The BLAST Premier World Final 2024 brings us an exciting quarterfinal match between Vitality and MOUZ. The stakes are high: the loser is eliminated from the tournament, while the winner moves on to the semifinals. Let's take a closer look at both teams and what we can expect from this crucial game.
Recent Performance
Team Vitality has been facing some challenges lately. After winning IEM Cologne 2024, their results have dipped. They had a quarterfinal exit at ESL Pro League Season 20 and a semifinal loss to G2 at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024. At IEM Rio 2024, they finished in 5th-6th place after losing to MOUZ—the very team they are up against now.
An important factor affecting Vitality is that they are playing with a stand-in player. Audric "JACKZ" Jug is replacing William "mezii" Merriman, and while JACKZ is experienced, he hasn't played at the top level for over a year and a half. His performance hasn't been very strong in this tournament, which puts extra pressure on the rest of the team.
At IEM Rio 2024, MOUZ performed well, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to Natus Vincere. Importantly, they defeated Vitality 2-1 in that tournament, showing they can compete against top teams.
Key Factors to Consider
Map Win Rates (Last 3 Months)
Vitality:
- Nuke: 90.0%
- Dust2: 77.8%
- Vertigo: 66.7%
- Mirage: 62.5%
- Inferno: 62.5%
- Anubis: 37.5%
- Ancient: (permanent ban)
MOUZ:
- Mirage: 63.6%
- Inferno: 62.5%
- Nuke: 61.5%
- Vertigo: 40.0%
- Dust2: 37.5%
- Ancient: 25.0%
- Anubis: (permanent ban)
This means Vitality is strong on Dust2 and Nuke, while MOUZ prefers Mirage and Inferno. The map choices will be very important in this match.
Map Veto
Understanding the maps each team prefers can give us insight into how the match might go. Here's the expected map veto based on recent performances:
- Vitality bans Ancient (it's their permanent ban).
- MOUZ bans Anubis (they don't play this map).
- Vitality picks Dust2 (they have a 77.8% win rate on Dust2).
- MOUZ picks Vertigo (even though their win rate is 40%, they might feel confident on this map against Vitality).
- Vitality bans Inferno.
- MOUZ bans Nuke.
- Mirage is left as the decider.
Player Performance
Team Vitality:
- Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut is one of the best players in the world. He's been performing exceptionally well and can carry his team in tough matches. His rating at this event is 7.0 and he is the only reason Vitality reached the playoffs.
- JACKZ, the stand-in, hasn't been in top form. His lack of recent high-level play may be a weakness for Vitality. His rating in Sentosa is just 5.6.
MOUZ:
- Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás, the team's sniper, needs to perform well, especially in duels against ZywOo. If he can hold his own, it will be a big advantage for MOUZ. So far he is not doing well, the rating is 5.7.
- Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin has been a key player, especially in their win over FaZe. He is the team's best player at the event with the rating of 6.2.
Prediction
Considering all these factors, MOUZ appears to have an edge in this matchup. They have been performing well recently and have a stable team. Vitality's struggles with a stand-in player and recent inconsistent results make this a tough challenge for them.
However, we cannot underestimate the impact of ZywOo. If he delivers an outstanding performance and his teammates provide solid support, Vitality could still win.
Given the current form of both teams, MOUZ is likely to win this match and advance to the semifinals.
What Do You Think?
Who do you think will come out on top in this crucial quarterfinal? Will Vitality overcome their challenges, or will MOUZ continue their strong performance? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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