Two European juggernauts meet in the PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major semi-finals, having faced each other already in the Elimination stage. NAVI will try to once again best G2 and book themselves a spot in Sunday’s Grand Final.
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NAVI vs G2 Match Preview
CS2 odds used in this article were provided by one of the best CS2 betting sites, GG.Bet.
NAVI
While NAVI’s roster has changed a lot throughout recent years, the org continues to succeed in Majors, being the only team to qualify for every single one, since the beginning of CS:GO. This is their ninth playoff appearance, and they have a great opportunity to expand their trophy cabinet in Copenhagen. The most shocking fact about NAVI’s run is that they’ve done it without their superstar and arguably the greatest Counter-Strike player of all time – Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.
In his absence, his replacement Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov stepped up to the plate and showed everyone why he deserves to be part of NAVI’s roster. The young AWPer dominated Eternal Fire in their quarter-final matchup, constantly finding advantages and delivering tons of impact with the sniper rifle. Another highly influential player was Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, with his clutches and late-round maneuvers integral to NAVI’s success on both maps.
NAVI’s players should be confident coming into their semi-final bout against G2, given that they have a great record against them, and have already beaten them in this tournament. However, there’s no doubt that this will be a much tougher game, considering G2’s uptick in form and their arena buff.
G2
Although you could argue that G2 shouldn’t be in the playoffs in the first place, their performance against MOUZ perfectly displayed what the international roster is capable of when firing on all cylinders. The Kovac brothers came alive on the stage and, invigorated by the crowd, put on an absolute clinic. Besides their individual prowess, they showed mental resilience, when they came back 9into the game strong, following an unforeseen break during the second map of play.
Much like Finn “karrigan” Andersen in his quarter-final matchup, the resident Dane Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen was on fire in front of the home crowd. G2’s in-game leader nearly had a graffiti-worthy moment in the opening round of the game, when he nearly pulled off a virtually impossible 1v4 clutch in the pistol. Despite the clutch not going his way, he continued to have tremendous impact with his calling and fragging alike.
Even though NAVI in theory is an easier opponent than MOUZ, G2 has never beaten the current international version of NAVI’s roster with Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen at the helm. That fact could play on their minds when going up against them in the Royal Arena on Saturday.
NAVI vs G2 Odds & Prediction
As for PGL Copenhagen betting, GG.Bet slightly favors G2 to finally overcome NAVI and slot themselves in the second Grand Final spot. That is quite surprising given their head-to-head history, but G2’s roster has more pedigree and more experienced players on the Major stage.
Additionally, G2 play very well when momentum is on their side. Their win against MOUZ could propel them much further into the competition than even they expected. However, NAVI is a more well-rounded, very strategy-heavy team, and that could be a good thing to fall back on in stressful moments.
In any case, it’s difficult to imagine this game not going to three maps or at least one overtime. One thing’s certain – if you love Counter-Strike, you don’t want to miss this match.
- Prediction: NAVI (1-2) G2
- Odds: NAVI Win (-103/1.97), G2 Win (-122/1.82)
- CS2 Betting Site: GG.Bet
All odds accessed are accurate at the time of writing and are liable to change.
Featured image: PGL
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