G2 defeat The MongolZ in hard-fought debut

malbsMd and Snax taste victory after a gruelling series in Riyadh with anti-eco mishaps and clutches galore.

G2's new lineup are off the mark after scraping past The MongolZ 2-0 (Ancient 13-11, Inferno 16-13) in their Esports World Cup opener.

It was rarely comfortable for G2, who required 48 frags combined from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač to take Ancient 13-11 and had to come back from 6-10 on the CT side of Inferno before prevailing in overtime to secure the 2-0 win.

The result sees G2 skip straight to playoffs, while The MongolZ drop to the single-elimination BO1 last chance stage.

New in-game leader Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski was in good spirits as he joined Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers for a post-game interview, joking about Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas's "really nice Mercedes" and the Steam tag "Inferno=lose", but also shared some notable tidbits about his new side.

First, he revealed talks with G2 as early as summer 2022 after Snax had stood in for ENCE. He then hinted that Vertigo "is coming," with G2's permaban (expected to be Mirage or Vertigo) still a mystery.

"I'm trying my best" to call, he added. "I have a lot of experienced players on the team, who take a lot of calling. I had a bit more space than in practice, but, for a first match with little practice, a win is a win."

The freshness of the roster was most visible on G2's pick of Inferno, with clutches and anti-ecos going astray for both teams and The MongolZ far from their best aside from skipper Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren.

There were promising signs on the G2 side as Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa retained his sharpshooting despite taking up new CT roles on both maps on display.

The squad's new big site anchor did not see much action at the start of Ancient — something he'll have to get used to — but had his usual aim to rely on when tested and was far more comfortable on T side.

Round 24 of Ancient, with G2 on a force buy around his saved AK, displayed him at his best, taking a B spawn to run past Cave and hit a double entry in Middle to confirm G2's 13-11 victory.

But in truth, it was the NiKo and m0NESY show throughout with G2's new additions taking the back seat as their star duo put up 48 frags.

That fact, in addition to G2 winning both pistols, tells a tale of an unconvincing win on Ancient and it was similar on Inferno as The MongolZ took 7-4 and 10-6 leads on what was the old G2's home map.

After taking A on Ancient, it was Pit on Inferno for malbsMd and he was treated to a triple grenade in the face at 10-10 as The MongolZ won their second low-buy round of the second half.

But those low buys — in addition to a 2v4, a 1v3 clutch from bLitz and 1v2 from Sodbayar "⁠Techno⁠" Munkhbold — helped hide some costly mistakes from The MongolZ in a5v5 situations in gun rounds.

"That was [The MongolZ's] C+, or B- game," reflected Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović on the post-match desk.

Regardless, it was a promising debut for G2: The star duo of NiKo and m0NESY delivered, with malbsMd offering big impact as the X-Factor they have missed since losing Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage coincided with a drop in form for Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač.

The Guatemalan will face sterner tests in his anchor positions as his play is analysed, but it is clear that he will be prioritized early-round on T side and have the freedom to make use of his almighty talent.