Vitality vs Chaos – ESEA MDL Season 30 Europe

The 30th season of the ESEA MDL has kicked off in Europe, where 18 teams will fight for a place in the ESL Pro League. This competition is currently being played in a league format where all teams play against each other in a best of one format (BO1).

The top eight teams will play the best of three format (BO3) for the title. From the 9th to the 13th place, they will be able to compete in the season 31 of ESEA. While the teams from the 14th to the 17th place must play a playoff for the hopes to avoid relegation. The last classified placed team will be relegated to the tier 2 division.

Team Vitality

For some time, there have been more and more premises indicating that Team Vitality is interested in investing in a new division that was supposed to be CS: GO. Rumors have it that the ranks are likely to be boosted by a new mix of French stars from NBK and Apex at the helm. In October, these rumors were confirmed. The colors of the French organization were represented by the aforementioned two together with HAppy, RpK and a talented 18-year-old – ZywOo.

G2 Duo

NBK and Dan ” apEX ” Madesclaire were on the bench of G2 Esports for quite some time. Over the last few months of 2018, G2 attempted to place Nathan “NBK” Schmitt in a leading role with Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Spaniard Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas by his side in addition to kennyS and bodyy. But the team completely failed to deliver decent results. Initially, the first two were under contract with the G2, as they played as temporary subs for Vitality. However, decent performances with the team paved the way for the duo to be permanently signed by Vitality.

Changes made

Vincent ” Happy ” Cervoni and Cédric ” RpK ” Guipouy had a difficult time with EnVyUs, another French side with no success whatsoever. EnVyUs completely disband their roster, so Vitality decided to invest in the duo. However, after a trial period, the organization decided to sign lex ” ALEX ” McMeekin, a former LDLC player. Under the colors of LDLC, the 23-year-old will have won the ESL National Championship and the ESL European Championship, as well as a brilliant fifth place at the IEM Chicago in November.

18-year-old prodigy

The last but not the least, Mathieu ” ZywOo ” Herbaut is the shining beacon for the French CS: GO. The young starlet is ready to make his team proud.

Mathieu “ZywOo”  Herbaut is an 18-year-old who is already considered one of the best French players on the stage. Being an athlete who ran for several smaller teams in France between 2014 and 2018 against All authority and WySix Team, ZywOo now competes for Team Vitality, who made their first investment in CS: GO in October. Just a week after signing for the French side, ZywOo was the champion and MVP of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018.

The Coach

After knowing the players let’s have a look at the coach of Vitality who is Philippe ” faculty ” Rodier, a former player of CS 1.6. In the composition which included Happy, under the name Waterboys, the team played qualifying stages for the IEM Chicago games, in which they turned out to be invincible and became one of four teams fighting for participation in the qualifiers.

Can Vitality Do it?

On paper, this composition looks very promising. However, as we all know, such mergers of players on the French stage are not the first and did not always meet the expectations and goals previously planned. An example of this is the current form of G2 Esports, which has been struggling with problems in the search for form lately, as they once recruited some of the best players of the French scene. But winning the DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018 and qualifying for the ESEA Season 30: Premier Division is an impressive achievement.

Team Vitality will now need time to break into the top HLTV rankings and qualify for the most prestigious leagues and tournaments. Their first test will be the winning the ESEA Season 30: Premier Division which they are currently on the way as they have played three games so far and won all of them. The Vitality organization was founded in 2013, and it is the first time that they have invested in the Counter-Strike division.

Team Vitality leaders told HLTV.org what tasks they set for the CS: GO roster. The leaders expect the team to be in the top 10 of the HLTV.org rating and victories in major qualifications. At the same time, representatives of the club noted that they would not put pressure on the players and demand immediate results from them.

Chaos Esports Club

Chaos Esports Club has their fair share struggles. The lineup includes three permanent players since in October they released Maikelele and Pronax. Now they play with substitutes every now and then. The only impressive stat we found for the team is that the lineup includes twins, Fredrik “FREDDyFROG” Gustafsson and Joakim “Relaxa” Gustafsson. The duo has been with the team ever since it was founded back in May 2018. As far as their achievement go, they haven’t won any premier level competition but they have a couple of victories in tier 2 competitions. So, this team to win against a side that has their fair share of achievements in a couple of months of their formation is highly unlikely. Lastly, they have played one game in the ESEA Season 30 and lost.

Final Verdict

Vitality Victory

Odds on bookmakers

Bookmakers	Vitality Odds		Chaos Odds
	European	American	European	American
GG.bet	1.22	-454.55	3.94	+294.00
1xbet	1.24	-416.67	3.94	+294.00
Rivalry	1.26	-384.62	4.46	+346.00
Betwinner	1.24	-416.67	3.94	+294.00