By topping group A in IEM Summer, G2 will skip one round of the playoffs and continue the tournament in the semi-finals.

G2 swept Vitality 2-0 (16-14 Vertigo, 16-10 Inferno) to advance to the semi-final of the IEM Summer playoffs, while Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and co. will be starting the knockout stage in the quarter-finals against the winners of Virtus.pro - Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The youngest player on the server, Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier, was key to Vitality keeping things competitive (1.35 series rating), but that wasn't enough to keep the Kovač cousins down. "Our confidence is so strong, no one is hesitating to make plays we should make," Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković said in the post-match interview when asked about the win.

huNter- put up another strong performance to ensure G2's victory

After securing G2's third top 4 finish in a row, nexa was asked why his team couldn't get over the hurdle and take the title in DreamHack Masters Spring or Flashpoint 3. "We were so focused on winning the event that we wanted to go the extra step, which cost us because we were overthinking," the Serbian explained, adding that he thinks the title from IEM Summer — which would be the organization's first trophy since 2017 — is within reach.

G2's next opponents will be the winner of Gambit - Evil Geniuses, with the Russian side the overwhelming favorites to advance. "We don't have a great track record against Gambit, but I think we are starting to understand them," nexa added, signing his praise for the team play of Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov and co.

Things started off well for Vitality on their map pick, Vertigo, as they took a 5-0 lead on the offensive side, extending to 6-1 after a 2v5 from Jayson "⁠Kyojin⁠" Nguyen Van and misutaaa. The all-French roster closed out the half 10-5 ahead, but G2 got on a roll after winning the pistol. It was 11-10 for nexa's team in no time, but Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon came up huge in a mixed buy to stop the rot. Off the back of that, Vitality moved on to the edge of victory (14-11), but Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug saved the map with a 2v4 turnaround, seeing G2 make a late comeback to win the map 16-14.

New boy Kyojin put up strong pit holds to propel Vitality ahead on the CT side of Inferno (5-3), but Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's squad failed to assume full control on the defense as a huNter- - nexa 2v4 on A put them on the back foot. G2 turned things around with strong B hits to start the second half 9-6 ahead, extending the lead after Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač managed to shut down misutaaa's 1v5 attempt in the pistol. Vitality never really got going on the offense, seeing their opponents close out the series with a 16-10 scoreline.

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 VitalityMatchpage 0 2 6th June 2021 G2 14Vertigo 16 10Inferno 16

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabiermisutaaa	49 - 36	+13	84.0	1.35
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	37 - 35	+2	74.7	1.19
Jayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen VanKyojin	35 - 40	-5	70.8	0.92
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	29 - 43	-14	59.5	0.80
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	29 - 43	-14	67.0	0.74

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	48 - 37	+11	96.0	1.36
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	41 - 31	+10	70.0	1.23
François 'amanek' Delaunayamanek	38 - 38	0	74.2	1.08
Nemanja 'nexa' Isakovićnexa	38 - 34	+4	72.2	1.06
Audric 'JACKZ' JugJACKZ	30 - 41	-11	63.4	0.86

Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier Age: 18 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 262 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.67 Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač Age: 25 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1284 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.67 G2 #4 Audric 'JACKZ' JugNikola 'NiKo' KovačNemanja 'huNter-' KovačFrançois 'amanek' DelaunayNemanja 'nexa' Isaković Richard 'shox' Papillon Age: 29 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1843 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.66 Evil Geniuses #38 Michał 'MICHU' MüllerPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovOwen 'oBo' Schlatter Virtus.pro #9 Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievTimur 'buster' TulepovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov Age: 27 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 982 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.66 Vitality #12 Richard 'shox' PapillonDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' RabierJayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1108 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 Gambit #1 Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovTimofey 'interz' YakushinSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 20 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.28 Maps played: 824 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.62 Jayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van Age: 22 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 43 KPR: 0.61 DPR: 0.66 Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 28 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1807 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.70 Audric 'JACKZ' Jug Age: 28 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 905 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.68 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 1442 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67 Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Nicolai 'device' ReedtzFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraLinus 'LNZ' Holtäng