The 2-0s that should have been…

There we were. Ready to watch G2 and FaZe qualify for the Champions stage. Visions of them walking onto the stage… Ah, it's the 0-2 games.

Let's jump past the fact that they both lost their initial BO1s and get right into the important games.

G2 was staring down the barrel of FURIA, not an easy opponent by any means, and they would meet them on Inferno, Mirage, and Ancient. You can’t describe the first half of Inferno as a masterclass from G2, but they did make it an 11-4 half. Some might say it’s because of the saving meta on Inferno. But all that aside, they had a solid start, and after a little bit of pushback from the Brazilians, they were able to take it over the line with a 16-8 scoreline finalised by a swift 1v2 from m0NESY.

Heading onto Mirage with a small lead for Furia (4-1), G2 obviously decided they wanted to show their true potential and won the remaining 10 rounds of the half on the T side. Switching over to the CT side, the domination continued, picking up the pistol and converting the following 2 rounds, eventually closing it out at 16-7. The games weren’t flashy, but they got the job done.

FaZe would face 9INE, the last Polish hope. Surely they wouldn’t dismantle them with promises of Pasha cycling to Paris?

Map 1 - Inferno. Now, for those more dedicated 9INE fans, you’ll know that Inferno is their instaban. This was the first time they had played it. Maybe it would remind you of something that happened in the past… But it was decided now, and they had to play. From a team that has never played the map, you might expect them to have a rough time. But no, they put up 10 rounds against a pretty formidable opponent.

Crossing over to Anubis and the first half was pure dominance from FaZe, who took 13 of the 15 rounds. After picking up the pistol and anti eco it left 9INE with 0 room for error to try and make it to overtime. They managed to pick up 6 rounds before it all proved too much, and FaZe would take their final round needed knocking 9INE out of the running in Paris.

It’s not over for FaZe and G2, and they’ve shown they have all the potential to lose. I wonder how good the airport food is in France…