NiKo embarrassed his former team twice from the same bombsite on the same map.
G2 and Falcons faced each other for a semi-final berth at BLAST Open Porto.
G2, once the home of Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, sought to punish by picking Inferno into them. However, G2’s game plan was no match for Falcons’ individuals.
NiKo fires Falcons to 11-1 lead
Falcons started the map well, winning the pistol round cleanly. G2 tried to rush the A bombings, but were repeatedly shut down by René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen.
After being down 0-3, G2 found a reply with Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz finding a double entry on B. They continued to attack the same site, trying to exploit a weakness.
Falcons BS begins with m0NESY
Falcons has no shortage of skilled individuals, as shown by Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov in a 2v3 situation in the fourth round needing to win a retake.
At 3-1 up, m0NESY punished an overpeeking Nikita ‘HeavyGod’ Martynenko and his teammate, the second a shot right after jumping and somehow stabilizing in time.
After that round win, Maxim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin found his form on B-site, finding multiple opening spraydowns to end rounds right as they started.
It wasn’t long before Falcons was 8-1 up on G2’s map pick.
NiKo puts the final nail in the coffin
G2 finally found themselves in a favorable situation in Round 10, needing to win the round at a 1-8 deficit.
G2 found all the needed entries except one, leaving NiKo in a 1v4 situation defending A site.
In the play of the series, NiKo found four consecutive headshots, knocking down G2 one by one with the saved AK-47.
By then, there were a few rounds left to play, but it was effectively over.
Map ends 13-6 for Falcons
G2 made a small comeback on their own CT-side, stringing five rounds together.
The round that broke their streak, and their chances of taking the series, came in Round 18, with NiKo finding a 1v2 clutch with the Desert Eagle.
NiKo embarrassed his former teams twice from the same bombsite in the same map.
Falcons break G2 on Dust2
G2 had a little bit of fight left in them on Dust2, managing to take control of the economy while at a 2-4 round deficit.
However, that was once again washed away by the pistols, with kyousuke finding an entry kill with a saved AK-47.
Falcons ran circles around G2’s defense, with kyousuke as the spearhead on the terrorist side.
G2’s individuals simply weren’t showing up, with Artem ‘r1nkle’ Morov not finding impact.
The half ended 9-3 for Falcons, with G2 showing the same lackluster form as Inferno.
Falcons set up Spirit clash
G2 won the second half pistol, allowing for a three-round game.
However, Falcons took control from there. The entire team, from TeSeS finding multiple trades to m0NESY closing out rounds cleanly.
Falcons went up 12-6, but G2’s huNter- did not want to give up against his former teammates. He won a critical 1v2 to get G2 to 8-12, top-fragging on the server, with a chance at reaching overtime.
The series ended on another clutch, this time kyousuke breaking G2 with a 1v2 retake.
In this form, Falcons take on Spirit in the semi-final in a rematch of one of the matches of the Major.
TeSeS: “Inferno is an underrated map for us”
Karrigan and kyousuke built up a good relationship on B.
TeSeS spoke on the analyst desk about Inferno, Falcons’ development and more.
Catch the full interview on the BLAST Open stream.
