Vitality were looking to win their first trophy this season. They were victorious in the semifinals against Spirit and were poised to take the IEM Dallas title when they met G2. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Vitality was defeated in a tense grand final. This was their second consecutive loss in the grand finals, the last one was ESL Pro League S19 where Vitality lost to MOUZ.

Vitality's team captain, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, in an interview with HLTV talked about how the team has been getting in shape throughout the year, the losses in the ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas finals, and what it will take to get back to the level of play they showed at the end of last year.

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Speaking about the final against G2, apEX said that the defeat was not particularly frustrating due to the presence of a backup player for the opponents. He believes that Stewie2k presence on the home stage took much of the pressure off the G2 team and helped them perform better. In the match against Vitality, G2 performed well, defeating strong opponents like MOUZ and FaZe. NiKo, according to apEX, had one of the best tournaments of his CS2 career as captain, and m0NESY also performed well. Overall, Vitality just didn't show their best game, especially on the Nuke map.

apEX also commented on Mezii game, which has been the target of criticism. He thinks that Mezii's main problem is that he sometimes doesn't think about himself enough and is afraid of the players he plays with in the Vitality team. ApEX cites the situation with the Danes in 2022 as an example, when they didn't show their best game in the new team. Mezii needed a period of adaptation, and although his results were not always stable, he showed a great game at the IEM Dallas tournament. apEX believes in Mezii's talent and believes that he is capable of benefiting the team.

Speaking about Vitality's current level compared to their peak last year, apEX noted that the team is slowly returning to their best form, although this process takes time and effort.

BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2024 starts today and will run until June 16, with 8 teams competing for a prize pool of $425,000 and a slot at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024. Vitality will face Virtus.Pro in Group B.

Source: HLTV