G2 got off to a strong start at the BLAST Open Porto, defeating Aurora 2-0. One of the standout players of the match was Ukrainian Artem “r1nkle” Moroz, who posted the best stats of any player in the match.
G2 took the first map, Inferno, quite convincingly—13–5. On Anubis, however, the team had to fight back. Aurora led 12–7 and was one step away from forcing a third map, but G2 staged a comeback and closed out the game 16–12.
It was r1nkle who made the decisive contribution to this turnaround. On Anubis, the Ukrainian player racked up 32 kills and finished the map with a rating of 1.86. Overall, he recorded 47 kills and 23 deaths for the series, and his final rating was 1.56.
G2 coach Etu “sAw” Saha had previously noted that the team needed an aggressive sniper capable of complementing the more passive play of the trio of riflers. The match against Aurora served as a good demonstration of just how effective this approach can be.
Early on, Anubis r1nkle even scored an ace with the FAMAS before switching to the AWP. On defense, he posted a 23-4 kill-death ratio and consistently found opportunities to play aggressively across the entire map.
Based on the match results, r1nkle was named G2’s MVP. In addition to him, NertZ, HeavyGod, and huNter- also had strong performances.
G2’s next match at BLAST Open Porto will take place on August 28 at 2:30 p.m. The team will face Team Spirit.