BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023Live updates from BLAST Paris Major grand final
Keep up to date with the leadup to and action itself in the Major title decider between Vitality and GamerLegion.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 | ||
| 21/05/2023 |
17:00
|
Match |
Live updates
A lot of the focus has been on Vitality, but we should celebrate GamerLegion's run — they did not fold in the final, and they can be proud of their showing on Nuke. Isak "isak" Fahlén gave us a few words of reflection.
"Disappointing to lose since we had such a great run but you can'tbe mad, we've made the final of the last Major so we're going to look back it and only have good memories of it. It's a thing we've been working on to keep the mentality high, we've been really good at resetting after losses on maps and I think that showed."
But will GamerLegion stay together? The sharks will be circling, particularly around Mihai "iM" Ivan and Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek.
"Hopefully [we can stay together]. We'll see how it ends. If people get contracts from tier one orgs, with so much higher salaries, you can't say no but we'll try to stick to each other as long as we can."
Danny "zonic" Sørensen was already the most successful coach of all time, but this 5th Major puts the cherry on the cake. We spoke with him in the mixed zone after Vitality's stunning win.
"It's very emotional for me today. My ride in Vitality has been mixed, obviously last year one month into the whole process we were boot camping at Stade de France in Paris and I got a phone call that my Mom had suddenly passed. That turned my world upside down, I had to re-find myself and after one or two weeks I tried to come back to coach in Katowice and it was a long process. Over time I dealt with it, and had some wonderful talks with our sports psychologist Lars."
"After we got Spinx, it was about finding ourselves. It's been a long journey even though it's only one and a half years. The way we've been working since we found out about the Paris Major in January, I felt like it was one and a half years of work we've put in in just five months. Super proud of everyone, and yeah, just a happy coach right now."
So what's next for Vitality? The Paris Major has been their goal, their one fixation. Is this the zenith, or just the start of a sustained era?
"There is a long road ahead for us to do an era like we did in Astralis. We use the word era way too much, I think Astralis had an era and maybe one or two teams. It's going to be one tournament at a time."
"I'm going to have a talk, like I did with Astralis, with the boys and tell them that — and I've tried this myself — 'one day it's going to be over, you're going to be washed up CS players trying to find their groove' so if they really want to win more tournaments and one more Major, two more Majors, they're going to have to keep working hard. That was the recipe in Astralis and I hope we continue to do it here."
What a chad. The only player to win FIVE Major titles.
Barely able to hold back the tear, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire took to the stage to give an interview detailing his overwhelming emotions.
“I don’t know how describe right now, it’s so much joy. You know I’ve been criticized from day one being an in-game leader, but now I win a fucking Major, so fuck you all.
“Last year has been rough, really rough, but this year we told ourselves that we have the Major in Paris and that was the big goal for us. The goal was to come as good as possible here, and we can see that many teams had a lot of trouble coming here. The most important thing is the win for us, we gave everything for the last five months.
“It wasn’t easy, the beginning was tough. Not much belief in ourselves after Katowice and EPL, but that was everything in the plan to grow up as a team and yeah, we won a fucking Major.”
Vitality ARE MAJOR CHAMPIONS!
It’s happened. The hometown favorites are crowned, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut wins his Major, Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen cements his status as the most decorated Major player of all time, Lotan "Spinx" Giladi becomes the first Israeli Major winner.
Tears are flowing both in the eyes of fans and in the eyes of Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, there is an immeasurable magic in the air. There is nothing quite like a team winning on home soil.
Oh dear, what the hell just happened? GamerLegion opted for another upper rush against all sense, but they made it work thanks to a completely bizarre fumble from Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. It seemed he switched to a nade by accident? Either way that’s a gift for GamerLegion.
Speed is the name of the game now for GamerLegion and they motor their way down secret, grabbing an entry and gaining control of lower. They slow the round too much as Vitality drop the bomb carrier, and end up getting picked apart as Vitality crunch.
The pistols have to come out again for GamerLegion, and that allows Vitality to tie the scores up at 13-13. Seems dupreeh will be forgiven his fumble!
The pistols had to come out for GamerLegion and they are swiftly dealt with. They call a tac pause immediately after, they feel this one starting to slip.
