G2 defeat BIG in two overtime maps to remain undefeated in Malta

BIG had the decider map within reach, but couldn’t find an opening on the attacking side of Vertigo after hitting match point at 15-8.

G2’s second ESL Pro League victory in as many matches, this time against BIG, reinforces them as strong playoff contenders in Group B, although the international squad still has to go up against the group’s heavy hitters FaZe as well as Outsiders.

The German squad on the other hand is now up against the wall after falling to Outsiders in their opener before letting two overtimes slip away against G2. Not all hope is lost as they will be favorites in two of their three final matches against FTW and MIBR before meeting the final boss, FaZe, in their closing group stage series.

G2 and BIG started on the latter's map pick of Mirage, but G2 set up a strong defense from the start and went 6-1 after 7 rounds. A Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa triple got BIG back on the board and they linked four rounds on the offensive to get within two, 5-7, as Krimbo tallied two more triple kills in the process. G2 finally bounced back to stay ahead and hit double digits at the half with three Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage multi-kill rounds.

A triple by Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann locked in the second pistol round for BIG as G2 won only one of the first five rounds. The map then got wild with back-and-forth rounds that slowly crept G2 closer and closer to the finish line. faveN turned up with three straight multi-kills to get his team from 11-15 to 14-15 before BIG pushed it to overtime.

Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač went above and beyond in extra time, putting up four multi-kills to his name in five rounds as G2 cruised to a 19-16 victory.

BIG had an Important defense going into Vertigo, G2 pick, and did well taking an early 4-1 lead. It didn’t last, however, as the Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen-led squad tied things up by the eighth round, and that was the end for the European squad. BIG took over and won out the half 11-4.

BIG had it in their hands to close out the match after a powerful start on the attack winning four out of the first eight rounds to hit match point, 15-8, but then choked as G2 mounted a comeback by winning seven straight rounds to force a second overtime in as many maps.

Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne and Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische got doubles in the first round of overtime to get ahead before the two teams traded rounds before the half. A big four-kill round by HooXi including a 1vs2 clutch killing two CTs trying to defuse tied things back up, 17-17. Five kills by Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač in the final two rounds put the final nail in BIG’s coffin, as G2 secured their map 19-17 to end the series.

The match ended the same way as their BLAST Premier Fall Groups series, with a 2-0 victory for G2, but BIG can take solace in the nail biting series compared to the blowout of the match two weeks prior. "They watched what they did bad, this time against us they just practiced," huNter- said after the match. "They wanted to do things better and it’s not easy to beat the same team twice in two weeks. They did a lot better today, we were not on point in all aspects, but still we won and that’s the most important."