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G2 Esports, one of the top teams in the world of professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, have advanced to the Group C Upper Bracket Final at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups after an intense and hard-fought series against BIG. The match, which took place on January 20, ending the run of the games of the day, saw G2 come out on top with a 2-0 win, securing their spot in the next round of the tournament and pushing BIG to the lower bracket semifinals.
The series began on Mirage, G2’s pick for the opening map. The team got off to a quick start, going up 8-0 in the early rounds. But BIG, known for their tenacity and ability to come back from behind, quickly replied with seven straight rounds of their own led by Josef “faveN” Baumann. Karim “Krimbo” Moussa also followed up with a 1v1 clutch towards the end of the half to give the German franchise a fighting opportunity.
BIG maintained the momentum at the start of the second half of the map, continuing their winning streak with another round of victory, owing to 3 M4A4 HS kills on the bombsite B defense by Nils “k1to” Gruhne. However, G2 got back the reins of the game and went on a four-round run, taking the score tally to 12-8 in their favor.
The rest of the map was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team able to pull away. BIG’s AWP Florian “syrsoN” Rische stepped up with some electric performance to secure two rounds victory.
While G2 took the lead and were a round away from winning the map, BIG pulled a clutch and forced a 30th round. In the end, it was G2’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač who came up big in a 1v1 post-plant clutch, securing the 16-14 win for his team.
The second map, Inferno, saw G2 come out with a renewed sense of purpose. The team were led by superstar Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, who posted a 1v3 clutch in the pistol round. With G2 leading the half by 4-1, NiKo went on to register 3 kills on the B site to get G2 further ahead. But Krimbo stole the show again, putting up amazing performances on the A site that saw his team attempt a comeback that saw the half end in an 8-7 statline in G2’s favor.
The second half took a different turn as G2 maintained their momentum with Justin “jks” Savage eager to see the map off with little damage. He played an important role in the franchise’s CT side, securing a 1v1 clutch against syrsoN, which saw the team secure a five-round run. BIG tried to find their way back into the game but G2 put up a strong resistance.
NiKo posted a +10 K/D ratio and registered 101.9 points of damage per round. With this dominant performance, G2 were able to secure a 16-9 victory on Inferno, closing out the series and securing their spot in the Group C Upper Bracket Final.
Although four G2 players secured a rating of over 1.0, NiKo led the team with a 1.26 rating and posted 43 kills, while on BIG’s roster, only Krimbo crossed the mark with a 1.18 rating. The 25-year old Bosnian was named the player of the match, having led his team to success.
This was a crucial win for G2 Esports, as the team had been struggling in recent months. Even after a successful run at the BLAST World Final championship in 2022, G2 had a difficult start to their 2023 campaign. They missed the Rio Major altogether after suffering a shocking loss in the RMR. This latest victory is a sign that G2 is back on track and ready to contend for top honors in the world of professional CS:GO.
The team will now face off against the winner of the match between Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas, in the Group C Upper Bracket Final. Whoever wins will prove to be a tough opponent for G2, but the franchise have shown that they have the skill and determination to come out on top. With their impressive performance against BIG, G2 have proven that they are a team to be reckoned with, and one that should not be underestimated in the coming rounds of the tournament.
BIG, on the other hand, will make their way to the lower bracket semifinal and will take on the loser of the fixture between NaVi and NiP which takes place later today.
