Looking around the CS2 scene right now, there isn’t a team on the same level as Vitality. From the experience of apEX, the raw skill of ropz and the generational talent of Zywoo, it was hard to see another team taking home the $500,000 prize in Austin, but runners-up The Mongolz came so close.
Vitality’s road to the win came without much bother, dispatching of NaVi in the quarter finals without dropping a map, followed by a 2-1 victory over Mouz in the semi finals, a game in which Zywoo registered a 1.46 HLTV rating before closing out their tournament in an excellent 2-1 victory over The Mongolz, Asia’s first ever Major finalists.
The final was a matter of heart vs mind, we all knew Vitality were heavily favoured to win, but the world was behind The Mongolz, their team spirit and individual play this tournament had been excellent, showcasing the talents of young guns Senzu, Techno and star AWPer 910. The Mongolz took down solid competition en route to the final, first defeating Faze 2-0, eliminating the likes of s1mple, Karrigan and homeland hero, Elige in 2-0 fashion across two close maps (13-9 on Mirage, 13-11 on Anubis), then moving on to trounce Pain 2-0, with the Brazilians only taking 5 rounds in each of their semi final maps.
The Mongolz even looked to continue their hot streak in the final, as the curtain went up and the stage was set, map 1 was underway on Mirage, a map where Vitality’s T side has looked flat at times, but it was CT sided woes for the French side, losing the first half 7-5 before not taking a single T sided round and losing the first map 13-5 to the Mongolian hopefuls.
The veterans soon rallied though, opening things up on Dust2 with a 9-3 lead at the half, closing things out on their T Side to leave The Mongolz stunned from a 13-4 defeat. Map 3 was Inferno, a map that made history during Cloud9’s major win in Boston in 2018, so what better place for this score to be settled? The only problem though was Vitality had the momentum now, and with 910 struggling to get online with the AWP, The Mongolz’ major final ended on map 3 after a 13-6 defeat.
Mind may have won over heart, but The Mongolz captured the hearts of everyone, and this major is a success for Asian counterstrike, with newcomers Lynn Vision making a surprise run through the early phases of the tournament, surpassing the more established Chinese team, Tyloo, who bowed out in Stage 2.
Undoubtedly though, we may be staring down the barrel of the Vitality era, this team is on fire and have taken CS2 and ran with it and they only seem to be getting stronger. It’s going to take a serious effort for another team to turn up and dethrone them, but as Astralis found out after their era ended, they bigger they are, the harder they fall.
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