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Four teams remain in contention to win the CS:GO Blast.tv Paris Major 2023 after the conclusion of the quarter-finals on May 19, 2023. The champions of the final CS:GO major will earn a cash prize of $500,000, along with a ticket to the group stages of IEM Cologne 2023. The winners will also lock in a spot at the Blast Premier World Final.
The second semi-final of the Champions Stage will feature hometown heroes Team Vitality against Apeks at the Accor Arena in Paris. The winning team will advance to the grand finals of the CS:GO Blast.tv Paris Major 2023, where they will face the winner of the match between GamerLegion vs Heroic.
Team Vitality vs Apeks: Who will win this CS:GO Blast.tv Paris Major semi-finals matchup?
Predictions
Team Vitality is currently ranked as the number-one team in the world. They have an incredible amount of talent in the lineup, with superstar AWPer Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut being the team's spearhead. The fragging trio of Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen, Emil "Magisk" Reif, and Lotan "Spinx" Giladi have been consistently reliable and exceptional at their roles.
Dan "apEX" Madesclaire's as the motivational in-game leader for the team, along with experienced veterans by his side, has done wonders for this Vitality lineup. ZywOo is the second highest-rated player at this CS:GO major, with a 1.40 rating only behind GamerLegion's breakout star Ivan "iM" Mihai.
Team Vitality is looking red hot with a ten-game win streak under their belt. Team Vitality will be hoping to advance to the finals and lift the final CS:GO major trophy in front of their home crowd.
Apeks have continued their impressive run at the CS:GO major as they eliminated Team Liquid in their quarter-finals matchup on May 19, 2023. They have shown mechanical brilliance and aggressive gameplay, along with great anti-stratting. All this makes them a fierce opponent to go up against.
Young IGL Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski had a career-defining performance versus Team Liquid. Tim "nawwk" Jonasson has been a consistent AWPer and an exceptional clutch player. The team has come into its own over the past few months and have slowly risen up the ranks, peaking at the perfect time.
Team Vitality is the expected favorite against Apeks. Nevertheless, the latter outfit has showcased some solid Counter-Strike, and their dominant series versus Team Liquid should instill fear into Team Vitality.
If Apeks gets to play Ancient and their star players are playing great in the server, the team has a very real chance of upsetting the title favorites.
Head-to-head
This will be the first time in CS:GO history that Team Vitality and Apeks will compete against each other. Both teams are on the upswing, and viewers can expect a close contest.
Recent results
Team Vitality breezed past the Legends Stage with a 3-0 record taking down G2 Esports, ENCE, and Monte to qualify for the Champions Stage. They managed to take down Into The Breach with a 2-0 scoreline in the second quarter-finals of the CS:GO Blast.tv Paris Major 2023 and advanced to the semi-finals.
Apeks started their tournament run from the Challengers Stage. They advanced to the Legends Stage with a 3-1 record. The Legends Stage saw Apeks having a tough time as they lost to GamerLegion and Heroic.
Still, they were ultimately able to qualify for the Champions Stage thanks to wins against Into The Breach, Bad News Eagles, and Ninjas In Pyjamas to secure a 3-2 record.
Apeks were again able to fend off Liquid in a rematch from the Challengers Stage in a clean 2-0 series as they advanced to the semi-finals.
Expected lineups
Team Vitality
- Dan "apEX" Madesclaire (IGL)
- Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
- Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
- Emil "Magisk" Reif
- Lotan "Spinx" Giladi
- Danny "zonic" Sørensen (Coach)
Apeks
- Tim "nawwk" Jonasson
- Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad
- Martin "STYKO" Styk
- Justinas "jL" Lekavicius
- Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski (IGL)
- Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński (Coach)
When and where to watch
Fans can watch the second semi-final matchup of CS:GO Blast.tv Paris Major 2023 on Blast's official CS:GO Twitch channel. Team Vitality vs Apeks will be a best-of-three series and will take place on May 20, 2023, at 10:00 AM PDT / 7:00 PM CEST / 10:30 PM IST.
