G2 advance past BIG at BLAST

A strong 43 kill performance from Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač ensured that G2 took the victory over BIG.

G2 ended the second day of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups with a 2-0 victory over BIG (Mirage 16-14, Inferno 16-9). G2 will face the winner of Natus Vincere versus Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Group C upper final next.

G2 continue their winning ways in 2023 after they ended the previous year as BLAST Premier World Final champions. Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, the BLAST World Final's MVP, also continued where he left off with 36 kills and a 1.15 rating.

The loss for BIG means that they will now need to win or face elimination as they fall into the Group C Consolidation Final. The German side did not have many positives to look upon in the second map as they only won two rounds on their T-side, but the silver lining was the performance of Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa, who posted a 1.18 rating over the series and had two crucial clutches in the first map.

The series began on BIG's pick of Mirage, where G2's formidable defence led by Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage gave them the early lead. BIG were continuously shut out of both sites and found themselves 0-8 down until a hero round from Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann followed up by a 1v1 clutch from Krimbo swayed the momentum in their favour. The Germans consolidated their lead until round 14 when G2 stopped their early aggression on the A-site and took a two man advantage. A desperate Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne, trapped in ninja, gave his side a chance by killing the two A players, a chance that Krimbo took as he won another clutch. BIG had clawed their way back into the game by winning seven in a row and only found themselves down by one at the half.

BIG started the second half where they left off in the first, adding another round to their winning streak as k1to got four kills. A 2v3 for G2 turned the tides allowing them to use the momentum to go on another winning streak, 12-8. From there Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische produced multiple strong holds on the AWP to snatch back two rounds, leading to the momentum going back-and-forth and G2 having the lead at 14-13. G2 looked to take control by putting themselves on match point, but BIG dominated the next round to bring the map to round 30. In the final round of the game Krimbo once again found himself in the position to be his teams saviour. The 20-year-old, who had clutched twice already this map, had to win a 1v1 against huNter- to keep BIG's hopes of winning Mirage alive, but he failed the third time around as G2 won the opener 16-14.

On Inferno G2 once again took the early lead, this time off the back of a NiKo 1v3 clutch in the pistol round. The international side continued their early dominance until BIG held true in the fifth round. NiKo, keen to ensure that the round loss was just a blip on the radar, opened up the B site with three clean kills to ensure G2's winning ways continued. BIG's CT side was faltering and once again Krimbo stepped up the plate as became immovable on the A site, allowing BIG to get back into the game. The first half continued to be competitive with G2 narrowly taking the lead 8-7.

jks was determined to ensure that the second half of Inferno would not be as competitive as the first. He acted as an instrumental part of G2's CT side, which included a 1v1 clutch against syrsoN, to extend his side's round streak to five. BIG attempted to fight their way back into the game by stringing two rounds together, but even when G2 only had two rifles in play their defence held strong and they took back their lead at 14-9. Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen's side continued to fire on all cylinders as they shut out their opponents in the final two rounds to win 16-9.