G2 fend off Vitality to secure Grand Finals at World Finals

G2 secure their fourth Grand Finals appearance of 2024 after a win over Vitality at the BLAST Premier World Finals. The international side was devastatingly good early on in the maps, allowing them to build a massive series. While Vitality regularly made life difficult, G2 were able to do enough to take a marginal victory on Dust2 and Mirage to close the series.

G2's Oft-criticized IGL, Snax, started Dust2 off by hitting three clinical headshots in the pistol round. Spinx's Ace on the AK-47 gave Vitality a minor lead, but the team was quickly thwarted as NiKo and m0NESY got warmed up. Round after round the G2 stars burst through the Vitality defence to set up a massive 9-3 half.

To make things worse for Vitality, m0NESY took a headshot-only Ace in the pistol round to extend the lead. Down 3-11, Vitality's force-buy managed to make the defence work after apEX opened up with a scout kill. That sparked a streak of rounds that nearly knocked G2 out of the map. Spinx's form continued, but it was ZywOo joining in that allowed Vitality to extend. Finally, thanks to a malbsMd double entry, G2 broke their way into A and locked in a map win.

Snax's Mac-10 double in the anti-force started things off well for G2. The team quickly found their way to a 6-1 lead as Vitality struggled for economy. Event stand-in JACKZ was taking over the pit from William "mezii" Merriman, and delivered a massive quad-kill to finally turn the tide in the French team's favor. That sparked a series of rounds for Vitality where G2 could barely ever get the bomb down. Tying up the half 6-6, apEX and co. looked set for success.

Vitality's tactical mastery paid dividends as they battered G2's defence, extending the lead to 10-6. Round 18 could have been disastrous as NiKo accidentally stabbed malbsMd after the latter got a triple. But luckily, Snax managed to save the round. The map still wasn't saved as JACKZ continued his tear.

The story of G2 giving up advantages continued in Round 19 as ZywOo was allowed a path into the B site. From there the phenom annihilated G2 for an ace. That was the final nail in the coffin, and Vitality closed the map 13-7.

A third headstart for G2 as m0NESY went 7-0 in three rounds. But Vitality struck right back to tie it 3-3. Unlike Inferno, G2 were able to break the streak before it got out of control. With Snax getting his first kill, and his stars shining, G2 extended to a 7-3 lead. A timeout from XTQZZZ gave Vitality the key to a fourth round before the half spiraled out of control. Still G2 came out with a 7-5 lead.

After a dominant pistol win, G2 found themselves in control of the half. And Snax denied JACKZ a 1v1 duel to fuel G2's T-side. A failed force buy from Vitality spelled disaster for the bees as they tossed away their economy in vain. G2 stood 11-5 up, when apEX and co. finally got guns out.

Every single star was performing for G2 as malbsMd locked up series point. Vitality were struggling to find the solution, so coach XTQZZZ took another timeout. That sparked an uptick in apEX's performance as the IGL rallied his troops. But G2's lead was too large to overcome as the international squad took their fourth grand finals of 2024.

G2 have now made their way to the penultimate Grand Finals of the year. There they will await the winner of the other top 4 match at the World Finals, Astralis vs Spirit. With NiKo and m0NESY in perfect form, G2 will be confident that they can add another trophy to their cabinet before the Shanghai Major.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more BLAST Premier World Finals coverage directly from Singapore.