Match Prediction: Virtus.pro - G2 Esports | Counter-Strike (CS2)

Welcome to EGamersWorld.

We continue to follow the action at IEM China 2024. The play-offs are underway, where 6 teams will compete for the $100,000 grand prize and a trip to IEM Cologne 2024.

The play-offs stage begins at the status championship. It will be opened by Vp and G2 Esports in a Bo3 match.

We'll see which team will be stronger and will advance to the next round of the main stage, where they will face MOUZ.

Let's go.

G2 Esports uniforms

We open our analysis of the first play-offs match with an analysis of the G2 Esports uniforms. The European club is playing first in this match, and the odds for their victory are at around 1.6.

Almost all of last year G2 Esports did not leave the podiums of major championships. Their rise as a top team started with BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 and IEM Katowice 2023. Both championships G2 passed confidently and at two tournaments they deservedly became champions.

Next, the "samurai" were stormy. Last season ESL Pro League Season 17 G2 Esports finished on the 9-12 line, which is clearly not the level of the team that recently won Katowice 2023.

After a frankly weak performance at EPL Season 17 G2 Esports played at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. NiKo and company had a real fiasco in Paris, as the tournament for them ended at the TOP-14 stage, which certainly did not fit into G2's plans.

• G2 Esports line-up: huNter, NiKo, m0NESY, nexa, HooXi.

Before ESL Pro League Season 18, G2 Esports made their mark on several other major tournaments. These were BLAST Premier: Spring Finals and Fall Groups, where G2 took top 4 and top 8 respectively.

Next up was IEM Cologne 2023 and finally a win. In the Grand Final they beat ENCE 3-1, thus taking another IEM title for the year.

The last championship was Gamers8. The biggest commercial tournament of the season ended with G2 Esports in the top 4.

G2 Esports started off ESL Pro League Season 18 with a betting tirerable win. They beat Lynn Vision 2-0 in their opening match, but to be fair, they were close to a fiasco on the first map. However, G2 Esports subsequently made it to the play-offs, and straight into the quarter-finals, where they met MOUZ. The Mice outplayed G2 Esports and later became EPL S18 champions.

G2 Esports attended two more events before competing at BLAST Premier: World Finals 2023. These were BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2023 and IEM Sydney 2023. Both tournaments saw the team finish in the Top 4 stage. There was also CCT Online Finals #5, where G2 showed a frankly mediocre result. The titular European club failed to make it to the Top 2 and get a slot to the Global Finals, and settled for only Top 4.

Prior to the PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR G2 Esports played at three top tournaments before the Long Convergence PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR G2 Esports. BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024 and IEM Katowice 2024 and they finished in the top 6. Looks good, but it's still not the same for the G2 Esports level.

Then PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A G2 Esports played at their level. The level that you expect from them, i.e. top 2 and a slot in the Copenhagen CS2 Major Legends.

Later G2 Esports played at the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen, where they managed to reach the play-offs and at the end of the championship took the top 4. In the semifinals they lost to the future champions from NaVi.

IEM China 2024 started in Group A, where their opponents were 9z Team, Liquid, Lynn Vision and Heroic. Out of all these matches, they only lost in the second round of the top grid against Liquid.

G2 Esports Mappool

G2's main map is Ancient. G2 played 8 matches there, of which they won 6.

Then comes Anubis (3 games, 2 wins), Vertigo (5 matches, 3 wins), Inferno (12 matches, 58% wins).

G2 Esports has no minus winnings on mapx. Among the "worst" choices are Nuke (7 matches, 4 wins), Mirage (4 wins, 4 losses).

Form Vp

We continue the match analysis with the analysis of Vp's form. In this match they are playing as a number two side with odds to win at around 2.

Vp played in three TIR-A tournaments at the beginning of last year. These were BB Playlist. Urbanistic, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A, and also BB Playlist. Freeddom. At the two "home" championships from BB Vp were in the top 8, but at the European RMR everything was even less happy - top 14.

Then Vp made a breakthrough by winning at ESL Challenger Katowice 2023. The victory there allowed them to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 18.

Among the victories, CCT Online Finals #2 is also worth mentioning. They beat Team Spirit in the grand finals and earned $100,000, which is pretty good.

• Vp lineup: Jame, FL1T, fame, n0rb3r7, mir.

Before ESL Pro League Season 18 Vp visited Gamers8, where they didn't get further than the top 8, and Dunav Party LAN, where in the grand finals they got revenge for their defeat on CCT by Spirit.

In the first match at EPL Season 18, Vp's opponent was Team Liquid. The match, as expected, ended in a full-fledged, combative Bo3 with Vp winning 2-1.

Next up, VP played G2 Esports and legitimately Ledgeili, though they fought back and took the map. The defeat sent Vp to the lower grid, where they first beat Eternal Fire and then outplayed Liquid again, thus reaching the EPL play-offs.

Vp did not manage to play in the main stage. Vp lost their first match against 9z Team, which was a rather unexpected result. At the end of the EPL S18 Vp finished in the top 16.

Things are going well at the Roobet Cup. Vp won the first match against their compatriots from Spirit with a score of 2-1. Next up was a battle with Movistar Riders to qualify for the Roobet Cup 2023 play-offs, which ended 2-0 in favour of Vp, a solid 2-0.

The Roobet Cup 2023 itself was the pulse of Vp's triumph. They beat Monte 2-1 in the grand final, earning their first major win in a long time. Later there was Thunderpick World Championship 2023, where Vp also reached the final, but they failed to beat FaZe and as a result - 0-2.

Before playing at BB Dacha Vp played at ESL Challenger Winter. There they reached the top 4, losing in the semi-finals to the future champions from Monte. BB Dacha itself was a very successful event for Vp: there they reached the finals and lost to Spirit 2-3 in a close series.

Just before the BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, where Vp were partnered with BLAST, they played the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta 2023, where they won the championship, beating Apeks 2-0 in the Grand Final.

On their way to the Group D finals, Virtus.pro defeated BIG and Cloud9. The former 2-0, the latter 2-1. In the grand final of their group at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, Vp beat BIG again and again with a score of 2-0, thus earning themselves a place at the spring finals. Next up was IEM Katowice 2024, where Vp failed, finishing in the top 20.

Vp made it to PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen, finishing in the top 2 at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A. In addition, they made it to IEM Dallas 2024.

Directly at the World Championship Long Competed from the Elimination stage. First lost to Imperia, but then beat paiN and Heroic, which brought them to 2-1. Next, they lost to Eternal Fire and G2 Esports, which led to Vp's elimination from the Major tournament.

IEM China 2024 Vp are doing quite well. In the top set of Group B, they took turns beating American teams Wildcard (13-1) and then FlyQuest (2-1). In the play-offs seeding match, Vp lost to the best team in the tournament, Astralis, 2-0.

Vp Mapple

The best map for Vp remains Ancient, where Vp won 3 maps out of 3 played. The most frequently played map is Overpass - where Vp have played 11 maps and won 9 of them.

In the pool there is a good Anubis (3-1 on maps), Mirage (6 wins in 9 matches) and Inferno (7 wins in 11 games).

The worst choice for vp is Vertigo. It has 44% wins with 9 matches.

History of head-to-head meetings between Vp and Astralis

The teams have played each other three times in the last year. All matches were won by G2 Esports.

Predicted result of Astralis - Vp at IEM China 2024

In this match I am betting on G2 Esports. They have an advantage over Vp in head-to-head meetings, and in general look much stronger and more stable team.

Bottom line: G2 win.