huNter- drops career-best map to carry G2 over Imperial

The Bosnian made up for G2's slow start into the series with 36 kills and three clutches on Mirage.

G2 have survived a tough first test in the BLAST Open Lisbon group stage, beating Imperial 2-0 off the back of a massive carry performance from Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač.

On the opening Mirage, the Bosnian went 36-10 and won three crucial clutches, including a 1v3 at 8-6 and a 1v2 on an eco round at 10-8, to make up for a slow start from his teammates in a 13-8 victory.

The performance amounted to an astounding 2.67 rating, huNter-'s highest-ever on a single map, ahead of his 2.58 from a 2016 World Championships match between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Armenia.

Clip: huNter wins a crisp 1v3 clutch

Clip: huNter- converts the eco with a triple and 1v2

huNter- was a difference-maker in a difficult second map on Inferno, too. His two triple-kills stopped Imperial in their tracks after the Brazilians got off to a blistering start after sides switched and took the lead.

The performance came despite the fact that the 29-year-old has been ill for the past few days, Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov said in an interview on the analyst desk after the match.

"Nema [huNter] has been sick for the last three days, he was very sick yesterday and he's taking some medicine to feel better," he said. "But he's playing sick like this, so..."

The AWPer went on to discuss the team's difficulties in the match against Imperial, which turned out more dangerous than many would have thought given the Brazilian team came into the tournament as a heavy underdog.

"I think we sometimes complicate rounds, and all of a sudden it's a big score already," m0NESY explained. "We are moving a bit slow as a team, we can make decisions much faster. In some situations where you have to react, we react a bit slow, and we can be better in this."

Up next for G2 is a playoffs-qualifying match against the winner of Eternal Fire and Liquid, played on Saturday at 17:00 .