Vitality break G2 with Inferno comeback to join Liquid in EPL grand final

Vitality will take on Liquid in the grand final of ESL Pro League Season 16 after the Dan “⁠apEX⁠” Madesclaire-led side took down G2 in a show of great resilience in the second semi-final series.

The grand final of the event will be played in a best-of-five on Sunday at 17:00 and will see the victor secure their first title in some time whichever team comes out on top. Vitality have been waiting for their chance to hoist a LAN trophy since the end of 2021, when they won IEM Winter, while Liquid‘s title drought has lasted for over three years, since IEM Chicago in 2019.

To start the second semi-final series, Vitality made light work of G2 on Mirage in spite of the Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen-led squad getting off to a solid lead on the back of forcebuy wars. Up 7-3, G2 looked in control of the map on the Terrorist side, but everything changed once Vitality found an answer to the offense with five consecutive rounds.

Spinx‘s timely 1v2 clutch in the second pistol round meant the streak would continue in the second half and, spearheaded by the Israeli and Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut, Vitality maintained their onslaught. Just one round went G2‘s way in the last 13 as they gave up their pick without much of a fight in the end and headed into Inferno a map behind.

Inferno was where the hard work had to be done. apEX‘s team looked out of sorts while G2 ran up a commanding lead on the defense with the most unlikely star in HooXi at the helm, providing a quick ace en route to a double-digit half. Three rounds at the end of the half salvaged Vitality‘s chances somewhat, but G2 resumed their dominance once sides switched and reached match point.

But finding a way to the 16th round proved impossible. With Emil “⁠Magisk⁠” Reif stepping up to join efforts with his star duo, Vitality kept rebutting G2‘s repeated attacks towards A with ease, and the gap continued to tighten as G2 struggled to find a way through. From down 7-15 apEX & co. came all the way back to overtime, where they picked up where they left off to keep their defensive streak going, eventually completing the comeback at 19-16 to secure their grand final spot.