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OG secured a spot in ESL Pro League Season 11 Stage 2 over Vitality despite losing their map pick,?? ??? ??? ??? Inferno, before winning Nuke and Dust2 in a reverse sweep.

Vitality and OG faced off for the first time in the ESL Pro League play-in for a spot in the second stage of the tournament, where the likes of Natus Vincere and Astralis were waiting. Vitality, the better-ranked team of the two and the bookmaker favorite, were quick to take the lead on Inferno, OG's map pick, but were unable to close the series out as Nathan "?NBK-?" Schmitt and company brought it back on Nuke and Dust2.

A play towards B got OG on the board in their first buy round, halving a 0-2 start after the pistols and the following eco. Two opening kills by Cédric "?RpK?" Guipouy and a double by Mathieu "?ZywOo?" Herbaut the following round helped Vitality remain in the lead as they went on to take a 5-1 lead before doubles by Valdemar "?valde?" Bj?rn Vangs? and NBK- without response kept their side in the game, although four flash assists by Dan "?apEX?" Madesclaire in doubles by Kévin "?misutaaa?" Rabier and Richard "?shox?" Papillon pushed Vitality forward early on. The Frenchmen went all out on the CT half after that and ended ahead 11-4.

Unable to win the second pistol round despite Issa "?ISSAA?" Murad and NBK- taking down two each OG were quickly put against the ropes after losing the forcebuy, eco, and first gun round. On match point, RpK came big in the last afterplant of the map with three kills in a 3vs3 on B to secure the series lead on Inferno.

OG reverse swept Vitality to secure a spot in the next stage

OG got off to a better start on Nuke, winning the first pistol round on the CT side and following it up twice before Vitality replied with three of their own to tie it back up. OG were quick to adjust their defenses and glided to a 9-4 lead before giving up the last two as Vitality made sure to keep their options alive on the CT side.

Doubles by misutaaa and shox put Vitality back on the warpath as they tied the match back up, 9-9. The two teams then traded rounds, both hitting double digits. At 12-12, OG were able to break the defenders’ economy, taking the lead into the last stretch of the map and gaining enough momentum to win Nuke 16-12 and force the series into a decider map.

Vitality were unable to close the series out after winning OG’s map pick

Vitality won the CT-side pistol round on Dust2 and won the anti-forcebuy against two SG553s. ZywOo was then able to win a 1vs1 against Aleksi "?Aleksib?" Virolainen to make it 3-0. From there on out OG took the reins on the attack, averaging just two deaths per round in a six-round streak to make it 6-3 before Vitality could reply with six of their own to lead 9-6 at the half.

OG tied it back up with a 3-0 partial score after as many rounds in the second half, and went on to take a 10-9 lead before the first buy round. A pistol buy by Vitality creating chaos in mid and short ended up with the French team winning the round and breaking OG’s economy to bring it to 11-11. OG got ahead 15-12 and it was NBK- with an ace who put the last nail in Vitality's coffin, 16-12, to secure a spot in ESL Pro League's Stage 2.

ESL Pro League Season 11 EuropeBest of 3

Vitality

Matchpage 1 2 4th April 2020

OG 16Inferno 4 12Nuke 16 12Dust2 16

?Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	53 - 45	+8	77.6	1.15
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	52 - 54	-2	90.1	1.14
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	51 - 42	+9	64.7	1.07
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabiermisutaaa	47 - 44	+3	60.5	1.03
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	48 - 49	-1	74.2	0.99

?OG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittNBK-	53 - 53	0	78.5	1.12
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib	47 - 55	-8	72.4	1.04
Issa 'ISSAA' MuradISSAA	45 - 46	-1	64.5	0.97
Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewskimantuu	46 - 49	-3	63.6	0.92
Valdemar 'valde' Bj?rn Vangs?valde	42 - 49	-7	57.1	0.89