G2 top BLAST group after thriller match against NIP

The new-look squad pulled off a comeback to end the day with three victories.

G2 have finished the first day of competition at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups as the top seed, winning a match against Complexity and two against Ninjas in Pyjamas in their debut with new AWPer Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, IGL Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen, and coach Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam.

Only Ninjas in Pyjamas looked like a formidable opponent to the European squad, as in the final match of the group the Swedes ran away with a 15-8 lead on Mirage, but failed to capitalize on it. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and co., made the comeback and grabbed the win after double overtime to leave a great first impression.

NiKo continued with the amazing form he displayed in 2021

"We dropped the ball, they played well," Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen said after the final match, adding that they "kicking ourselves that we didn't finish it." However, playing without Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and still making it to the second spot in the group is far from a bad result for the Swedish side.

The remaining two teams in the group were Complexity and BIG, with the North American team finishing in last place and the Germans finishing third.

Group A results:

G2 16 - 12 Complexity
Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 - 12 BIG
G2 16 - 6 Ninjas in Pyjamas
BIG 16 - 10 Complexity
Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 - 9 BIG
G2 22 - 19 Ninjas in Pyjamas

1.11 rating m0NESY at BLAST

The Bosnian superstar NiKo is the best player at the event so far, posting a 1.33 rating over three maps, followed by Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser (1.22), Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač (1.18), and Aleksib (1.17). G2's 16-year-old AWPing star doesn't lag behind the rest much, sitting at 1.11, while Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug averaged a surprisingly-high 1.12 rating after two great first games.

Final standings for group A:

1. G2
2. Ninjas in Pyjamas
3. BIG
4. Complexity

With these results, the four teams have been placed in the gauntlet bracket where they will face teams from other groups, and which will be played next week. Complexity and BIG start in round 1 and need to win their first BO3 match to avoid instant elimination. Ninjas in Pyjamas and G2 start in round 2 and 3, respectively, and need to win one out of two games to advance to Spring Finals.

Two more groups will take place over the weekend:

Group B
Natus Vincere
Astralis
OG
MIBR Group C
Vitality
FaZe
Liquid
Evil Geniuses FaZe #10 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenHåvard 'rain' NygaardRussel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenRobin 'ropz' KoolHelvijs 'broky' Saukants OG #16 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåNemanja 'nexa' IsakovićNikolaj 'niko' KristensenMateusz 'mantuu' WilczewskiShahar 'flameZ' Shushan Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen Age: 26 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1237 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.66 Ninjas in Pyjamas #7 Patrick 'es3tag' HansenFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraLove 'phzy' Smidebrant Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač Age: 26 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1385 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.67 Hampus 'hampus' Poser Age: 23 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1289 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.70 Natus Vincere #1 Oleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyValeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 26 Team: Ninjas in PyjamasB Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1787 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Vitality #3 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Evil Geniuses William 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaJake 'Stewie2K' YipVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov MIBR #56 Marcelo 'chelo' CespedesRaphael 'exit' LacerdaAdriano 'WOOD7' CeratoMatheus 'Tuurtle' AnhaiaJhonatan 'JOTA' Willian Astralis #8 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckePhilip 'Lucky' EwaldBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer BIG #13 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNils 'k1to' GruhneJosef 'faveN' Baumann Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 957 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.65 G2 #4 Audric 'JACKZ' JugNikola 'NiKo' KovačNemanja 'huNter-' KovačAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenIlya 'm0NESY' Osipov Liquid #223 Richard 'shox' PapillonNick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' Ohm Audric 'JACKZ' Jug Age: 29 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 1006 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.68 Complexity #25 Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryMichael 'Grim' WincePaytyn 'junior' JohnsonJustin 'FaNg' Coakley Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1543 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67 Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam Age: 33 Team: G2C Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov Age: 16 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.22 Maps played: 180 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.61