Spirit beat G2 2-0 at PGL Astana to reach semifinals

Spirit defeated G2 2-0 at PGL Astana 2026 on Monday to secure a place in the semifinals. The series was played on Dust2 and Ancient. The result came after Sergey “hally” Shavaev stepped away from Spirit ahead of the IEM Cologne Major.

On Dust2, the match began with a sequence of traded force-buys before Spirit stabilized its economy and took control. Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov used aggressive AWPing while Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich produced opening kills that helped Spirit build a strong offensive half. After sides switched, G2 won the pistol round, but Spirit’s defense limited G2 once rifles were in play and closed out the map.

Ancient was G2’s map pick. An early force-buy defeat put G2 on the back foot and Spirit repeatedly shut down attempts into B and control of Middle. Guy “NertZ” Iluz’s four-kill pistol round gave G2 a platform in the second half, and Álvaro “SunPayus” García supplied key firepower as G2 improved mid-round aggression. G2 narrowed the gap, but Spirit won enough rounds to take Ancient and the series.

Individual statistics underlined the match. Sh1ro finished 37-18 with an average damage per round of 83.8 and a 1.33 rating. Donk went 36-29 with 87.9 ADR and a 1.42 rating. Boris “magixx” Vorobiev posted 28-25 and contributed mid-round calling, particularly on CT sides. Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia and tN1R also recorded positive KAST figures and steady performances. For G2, SunPayus led with 39-27, an 88.3 ADR and a 1.27 rating. Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko had 26-33, Matúš “MATYS” Šimko had a 1v3 to deny donk an ace, and NertZ finished 24-34.

Notable moments included a near 2v4 conversion by HeavyGod and NertZ that ended with sh1ro landing a one-tap, huNter- holding A site during early force-buy rounds, and a Spirit retake that closed a dominant half on Dust2.

Spirit advance to the PGL Astana semifinals. G2 exit the event and have a short window before the IEM Cologne Major.