After winning back-to-back titles, MOUZ were on their way to an almost-perfect Counter-Strike 2 season. But their dreams were shattered by Stewie2k-supported G2 Esports, who eliminated them from IEM Dallas 2024.
The two teams met in the lower bracket semifinal in Texas, with MOUZ being the favorites to take the matchup. In the end, siuhy’s men won the last two CS2 events—BetBoom Dacha Belgrade and ESL Pro League Season 19. However, their spell came to an end after G2 came back on Ancient to take the series 2-1 in their favor. Stewie2K’s heroics aided them in achieving this feat.
G2 secured the first map, Inferno, quite convincigly with a 13-8 score. Then, MOUZ responded with a 13-5 domination on Nuke, and the series came down to Ancient. There, Brollan and his crew were up 9-6, but G2 players started pulling out flashy plays to get behind the driving seat once again. One such play came from Stewie2K, who had a cheeky triple kill on B-side defense, which secured G2 a crucial round.
With that victory, MOUZ’s journey in Dallas comes to an end. At the same time, G2 live to fight another day. They are one win away from securing playoffs, though their next opponent will also give their all to come out victorious. G2 are facing Liquid on May 29, who are looking to take the win and compete in the arena in front of the home crowd.
On the other hand, if G2 goes through, the North American audience will also have a squad to cheer for. This is mostly thanks to their last-minute stand-in in the form of Stewie2K, who replaced HooXi for the event. For the American player, it’s his first tier-one event since returning to CS2, and having the chance to play in front of the home crowd would be the icing on the cake.
