Vitality secure Spring Finals spot over G2

As the first game of the day, we had the two French turned international teams of G2 and Vitality going head-to-head. G2 secured their spot in the match by winning Group A, while Vitality had to take down MIBR to be able to take their spot in this match. It took all three maps before Vitality were able to take the win, and send G2 into the hands of the Brazilians of MIBR.

Vitality had the first pick of maps, and unsurprisingly they chose Inferno, which has been their comfort pick since the addition of the Danes.
G2, on the CT-side, took the pistol round after an aggressive play down the middle, but unfortunately for them, “apEX” and Vitality won their force-buy and the five following rounds. After a bit of a shaky individual start, “NiKo” and “m0NESY” found form halfway through the first half which saw G2 take a lead of 8-7 at the break.
Vitality, after conceding lots of rounds late in the first half, came back strong on their CT-side, which has looked phenomenal during the tournament, only allowing two T-side rounds to the side of G2 before closing it out at 16-10, in what was a well-rounded team performance.

After the brawly, nade-heavy map of Inferno, it was now time for G2’s pick, the more open and aim-heavy battleground of Mirage.
After conceding the first round of the map on their T-side, “Aleksib” and G2 took a page out of the Vitality playbook and took back control of the game in the following round’s force-buy. G2 kept up the pressure and went on an extremely clean 6-round win-streak, where Vitality were forced to save in multiple rounds after very convincing executes. “apEX” and co. managed to take a couple of rounds before the break, but ultimately had to go to halftime with a disappointing four rounds to their name.
Vitality were not able to win any rounds in the second half, even though they twice pushed it to a 1v1 post-plant scenario. Both times it was quad-kill clutches that won the round for G2, one by “m0NESY” and one by “NiKo”. G2 dominantly secure their map pick at 16-4.

The map left over as the decider was Dust2, and had Vitality starting on the CT-side, while G2 had to penetrate the defense.
Just like the two previous maps, the force-buy rounds were very impactful. This time around it was Vitality who came out on top and were able to secure a bit of an early lead. G2 led by a sharp “NiKo” quickly equalized, and then took the lead at 5-4. That’s when the G2 fortunes ran dry, and Vitality took over and won the last six rounds of the half. The halftime score was 10-5.
Down five rounds, and in desperate need for rounds, G2 took the second half pistol round without any contest and secured the following round. Vitality turned up the pace and put considerable distance between themselves and their opponents. The French/Danish mix secured map point at 15-8. G2 started showing signs of life with some proactive CT setups, but only managed to take four rounds, and Vitality won Dust2 at 16-12.

This sees Vitality secure their 1st-3rd spot and a spot in the Spring Finals, while G2 has to fight for 4th-6th tomorrow versus MIBR.

Highlight of the series:

G2 – Vitality 1-2 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

10-16 (Inferno) | apEX – 1.35 Rating / 22-15 K-D / 84.8 ADR

16-4 (Mirage) | NiKo – 2.20 Rating / 25-9 K-D / 126.2 ADR

12-16 (Dust2) | dupreeh – 1.43 Rating / 26-18 K-D / 86.8 ADR

MVP: Nikole "NiKo" Kovac – 1.36 Rating / 62-49 K-D / 100.8 ADR