A replay of the PGL Major Stockholm Grand Final is what we have on the card for the late match at ESL Pro League Season 16 this Friday. The quarterfinal matchup will feature the two CS:GO mastodonts in NAVI and G2 as they are set to fight for a spot within the Top 4 in the Malta-based tournament.

G2 looks to be the favorites going into the match with Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and co. having won their last six matches in a row, while NAVI on the other hand has struggled a bit during the tournament losing against Endpoint, NIP, and Vitality.

With that being said; Do you even dare to bet against Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev?

Hunter

NiKo

G2 Esports

Natus Vincere

One of the most hyped players in recent years in CS:GO has been the young Russian AWP'er Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov.

The now-former NAVI Junior player showed some incredible skills on the Tier-2/3 level for the young NAVI team, but the question was if he could replicate it on the big stage. At BLAST Premier Spring Groups the 16-year-old AWP'er made an impressive debut on the Tier 1 level with an unforgettable clutch against MIBR to cement his name.

At IEM Katowice all eyes will once again be on Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. At a press conference before the main event, Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač talked about the importance of having a true AWP'er on the team, and how he has experienced the first time with m0NESY on the team.

m0NESY

G2 are finally beginning to look like the roster everyone expected them to be when “NiKo” first joined the side of G2. They are currently ranked as the third-best team in the entire world, however, questions whether or not they would be able to continue their impeccable form on LAN have been raised. When facing against Complexity in their first Bo3-series at the main event it became clear that they are very much still a force to be reckoned with. Despite a valid attempt from Complexity, it was G2 to run away with a 2-0 victory.

The first map was the pick of the Complexity and saw the match starting on Vertigo. The map of Vertigo can both be very complex and simple at the same time, and we saw exactly that when the two teams clashed. Despite being the pick of Complexity, it was the G2 side to start the strongest on Vertigo. With relentless aggression, G2 posted an impressive t-sided performance and could go to halftime at 10-5. It looked bleak for Complexity going into the second half, but somehow, they managed to pull themselves together and string together some rounds. In the end, however, it was too little too late and G2 closed out Vertigo with a 16-14 victory.

The second map was picked by G2 and would take place on Dust 2. Both teams have had their fair share of play on Dust 2, but when looking at the statistics it becomes clear as to why G2 picked Dust 2. Complexity are currently sitting on a 38% win rate on the map, whereas the G2 roster have won 54% of matches played on Dust 2 in the last three months. It was also G2 who looked the stronger roster on Dust 2. Due to a great t-sided performance from G2 they were able to brush aside their opponents and secure an 11-4 scoreline going into the second half. Whilst Complexity tried their best it was just too difficult to break down G2 and they would have to see themselves beaten at the scoreline of 16-6.

16-14 G2 | huNter 1.47 Rating / 95.3 ADR / 30-16 K-D

16-6 G2 | NiKo 1.99 Rating / 100.1 ADR / 27-9 K-D

[twitchClip:GiftedReliableGrasshopperFutureMan-YoHuPYmik_W3yXh8]

Nikola “NiKo” Kovač| 1.60 Rating - 49-25 K/D - 95.6 ADR - 80.8% KAST

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IEM Cologne 2021 update – Virtus.pro vs BIG (0-2)

Whilst the G2 took on the side of Complexity another top-tier match between Virtus.pro and BIG took place. A close first map on Dust 2 saw BIG have the slight edge over their opponents and take home map one with a 16-13 victory. The second map was to be played Inferno and was once again a close affair. BIG kept calm and was just the better roster on the day. The German BIG managed to take Inferno at 16-12 and win the Bo3-series against Virtus.pro 2-0.

compLexity Gaming

In another close match at the closed qualifier for IEM Summer, it was G2 who booked their spot in the upper Semi-Finals.

[slugRMA:funplus-phoenix-sends-big-lower-bracket-iem-summer-closed-qualifier]

Both mousesports and G2 lost their map pick, which made Mirage the final battleground.

At 13-6, it looked like a solid map win for G2, but mousesports fought back to make it even. In an intense couple of last rounds, it swung from one side to the other, but in the end, it was the two Bosnian Cousins NiKo and Hunter- who made it happen for G2, who are now ready for the Upper Semi-Final against FunPlus Phoenix.

G2 - mousesports 2-1|IEM Summer 2021 Closed Qualifier

16-12 (Vertigo) | {cflag:EE} ropz - 1.35 Rating / 92.8 ADR / 24-20 K-D

11-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:AU} dexter - 1.52 Rating / 96.3 ADR / 24-16 K-D

16-14 (Mirage) | {cflag:SK} frozen - 1.37 Rating / 87.6 ADR / 28-18 K-D

MVP: {cflag:EE} Robin 'ropz' Kool - 1.24 Rating / 81.8 ADR / 67-49 K-D

A dissapointed mouseports roster will now have to make their way through the lower bracket to qualify. The roster showed very promising signs in the match despite losing. Next opponent will be BIG tonight.

ropz

dexter

frozen

mousesports

In an exciting battle in the Quarter-Final at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, G2 managed to fend off OG after a three-map thriller match.

OG's newcomer Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan cemented his great start on the roster with an excellent performance on Nuke, where he totaled 48 kills in a grueling showdown between the two teams that stretched 48 rounds before OG had to concede their map pick.

Map 1: Nuke (25-23) G2 |flameZ - 1.49 rating / 48-31 K-D / 104.6 ADR

G2 picked Dust2 as the second map. A pick that quickly turned on them, as OG thrashed NiKo and company on their CT-side. In-game leader Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen lead his team to a huge 16-3 win, with the Finn topping the scoreboard with an impressive 111.3 ADR.

Map 2: Dust2 (16-3) OG |Aleksib - 2.05 rating / 18-5 K-D / 111.3 ADR

Before the third map, OG was +57 in K-D during the match. A dominant stat that left one wondering how G2 was still in this match. On Inferno, we got the answer in the first half. The Bosnian cousins, huNter- and NiKo kept G2 in the match, where they were only trailing by one at the half.

After a long technical pause, the two teams continued the battle and AmaNEk came back from the dead after a very poor start from the Frenchman. G2 went on to close out the map 16-12 and wrap up the series 2-1 to eliminate OG from the tournament. G2's huNter stepped up huge and delivered 33 frags to help his team advance further in the prominent event. 

Map 3: Inferno (16-12) G2 | huNter - 1.74 rating / 33-18 K/D / 126.1 ADR

MVP: Shahar "flameZ" Shushan - 1.34 rating / 85-60 K/D / 95.5 ADR 

G2 face the winner of Team Dignitas vs. Spirit on Sunday at 15:30 (CET). 

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Hunter

Player stats

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G2 destroy Complexity 2-0

G2 fight of mousesports at IEM Summer Qualifier

G2 send OG packing at the Spring Showdown

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