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GUIDES
Simple Radar
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It’s official: he’s joined broky and ultimate
PGL Cluj-Napoca rages on, and the results in Romania mean we’re directing our rage towards G2. In other news, it looks like Vitality vs MOUZ is going to be yet another final of a big event, so you can all guess who we’ve got our money on.
Now that Cluj-Napoca’s seen its group action come to an end, we of course expect all of you to be completely lost on what happened to whom, when, and where. Otherwise you wouldn’t be subscribed to this newsletter.
Well, there’s been a decent amount of action since we last updated you, and Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 were as exciting as the first two.
Guess what? MOUZ lost to Vitality. Last edition we told you it could be different since the game was set to be played in the studio, negating MOUZ’ stagefright.
But, as we all know by now: nothing ever happens. In spite of torzsi’s 1.23 performance - crowned with an ace 1v3 clutch - Vita dispatched MOUZ in quick fashion, as per usual.
FaZe were uninspiring as well, with losses to PARIVISION and Astralis meaning karrigan’s men now endure their third disappointing result in a row post-Major, with early exits at Krakow and BLAST Bounty as well.
Bummer for Twistzz, who dropped a 1.19 rating across the entire tournament, and casually also dropped an ace with 1hp for most of it. Weird flex, but okay.
A result unfitting of a team of FaZe’s grandeur, to put it mildly.
G2 also caught us off guard and looked on the up from the lower side of the Swiss group, cashing wins against paiN and Heroic, only to fall flat against NAVI, who we were slightly disappointed to see have to fight in the 2:2 group.
You might have already guessed from the text above, but NAVI booked their place in the playoffs by going 3:2, along with Parivision and Aurora.
In 3:1 we find MOUZ, The MongolZ, and FURIA, deservedly so if you ask us. In 3:0 there are no surprises either - Vitality, and a Falcons team looking to bounce back after struggling at IEM Krakow.
Meanwhile, we already highlighted FaZe’s mounting misfortune, but they are joined by B8 and Heroic in the 1:3 group. Astralis, FUT, and G2 are left in 2:3, and eliminated without any reply we find 3DMAX (french people hahaha) and paiN.
Vitality. MOUZ. A game that seems almost destined to happen for the 74th time.
But can MOUZ finally make it 72-2?
It feels unlikely, but given the recent form we’ve seen out of the two teams, it seems almost certain they’ll get a chance to retain their Cluj crown against Vitality with how the bracket has shaped up.
MOUZ will first face off against NAVI, a team who, really, they should be comfortably beating. NAVI looked revitalised back at Budapest, but 2026 hasn’t been overly kind to them so far, and they feel in desperate need of new blood in order to challenge a team as stable as MOUZ.
They’ll then likely have to fight Falcons for a place in the final, with Falcons matched up against PARIVISION in their quarter-final.
That’s a game that could be closer than the names suggest it should be, but with kyousuke back in the fold and currently pulling a 1.35 rating at the event, we have a feeling there’ll be a stark contrast to the Bounty final.
As for Vitality, they begin their inevitable run to the final with a game against Aurora. We all already know how that’s going to go, so we won’t dawdle on it.
Vitality are then most likely to face FURIA, who will have to overcome The MongolZ as the Mongolians are starting to look venomous with cobrazera. It could be a close game, and potentially the best of the round, but we think the overall experience of FURIA will see them through, even if they are a little out of sorts.
Of course, given how it went the last time Vitality played FURIA, it could be anything but a foregone conclusion, but that would shock us.
Back in Chengdu, FURIA were in the form of their lives. That form saw them narrowly overcome Vitality on three maps in a row - including on a map neither of them play - when Vitality weren’t quite at their best.
This time, however, Vitality are at peak form. They may have dropped maps to both G2 and The MongolZ, but their map wins against the latter were dominant, and they made light work of MOUZ in the 2-0 game.
Add in the fact that ZywOo has continued his Krakow form into Cluj, and we don’t think FURIA stand a chance.
That brings us to the final. The game that will likely - once again - be MOUZ vs Vitality.
You already know how that will go.
But maybe it will be different this time. Maybe Falcons will beat MOUZ, and maybe they will then have the firepower to stop Vitality in their tracks.
Ah, who are we kidding? Vitality 3-0 MOUZ. 13-7. 16-14. 13-5.
You heard it here first.
Illustration by Fuffy, Source: MongolZ
Look, despite the title of this section, we promise this week’s episode is actually a bit more serious than usual. Sam and Jack cross-examine some PGL prop tweets so ludicrous you’d swear they were paid for. Also, former host Logan pops in for a bit to educate you all on the shadiness of prediction markets and how they impact the scene.
Nine months ago, we thought G2 had won rostermania.
They’d signed sAw, a phenomenal coach. Retained malbsMd, who was ready to become a star, and HeavyGod, who already was one. They’d also signed SunPayus and MATYS, two players who should have had enough firepower to keep them relevant in the absence of NiKo and m0NESY.
But it hasn’t quite panned out that way.
It started brightly, a win at BLAST Open London (against Vitality in the final, no less) promised great things, but since then, they have failed to reach the playoffs of four out of the six events they’ve attended, including the Major in Budapest.
Those playoffs they did make it to? Quarter-final exits each time, falling to The MongolZ at FISSURE and MOUZ in Krakow.
In that time, a number of things have become clear.
malbsMd, although he showed plenty of promise with NiKo, is pretty rubbish when he has to replace him.
SunPayus, who once looked like one of the best AWPers in the world, is certifiably rubbish. To such an extent that he’s actually in the same category as bums like broky and ultimate.
As for HeavyGod and MATYS, they’re both great against the teams G2 should be beating, but neither of them can keep up the same level against the teams above them.
For a team like G2, these results are unacceptable. Especially when you factor in a time where that sixth-best-in-the-world spot seems to be occupied by PARIVISION, because FaZe and NAVI also can’t sort their sh-t out.
We spoke about it in the Deep Dive already, but it’s time for G2 to make a change to address this.
malbs, of course, isn’t innocent, but we’ll give him a pass on the basis that one change could be the difference maker.
That change should be obvious, too, considering they have a slam dunk of a player already out on loan at MIBR.
Lads, it’s time to bring in kl1m. Sunset your failing Spanish sniper and join the Eastern European AWPing revolution.
Maybe then you’ll live up to the hype you built in London.
