G2 are the final team to progress to the last-four stage at DreamHack Austin after seeing off Cloud9 on three maps (16-12 on Cobblestone, 12-16 on Inferno and 16-10 on Cache).

The series kicked off on Cobblestone, G2's map pick, but it was Cloud9 who started the brighter of the two sides, winning the pistol round as Terrorist after pushing A from the drop room, with Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta getting three kills to his name.

Once the game reached the gun rounds, G2 took control of proceedings, with a 0-3 deficit quickly turning into a 4-4 stalemate. With a triple kill, Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip prevented G2 from taking the lead and set Cloud9 up for a string of rounds that saw them take a 10-5 half-time lead.

The second half began with G2 going for a fast B execute. autimatic almost pulled off a miraculous 1v4 clutch but was taken down by Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire in the decisive 1on1. The French team took the corresponding anti-ecos, bringing the scoreline to 8-10, but once Cloud9 got their economy in order they won two rounds in a row and immediately put their opponents in danger of getting blown out.

With no money in the bank, G2 went for a B execute with just one rifle and four pistols. Luckily for them, Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon went huge, picking up three stunning entry frags to open up the site. That one round turned the game on its head, with G2 going on to win the map without dropping a single more round as Cloud9 had no response to the Europeans' pace.



G2 advance to the semi-finals with a great performance from apEX

Next up was Inferno, which began with Cloud9 taking the pistol round following an A execute. After losing both eco rounds, G2 won the first gun round thanks to a 1v2 clutch from Alexandre "⁠bodyy⁠" Pianaro, and then they strung several rounds together, eventually jumping out to an 8-3 lead. The next two rounds then went Cloud9's way, but the Frenchmen kept their cool and restored a five-round lead before the end of the half.

Now playing on the CT side, Cloud9 took the pistol round after taking advantage of a messy plant from G2 inside A. Despite securing the first gun round, G2 allowed Cloud9 to get back into the game, with Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek picking up back-to-back triple kills to help his team to cut the deficit to a minimum.

The North Americans continued grinding out rounds, holding G2 off any economic development, and they eventually hit 15 rounds, with Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert dealing the finishing blow onto the Frenchmen with a 1v2 clutch inside B.



n0thing and shroud stepped up on Inferno, but C9 could not complete the reverse sweep

It all came down to Cache, the same map where Cloud9 had defeated G2 on day one. After losing the pistol round, Cloud9 hit back on eco thanks to three stunning Desert Eagle kills from Stewie2K . That round propelled the North Americans to take a 4-1 lead, but then Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt stepped up to the plate and held off two pushes.

Down 4-5, G2 were almost caught off-guard by another eco from Cloud9, but apEX saved the day by clutching a 1v3 situation. The 24-year-old finished the half on 18 kills as he powered G2 to take a respectable three-round lead.

Cloud9 held their own on the defensive side to start off the second half, winning the opening two rounds to bring the scoreline to an 8-9 deficit. They were, however, unable to tie up the score as they were caught off-guard by G2's A push, with apEX getting two key entry frags.

It all came down to Cache, the same map where Cloud9 had defeated G2 on day one. After losing the pistol round, Cloud9 hit back on an eco thanks to three stunning Desert Eagle kills from Stewie2K. That round propelled the North Americans to take a 4-1 lead, but then NBK- stepped up to the plate and held off two pushes on his own.

Down 4-5, G2 were almost caught off-guard by another eco from Cloud9, but apEX saved the day by clutching a 1v3 situation. The 24-year-old finished the half on 18 kills as he powered G2 to take a respectable three-round lead.

Cloud9 held their own on the defensive side, winning the opening two rounds to bring the scoreline to an 8-9 deficit. They were, however, unable to tie up the score as they were caught off-guard by G2's A push, with apEX getting two key entry frags.

With the momentum swinging back in their favour, G2 went on a great run, winning five of the next six rounds to hit match point. Cloud9 still found a lifeline with a sneaky play from Stewie2K, but then G2 hammered the final nail into the North Americans' coffin with a triple kill from Kenny "⁠kennyS⁠" Schrub.