mONESY looking at G2 NiKo after winning a fantastic clutch round at ESL Pro League Season 16.
G2 and Navi faced each other in the quarterfinals of the ESL Pro League. The stature of this match was enough for it to qualify for a Grand Final. Not so long ago, Navi was the best team in the world and still has one of the best players in the world on its roster. G2 esports, on the other hand, is currently the strongest team, a favorite to win ESL Pro League Season 16. This time, G2 won the bout.
G2 eliminate NAVI in three maps
A pistol round win started the series for G2 against NAVI. With Dust 2, Inferno and Mirage as the three maps, NAVI were always going to have the upper hand on Dust 2. Despite NAVI being one of the better teams on Dust 2, G2 gave S1mple and co. a very threatening challenge in-game.
A 9-6 lead for G2 at half-time was not enough. Navi managed a stellar comeback and most of the rounds were too close for comfort. Ultimately NAVI pulled off the win after a very chaotic round a few minutes before.
Despite the win, the momentum was not clearly in NAVI’s favor. G2 esports were strong and to have taken NAVI to the edge of the Map 1 was more than enough to give them a lot of confidence in their plays.
They played very fast. It’s not something we expected. Usually they don't really play like this. I mean we kind of noticed in the first two maps that they changed the way they play. I don’t know why. But I think that we handled their aggression pretty well. I think we also went aggressive and we won the fights basically. We just played very good on CT side Mirage. It’s been a bad map for us before this event but we have put a lot of work in it and I am glad it’s paying off.
Inferno was once again a dominant start for G2 esports, but they only managed to secure a 9-6 half. On the CT side, the team’s IGL stepped up massively to help put up a strong defense. Navi managed only three rounds on their attacking side, clearly outwitted and outgunned by the G2 players. G2 won Inferno 16-9 taking the series to Mirage.
A similar storyline in the first half as G2 esports managed a 10-5 lead on their CT side. The early lead coupled with winning the first gun round in the second half catapulted them towards the series point. G2 won Mirage with a 16-9 score, on the back off some stellar performances by m0nesy who ended the series with 28 kills.
G2 esports will now face Vitality in the semifinals match. There's a lot of history between the two teams and G2 NiKo feels that both teams are very evenly matches. Whoever turns up on the matchday will take the win. CS: GO fans can catch the action live on Twitch here.
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