A generational talent and one of the best CS:GO players in the world, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, might not even reach the Legends Stage of the IEM Rio Major. The superstar AWPer’s team Vitality are now in the 1-2 pool of the Challengers Stage after Outsiders upset them 16-12 on Overpass today in one of the first 1-1 pool matches of the day.
And it wasn’t for a lack of performance from ZywOo. The 21-year-old was by far the best player on the server, having finished the Overpass game with 28 kills, 18 deaths, an outstanding 100.2 ADR, and a 1.61 rating. Meanwhile, all of his Vitality teammates finished with a negative K/D ratio and even the star rifler Lotan “Spinx” Giladi wasn’t able to have an impact in the series.
On Outsiders, the situation was the exact opposite. Alexey “Qikert” Golubev was the only one on the Russian side with a negative K/D, while all of his teammates carried their weight. The reinforcements after the PGL Antwerp Major, David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan and Petr “fame” Bolyshev, were the best players on Outsiders, producing 24 frags each.
Not reaching the Legends Stage of the IEM Rio Major would be a disaster for Vitality. They struggled in the first half of the season, but the addition of Spinx made them play much better and they even won ESL Pro League season 16 ahead of the Brazilian Major.
The good thing for Vitality is that ZywOo has been playing great regardless of the losses, and he could help Vitality turn things around if at least one of the other players also steps up.
