G2 pick up first win in Washington D.C.; C9 to face Vitality for elimination

Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company will also duke it out versus Imperial for a chance at making the semi-finals in Washington, D.C.

G2 locked in their first victory of the BLAST Premier Spring Final after taking down Cloud9 in a two-map affair, striking first on Vertigo (16-11) before closing things out on Inferno with the same scoreline (16-11).

The win will serve as a confidence booster for G2, who have been struggling to replicate their first-place triumphs at the BLAST World Final and IEM Katowice a few months ago. The European combine exited the BLAST.tv Paris Major outside of the playoffs and were sent packing from IEM Dallas in 5-6th place, but a win over Cloud9 has the side facing a lower-ranked Imperial for a shot at guaranteeing a top-four finish in the final Big Event of the season.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023
08/06/2023	Imperial 19:05 G2	Match

Cloud9, meanwhile, fall to the Group A lower bracket in Washington, D.C, where the majority-Russian troupe will fight versus Vitality on Thursday at 19:30 for a chance to stay alive in the $425,000 competition. Cloud9 were in a solid position to win both maps, leading 9-6 at the half on Vertigo before going on a 10-round spree in a piercing recovery on Inferno, but ultimately lacked the stamina to stand up to G2's dominance in the server.

The two teams' brawl began on Cloud9's pick of Vertigo, and it was the Russian-majority roster who got off to a more favorable start, with Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov laughing as he, Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov, and Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov combined for 27 kills to spearhead a 6-3 start on the T-side. G2 were quick to find a way back into the match, and won three rounds in quick succession to stay hot on Cloud9's heels. Alas, HooXi's troops fumbled a favorable 5vs2 situation in round 13, gifting the Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov-led lineup an opportunity to inch back into the lead and boast a 9-6 showing at the break.

That Cloud9 streak floundered once play resumed, consistent round-on-round impact from Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač — including a 1vs1 clutch — being crucial in letting his squad work their way up to a 12-9 advantage and close in on victory on map one. Cloud9 themselves dropped the ball in round 23, conceding a 5vs3 after Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov decided to put on a show with crisp headshot and AWP flicks. The international outfit didn't look back from this point on, allowing Cloud9 just two rounds throughout their entire CT-side to lead 1-0 in the series.

G2, full of confidence after snatching the Russians' Vertigo pick from under them, continued to lay down the law once Inferno got going, focusing heavily on the A bombsite as they waltzed to a 5-1 advantage on the T-side. Though not putting up mind-boggling numbers, G2 remained firmly in control on their map pick, cracking open bombsites, outmaneuvering their foes, and making a mockery of Cloud9 in their blitz to a first-half win; a four-round spree in the dying stages enabling Cloud9 to trail by a more manageable 5-10 scoreline at the switch.

Cloud9 ate into that deficit once it was their turn to attack, something Alex "⁠Mauisnake⁠" Ellenberg suggested was possible on the broadcast before the action got back underway as he praised their T-sides on the map. nafany's men made it 10 in a row by the time they reached double digits, 11-10, but were ultimately unable to go all the way. G2 flipped the script on its head, instead taking it upon themselves to go on a six-round spree thanks to a number of high-impact rounds from m0NESY to win their pick, 16-11, and the series, 2-0.