Vitality will reportedly be going international with their CS roster, signing what in the eyes of many are the 3 biggest free agent names in CS:GO. The Ex-Astralis trio of Zonic Magisk and Dupreeh will be joining the roster. This will be the first international roster for everyone except Magisk who had earlier been a part of the Optic rosters in 2017.
After losing to NaVi in the quarter-finals, with a particularly abysmal showing from Kyojin, Vitality has pulled the trigger. According to a 1pv.fr report by neL, the Vitality roster that brought French CS back to the top will go international and bring in members of the legendary Astralis roster. Emil 'Magisk' Reif, Danny "zonic" Sørensen and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen will be joining the team to replace Richard 'shox' Papillon, Jayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van and Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam.
With 3/4 Majors in the trophy cabinets of each Dane, their pedigree is undeniable. But the ability for both sides to transition to English will be the roster's limiting factor. The organization had in 2019 promised to go international after they signed Shox to replace Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt after the last Major. But due to the online era and limited time to make moves, Vitality had so far been unable to go international.
Eye on the Prize
Now after going out in the quarter-finals, Vitality has decided to go all out and make a roster to contend for trophies. As Vitality Owner Fabien "Neo" Devide tweeted today, Vitality is no longer content with being a feel-good team. They want to win trophies and what better place to start than by recruiting the players with the biggest trophy list.
With this move, the Vitality roster has kept their 3 stars while bringing in 2 of history's best 2nd/3rd Star duos. They have also replaced one of the best coaches in the world, with THE greatest coach in the world. When Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander took a break on Astralis, Magisk took over the role of the IGL and has since displayed his ability to lead. Recently he also led Astralis to a top 4 placing on LAN at IEM Fall RMR, with limited communication LAN rules being in place for Zonic, clearly showing the capabilities of Magisk as an IGL.
I expect Magisk to take over as the IGL to create a structured team that'll fit Zonic's coaching style while allowing Zywoo to flourish as a superstar. With Misutaa's showings at the quarter-finals match being promising, and apEX's success in adapting to difficult roles, this team has the potential to be amazing.
Vitality's Updated Roster
- Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
- Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
- Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier
- Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
- Emil "Magisk" Reif
- Danny "zonic" Sørensen (coach)
Stay tuned to esports.gg for reports on the post-major Roster Shuffles, and check out our coverage of the PGL Stockholm Major here.