G2 eliminated Natus Vincere from BLAST Open Porto with a 2-0 win, taking Ancient 13-6 and Inferno 13-10 to end Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen's team's run at the event. HLTV described it as G2 making light work of the fixture, and as the continuation of a worrying run of performances for Natus Vincere.
Ancient opened back and forth before G2 took hold of it. They built a 9-3 defensive half and won the pistol round after the switch, and although Natus Vincere prolonged the map with a force-buy round, Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko’s 1v3 clutch handed G2 six map points. They converted for 13-6.
Inferno looked more decisive still at the halfway mark. A dominant attacking half put Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač’s side 10-4 ahead, but their defence did not close the game out: Natus Vincere pulled back to 10-11 before G2 rallied late for 13-10.
The result sent G2 into the lower-bracket final, a single match for a place in the playoffs.
Aleksib: “Just not good enough”
The defeat is Natus Vincere’s second consecutive group-stage exit. Virolainen opened his post-match broadcast interview by summarising it in four words, then turned to his own part in it.
Just not good enough. I could have done better on Ancient as well in certain situations, the way we were discussing outside and what we were typing on teamchat, maybe other individuals felt the same way.
He went further on the roster’s form. “It’s kinda obvious that we are lacking something in all of us,” he said. “It’s pretty rough because we really grinded for six weeks, and it feels so bad to go out like this in two tournaments.”
Natus Vincere’s next event is StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, which begins on September 17. “It’s up to us to dig ourselves out of this,” Virolainen said. “We need to clear our minds and do something fresh.”