This was a series for the CS2 history books as NiKo literally bled throughout the match.
G2 have become the first finalist of the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 following a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Vitality, in which Nikola "NiKo" Kovač literally gave his blood in the map decider.
The two international powerhouses clashed in Forum Copenhagen on Sept. 28, giving fans a match that will surely enter CS2 history books. It was impossible to predict the winner until the very last round, and G2 will be feeling pretty happy they got through the finish line — especially after NiKo's "blood sacrifice" as caster Anders Blume perfectly described.
BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024: Vitality vs G2
Map veto
- G2 removed Vertigo
- Vitality removed Ancient
- G2 picked Anubis
- Vitality picked Dust2
- G2 removed Nuke
- Vitality removed Inferno
- Mirage was left over as the decider
Anubis recap
The two main reasons why Vitality won Anubis were their impressive form on the CT-side despite the map being heavily T-sided. They also kept Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov honest the entire game. Vitality got seven rounds in the first half, leaving G2 in a tough spot to play on the defensive side.
With Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov having an off-game and only NiKo consistently grabbing kills, G2 lost their map pick as Vitality simply didn't commit too many mistakes on the T-side to concede a reverse sweep.
Dust 2 recap
While m0NESY had a hard time on Anubis, he got some frags on board from the very beginning on Dust 2. Most importantly, he won a crucial one-versus-three (1v3) clutch when G2 were just one point ahead of Vitality in the second half.
That clutch hyped everyone on G2 as they went on to win all next four rounds to close out Dust 2 and take the series to a deserving third map. Though m0nESY got a lot of credit, NiKo once again had a very good performance and he'd carry that on to Mirage. As for Vitality, nobody other than Shahar "flameZ" Shushan was feeling it on Dust 2.
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Mirage recap
Mirage started in the best vein possible for views as NiKo delivered three crisp headshots with the USP-S in the first pistol. You could tell that left Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut angry as he decimated G2 in the anti-eco with three one-Deags that cracked the B bombsite wide open.
It was looking like Vitality were on the path for a quick win on Mirage until G2 finally stopped the bleeding on round number eight. From that point onwards, they didn't lose one more round on the CT side and finished the first half with tons of momentum as Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski won a tough one-versus-two (1v1) retake.
The second half, however, had a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams. The match also gained layers of tension as soon as NiKo smashed the table and started to bleed after fumbling what would be an epic one-versus-five (1v5) clutch.
The Bosnian superstar, though, carried on despite the pain and helped to drag G2 over the finish line. NiKo finished Mirage with 29 frags and was greatly assisted by Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa.
What's next for G2?
G2 will now wait for the other grand finalist to be decided. FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere are in the other playoff bracket and will play soon. The grand finals are scheduled for Sept. 29 at 4 p.m. CEST.
Meanwhile, you can see which one of several CS2 pros at the BLAST Premier Fall Final is the best when it comes to random CS trivia!
That's all for now. However, stay tuned to esports.gg for more BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 content.
