G2 Esports have come out victorious in the final week of the BLAST Premier CS:GO Spring Series, defeating OG in the Group C Final. Both G2 and OG have secured their spots in the BLAST Spring Final taking place in Moscow, Russia, in June. Additional group members Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves have been knocked down to the BLAST Showdown, where only two teams will advance to the Spring Final.
Group C kicked off on Friday, the opening match pitting G2 against Australian side 100 Thieves. Dust2 and Vertigo served as the game’s battlegrounds, with in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isaković topping the scoreboard on both maps to bring G2 to a 2-0 victory. Day one continued with a classic Dota rivalry as OG Esports came up against Evil Geniuses. The game went the distance, each team securing a 16-14 win on the other’s map choice. Dust2 stood as the decider, Issa “ISSAA” Murad managing 31 kills to earn OG an upset victory in overtime.
Day two brought the first elimination game as 100 Thieves took on Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket. EG quickly outclassed 100 Thieves on the Aussies’ own pick of Train, the North American team taking a dominant 16-4 win. The match then went to Nuke, where Evil Geniuses managed a three-round comeback to eventually win the map in overtime.
G2 next took on OG in the upper bracket final, with the winner claiming a spot in the Spring Final. OG appeared as a shadow of their day-one selves as their opponents took a strong 16-8 win on Nuke. G2’s dominance continued on Dust2, Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač leading the way for a 16-6 victory.
Day three brought a rematch for OG and Evil Geniuses, the latter hoping to get revenge for day one’s result. The game kicked off on OG’s choice of Train, where EG completed a perfect 15-0 CT half. The multinational side held off the 16-0 loss, finding four rounds on their own defense before conceding defeat. OG answered back on Mirage, destroying Evil Geniuses 16-3 to even up the series score. Inferno served as the deciding map, another 30-round affair allowing OG to claim the 2-1 series victory.
Another rematch ensued as OG met G2 in the Group C Final. Mirroring OG’s prior match, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and co. suffered a 7-16 loss on their own map pick of Inferno. G2’s choice took the match to Dust2, and OG once again found a strong 16-5 win to force map three. Nuke stood as the final map of the season, G2’s French-Serbian squad taking an 11-4 lead on the defense. OG managed a strong comeback in the second half, stringing five rounds together before G2 closed out the series 16-14.
G2 take home the $50,000 first-place prize as well as Group C’s top seed heading into the BLAST Premier Spring Final. G2 CS:GO will next compete in IEM Katowice later this month.
