malbsMd saves G2 from quarter-final exit
The number one team in the world has stood the test of the #8 team HEROIC in the quarter-final of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, as G2 proceed to the semi-finals, reverse-sweeping their way to the final four of the first Counter-Strike Major in Asia.
The Bo3 kicked off on HEROIC's pick of Ancient, where a red-hot 9-0 start from NiKo to give G2 a 3-0 start. Despite starting in a deficit, HEROIC clawed their way back in the half off some well timed A-hits from kyxsan, as they found a 7-5 lead. In the second half, G2 fell flat on the T-side, and ended up losing by a 6-13 margin.
The second map Nuke, saw a similar narrative unfold in the first half, as HEROIC took 7 rounds to their name on the T-side. Losing the second pistol added salt to the wound, as HEROIC was suddenly staring at a 8-5 lead. However, a late game awakening from NiKo, aided by m0NESY brought G2 back into the game to clinch a 13-9 victory.
Source: PGL
The final map was Mirage, that saw malbsMd step in the absence of the regular stars as the Guatemalan stepped up to keep G2 in the map in a tight decider. G2 could've closed it in regulation but an intuitive 1v2 from degster on the A site made sure HEROIC kept themselves in the game. In overtime though, it was all malbsMd, with a clean 1v3 propelling G2 to a 16-13 win to reverse sweep the series 2-1.
The win sees G2 move into the semi-finals of the Shanghai Major 2024 and they will take on the winner of the last quarter-final, which will have Vitality take on FaZe.
G2HEROIC| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
65 - 47 | +18 | 100.5 | 70.0% | 1.44 |
 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
56 - 42 | +14 | 82.4 | 82.9% | 1.24 |
 Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
55 - 46 | +9 | 76.0 | 70.0% | 1.16 |
 Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski |
34 - 46 | -12 | 62.5 | 71.4% | 0.91 |
| Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
34 - 44 | -10 | 55.6 | 68.6% | 0.81 |
| HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul 'degster' Gasanov |
49 - 44 | +5 | 71.6 | 64.3% | 1.06 |
 René 'TeSeS' Madsen |
49 - 52 | -3 | 75.5 | 67.1% | 1.03 |
 Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
53 - 51 | +2 | 84.0 | 65.7% | 1.03 |
| Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck |
35 - 49 | -14 | 66.9 | 70.0% | 0.84 |
 Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski |
36 - 53 | -17 | 60.1 | 64.3% | 0.78 |
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