G2 vs. Natus Vincere at BLAST Open Porto 2026:The Changes NAVI Didn't Make
NAVI's coach revealed the team came close to a roster change this summer and backed away — now they face a G2 side testing its own new AWP signing in a win-or-go-home Lower Round match.
G2 and Natus Vincere meet in Group A's Lower Round 2 with both teams already working through some form of self-doubt — G2 after a new sniper signing has yet to prove itself over a full event, NAVI after seriously considering a roster change this summer and deciding against it. Both are one loss from elimination.
Match
G2 vs. Natus Vincere
Tournament
BLAST Open Porto 2026Stage
Group A · Lower Round 2
Date
August 30, 2026
Time
11:00 CEST
Format
Best of 3
Player names link to their HLTV.org profiles.
The Changes NAVI Didn't Make
After NAVI's IEM Cologne Major 2026 run ended in Stage 3, coach Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy said the team would "definitely become stronger next season" without saying how — leaving the door open. In a mid-August interview with HLTV, he revealed just how close that door came to opening: "We were close to making some changes, but eventually we understood it couldn't happen... There was competition, let's say, for these players, and we couldn't do anything." NAVI ultimately stuck with the same core that's been together for over a year.
That decision is already being tested at this event. NAVI lost their Opening Round match to M80 — the tournament's first real upset — before beating paiN 2-0 to survive into the Lower Round. A loss to G2 here would mean the roster B1ad3 chose to keep together exits Porto without a single series win in the group it mattered most.
G2's AWP Gamble
G2 benched Álvaro "SunPayus" García after a poor run of form against top-50 opposition — one that included missing the IEM Cologne Major entirely — and replaced him with Artem "r1nkle" Moroz from Ninjas in Pyjamas, debuting online at BLAST Bounty Season 2 on the same July 21 as Aurora's own roster reset. The move looked justified in the Opening Round: r1nkle posted a 1.86 rating and an ace on Anubis as G2 erased a 7-12 deficit against Aurora to close out a 2-0. Head coach Eetu "sAw" Saha had previously said the team needed "someone more aggressive" to complement a relatively passive rifle trio, and that's exactly the role r1nkle filled.
G2 followed that opener with a straight-sets loss to Spirit in the Upper Semis, so this is the first real test of whether the new AWP role holds up against a second quality opponent in the same event, not just a spark against one.
A Rivalry Renewed at Every Big Event
These two have met repeatedly across 2026's biggest events — G2 won 2-1 at the IEM Cologne Major group stage in June and 2-1 again at ESL Pro League Season 23 in March, while NAVI answered with a 2-0 at PGL Cluj-Napoca in February. It's a genuinely competitive series between two teams who keep drawing each other on the biggest stages, not a one-sided head-to-head — and neither side has an obvious historical edge heading into a match where the result matters more than any of those previous meetings.
What's on the Line
Lose here and the tournament is over. Win, and the reward is a trip to Group A's Lower Final on August 31 against whoever survives Aurora vs. M80, the group's other Lower Round 2 match — with Group A's third and final playoff spot in Porto waiting for whoever wins that.
