Will anyone dethrone Vitality at IEM Global Challenge?
After a turbulent start to the year, the team is finally finding their groove. Gone are the jokes of ‘ZywOo and friends’ after their dominant team performance at BLAST Premier’s Fall Finals cemented their spot at the top of Counter-Strike’s world rankings.
But with the French squad on top of the world, seven more of CS:GO’s finest will be looking to stand in their way as they look primed to secure IEM’s $500,000 Global Challenge victory.
Converging on December 15, teams all over the globe will be clashing in a variety of playstyles between regions that have been isolated for most of 2020.
Some have said that Vitality suffers from a Grand Final curse, but it’s clear that this is not the case. They progress slowly and steadily through tournaments, before claiming the crown of high-caliber events such as IEM Beijing and Europe, booking their spot in the Global Challenge.
Being unable to train and play together in-person has clearly affected teams’ overall performances, with Heroic having made early exits in three of their recent tournaments. When all is said and done, though, and with such a huge share on the table, the question is: who will be able to pull together in this online era to claim the throne?
