m0NESY stars as G2 take down FaZe in EPL

G2 have claimed a statement victory over world No. 1 FaZe, defeating the PGL Major Antwerp champions in two rather one-sided maps (16-7 Dust2, 16-12 Nuke) to go 4-0 in Group B. Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač and company have one more match against Outsiders left to play, with the winner topping the group and advancing directly to the playoff quarter-finals.

Ilya “⁠m0NESY⁠” Osipov found key impact throughout the series, securing seven first kills on Dust2 and posting a 1.84 rating in the process. He showcased even more dominance on Nuke, mustering 20 kills at the end of G2‘s stellar CT side effort before the team eventually took things over the line in the second half.

“HooXi is very good at letting players play,” NiKo said of how the team’s new in-game leader is helping players flourish in an interview after the match. “He lets them dictate the pace when it comes to some obvious decisions, and I think that’s the biggest strength of him. He made it clear that he’s going to do everything in order to win, he’s going to sacrifice do everything that is needed for this team, and he has been phenomenal so far.”

The win from G2 denies FaZe a chance to lock in their own playoff spot. A win over Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen‘s side would have secured FaZe a spot at the top of the group and confirmed the three teams making the playoffs from Group B; however, the loss not only denies FaZe a first place finish, but leaves them on the brink of not qualifying at all. The team now have two scenarios where they can lock in their spot on the final day of the group, by either beating BIG with any score, or winning at least one map and hoping that G2 beat Outsiders.

Dust2 was in the control of G2 from start to finish, a handful of early rounds from FaZe doing little to keep things competitive as m0NESY, Nemanja “⁠huNter-⁠” Kovač, and Justin “⁠jks⁠” Savage ran rampant over the defensive side for much of the first half. Sporadic wins from FaZe allowed them to garner just five rounds at the break, and the side swap gave them little opportunity to improve that, just two more rounds going their way before m0NESY sealed the deal for his side, 16-7.

The Russian star didn’t let up as Nuke got underway, powering G2 to a 4-0 start on the CT side. A string of five rounds in response from FaZe made it look as if the map would be a competitive one, but that proved to be a mirage as m0NESY established firm dominance, not even needing the AWP in the majority of rounds as G2 won out the rest of the half for a 10-5 lead.

The HooXi-led side were unrelenting after the break, charging into the A site four rounds in a row as they further extended their lead. FaZe finally managed to halt that attack and slowly began to piece together a comeback effort, Håvard “⁠rain⁠” Nygaard and Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool finding a handful of multi-kills en route to closing the gap. Just when it looked like a complete comeback could be a reality though, G2 created an opening and claimed match point, and later closed things out with a half-buy A site attack where jks found three Tec-9 kills to bring things over the line.