Gen G. take down EDG to qualify for Masters Madrid playoffs

Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #2 Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Meteor Kim Tae-O (김태오) Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) took down EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) Muggle Tang Shijun (唐时俊) CHICHOO Wan Shunji (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Haodong Guo Haodong (郭浩东) in 2-1 fashion and have qualified for playoffs. Both teams had come into the winner's bracket after close 2-1 victories against LOUD and Paper Rex respectively.

The map veto saw Gen. G choose Icebox, a map EDG had only played once this year and lost. Gen. G had a flawless record on the same, with five wins this year so far. EDG opted for Split, a map Gen. G had played twice in 2024 and had lost both games. EDG had won both times they played, including their victory against Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov yesterday. The deciding map was Breeze, a map where EDG had a perfect win record this year, compared to Gen. G's 1-4 record on the same.

EDG got off to a blistering start on Icebox with five rounds in a row as they started on attack. Both ZmjjKK and Nobody were able to consistently find kills while Haodong kept the pressure up with his Viper utility. EDG were able to capitalize on the lead to conclude the half 8-4. While Gen.G did find some success in the second half thanks to Meteor and a 1v3 clutch from Karon, it didn't avail much.

EDG continued their domination to take the map 13-8, with ZmjjKK leading the scoreboard with 320 ACS and six first kills. He also had an astounding +10 kill differential, with four of the EDG squad going positive in terms of K/D.

On Split, Gen.G seemed to have recentered themselves from the loss and the whole team stepped up. They started on the attacking side a tad slowly, with the score at 3-1 in EDG's favor, but then found five rounds in a row, eventually concluding the half 7-5 in their favor.

Gen.G continued their momentum, not letting a single round go on their defensive side, with six wins in a row to take their opponents map pick 13-5.

EDG, despite ZmjjKK having the highest ACS on the server, could not win a single round in the second half. For Gen. G, both their duelists Meteor and t3xture found 22 kills apiece and 12 first kills between them.

EDG attributed the loss to their eagerness to close out the map. “Our mentality changed, and (we were) a little hurried to close out the map, that's all,” said Smoggy .

As for T3xture, who found another ace on the map, he attributed his success so far as the sole player in Madrid with multiple aces to his teammates. “Please don't (keep an eye out for me), it would make my life easier,” he jokingly requested of the other teams.

The series found its conclusion on Breeze where Gen. G were running a team comp they had recently changed and debuted against LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #1 Quick Gabriel Lima saadhak Matias Delipetro Less Felipe de Loyola tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira at Madrid. They lost against LOUD, but this time everything seemed to be going right for them.

Gen.G got to an incredibly strong start on the attack, with EDG only able to win a single round on defense against Gen. G's bonus buy. Between them, Meteor and Lakia earned 27 kills in the first half alone and EDG looked hapless against the former's Yoru pick.

While EDG bounced back with five rounds in a row after the side swap, the damage had already been done and Gen. G would win the final two rounds necessary to win Breeze 13-6 and take the series 2-1. They attributed the loss to Gen.G maintaining their map two pace as well as their under-performance on Breeze. “I think it's our problem that we didn't do well in all aspects of the game,” said Smoggy.

While Gen.G had run the same comp against LOUD and lost, they found victory today against EDG. Their coach said that LOUD were prepared to shut down a lot of their plays and that the Brazilians knew how to pivot around a non-Cypher composition.

“Today, things went as we expected and planned,” solo said. “All five players on the team stepped up huge and I'm very grateful to and proud of my players.”

Gen. G's win was a team effort, with only one of their players going negative in terms of K/D, compared to EDG where only ZmjjKK went positive. Meteor and T3xture between them had 20 first kills, just four less than all of EDG put together.

Three of Gen.G's players also had more than 220 ACS, with relative newbie Karon being one of them while playing controller. All the other players who had crossed this threshold — ZmjjKK, Meteor, and Texture — played duelists for the most part.

Gen. G will get to rest up a little before playoffs and are the second team after Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 TenZ Tyson Ngo Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid Sacy Gustavo Rossi to qualify. EDG is still in contention, and they will play an elimination game which will decide their fate.