G2 Reverse-Sweeps Vitality in Dramatic Semifinal Series

After topping Group B at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 event, humiliating Astralis, and sweeping Team Liquid under the rug, Team Vitality has been waiting for the next opponent in the semifinals. 

To the joy of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports fans watching online across the globe and those at the Forum Copenhagen venue in Denmark, Team Vitality took on G2 Esports, who was fresh off their quarterfinal win against Team Spirit. 

Stay updated with the latest results: BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 Live Results & Updates

G2 vs. Vitality Map 1 (Anubis)

The proceedings kicked off on G2's map pick of Anubis. G2 took the pistol round with relative ease despite ZywOo's threat with the dualies and Kevlar, which he saved for the next round.

From here, Team Vitality's force buy gamble was successful, as Dan "apEX" Madesclaire led the squad to tie 1-1. Vitality extended their lead to 3-1 before G2 responded in the first full gun round and ran with it for three wins in a row before Vitality responded with a solid round to make the score 4-4.

With Vitality on the CT side pulling ahead to a 7-5 lead, G2 Esports was in trouble since Anubis is heavily T-favored in the current meta.

As teams switched sides, G2 Esports had a hill to climb on the CT side, and Team Vitality didn't give them much breathing room, extending their lead to 10-5 early on.

In the 16th round, however, G2 Esports came alive with Nikola "NiKo" Kovač clicking heads and damaging Vitality's economy. Vitality went for a max force buy on their low money, but it worked out well, pulling one back for an 11-6 lead, and G2 instantly responded in the next round, making Anubis very competitive.

G2 Esports managed to string some rounds together, closing the gap to 11-9 still in favor of Vitality.

In the 21st round, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut pulled off a frighteningly fast double kill to put Vitality on map point and a 12-9 lead. Despite a strong effort from G2 in the 22nd round, Vitality finished off the map, winning Anubis 13-9 and going 1-0 up in the series.

G2 vs. Vitality Map 2 (Dust2)

On Vitality's map pick of Dust2, they quickly took the A site and found a rather clean Pistol Round, including a bomb plant. Vitality then converted and got another bomb plant against G2's force, building a huge economic advantage and putting G2 back on pistols.

Early on Dust2, Vitality had a solid 3-0 lead before G2 finally responded in the 4th and managed to go on a bit of a streak, tying up the score 3-3 before Vitality clawed one back.

The first half of Dust2 was close, with teams trading blows and damaging economies over and over again, but G2 managed to pull ahead just a bit, and as the first half finished up, G2 was ahead 7-5.

With G2 on the T side in the second half of Dust2, they rushed B site and got demolished, as Vitality took the Pistol Round, then converted the next to tie up the score 7-7.

In the 15th round, G2's Polish IGL, Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski, pulled off a fantastic double kill to help his squad secure the round and an 8-7 lead and took down another thanks to a solid play from Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. Vitality then had to eco, giving G2 a 10-7 lead despite some heroics from William "mezii" Merriman.

In the 18th round, Vitality had to tuck their tail between their collective legs and do a five-man save after G2 Esports took B, giving them an 11-7 lead. Then, in the 19th, m0NESY opened with two kills, putting G2 on map point and then pushing the A site to win Dust2 13-7, forcing a third and final map.

G2 vs. Vitality Map 3 (Mirage)

On the deciding map, Mirage, G2 kicked things off with a Pistol Round win on the CT side, but Vitality took a chance on a force buy and equalized 1-1 early on. This caused G2 to also opt for a force buy in the 3rd round, which Vitality shut down and then converted another and kept forcing the issue against G2 for a 4-1 lead.

In the 6th round, G2 clawed one back and damaged Vitality's CT economy. Vitality responded with a huge round, thanks to Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, who had 15 kills only seven rounds deep. A double-AWP setup from G2 saw the side push back again, putting a lot of pressure on Vitality.

As the first half of Mirage closed out, G2 Esports had a 7-5 lead, with Snax closing the half with a 2v1 clutch using the AWP.

As teams switched sides, G2 Esports rushed the B site and got shut down hard. From Vitality's Pistol Round win, they converted another to tie up the map 7-7.

Vitality pulled ahead just a bit, and in the 16th round, Nikola "NiKo" Kovač almost pulled off the ace clutch of the year, getting four kills and a bomb plant but narrowly missing a shot against apEX. At the time, Vitality had a 9-7 lead, and NiKo punched the table so hard there was a hole next to his keyboard, and some blood on his hand...

With some dramatic and close rounds, Vitality took a 10-8 lead, and in the 19th, G2 went for a force buy with their damaged economy. Unfortunately for G2 Esports fans, they couldn't pull off an A site push, as Vitality got an 11th on the board., and G2 responded in the next round with another A site push, this time a successful one.

Vitality found map point in the 21st, but G2 managed to shut them down in the next round, and won the next as Vitality had to full eco. In the 24th round, G2 ran a double AWP setup on the T side, with m0NESY and Snax. The whole of G2 went for a beautiful A-site execution as the crowd cheered, and G2 forced overtime with a 12-12 score.

In the first portion of overtime, G2 took the first round on the T side, and Vitality took one back thanks to a four-kill round from Lotan "Spinx" Giladi. With absolutely insane clutches from NiKo, G2 Esports pulled ahead and smashed Vitality to bits, winning Mirage 16-14 and completing the reverse sweep for a 2-1 win.

With the win, G2 Esports moves on to the grand finale of BLAST Fall Final 2024 and will face the winner of NAVI vs. FaZe Clan on Sunday, 29 September 2024, at 16:00 CEST. Team Vitality is eliminated in 3rd/4th place.

Check out our Pick'Em choices and Fantasy roster player picks for the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 and see how your predictions compare to mine. 

Read More: GG.BET & Blast are building memorable fan experiences in esports arenas

Stay tuned to our esports section for all the latest news, updates, esports coverage, interviews, and more.