G2 Esports is the champion of BLAST Open London, having secured a 3-2 victory over the world number one, Team Vitality. Coming into the event with a shaky lineup, huNter put together his band of misfits to pull off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. Not only did they manage to outlast Vitality, but G2 also showed prowess in every area of the game, whether it was individual brilliance or well-established team play. A remarkable display of Counter-Strike saw them pave their way to the trophy.
VETO
- Vitality removed Ancient
- G2 removed Nuke
- Vitality picked Dust2
- G2 picked Mirage
- Vitality picked Overpass
- G2 picked Inferno
- Train was left over
Map 1: Dust2; Pick: Vitality; Winner: G2
Solid start on the defense, G2 racked up round after round, completely outclassing Vitality as the stars failed to put up anything significant that would pull the momentum in their favour. With only two rounds to their name in the first half, Vitlaity walked into the second half without any hopes of winning the game. G2 carried on their momentum and closed the first map with a dominant scoreline of 13-3. As MATYS topped the charts, every player stepped up when needed to post a massive win for the squad before Mirage.
Map 2: Mirage; Pick: G2; Winner: Vitality
Going 4-0 up, Vitality recovered from the earlier blowout before G2 could get going. While they did struggle early on, they recovered to end the first half with a levelled scoreline. Moving on to the defense, G2 completely let go of their foot from the gas as flawless offense from Vitality levelled the series with both teams having a map to their name. As the rest of Vitality kept struggling, ZyWoo pulled his team up with 30 frags to his name.
Map 3: Overpass; Pick: Vitality; Winner: Vitality
A 3-0 start for Vitality put them in a prime position to have a stellar offensive half. G2 did manage to pull in a few rounds, but that did not stop them from recovering with a streak of their own. Levelling the scoreline by the end of the half, G2 salvaged a dominant start to the map from Vitality. A similar story from Mirage carried out here as G2 failed to post a single round on their offense, leading to Vitality effortlessly closing out the half. For the second map in a row, Zywoo topped the charts to put his team on a series point and a map away from the trophy.
Map 4: Inferno; Pick: G2; Winner: G2
It wasn’t until the 5th round that G2 got on the board, with Vitality remaining largely dominant for the better part of the first half. However, a G2 response can be as soon as Vitality goes 6-1 up, with a tactically superior offense that Vitality failed to keep up with. As the start of the map would suggest a heavily one-sided scoreline, Vitality ended up with a levelled scoreline before going on their offense. Vitality started strong, and it seemed like another blowout for G2 before they started to put together a respectable defense to level the scoreline before Vitality put together two in a row after a 1v2 conversion from apEX to hit map point first. The final round of regulation is right when G2 pulled a rabbit out of the hat to pull the game into overtime with a scrappy buy. The first overtime saw G2 clean sweep Vitality in the first half, and an excellently called T side took the game to Train.
Map 5: Train; Pick: Decider; Winner: G2
Coming off the back of a battle of patience, G2’s defense put a stop to all the momentum that Vitality planned to enforce on them with a rock-solid defense. Vitality did manage to recover a few rounds by the end, but G2 squeezed out a comfortable lead of 8-4 before switching sides. A 4-0 start to the second half put G2 in prime position to pull off the biggest upset of the season, with Vitality needing a comeback till OT to even have a shot at the trophy. A futile attempt at a comeback, G2 converted a 3v5 to do what no team had done this season, that is, to take down Vitality in a B05, dragging the game all the way to the final map.
Many had written off G2 from the list of the best teams in the world after the departure of m0NESY and NiKo, but huNter, with sAw as the coach, has turned that narrative on its head. BLAST Open belongs to G2, and they did it by taking down the biggest names in competition.