Vitality, previously recognized as the world’s top CS:GO team at the end of its competitive cycle, delivered a surprisingly poor performance, ultimately finishing in the last position at IEM Sydney, which marked the first major tournament for CS2. This outcome followed their losses to BetBoom and FaZe Clan on October 16.
The reigning Major champions struggled, losing three out of the four maps they played in their inaugural CS2 appearance. They were upset in the initial round by Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov’s BetBoom (with a score of 16-14 on Mirage) and were subsequently defeated by FaZe Clan in the elimination match, making it a reverse-sweep.
While Vitality’s teamwork wasn’t at its peak, the most notable concern was the diminished impact of ZywOo. As the two-time reigning best player in the world for 2020 and 2021, and the current best player in 2023, ZywOo finished with a neutral kill/death (K/D) difference in three out of the four maps played, a far cry from his usual fragging prowess in CS:GO.
IEM Sydney, being the inaugural CS2 event, had fans hoping for a deep run from Vitality, considering their previous excellence in the later stages of CS:GO. However, ZywOo’s underperformance has led the community to speculate whether the AWP (sniper rifle) is as effective in CS2 as it was in CS:GO and if he can adapt to the new game’s mechanics.
Valve didn’t make any changes to the AWP in CS2, but players may need to adjust their approach to using the sniper rifle due to the unique characteristics of peeker’s advantage in the new game.
Notably, not only was IEM Sydney the setting for Vitality’s first official CS2 matches, but it also marked the debut of their returning coach, Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam, who was signed this month to fill the void left by the departure of zonic. Unfortunately, the French coach couldn’t make it to Australia in time to stand behind the players, raising questions about how this might have impacted their performance.