G2 Esports pulled a huge upset win over VP and won 2-0 to qualify for the semi finals against Envyus at DreamHack Open: Cluj-Napoca. The scores were 16-10 on Cache (G2’s pick) and 19-17 on Train (VP’s Pick).

Cache started off very offense heavy, as both teams are known to be, with Snax flanking all the T’s in A main and whiffing multiple silenced USP shots before killing someone. VP went on to win the round thanks to an effort by TaZ to kill the bomb carrier and drop the bomb. VP won the first four rounds but lost to a G2 force buy and smoke play A. From then on, G2 would go on to win large chunks at a time. Maikelele and jkaem were two huge players for G2 on this map.

Maikelele won multiple 2v1s and 1v1s. Jkaem was having a breakout performance by top fragging in the match at 32 kills and only 12 deaths. He had a player rating of 1.96. He was jumping through smoke and getting spray-downs mid, getting multikills left and right. All his shining was at VP’s expense, as the team started off strong with neo getting triple and double kills at B and A. That momentum seemed to freeze for everyone except Snax, who was second overall on the map with 30 kills and a 1.67 player rating according to hltv.org.

Things moved to Train which was the Poles’ pick and a map they’re regarded as the best in the world on. G2 went in riding a big wave of momentum off their win on Cache. They won the pistol round and the two following rounds before VP got on the scoreboard with a win. In round five G2 force up and rushed the Ts in their spawn. After a few trades, it was down to Rain and Pasha. Rain chased pasha to A, then from A to B, shot him a few times before pasha ran back to A. Pasha planted by train, but for pop-dog/A main. Rain came out pop-dog and shot him as he went up from planting. The question is, why would pasha plant on that side when he knew the CT side was clear? The emotion on pasha’s face as he reached his hand over his eyes after his death said it all.

VP looked to have cracked. And as G2 began to rack up the rounds, 7-2, 8-2,9-2, all hope seemed lost for VP, despite everyone’s knowledge that G2 was on the heavily favored side of the map. But VP found life in the rounds to come, winning the next five rounds decisively, with a notable performance by Pasha holding ladder from two flanking CTs. The second half started off intense as G2 won their A execute while on the wrong side of a 2v3. But VP clawed their way back in, lead by Snax’s frags. They got down 6-12 before winning three in a row. They only lost the fourth round because of a triple kill by maikelele and went on to win the next six rounds. G2 was down 13-15 and needed to win two rounds in a row. Things looked bleak for G2 when they ran down ivy and towards pasha’s auto sniper, but they baited out a shot by him and killed him. The went on to win the round. The first half of Overtime was back and forth, but G2’s CT side proved too strong once again and VP fell.

VP seemed to have just been playing sloppy. Missed shots, bad plant spots, bad peeks. In contrast, G2 seemed razor sharp. High pace, fast shots. VP goes home disappointed as they are always a contender to win a major, as former major winners themselves. But they lost to the best version of G2 Esports yet, and by that I mean former team Kinguin. Maikelele has been taken off the primary awp role, which frees up his play and allows him to make an impact in other areas, which has proven key to their success. All the potential and promise of the team is starting to really show through in their play generally, not just in flashes and spurts.

Even with the form they showed today, they’ll have to get together and figure out how to take it to another level if they’re hoping to best the Envyus crowds got to see earlier in the day.