G2 defeat fnatic in three-map series; advance to IEM Katowice grand final

G2 secured a spot in the IEM Katowice grand final with a 2-1 victory over fnatic in a match that saw both teams win each other’s picks.

G2 continue their dream run in Katowice after making it straight to the semi-finals from the group stage, and won their fourth match in a row in Poland to deny fnatic the chance at raising the trophy and tallying another Intel Grand Slam notch. The French team will now wait to see which team from the Astralis vs. Natus Vincere match will join them in the title match at the Spodek Arena on Sunday.

Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug stole the first pistol round defusing the bomb against Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim, whose ace in the round was in vain, although it helped his team win the forcebuy thanks to the economic damage. The two teams then went back-and-forth with scrappy buys until fnatic broke G2’s economy and went up 3-2. G2 tied it back up, 5-5, after a 3-player spraydown in mid by Kenny "⁠kennyS⁠" Schrub and with their economy in check went on to win the half 10-5.

JACKZ almost won a 1vs3 post-plant situation killing the defusing fnatic players through smoke, but the last kill came just a few seconds too late. As fnatic did to G2 in the first half, it was now the Franco-Serbian team who won the forcebuy. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković won a 2vs2 afterplant on A to make it 14-6 in the first big buy round of the half. Despite giving up match point, fnatic still fought their way back into the game, gaining their footing in the half and winning six rounds in a row. Ultimately, however, it was G2 who were able to close the door on fnatic with a B rush.

G2 kicked the second map off with a play on A, going on to win the 2vs4 afterplant situation. They hit B the following round forcing fnatic to save four weapons after an entry kill by nexa. Golden and Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist took out all of G2 in the first gun round to make it 3-1, and although kennyS and company were able to trade one more round, fnatic started to push back, bringing it to 3-4.

The half stayed close throughout as both teams settled at 6-6, but it was the fnatic who, with a strong showing on the defense, took the lead into the second half, 9-6.

G2 brought it to within one after winning the second pistol round and the follow-up, but G2 started to burn through timeouts as fnatic won three rounds in a row and with a solid economy and a 12-8 lead looked well on their way to tying the series up.

Several close rounds were traded, but G2 were holding on to dear life as fnatic hit 14-10 thanks to a heroic afterplant defense by Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell on B. The last round of the half saw another bold play, this time by Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin, who won a low-health 1vs2 afterplant on B to end it 16-11.

Doubles by kennyS and JACKZ gave G2 CT-side pistol on Train. They went on to take a 3-0 lead, but fnatic interjected with two rounds of their own before G2 could rein the half back in and take the expected lead on the defense.

A three-kill hold in B by huNter- made it 8-3, after which they were able to extend their lead to 9-3, but a final push from fnatic kept it close at the half, 6-9.

G2 padded their lead after winning yet another pistol round, making it 12-6 before fnatic could reply. The Franco-Serbian side then made it to B site and planted, but lost two players quickly in a 4vs4 afterplant and let the round slip away. An unlikely B rush from G2 broke fnatic’s economy and cleared the way for G2 to hit match point, 15-9.

fnatic started to mount a comeback, reaching 12-15, but a forcebuy by the Terrorists that ended in the B bombsite after a fake kept the CTs at bay long enough for the Swedes to not have enough time to defuse as G2 cheered while the timer ticked down and the bomb exploded.