It took five matches: Team Vitality qualified for the next round of the playoffs in the European League of Legends League LEC with a score of 3:2 against Excel Esports.

"We took a bit of a risk in the last game," Vitalitys Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság said in an interview after the series. "Best-of-fives are a much better fit for us. But there is still a lot to do if we want to win the LEC."

For both teams, it was all about the whole thing: whoever loses, has no chance of winning the title. After the first two games it was 1:1 - the third game went surprisingly to Excel despite a lead of Vitality after a close exchange of blows.

That meant the match point for the British team. From the beginning, however, vitality was at the forefront here. Excel caught up again, but the team around Carzzy kept their nerve and forced the decisive fifth game with the equalizer.

There, too, vitality almost always prevailed. Excel found no more answers and has to say goodbye directly from the playoffs after a best-of-five series. Vitality will face G2 Esports in the next round of the Lower Bracket.