G2 found the lower bracket final win today against G2 3-2. They'll face Acend tomorrow for the first time, with both teams showing up in great form for the first Stage 3 final.

After being thrown around by Acend yesterday, Guild had to force themselves into a mental reset entering today. They looked sharp on Bind, firing up to a strong 11-3 advantage as Yacine "Yacine" Laghmari began racking up kills, denying their opponents any chance to string together rounds.

G2 started to recover some rounds and hope was brewing; they closed the gap to 11-8. Malkolm "bonkar" Rench's squad shut them down after anticipating a teleporter play in the closing rounds to take it 13-8, stealing G2's first map pick.

nukkye was just warming up with this 4k.

The fight switched to Split, a map this new G2 roster hadn't yet played in officials. "To be honest, we didn't practice Split", keloqz said.

They didn't seem to mind it, pulling out a surprise Reyna in Cista "keloqz" Wassim and climbing to a 10-2 lead in the first half. After the Swedes recovered to 11-6, G2 put in a timeout to talk amongst themselves and with Neil "neilzinho" Finlay, which let them turn it back around and win their first Split 13-6.

Smokes and flashes ensued confusion from both sides in the eighth round.

Guild entered strong on Haven by taking the first seven rounds in a row. Oscar "Mixwell" Cañellas's men then decided on a timeout, although it only netted them three rounds before the half was over. After Guild's loss to Acend on this map, they looked to be back on top with the 11-3.

But G2 found their stride in the second half and slowly reeled their opponents in. They won round after round, but a flying Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel prevented the full comeback and took it to overtime. Another 3K from the Sentinel was met with one from bonkar, which gave Guild the 14-12 and match point.

Through a Paranoia and a Cyber Cage, bonkar's 3K helped secure the map in overtime.

The energy entering Icebox was different. It was the first match point of the day and Guild had taken this map before 13-6 from Fnatic. But their adversaries started well, kicking off to a commanding 6-1 lead. The Swedish squad managed to reduce the gap to 7-5, boding well for a comeback in the second half.

Guild entered the map with a higher Attacker round win percentage. They started off with the pistol and second round loss, but when the rifles came out it was game on. Guild began adding rounds and William "draken" Sundin was feeling it, scoring a 1v2 clutch that gave his team the 10-9 lead. He and his men earned a seven-round winning streak before the Jose "koldamenta" Luis Aranguren-led squad forced overtime and, eventually, the fifth map by taking Icebox 15-13.

draken's camera shook from his screams

It was now or never for both teams. Even though they didn't start off well, G2 knew it was their time to shine and started to incrementally build a lead and keep Guild trailing, reaching 7-5. In the second half they kept it going and added three more rounds, before André "BARBARR" Möller stepped in to talk with his squad.

The pause only spurred G2 on even more, with keloqz becoming more daring as his team inched ever closer to match point. Leo "Leo" Jannesson saved his squad on the first match point they faced, but G2 completed their lower bracket run, finishing the day off with a 13-6 victory.

A 4K from Leo to stop a G2 retake was Guild's last hurrah.

"I don't know [if we'll beat Acend tomorrow]," keloqz said of their upcoming grand final. "They're a good team. They're a very good team, so it's going to be hard."

Tomorrow, July 11, is the last day of Stage 3's Challengers 1. G2 will face Acend for the title, which will award the highest seed and the largest sum of prize money, €15 000 EUR (~$17,815 USD).