G2 advance to PGL Major Stockholm grand final following victory over Heroic

The Kovač cousins reigned supreme over HEROIC in a series that went the distance.

G2 has overcome HEROIC in the semi-final of PGL Major Stockholm, defeating the Danish side in a three-map series that saw Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač continue his stellar form in the event as he tore up his opposition. G2 started slow on all three maps but fired up on Mirage and pulled things together when it mattered most on Inferno to lock in their spot in the grand final, where they now await the winner of the match between Natus Vincere and Gambit.

In a post-match interview, Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković pointed towards nerves and pressure as a possible reason for nearly letting a 13-6 lead slip on Inferno, where they had to fight into overtime to take the map. "Realizing that oh my god, you're just a few rounds away from the grand final of a Major — I mean, two years ago I was in my bedroom playing FACEIT, so it's pretty crazy. This is my first time in front of a crowd and it's an amazing experience, the support we've been getting is pretty crazy. It's been a pleasure to play here and hopefully it'll be even crazier and better in the grand final."

When asked about NiKo's incredible showing in the series today, nexa didn't play down the star rifler's performance at all. "Today? I'm pretty sure he's in God form every single game we've played so far this event," nexa remarked. "Honestly I think he really wants to win a Major, and whoever we get in the grand final, this will be one of the best chances he's ever had, apart from the choke in Boston."

NiKo ascended against Heroic to book G2 a spot in the grand final

HEROIC opted to kick the series off on Nuke and took the first two rounds after a hectic pistol on the B site. G2 only managed a single round as the Danes began to grow a lead, but NiKo's consistent pressure outside, combined with a number of opening frags, gave G2 momentum to claw back into the half and salvage seven rounds.

G2 temporarily took the lead after winning the second pistol, but once the rifles came out for HEROIC, momentum shifted in their favor. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund was key for the Danes to put up a dominant front, despite NiKo giving it his best shot by finding a gap in the Danish defense and slipping through to secure double digit rounds for his side. In the end, it came down to NiKo in a 1vs2 to keep his team alive, but HEROIC stamped him out to close out Nuke and take the series to Mirage.

A triple kill from Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck and a double from stavn saw HEROIC dominate the pistol and once again get off to an early lead on the second map, with G2 getting their first round on the board at 4-1. A saved AWP from Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller spelt trouble for G2 as they searched for their second round but things eventually turned around as NiKo found form, helping to close out the half for his side with a quad kill for a seventh round.

The Kovač cousins won the second pistol with a pair of kills each, allowing them to pull ahead on the map. Things spiraled out of control fast for HEROIC as they ran into a full eco from G2 on the A site, which saw nexa pocket three kills and the round for his side. Unable to find their footing, the Danes weren’t able to keep up with G2, who pushed the series to an Inferno decider.

NiKo and Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač locked down the pistol for G2 to start Inferno, but once the rifles came out, HEROIC once again got off to an early lead. G2 eased into the map slowly and managed to pull things back in their favor following a successful defense with pistols from huNter- and François "⁠amanek⁠" Delaunay that paved the way for their side to lead at halftime for the first time in the series.

huNter- held it down with a trio of kills to secure the second pistol and G2 began to run away with the map. The Danes put a halt to G2's streak of ten, and went on to tie up the score 13-13 after a commanding streak of CT rounds. sjuush and Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali then secured a crucial 2vs3 retake that kept Heroic in the game, but G2 kept themselves alive following multi-kills from NiKo to force the map to overtime.

nexa saved G2 in the first round of overtime with a 1vs2 clutch that paved the way for his side to sweep the half. In the second overtime half, HEROIC attempted to push the A site with 20 seconds on the clock, but were denied by G2 who went on to secure the series 2-1.

PGL Major Stockholm 2021Best of 3 HEROICMatchpage 1 2 6th November 2021 G2 16Nuke 12 10Mirage 16 15Inferno 19

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush	67 - 59	+8	83.0	1.15
Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn	69 - 68	+1	91.4	1.13
René 'TeSeS' MadsenTeSeS	51 - 62	-11	66.3	0.93
Ismail 'refrezh' Alirefrezh	50 - 58	-8	51.9	0.82
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	37 - 55	-18	50.0	0.74

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	81 - 53	+28	101.2	1.48
Nemanja 'nexa' Isakovićnexa	66 - 56	+10	74.1	1.15
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	59 - 59	0	76.0	1.05
François 'amanek' Delaunayamanek	53 - 52	+1	61.0	1.00
Audric 'JACKZ' JugJACKZ	41 - 58	-17	52.5	0.84

François 'amanek' Delaunay Age: 28 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 997 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.63 Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 23 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 893 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 Martin 'stavn' Lund Age: 19 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1032 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1187 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63 Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač Age: 25 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1363 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.67 Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck Age: 22 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 733 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.64 Gambit #4 Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovTimofey 'interz' YakushinSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov HEROIC #5 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerIsmail 'refrezh' AliMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' Beck G2 #9 Audric 'JACKZ' JugNikola 'NiKo' KovačNemanja 'huNter-' KovačFrançois 'amanek' DelaunayNemanja 'nexa' Isaković Natus Vincere #1 Oleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyValeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy Casper 'cadiaN' Møller Age: 26 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1383 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 1521 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67