G2 take down Spirit – EWC Quarter-Finals G2 vs Spirit

Esports World Cup (EWC) 2024 is moving to the Quarter-Finals, with G2 and Spirit kicking off playoff proceedings. Importantly, this match will be the first time Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov and Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, the two frontrunners for CS2's crown. The two dodged each other at BLAST due to m0NESY's visa troubles, but they'll battle it out to survive in EWC.

BLAST Premier Spring Finals had set us up brilliantly to watch the game's top 3 battle it out for dominance. While donk won the event, we never got the trifecta going as m0NESY faced visa issues, delaying his arrival. Now, with G2 bringing in a new roster with Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa, this matchup has a new depth.

Spirit is a well-oiled machine at this point, only occasionally troubled by their inexperience. With the smaller stage and audience at EWC, Spirit will be in its element while G2 finds its footing. Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov's leadership is always improving, but the firepower gives G2 a good chance in the game. With m0NESY at the head of the pack, NiKo ever-present next to him, and now the added X-factor of malbsMd, G2 will need their stars on form. The Mongolz game doesn't raise hopes for G2, but fortunes can turn every game.

Catch the stream for Spirit vs G2 live on EWC’s official Twitch channel, or you can watch it on the various co-streams running for the event, like ohnepixel or HeatoN. Or better yet, watch right here with the embedded stream below.

Check back in later to get a map-by-map recap of the quarter-final match.

G2's perma-ban turned to pick Mirage and started off with malbsMd looking on fire. The Guatemalan player went 6-0 right off the bat, giving his team a 4-round lead. Round 5 saw Spirit's IGL chopper lead from the front, taking 4 kills to hold the A site. After a series of unfortunate timings for Spirit, they recovered to a 3v1 against huNter-. The Bosnian rifler nearly pulled the clutch off with some brilliant smoke spray but fell to sh1ro at the end.

malbs was again at the forefront of the G2 attack, taking his team to 7 and shutting down Spirit's economy. An A stack and zont1x's MP9 triple allowed Spirit to finally win a third round. The Russian side, however, was still on the back foot as they went into the second-half with a 9-3 deficit.

donk finally turned the afterburners on after the switch to the T-side. With three in the pistol, he just ran through the A-site like a knife through butter. A couple of kills went to G2, but chopper's mid-lurk allowed Spirit to claw back the rounds. With m0NESY's AWP out and the rifles still hot, G2 finally started their CT side, immediately accelerating to map-point. With a final buy, G2 closed the map out 13-8.

Spirit started off with a pistol round win, but NiKo's Deagle took two heads as G2 won with all five alive. That kicked off another strong start for G2 over Spirit in the EWC Quarter-Finals. This time it was the Balkan brothers leading the charge to a 5-1 lead. donk finally found the impact he needed, putting three kills up to push Spirit's T side to three. The two teams remained even, malbs' Deagles snatched a sixth, but Spirit's utility usage answered back to tie the half up 6-6.

The team needed him, and the captain stepped up. Snax came in clutch, bringing out a pistol 1v3 in classic Snax fashion. With weaponry advantage locked in, that Snax clutch allowed his team to extend a 9-6 lead. Spirit seemingly could do nothing as G2 smashed through the defenses time and time again. Spirit found some luck, with Zont1x holding down the ramp for a successful round. And once again, donk showed up to shut down G2's economy and tie the map up 10-10.

G2 was in a solid man-advantage position, but Spirit whittled it down with a couple of mistakes from the international squad. That finally allowed Spirit to take the lead on the map for the first time since Round 1. Taz's squad recovered well thanks to the Polish coach's timeout, keeping the match neck and neck. chopper was absolutely stunning, sweeping through the B-site post plant to lock in map point. G2 was nearly knocked out over Donk's Secret bait, but the Kovač cousins pushed the game to Overtime.

sh1ro came alive in OT, bringing through the big green's impact as Spirit took two in a row. The NiKo vs Donk duel in the yard was heating up, with the Bosnian regularly getting the better of the youngster. But that wasn't enough as even with a 2v4 disadvantage, chopper managed to take map point once more. m0NESY's AWP apparently did not come equipped with a scope as he took 4 kills in quick succession to keep G2 in Nuke. But Spirit finally closed the map out 16-14, forcing Ancient.

G2 once again started off with a steller T-side taking 5 rounds on the trot. A missed molotvv did concede one round to Spirit, but NiKo and m0NESY recovered for a 6-1 lead as donk stayed on 0 kills. Snax had found a succesful call on the A site, and he kept hammering at it, increasing the lead to 8. They finally went B, but that was what finally allowed Spirit to take another round.

That was another false dawn for Spirit, as huNter- led the way for yet another G2 round, edging ever closer to the EWC Semi-Finals. 9-3 read the scoreboard at halftime. Spirit's pistol round converted into a double, but the gun round went G2's way again, as they survived with four rifles. This final half showed just how fluidly G2 was working, as they snapped up match point with a beautiful A retake. Just Galils on Spirit, to keep their tournament life, and malbs locked them out, sending G2 to the Semi-Finals at EWC 2024.

G2 will now await the winner of Vitality vs Virtus.Pro tomorrow in the Semi-Finals. Spirit looked shaky and will look to bounce back for BLAST. But for G2, this can be the start of a honeymoon run for this roster. And the organization will be loving this success too. With the $30,00,000 Prize Pool on the line for the teams participating at EWC, each and every game matters a ton.

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