Vitality have qualified for IEM Katowice Major's New Challengers Stage after beating North 2-1 at the Europe Minor (12-16 on Mirage, 16-5 on Nuke, and 16-8 on Inferno).

Vitality and North squared off in the consolidation final of the Europe Minor. The series kicked off on Mirage where the T-sided Frenchmen won the pistol thanks to a knife kill by Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut. After losing another round, North responded in the first weapon round as Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså and Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade got double kills with the AUG (2-1).

Vitality then went on a six round streak to lead 8-1 and could have made it seven in a row if they hadn't lost a 5vs3 (8-2). North had a six round streak of their own to close out the half 8-7 behind as valde reigned terror with the AUG and got an ace in the 14th round.

Vitality finished the Minor in second place

valde and gade picked up double kills in the second pistol to tie the game at 8-8 but Vitality responded by taking four rounds in a row (12-8). North managed to come back once again, with valde's 1vs2 clutch making it 12-12. The Danish team secured eight rounds in a row to win the map 16-12 while valde got 40 kills and posted a 2.29 rating.

Vitality, who started Nuke on the CT-side, picked up the pistol round victory with a triple kill from Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire. A quad kill by ZywOo made it 3-0 and North couldn't get on the scoreboard until the sixth round (5-1). The Danes lost a 4vs3 in the following round which broke their economy as they trailed 6-1.

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller & company got close to picking up their second round but lost two consecutive 2vs4s (11-1). North won the final round of the half after gade found two opening kills and valde closed out the round with a double kill of his own. Even though North picked up three of the first four rounds in the second half, Vitality closed it out with a 16-5 scoreline.

valde had an outstanding performance despite losing

The last map was Inferno where Vitality secured the pistol round on the T-side as Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy got a triple kill. The French team was able to win a 3vs5 in the following round to make it 2-0. Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye and Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup both got double kills in the 11th round to get North's first and Kjaerbye's ace in the following round made it 10-2.

apEX played a crucial role in the closing stages of the second half as he got five kills in the last two rounds to put Vitality 12-3 ahead. Kjaerbye picked up a triple in the second pistol to give North a fighting chance, who managed to get within four rounds of Vitality (12-8).

However, the French side won a 3vs5 in the 21st round to make it 12-8 and went on to win the map 16-8. With the 2-1 series victory, Vitality have qualified for the IEM Katowice's New Challengers Stage.

Europe Minor final standings:

1. ENCE - $30,000 + spot in New Challengers Stage

2. Vitality - $15,000 + spot in New Challengers Stage

3. North - $5,000 + spot in Minor's Play-In tournament

4. Valiance

5-6. mousesports

5-6. Windigo

7-8. OpTic

7-8. ex-Space Soldiers

Vitality will take part in the IEM Katowice Major's New Challengers Stage, scheduled for February 13-17 while North will have another chance to earn a spot at the IEM Katowice Major's New Challengers Stage through the play-in tournament.

The team list for IEM Katowice Major's New Challengers Stage looks as follows: