Why the hell would you float one of your opponent’s best maps in the veto in a semi-final of the biggest tournament of the year? Buckle up, because we’ve got the answer.

Let’s approach this analysis from a bit of an unorthodox angle: looking at map two first, Inferno.

By all means, Inferno seems to be the map that Vitalit want to play the most. It’s their first pick in most cases and they look to be very comfortable on it. MOUZ knows they struggle on it, especially against Vitality.

However, this time they come prepared. MOUZ have done their homework, and catch Vitality off guard.

Brollan and his men take both pistols, struggle a bit here and there, but overall, just four rounds go the way of Vitality. They don’t shut down ZywOo – who gets a 1.62 rating on that map – but the rest of Vitality looks lost, and the team as a whole is just unable to get a foothold.

This is great prep from MOUZ and should have won them the series.

Should have, but didn’t. Why? Because Vitality did their homework as well.

Historically, in this Top 2 head-to-head, the only map MOUZ has been able to effectively take is Mirage. It’s their strong suit, it’s their castle, their rock. So, how do XTQZZZ and apEX outwit their adversary? They study every move, prepare for every exec, and predict every lurk.

During map one – which should’ve been a doozy for MOUZ – Vitality pre-emptively made MOUZ feel what MOUZ would make them feel on Inferno. Complicated sentence, but stay with us.

Rock their base, shake them to the core. It was like Vitality were playing with radar cheats on. And so, the score went the other way around in that first map, with MOUZ managing to put just eight on the scoreboard.

Circling back, this is where that Train float comes back into play. Why did MOUZ do that? Because they weren’t expecting to go to map three.

MOUZ were so sure they would take Mirage and Inferno with their solid base on the former and their hard study session on the latter, that they failed to see the danger lurking in map three. That’s why we’ve never seen a team more lost on Train than MOUZ were right then and there.

13-6 and bye bye Major dreams. Vitality moves on to the Grand Final.

Maybe we’re just overthinking it, maybe we’re right. We’d like to think we’re right.

Who are we kidding?