G2 defeated Orgless on Thursday in a 2-0 series to advance to the semifinals of the VALORANT EU First Strike tournament. The match was much closer than the scoreline would indicate, with G2 winning both of their two maps by very close margins. Orgless, a team who is currently unsigned as their name indicates, put up a strong fight, picking up a significant number of rounds on both maps against G2 and nearly pulling off a huge comeback on Split. In the end though, it was G2’s superior experience, skill, and strategy that won the day. We sat down with G2’s David “Davidp” Prins, who was named the HyperX Player of the Series, to ask him about G2’s quarterfinals victory over Orgless and his thoughts on what makes G2 one of the best VALORANT teams in the world.
After winning a number of VALORANT tournaments this year, G2 has their sites set on winning the EU First Strike VALORANT tournament. (Photo courtesy HLTV)
Hotspawn: That was one of the closest, back-and-forth, 2-0 series in VALORANT to date. Were you expecting Orgless to put up such a strong fight?
DavidP: We didn’t expect them to put up such a strong fight, to be honest. We thought we would crush them on Split, and then again on Bind. We made mistakes and our communication wasn’t so good at times, but I definitely didn’t expect to have such a good game against them today. Props to [Orgless] because they played really well. They showed that it doesn’t matter if they have an organization or not. I think there are many teams that are good who don’t have an organization. But an org should sign them, they are dedicated players and they put many hours into the server.
Hotspawn: What factor do you think ultimately gave you the upper hand in this series?
DavidP: I think overall we were just the better team. We are better individual players, we have better communication, we have better plays planned, and we bring better chemistry to the game. Our team has been winning tournaments together for a long time now, we know which agents everyone can play, and our team works well together. All of these things make us better.
Hotspawn: Were there any takeaways from this match or things you want to improve upon for the semi finals on Saturday?
DavidP: We are going to rewatch the game, look at our mistakes, and continue to do our thing. We will succeed by playing our game, focusing on ourselves, and focusing on adapting to our enemies.
[Other teams] aren’t used to playing these huge tournaments with stakes and big trophies on the line.
Hotspawn: Speaking more broadly, what do you think has been the key to G2’s unprecedented success in VALORANT this year?
DavidP: Our experience is the biggest factor in our continuing success. We have more experience than everyone in the game at the moment. We have Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho, Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi who both played on great stages while competing in CS:GO, I played professional CS:GO as well. I think that Mixwell is one of the best players in the world, so is Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks, and [Pyth] is one of the most clutch players I have ever met.
We are great at LAN events and tournaments because we all are used to playing them and handling the pressure. I think that’s where many teams are lacking, they aren’t used to playing these huge tournaments with stakes and big trophies on the line. They aren’t ready to handle the pressure, and learning how to handle that pressure is something important if you are going to win. It’s good to play well in practice, but when thousands of people around the world are watching you and you can’t handle the pressure, then that’s it, you are done.
Hotspawn: Your 1v3 pistol round clutch at the start of the second map was very impressive. What was going through your head during that situation?
DavidP: Nothing special was going through my head. I knew what they would do, that’s why I won. I am well used to clutches like that. I have won many similar clutches in my life, 1v2’s, 1v3’s, 1v4’s, I have won them all. It’s one of my biggest and best qualities as a player. I am really good under that type of pressure. It was nothing special per se, but I was very happy to win it.
Hotspawn: Finally, switching gears to opponents that lie ahead of you, Heretics beat Team Liquid earlier to advance to the semi finals. Did that outcome surprise you?
DavidP: To be honest, no. We have been practicing against [Heretics], and they are quite good. On Team Liquid, I think that Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom is very good, but sadly I think he is much better than his teammates in every way. They are lacking many things that are required if they want to win consistently in this game. They haven’t won much of anything, and I think that if they aren’t winning, it’s because something is wrong. Heretics, though, is a really great team with a lot of individual skill. Everyone of their players can land their shots and win clutches and shit like that.
