sAw after being eliminated from the 2026 Esports World Cup in CS2: “Right now, we’re making too many silly mistakes.”
G2 Esports coach Eetu “sAw” Saha, in an interview at the 2026 Esports World Cup, shared his thoughts after the team’s elimination from the tournament, discussed the roster’s performance on Dust2, and commented on the team’s current level of play and future prospects.
On the ban picks in the match against FURIA
Yes, there were definitely some surprises, primarily from our opponents. They banned Inferno and left Ancient open, then immediately picked Anubis. Such moves from both sides weren’t quite what we expected. In response to the question of whether this caught us off guard and whether we had to adapt to the situation in a hurry, I’ll note that we were somewhat prepared for Anubis. But we weren’t really prepared for Ancient—after all, opponents usually ban it against anyone who plays it. They left it open in matches against Team Vitality and Aurora Gaming, so this time they managed to catch us off guard. However, to be honest, this loss is entirely on our conscience. We’re to blame for losing this way, and we should have played better.
On the team’s performance on Dust2
If you look at our match history, we’ve mainly struggled against top-tier teams, and those games often ended in close scores. This was the case in our matches against Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, and in earlier encounters. However, the match against FURIA was a complete failure. If we break down the rounds in detail, our opponents used quick runs to Point B or held the “long” side before pushing onto that same point late in the round. To some extent, these were clever rounds that caught us off guard. Again, we need to be prepared for such strategies ourselves, but first and foremost, the team simply needs to improve the fundamental aspects of the game.
On the team’s current status and prospects
I think we just need to play more official matches and gradually “get into the groove” of the season, since we’re currently making too many silly mistakes. We made it pretty far in the playoffs, but the level of Counter-Strike we showed is hardly promising. On the other hand, we have a busy schedule ahead of us: several championships will start right after this event. We’ll need a lot of practice and work to correct our mistakes. We need to break down these issues, most of which, as I’ve already noted, relate to the basics. For example, on the first map—Ancient—everything came down exclusively to communication and the precise execution of strategies. These are fundamental aspects of the game, and correcting them depends entirely on us.
Earlier, G2 Esports lost to FURIA in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Esports World Cup for Counter-Strike 2 with a score of 1–2 in the best-of-3 series. Eetu “sAw” Saha’s team finished the tournament in 5th–8th place.
