G2 has overcome Vitality after a prolonged series encompassing stellar moments to book a spot in the Grand Finals of Blast Premiere Fall Finals. NiKo and co. managed to overcome their individual struggles to take down the world number 2 in Vitality, a team they haven’t beaten since IEM Dallas earlier this year.
VETO
- G2 removed Vertigo
- Vitality removed Ancient
- G2 picked Anubis
- Vitality picked Dust2
- G2 removed Nuke
- Vitality removed Inferno
- Mirage was left over
Map 1: Pick: G2; Winner: Vitality
A quick execute towards the A site got us going in the first half of Dust 2 but a fumble in the following round enabled Vitality to post a comeback. Having won 3 rounds in a row, Vitality was on the verge of running away with the first half as G2 managed to squeeze in a round to keep the half competitive. Despite having NiKo in supreme form, G2 struggled to keep up as Vitality edged out the first half with a 7-5 scoreline.
The second half started with a pistol round win for Vitality and subsequent round wins saw them go 10-5 up. G2 off the back of individual brilliance from NiKo, malbs, and huNter managed to pull in a few rounds but that wasn’t enough to take the round away from Vitality. ZyWoo and co. managed to shut down comeback attempts by G2 near the end of the first half after cutting it uncomfortably close to winning the first map. NiKo and malbs being the highest-rated players on the server wasn’t enough for G2 to bring home the map.
Map 2: Pick: Vitality; Winner: G2
A 3-round streak came off the back of a pistol-round victory towards G2 that saw them go 3-0 up before Vitality equalized the scoreline. With both AWPers chiming in with kills when the opportunity presented. G2 by the end of the first half were able to find their form that saw them clinch the final few rounds to take a 2 round lead to the second half.
Vitality started off strong in the second half, shutting down a B rush and winning the round that followed. G2 had their T side game plan on the spot starting the first gun round in the second half which saw them go all the way without letting a single round go Vitality’s way. m0NESY having struggled in the first map came up huge with a 1v3 to keep G2’s chance at a 3rd map alive. A streak of 6 rounds saw G2 take the series to Mirage with NiKo carrying his form from Map 1, posting 18 kills with a 1.56 IR.
Map 3: Decider; Winner: G2
G2 started off the final map with a pistol round victory but soon lost the following round which prompted Vitality to go 5-2 up by the middle of the first half. G2 managed to get their defense up and running in the end, winning 5 rounds in a row to close the first half with a 7-5 scoreline. Vitality managed to start their defense with a pistol round win which put G2 in the backfoot, as they found themselves at a 12-9 deficit. It is at this point that G2 turned up the gears and managed to win 3 rounds to take us to overtime.
The overtime kicked off with a stellar 1v3 from NiKo to get G2 going as they managed to win 2 rounds on the CT side, moving to the CT side, G2 started off with yet another win but soon started at a second OT with Vitality clinching the second round as the final round of the half saw G2 throw a sucker punch with A site execute to take home the series.
NiKo’s hit his prime with 29 kills and 1.50 IR against a top opposition that saw them book a spot in the grand finals tomorrow.
Vitality has managed to cut it close on many tournaments in the past but they have been bested by NAVI in several Grand Finals and now G2 knocking them off in the Semi-Finals will put things under perspective for them as the Major approaches within 2 months of time.