The timeout pays dividends as Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand’s AWP finds a pick outside before moving to ramp and finding a pick there, allowing his team to head to the lower site and convert the round.
Vitality have a good chunk of change in their pockets however and buy up again. A slow default ensues for GamerLegion and they try to hit upper late in the round, but Vitality stop things cold with little effort.
With their economy on the line GamerLegion go for an upper rush, but once again they are crushed. Those upper executes just aren’t working, the score is now 12-11. Pressure mounting.
Vitality might have needed a few attempts, but they just won their first pistol round of the series thanks to Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire locking down ramp. Vitality fight hard outside against the pistols and put them to bed with ease.
Guns are back up now for GamerLegion, and they head to ramp room fast, trading into a 3v3. They push all the way through ramp to hit the upper site through heaven, and ZywOo gets caught outside by Mihai "iM" Ivan to finish the round.
That last was a bonus round for Vitality however, so they can get guns up again in the following. It’s ZywOo’s gun that is the most important, he rushes outside with supporting flashes and picks up a smooth and silky multi-kill. 11-8 now, GamerLegion’s lead is shrinking rapidly.
Mihai "iM" Ivan may have needed a map to warm up, but now he has arrived on the server he is back to handing out free haircuts. The Romanian reaper’s 23 first-half frags single-handedly delivered a strong lead at the interval for his team.
At least a lower hit from Vitality did grab themselves a fifth, so this map is still doable for them.
Vitality opt for another upper hit, but this time Mihai "iM" Ivan is on hand to stop things getting out of control as Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen seemed to have swung the round in his team’s favor. GamerLegion then brush aside a weak buy to get themselves to 6-3.
Things get wild in yard in the following round as the teams brawl for map control, but Vitality come out on top with a 3v2. They head to the inner site, and they get the round over the line.
Vitality get crazy fast map control outside in the following round, but GamerLegion answer back with their double-AWP setup and pick apart Vitality bit by bit.
The Tec-9s are out for Vitality in the next, but all the ramp rush nets is a couple of kills. 8-4 for GamerLegion how, it’s looking like a strong half.
Here we go, Mihai "iM" Ivan has finally arrived on the server. He just destroyed Vitality from the boost spot as they tried to take ramp control for a 4k, he’s now 11-3 with 200 ADR four rounds in.
iM gets wrecked by Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen trying to push through hut in the next round though, and a crispy Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut headshot grants this team a comfortable advantage, which they convert with a plant on the lower site.
GamerLegion try to crunch lobby again in the next round, this time at least being more coordinated about it, but it falls flat again.
A buy comes back out for GamerLegion, and this time they find a couple of free picks outside to grant them a 4-3 lead.
Nuke is underway!
Vitality have started things on the T side, and a chaotic pistol round eventually became a 1v1 between Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, which acoR won. That was 2v4 at one point, it felt like Vitality got a bit too clever for their own good in the mid-round.
GamerLegion FINALLY have converted a second round, mowing down Vitality’s eco as they tried to probe yard.
A quick upper execute came flying through door for Vitality on their first gun round, and it was smooth and effective, granting them an early T round. 2-1 now.
In February Dan "apEX" Madesclaire spoke about how to get the best out of Lotan "Spinx" Giladi, who struggled at the end of 2022, and the fruits of his labour are now here in spades.
"We put him in the best CT position you could ever have on A Overpass. He was playing with hades before, and obviously hades was playing for him, but now he's playing with ZywOo and he was kinda scared to play for himself"
He's definitely not scared anymore.
The first map is done, Vitality batter GamerLegion 16-6 and put themselves in prime position to win the Major.
That was surely GamerLegion’s chance to make Vitality sweat, Nuke is up next and that map is massively Vitality favored.
In the second-half pistol Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut creeps around on his own in middle, grabbing map control for his team and allowing them to head to B. Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek once again steps up for his squad, picking up a 4k to help them force through the retake.
Then… well someone in the crowd opens up a case on stream, gets a gold, and the crowd goes wild.
Anyway, back to the main attraction, and Vitality once again force up and beat GamerLegion back, Emil "Magisk" Reif battering his way onto the B site with some great Galil entries. GL can’t be throwing away these chances, not in a game like this.
