BLAST Premier World Final Grand Finals: G2 Esports vs Team Spirit Preview and Predictions
G2 Esports and Team Spirit will lock horns yet again for the Grand Finals of BLAST Premier World Final. While the Russian squad will try to avenge their loss from the group stage, Janusz "Snax" Pogorzels ki’s G2 will have another shot to lift their third trophy this year.
G2 initially beat the reigning champions of Team Vitality in a hard-fought battle, while Spirit defeated Singapore’s dark horse, Astralis, in a one-sided affair.
With both teams showing their prowess through the event, picking a winner is too close to call as both teams boast star-studded lineups. However, if Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov continues to impress, then G2 are poised for another BLAST Premier title after their triumph at the Fall Final.
Remarkably, looking back at their head-to-head, Team Spirit is yet to defeat G2, managing to take only a single map out of nine which should give the samurai a mental edge from the get-go.
G2, struggling but standing
G2 are a strong capable team with every sense of the word, but their inconsistency issues are setting them back from achieving better results. An ideal case would be IEM Rio as the team faced a heartbreaking exit only a week after lifting the Fall Final trophy.
This inconsistency has left a sense of suspense as to which face will G2 bring in the tournament, luckily, their star players brought their A game into Singapore apart from Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač who experienced quite the performance drop in the last few months.
Despite that, G2 are delivering top notch Counter-Strike with m0NESY firing on all cylinders. So far, the Russian AWPer proved himself as the better player in the race for the number one player in 2024. Ilya munched on Danil "donk" Kryshkovets for launch and topped it off with a delicate French dessert in the semis, distancing himself from his rivals.
Similar to Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut in Vitality, m0NESY is often doing the heavy lifting which serves as a blessing and a curse, depending on how impactful his big green gun is.
Spirit, from struggles to strength
It’s no secret that Team Spirit has had a rough second half of the year. Up until BetBoom Dacha Belgrade #2, the Russian squad fell flat at the Esports World Cup and IEM Cologne with teams breaking the “donk, go kill” meta.
With Spirit limping, donk is undeniably a force to reckon with at the event. He is currently the second-best rated player heading into the grand final, showcasing impressive statistics. Donk leads in critical categories such as damage per round, total kills, and total opening kills. His opening kills also come with a high success rate, highlighting his significant impact on matches.
Whenever a match includes one of the top three players, the focus often shifts to individual performance rather than team dynamics. Their ability to change the course of a game can overshadow the overall team strategies. However, despite the star power that donk brings to the table, Team Spirit still faces significant challenges in their map pool.
So far, they mastered Mirage and Anubis, but so did G2, which could mean trouble for the Russian team.
BLAST World Final 2024: Grand Finals Predictions
A best of five grand final isn’t only about winning your map pick, but also having the resilience to stay mentally and physically in the server if the series reaches all five maps. It’s a marathon that keeps you on the edge of your seat, where every mistake could cost the title.
For that, G2 will enter the grand final as the favorites considering their head-to-head history and the fact that they’re armed with deadly shooters, specifically, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa. These two riflers have carried games single handedly before which could come up clutch against Spirit who only has Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov as a heavy hitter after donk.
Will G2 have a surprise pick?
Vertigo has consistently posed challenges for Team Spirit, proving to be a significant hurdle in their map pool. The map was a key factor in their streak-ending loss to MOUZ, which makes it an excellent choice—especially following their underwhelming showing against Astralis in the semifinals, where they fell 13-3.
The veto process is likely to feature common picks like Mirage, Inferno, and Anubis. However, if G2 opts for Vertigo, it could add an intriguing twist to the match.
Nonetheless, we expect the series to be a hard-fought battle with G2 having the final say in the matter. Spirit’s odds are just as good, however, we’re yet to see that conviction in their playstyle as before which makes G2 a better candidate to lift the trophy.
Be sure to check out the Strafe news page for the latest BLAST World Final updates. And follow us on X for more esports related content.
Featured Image source: BLAST, edited by Strafe Esports
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