The much awaited matchup between Donk and ZywOo delivered fireworks.
It took five months, but finally, two of Counter-Strike's biggest titans face off. Spirit's prodigal rifler Danil "donk" Kryshkovets takes on the Chosen One of CS, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut. With both teams looking on form and m0NESY likely waiting in the finals, Vitality vs Spirit will be the match to watch at IEM Dallas.
IEM Dallas - The first battle between donk's Spirit and ZywOo's Vitality
"In a game like Counter-strike, every now and then, there's a phenom that appears that changes the game immediately. From the second he puts his hand on a keyboard and mouse he changes the story of the game, how we perceive CS, the limts to it, the performances you can put forth. Zywoo did that 5 years ago. Donk did the same, from the very beginning you have no choice but to consider him. These are individuals who are so exceptional we can barely imagine what it means to play like them, and now we get the clash of two of the most exceptional profiles of the game."
That's the stakes of this matchup. A battle between the prodigies of CS2, the players who can break the scoreboard in every single match. Unstoppable force meets Immovable object, but who will emerge victorious?
Team Spirit CS2 Roster
- Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov
- Boris "magixx" Vorobyev
- Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotja
- Danil "donk" Kryshkovets
- Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov
- Sergey "hally" Shavayev (C)
Team Vitality CS2 Roster
- Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
- Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
- Lotan "Spinx" Giladi
- Shahar "flameZ" Shushan
- William "mezii" Merriman
- Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam (C)
Vitality vs Spirit - IEM Dallas Match Recap
Below, you'll find the recap of each map of the series.
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Map 1: Dust2 - Confident CT Play gives Vitality the win
Vitality set up a simple Mid to B, but a triple setup from Spirit kicked off Spirit's CT side. Donk-B and sh1ro-A spelled a 3-0 for Spirit. Full buys out in round 4 allowed Vitality to charge through long, and a rare sh1ro miss gave up the A site, giving Vitality their first round despite their best attempts to lose it.
Back-and-forth rounds could've allowed the T side to run away, but smart saves from Chopper's crew let them stay in the lead. Spirit hoped to find success in their timeouts, but Shahar "flameZ" Shushan's entries gave Vitality a 7-5 lead at half-time.
ZywOo did absolutely everything he could, as the second pistol round again went to B, but Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov played it to perfection, winning the round on time. The Frenchman, however, still had something to prove.
ZywOo and Spinx pushed for wins, and when they failed, mezii was right there to save the round. Spirit had no foothold, as Vitality routed them off the map 13-6 thanks to apEX's double smoke kills to close.
Mezii seals the deal on Mirage
Spirit may have picked up the pistol, but Vitality bounced right back and steamrolled Spirit to a 5-1 win. donk finally woke up from his slumber to give Spirit two entries in a row forcing Vitality's timeout. That spawned a five-round run for Spirit as donk topped the charts to lock a 6-6 half.
Like Dust2, the second pistol came down to the wire, with Vitality taking the win this time. sh1ro started to warm up in the CT half, giving them lifeline after lifeline, but Vitality marched on unstoppable. Finally, in round 28, zont1x's solo hold gave Spirit some breathing room up against 11.
Massive defensive holds forced Vitality onto a pistol round, allowing Spirit to tie the game up. mezii stood tall against chopper's incendiaries, locking in match point for Vitality with his 27th kill of the game. In the battle between donk and Zywoo, a Brit came out on top, and that made all the difference.
Who will Vitality face in the IEM Dallas 2024 Finals?
Vitality move on to the Grand Finals of IEM Dallas 2024, with the winner of 9z vs G2 waiting to join them there. m0NESY's form is imperial and G2 look favored to win in what could be a match for the ages in IEM's 100th Grand Finals tomorrow.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and CS2 coverage.
Featured Image via ESL, Helena Kristiansson, Viola Schuldner, and Igor Bezborodov.
