Vitality’s dominance in Tier 1 Counter-Strike is well-established, but at BLAST Open Rotterdam, the roster showed that they are now truly manifesting the dominance that Astralis wrought over the CS scene.
Tier 1 collapses under Vitality’s supremacy
No one will remember the Astralis era better than Vitality captain, Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire. The Frenchman was in a position much like the rest of the scene, which was largely helpless to prevent Astralis from winning event after event, including three Major trophies in a row.
Roster after roster imploded, faced with the insurmountable wall that Astralis represented. apEX’s G2 roster was no exception.
Vitality has now done that to their opposition. Falcons, Spirit, Furia, and MOUZ have all buckled to varying extents in chasing Vitality, and Vitality are using their capitulation to further advance their superiority even further.
Prior to Vitality’s 2025, there was a prevailing sentiment that Astralis’ era was not replicable. The standard was too high, the talent too spread out, the anti-strating teams studied meant they wouldn’t stay behind for long.
Astralis invented so many aspects of what is now meta Counter-Strike; no team would ever be ahead enough to win as much as that roster.
Obviously, that assumption was incorrect, even by mid-2025, but what seemed implausible even then was the concept that any roster would replicate Astralis’ tactical dominance over the opposition.
Yes, Vitality were ahead. Yes, they had a perfectly assembled roster with the best player, or close to the best player, in every role. But they still had to play their best to win. That has changed this year, and it is core to why Vitality feels more like Astralis in 2026.
Speaking to Insider Gaming prior to BLAST Rotterdam’s first contest, Vitality’s coach Rémy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam stated, “For me, okay, we won two events in a row. I couldn’t say we played completely our A game, but I feel like the other teams are playing their B, C games right now.”
Saving strats for the Major
The message is clear. Vitality are so far ahead that they do not need to produce their best unless prompted. Otherwise, the superiority of their players and existing synergy can allow them to assuredly win map after map after map.
We finally got a glimpse of what Vitality’s A Game may look like against NAVI in the Grand Final of BLAST Open Rotterdam.
Finally, put under some pressure on Map 2 of Anubis, after sliding from an 11-5 lead to an 11-10 scoreline, Vitality pulled off the unexpected to catch NAVI by surprise and steal away the momentum by assembling the triple boost on the A site.
While the strat is by no means unheard of, it is the mark of how far Vitality are ahead that they can save these kinds of strats for pressure moments.
The moment was deeply reminiscent of Astralis themselves, who consistently were able to pull out surprise set-ups when their enemies least expected it.
Arguably, the most memorable example came at the StarLadder Berlin 2019 Major. Secretly preparing a devastating anti-strat of Liquid’s Vertigo in secret, Astralis pulled out the T-spawn to B-stairs run boost to grab quick control of the space.
Again, Astralis did not invent it, but it’s the ability to have these unknown cards in hand that makes them all the more potent when played.
Vitality’s ability to save strats shows that they are now ahead in the way that Astralis were. There is no hope for the opposition because they are trying to catch an illusion: Not chasing what Vitality are, but what they were weeks or months ago, when they did not have these pocket plays in mind.
It is that aspect which finally completes the ghostly visage of Astralis past, which Vitality now embodies in their new era of dominance.
Worst of all for the opposition, it was one set-up on one map. Only the Counter-Strike gods know how deep Vitality’s stratbook goes.
For the first time since that peak Astralis roster, we may be seeing a team unironically saving strats for the Major.
When apEX looks at the scene that he and his team have desolated, he must remember that he was once one of the pack desperately chasing an Astralis roster that was always two steps ahead.
That must make it all the more satisfying to be in the driver’s seat of this roster and have those levers and secret strats to pull out when there is even a hint of a threat to your unquestionable supremacy.
Feature image credit to BLAST/Sophie Barrowclough
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For more CS coverage, see our PGL Bucharest 2026 Tournament Guide.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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