FUT beat G2 2-1 to reach Stage 3 at IEM Cologne

FUT beat G2 2-1 in Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major on June 7 in Cologne, advancing to Stage 3. The win followed back-to-back best-of-one victories on June 6 against B8 (13-11) and TYLOO (13-9).

The best-of-three opened on Anubis, a map FUT had not played in nearly three months. FUT built an early 8-4 lead on defense and held on after a mid-map momentum swing to take Anubis 13-11. G2 won Overpass, their map pick, 13-7 after overturning a 0-5 deficit for FUT and converting a pistol and follow-up rounds. FUT closed the series on Ancient, winning 13-4 to clinch the match.

Individual numbers for FUT included Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija’s strong showing on Ancient, where he went 25-8 with a 2.18 rating and 134 ADR. Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko finished the series 47-37 with a 1.21 rating. Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea posted a 43-40 K-D and a 1.05 rating across the three maps.

For G2, Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko registered 43-38 with a 1.24 rating and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač went 46-42 with a 1.19 rating. Other G2 players had lower ratings on the series.

Džiugas Steponavičius reflected on the team’s approach after the match: ‘We prepared good for this tournament, and we’re not taking it as something special, so we don’t have the extra pressure.’ He added on Overpass, ‘We started hesitating a lot. We went into a setup, and then we switched it, and then we did something else. That’s how it went basically after the 5-0.’

FUT’s run in Cologne marks an advance from their 9-12th place finish at IEM Atlanta, which was their first event with lauNX after he missed the BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 appearance. FUT will join Spirit and other qualifiers in Stage 3 of the IEM Cologne Major.