G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Unranked jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf has defeated LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN Latin America South Unranked Demon1 Max Mazanov tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena C0M Corbin Lee 2-0 in the upper semifinals of Americas Kickoff. LEVIATÁN has been sent down to the lower bracket to face the winners of Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Unranked Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker versus MIBR MIBR Brazil Unranked artzin Arthur Araujo xenom Eduardo Soeiro cortezia Gabriel Cortez nzr Agustin Ibarra aspas Erick Santos , while G2 is set to battle Sentinels Sentinels North America Unranked N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid in the upper final for a spot at Masters Bangkok.

The two-map series played out on Pearl and Fracture. G2 won Pearl 13-5 and Fracture 13-9.

Before this match, neither team had truly been tested, their respective opening games both being dominant 2-0 victories over now-eliminated teams in Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Unranked Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago neT Michael Bernet OXY Francis Hoang and FURIA FURIA Brazil Unranked heat Olavo Marcelo raafa Rafael Lima mwzera Leonardo Serrati havoc Ilan Eloy Khalil Khalil Schmidt . It was also a matchup full of history—both teams clashed five times last year with the record being 3-2 in LEVIATÁN's favor. tex once again faced the core he won Ascension with, while jawgemo confronted two of his former Champions-winning teammates in Demon1 and C0M .

The series began on G2's pick of Pearl, a map neither squad had played yet this season. Both sides opted for Vyse, with the key distinction between their compositions being G2's Chamber versus LEVIATÁN's Tejo. Although LEVIATÁN won the first pistol, G2 quickly dominated the map with their signature diligent teamplay and oppressive map control. Even when LEVIATÁN made rounds close, the members of G2 took things over the line with individual prowess, ending the first half 8-4.

trent closes out a 1v2 against the odds.

The second half was even more one-sided; G2 dropped only the bonus round to close out Pearl 13-5. trent and leaf dominated the server, with the former delivering a 1.69 rating, 18/7/8 KDA, and a 94% KAST on Sova and the latter scoring a 1.44 rating and 20/9/1 KDA on Chamber.

Fracture was a much more chaotic affair. G2 brought out the Tejo-Breach combination making waves in the region, contrasting with LEVIATÁN's EG-inspired Sova-Breach. At first, the map seemed to be heading in the same direction as Pearl; G2 took another 8-4 lead in the first half despite many hectic moments, one of which involved leaf flashing both himself and tex in a 1v1 and still going on to win in the pistol round. Two of LEVIATÁN's four rounds came from Sheriff eco wins.

LEVIATÁN finally started taking control in the second half, as a lineup-filled postplant strategy to take the pistol followed by multiple utility-filled site hits enabled them to pull the score back to 9-9. However, the members of G2 found an even higher gear of individual skill. A Sheriff 3K from trent in round 19 followed by a 3v5 for G2 in round 20 and a leaf 3K in round 21 sealed any remaining hopes for LEVIATÁN as Fracture ended 13-9.

In a map full of silliness, leaf was always there to make the difference.

In familiar fashion, leaf and trent once again topped the scoreboard, but it was leaf in particular walking on water with a 1.60 rating, 24/15/8 KDA, and an overwhelming 221 ADR.

With this win, G2 find themselves just one more win away from qualifying to Masters Bangkok and cement themselves as the team to watch in Americas.

“Being honest, we're the best,” trent said in the post-match interview. When prompted, he couldn't name another team in the world that he believed posed a challenge to them. “We're the team to beat.”

G2 will return for their biggest challenge yet against Sentinels on Feb. 6, while LEVIATÁN will fight for their tournament lives on Feb. 2.