G2 Esports finished their historic run atop the European Valorant scene by winning the BLAST Twitch Valorant Invitational, the final Ignition series event in the region.
The BLAST Twitch Valorant Invitational win also solidified G2’s claim to being the one true champion of Europe, as they won all seven Ignition Series events consecutively.
G2 established itself in the Valorant esport scene by hosting the G2 Esports Valorant Invitational, the first Ignition Series event in Europe, which was won by Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho and David “davidp” Prins at the end of June.
G2 then bolstered its championship roster by signing Patryk “paTiTek” Fabrowski, Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi, and Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks. With the roster complete, the team won the next five Ignition Series events — namely the Vitality European Open, WePlay! Invitational, Mandatory.gg Cup, Allied Esports Odyssey, and LVL Clash 2 — with ease. G2’s team only lost one map in all five grand final matches.
Game 2
But, during the BLAST Twitch Valorant Invitational grand final, G2 faced FunPlus Phoenix, a team that was eager to prove themselves after playing their worst match against G2 in the upper bracket final.
At the start of the grand final match, G2 was awarded Game 1 upon winning all their prior matches and advancing from the winners’ side. However, FPX came into the best-of-five series match fully prepared and in game two, dominated the opening rounds on Ascent on the defender’s side. Pontus “Zyppan” Eek and the rest of FPX landed quick headshots and got the better of G2 during their aim-duels.
FPX also opted to let G2 enter the A-site, and focusing their attention on the retake. This gave FPX multiple angles of attack and the advantage later in the round as G2’s agent abilities were already spent on their site-entry.
Meanwhile, on the B-site, FPX had two Initiator agents in Breach and Sova, who shut down G2’s pushes from B-main. By using Breach’s Flashpoint, Aftershock, and Fault Line, Tobias “ShadoW” Flodström was able to keep G2 inside B-main, while Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky’s Sova provided location information with his Recon Bolt and Owl Drone.
FPX controlled the first half of the match with a 9-3 score. G2 tried to mount a comeback by winning four straight rounds after halftime, but FPX evened the series by winning Ascent 13-7.
Game 3
In the next game on Bind, G2’s championship-winning mentality was in full display as they put together the perfect half and won 12-0 on the defender’s side.
The main difference for G2 on Bind was davidp playing Breach instead of Sage. Due to the Sage nerf in patch 1.07, G2 decided to go with Breach, who was buffed in the same patch. With three flashes at their disposal, G2 was able to win most of the gunfights.
After the halftime break, FPX rallied back and won the next four rounds. But G2 put an end to the game with a solid performance from paTiTeK, who had a 20/11/3 KDA and 308 average combat score.
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Game 4
FPX managed to answer back in the following game on Haven by taking the 8-4 round lead on the attacker side at halftime. Zyppan came up clutch yet again, winning a 2v4 situation and stopping G2 from gaining any momentum.
FPX constantly won the long range Vandal aim-battles against G2. and forced the tournament into a final game on Split.
Game 5
The final game of the tournament was an absolute thriller, with both G2 and FPX exchanging round wins as all players made the most of their abilities and equipment. Most of the rounds were also decided by some last-second heroics by G2’s players.
Mixwell, G2’s team captain, secured multiple impact kills against FPX and made the biggest difference. From getting an Ace in the 12th round, to clutching a 1v2 situation in the 19th round, Mixwell willed his team back into the game and prevented FPX from winning critical rounds.
With G2 winning five out of the last six rounds, FPX’s economy was in shambles. This gave G2 a quick and easy A-site entry that helped them win their seventh-straight Ignition Series title.
G2’s BLAST Twitch Valorant Invitational win earned the team US$29,600 in prize money, along with being crowned the undisputed European kings of Valorant.
With the Ignition Series events coming to an end, we’re all extremely excited to see what’s next for Valorant’s esport scene.
Are we finally going to be able to witness G2 go up against the best teams in North America?
