G2 overcome FaZe; advance to ESL One: Road to Rio grand final

A 2-1 victory over FaZe secured G2 a place in the grand final of ESL One: Road to Rio, where they will face Astralis tomorrow.

FaZe and G2 played two tightly contested BO3s in the last two months, and the consolidation final matchup in ESL One: Road to Rio followed the same pattern. Map picks were traded as FaZe claimed Dust2, which featured another memorable G2 blunder, but they bounced back with a solid Mirage showing. Nuke was strongly contested by both sides, but Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's consistent fragging pushed the French-Serbian side over the finish line, and into the grand final. Tomorrow, they will face Astralis who will have a one-map advantage in the BO5 match.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač started off Dust2 hot, picking up a triple in the pistol, and proved to be FaZe's main man as they ran up a 8-1 lead on the defensive side of their opponents map pick. As they were winning rounds dominantly, it seemed like there was no stopping FaZe, but G2 managed to break the defenses, finding success towards B, with Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač's quad-kill round proving crucial to the French-Serbian side going on a six-round streak.

The first half ended with FaZe sitting on a three-round lead, but things were quickly tied as NiKo was denied the ace-clutch in the pistol. However, FaZe won the first rifle round and survived a scary anti-eco thanks to a G2 defuse blunder (12-8). G2 still put up a fight, but eventually faltered, 16-11, as Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants closed out the map with a 1v3 on B.

Mirage was a scrappy affair as FaZe grabbed the pistol thanks to a Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David 4K, only to lose the following to G2's force, allowing their opponents to take the lead. The European mixture still bounced back and went 4-3 up following a 3v3 conversion, but nexa was on point, picking up crucial kills as they finished the half 9-6 up.

Following broky's triple which gave FaZe the pistol round win, nexa continued his spectacular form, posting crucial kills that allowed his side to reach a 13-9 lead. G2 didn't take long to close out the map on the T side, winning six out of the last seven rounds to make it 16-10.

It was Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug time to shine on Nuke as G2 kicked off the map with a 4-0 lead, but broky's 1v2 clutch got FaZe on the board and started their strong T side run. Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović's men managed to claim six from the next seven rounds, and after faltering to an anti-eco, bounced back with a 2v4 clutch by Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard.

Following a 3-0 start on the T side, a 3v5 turnaround in round 20 gave G2 the momentum going into the final stretches of Nuke (13-8). A switch of pace in the form of an A-site hit, followed by a 1v2 clutch from huNter- saw FaZe facing down the barrel of the gun (15-8). Some individual heroics kept them alive shortly, but a lower site take eventually ended the resistance and ensured G2 the 2-1 series victory.