kaydop, Fairy Peak and Neqzo. What's more, it gives Europe the chance to win 3 of the 4 international competitions in 2023.
It's also interesting to note that at the last 2 international gatherings, Vitality, BDS and Karmine Corp found themselves in the last four, bringing the total number of French-speaking players to 8 out of a possible 12!