Or can they? GamerLegion force and their Deagles ring true, particularly Isak "isak" Fahlén’s, swinging the momentum back in their favor. The Swede is keeping his team alive right now.
Oh dear. Both teams can put together a reasonable buy in terms of weapons, and Vitality completely pick apart GamerLegion’s mid hold. 13-6 now, this map is just about done.
After another default GamerLegion opted for a B hit, but a quick-thinking boost helped Vitality force through the retake. GamerLegion just can’t string rounds together here, and that doesn’t bode well on their map pick.
Mihai "iM" Ivan finds one of those patented entries he has been dazzling the world with this Major, picking Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen on B, but a Lotan "Spinx" Giladi flank through fountain catches GamerLegion as they try to switch up the play and take some map control. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire converts the round, holding down the A site.
Another upgraded pistol round is dealt with by Vitality, but Isak "isak" Fahlén’s Tec-9 makes things so very scary. That was close.
The last round was ABSOLUTELY VITAL for GamerLegion, and Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek stepped up and delivered a 1v2 clutch to give his team at least a chance in the second half. 11-4 for Vitality.
Here we go, it’s starting to get that grand final feel now.
A very chaotic round goes back and forth and ends up in a 1v2, which Dan "apEX" Madesclaire steps up to win for his side. It was messy, but who cares if you win the round.
Vitality seem ready to run with this momentum, winning the following round quickly to put GamerLegion on another sketchy buy.
Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Lotan "Spinx" Giladi dominate middle to grant their team a 4v2, but two magical Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek Deagle headshots bring the round back into the balance. siuhy manages to sneak out B and grab an entry in the 2v2, and Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand brings the round home. It’s still 8-3, but maybe GamerLegion can build now.
After the tech pause, 5-1 came through quickly as GamerLegion were on a bad buy. Lotan "Spinx" Giladi hit some crispy shots hunting down the pistols on a flank.
With the guns back up for both sides, Vitality set up very aggressively in middle and long, trading themselves quickly into a 4v3. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut then got a flash to peek long and picked another for a 4v2, and despite GamerLegion managing to get back to a 2v2, they did lose the round.
It was just starting to seem dicey for GamerLegion, but Isak "isak" Fahlén got his running shoes on to win his team their second run, flying up through bathrooms onto the A site and catching several players off guard.
6-2 in Vitality’s favor.
GamerLegion went back to the B site with Tec-9s after losing the second round, but Emil "Magisk" Reif stood tall to take down three before the attack could really get going. That leaves GamerLegion with no money in the coffers, and their eco round is mopped up comfortably.
It’s heavy connector and construction control called by Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek in the following round, but Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut managed to sneak up long and gather all the info. As such Vitality flashed for a monster peek, and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen mowed down two before the rest of the attack fell flat.
Another tech pause has been called, but it’s another short one and play resumes, 4-1 the score.
GamerLegion opted for a contact play through monster on their pistol round and it worked sublimely well, granting them a 2v1 post-plant which they converted.
A very slow default through bathrooms ensued in the following, but this allowed Vitality all the time in the world to rotate four to the A site and win their force-buy.
A tech pause comes through following that second round, but it looks like we are ready to get back into things.
"Is the pressure really on GamerLegion? I feel like they have nothing to lose!"
Jacob "Pimp" Winneche echoes the same sentiments made by Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez, both analysts feel there is little pressure on GamerLegion here. Is that enough to help them complete a magical run to the title?
Overpass will be the first battleground in this final, GamerLegion's pick. They start on the T side, and all eyes will be on Mihai "iM" Ivan. The Romanian has carried his team's T sides in this tournament, will that continue in the final?
Goosebumps, anyone?
We are mere moments away from the grand final of the last CS:GO Major, and Vitality have just taken to the stage in the midst of raucous noise coming from the crowd.
Dan "apEX" Madesclaire is confident his team can bring it home.
"GamerLegion have been phenomenal this tournament, that's for sure. I think what we have to rely on is what we have worked on since the beginning of the year, being ourselves, and I think if we play our game and we are on point today, we are gonna win."
