How G2 esports Became Six Major Champions

After a thrilling week of competitive play, the first ever Rainbow Six Major is over. Again, G2 Esports has come out on top, taking down long-term rivals Evil Geniuses.

The top European team secured their place in the finals after a dominant performance over the entire week. From the opening match of the group stage right through to securing their place in the final, they only dropped one map, a surprise choice of Villa, to Mock-it Esports. From there, they took down Ninjas in Pyjamas, Millenium and Team Secret with comfortable 2-0 wins before coming up against Evil Geniuses in the Grand Final. EG’s run to the finals was just as convincing as G2’s. In the group stage, EG pulled off 2-0 victories against Element Mystic, who could only pick up three rounds across two maps, and Millenium, giving them a spot in the quarterfinals against Ninjas in Pyjamas. This was arguably their toughest match outside of the final, as the Brazilian squad managed to take a map off them with a 6-1 win on Consulate. But EG bounced back and reversed that scoreline on the final map of Oregon to take the win and advance to the semi-finals, where they faced fellow North American team Rogue. While this ended up being a 2-0, it was a very close match with both maps ending 6-4 in favour of Evil Geniuses.

G2 esports and Evil Geniuses have faced off multiple times at LAN events, often in the grand final, and always put on a great show. Just six months ago, the two faced off in the final of the Six Invitational, with G2 (who were under the name of PENTA Sports at the time) pulling off a reverse sweep to win 3-2. Needless to say, expectations from the Paris crowd were high.

The series started on Bank, where G2 began on defense with no Mira ban, a surprising choice. At the half, G2 had a crucial 3-2 lead as they headed to attack. From here they really picked up speed, winning three straight rounds to take map 6-2. Consulate was almost exactly the same story, just with the attack and defense reversed. This time, when G2 switched sides to defense they created an impenetrable set up and took three straight rounds to win 6-2. However, EG had a few great moments, especially in the fourth round where Austin "Yung" Trexler almost single handedly won them the round. The final map took us to Border, and G2 got off to an even better start than the other maps. Taking four rounds on defense meaning they needed just two successful attacks to become champions. EG did finally manage to pick up a round in the second half of a map, their first of the match, but it was not enough as G2 quickly came back and took another map 6-2 to become champions of the Paris Major.

Rarely do you see a performance in the final this dominant, especially against a team as strong as Evil Geniuses. But this G2 roster is special, and right now, they seem to be untouchable.

History has been made #SixMajorParis pic.twitter.com/BPw5Go299M

— G2 Esports (@G2esports) August 19, 2018

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