G2 lock up BLAST Spring Final spot over Liquid

The European giants booked their ticket to London thanks to a dominant display from the Kovač cousins.

G2 have earned a spot at the BLAST Premier Spring Final after beating Liquid 2-0 in Play-In stage of the Spring Groups. With Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov looking far from his usual self, the Kovač cousins led the way with a combined 67 frags as G2 were clearly the better side in a match that they controlled for the large part.

Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen’s troops picked up a close win on Overpass, a map where they seem to be getting more comfortable with each game, before they ran riot on Anubis with a flawless T side.

"I think yesterday was a clear off-day for almost the whole team, especially m0NESY only having a 1.25 rating," HooXi said after the match. "Not good enough from him, obviously [laughs]. "Today we had a really good read. I think NAVI are a bit in our heads because they have beaten us three or four times in a row.

"I think we are still trying to find our groove in CS2. We still have a ways to go with TaZ, but there are already positive things. I think our fundamentals are starting to get better, especially on the CT side. I’m happy so far."

It wasn’t the best of starts for the new-look Liquid roster. Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller’s side narrowly defeated an under-strength Spirit side and couldn’t take a map off FaZe or G2. The only saving grace was a convincing win against GamerLegion, who were a bit of an outsider in the BLAST Groups. They now have one month to work on their mistakes before their next event, the Americas RMR.

Liquid endured a sluggish start to their T side on Overpass, forcing head coach Wilton "⁠zews⁠" Prado to call a timeout just four rounds into the first half. The Americas team then put together a string of rounds, but their joy was short-lived as G2 cruised to a 9-3 lead despite a quiet showing from Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who ended the half with six frags, four of which came in the last round.

Liquid began to chip away at the deficit after switching to the CT side, their comeback starting with a key trio of frags with the Dual Berettas by Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic in the pistol round.

G2 struggled to find their rhythm on the T side and twice saw their opponents bring the deficit to a minimum. But then Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and NiKo forced their way into the B site with two frags apiece to put G2 on map point before HooXi held out long enough in a 1v3 situation to leave Liquid with no time on the clock for a ten-second defuse.

huNter- carried his spectacular Overpass form into Anubis, putting G2 in the lead with four frags in the pistol round. They made a massive blunder in the following round, though, gifting their opponents a free win in what was essentially an eco round. Liquid rode that momentum to a 7-4 lead before m0NESY pulled off a quick 3K in the final round to put his team in a comfortable position heading into the T side.

The second half began with G2 planting the bomb on A without any resistance and successfully holding the site. That was the start of a dominant T-side showing from the European giants, who steamrolled their way to a quick win without dropping a single round.

G2 join Vitality, FaZe and three other teams on the list of participants for the BLAST Premier Spring Final, which will take place from June 12-16 in London. The last two spots will be filled through the Spring Showdown tournament, scheduled for March 6-10.

The team list for the Spring Final currently looks as follows: