ALEX powers Vitality to victory over Heroic at EPICENTER

Vitality defeated HEROIC 2-0 in the semi-final of EPICENTER 2019 (16-12 Vertigo, 16-12 Inferno), with Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin being the standout player in the series.

Coming into the semi-finals directly, Vitality had a two-day break in Moscow before their match, while HEROIC had to overcome FORZE yesterday to reach this point. The Danes tried to steal away the first map by picking Vertigo, but the French side showed up with a strong CT side which gave them the victory on their opponents pick. Then, Inferno followed, where despite poor performances from Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon and Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy, Vitality was in control from start to finish and closed it out thanks to a beautiful Deagle highlight from ALEX. Vitality will play the grand final later today, against the winner of the MOUZ - Evil Geniuses series.

On Vertigo, shox and ALEX combined in the second-round force buy to get Vitality the early lead on the CT side, cruising to 5-1. HEROIC then grabbed their second, focusing on B and trading out in their approaches (5-4), but the French side figured out to stop their B execute and starting locking them out again. ALEX's flank in round 13 netted him a double and secured a strong finish to the half for Vitality, 10-5.

HEROIC managed to retake A on the pistol, but just like in the first half, the force-buy worked out for the Frenchmen. However, they ended up getting a taste of their own medicine, as the Danes went all in and stole back the next round. With Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller stepping up after a slow first half, HEROIC brought the score back to a one-round difference, but then shox's Deagle gave Vitality the round. A follow-up win saw HEROIC's money broken, and despite Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen's best attempts, Vitality closed out the map 16-12.

Leading by example, ALEX spurred on his team to a win over Heroic

Inferno followed, where HEROIC picked up their third pistol of the series, this time avoiding the second-round upset to go 4-0 up. A fast triple from ALEX gave Vitality their first, and they went on a streak to equalize the scoreline shortly (4-4). Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut's 1v3 on the A bombsite was the first highlight moment of the young star in the series, who together with ALEX powered Vitality to a 7-5 lead. HEROIC, who were emphasizing a double-AWP setup, still managed to finish the half ahead, 8-7.

ZywOo's triple in the 3v3 gave Vitality their first pistol win of the series, which they took advantage of to go 12-10 up. HEROIC managed sporadic rounds, keeping Vitality's money low, and finally broke them with an A execute (13-12). However, instead of equalizing the scoreline, HEROIC was stopped by ALEX's hero quad kill with the Deagle, pushing Vitality over the finish line, 16-12.

EPICENTER 2019Best of 3 VitalityMatchpage 2 0 22nd December 2019 HEROIC 16Vertigo 12 16Inferno 12

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX	58 - 36	+22	108.3	1.54
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	42 - 29	+13	85.5	1.28
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	38 - 37	+1	75.4	1.13
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	31 - 38	-7	61.1	0.85
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	26 - 37	-11	53.5	0.78

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Patrick 'es3tag' Hansenes3tag	47 - 39	+8	84.8	1.19
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	37 - 35	+2	68.7	1.05
Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn	29 - 39	-10	65.6	0.91
Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferSnappi	31 - 40	-9	65.6	0.87
Johannes 'b0RUP' Borupb0RUP	32 - 42	-10	70.2	0.86

Cédric 'RpK' Guipouy Age: 30 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 1256 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.68 FORZE #16 Dmitriy 'facecrack' AlekseyevAlmaz 'almazer' AsadullinEvgenii 'FL1T' LebedevBogdan 'xsepower' ChernikovAndrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov Vitality #8 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinMathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen Age: 24 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1000 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Evil Geniuses #5 Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzTarik 'tarik' CelikVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 19 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.30 Maps played: 558 KPR: 0.87 DPR: 0.62 HEROIC #21 Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferCasper 'cadiaN' MøllerPatrick 'es3tag' HansenJohannes 'b0RUP' BorupMartin 'stavn' Lund Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin Age: 24 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 942 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.71 MOUZ #4 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool Richard 'shox' Papillon Age: 27 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1590 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.66 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller Age: 24 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 996 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64