Vitality eliminated from Berlin Major after upset to Avangar

One of the tournament favorites suffered a stunning early exit that shocked the CS:GO community.

In the Champions Stage quarterfinals, underdog squad Avangar delivered a masterclass in tactical counter-play against the heavily favored French roster. Despite Vitality’s superior ranking and recent form, the Kazakh team executed their game plan flawlessly to secure a hard-fought 2-1 series victory.

The opening match on Mirage began as a closely contested battle that highlighted both teams’ strengths. Vitality demonstrated sharp entry fragging to establish bomb site control, while Avangar countered with superior individual dueling and coordinated retake execution. As the match progressed, standout performances emerged on both sides – Dan “apEX” Madesclaire created unexpected round wins for Vitality, while Sanjar “SANJI” Kuliev delivered crucial plays for the underdogs.

During the second half, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut’s unusually quiet performance began severely impacting Vitality’s effectiveness. The young phenom had been instrumental in elevating his team to elite CS:GO status, but his inconsistent form at this major became increasingly problematic. Competing sniper Ali “Jame” Djami intensified his pressure throughout the match, consistently outperforming his French counterpart in key moments.

Avangar capitalized on this advantage to close out the first map decisively 16-9.

Game two on Inferno saw Timur “buster” Tulepov launch an aggressive opening that gave his team a commanding 6-2 advantage. Then came ZywOo’s awakening – a spectacular triple-kill AWP hold that showcased his transformative potential and completely shifted the match momentum. Vitality seized control by winning seven consecutive rounds to claim a 9-6 halftime lead.

Though Avangar captured the pistol round, Vitality prevented any significant comeback attempt by methodically advancing toward match point. The Kazakh team maintained competitive pressure and threatened a recovery, but Vitality ultimately leveled the series with a 16-11 victory, powered by ZywOo’s dominant 28-12 kill-death ratio.

The decisive Dust 2 match revealed Vitality’s most significant strategic flaws. While they had played disciplined Counter-Strike on Inferno, their performance deteriorated dramatically on the final map. Avangar established complete dominance of the A-long corridor on their terrorist side, systematically dismantling Vitality’s A-site defensive setups. The deficit continued expanding throughout the first half, with Vitality displaying increasingly resigned body language as their situation grew more desperate.

The second half began with brief signs of life from the French squad as they secured the pistol round and conversion, then mounted an additional round streak that narrowed the gap. However, the early disadvantage proved insurmountable, culminating in a 16-10 loss that eliminated them from the tournament.

Vitality entered the event widely considered among the world’s top five CS:GO teams, but their actual performance failed to reflect this elite status. Casual observers watching their Berlin Major matches would never have guessed this was a championship-contending roster based on their shaky performances and struggles in theoretically winnable situations.

A respectable Legends Stage showing followed by several rest days initially indicated Vitality had resolved their early-tournament problems. Unfortunately, the same issues that plagued them during the Challengers Stage reappeared at the worst possible moment. These recurring problems highlighted the team’s dangerous over-dependence on ZywOo’s playmaking abilities and their collective inability to adapt when their star player wasn’t performing at his peak level. Even during the third map where ZywOo delivered solid individual numbers, the team couldn’t translate his performance into sustained success.

Avangar deserves significant credit for their performance, as the Kazakh lineup consistently won crucial duels, executed clutch plays, and overwhelmed Vitality with coordinated aggression. Nevertheless, Vitality’s top-eight elimination will be remembered as a significant underachievement for the French organization.

Strategic Insight: Top teams must develop multiple pathways to victory rather than relying on a single player’s performance. This principle applies equally to games like Battlefield 6 where over-dependence on any single strategy creates predictable patterns that opponents can exploit.

Common Mistake: Many teams fall into the trap of building their entire system around one star performer. When that player has an off day or gets shut down by opponents, the entire structure collapses. Learning to adapt when primary plans fail is what separates good teams from great ones.

Advanced Optimization: Establish secondary and tertiary strategies before matches begin, similar to how BF6 weapon selection requires having backup options for different combat scenarios.

Avangar advances to the semifinals scheduled for September 7th where they’ll face Renegades, providing another opportunity to demonstrate their evolving tactical approach.

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