IEM Cologne 2023: MOUZ and G2 Esports deliver at the start of Group B

On July 29th, we also had the actions of the start of Group B of the IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage, and we have that MOUZ and G2 Esports delivered by taking excellent victories and thus advancing to the semifinals of the Upper Bracket.

MOUZ showed an exceptional level of play against NaVi’s new lineup, which, without a doubt, continues to generate a lot of doubts at the moment. On the other hand, G2 Esports had to come back from a series they seemed to have completely lost against Astralis. However, the determination of Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač led the team to victory.

Let’s see what happened in the victories of MOUZ and G2 Esports at the start of Group B of IEM Cologne 2023.

MOUZ apply a clean sweep against NaVi

Undoubtedly, we all had our winning chips placed on NaVi, as they managed to close the BLAST Premier Fall Groups with good play. However, MOUZ was much more decisive and applied an extraordinary clean sweep to take the victory and advance to the Upper Bracket Group B semifinals.

Undoubtedly, for this new NaVi lineup, Ancient is the worst map, and the teams know it perfectly. It all started on MOUZ’s map pick, Ancient, where NaVi once again showed how vulnerable they are on this map. In the first half, MOUZ was able to crack NaVi’s defensive wall to take a narrow 8-7 victory. However, NaVi’s decline began in the second half, when they could not find a way to overcome MOUZ’s defense. As a result, NaVi ended up losing 9-16.

Then, in the second map, Overpass, we had a much more balanced match, but with the same final result, a victory for MOUZ. In the first half, NaVi tried by all means to hurt MOUZ’s defense, but they only managed to put the scoreboard with a partial of 6-9. Then, at the change of sides, NaVi started very well by winning six of the first nine rounds to make the score 12-12. However, MOUZ woke up and won the last four rounds to take the win 16-12.

It’s a 12:16 on Overpass and 0:2 in the series. From now on, we’re in the lower bracket. GGs @mousesports. #IEM #navination #CSGO pic.twitter.com/22d7tHVQN5

— NAVI (@natusvincere) July 29, 2023

G2 Esports apply a reverse sweep against Astralis.

Undoubtedly, one of the most interesting matches of this first day of the IEM Cologne Group Stage was between G2 Esports and Astralis, and it did not disappoint. The Danish squad started the series very well with a victory in Ancient, but this woke up G2 Esports so that, after applying a reverse sweep, they managed to take the victory by 2-1.

Astralis started the series with an excellent victory in their map pick, Ancient. However, this victory was not easy to achieve, as G2 Esports started the map on the right foot by taking a 9-6 partial victory in the first half. However, Astralis’ defense was on its best day, and they managed to avoid all of G2’s attacks to take the victory by 16-12.

Then, in the second map, Inferno, the spectacular comeback by G2 Esports began, as NiKo and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov were inspired to lead their team to victory. In this map, Astralis had a good start, as they managed to take the victory by 9-6 and thus have some advantage for the second half. However, when the sides changed, G2 Esports’ defense was up to the task, and they evened the series 1-1 after an excellent 16-13 victory.

Finally, everything was defined in Nuke, a map undoubtedly one of the best in recent months for G2 Esports. While Astralis tried to get into the match, G2’s defense completely prevented all Danish approaches in the first half from ending with a favorable score of 11-4. To conclude the map, huNter- stepped up to charge G2 to lead them to the 16-9 victory.

Who doubted? pic.twitter.com/JIrLA76P4H

— G2 CS (@G2CSGO) July 29, 2023

Header: G2 Esports