sh1ro dominates as Cloud9 quash G2 streak at ESL Pro League

Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov's rampage, a key Vertigo pick, and a disappearance act from G2's individuals marked the end of the world's No. 1 team's run of dominance.

G2's streak of consecutive match wins is over. Cloud9 ended the run at 13 LAN match wins in a row, which ranks the seventh-highest of all time among notable winning streaks in CS:GO, with a statement 2-0 victory in the ESL Pro League Season 17 Group A upper bracket semi-final.

Cloud9's impressive achievement came down to a few key factors. The Russian-Kazakh team exploited the only weakness G2 seem to have in their map pool with a Vertigo pick, a map Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company had yet to play in 2023 and that they had lost the previous three times. Cloud9 never let G2 have a say on the opening map, consistently finding early advantages and closing out rounds in methodical fashion.

sh1ro was an all-important cog in the machine on the opener as he put up a carry performance with a 27-10 score (1.99 rating), while on the other Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač recorded his lowest-rated map since joining G2 and no one was there to pick up the slack.

The Russian AWPer's rampage continued as the series switched to Inferno. His quad-kill in the pistol and another in round five, a crucial point in the economy game, got Cloud9 the early advantage and his consistent contribution throughout the rest of the map allowed them to close it. Though resilient on the CT side, G2 could not overturn a 7-13 deficit, and Cloud9 came out victorious as sh1ro ended the second map with a 30-bomb.

With the 2-0 victory, Cloud9 advanced to the upper bracket final, where they will face off against Outsiders on Sunday at 16:00 . The Russian-Kazakh squad have already secured a place in the playoffs and can go one step further should they win the group final for a direct berth to the quarter-finals. G2 fall to the lower bracket, where they will play MIBR on Friday at 16:00 .