malbsMd exits first Major at the hands of FaZe in the semifinals
Last night saw G2 and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa's Major dreams come to an end as the international squad fell to FaZe in a competitive 2-0 loss. The team's exit from the Perfect World Shanghai Major marks the end of malbsMd's first-ever Major which saw the Guatemalan superstar in the making impress multiple times throughout the tournament but ultimately struggle to find his footing against Finn "karrigan" Andersen and co.
Map one, Ancient, began with G2 on shaky ground as they started their CT-side down 8-0 against a dominant FaZe T-side before finishing the half down 10-2. This gave G2 very little room to maneuver even as they found the first four rounds in a row on their T-side, with FaZe's CT economy coming online allowing them to lock down Ancient 13-6.
Heading onto Nuke, the opening half was equally poor from G2 as FaZe mounted a competent CT-side powered by Robin "ropz" Kool that allowed the team to climb up to 8-4 at the half. Fortunately for G2 and its fans, the team avoided exiting the major with a complete whimper as they launched into a near-perfect run of rounds on their CT-side, securing the lead for the first time in the series by winning seven rounds in a row to climb up to an 11-8 scoreline. Unfortunately for G2, this fantastic CT-side finally gave way in the back half of the map, allowing FaZe to force overtime.
On Nuke's overtime, the series became its most competitive with both teams unable to lock in more than one round in a row. This left the final round of overtime a key decider as G2 winning it would force a second overtime while FaZe winning it would end the series. Unfortunately for G2, this second overtime was not meant to be as Håvard "rain" Nygaard would secure the final kill in a perfect round to send G2 packing.
G2FaZe| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
42 - 37 | +5 | 92.1 | 67.3% | 1.14 |
 Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski |
34 - 34 | +0 | 78.6 | 77.6% | 1.06 |
 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
27 - 33 | -6 | 70.9 | 65.3% | 0.89 |
| Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
31 - 38 | -7 | 55.6 | 67.3% | 0.87 |
 Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
24 - 39 | -15 | 67.1 | 69.4% | 0.83 |
| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
50 - 35 | +15 | 104.6 | 77.6% | 1.45 |
 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants |
42 - 28 | +14 | 77.3 | 81.6% | 1.23 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
36 - 31 | +5 | 87.2 | 83.7% | 1.22 |
 David 'frozen' Čerňanský |
31 - 32 | -1 | 72.7 | 79.6% | 1.12 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
20 - 35 | -15 | 53.1 | 71.4% | 0.79 |
Unfortunately for malbsMd, the semifinal series was ultimately a blemish for the young star in an otherwise fantastic event, with malbs posting a poor 0.83 rating while Nikola "NiKo" Kovač and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov were also notably lacking in the series.
However, it must be said for the 22-year-old, his first Major was overall impressive, ending the event with a 1.03 rating over ten maps while having fantastic maps against Spirit, FaZe, and HEROIC earlier in the event. With malbsMd seemingly set to replace NiKo at the center of G2, this performance hopefully sets the stage for a great 2025.
