As 2022 came to a close, it did so with G2 being crowned as champions of BLAST Premier World Final. The beginning of a brief period of unstoppable form, they would open 2023 similarly strong at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, and then win IEM Katowice all while only dropping one map in that time.
Their form was so strong at the time that it seemed no team could beat them, with stars like NiKo, huNter-, jks, and m0NESY, they held firepower very few teams could live up to, and the confidence boost from winning in such emphatic ways acted as a super serum every time they played.
It was a perfect storm, an electric AWPer, a strong tactician, and three experienced fraggers coming together to bring G2 the organisation’s first tier one trophies since Dreamhack Masters Malmo all the way back in 2017. Success that felt long overdue, questions would quickly be raised as to who could stop G2. As it turned out, it was themselves.
As international teams became commonplace in the modern era of Counter-Strike, sustained periods of dominance became exceptionally difficult to maintain. The key to them, for the very few teams that have experienced anything close, however, is confidence, momentum, and purple patches.
Just look at FaZe in the first half of 2022. It was a purple patch from rain that allowed them to take home the gold at the PGL Major Antwerp. Performing at a level seen very rarely throughout his career, his successful aggression on both T and CT sides was the difference maker as FaZe claimed their first Major Championship.
For the rest of their run, it was ropz, Twistzz, and broky. A deadly trio, their ability to make any round seem winnable was unmatched, and broky especially became the best clutch player in the world in that period of time.
At the time, their confidence was sky high, and as they racked up tournament win after tournament win, momentum was on their side. That was, until the player break, when the instant halting of their momentum was enough to prevent them from winning another tournament for the remainder of 2022.
In the case of G2, while NiKo, huNter-, and m0NESY were perhaps all performing at their expected levels, it was jks who was experiencing a purple patch as they won their two trophies. To a lesser extent, so too was HooXi, performing far above the levels he had become known for.
It was this that allowed them to gain confidence and build momentum, although soon the tournament calendar would bring that to a halt.
While it can not be fully blamed, especially considering FaZe also played, and won one, the next tournament being ESL Pro League certainly didn’t help G2 when it came to momentum. Heavily criticised for its format and the length of time it takes to complete, ESL Pro League is a month-long tournament with a lot of downtime for the teams competing in it. Considering how jampacked the rest of the tournament calendar can be, it’s easy to see how a team can lose their momentum during a Pro League.
Defeated at Pro League by both ENCE and Cloud9, it soon became clear that G2 had already gone down a gear. jks was no longer white hot, and the momentum required to be the dominant force in Counter-Strike was no longer on G2’s side.
With confidence already not at its peak levels, this would prove to be fatal when the BLAST.tv Paris Major came around. A high pressure tournament anyway, much of the narrative in the build up had been around the fact that NiKo had not yet won a CS:GO Major, and with Paris being his final chance, there was no room for error.
Unfortunately for NiKo and G2, fate would not decide they would be victors. While the year had opened seemingly promising that it would be NiKo who fulfilled his destiny in Paris, instead, it was ZywOo and Vitality.
It wasn’t the failure to win the event that crushed G2, however, it was the manner in which they were eliminated. Unthinkable before the event, G2 would fail to even reach the playoffs, and the images of the team following their elimination are sure to become iconic in years to come.
G2 had failed. Failing to win the Major would always tarnish NiKo’s legacy in the game, but failing to even really make an attempt to win the event was abhorrent. Fans and experts alike were livid.
In the days following, there would be many conversations on social media regarding the future of the team, this being their second failure in a Major cycle, many called for the head of HooXi.
For a short time, it seemed reasonable too. Ever a cheery figure, HooXi looked visibly broken. Distraught at another failure he couldn’t help but blame himself for, he spent much of the next event, IEM Dallas, alone and without his signature smile.
G2 would reach the playoffs in Dallas, and would do the same in the final event of the season, BLAST Premier Spring Final. At the time, many expected those tournaments to be the last HooXi played in the G2 jersey, but even as many other teams chose to make changes in the off-season that followed, G2 stuck by their captain.
Faith that many will disagree with, it could turn out to be a masterstroke for G2. While HooXi isn’t a fragging IGL, he is still an effective tactician, and as the stability in their lineup gives them an advantage against all the teams who have made changes, confidence could soon be restored by the G2 lineup.
In an era where confidence is everything, G2 have the perfect opportunity to restore theirs in the coming months. With firepower very few teams can match, they will always have the ability, now it’s just down to whether they can believe in themselves enough to add more trophies to their cabinet.
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