G2 beat Vitality to secure semi-final appearance

G2 have secured themselves a place in the semi-finals of the BLAST World Premier Final after defeating Vitality 2-1. The loss for Vitality was largely because they could not find a solution for G2‘s young AWPer, m0NESY, as he posted a 1.26 rating over the series.

Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen‘s squad came into the playoffs following a win over Major winners, Outsiders, and they carried that momentum into this game. With the win, G2 has set up a rematch against FaZe in the semi-finals in the Etihad Arena, where they will be hoping to get their revenge following the 1-2 group stage loss to Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen‘s side.

The series got underway on Nuke and at first, the map looked competitive as the two teams traded the first six rounds. From there the map would stop being so competitive due to G2 exploiting Vitality‘s defence for nine rounds in a row. m0NESY‘s 13 kills led to complete dominance as G2 won the first half 12-3.

Things had gotten out of hand for Vitality, who, on their T-side, would need to overcome a massive deficit to stand a chance of winning on Nuke. The tides did not turn for them as they lost the pistol round and failed to win a single round in the second half. m0NESY continued to be the leading man for G2 as he got both kills in a 2v2 to win the first map and net himself 11 more kills in just four rounds.

Vitality got off to a hot start on Vertigo as they strung together three clean rounds to take the lead 3-1. From there G2 did what Vitality couldn’t in the first map and made things competitive. m0NESY continued to wreak havoc whilst Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut couldn’t find his form and Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač found impact in the big rounds. Vitality remained in the lead up until half-time, but G2 were hot on their heels, 9-6.

In the second half, the G2 from Nuke came to play. Through some incredible opening kills from HooXi and NiKo, G2 dominated early on their T-side and took the lead 11-9. Vitality found themselves at a man’s disadvantage in almost every round and failed to find a way back in the game. Eventually they converted two CT-sided rounds and looked to make a late comeback, but a 1v1 victory from Justin “⁠jks⁠” Savage put G2 14-11 up. This would not deter them, as they clawed their way back in the game ending in a 1v2 from ZywOo to put them one round away from overtime. With their backs against the walls and G2 on a messy buy, Vitality forced extra time.

Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi had been a key player for Vitality on the CT side, stepping up again in the first round of overtime to shut down the G2 T-side and secure an early advantage, helping them sweep their CT side and use that momentum to win Vertigo 19-15.

The finale of this back-and-forth affair was on Anubis, which started off with a tutorial from jks on how to hold the A-site. G2 took the lead but Vitality responded with four T-side rounds in a row. ZywOo put his Vertigo troubles behind him, and his constant exploitation of G2‘s B-site hold was the key component to Vitality‘s lead. Danny “⁠zonic⁠” Sørensen‘s team looked ready to run away with the first half, but jks had other ideas. With NiKo and m0NESY failing to find the same impact they had on map one, the Australian became the catalyst for a G2 comeback that would see them finish the half only down by one round, 8-7.

jks continued to be relentless in his pursuit of victory. G2‘s clinical T-sides led to them tying up the map at 10-10. Vitality‘s CT side begun to unravel as G2 found their way into both sites with ease and despite the best efforts of ZywOo, G2 took match point, 15-11. On the final round of the series, G2 threw everything they had at the B-site and secured themselves a 16-11 victory.