G2 make EPL playoffs after thriller revenge series against M80

The second meeting between the two teams in Malta was just as exciting as the first.

G2 have squeaked through to the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 19 with a revenge victory over M80 in the Group B Last Chance Stage, winning one of the best maps we've seen all year, a 22-20 triple overtime on Ancient, before converting an Inferno whose 13-6 scoreline doesn't do justice to the knife's edge that the game balanced on.

M80 had cast G2 down to the Last Chance Stage earlier in the tournament after pulling off an immense upset in the lower bracket. In that series, M80 had demolished Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen's side on Ancient, but squandered a handful of series points on Inferno and nearly did the same on the Vertigo decider before clinching victory.

"Straight up embarrassing how we play," HooXi said on X after the game.

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G2 to face Falcons in elimination match after M80 upset

M80 could not convert two series points against BetBoom in the lower bracket final and missed out on an early shot at the playoffs, but fought past TYLOO to set up a rematch against a G2 who had just made it past Falcons in the Last Chance Stage to reach the last possible match of Group B.

"It's been a long week, one of the longest weeks in my career," Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač said on the post-game broadcast, making it clear just how much the gauntlet of games had exhausted him.

That fatigue, and struggles for NiKo particularly, were on clear display at the start of Ancient: The Bosnian rifler ended up in disadvantageous duels repeatedly, missed timings by the slimmest of margins, was a headshot magnet for M80, and in times where he would typically be good for a multi-kill, he could only deal damage or at max, grab a single frag.

Around him, however, a thrilling game unfolded, with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz joining the casting panel to share some insight into strategies while genuinely enjoying the action, making quips and jokes as the game went along.

Initially, it was M80 who jumped ahead, courtesy of Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa finding key impact in Middle and racking up early multi-kills.

That momentum faded away when a squandered 5vs3 allowed G2 an avenue back into the game, and the European team, emboldened by a Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač that looked more like the one of old, closed the gap as the game came down to the wire, highlights popping up seemingly every round.

Another absurd round from malbsMd was followed by a late-round recovery from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov and Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković, and the teams continued trading blows all the way into double overtime.

NiKo, whose woes had continued up until this point, sat upon an 11-25 K-D, had zero multi-kills, and was 2-6 in openers, but completely came alive at this point to pull G2 back from the brink of defeat.

The 27-year-old's entries on B enabled G2 to regain the lead and claim map point, but a squandered post-plant by G2, dubbed a "huge throw" by device on broadcast, and a quad kill by Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein allowed M80 to force another set of extra rounds.

NiKo's monumental recovery was in full-swing at this point, however, with the Bosnian rifler almost tallying back-to-back ace rounds to single-handedly haul his team to the finish line.

Robbed of their map pick, M80 went into Inferno facing an uphill climb, especially after they failed to beat G2 on it in their previous meeting.

Force-buy wars kicked off as M80 came oh-so-close to stealing a handful of early rounds away from G2, but a late stabilization from s1n's side kept the score at even-keel heading into the second half.

The back-breaker came in the second half when, after losing the pistol round, M80 got themselves into an advantageous post-plant on B with a force-buy, but fumbled a 1vs2 to huNter-'s smoke defuse.

Two more close rounds went the way of G2, ensuring the wind was out of [t,m80's sails, and insult to injury was added with another ace by NiKo before G2 closed out the game, 13-6, to lock in their spot in the playoffs.