G2 suffered its first loss of the tournament at the hands of the Spanish giants, Movistar Riders.
The Spanish representatives at IEM Cologne 2022 have once again proved why they are a strong contender in the group stages. Today, Movistar Riders defeated G2 esports 2-0 in a massive upset in Group A of IEM Cologne. Movistar Riders comes into this tournament after a dominating victory at ESL Challenger at DreamHack Valencia 2022.
IEM Cologne Group A is packed with strong contenders and Movistar Riders were probably one of the underdogs. With teams such as Vitality, G2 esports, ENCE, Heroic, Mouz, NiP, it’s easy to not consider Movistar Riders as a serious contender. But the Spanish players were here to perform and it was evident in their performance.
Movistar Riders ride the Vertigo elevator
Movistar Riders started off strong with a 7-3 lead on Vertigo. G2 managed to win a few rounds here and there, adding to 6 rounds in total at the end of the first half. It was a decent score in the end, but throughout the first half it seemed like Movistar Riders were calling the shots on G2 esports.
Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia had only four deaths in the first half and was an instrumental member of the Movistar Riders going into the half-time. With only six rounds to go for victory, Movistar Riders scraped together a few rounds here and there, to ultimately secure the win on Vertigo.
For G2 esports, there were moments of brilliance on the squad, but the team lacked cohesion on Vertigo. With Hunter and co. stepping up on an individual level, all hope was not lost for G2 esports fans as the team could still potentially pick up a win off these brilliant performances.
Movistar Riders won Vertigo 16-12 to take a one map lead in the series.
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A dominant one Inferno by Movistar Riders
While the first map ended with a 16-12 score, G2 esports did not turn up for Inferno at all. G2 won the pistol and the subsequent two gun rounds, however after that started a series of round wins for Movistar Riders. Movistar Riders won seven rounds in a row to secure a 9-6 lead in the CT half.
Going on to the second half, Movistar Riders were dominant and aggressive. The confidence for the Spanish squad was clear in their performance as they were taking aggressive peaks and taking on the duels against the more popular G2 esports players. The second map was especially one-sided as Movistar Riders defeated G2 esports with a 16-9 score.
With this loss, G2 esports will now move to the lower bracket of the Group A. They will face ENCE in the elimination match. Meanwhile, Movistar Riders will go on to face off against Team Vitality who showed splendid performance. The winner of this match will qualify for the LANXESS Arena in the playoffs stage.
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