G2 Esports, Natus Vincere break through to DreamHack Masters Spring semifinals
G2 Esports and Natus Vincere each scored 2-1 wins on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 event.
G2 was down 1-3 to Astralis to open the first map, Train, and after going up 5-4, found itself in a 7-5 hole before reeling off 11 straight points to take the map, 16-7.
Astralis bounced back on Nuke, taking a 16-14 victory, but G2 dominated Vertigo 16-8 to take the match 2-1 and the spot to take on Gambit Esports in the semifinals.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led the way for G2 with 67 kills and a plus-27 kill-death differential. Emil “Magisk” Reif of Denmark led Astralis with 51 kills, but managed to only get even on kill-death ratio.
Natus was down 0-1 after the first map, Inferno, after Furia Esports won an epic 22-19 battle thanks in large part to Brazil’s Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo, who only managed a plus-1 differential but did throw in 13 assists and 12 headshots among his 31 kills.
But Natus came back strong with easy wins on Nuke and Mirage, both on 16-6 margins, to set up a semifinals match Saturday with Heroic.
The 16-team, double-elimination tournament began with the group stage. The top three teams in each group moved on to the playoffs, with each group winner, Gambit Esports and Heroic, earning a bye and berth in the semifinals.
The semifinals are also set for a best-of-three format, with the final on Sunday decided in a best-of-five match scheduled for 10 a.m. ET.
The winner will take home $100,000 of the $250,000 prize pool in addition to 1,000 Pro Tour points.
Saturday’s schedule:
Gambit Esports vs. G2 Esports, 10:45 a.m. ET
Heroic vs. Natus Vincere, 2 p.m. ET
DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 prize pool:
1st: TBD, $100,000, 1,000 Pro Tour points
2nd: TBD, $42,000, 750 points
3rd-4th: TBD, $20,000, 525 points
5th-6th: Astralis, Furia Esports, $10,000, 350 points
7th-8th: Virtus.pro, Team Vitality, $6,000, 200 points
9th-12th: Team Spirit, mousesports, BIG, Complexity Gaming, $5,000, 100 points
13th-16th: Team Fiend, FaZe Clan, Extra Salt, paiN Gaming, $4,000, 0 points
–Field Level Media