G2 break curse against NAVI to win BLAST Premier Fall Final

"Nobody beats G2 10 times in a row," a jubilant huNter- said after lifting the trophy on stage.

G2 have been crowned champions of BLAST Premier Fall Final after surpassing Natus Vincere 3-1 in the title decider, breaking a cursed 0-9 streak against the Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen-led side to lift their first trophy with Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa.

It is the second trophy for G2 this year following their victory at IEM Dallas, where Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip stood in during a Cinderella run to the title.

The team has been a consistent presence in playoffs throughout the year and remained in the hunt for silverware after adding malbsMd and Snax during the tournament break, but were held back by a disparate record against Natus Vincere, who played spoiler in G2's debut at Esports World Cup and at ESL Pro League Season 20.

Aleksib's side held a 9-0 record over G2 since going international in July 2023 and beat the team 2-0 in the group stage of the Fall Final, but as Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač said moments after G2 lifted the trophy, "Nobody beats G2 10 times in a row."

Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov's exceptional performance, particularly on the first three maps, was key in G2's win. A 1.42 series rating and six clutches from the Russian sniper had immense impact on the course of the match, and was in distinct contrast to his counterpart Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov, who ended the series at the bottom of the scoreboard with a 0.87 rating.

The trophy is Snax's first since ESL One New York 2018 and his first as a full-time captain, although doubts about his leadership and his form persisted throughout the tournament and even after the final. The overall firepower of G2 was enough to make the difference, however, with malbsMd shining on Inferno to take things over the line and lift his first-ever trophy.

It all started with G2 getting off to a bright start on the CT side of Ancient, winning the pistol and a 2v2 in the first gun round for a 4-0 lead. Natus Vincere blundered after tallying their first, losing to a single gun, but found their rhythm at the half for an even score heading into the CT side off a 13-7 K-D and 117 ADR showing from Aleksib.

That same beat couldn't be found in the second half, a double knife kill from malbsMd putting G2 in good spirits and spurring forward a four-round run to hit double digits. Natus Vincere staved off a loss on Ancient for a moment, thanks in part to a quad kill from Aleksib, but couldn't overcome a superlative offensive effort from Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač as G2 closed out, 13-9.

A brief return to form on Dust2 from NAVI made for a highlight-strewn first half, a tense back-and-forth unfolding after an initial 4-1 start from the Pro League champions dwindled.

Flat showings in gun rounds from NAVI allowed G2 to recover and post five by the break, and sloppy mid-rounds from Aleksib's side in the second half gave G2 a deserved lead, 10-8, with Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy in particular struggling for impact.

Natus Vincere exploited Snax and huNter-'s B defenses to rally back, but were stopped short of stealing the map after m0NESY and malbsMd's multi-kills helped their side edge out victory, 13-11.

It seemed like Natus Vincere would go out with a whimper on Mirage after G2 could do no wrong on the CT side, going up 9-1 with recoveries in every possible late-round situation.

A stray bullet from w0nderful to win a 1v2 became the turning point of the map, with Natus Vincere bagging the final two rounds of the half from it. Dominance in Connector from Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan after the swap let NAVI run with that momentum into the second half, two piecemeal rounds from G2 from a m0NESY clutch and a pistol entry into B being all they had before Natus Vincere stole the map, 13-11.

A longer break between the third and fourth maps did Natus Vincere no good, however, and G2 stole the show on Inferno to take the series victory.

A few rounds from Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius in Banana were the only salvation for the Pro League champions in a map that was largely dominated by malbsMd, with the Guatalmalan rifler repeatedly cracking through NAVI's defenses in the first half and combining with m0NESY and huNter- in the second for a quick end to the series, 13-7.