15 minutes to go now before we gets thing started in the Accor Arena. Vitality and GamerLegion will be doing their last-minute checks, trying to get into the zone before the all-important game.
"For me, it's the same game if we play a group stage game or a final; we have to go in with the same mindset," Emil "Magisk" Reif commented at the start of his pre-game interview on stream.
"We have to be ready for anything," he continued, mirroring the same remarks he made in an interview with HLTV on Saturday.
"We need to be able to reset if we get a bad start and these types of things. It's the final, so we have to minimize the mistakes, and other than that, we need to stick to our plan and our strat book and the way we want to play Counter-Strike... we know what kind of team we are up against, so for me it's all about ourselves," the Dane said, knowing that Vitality enter the title decider as the favorites.
"I also think we have to give them [GamerLegion] some credit. They have played some good CS and individually they are on point, that's also why I say we need to be ready for anything.
"I think they are playing good CS, but up until this point they haven't had any pressure. Nobody expected them to be in the quarter-finals, nobody expected them to be in the semi-finals, nobody expected them to be in the finals. So for me, they've been playing without pressure and they've been enjoying themselves and they didn't have anything to lose.
"Now they are so close, they can almost taste their dreams coming true. I think today they will have more nerves, and they will be a bit more scared in some ways. It's a natural thing."
The BLAST.tv Paris Major is close to wrapping up, with less than 30 minutes to go until GamerLegion and Vitality take to the server for the much-anticipated grand final.
It's a fixture full of storylines. The two French representatives are within touching distance of lifting a Major trophy in front of their countrymen; Mihai "iM" Ivan, not usually at the front of people's minds when you think of a team carry, is putting up a performance of a lifetime, single-handedly driving GamerLegion forward to the Major grand final.
The Romanian is even going toe-to-toe with Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut for a shot at clinching the tournament MVP award, and he needs to continue to go huge if GamerLegion want a chance to steal the gold medal away.
Twitter is starting to get into the spirit of the game already, with tweets of "Counter-Strike" from pundits, players, viewers, and organizations flooding the timeline before we get things going.
Counter-Strike themselves opted to pay thanks to every city where a Major was held over the past 10 years in the lead-up to the title decider, refraining from wading into the conversation as to who will lift the trophy.
We spoke with Kenny "kennyS" Schrub about his decision to retire from professional play, and he gave us a frank assessment on his career:
"I tried to qualify for this specific tournament, that was the goal. The thing is that, as much as I think, and everyone knows, that I'm capable of great things. The thing that stops me doing it is that to be honest, my passion faded away over the years, throughout the months lately as well. As long as my passion is at the level there is no reason for me to keep it up. It was a perfect moment to announce it, I was really grateful to the crowd."
"It's all about the passion, if you don't have the passion you don't have the motivation, the discipline, there is a lot of things that are required to play at the highest level. I met that requirement in the past but I don't feel like I can anymore, so I don't think it was possible to keep it up.
"I've had a great career, I'm really proud of myself and what I've done. I'm really proud of my impact on generations, on people as well, about AWPing and stuff, so I want to keep that intact and here was the best moment."
The showmatch is over! BLAST Dream Team have aggravated the Accor Arena crowd early on after beating France 16-12 on Nuke, although the match was far from your usual competitive bout.
Monsieur Trumpet, a common sight in the playoffs so far, was even brought to the stage in a bid to get the French team energized, but BLAST Dream Team maintained their dominant posture — if you can call it that — to win the showmatch.
We're now one hour away from the grand final between GamerLegion and Vitality. Can the Franco-Danish mix gift the French crowd a treat and lift the Major trophy in front of their countrymen? We find out soon!
It's halftime in the showmatch between France and BLAST Dream Team, with the Frenchmen up 8-7 at the break.
The game has been full of unconventional game settings. The BLAST Dream Team booth was filled with smoke early on, Cédric "RpK" Guipouy then received 10 kevlar vests' worth of HP to pay homage to his "Le Tank" tag, while players' monitors were even turned off in round 11.
Another half of wacky gameplay is yet to come, so stay tuned as even more knife and Zeus x27 kills come through the scoreboard.
The BLAST.tv Paris Major showmatch between France and BLAST Dream Team is almost upon us, with the two teams now on stage in anticipation of their unconventional brawl.
