Vitality conceded just nine rounds over the two-map series to earn their first win of the ESL Pro League group stage.

Vitality picked up their first victory of ESL Pro League Season 17 Group C after besting Grayhound in a one-sided two-map affair,??? ?? ???? drawing first blood following a dominant 16-4 showing on Inferno before wrapping up the series with a confident 16-5 display on Vertigo.

The Dan "?apEX?" Madesclaire-led roster will be more than pleased with their dominant opening-round result, putting the side just one win away from guaranteeing a playoff berth even whilst fielding Audric "?JACKZ?" Jug as a substitute in lieu of Peter "?dupreeh?" Rasmussen, who is away on paternity leave. Vitality's next bout will be versus the winner of the ongoing series between OG and 00NATION on Thursday at 16:00 .

Read more Vitality confirm JACKZ will stand in for dupreeh at ESL Pro League

The two teams last met at the IEM Rio Major back in November, where the Bees sent the Australian-majority roster packing from the Valve-sponsored event after a comfortable 2-0 victory. This time, however, the result was far more lopsided, with Mathieu "?ZywOo?" Herbaut's stellar 1.90 rating performance and JACKZ's impressive stand-in debut being the key factors in ensuring the French roster ended day one of Group C on a high note.

ZywOo boasted a superlative 1.90 rating by the end of the series

Grayhound opted to start the series on Inferno, one of two maps — alongside Nuke — the squad boasts a 75% win rate on, though mostly against domestic and tier-two competition. This experience versus the world's best quickly became readily apparent, as the now French-majority lineup bullied their way to a whopping 11-0 lead on the CT-side without much resistance. Joshua "?INS?" Potter's men succeeded in adding three rounds to their tally in the dying stages of the T-side effort, but were otherwise outclassed by a world-class ZywOo, whose 25 kills powered the French side to a commanding 12-3 lead at the swap.

Any chance of a miraculous Australian recovery was swiftly quashed at the outset of the second half. Grayhound often kept things close on the back of individual heroics, but continued to lack the cohesion to put more than one round on the board, with Vitality closing things out on the back of a mishmash buy of Tec-9s and Desert Eagles, 16-4, to force a visit to their Vertigo pick.

Vitality's dominance in the first map carried over to Vertigo, a fluid and highly mobile T-side game plan providing a platform from which to build a 6-1 lead. Much like Inferno, the Australian-New Zealand hybrid kept things close by picking off Vitality players round after round, but still continued to be torn apart when it came to adding rounds to the scoreboard. Vitality ended up finishing their T-side campaign with 11 rounds to their name, and it was JACKZ — acting as a stand-in — leading the charge for his team with a server-high 17 frags on his tally.

Lotan "?Spinx?" Giladi and ZywOo joined forces with a double kill apiece to earn Vitality their 12th round of the map and set the stage for a two-map thrashing of their Australian counterparts. Grayhound pulled off a fast play through Middle with pistols to snatch away the momentum, but ultimately dropped the ball in the ensuing round to gift Vitality a way back into the driver's seat. With the wind in their sails, the apEX-led lineup wasted little time in closing things out, putting the three rounds they needed to close out the series and earn their first win in Malta, 16-5.

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3 GrayhoundMatchpage 0 2 8th March 2023 Vitality 4Inferno 16 5Vertigo 16

?Grayhound	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Declan 'Vexite' PortelliVexite	20 - 35	-15	64.2	0.79
Joshua 'INS' PotterINS	24 - 35	-11	71.3	0.75
Simon 'Sico' WilliamsSico	19 - 36	-17	62.0	0.65
Alistair 'aliStair' JohnstonaliStair	19 - 34	-15	40.9	0.55
Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz	17 - 35	-18	45.3	0.53

?Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	46 - 18	+28	119.6	1.90
Audric 'JACKZ' JugJACKZ	43 - 22	+21	100.6	1.63
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	28 - 20	+8	87.6	1.29
Lotan 'Spinx' GiladiSpinx	29 - 17	+12	68.7	1.25
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	26 - 23	+3	66.3	1.12

Vitality #6 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Danny 'zonic' S?rensen Joshua 'INS' Potter Age: 24 Team: Grayhound Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 1015 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.65 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 22 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.27 Maps played: 1110 KPR: 0.84 DPR: 0.61 Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen Age: 29 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 2034 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone OG #8 Nikolaj 'niko' KristensenAdam 'NEOFRAG' ZouharShahar 'flameZ' ShushanAbdul 'degster' GasanovMaciej 'F1KU' Miklas Casper 'ruggah' Due Vitality #6 Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' GiladiAudric 'JACKZ' Jug Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 30 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 2091 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.70 Audric 'JACKZ' Jug Age: 30 Team: HEETB Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 1176 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.67 Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi Age: 22 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 527 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.64 00NATION #47 Marcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloEduardo 'dumau' WolkmerBruno 'latto' RebelattoLucas 'nqz' Soares Grayhound #40 Simon 'Sico' WilliamsJay 'Liazz' TregillgasAlistair 'aliStair' JohnstonJoshua 'INS' PotterDeclan 'Vexite' Portelli