IEM Sydney 2018G2 take 2-1 victory over NRG, mousesports eliminate MVP PK in Sydney
G2 and mousesports are through to the Group B lower-bracket semi-final after eliminating NRG and MVP PK at IEM Sydney 2018.
The first Group B lower-bracket semi-final kicked off on NRG’s map pick, Mirage, where Damian "daps" Steele and co. were unable secure the post-plant for a pistol loss. G2’s defense held off one more push before NRG finally added one on the board, eventually equalizing the score 2-2. Working the kinks out of their economy, G2 pressed on tallying eight on the board and took a 10-2 lead.
daps finally broke G2’s streak with a triple-kill on A, but the French held on at the half, 12-3. NRG came out in the second half with a smooth retake on A for the defuse and followed that up with a pair of anti-ecos to reduce the score (6-12). The two teams went back and forth but in the end, G2’s offense was to tough too tame and sealed the 16-7 win.
The series then landed on Nuke, G2’s pick, where French looked stout on the T-side to pile up three straight, 3-0. A pair of doubles from daps and Ethan "Ethan" Arnold on the retake gave NRG their first of the half, and with that two more were added as G2’s economy was in shambles. Even at three, G2 answered back for the lead but swiftly NRG took control on the defensive side with five straight with G2 ending the half down, 9-6.
In the second half, NRG immediately took control of the upper bomb site to secure the plant and the pistol. From there, daps hounded G2 with five on the board before their streak ended to four firm defensive holds from G2 (14-10). Unable to prevent mappoint, G2 rallied back to nearly force overtime, but NRG held on in the post-plant and tied the series 1-1.
Overpass was the decider that saw NRG stack the B-bombsite to claim the CT pistol. G2 fired back to make things even and picked up two more to make it 3-1. NRG finally answered back as the rounds went back and forth until NRG ran out of time on the defuse in round 10, in which allowed the French to win four in a row (9-4). NRG weren’t going down without a fight and came up with the final two rounds to settle the half, 9-6.
Although NRG continued their success in the second half securing the T pistol, G2 quickly returned with four convincing holds to expand their lead 13-7. NRG finally found success on B and marched on with four straight, forcing the French to pause - a move that paid off as G2 reached match point with two defuses, eventually securing their spot in the lower-bracket final.
  NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 - 60 | +2 | 87.7 | 65.9% | 1.12 | |
| 62 - 59 | +3 | 86.2 | 74.4% | 1.11 | |
| 55 - 53 | +2 | 68.5 | 68.3% | 1.08 | |
| 48 - 55 | -7 | 64.6 | 69.5% | 0.91 | |
| 37 - 61 | -24 | 53.1 | 69.5% | 0.80 |
 G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 - 46 | +22 | 76.3 | 73.2% | 1.22 | |
| 64 - 61 | +3 | 87.7 | 70.7% | 1.20 | |
| 56 - 57 | -1 | 82.3 | 73.2% | 1.12 | |
| 49 - 56 | -7 | 70.2 | 75.6% | 1.05 | |
| 51 - 46 | +5 | 59.7 | 72.0% | 1.02 |
The other Group B lower-bracket semi-final featured MOUZ and MVP PK start their series on Inferno, where Miikka "suNny" Kemppi and co. were keen on the B retake for the CT pistol win. A triple-kill and a defuse from Martin "STYKO" Styk in the following round granted mouz the 2-0 lead, but MVP PK came rallying back in their buy round to split. The Koreans didn’t back down and had mouz against the wall with six straight until MOUZ retake on A was fulfilled (3-6).
The two teams then traded rounds whereas MOUZ finally ignited to earn four straight to edge the half, 8-7. The second half started with MVP PK equalizing the score securing the CT pistol, however, after a long technical pause MOUZ came out with fire on the T-side to throw three on the board, 11-8. MVP PK fought relentlessly in the remainder of the second half but could not hold off mouz who took the series lead, 16-12.
The series moved on to Mirage, MOUZ mappick, where Chris "chrisJ" de Jong secured the the T pistol with three quick headshots with an entry on A for the plant. With two anti-eco wins in the bag, MOUZ continued their reign to pick up a 5-0 lead but the streak ended to MVP PK’s defense. MOUZ shrugged off the round loss and remained in the driver’s seat to dominate the first half, 14-1.
The sides switched but the momentum remained the same for MOUZ, who secured the pistol to reach match point. Faced with a difficult task, MVP PK found some ground on their T-side but it was not enough to contest for the lead as MOUZ secured the sweep 16-4, eliminating MVP PK from the tournament.
 MVP PK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 - 36 | -8 | 71.0 | 62.5% | 0.89 | |
| 29 - 40 | -11 | 71.6 | 56.2% | 0.82 | |
| 24 - 31 | -7 | 59.4 | 62.5% | 0.79 | |
| 24 - 34 | -10 | 57.4 | 62.5% | 0.79 | |
| 22 - 31 | -9 | 60.8 | 56.2% | 0.78 |
 MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 - 24 | +12 | 80.0 | 85.4% | 1.33 | |
| 35 - 21 | +14 | 70.7 | 87.5% | 1.31 | |
| 35 - 26 | +9 | 91.6 | 70.8% | 1.27 | |
| 32 - 25 | +7 | 69.9 | 79.2% | 1.20 | |
| 33 - 31 | +2 | 70.0 | 77.1% | 1.08 |
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