It’s hard to decide between this duo. Current n°1 and 2 of the reference world ranking, considered the two favorites of the Paris Major before the start of the competition, Vitality and Heroic dominated the Legends Stage. Three wins, no defeats: here they are on either side of the finals tree and everyone now expects to see them face off in the final at the Accor Arena.
Finalist of the last Major, the most regular team since the beginning of the year 2023 even if it did not win the slightest title (two finals, the last lost against… Vitality, in Rio), Heroic will play FaZe Clan in quarterfinal. A tricky draw (see elsewhere) for a team that beat three teams qualified for the play-offs in the previous round (FaZe precisely, Apeks and Team Liquid). Sure proof that the Danes are in good shape.
On the other side, Vitality is statistically the best team in the Legends Stage. Individually, the French club can count on players with full confidence, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut in the lead (1.38 evaluation according to the reference site HLTV, a very high score, the highest of the tournament), but the Israeli Lotan “Spinx” Giladi is not far behind (1.24, fifth best score). The bee team didn’t easily overpower their opponents, but they struggled against high-level formations (G2 and ENCE, then Monte).
Mentally strong, she will benefit from the support of the public at Bercy from her quarter-final against Into the Breach, which no one was expecting there. Beware of the trap in this completely crazy Major where many big names (G2, Furia, ENCE, NAVI and Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, the best player in Counter-Strike in the world with ZywOo) jumped prematurely.
With two defeats and a round behind in its third match in the first round (the Challengers Stage), we thought we saw Team Liquid (n°7) leaving this Parisian Major very early. But the North American club made up for it before offering a quality Legends Stage, easily dismissing 9INE then NAVI, then falling narrowly against Heroic before earning its place in the final phase against Into the Breach. Experienced and undeniably talented, her background should not be underestimated. Especially since she will face Apeks, an opponent well within her reach, on Friday.
For its part, FaZe Clan is a permanent miracle. Having gone through a “last chance” tournament to join Paris, the winner of the Antwerp Major in 2022 and current world No. 3 saved match rounds against Bad News Eagles then NAVI, Monday and Tuesday, before snatching his place in the quarter-finals. Despite the lapses in the game, that iron mind and familiar arena conditions make it impossible not to fear captain Finn “karrigan” Andersen and his teammates. Admittedly, they will not start as favorites in the huge duel to come against Heroic on Thursday, but the Danes must be wary.
Not far from elimination at the Challengers Stage too, the ukrainian club (n°13) recovered well in the next round to join the arena, beating in particular “the other” structure of kyiv, NAVI, now eliminated. A very talented young team, perhaps a little more than the other outsiders in these quarter-finals, and led by the impressive Jordanian Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas (19 years old), Monte does not however have the experience of large speakers. and that could harm him. Luckily, she will meet GamerLegion on Friday, an equally inexperienced formation on this level.
GamerLegion, Into the Breach et Apeks
No one expected GamerLegion (#22), Into the Breach (#28) and Apeks (#19) this far for the last Major of CS : GO. Can they still surprise? Maybe once in this Major impossible to predict, but probably not until the end of the tournament. Solid at the Legends Stage, GamerLegion didn’t face the best in the world there, but French-speaking Belgian Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus will have the support of the Accor Arena against Monte – arguably the most affordable duel of the trio.
Into the Breach comes out of nowhere and could benefit from this relative anonymity to continue to amaze. Even if after his successes against FaZe, ENCE and Fnatic, the surprise effect will no longer be the same. The lack of experience in an arena may have its importance against Vitality as well. Finally, Apeks has done well against teams within its reach (Into the Breach, Bad News Eagles and the NiPs) but the rise of Liquid will be difficult to contain.