What to expect from M80 v. G2

M80 lived to fight another day with their close win over the Sharks. However, their reward is another difficult series against G2, who are currently ranked the number five team in the world. The big caveat to that ranking is that Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov and co. were dominated today by The MongolZ in a shocking series. As such, there is real potential here for M80 to capitalize on G2's poor form at ESL Pro League Season 19 to pick up their first win over an EU team this year.

M80's individuals

While M80 have been unable to pick up any relevant scalps at EPL thus far, the team has been in great individual form, and this is something they will need to capitalize on against G2. With G2 featuring some of the biggest stars in the game, for M80 to even force a third map, they will need to see everyone, especially Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich step up to the plate tomorrow.

• s1n is a proper fragger (1.33 rating) compared to HooXi (0.77 rating)

• slaxz- compares favorably to m0nesy at EPL with a 0.04 rating Δ, having an AWPer that can compete with m0nesy is essential for a win

• Swisher and reck's 1.03 ratings leave a lot to be desired

G2-0 or G0-2?

G2's run has been anything but illustrious in Malta, the win over TYLOO is objectively meaningless considering the mess that team is in, while the loss against The MongolZ is shocking and disappointing. Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen is back to being a massive liability on the server while some of his stars have been underperforming.

On the other hand, G2 have made playoffs at every event this year, and on paper they've only been upset once at EPL, so there is a world in which G2 wakes up tomorrow and M80 may be in for a rude awakening.

• NiKo's performance at EPL is far below than what is expected of him

• G2 have had a decent 2024, but their run at EPL thus far is raising questions after their 0-2 loss to The MongolZ

• However, G2 have made playoffs at every event this year so it may be unwise to count them out

Previous Matchups

These two teams have never played each other.

Likely Vetoes

Like most bouts when an NA team faces an EU team, the EU team will almost always have a better winrate on most maps, more experience, and more notable wins, making it hard to say the NA is in a great spot veto-wise. However, unlike BetBoom, M80 actually shares some common ground with G2 and should be able to also veto some of their better maps, so there are some positives heading into this match.

As always, these vetoes come with the caveat that they are highly speculative as they depend on whether G2, as the higher-ranked team on ESL's World Ranking at the time of seeding, chooses to pick first or ban last. We will assume they ban last.

• M80 ban Nuke (Two maps played, last played in February)

• G2 ban Mirage (Permaban, M80's best map)

• M80 pick Ancient (50% Winrate, 13-1 win over BetBoom at EPL)

• G2 pick Anubis (27% Winrate Δ between teams, M80 had a close win versus Sharks)

• Decider could be Inferno (M80 ban Overpass, G2 play more Inferno than Vertigo)

Analysis: Looking at the veto situation for M80, things aren't looking too bad for the team heading into their match against G2. While they are unlikely to get Mirage, they will potentially play Ancient, a strong map for the team, most recently crushing BetBoom 13-1 at the start of EPL on it.

The series will however likely be a three-mapper, as M80 have no notable wins on Anubis and have lost it recently to BetBoom, Liquid, and Imperial, although those last two losses were with their old roster.

M80 will be taking on G2 tomorrow at 07:30AM.