On Friday, Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #8 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso and TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #17 Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No squared off for a "win or go home" match in their respective Champions Seoul campaigns, with the European team coming out victorious, 2-0.

The two-map series was played out on Lotus, Sunset and Bind, with Lotus being Talon Esports's pick, Sunset being Team Vitality's pick and Bind being the decider. Team Vitality won Lotus 13-6 and Sunset 13-8, making Bind unnecessary.

Team Vitality started on Lotus up against a unique Talon Esports team comp but found several gaps in the defense of the Thailand-based team.

Great, fundamental team play was the highlight of Team Vitality's play on the opening map. Cohesive teamplay saw them scrape together rounds that otherwise would have been guaranteed wins for Talon Esports. Of the 11 rounds that Talon found man advantages, they would lose eight.

“The fact that we have leads is good. The throws continue to be bad. Unlucky,” FrosT said in his on-stage interview following the map.

Vitality dominated on their attack half, which was highlighted by a three-round streak in which they won consecutive 3v5 rounds.

trexx , who finished with the most kills in the loss to Trace Esports, finished the map 19-10 on Fade, but the standout performance was that of rookie Kicks , who finished 22-9 on Breach. He'd also find his first ace in VCT play, in flashy 6K fashion.

Crucial 6K from VIT rookie Kicks to reach map point.

Talon Esports's rookie sharpshooter primmie played Raze for the first time in his VCT career on Sunset. He'd be tasked with out-pacing Team Vitality's Sayf , who was on Neon.

After grabbing six rounds in their defensive half, Talon won their attack half pistol round to claim their first lead of the series. The lead would be short-lived, though, as Team Vitality converted an anti-eco thrifty the following round.

With their economy healthy and never really looking to be in a tough position, Team Vitality finished the map sprinting. They won seven of the final eight rounds, including five straight to get EMEA's no. 2 seed across the finish line.

ceNder 's 4K helps bring VIT to map and series point.

Vitality's Kicks would finish with a server-leading 40 kills. Talon's primmie would be the only player with a rating above 1.00, while all members of Vitality had a rating above that mark.

Across both maps, Team Vitality's ability to steal rounds while playing shorthanded was highlighted.

With the result, Talon Esports's 2024 VCT campaign is over. Team Vitality's continues, but they aren't out of the woods yet. On Sunday, they'll play against LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN Latin America South Rank #1 Demon1 Max Mazanov tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena C0M Corbin Lee nataNk Nathan Bocqueho , the Americas Split 2 champions. The winner of that match will claim the second playoff spot in Group C, while the loser will go home.