Their best-of-one will be held on Nuke, with viewers at home able to influence the match by voting for certain in-game scenarios. These include changing the gravity, forcing players to use inverted mouse settings, as well as having infinite grenades.
Cédric "RpK" Guipouy is set to return to the server for the first time in two years. The Frenchman retired from competition back in 2021, but joins forces with his countrymen in a bid to get France 1-0 up before the grand final begins at 17:00 .
Conversely, we have Owen "smooya" Butterfield and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev linking up to try and upset the French fans on early on. The two snipers are quite the characters, so let's hope for some entertaining gameplay in the showmatch.
We're now just over two hours away from the beginning of the BLAST.tv Paris Major grand final between Vitality and GamerLegion.
It's truly a David versus Goliath story. GamerLegion, who are in the midst of a remarkable Cinderella Run, were close to elimination on the first day of the Challengers Stage, down 0-2 with a single defeat marking the end of their time in Paris. Instead, the Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek-led roster have only grown with the competition, recording just one loss to Natus Vincere en route to a place in the title decider.
On the flip side of things are Vitality, a pre-tournament favorite who sit at the top spot on the HLTV world ranking. The Franco-Danish-Israeli mix team are a best-of-three away from allowing Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire to lift the coveted Major trophy on home soil in front of their countrymen. Also up for grabs is Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen's fifth Major title; the Dane would become the only player in Global Offensive to win that many Major trophies.
These are all hypotheticals, however, and we have to wait and see which storyline comes to fruition.
Before we see which team triumphs and becomes a part of Counter-Strike lore, why not read the following deep-dive article by HLTV's Arron "Dempz" Dempsey? The piece explores what to expect from the much-anticipated title decider between the two teams and whether GamerLegion have a chance at spoiling the fun for the French fans:
Good morning, afternoon, or evening, people!
Here we go! Two weeks' worth of action has all boiled down to this. The winner of the BLAST.tv Paris Major will be crowned by the end of today, with GamerLegion and Vitality set to clash on stage in front of the Accor Arena for a chance to etch themselves into the history books.
For Dan "apEX" Madesclaire and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, the bout versus GamerLegion offers the chance for the duo to lift a Major trophy on home soil and in front of the adoring French crowd. A win would also mark Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen's fifth Major silverware, the most of any player in Global Offensive history.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 | ||
| 21/05/2023 |
17:00
|
Match |
On the flip side of things, GamerLegion have the opportunity to round out their miraculous Cinderella run here in France. The European combine were staring down the barrel of elimination on the first day of play, but have since rebounded with a best-of-one loss to Natus Vincere (10-16) being their only defeat en route to a spot in the grand final. Can they do the impossible and win the Major? Let us know in the comments!
There's still a little bit of time to wait before we get to that fixture, however, with a showmatch set to take place at 15:00 to act as some pre-grand final entertainment.
France will be locking horns with the BLAST Dream Team in a best-of-one on Nuke, with viewers able to vote online for a plethora of in-game scenarios, including reduced bomb timers, infinite grenades, and no recoil, to name just a few.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| Showmatch CS | ||
| 21/05/2023 |
15:00
|
Match |
As we have been doing for the entirety of the Major thus far, we'll be bringing you regular updates of the two matches, comments from players, behind-the-scenes tidbits, as well as pictures from the venue itself courtesy of Josip "brcho" Brtan and Radosław "MAKKU" Makuch, so stay tuned as we guide you through the final day of competition here in France.
Pre-game reading
With a few hours to wait before the best-of-three grand final begins, there's ample time to get up to speed with some pre-game reading.
Perhaps you want to hear Emil "Magisk" Reif's thoughts on his upcoming matchup versus GamerLegion and how he feels about playing lesser-known teams throughout his team's run in Paris:
Or maybe you'd rather get some insight from Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek, who spoke candidly about how he feels to go from 0-2 in the Challengers Stage to a title decider berth as well as GamerLegion's ascension into a formidable opponent in the server:
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov
Owen 'smooya' Butterfield
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund
Martin 'STYKO' Styk
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek
Mathieu 'Maniac' Quiquerez
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