If you told us before this quarter-final that G2 would put up a fair fight against Spirit. We’d say, yeah, that’s fair.

If you told us G2 would push Spirit to their limits and have a genuine chance at winning, we’d laugh and remind you that G2 have SunPayus on their team.

The Spanish sniper got off to a rough start on Overpass, where HeavyGod dragged his team to a 7-5 deficit at the half with +13.67% round swing.

SunPayus did then take over the game on the CT-side, where he led G2’s charge to a first map victory with Spirit only claiming two T rounds.

Suddenly, the semi-final doors opened for G2.

Though if either team wanted to pass through those doors, they would have to face the ultimate test of endurance, as the game was an utter marathon from here on out.

Dust2 was a closely contested map throughout, with both teams trading clutches left and right. huNter- and donk both clutched to keep their teams in the game, though the latter of the two had the last laugh by sending the game to a third map with a 1v2 post-plant play from Car on B.

After already fighting so hard on the first two maps, you’d be forgiven for thinking G2’s window of opportunity had already closed, but then rolled around the biggest brawl of all, Mirage.

Spirit were unable to handle G2’s T-side brawls in the first half of the map, and with the latter boasting an 8-4 advantage at the end of the half, the unthinkable started to look likely.

Once Spirit swapped over to the T-side they were able to find their footing and level the score at 9-9, only for G2 to immediately regain composure and reach map point.

It looked all but over, especially when donk died first in the 22nd round, but tN1R had other plans; he pulled four kills out of nowhere to keep Spirit in the game.

Ultimately, even with G2 winning four clutches across Mirage and Spirit only winning one, Spirit’s single clutch and overall play throughout the four OTs that ensued was just more decisive.

Every time G2 had the chance to put themselves in a position of strength during overtime, they failed to do so, with the best example being magixx’s 1v4 clutch on the B-site.

Sure, it was a fantastic moment in the arena and for Spirit, but if G2 weren’t walking into Market one-by-one, it just wouldn't have happened.

The map became an all out brawl following magixx’s life-round, but sadly for G2, in a game like that, the superior talent will always win. Thankfully for us, the semi-finals are saved because of it.