#TeamG2 defeated Natus Vincere 2-0 to go to the BLAST Premier Spring Group C final. The European team destroyed the Ukrainian-dominated roster on Nuke (16-10) before moving on to the next round of competition with a gritty victory on Inferno (22-18).

In order to advance to the BLAST Premier Spring Final without having to go through the life-or-death elimination stage, Natus Vincere must put up a perfect performance in the lower bracket in Denmark, which may include a potential rematch against G2.

The Match Recap

The best moment of the series came from #NiKo, who kicked out the new year in blistering form with a stellar 1.59 rating — 0.40 points higher than his closest teammate, Ilya #m0NESY Osipov.

Team  G2 will also be relieved that they won the match after starting with a huge 14-7 lead over Inferno. Unwise choices and overzealous behavior gave Natus Vincere a chance to get back in the game, which might have easily been more of a one-sided contest than the final score suggested.

The series began with Natus Vincere’s selection of Nuke, but a brilliant 4k pistol-round hold of the lower bombsite by NiKo quickly established the tone of the match as G2 sprang to a 5-0 lead on the CT-side. From Oleksandr #s1mple, a crucial 1vs2 clutch Finally, Kostyliev’s team scored in the sixth round, but G2 secured an early 8-1 first-half victory thanks to NiKo’s relentless aggressiveness in the Outside region of the map.

However, G2 showed no signs of slowing down to post a 12-3 thrashing of their opponents by halftime. Natus Vincere’s unorthodox proficiency with hodgepodge purchase of Galil-ARs and Tec-9s gave the squad some beneficial takeaways.

At the start of the second half, the game was turned on its head. When Natus Vincere’s opponents went on a two-round rampage to start the game, they responded with five shutouts of their own to reduce the deficit from 8-14. Nevertheless, Natus Vincere’s improvement was only a consolation, as G2 won two sporadic rounds and finished with an easy 16-10 victory.

At the start of the second half, the game was turned on its head. When Natus Vincere’s opponents went on a two-round rampage to start the game, they responded with five shutouts of their own to reduce the deficit from 8-14. Nevertheless, Natus Vincere’s improvement was only a consolation, as G2 won two sporadic rounds and finished with an easy 16-10 victory.

The Hell On Inferno

As Inferno got underway, G2 won their third pistol round of the match. The international team then took advantage of weaknesses in Natus Vincere’s B-site hold to take a 4-0 lead and launch their offensive strategy.

Despite the poor start, Denis Sharipov’s team perked up, building a strong defensive wall to shut out G2 round after round and bring the score back to a close 4-5. The second half continued to be marked by the hard-fought nature of the map, with Natus Vincere’s entrenched defensive positions responding to G2’s successful patient and methodical takes of the bombsites.

Nevertheless, Rasmus #HooXi Nielsen and company came out on top by a razor-thin margin. The Danish tactician and NiKo took it upon themselves to lead their team to a one-round victory in the first half with 10 frags each.

In order to easily defeat Natus Vincere’s strategies and build up to a 14-7 advantage, G2 advanced once on the defensive side, replicating their aggressive gameplan from the prior map. Despite facing certain defeat, Natus Vincere recovered and closed the gap to 11-14 by creating back-to-back 2vs2 clutches out of thin air.

As the map neared its conclusion, electroNic and company’s comeback gained pace. A few scrappy and chaotic rounds somewhat favored Natus Vincere, giving them two four-round streaks that forced overtime after an initial seven-round disadvantage.

To separate the two teams, there had to be two rounds of additional play. Natus Vincere’s revitalized s1mple carried them to map point in the first overtime, but masterfully executed B hits and outstanding calling from HooXi allowed G2 to mount an impenetrable comeback, ultimately leading to a 22-18 triumph to take the series 2-0.