G2 return to winning ways against MIBR in Malta

The European combine put their disappointing loss to Cloud9 behind them.

G2 defeated MIBR in the Group A lower bracket semi-final with a 2-0 scoreline. The No.1 ranked team in the world won Vertigo (16-8) to start the series and then continued their win streak on Nuke (16-12), which now stands at 16 maps in a row.

The victory marks a return to form for G2, who suffered their first loss in 14 LAN matches against Cloud9 on Thursday. G2 now move on to the lower bracket final, where they are set to face off against fnatic for a spot in the ESL Pro League S17 playoffs.

MIBR's loss relegates them to the Last Chance bracket, where they will face off against Eternal Fire on Saturday at 19:30 .

The series began on Vertigo, a map where G2 have had their fair share of struggles in recent times. The European team needed Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage to bail them out in the pistol round, and the Australian delivered a 1vs3 clutch, enabling them to go up to a 3-0 lead. MIBR were quick to answer with a low buy to win two rounds in a row, but G2 righted the ship after that. Their proactive CT side meant they strung nine rounds in a row without much trouble, finding themselves 12-2 up. MIBR did win the final round of the half to reduce the half-time deficit to nine rounds, but still had a mountain to climb if they wanted to come back on the map.

MIBR started their defense with a flawless round and won out the opening exchanges, reducing the deficit to five. Once their economy allowed it, however, G2 won the required rounds and closed out the map 16-8. Matheus "⁠Tuurtle⁠" Anhaia was the only individual on the Brazilian team to provide much in terms of resistance. The 24-year-old was the top fragger in the server and finished the map with 25 kills.

Next up was Nuke, where MIBR won the first pistol round to take the lead for the first time in the series. The scores were immediately tied up after G2 won an incredible round in which Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač crept through Outside and Ramp into an empty site. That put his team back in the driver's seat, and their incredibly fast offense soon put them 9-3 up. MIBR found a bit of success near the end of the half, but Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company still went into the favored defensive side 10-5 up.

MIBR won their second pistol round of the map but once again lost the anti-eco round against jks' MP9 ace. G2 struggled in the opening exchanges and let the Brazilians back into the game, with the scoreline standing at 11-10 as they were forced onto an eco, where jks once again proved crucial. G2 then finally stabilized and eventually closed out the map 16-12 to keep their win streak on Nuke alive and put themselves one victory away from the playoffs.