Team Vitality reach EMEA finals, defeat Team Heretics 3-1

Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #9 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso defeated Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius 3-1 in the VCT EMEA 2024 Stage 2 lower final, securing their spot in the regional finals against Fnatic.

Team Heretics are eliminated from the playoffs, with this loss locking them in the third seed for EMEA at Champions 2024. This was the first best-of-five series in 2024 for Team Vitality, their deep map pool allowing them to shine against an experienced Team Heretics squad.

The series began on Icebox, with both teams running their variation of the Gekko-Sova-double-initiator comp. Heretics put MiniBoo on his signature Neon, while Vitality kept their star duelist Sayf on Jett. On defense, the Relay Bolts from MiniBoo prevented any set plays from Sayf. RieNs was also significantly winning in the Sova duel, as Heretics entered their attack half up 9-3.

Vitality needed an impactful defense half, and a pistol win into a bonus conversion offered some hope. However, those were the only defense rounds Vitality won. MiniBoo frequently pushed into enemy spawn through B site to catch Vitality off guard, helping secure a 13-6 map win for Heretics.

The duelist matchup then shifted to Neon versus Neon as both teams opted for the Sunset comp that Team Heretics introduced back in Kickoff. Vitality stole a pistol round thanks to a sneaky defuse, then converted their bonus to end their defense half up 8-4. The two Neons drew a lot of attention, but the Cypher of runneR was the star with 16 kills at the half. runneR continued to frag on the attack as Vitality built a significant lead and never relented, winning Sunset 13-4 and tying the series.

Lotus was a return of double initiator, as both teams ran Breach and Fade. MiniBoo stayed on Neon, while Sayf moved to Raze. It was his third duelist agent in three maps, and he started Lotus on fire with back-to-back 4Ks. Sayf built Showstopper twice in the first six rounds and ended his defense half with 22 kills. Vitality moved to their attack side up 9-3 and ended their attack perfectly to end the map 13-3 and take the series lead.

Moving to Haven, Vitality maintained their form from Lotus. Vitality had another 8-4 lead at the half, but Heretics fought back to take their first pistol-round win since the beginning of the series on Icebox. Even as RieNs and MiniBoo tried to claw their way back in the game, Vitality answered with a stalwart defense thanks to Kicks and runneR. The map ended 13-9, and Vitality won their debut best-of-five match to face Fnatic in the regional finals.

For Sayf, this is an earned return to a regional final. He did so with Team Liquid in 2023, and now he has the chance to beat Fnatic and steal the regional title once again in 2024. Sayf's outstanding performance alongside runneR's transition to Sentinel have paid dividends for Vitality, as they now know they will be a top-two regional seed heading to Seoul.

Vitality will face Fnatic on July 20 for the trophy and the top seed at Champions 2024.