9INE stun G2 to end first round at EU RMR B

The world's number one team fell to the 0-1 pool after a full 30-round affair on Nuke.

9INE have felled G2 to end the first round of play at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR B tournament, pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament so far as a team ranked 34 spots below the current world's best.

The next round pits 9INE against BIG in the 1-0 pool as they look to continue the successful start in their qualifying campaign. G2 head into the 0-1 pool with a matchup against the tournament's lowest-ranked team, iNation, awaiting them.

The Polish squad decided to leave Nuke open in the veto, a map where G2 had until recently held a 16-map winning streak, and the decision to opt for a comfortable map of their own bore its fruits.

Olek "⁠hades⁠" Miskiewicz led the way as 9INE put together a solid CT side, ending the first half with an eight-round streak to lead 10-5 heading into the second. G2 recovered well on their own defense after securing a crucial pistol round and a Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen 1v2 clutch in a key moment where their economy was in shambles, but eventually couldn't convert a 14-13 lead late into the map.

A quick play down A main caught the favorites off-guard in the 28th round, and over the next two rounds 9INE took advantage of G2's aggression in yard before closing it out with a fast upper hit.

In the post-match interview on the broadcast, hades spoke of 9INE's admiration for G2 and how it helped the Poles secure the win. "We are fans of G2, we know what they do," the AWPer said. "We watch G2 all the time and we take a lot of stuff from them, and we just added some of our stuff, and it somehow worked!"