Vitality answered their shock 0-2 group-stage loss to Inner Circle with a dominant lower-bracket 2-0 sweep of 9z at BLAST Open Porto 2026, conceding just eight rounds across the entire series.
Map-by-map
- Dust2 — 13-2
- Nuke — 13-6
Top performers
jL: 38 kills, 18 deaths, 1.96 rating. Standing in for the absent mezii, jL posted the best individual series rating of the day at Super Bock Arena.
ZywOo: 37 kills, 16 deaths, 1.82 rating. Went 1.84 on Dust2 and posted a scarcely-believable 13-1 line in the second half of Nuke.
flameZ: 27 kills, 20 deaths, 1.28 rating.
apEX: struggled with a 0.63 series rating across both maps.
Path forward
Vitality advance in the lower bracket and face the loser of Legacy vs Falcons. mezii's absence continues to shape the roster picture — jL's performance under pressure keeps him a viable stand-in but the French core will want their regular in-game leader back before the playoff run gets deeper.
Source: HLTV.org — /news/45411/vitality-eliminate-9z-from-blast-open-porto
