Image: GosuGamers
M0NESY made a strong case as CS2's best player in the BLAST World Final in Singapore, but his focus remains on capturing his first Major championship in Shanghai.
European Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) powerhouse 
G2 Esports stand as the last-ever BLAST Premier world champions. G2 soundly swept Team Spirit in the grand finals of the BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 in front of a jubilant crowd in Sentosa, Singapore to claim the team's third championship this year.
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov won the MVP award for his stellar play all throughout the tournament, racking up a 1.49 KDR and a 1.35 rating to lead his team to a perfect 3-0 match record and a 9-3 map record in Singapore's first top-tier CS event. It was a statement performance for G2's superstar AWPer, as he bested the likes of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov, and Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak to continue to make his case as the best player in CS2's first year.
In an exclusive interview with GosuGamers, m0NESY downplayed this momentous achievement and said his focus remains on the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 in China later this month:
"I think the one who deserves will take it and will get the number one [ranking]. In my head it's like this. Just a thing that if a player deserves it, he will get MVP and trophy and number one. But I'm not thinking about it, we have still one tournament left and it's more important for me to win the Major than to be number one."
From last in Rio to first in Singapore
M0NESY and G2 were hungrier for a win than any other team coming into the BLAST World Final in Singapore. The team had all the momentum in the world when they defeated top-ranked rivals 
Natus Vincere (NAVI) in the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 in September. But just over a week after that huge victory, G2 bombed out of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 in 13th-16th place, the organisation's worst showing in any event in over two years.
It was a painful loss for G2, and more so for m0NESY, who shared that it caused him to vent out his frustration like never before.
“It was very hurtful to lose. I mean, I honestly was very disappointed when we lost. I think for the first time in my life I just came in the room and started screaming, just in an empty room alone in the hotel.”
Hurtful as it was, that loss in Rio forced G2 to reflect on their play throughout the year and how to improve on it. With so many questions surrounding the team – from in-game leader Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski's KDR woes to Nikola "NiKo" Kovač's rumoured exit to Team Falcons after the Shanghai Major – m0NESY said a bootcamp prior to the BLAST World Final in Singapore helped them realign their focus on winning all the tournaments remaining for the year.
"We spent something like six to seven days on bootcamp and from this bootcamp we improved a lot and learned a lot what we did wrong in Rio and in previous tournaments as well. We did a lot of good effort."
While G2 would go on to win this year's BLAST World Final championship, they didn't have the most auspicious start to the tournament.
In their Opening Match of the Group Stage versus Team Liquid, G2 lost the first map of the series without winning a single round. For the team's detractors, it was a sure sign that their loss in Rio was not a fluke. G2 would crash and burn in Singapore once again, with the team crumbling soon after.
Instead, G2 bounced back and decisively defeated Liquid in the next two maps to qualify for the Playoffs. They then swept Spirit in their first encounter in their group's Winners Match, earning them a direct berth to the semifinals. In front of a roaring crowd in the Playoffs, m0NESY and G2 defeated ZywOo and Team Vitality in three games to advance to the grand finals.
G2 and Spirit faced off once more in the championship round. Even with Danil "donk" Kryshkovets and sh1ro popping off, Spirit could do little to stop G2 from crowning themselves as the last-ever BLAST World Final champions. And in the final round of the grand finals, it was m0NESY that sealed the deal.
Spirit were by no means an easy opponent for anyone, but G2 seems to have had their number all year long. Including the two matches they played in the BLAST World Final in Singapore, G2 were 5-1 over Spirit. G2's one loss to Spirit came during the first day of the Group Stage of BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024 in London, which m0NESY was absent for due to visa issues, and coach Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas had to play as a stand-in.
M0NESY was quick to clarify that his team's one loss against Spirit this year was when he didn't play, though he credited the entire team's skill and depth as the main factor in their dominance of the matchup.
“[The score is] 5-1, but with me we didn't lose against them. I didn't have visa in London, I'm not sure what the result would be with me against Spirit if I would play but I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to say if. I'm not going to say they're a comfortable opponent for us, I think we just play our game and we always pop off during the game. We have very unique and good individual players and everyone is unique in our team. I think we just play better and that's why we win. If we won, then we deserve to win.”
With the BLAST World Final championship under their belts, m0NESY and G2 now look ahead to closing the year strong by claiming the Shanghai Major title.
It will be a challenge just to get there, as the team will first have to go through the Shanghai Major European RMR B from November 21 to 24. While there will be seven slots up for grabs there, nothing is guaranteed even for G2 as they will have to contend once again with Spirit as well as the likes of Astralis, Eternal Fire, HEROIC, Virtus.pro, and many more.
G2 and m0NESY have yet to claim a Major championship. Coming off their victory in the BLAST World Final in Singapore, the Shanghai Major may very well be their best shot at capturing that elusive title.
